[Divine Smite!]

  The world boomed again, shaking from the might of the smite and volume of the announcement..

  Golden winds detonated from my fist, hurling the guy stupid enough to attack me across the hedge path like a shot from a cannon. The hedges he flew past rustled, and golden trails of light shimmered across the leaves before fading into normalcy, like nothing had happened. But I felt it. Every nerve in my right arm was buzzing. It was spreading through my body.

  “That—hah—that was a high.”

  It was an addictive feeling. Like diving off a roof and surviving the landing because the ground decided you were worth letting get away with a roll. It almost made me feel like the world was actually on my side—what an enticing illusion.

  I sprinted after my enemy, breath sharp, eyes locked in. For the first time since I remembered myself, I heard a little, timid voice telling me to slow down. Maybe I should have taken a second to calm down and analyze the situation. Maybe there was something to glean.

  But I ignored it. I wanted to be here in this flurry of elation and adrenaline.

  By some miracle, he landed on his feet and stayed upright as he slid across the grass. He barely registered my approach. I prepared to flicker just as he started to lift his head—and my next punch came from the side, angled straight into his ribs.

  No boom. No golden burst of wind. No disembodied calling down from above to pat me on the back.

  Just pain. A solid hit, sure, but… flat and disheartening.

  I clenched my teeth as the impact rocked his senses back into him, his regen activating. I headbutted him to daze him for the second.

  I didn’t get my smite. What was the deal? Did it have a cooldown? Was it luck? Hidden criteria?”

  He groaned as the cogs in his head turned. My other arm cocked back, ready to go again. He winced and put up his guard quickly. I stepped out to the side and twisted my body to get past the guard.

  My mind raced. I screamed my curiosity in my mind–What do you want from me?

  His eyes saw me coming. He felt different than earlier. I flickered again to make sure I’d get that boost and throw of his timing.

  I felt something on contact. The charge exploded outward as my fist made contact—

  [Divine Smite!]

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  A golden shockwave cracked the air. The enemy’s ribs buckled, and the hedges trembled. He screamed as the force carried him off his feet, and flung him like a ragdoll, straight into the greenery. Vines snapped, twigs cracked, and a burst of leaves scattered into the wind as he hit the magically empowered hedges hard.

  The gold light didn’t vanish right away this time. It clung to my forearm, trailing behind me in a fading spiral as I moved.

  I didn’t stop to admire it.

  I was already in the air.

  Not a graceful leap. Not tactical. Just instinct and hunger for more. I tilted forward, lining up my fall, and aimed the heel of my foot straight down.

  All I wanted to know was if the world’s worst flying nudist and his feet could make the world boom just as much as his fists could.

  Right as I made contact, my foot went through his body as it faded into balls of light.

  “Damn it!” I yelled, hitting the ground.

  Just my luck. The guy got to HP zero from the second Smite. Damn it. I really wanted to feel it again.

  I stood there for a second, heel buried in a patch of dirt, watching the little orbs of light twinkle up and away like I’d just kicked a wish into the stars.

  “Damn it,” I muttered again, softer this time.

  It wasn’t even about the guy. He was just an idiot that gave me an excuse. I just wanted to feel that power again. That boom. That gold. That affirmation.

  It had been clean. Addictive. Like a reward and a punishment wrapped into one. And now the feeling was fading.

  I let out a breath, chest still buzzing from the overload of the moment.

  The grass twitched next to me. Something small, clear, and rectangular jutted from the dirt, half-buried like it had been waiting for me to see it.

  I grabbed it before anything else could happen–my second card with a puzzle piece inside it. I flicked my hand and the second card appeared like I was a master of sleight of hand–turned out the cards were like my other tools, in that they could disappear and reappear.

  To my surprise, the two cards merged into one, with a larger image in the crystal now, like the puzzle pieces had clipped together. That said, the pieces were a flat color. I had no idea what was being created.

  I glanced around. No new enemies. No footsteps. No glowing arrows pointing to the next fight.

  I exhaled and tilted my head up toward the cruel starry sky.

  “Alright,” I said to nobody. “Guess I go find puzzle piece number three… Hope someone attacks me from behind again.”

  ***

  I came across something odd in my wandering. Down the path to the right of where the last past took me, something had poked. It was blue, gooey, and amorphous—it was an ooze.

  I stood there watching it. It would come out from behind a corner, and then pull back into the corner like a clumsy ambush hunter. Come back out, then retreat. It kept doing it over and over like it was a preprogrammed path.

  I was willing to bet that if I went closer, it would spring into action and make me regret my foolishness. Did I want to fight an ooze? Not really. These things were annoying in more games than not.

  It was interesting to see a monster that wasn’t a Shadow Beast or a Husk though. Maybe it would be better to say that it was closer in nature to the water tendrils.

  Either way, I didn’t bother it. I just went down the other way. If I had confirmation that fighting it would put me up in the scoreboard, then I’d do it, but for now, I wouldn’t waste the health or SP.

  Still an interesting hazard to find.

  “I wonder if there are more enemy types.”