“Are you guys ready?” Zoey asked.

“We’ve been ready since you texted us. Let’s get this over with already. My excitement is fading.” Hayato rested his arm over the park’s bench.

“Are you sure it's safe to perform this spell in the middle of so many people? You’re already on thin ice with the Council.” Lindsay asked with concern.

“Maybe we should take it somewhere more private?” Alexander wasn’t doubting Zoey’s sanity. He’s long since known she lost such a thing, but her potential for using magji disappearing forever? She wouldn’t risk that.

“...” Joseph stayed quiet as he watched Zoey’s vibrant emotions dancing around.

Pride, confidence, and eagerness. Whatever spell she had in mind was perfectly safe to use in front of normal humans. At least, Joseph certainly hoped so. If it wasn’t that, then it had to be a spell that would be hard to notice for normal people.

“Defense Volume I: Barrier!” Zoey held her open palm in the air.

The group of magjistars looked up as the spell took form. A burst of mahna shot out from her hand and took form above the park. A black dome-like barrier formed around the entire park. It wasn’t until they flowed mahna through their eyes that they realized only magjistars could see this barrier.

Without rhyme or reason, everyone without the ability to sense or gather mahna began leaving the park. They walked through the barrier as if it wasn’t even there. Once all the normal people left, Zoey looked at her friends, secretly awaiting praises and/or surprised reactions. Unfortunately, the first to go was Hayato, who simply looked at her with an unimpressed look.

“What’s the point of this?” Hayato asked bluntly.

“Now we don’t need to rely on magji tools to keep normal humans from coming near when we’re dealing with daemons or fighting with other magjistars or facing off against assassins!” Zoey excitedly explained.

“What?” Lindsay was in disbelief.

“This would be useful.” Joseph nodded.

“Your friend taught you this spell? Why doesn’t the OM have this spell? It would make dealing with cases a hundred times easier!” Alexander was just as excited as Zoey.

“Less expensive too,” Hayato added.

“This is how you do it.” Zoey began explaining to them the process of how to move their mahna in order to perform the spell properly.

It took more than half the day for everyone to get up to speed and use it proficiently, but eventually, they all learned it. Although Zoey taught it to her friends, she didn’t actively teach it to them. Which is why she figured it took so long. She kind of just showed them what to do and then let them go at it by themselves. They were all kind of magji prodigies now that she realized... Huh, what does it say about her that she managed to get all these talented magjistars in one group?

Since it was getting dark out and Zoey was still on magji house arrest, she couldn’t go out with her friends to hunt daemons in the city using the new cool spell she taught them. She had to hear all about how much fun they were having solving cases together while Zoey had to stay at home training her skills and studying. Coach Scott couldn’t find any willing opponents for her in the amateur fight scene while they were waiting for her professional boxing license to be sent back. After Zoey’s explosive debut for her first boxing match, it didn’t take long for the Global Boxing Organization to accept her application and take it under review. Zoey thought having an undefeated winning streak would mean that hundreds of people would be willing to try and fight her to steal her clout and fame.

That wasn’t the case for the amateur scene. Zoey sighed as boredom quickly encroached on her being. She was sick of studying. She was tired of staying in the house when previously she loved nothing more than staying at home being a slug. If she had the chance to go back, she’d never agree to fight Angelica.

…

Time passed by so slowly that Zoey wanted to blow her brains out. She started up a game on her expensive custom-built pc when it became too much. The near instantaneous speed and seamlessness of the pc made Zoey remember that she was currently unemployed thanks to her house arrest as well. No cases meant no income. No cavons meant Zoey was a broke-ass bitch that could only rely on the money she’s saved in the bank or her parents. While Zoey never directly told her parents that she was receiving money as a magjistar, they all knew she was getting money somehow.

That was because Zoey kept buying new things without asking either of them for money. It didn’t take a genius to realize something wasn’t adding up. No teenager can afford expensive shit like the stuff Zoey was buying without being involved in something suspicious or being in a rich family. The latest phone, huge gaming set-ups, workout equipment... Zoey was actually surprised they hadn’t talked to her about it yet. Did they already know where her money came from?

“Need a little fucking help here! Hello!? Do I have a fucking team?! Jesus fucking Christ, half of their goddamn team is shooting me while my team is jerking off at spawn!” Some guy screamed in her headset.

“Stop crying like a bitch.” Inner Zoey responded as she focused back on the game.

She revved up her minigun and began to shuffle her way through the map. One of the balancing features for the minigun to compensate for its high firing rate and damage was to make the user as slow as a turtle while using it. It also took a second or two to rev up before it could fire. So, if Zoey were caught off guard, she’d be dead in an instant. At least, if she wasn’t revved up and the enemy didn’t have shit aim.

“You stupid fucking bitch. No one is fucking crying. Why don’t you go back to the fucking kitchen instead of playing video games? Video games are for men! Not for stupid bitches like you.” He continued to whine and screech into the mic.

Zoey’s minigun tore through the enemy team, who were greedy enough to hunt down her teammates for kills instead of just planting the bomb. She let the crying baby watch her carry the round for their team by killing the enemy soldiers. Gaming was at level thirteen. This brought her to the top percentage of gamers in the world. Frankly, it was kind of unfair for Zoey to use the best guns, perks, and whatnot in first-person shooters. So, she usually handicapped herself by using the worst possible combinations in the game.

“What was that? Is the baby done crying, yet?” Inner Zoey laughed as they won the round.

“Fuck you, bitch. You just got lucky the enemy team was retarded enough to ignore planting the bomb.” The baby retorted.

“FUCK YOU, BETTERTHANYOU!” Someone on the other team yelled. Zoey’s username was Betterthanyou321.

“You’re not better than anyone, whore.” Another person on the other team added.

“Fucking slut. Shouldn’t you be out sucking some cock or something? Why are you on the fucking game?” Inner Zoey couldn’t help but laugh as the new round started.

Inner Zoey was conflicted on how she should best show her dominance over these fucking losers. She didn’t want to go try hard and start using actual weapons, but going a meme loadout wouldn’t be good either. Some meme loadouts were legitimately broken in the right game modes. So, Zoey decided to go with pistols only.

“Hey, grizzly, watch this.” Zoey shot the angry guy at the start of the match with her dual pistols and killed him. His username was MONSTER GRIZZLY.

“YOU STUPID FUCKING BITCH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! WHY ARE YOU TEAM-KILLING ME!? ARE YOU EVEN TRYING TO FUCKING WIN!? EVERYONE REPORT THIS RETARDED COCK-GOBLING PROSTITUTE!” He exploded.

Zoey died laughing on the mic as she went on to ace the round once again. She stayed near the bomb, listened for audio cues, and killed anyone she saw with pinpoint accurate headshots. Grizzly did not like the fact that a girl gamer was laughing at him. Grizzly did not like that the girl gamer was far better than him at the game. His rage was overflowing and spilling to the point that a feminine voice in the background of his mic said something to him.

“Was that your mom? Did your mom just tell you to shut up and stop crying like a little bitch? Huh, was it your mom? It was, wasn’t it?” Zoey continued to egg him on.

“You’re fucking blocked, muted, and reported, you stupid bitch.” His voice was lowered to a whisper.

“Hahahaha! Your mom really did tell you to stop crying! You’re like, what, 12? 13?” Zoey didn’t stop.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

“Jesus Christ... That kid needs to go touch some grass instead of playing this game all day.” Someone other than Grizzly spoke on her team. His name was MikeGunna.

“You really think if that kid had a life outside of video games, he would’ve reacted like that?” Zoey shot Grizzly again at the start of the third round.

“That’s it, you stupid fucking bitch. I’m going to find you in real life, and I'm going to rape you. After I'm done raping you, I'm going to torture you, break all your limbs, beat your fucking face in, and KILL YOU!!! YOU’RE FUCKING DEAD!”

“I thought you muted me. What happened to that?” Zoey couldn't contain her snickers. She replied after taking a few seconds to catch her breath.

“SHUT UP! YOU’RE DEAD! JUST KNOW YOU’RE GOING TO DIE SOON! I HACKED YOUR IP ADDRESS! I KNOW YOUR ADDRESS! I’m coming, you dumb bitch.” He started cackling like a mad scientist on the brink of a scientific breakthrough.

“This is the first time I've ever witnessed someone actually losing their mind over a video game.” MikeGunna sounded like he was in disbelief.

It was a first for Zoey as well. Was it possible Fighting Aura worked over the internet? This needed several more tests with many more gamers. As far as Zoey knew, Fighting Aura projected her fighting spirit outward whenever she wanted. It either made people want to fight with her or run away from her. It honestly matched her personality so well she was surprised it was only level... six? But it was level five, just the other...

‘Holy crap, it does work over the internet.’ Zoey realized.