After the meeting with the hive leaders ended, Arthur opened the door to his room was unsurprised to find two large men dressed in hive colors waiting for him just outside.
They had the air of guards come to march a prisoner to his execution. Though they were polite when they greeted him. Arthur had no doubt they had some card magic up their sleeves if he refused to go along quietly.
However, he was resigned to his fate.
As they walked down the hall — the two men flanking him on either side — Arthur turned his attention inward to his card anchor, and the three new cards waiting for him.
He had upgraded his secondary card anchor deck on several occasions since he first purchased one— a simple bag at the time — as a child. But now, it felt like his anchor deck was reaching its limit. If he had not given the Wind Release card to Marion, or returned the Steel Fists to Penn, he doubted he’d be able to fit in three more cards. If he wanted to add any in the future, he would have to remove cards or upgrade again.
Just one more thing to do after the egg’s hatching. If he survived.
I will survive, he promised himself.
He hadn’t come all this way for nothing.
And he ignored the fact that other Legendary recruits were likely telling themselves the same thing.
The guards led him down twelve levels. That meant the dueling arenas were located within the sub-levels, underground.
That would likely affect some of the pure wind, or air elemental cards. Maybe not enough to really impede a Legendary card user… But it might be an advantage if he could find a way to use it.
He focused on these details, rather than the giant crowd that had formed around the dueling arena.
It felt as if the entire hive had come to watch the show. Somebody with earth building cards had constructed tiered seating that went from the floor all the way up to the high ceiling where he was so shadowed it was hard to see the top.
Some dragons small enough to fit in the tunnels had even joined in and sat in their own area, occasionally flapping up high into the air to see something particularly interesting.
The crowd was rowdy, too. Swearing and catcalling, and having a great time watching the elite — and people they would one day have to obey if they linked the dragon — beat each other to a pulp.
As Arthur passed by, he heard an announcer calling out the odds of the next fight. A twinge of regret shot through him. He loved betting on card duels during the Wolf Hive festivals. A not insignificant part of him wished he were among the crowd rather than one of the ones they bet on.
I am either going to win somebody a lot of money, or be cursed for losing, he thought regretfully.
The arena itself was separated into four quadrants: all reinforced by semi-translucent, magical shields. The shields stretched all the way to the dome ceiling. There was a reason for this, as one of the quadrants was currently filled with bubbling lava.
Somebody had a card with magma powers. Their opponent was well matched and seemed to be able to fly using the updrafts of incredibly hot air. The flyer peppered the magma user with silver, metallic looking bolts. At a glance, Arthur doubted those bolts were Legendary rank. Likely Uncommon strength. But from the frustrated howls coming out from the one gap in the lava, they were effective.
That’s what partially made a good deck. Legendary cards set the stage and the terms of the engagement. But only a fool relied on them exclusively. Other cards weren’t as powerful — but they provided neat tricks that could turn a fight on its head.
Surrounding the perimeter of the dueling arena were men and women in healer garb.
There were so many of them, Arthur was mildly alarmed. Who was running the clinics in and around the hive?
The recruit’s safety was all well and good, but it would be at the cost of ill-timed broken legs and illnesses.
Arthur heard his name being called. He turned and saw Penn walking up to him. His cousin’s pose was confident, with just a bit of swagger.
Penn clearly knew he was going to win this next bout.
Arthur tried not to feel bitter about that.
“Kane, right on time,” Penn said, nodding to Arthur’s two helpers as if to say that he had this.
“Penn,” Arthur said, neutrally. He glanced around. “So, do we wait for one of the quarters to open up, or…?”
“It seems Marion will be done shortly. I’ve booked our little duel afterward.” He slapped Arthur on the shoulder and although Penn had always been a handsy sort of guy, the slap felt harder than usual.
Arthur’s internal alarm rose.
Penn had plenty of reasons to hate him, if he had guessed what Arthur had done.
But it wasn’t like Arthur could run. Keeping his composure, he followed Penn around to the other side of the arena. Sure enough, Marion was facing off against the young lady with the leather dress.
He wasn’t doing very well.
Marion could see several seconds into the future, which made him tricky to pin down. Unfortunately, his opponent seemed to have some sort of webbing power. Threads made of strands of air and moisture shot towards Marion who dodged with uncanny accuracy.
Until she managed to finally back him into a corner, where every move in the future resulted in her victory.
Strands of the netting wrapped around one of Marion’s arms and crawled up to his throat.
Use Wind Release, Arthur silently urged.
A focus blast of wind would handily disrupt the strands. It might even blow his opponent back across the arena. That would give Marion time to collect himself and strike back.
The other boy was barehanded. He had a card that allowed him to become instantly competent with any tool. It wasn’t as good as a sword, but his opponent didn’t carry a visible weapon either.
Marion could even cut the strands with a high enough skill with a dagger.
Marion, however, struggled, his face growing purple as he was cut off from air. Finally, he ceased his struggle and raised his hand to signal a defeat, but his opponent had a point to prove. She didn’t let up.
“He’s conceded!” Arthur yelled. “Let him go!”
Marion’s opponent didn’t react.
Choking, Marion’s eyes rolled up and he fell onto his knees. Several of the healers moved in with concerned expressions.
Only when they breached the barrier – Arthur saw that each healer wore a strip of fabric emblazoned with a rune tied to their upper arm that allowed them within – was Marion released.
The watching crowd groaned or cheered, depending on their bets.
Light flashed above, and Arthur realized a running account of the Legendary recruit list was displayed high above.
Marion had just sunk several places.
Arthur’s name had, as well. Just by virtue of not dueling.
Seeing that, his resolve firmed. His chances against Penn weren’t good, but he had gotten out of sticky situations before. If he managed to win, that was one step closer to the egg.
The healers worked their magic and Marion was soon back on his feet. The translucent shielding dropped, and he and his opponent cleared out.
Arthur caught Marion’s eye, and wished he had time to commiserate, but he had to get his head in the game. It was time to duel.
When he had slotted his new cards into his secondary anchor deck, the Self-Repair card and Phase In, Phase Out card had gone in without any fanfare.
Mana Amendment had required a little more attention.
In his mind’s eye, he saw the available cards. He picked Phase In, Phase Out.
In his mind’s eye, the two cards briefly merged with each other. As they separated again, Phase In Phase Out was altered.
Phase In, Phase Out
Teleportation
Rare
This card grants the wielder the ability to temporarily make their body incorporeal to pass through objects, or to allow objects to pass through them. Limit is 10 seconds of incorporeal time per hour, on a rolling basis.
(Temporary Mana Amendment effect)
When using mana, the limit is extended to 30 seconds of incorporeal time per hour, on a rolling basis.
That was a straight forward, but useful, boost.
The question was, could he find a way to beat Penn before his boost ran out? If he timed it right, each phase should only count as a fraction of a second. He could stretch 30 seconds into many uses.
As he walked into the arena, Arthur reached into his Personal Space and drew out a hammer. He had purchased it back when buying supplies – what felt like years ago instead of only a few days. After that, he had used the Instant Competence card to boost his hammer skills to level 14.
He and Penn reached the middle of the floor and turned to face each other. The semi-translucent shield went up behind them. Instantly, all sound from outside was cut off.
Come to think of it, Arthur hadn’t heard any noise From the duelists while outside. He had chalked that up to the noisy, enthusiastic crowd. But it seemed there was a sound dampener in effect.
Penn glanced at Arthur’s hammer and smirked. His hands were empty. In fact, he wasn’t wearing a sword sheath on his belt, and no daggers were visible.
However, Arthur wouldn’t bet against him having something up his sleeve.
And a moment later, he was proven right. Only Penn’s weapon of choice was psychological.
“I heard you put on quite a show last night, Arthur Kane,” he said, slightly mocking. “You ran for hours. I didn’t think you had it in you.”
So, it seemed he had heard.
Arthur tried to pass it off. “New stamina card,” he said, twirling the hammer in an expert way he hadn’t known how to do a few days ago. “That means I can outlast whatever you have in store.”
His attempts to get Penn to refocus on the duel didn’t work. “We both know that’s no simple stamina card.” Penn’s gaze was focused and icy. “You’re trying to play in the big leagues, Kane. But I saw you during the eruption—you might have a crafting card, but I didn’t see anything close to a Legendary power.”
Arthur was honestly insulted. “I saved your life like three times!”
“Using cute tricks – something any Rare or Uncommon card could pull off. But you have something powerful in your heart now, don’t you? Something that enhances your body.”
Oh no.
Arthur pulled what he hoped was an affronted and confused look. “What are you getting at? Are we going to talk, or are we going to fight?”
“I want you to tell me who sold you the card. You know the one I mean.”
Yeah, he wasn’t going to do that.
Arthur’s plan had been to wait for Penn to attack, Phase through it, and surprise him with a counterattack.
But fear and desperation to change the subject made Arthur desperate enough to attack instead.
He ran at Penn, bringing down the hammer, which Penn easily sidestepped. With a fluid motion Arthur couldn’t follow, Penn used Arthur’s own momentum to spin him around. His fist struck the back of Arthur’s head hard enough to briefly ring his bell. A second hit his left kidney.
Grimacing, Arthur fell to his knees. Penn grabbed the back of his shirt and hauled him back up again, spinning him around. “I’ll make this easy,” he said, “tell me who sold you your Master of Body Enhancement card, or I’ll beat it out of you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Arthur said, still playing shocked. Though he had taken a hit to the head, he felt his thoughts clear up quickly. The self-healing card kicking in. “Penn this is a duel. What are you doing?”
Penn shoved him away. “This is one of the few places in this forsaken hive no one can hear us speak. I know where your card came from. I don’t blame you too much – you’re poor, and you’re the unwanted son of a borderland baron. I get it.”
Hot, undiluted anger washed through him. For a moment Arthur wasn’t standing in an arena. He stood before his cabin back home, watching the baron’s men destroy his and his father’s meager possessions. Several dozen feet away, two graves sat marking his mother and his sister.
Arthur screamed at his cousin. “You don’t understand a damn thing!”
He didn’t expect Penn’s anger to rise in turn. “You don’t get what that card meant to my father – what it means for my family. Tell me who stole it so I can get justice. I know it wasn’t you. Tell me and I’ll end this duel easily for you.” His voice darkened. “Or we can do it the hard way. Your choice.”
“You know where I came from, Penn,” Arthur said, lifting the hammer. The talk had given his Self Repair card time to do its work. He felt fresh and ready to battle. “We don’t do things easy on the border.”
Penn’s expression was hard. “For what it’s worth, I didn’t want to do this.”
Then Penn came at him, still barehanded. But with his Master of Combat, he didn’t need a weapon to defeat Arthur.
Arthur swung his hammer again. This time, Penn raised an arm to block.
Arthur phased through Penn’s arm—A motion that took a fraction of a second — and continued his swing right at the side of Penn’s head. Something he would have never considered if there weren’t a covey of healers surrounding them.
Penn, however, had a card focused on combat. And Arthur… simply wasn’t practiced.
Penn’s foot hooked around Arthur’s ankle and his swing went wide at the last second as he lost his footing. Arthur staggered back, arms thrown out instinctively for balance. In that unguarded moment, Penn jabbed his diaphragm which knocked the air out of him. He followed that up by punching Arthur in the face.
Arthur went down, wheezing for breath. He scrambled backwards, throwing up a hand to defend against Penn… but the final blow didn’t land.
Penn had not followed up to finish the duel.
In fact, he stood back, waiting for Arthur to collect himself.
Confused, Arthur stood up again, feeling a trickle of blood coming out his nose.
“This ends when you tell me what I want to hear,” Penn said, grimly.
Arthur understood.
Penn was going to beat Arthur down again and again until Arthur told him what he needed to know. Public humiliation and not a little bit of pain.
Well, Arthur wasn’t going to give in that easily.
He rushed at Penn again, this time, switching the hammer for a shovel from his Personal Space mid-swing. He hoped the surprise would be enough to land a hit.
Penn easily caught his wrist, and with a twist, disarmed him.
Then he hit Arthur again on the other side of the face. Arthur Phased through the next punch, but the moment he solidified again, Penn kneed him in the stomach.
Ugh, he thought, He had to watch Penn’s feet.
Arthur doubled over and took the punch straight in the eye. Light exploded in his vision like he was staring briefly at the sun.
The next moment, he found himself sitting on the ground. Penn stood a few feet away, waiting for him to stand back up and take another beating.
Then something else flashed in front of Arthur’s eyes.
New Body Enhancement gained: Toughened Skin (Body)
Due to your card’s bonus traits, you automatically start this skill at level 3.
New Body Enhancement gained: Blunt Force Damage Resistance (Body)
Due to your card’s bonus traits, you automatically start this skill at level 3.
Arthur’s eyes widened, and though there was blood running down his nose into his mouth, he smiled.
Time to change his perspective. This wasn’t a beat-down. This… this was training.
