Outside of himself, Arthur was aware of people talking, quick shushes, and the occasional playful squeal of a new-hatched dragon. He had forgotten out loud and shrill the first few weeks after coming out of the shell.

He put all of that aside and did not allow his concentration to waver from the cards.

New Body Enhancement Skill: Focus Under Pressure

Due to your card’s bonus traits, you automatically start this skill at level 5.

New Skill Level: Meditation (Insight Class)

Level 19

He let the alerts for the new skills wash over him, though he was somewhat aware there had to be a connection between the two. He was in a state of focus so pure it almost felt meditative.

It helped to know that any time his attention truly wavered, he was at risk of destroying Cressida’s cards forever.

Mechanically, Arthur popped more mana chips in his mouth.

His draining mana vault was restored, and he continued on.

Slowly—ever so slowly, like the ember of a coal burning its way across a wet page—new letters etched themselves into the card at the end of each description. And just as slowly, those new letters became words.

It was much more than a change at the surface. Every swoop of a mark that would eventually make up a letter adjusted the card’s matrix underneath. One bad move could start a chain reaction that would corrupt it and eventually cause the entire card to collapse.

He was already further along than he had been with the practice cards, and he never could have gotten this far with one card – much less all four at once – if not for the fact there was an aspect of malleability to the cards he had never felt before.

In a distant corner of his mind that was not utterly committed to the process, he realized that made sense. These cards had rested in Cressida’s heart, and she wanted this to happen strongly enough that she would put herself at great risk. He had always thought of the heart growing and changing around the cards within it.

Until now, it had never occurred to him that the reverse could be true.

Finally – finally – the new line at the end of all four cards was complete.

“This card is part of the Animal Summoning set. Seek out new animal summons in order to complete this set.”

It was a version of the same phrasing that was at the end of his Master set, and an indication that all the cards in the same set existed in the world.

With a mental breath, he let go of his hold of the cards and felt the new phrasing settle into place within the matrix. It felt as satisfying as slipping in the last piece of a complicated puzzle. And, oddly, it felt just as well. As if the cards themselves had been waiting for this moment.

New Level Increased: Card Intuition (Card Smith class)

Level 15

New level gained: Card Manipulation (Card Smith class)

Level 9.

New level gained: Card Repair (Card Smith class)

Level 7.

New level gained: Card Insight (Card Smith class)

Level 6.

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New Skill Gained: Set Creation

Due to your card’s bonus traits, you automatically start this skill at level 5.

Suddenly, his focus shattered and the rest of the world outside of himself took on meaning again.

He could smell the scent of burned food and charred spices in the air. Marion must have been trying to cook again, with Soledad adding her part with her emphasis on what she called ‘southern spices’.

Closer, Cressida sat next to Arthur – her body a warm line against his own.

Brixaby, who had long ago returned from a hunt with Joy, sat on the other side. He growled something darkly under his breath, but Arthur felt too fuzzy to pick up on it.

Speaking of that, he was soaking with sweat, yet his throat felt as dry as the deadened lands. His head pounded so hard that his vision swam in front of him.

But none of that mattered because in front of him sat four cards of the same deck.

New Hidden Class Unlocked: Cardomancy

You may combine these eight skills into the hidden Cardomancy class:

Card Shuffling

Card Counting

Card Intuition

Card Repair

Card Insight

Set Creation

As this is a hidden class, there are no average skill level requirements, and may draw upon skills already in existing classes.

When equipped, card wielder will learn all Cardomancy Class levels at a 1.25 times rate in addition to existing skill bonuses.

+ 5 to Luck

+3 Charisma

+ 20% efficiency to all mana-based cards in the heart deck.

Enhanced synergy between all skills in this class.

Succeeding with the cards had already been worth it, but this was the icing on top.

Cressida must have realized that he had come out of his extreme state of concentration. “Arthur?” she asked gently, laying a hand on his shoulder.

“I did it,” Arthur said, and then promptly passed out.

****

Arthur woke up laying flat on his back and staring right into the face of a Silver dragon. Asha was young and unusually fine boned, with a thin, delicate muzzle that emphasized luminous eyes.

Like most hatchlings, except for Brixaby, Asha had started growing from the moment she broke her shell several weeks back. She was now the size of a large dog, and fairly intimidating as she practically stood on top of him grinning a dragon’s smile full of teeth.

“I breathed on you,” Asha said.

Considering that she had a powerful Breath of Healing card, this was no bad thing. “Thank you?” Arthur croaked. He wasn’t in a bed, he realized. He was lying on the floor – he probably hadn’t been out for more than a few minutes.

“I did my part, too,” Marion drawled. He stood nearby and tapped his dragon’s shoulder to get her to move away from Arthur. “You were suffering from dehydration, the beginnings of heat-stroke, and for some reason, a buildup of lactic acid in all your limbs.”

Arthur stared at him. “What?”

“It was as if you were running all day,” Marion clarified. “I would have applied healing spells before you fainted, but I was told that may interrupt your concentration. No matter, how do you feel?”

Arthur thought about it for a moment. “Fine,” he said, a little surprised. It felt like he had just woken from a satisfying sleep. That must be Marion’s Full-Body Polish card kicking in.

Now that the weight of a young dragon was off him, he was able to sit up—where he was surprised to see himself the center of attention from the rest of his retinue and his own dragon. Brixaby looked severely annoyed while Cressida was slightly teary.

“I shouldn’t have asked you to do that,” Cressida blurted out, as if she had been holding the words in by force alone.

Arthur shook his head. He did not ask if the cards had truly become a set, because he felt that they had both in the last moments before he passed out, and most importantly, in her heart deck. Through his Master of Cards, he could feel the power of her cards more clearly than ever before. They acted as one, as a set.

“No, it was worth it. I got so many skill increases, and a new class,” he said, adding that last part to mollify Brixaby. “It’s a good one, too.”

His dragon’s blood-red eyes narrowed. “You will tell me the details of his class later. Though… if it is good, it might have been worth it to see you collapse.” He threw a truly evil look at Cressida. “My rider has given you a gift. Be sure you use it well.”

Or else, was heavily implied.

She straightened, and though she still looked regretful, her noble pride wouldn’t allow her to take the chastisement sitting down.

“I will.” Chin lifted, she made a slight motion with one finger. All her animal summons puffed into view. They were the same shapes Arthur was used to seeing, but now they looked more… real. The flames on Whicker looked exactly like short fur with darker orange shadings along the joints of the legs as if the light were reaching those parts differently. The water cranes moved exactly like real birds and started to peck at hopeful crumbs on the floor. The spiked hedgehog appeared obediently by her ankles and stood on its hind legs to look up at her, its nose twitching back and forth. And the kittens…

Arthur had to look away from the adorable kittens as they tumbled together. If you gave them more than a brief glance, you would be watching them whether you wanted to or not.

“They can now draw power from one another,” Cressida said, “and they use much less mana to summon and maintain.”

“Good.” Arthur got to his feet slowly, wary of any light-headedness or pain. There was neither. Between the Breath of Healing and the Body Polish, he was back to normal – if completely drained of his own mana. “If that’s the case, I think it’s just about time we returned to our own kingdom.”

He looked around at the others one by one, pausing for a moment on Soledad and her own dragon who stood off to the side. Equinox was the same age as Asha. As a red dragon, he had no problem playing with figurative fire and was watching the mind-capturing kittens with a dumbstruck look on his face, even though he knew better.

Horatio stood off to the side, watching Arthur with his arms crossed. Arthur returned the look.

“Horatio, I know you’ve been wanting to save the surprise, but it’s past time we knew your card’s power.”

Horatio grinned – with his long face and slightly crooked teeth, it wasn’t the best look. But Soledad smiled back at him with a slightly sappy expression in her eyes.

“As a matter of fact,” Horatio said, “I was going to show you today, though when I got back here, I saw you were trying to upstage me by doing the impossible and then swooning away.”

“I didn’t swoon—”

“Right in Cressida’s arms,” he confirmed. Then before Arthur could tell him off, he added, “But if you insist, why don’t you come outside. I’ll show you what Sams and I have whipped up.”