Chapter Thirty-Two
Now with the card in his hand, he stared down at the shining picture, hesitant. He wasn’t sure how he felt about using a card that changed him. Normal cards he could remove from his deck with little to no issues except from potential instability in his foundation, but this card would change him.
He wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. What did race purification even mean? Did it make him a better version of himself or something different? Would he even be himself anymore? If the snake wanted it so badly, even if it apparently didn’t give her much benefits, it had to be a good thing. Right?
“Hurry up and use it. Both of our times are running out. There is a reason the other spirits kicked you out so quick. It takes a lot of energy to maintain our consciousness. I am more powerful than most, but even I have my limits and I’ll need as much power as possible for what happens next.”
Still hesitant, he turned his attention to the chunk of wood. “What does this card do exactly?”
“It will purify your race, bringing you as close as the card can to a perfect version of your current self. I can’t say for sure how many effects it will have, but for your sake, you better hope it is enough. Those fairies are picky little creatures.”
“What do you mean by purify my race? My parents said I am a mix of elven races, so will it purify them all or will one take control?”
“There is only one race that matters in your lineage, and it is a part of everything you are. Like I said, I can’t say for sure how it will affect you, but it won’t change what is you, it will just improve it. Now hurry time is running short.”
Arden stared down at the card for a couple more moments before releasing a sigh. Sometimes he just had to take a risk, but was it a needed risk? Maybe he didn’t need the race purification to complete his class card quest. Was it worth risking failure because he feared what the card may do to him, though?
From the stories he read, he never heard of a onetime use card hurting the user, but that might be because those harmed died in obscurity.
His face hardened a moment later. If he wasn’t willing to take risks, he wouldn’t make it far. No, he needed every advantage he could get, and this card was one of them. He would just have to live with the side effects if there were any and besides, if it changed him, he may not realize the changes.
That thought sent a shiver through him, but before he could back out, he tapped the card on his right Ortus bracelet and closed his eyes. Several heartbeats passed with nothing happening, prompting him to open his eyes once more to see his bracelets flashing rapidly.
With an internal wince, he opened his Ortus menu, but the first notification wasn’t what he expected, nor was the second.
Full set of Nature affinity manipulation cards detected.
Would you like to merge them to form Nature Manipulation (Epic)?
Warning! The resulting card will reset to level 1.
Full set of Nature affinity resistance cards detected.
Would you like to merge them to form Nature Resistance (Epic)?
Warning! The resulting card will reset to level 1.
Confusion reigned as he knew he didn’t have a full set in his deck for either type. Did it count cards on his person? But that didn’t explain how he had a full set of resistance cards. He didn’t have wood resistance.
The tree spirit’s presence fluttered in impatience, but he ignored it as he dug his hand into his pocket to pull out his stack of cards. To his surprise, several new cards joined the stack, a couple of wood attunement cards he would go through later, including Wood Resistance and Melody of the Forest.
“Oh, I forgot about the required rewards. I formed them in your external deck. I’m guessing you received the merge notifications? I suggest you accept them. A better deck may help with your race purification as they affect your core.”
Arden nodded his head and focused on the prompt for Nature Manipulation, wincing as he realized he would reset his highest-level card to level one, but with how easy it was to level the first time, he should regain the levels fairly quick. Plus, the versatility made up for it.
He sent his acceptance to the prompt, then a wave of weakness hit him as the manipulation cards within his deck expelled themselves. At the same time, the Fungi manipulation card in his pocket floated up to join the cards.
In a blink, all five cards merged, forming a new card which dropped into his hand. He immediately inspected it. The picture had a shining holographic five tailed swirl, each tail a different shade of green.
Nature Manipulation (Epic) Level 1
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Type: Manipulation
Affinity: Nature
Attunement: Nature
Effect 1: Use mana to manipulate nature. Must be in the user’s active hand.
Simple description. He wasn’t sure what a nature attuned card would do to his deck balance, but there was no turning back now. Yet another thing his parents neglected to tell him. Not that it would have changed the outcome. He would earn all types, anyway.
Arden tapped the card on his bracelet, depositing it into his deck, then immediately putting it into his active hand. He doubted he would ever remove it from his active hand. The best part about the card was it saved on both deck space and hand space. If he used all his manipulation cards at once, he would fill half his active hand, then with the melody cards, there wouldn’t be much space left. At the thought of his latest melody card, he fished it out of his pocket and inspected it.
Melody of the Forest (Epic)
Type: Ability Card
Affinity: Nature
Attunement: Wood
Effect: Listen to the melody of life to aid in control of the forest. Increased mana usage improves guidance. Must be in the user’s active hand.
Without hesitation, he added it to his deck and put it into his active hand before refocusing on his notifications.
Full set of Nature affinity resistance cards detected.
Would you like to merge them to form Nature Resistance (Epic)?
Warning! The resulting card will reset to level 1.
He accepted, causing the same series of merging as the manipulation card set.
Similar to Nature Manipulation, the card had all five attunements represented, but instead of a swirl, it was a wall woven in five shades of green.
Nature Resistance (Epic) Level 1
Type: Resistance
Affinity: Nature
Attunement: Nature
Effect 1: When in use, a passive draw on mana will provide nature resistance. Must be in the user’s passive hand to function.
Like the other cards, he added it to his deck and slotted it into his passive hand. Surprisingly, even with five epic rarity cards in his deck, he didn’t feel the weight from before. Maybe the Nature attunement cards balanced things out.
Since the tree spirit said it would be better to make his deck the best it could be, he fished out the other cards he received from the latest trial, leaving the spare Poison Resistance card, Dispense Spore and the lily pad card in his pocket.
The first card made his heart jump. If only he had the full set of the card, but the two of them was already amazing. Besides, he had some slots open in his passive hand now that he only needed one resistance card.
Wood Boost (Rare) Level 1
Type: Passive card
Affinity: Nature
Attunement: Wood
Effect: Passively draw mana to boost the effects of wood attuned cards. Effect scales with level current boost ten percent. Must be in the user’s passive hand to activate.
Unfortunately, his manipulation card wouldn’t work with the boost cards, but he couldn’t complain. He definitely would be on the lookout for the other three of the set, if they even counted as a set.
After adding the card to his deck and slotting it into his passive hand, he moved onto the next card, which was holographic, like the previous card. He was collecting a lot of rare cards.
As nice as they were, it limited how many cards he could fit in his deck. What was better? A hundred leveled common cards or a couple dozen rare cards? Something to think about for the future, but for now, he would take any card he could get his hands on.
The next card almost made him do a happy dance. It had a holographic picture of contorting vines.
Conjure Roots (Rare) Level 1
Type: Spell card
Affinity: Nature
Attunement: Wood
Effect: Use mana to conjure roots. Potency and yield depend on the amount of mana used. Must be in the user’s active hand.
If the card was anything like the roots of the trial, he could find many uses for it. Though it made his Vine Extension card useless. What was the point in growing and extending vines when he could conjure roots that served a similar purpose? To be sure, he needed to do some testing, but that wouldn’t come until later.
Arden added the card to his deck then into his active hand before shifting his attention back to the notifications, suddenly nervous as there was only one notification left and he knew what it would say.
He already decided before the unexpected boon. No backing out now.
Face hardened, he opened the notification.
Single use card detected.
Would you like to consume Race Purification?
Warning! All changes performed are permanent.
Before he could back out, he selected accept, then sat down and released a calming breath, eyes drifting closed.
The expected pain didn’t come, however. Instead, a comforting warmth spread through his body. A wave of weakness hit him. He looked inward to find three cards activated on their own, but not in a normal way.
A melody reached his ears but with growing horror he felt the melody crumble as the cards themselves absorbed into his body. Three extra potent streams of mana that was once the cards flowed to his core. Instead of settling there, they jumped the gap between his tether and his core and disappeared deep within him.
When they disappeared, the melody silenced.
He didn’t have time to mourn the loss, as in the next moment, his bracelets shined once more, this time with far more power. Soon, the surrounding mana ran dry, except for a potent source he assumed was the tree spirit.
Something connected to him from the lone remaining source of power in his surroundings, sending a spear of agony through him as it burrowed deep within him, bypassing his bracelets and resistances as if they weren’t there.
Like the cards, it entered his mana core, only pausing for a moment before leaping the gap and disappearing deep within him. The pain, along with the sole source of energy in his direct surroundings, disappeared.
Still hungry, his bracelets reached passed his perception, but a vague sense of direction grew the horror building within him. There was nothing he could do to stop what was happening, though.
He tried to move, but his bracelets felt unbearably heavy. They didn’t cause discomfort, but if he even thought about moving them, they remained fixed at their resting points on his knees.
Soon, two more potent sources reached him. One far weaker than the other, as if it cut in half, neither as potent as the tree spirit.
In the distance, he felt a flash of power, not unlike the one filling his bracelets to their breaking point.
His connection to his bracelets sputtered as his bracelets burned. Then he lost the connection to them all together.
The last thing he felt before a wave of energy crashed through him as the floodgates opened was a vague sense of shrinking. Unable to handing the torrent, blackness took hold, but like entering a trial he awakened somewhere else entirely.