You have been granted the title Tinker King.

Your tinker card has upgraded to Epic rarity.

Finley continued down the road. The messages from his soul deck were a distraction at best. It wasn't that he cared that much. It was just that he hadn't been on the road in so long. He wanted to savor the ride.

Staying put felt odd to him.

But this? The open road? This was familiar. This was home.

It was a bit quieter than he thought it would be but it would probably pick up. He hadn't seen hide nor hair of any travelers approaching the mountains, but he had left early in the morning and the closest village was a days travel away.

He breathed in and then checked his active deck. He always kept two cards in. He had to. Those two had bonded to his spirit and his body for so long that to take them out would mean death. Other cards he swapped around as needed.

Epic Class Card: Tinker Level 3

Skills:

Appraisal Level 3

Identify Level 3

Animal Handling Level 3

Storage Level 3

King Level 1

As the last remaining Tinker you have the ability to induct new people into the family.

This is a soul card and cannot be removed.

Rare Class Card: Spore Druid Level 5

Skills:

Wild shape Level 2

Plant and Fungal Control Level 5

Elemental Magic Level 1

Survival Level 4

Medicine Level 3

This card grants mana.

As a spore druid you have enhanced control over plants and Fungi.

This is a soul card and cannot be removed.

His Tinker card showed the classic design of a tinker covered wagon camping. With the upgrade to Tinker King a little crown had adorned the hut. He was confused by the message as he didn't understand the prompt. The card displayed itself in front of him showed a three dimensional representation of the actual magical artifact inside of his body.

Getting an epic card was a dream come true as those were quite few and far between. How his legendary Tinker card had upgraded was troubling but there wasn't anything that he could do about it.

For him to receive the Tinker King title meant that every other suitable tinker had to have died. That was a chilling amount of deaths if the last tinker summit was correct on the census of living tinkers. The title passed on between members of the family through some arcane method that had never been adequately explained to him. It wasn't his original soul card, which made him even more concerned.

He had traded several of his cards recently and realized that he only had a few left in his stock that were all common or uncommon skills or abilities. He had plenty of card pieces that he could use to make a new card if he wanted to spend the five minutes to make another but he didn't feel the need. With forty two pieces he could make up to six or seven common or uncommon cards, or perhaps a rare if he spent some mana.

His druid powers would defend him and he didn't fear anything wild. The mares trotted on.

Two hours after he departed, he decided that it would be time to stretch his legs.

He also for the first time that day saw another person.

A stout human with a beard and a top knot was walking down the cleared path. When they saw each other, he gave the normal wave. Having not spoken to anyone by choice for days, Finley relished the opportunity to talk to someone and perhaps take on a passenger for the price of their fare.

"Whoa there, human you are far from Home and hearth stone. Are you headed to the Irumi Kingdom on foot? You're three days by riding away."

The man held up a hand, his expression uncertain. Finley reminded himself that humans were a generally fast talking bunch that lived on a timescale that elves didn't understand.

"Irumi? I'm sorry are you an elf?"

The cleared dirt road between the pine trees was as good a space to stop as any. Finley bade his mares to slow down.

"I am indeed good sir. Tree elf and Tinker by trade at your service. Should you need rations or a ride to the city, all can be bought for a price."

"Ah you see. I don't have any money on me."

Finley immediately suspected a trap and looked around for a pack of hiding bandits. He called upon his natural affinity skills to search the trees and grass for intruders but found none. All this happened in a short time while he kept his eyes locked on the man.

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"No money? How did you end up here, then?"

"I'm not actually sure. I was doing a case report on my latest patient and all of a sudden a goddess yanked me into wherever here is and gave me this magical card and asked me to kill some zombies? Does that sound familiar?"

"Ah. You have been summoned. When the world needs heroes, sometimes the gods summon a hero to do the job. Usually they summon one or two. I know several stories about those types of events. I don't run a charity though, so I presume she gave you a class card of some kind?"

The man wavered. His odd clothes with their bright blue colors looked both regal and like a high grade textile.

"This is normal? I guess that makes sense. She gave me a choice and I picked the cleric of Yil class. Do you know anything about it?"

"It's got several skills on it?"

"Yes?"

Finley sighed audibly.

"A tinker can't turn down a hero. Get on. Next to me here," he said, patting the bench, "And tell me all about exactly what she said to you. If a god is going to show up with a hero on my doorstep this had been be a good story for me to tell the family. I'm Finley."

"Anthony."

---

"So back in Brooklyn where I was a midwife with my son, I delivered babies for mothers."

"Human mothers?"

"Yes. There were no other enlightened races there so...anyway we had a catchy name. Father and Son Midwives. You wouldn't think of a man as a midwife but I am a nurturer. Had to go back to school to get my masters degree in midwifery, that was a trip but worth it. There's just something about helping deliver life into the world. Plus babies are cute."

"I imagine they are," Finley said.

"Not a fan?"

"Not particularly."

The evergreen pines nearly ended up ahead when Finley saw someone in a woodsman's outfit walking down the road. The man was shambling ahead of them, facing away.

"He looks like the walking dead, I should try to heal him."

Finley held up a hand. The two bay mares whinnied giving off a sense that they wanted to be anywhere but here.

"Something is wrong. This might be a bandit attack. Stay vigilant."

"Oh crap," Anthony said, "I never even got a weapon."

"There's a club. On your left. Anthony you're brandishing the club all wrong. Two hands. Strong hand on top. I'm going to try to steer wide. Hold on."

"To what?"

Finley moved the reins pushing his horses to go right around the shambling man. On his left, the man began to turn. His skin looked off, but not far from what Finley considered the normal hues for humans.

"Those eyes," Anthony hissed, "that's not human."

"If you have any offensive spells, this is the time to use them," Finley said, his voice cracking, "Yah!"

He let his animal handling skill take the forefront as he spurred the beasts into motion. The trot became a fast gallop as the man lunged towards them.

"Take this!" Anthony said, whipping the club at the mans head.

The club and the man both went down, much to Finley's consternation. That had been a nice club and he wasn't likely to turn around for a lost item. He gripped the reins harder.

The caravan passed it picking up speed as the horses drew themselves towards the center.

"Head through the caravan-don't touch anything-and see if you can get a shot at him," Finley yelled over the sound of the hooves.

"Got it! Shit shit shit..."

Anthony clambered back through the neatly stacked rows of general goods before opening the flap that lead to the back.

"Finley! He's running after us!"

"What do you mean, he's running after us? YAH!"

"I mean- HE IS RUNNING AFTER US!"

"SO USE A SPELL, HERO!"

"I'M TRYING! Holy bolt!"

The already bright day turned to a half shadow, half blindingly bright as Anthony's spell rocked the path. Both bay mares whinnied, but continued on.

Finley waited a tense five seconds before turning to look through the caravan. Anthony was standing there, blinking as he turned away from the light. It had died down by that point. Finley suspected that the after effects were going to last far longer than intended.

That heroes started with a strong class card when the gods called them up was a boon that couldn't be denied. Finley felt a twinge of jealousy, before a hand touched his shoulder. Anthony's head dipped out as he too looked towards the crater they had left in their wake.

"That was a little bit much don't you think?"

"Yeah ow I can't see anything. Did I get him?"

A puff of smoke from the blast obscured their view.

"I can't tell from here."

"Well, I can't see," Anthony said.

Finley turned his head to look at the road. Whatever was behind him wouldn't immediately kill them. What was in front of him, could.

"There's more of them!"

Four more men shambled along the pines, limping like they had broken ankles. The tell tale sign of a drunken student or toddler, Finley found out at that moment, also applied to zombies.

"I hope you have some mana left!"

"What?"

"Try to heal your eyes! There's more of them!"

Holy light seeped out of the caravan as Anthony cast something. Finley hoped that it was a heal spell, but he had known humans to be a bit stupid.

Humans were the only enlightened race that were not born with a card in their core. As such they had to acquire or make their own. This made them a hungry enemy, but nothing near the rapidly approaching zombies.

"This is insane. I'm going to die here," he whispered.

"Oh, come on. It's not all bad. Those four are out of our path on the road. They probably won't get in..."

The lead zombie lunged, stepping into a run.

"Shit!"

Anthony's head ducked back into the caravan.

"Oh no you don't, you come back here with your healing spells!"

The three behind it were still behind the treeline as the lead zombie went to intercept the horses. Finley wondered if his mares tasted good briefly before tugging on the reins to alter their course. Horse meat wouldn't taste right no matter what he did to it.

The road which had been clear cut to be wide enough for three horse drawn wagons at a time, wasn't big enough for the two of them.

Finley sighed and began casting a spell to entangle the zombie. Mushrooms grew rapidly in front of it to trip the monster. Then the fungi held onto it, not letting it move forward. It fell, still ahead of them. The horses ran straight over the body and a loud crack sounded.

They passed by the other three, who had finally broken through the trees. Finley stole a glance behind him to see Anthony retching out of the back of the caravan. At least he had the decency to relieve his stomach pressure outside of his method of conveyance.

If there was one thing that Finley detested, it was an unclean caravan. It made him itch.

"Uh, Finley? Problem."

"Yes?"

"Do people usually rise up after their bodies have been crushed by a horse and cart in your world?"

"Not really. Why?"

"Also do you remember the first guy I hit with my magic?"

"That guy I remember."

Finley shuck a look back after making sure that the road was clear ahead. Four undead men were running after them. A fifth that was missing a third of his torso was behind them.

"Shit."

"Shit."

"Hold the reins," Finley said, pulling the man out to take his place.

Finley pulled on his mana reserves to grow a wall of vines behind the caravan. He focused on a spot that was moving and...there.

A four foot tall plant wall popped up, growing with incredible speed. It wouldn't last long. He just needed to slow them down so they could make their escape.

The zombies slammed into the wall as it entangled them, pulling their bodies to the ground. It wouldn't kill them, just incapacitate them for long enough that they would be out of range.

Finley slumped in the back of the caravan. He hadn't even had the time to give the stranger instructions on how to handle the horses, though the man seemed to be doing just fine.

He counted to three and then made his way back to the front. If the human couldn't see then he was probably driving blind and they were too far from the next town to have a breakdown.

Anthony was still breathing heavily when he arrived. Finley almost reached for his animal handling skill to calm the man before realizing it wouldn't do nearly as much as he wanted it to do. Or really anything, unless the man identified as a domesticated pack animal. That was a question that he hadn't gotten around to asking in the half hour they had known each other.

"I'll take it from here, human," he said, slipping back into his comfortable seat.

"Yeah. Please do."