Noah wasn’t sure how to bring his bed back out of the wall. There were a bunch of buttons, all color-coded, but he honestly couldn’t remember which one he had hit to bring it out the first time.
He gingerly touched a black button, hoping it was black for ‘night.’
A cheap washing basin, just a square sink that unfolded from six sides with a hole in corner against the wall, capped off by a faucet, swung out of the wall.
Mok laughed, and chattered at Noah rapid fire. Before Lika could translate, Mok pointed up toward a neon-pink button.
Noah was half convinced Mok was screwing with him, but he took a chance and pushed the button.
The sink folded back into the wall and the bed slid out.
“Thanks,” Noah said, and the goblin gave a weird forward-arm salute with a clenched fist. Noah cringed, since it bore a slight resemblance to the Nazi salute, but he knew there was no way the goblin could be referencing Earth history that was now nearly obsolete.
Noah sat on the edge of the bed, and Lika came and sat next to him, quite close. Like with Mok, Noah knew that Lika didn’t mean what an American woman might have meant by sitting super close to Noah.
“So, the cards?” she asked, bouncing up and down slightly like the human child whose height she shared might have done.
“Sure. We’ll do one last card and deck check before we head out.”
Mok said something, a series of words.
Lika glanced up, still, all the energy of a few minutes before gone. “No, Mok. Not you. Just us.”
Mok stood slightly, his eyes wide, and spouted off a longer, louder string of gutturals in a language Noah still didn’t know a single word of.
Lika stood from the side of the bed and walked over to him, throwing her arms around the male goblin, hugging him tight, then leaned back. “I’m sorry, Mok. I can’t lose my last harem member.”
Mok muttered something else.
“I know I could get more, but I, uh, don’t want to right now. But I can’t lose you. You’re the only one that stuck around when everything was bad, and lived to tell about it. Me and Noah… we’re over Level Ten now, and—”
Mok whistled and thumped Lika on the back.
She smiled at him. “Yeah, exactly. So, what I’m say is, I need to go with Noah. It’s my duty, but also, I think it’s for the best. But you’re too weak, now. I need you to stay, okay?”
Mok hesitated, but after a few moments, he nodded once, hard.
“Thanks, mate,” Lika said, her face set in a frown.
Then she smiled again, and it was as if the sun cleared away the clouds. “But, enough of that! Want to check cards with us?”
Mok chattered excitedly, and the two of them wandered back to the bed, each taking a seat very close to Noah, one on either side.
Noah shifted uncomfortably. Yeah, a very different cultural vibe. I don’t think goblins have a lot of personal space taboos.
“C’mon, c’mon,” Lika said. “I can’t wait to put some amazing new cards in my deck! Or do mergers.”
Noah opened the packs. His two common Golem packs yielded nine common and one uncommon card, nine of which were also Golem. The rare pack, which had a five percent chance to have a legendary card, disappointed a bit when it had a rare, three uncommon, and two common. One of the uncommon cards was a Mortal card, but one of the uncommon cards was an enhancer card.
Seven of the eleven common cards were not that exciting to Noah, for one reason or another—mostly lack of synergy with his existing cards.
Same with two of the uncommon cards.
Of the common, he got two more each of the Technomancer Tinkerer and the Scavenged Battle Bot.
Noah took the Technomancers and merged them to the one he had, creating a tier-2 Technomancer Tinkerer. Sadly, it gained only a few stats, nothing new or noteworthy.
Technomancer Tinkerer
Common Tier-2 Mortal/Golem Creature (Mage, Magitek, Scavenger, Technomancer, Cyber)
1 Mortal or Golem Power
Health: 10
Attack: 2
Defense: 3
Magical Attack: 4[Lightning]
Magical Defense: 3
Special: Repair [4] Can heal 4 damage to any Golem card as a replacement action to attacking.
Special: Tinkerer: May combine any 2 Component or Machine tokens to create new overworld token cards.
“The merger of magic and the old tech will produce the most powerful things imaginable—” Larry Redtrack, Wasteland Tinkerer.
Lika did the same with her Scavenger Battle Bot, and was similarly disappointed.
Then they spread out the uncommon and rare cards. The first uncommon was the enhancer.
Stolen novel; please report.
“Nice,” Noah said as he held it. “There was only about a fifty percent chance, even over four packs, that we would see a specialty card. Although I really wanted more buildings.”
“Stop hogging it!” Lika said and grabbed the card from Noah. She held it out. All three of them stared at it.
Wasteland Modder
Uncommon Tier-1 Golem Enhancer
0 Power
The person equipped with the card can treat any one Power as Golem power on each card play, and counts as a ‘Scavenger’ card for purposes that effect this.
“Those that survived the apocalypse became masters at making everything count.”
Noah stared at the card, irritated. It was obviously for Lika and not him—he was already treated as a scavenger from his own perks.
“It’s yours,” Noah said. “It’ll help you synergize with your own deck.”
“Oh yeah,” she said, fiddling with her deck.
But Noah was more excited for the second uncommon card that had looked unusual.
Acolyte of Mechos
Tier-1 Uncommon Mortal [Cyber, Technomancer, Priest, Mechos]
1 Mortal Power [available]
Health: 8
Attack: 3
Magical Attack: 0
Defense: 3
Magical Defense: 3
Special: Jury-Rigger: Doubles the value of any Scrap Token
Special: May convert a single scrap to a full heal of any Golem, and +5 maximum Health and +1 to all stats to any [scavenged] Golem for as long as it remains on the field.
Special: Apocalypse Scavenger 1: This card may process Mortal ruins to create scrap tokens. Approximately a motorcycle worth of components and one hour is necessary to create one token. It may have a single scrap token tied to it.
“The recovery of the technological society of Earth shall be the priority of every acolyte of Mechos.”—Crystal, High Priest of Mechos.
Lika stared at the card. “That’s pretty amazing for your deck, honestly. Although you could use some really powerful golems, now that you have a ton of Golem Power and Golem enhancers.”
Noah nodded, then stared at the rare card.
Guardian of the Realm
Rare Tier-1 Golem [Cyber] Creature
5 Golem Power and 1 Cyber Token
Health: 40
Attack: 18
Defense: 15
Magical Attack: N/A
Magical Defense: 15
Special: Perfect Guardian: Even if a card says that it allows an attack on a deckbearer, this ability forces all other cards to target this card before a deckbearer.
Special: Realm Guardian: If played inside the borders of the deckbearer’s realm, this card’s play cost is changed to “1 Golem Power.”
Special: Eternal Guardian: This card has an unlimited time in play so long as it remains inside a Prime realm, but it cannot benefit from any increases to its stats except Prime Motivation past its normal time of play
Special: Prime Motivation: If the deckbearer has a Prime Realm in their deck, or a Prime enhancer, this card gains +3 to all non-health stats and +20 Health for each.
“This is a near-pinnacle achievement for our recovery”—Crystal, High Priest of Mechos
“Alrighty, that is both amazing and insanely disappointing, right?” Lika asked.
Mok muttered something, but Lika didn’t respond.
“It also raises a ton of questions,” Noah said. “What the heck is a Cyber Token and how do we get it? What is a Prime enhancer?”
“No idea,” Lika said. “This thing is crazy powerful, but since you can only play it inside your realm for the moment… kinda trash for now.”
Noah sighed. He knew she was right. But he was insanely frustrated by how much he wasn’t getting many useful cards for his deck. It was the dungeon that should have been right up his alley!
He turned over the last card, his breath held. The front showed the same image as the card pack front, but with an up arrow on it.
Rare Tier-1 Upgrade card
This card allows any tier-1 card or equivalent card to be upgraded to tier-2 if it is rare or lower quality and is then discarded.
Noah stared at it. He’d been hoping for another named Technomancer, but he guessed that was extremely unlikely. Although he thought it was more likely in his dungeon than anywhere else.
But this was… interesting. It was shame he couldn’t upgrade his realm, since it was legendary. That would have been interesting.
He really had two cards that could use it… Derek Tang and the Museum of the Fall. The museum was only uncommon, but as a building, it was inherently rarer… but Derek was actually rare.
Noah quickly explained his dilemma to Lika.
“You might want to also try to make something that gives Scrap Tokens stronger,” Lika said. “If you had a Cyber Token ability, you’d be able to use the Realm Guardian, and that card is insanely strong.”
“Guardian of the Realm, not Realm Guardian,” Noah muttered, but he was thinking about what she had said.
If I could get that thing onto the field regularly, it’d be insane. But what card would upgrade to it? Unless the Technomancer Tinkerer got one eventually, Noah couldn’t think of anything… He thought maybe the Scrap Yard, but it was outright named a Scrap Yard. He didn’t want to risk it.
“I don’t want to chance that.”
“Then do your Unique card, if you think you’ll be keeping it in your deck forever,” Lika said. “No other way to tier him up than these cards regardless.”
Noah nodded to her words. She had a real point. He pulled the card and willed the cards to merge with it.
Derek Tang, Technomancer of the Storm
Unique Rare-equivalent Tier-2 equivalent Mortal/Golem (Mage, Magitek, Scavenger, Cyber, Technomancer) Creature
1 Mortal, 2 Golem Power
Health: 16
Attack: 2
Defense: 6
Magical Attack: 8[Lightning](ranged)
Magical Defense: 6
Special: Cyber Leader [1]: +1 to all non-health stats of all your Cyber subtype cards
Special: Lightning Coven [Technomancer]: Increase the Attack or Magical Attack of any direct damage Lightning card you play by the number of your Technomancers on the field.
“The merger of magic and the old tech will produce the most powerful things imaginable.”
“Damn, still no major improvements,” Noah said.
Lika shrugged. “Most cards gain a new ability or major improvement at Tier-4, and then every even tier thereafter. At least that’s what the Witch-Doctor told me.”
“Why do you call her a Witch-Doctor?” Noah asked, suddenly.
“Hmm?” Lika asked, confused. She thought for a few minutes. “I think that the translation isn’t working exactly. I think the name translates better to”—she stopped and thought before finishing—“hereditary card and tradition keeper of the tribe.”
“Huh. That makes a bit more sense.”
“Anyway, quit stalling. Are we done here?”
Noah hesitated, then pulled his deck up.
Noah Smith Deck
Companion Cards: 1
Recovery and Enforcement Droid Seven
Mantle: 1
Post-Apocalyptic Cyborg
Creature Cards: 8
1x Reclaimer Golem Tier-2
1x Technomancer Tinkerer Tier-2
1x Acolyte of Mechos
2x Human Scavenger
1x Goliath Scrap Bot
1x Derek Tang, Technomancer of the Storm
1x Guardian of the Realm
Immediate Cards: 2
1x Short Circuit
1x Discharge
Persistent Cards: 1
1x Scrap Yard
Building Cards: 1
1x Museum of the Fall
Realm Cards: 1
1x Nexus City.
Noah had a ton of power, but his cards were still fairly limited. He’d filled up his fifteen cards, but he had only decent synergy, and nothing insanely powerful yet that he could actually use.
He almost wished he could run the dungeon longer. But he had a mission, and he had been delayed enough.
Regardless of the tools he had at the moment, it was time. Time to rescue Hope. No matter what.
“Yeah, we’re done. Let’s move.”