Several adventurers had found chests near the orbs of safety, and Pos was in the mood to pick up some treasures. With [White Tiger Movement] and a Recall Stone in his bag of tricks, Pos was comfortable taking a few risks. So, he worked out a route that would bring him to a few more Orbs of Safety and ran.
However, the Luck of Agate was not with him. Pos did not find any chests in any of the Orbs of Safety. As he neared the end of the floor, Pos decided to take a chance. Instead of going straight towards the end of the floor as planned, the frustrated dwarf headed towards an out of the way Orb. The spur of the moment decision was uncharacteristic of the dwarf, but Pos knew he was going out of the dungeon after the first floor, and who knew when he would return? The lure of treasures was just too strong to ignore, and Pos decide to take the detour.
When he arrived at the Orb, a strange sight greeted him. Instead of a chest, there was a wooden door.
The door was not attached to anything. No house, no walls, not even a doorframe, it was just a door stuck to the ground. Pos blinked twice to make sure he was not hallucinating. He wasn’t.
He then walked around the door twice before making the decision to touch the door. The moment his hand touched the door, it disappeared, and a whirling light replaced. It became a portal.
Pos now had a decision to make. He could ignore the portal and report the existence of the door to the Adventurer Guild for some reward, or he could be an adventurer and find out what lies behind the portal before reporting it.
Running away was the smart choice. Pos knew that, but he felt the weight of his fame and title on his shoulders. A ‘Discover’ who walked away from a discovery would be laughed at, and rightfully so. Pos would have done the same if the roles were reversed. So, he took a step, went through the portal and found himself in a small room.
Wooden floors, walls of stone, and a table with two chairs, one of which was already taken. A monster was sitting in the chair, and as per usual for this dungeon, the monster was a strange one. The monster was covered with fur and had a face that looked like that of a cat. A mane of hair surrounds its face, and being a dwarf, Pos could not help but admired it’s bushiness and marvelous color.
The monster saw Pos and stood. Pos realized the monster was a giant cat with the height of a human. For a moment, neither spoke. Then, the monster gave Pos a courtly bow.
“Welcome to the Hall of Carda.”
Pos’ eyes widened when the monster spoke. Talking dungeon monsters were not unheard of, but they were very unusual. Being able to talk meant that the monster had a level of intelligence, and require more power to create. So, dungeon cores seldom create such monsters. When they did, these monsters usually served certain special functions in a dungeon, like being the Boss of a floor, or the Guardian of a secret room.
Pos looked around the room he was in. Some dungeons like to play tricks and built secret rooms for adventurers to find. These rooms usually possessed valuable treasures and were guarded by powerful monsters. Adventurers called these powerful monsters ‘sub-bosses’, but officially, the Adventurer Guild called them ‘Guardians’.
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Considering that he was teleported to a room no one even knew existed, Pos knew he was now facing the latter.
Pos took a closer look at the Guardian. The Cat-like Guardian looked strong and powerful, with five sharp claws on each hand. This was going to be a hard fight.
“Do you wish to fight, or play?”
Pos’ eyes blinked. “Play?” He asked, hoping he had not misheard.
“Yes, play.”
The monster waved at the table, and Pos saw that there was a deck of cards on it. Pos was certain the cards weren’t there a moment ago.
He wants to play a card game.
Pos’ mind went blank for a moment before asking the obvious question. “What are we playing?”
“A simple exciting suspenseful game, which will test your judgement.”
The Guardian smiled and sat back down in the chair. He waved at the chair before Pos, indicating that the dwarf should sit. Pos stood still for a moment, before deciding to do so. He did not know how powerful the Guardian was and was not confident of defeating the Guardian in a straight fight. The Guardian picked up the deck and begun turning the cards over one by one.
“This is a normal deck. Fifty-two cards divided into four houses: the Clubs, the Diamonds, the Hearts and the Spades. Each house has thirteen ranks, from one to ten with three royal cards above them; the King, Queen, and Prince.”
Pos looked on as the Guardian spread the cards over the table. As the cards were revealed, Pos saw that each card has a number, and the symbol of their house was shown in the corner. The cards were well-made, and the three royal cards even had pictures on them, showing the royal they represent. Pos had never seen cards like these before. He slowly reached out to pick up a card.The Guardian did not stop him.
Pos turned the card over and took a good look at the symbol. When the Guardian was turning over the cards, he had noticed that whereas one side of the cards showed the number and houses the cards represent, the other side of the card had a symbol on it. The symbol was a cat, sitting on its hunches in the middle of a circle.
The symbol was simple, but Pos knew there was something to it. Dungeon cores, especially young ones, did not waste energy and create things without reason.
“What is this?” Pos asked as he pointed at the symbol.
“That is the symbol of Carda.” The Guardian smiled with a toothy grin as he continued spreading out the cards. A very sharp toothy grin.
Pos fought to calm himself as he asked the follow-up question the Guardian was clearly waiting for. “Who is Carda?”
“He is the Lord of Cards, the Prince of Cats, and a God of Luck.”
Pos mentally cursed as he heard the words. Carda was a God, one that had laid claim to this dungeon. When the Adventurer Guild hears of this, they will…Pos stopped when he realized something.
He had no idea who Carda was!
Pos was not religious scholar, but like everyone, he had been thought the Ways of the Gods. Gods were the representation of something. They were an Aspect of Life that affects everyone, and most of them represent more than one facet of life. Outside their Aspect, most of the gods also choose one animal and item to represent themselves in the mortal world.
There were many gods who were Gods of Luck, several who used cats as their Holy Beast, but Cards? Why would a god claimed to represent Cards? What Aspect of Life could Cards represent anyway?
“Great Guardian, I am sorry, but I have never heard of Carda before. May I know if He has other names or titles?” Pos tried to sound as humble as possible, there was no such things as being too respectful when talking about the Gods.
“Guardian,” the Guardian looked pleased as he said his title. Maybe this was why he answered the question. “Carda has other titles, the Patron of Gamblers for one, but I am unsurprised that you had never heard of Him. To this world, He is new.”