Daniel looked at Gabriel with a conflicted expression on his face. He wanted to be mad at the guy, but he hadn’t really done anything wrong. He’d left him outside the wall, sure, but everyone had theoretically had an equal chance of being hunted by the spector. In Gabriel’s eyes the odds of it picking Daniel to hunt was probably less than anyone else in the group just by looking at the nature of his legendary card.

But it had chosen to hunt him, and everyone else in the group had been able to make it back to the city without a legendary wielding spector relentlessly hunting them. He’d already checked even in his delirious state, and he couldn’t help but be a bit upset with the man.

“I’m sorry for how that all went down,” Gabriel said, bowing his head. “That is something that we should have never come across, and I’m glad that you made it back alive.”

“It wasn't your fault,” Daniel said, and logically he believed it to be true. There was a good chance that the spector had chosen to hunt him because of his status as a traveler, but it wasn’t something that could be proven. It’d be easy to point at every little bad thing that happened to him as the negative effects of being a traveler, but this in particular seemed like it could very easily have been the cause.

‘It was a minor choice, not something that really would’ve taken much sway to warp the spector’s decision. Maybe that’s where a traveler’s status thrives,’ Daniel thought to himself. ‘In the small, easily changed facts of the world.’

“It’s a relief that you feel that way, but I still take responsibility as the leader. I’d hoped the beast would go after Steph since it attacked her first. She’d have been able to escape it easily enough, but it didn’t and I was the one that took that risk.”

Daniel shook his head, “Really, it’s fine. I made it back, if a bit unstable. This whole auction was the result of a bad card effect on my head, but I’m fine now.”

“I’ve heard,” Gabriel said seriously. “You need to be careful. Most of the nobility will be understanding. They know how cards can be, but some of them are unreasonable to a fault. They won’t care for your reasons or excuses. No matter what you do from this day forward, you’ve made yourself some enemies.”

“I’m aware,” Daniel glowered. “But that’s life and I just have to deal with it.”

“And I assume you won’t be rejoining our group?” Gabriel asked, more a statement than a question.

Daniel nodded, “You’d be correct.”

“That’s a shame. You have potential. If I’m being honest I hadn’t really wanted you in my group when I first learned that you were a traveler. Letting you join was tantamount to inviting danger for me and my team, but the fact you’re still standing after what happened shows guff. I can respect that.”

Gabriel held out his hand and after a moment of thought Daniel took it, then Gabriel leaned in and whispered into Daniel’s ear, “Pavel is a lot older than he says, and his family has tight bonds with the church. Be careful when you go to that place. I’ll have Jonathan keep an eye on you there if he’s there, but some of the people at the church can only politely be referred to as unhinged. Be very careful in your interactions with them.”

Then the handshake ended just as quickly as it started as Gabriel bean to walk away before suddenly stopping and turning around.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Gabriel said, reaching into his bag and pulling out several shiny silver coins. He handed them to Daniel, who looked down at them disappointedly.

All together the coins would barely cover a twentieth the cost of an uncommon card. All of that danger and hassle, all for so little.

When Daniel looked back up, Gabriel had disappeared in the crowd of nobles. Several of which, seeing that Daniel was now alone began to make their way towards him, but none made it before Pavel returned, causing them to stop their approaches, quickly making themselves scarce.

“My business is done. Now let’s quickly make our way back to my family's estate. There you can sign a contract and you can pick up your card from my vault.”

“The contract isn’t magical, is it?” Daniel asked apprehensively. Pavel still just looked like a kid, but even then Daniel had known something was going on with him. He was suspiciously smart for his age, and it’d made Daniel think that he'd had some kind of intelligence boosting card, but if he was actually older than he looked that would explain away a good portion of the kid’s intelligence.

“No,” Pavel denied. “The contract isn’t magical in the way you think, but it will ensure that you won’t go back on your promise the second it becomes convenient. We’ll sign it on hriet paper. That way it’ll be enforced by Anton himself if one of us breaks it.”

“What’s hriet paper?” Daniel asked cautiously.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“It’s the skin of a hriet made into paper. It’s highly susceptible to the effects of cards, so much so that their effects linger in it. Anton applies his lie detection card to them and then sells them to the nobles at a premium. Anything agreed to on them needs to be at the very least be believed to be true by the person signing them or the paper burns away.”

“Huh,” Daniel said. “Neat trick.”

Pavel smiled, “Yes, it is. Now let’s head back.

===

Daniel and Pavel walked down the city street for no more than a half hour before arriving at his family's estate. It was large and surrounded by a marble-like wall that surrounded the entire property. Runes not dissimilar from the ones on the outer walls flickered across the wall’s surface, chasing one another as if they themselves were alive.

“What are the runes for?” Daniel asked.

“Protection of course,” Pavel said nonchalantly. “They make the wall more durable than they otherwise would be, and they compel weaker monsters to ignore the area altogether. The compulsion is stronger the higher you get. Only the most dangerous monsters are able to climb or fly over it.”

Daniel brushed his hand against the cold marble wall and it didn’t feel any different from any other wall he’d ever touched.

“Interesting,” Daniel said, watching the runes dance on the wall.

Pavel smirked, “It really is. This wall and the one surrounding the city were made by a legendary user. They’re gone now, and so is their card. Which is why Anton tries to keep the area around the walls clear of monsters. It’s a treasure that he can’t afford to let them chip away at.”

With a nod Daniel let Pavel lead him towards the entrance of the property. It consisted of a large marble arch and a shimmering, semi translucent blue film that acted as a doorway.

“You should’ve already been added to the properties guest list. The gate shouldn’t stop you,” Pavel said, stepping through the blue film.

Hesitating only a moment, Daniel followed Pavel through the archway and felt like molasses drenched itself across his skin as he crossed the blue film.

The property itself was almost magical, or perhaps it truly was. Fields stretched far into the property, farther than seemed possible, cultivating plants that Daniel couldn’t recognize while the sun shone brightly despite it being cloudy on the other side of the archway

Cards were at play here. The very air filled Daniel with strength as he breathed it in, and he couldn’t help it as a smile formed on the corner of his lips.

“This place is amazing.”

But before Pavel could respond a high pitched voice interrupted him.

“So marrying me was so bad you had to go and make a fool of yourself in front of the entire city's nobility?”

===

Alexander sat in the decrepit log cabin that he’d built with his own two hands oh so long ago. Burns and claw marks marred the floor, decades old at this point, but they didn’t hold his attention as he stared at the slow burning fire in the hearth.

His body shook and a terrible headache racked his head, but he didn’t move from where he sat. He was long used to it at this point. The unforgettable sickness, an ever present withdrawal. Far, far off in the distance he could feel another creature cursed by the goddess of blood.

It was too far to reach within the month, even if he could feel that it itself was rushing madly towards him while he sat and waited for the next Blood Moon to begin. This happened every time the Blood Moon neared the end of its cycle, and it took everything he had to not leave the city in a mad rush towards the fellow cursed creatures.

That’s what he’d used to do. For so, so many years.

Alexander’s nails dug into his skin as he held himself, just enough to hurt. He wasn’t himself during his hunts. He was happier, crueler, and at times he even found himself liking Navarre, the blood goddess.

But this was the farthest he’d ever gotten. The farthest he’d made it up the mountain. With shaky hands Alexander pulled his shirt over his head, revealing the legendary tattoo beneath.

He stared at it for a moment in the cracked mirror leaning in the corner of the room and willed the picture on it to change to text.

Covetous Soul

Legendary

Soul

At the end of a Blood Moon’s cycle, the wielder of this card will add one additional card randomly chosen from the cursed creature’s killed during that cycle to a subdeck contained in this card.

Upon the death of the user all cards stored in this card’s subdeck will be lost.

Current Subdeck:

Wall of Wills

Breaker of Swords

Steps of Giants

General's Pocket

Body of Stone

Addendum 1: There is no upper limit to the amount of cards that can be stored within the subdeck.

Addendum 2: Cards within the subdeck can obtain addendums. Inspect them individually to see their information.

Covetous soul. It was the boulder that he was forced to push up the mountain. As someone cursed by the blood moon he couldn’t add any other cards to his deck, but this circumvented that problem, allowing him to get stronger.

That all meant nothing when one little line changed the card so much.

Upon the death of the user all cards stored in this card’s subdeck will be lost.

He’d lost so much to that one line of text. So, so much.

But he’d lose no more.

His body shook and ached deeply, but the hearth was warm, and he was alive. Despite it all he was alive.

Beneath his breath Alexander cursed the goddess of blood.

“I’ll pull you down from that chair, Navarre. I promise.”