Looking at the four cards left in his hand, Dylan decided to wait for the beginning of his next turn before doing anything else. He was planning on trying the Draw card but wanted to use the energy generated at the beginning of the turn.
After thinking about the mechanics of Card Play, he felt that cards that generated energy were best held for when he either had an urgent need to quickly activate the cards in his hand or for when he wanted to play a card like Mana Spike. A card that cost more than he could generate with his beginning of the turn action.
In the few seconds he had left, Dylan did a few stretches and placed the sword on the ground beside him. He didn’t feel a need to continue practicing with it at the moment. Exploring the rest of his deck was more important.
When the new turn rolled around, Dylan was already holding the Draw card, ready to use it immediately after generating energy. When the card flashed and disappeared, two more were floating in its place.
They were both new.
The first had a brand that looked like a vaguely humanoid figure holding a sword. A man, probably. It was hard to tell; the blackened pattern looked to be more smudged than on the rest of the cards Dylan had seen.
[Name: Phantom Soldier]
[Type: Summon]
[Subtypes: Creature, Phantom]
[Summoning Cost: 2 Mana]
[Activation Cost: 2 Energy]
[Effect: Summon a Phantom Soldier. Lasts for 5 turns. Has a Resilience of 12 and a Physical Power of 3.]
The next card looked to be branded in the same style as the first. The smudged lines depicted a lithe, androgynous figure. This time, holding a bow.
[Name: Phantom Archer]
[Type: Summon]
[Subtypes: Creature, Phantom]
[Summoning Cost: 2 Mana]
[Activation Cost: 2 Energy]
[Effect: Summon a Phantom Archer. Lasts for 5 turns. Has a Resilience of 3 and a Physical Power of 10.]
Dylan didn’t expect he’d get cards that could actually summon creatures. Although, thinking back, the card type listed on the Phantom Sword should have let him know it might be a possibility. He was a little surprised, but he was also relieved.
Up until this point, Card Play felt a little slow and a little clunky. With the exception of the minute or so he’d practiced hitting the dummy with the sword, he felt like he’d been doing a lot of waiting between his actions. If he could put something between himself and whatever enemies he faced, he would be able to more comfortably manage and utilize the cards in his deck.
Dylan did wonder how well he’d be able to command the phantoms, though. He barely had any experience with summoning classes and didn’t have much of a baseline to use as a comparison. Summoning was hardly unheard of, but it was one of the more uncommon class features.
He knew of a couple members of Fairbasin’s city guard who had skills that let them befriend or tame monsters and a couple freelance wilderness guides who could do the same, but the only people with true summoning classes he’d seen were visiting from other places. They would occasionally be in parties who came to explore the dungeon and other wild areas around the town.
The only time he’d actually seen one in action was when two out of town parties had gotten into a conflict over something he no longer remembered. He’d only been ten at the time, and following his parents’ advice, generally avoided outsiders. Too young to be able to protect himself from much of anything.
He remembered visiting the apothecary his mother cooperated with, and while she talked with the owner, he went up to lay on the roof. Watching the sky. The protective cover didn’t shimmer quite as much then as it had in recent years, but there was still the occasional ripple. He’d always found it fascinating.
Suddenly, his attention was drawn away by shouting and what sounded like a small explosion from just across the street. He crawled to the edge of the roof and peeked over, finding a fight already in progress.
What attracted his attention the most was a thin, middle-aged man wearing a dark robe embroidered with glowing red patterns. While his companions blocked a group of people in front of him, he commanded some kind of fiery elemental spirit. It hovered in the air just above the fight, dripping sparks from its amorphous body.
The young Dylan watched as the thing opened what appeared to be a mouth, spewing gouts of flame at its opponents. Even as far from the fight as he was, he felt the heat brush his face.
Later, after both groups had been arrested, Dylan heard from his father that the man was an Elemental Summoner who specialized in fire magic.
Shaking himself from his reverie, Dylan returned his attention to the cards. He didn’t know how much time he’d lost to thought or how long until the next turn. He wondered if his display could show something like a turn timer.
No response.
Well, I guess I can’t get everything I ask for.
Thinking for a moment, Dylan decided to wait. In any case, he wanted to experiment with the feeling of carrying more energy. He needed to get used to it to better prepare for the future. He was going to use the next turn to generate, then he’d play both the Basic and Intermediate Energy cards in his hand. He’d hold onto the feeling until he counted out ten seconds and then activate both phantoms before the turn finished.
This would be much easier with that timer…
Still nothing.
Oh well. It was worth a try.
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He could probably customize a piece of equipment once he got out of the Tutorial that could serve the same purpose. It wasn’t like watches were rare; with a little modification and maybe an enchantment or two, it would probably be easy to turn one into something useful.
Dylan’s mind split, and a new turn began.
After choosing to generate, he first played Intermediate Energy. He’d already felt the weight of two points of energy and wanted to take each step higher one at a time.
As his energy total reached three, he felt the air around him continue to tighten, pressing down on every part of his body. The weight was twice as heavy as it had been at two energy. What used to feel like a tight shirt now felt closer to thick padding. He could still move, but was no longer uninhibited. Dylan took a second to get used to the feeling before choosing to continue.
Activating Basic Energy, he once again felt the pressure double. He felt like he was wearing an extra layer of armor. One that didn’t offer him any protection. For short bursts, this weight would fine, but if he had to take extended action while carrying this much energy, he would tire quickly.
He tried some simple movements. As expected, it wasn’t difficult to carry them out, but he felt a drag against his limbs. It was almost as if he were acting in water. No, he thought, it’s not that extreme yet. But he worried that it soon would be if he added another point of energy.
Thinking it was about time, Dylan stopped. He pulled the two phantom cards into his hand and activated them one after another.
Mistake.
Just as the second card was played, the new turn began, and he felt his mind split in three new directions. One for each summon and one for the new turn.
Dylan was stunned. He stood in a stupor, closing his eyes and trying to sort out his consciousness. It was like he needed to command multiple trains of thought simultaneously and coherently, but he kept getting confused when they crossed each other.
Suddenly, the mental strain became less. The choice of what to do at the beginning of the turn was gone. Apparently, he was on a time limit with that, and if he failed to act, it would default to choosing to do nothing.
Taking advantage of his reprieve, Dylan managed to organize the residual chaos in his mind. Once everything was sorted, he found he had two strings tugging at his consciousness, connecting him to the two summons before him. He intuitively knew that the strings allowed him to issue commands by pressing his intentions on the phantoms.
He still felt a bit shaky about controlling both at once but was confident that he would get better with practice.
Dylan opened his eyes.
The phantoms stood in front of him. They both looked like their brands. Humanoid but smudged. Their figures were wrapped in mist, similar to but thicker than the tendrils that flowed over the Phantom Sword.
On his left, the Phantom Soldier stood several inches taller than him and gave the illusion of having thick muscles under the haze that covered it. Carrying a sword that looked like a larger version of his own, it was motionless, the only movement its shifting mist.
On the right was the Phantom Archer. This one was skinnier than the other and stood at a height matching Dylan’s. The bow it carried, made of a white material that matched the Phantom Sword’s hilt, was the only other difference from its companion. Curiously, there were no arrows.
After finishing his observations, Dylan didn’t do anything. He didn’t know how long had passed while getting himself in order and didn’t want to be caught off guard by the beginning of the next turn.
Taking deep breaths to calm his mind and keep his focus, Dylan waited.
As his mind split into another piece, he once again felt the strain, but this time he didn’t lose himself. He quickly chose to draw a card, Basic Energy, and felt the pressure relieved.
He finally had the leeway he needed to start testing his new summons.
First, he ordered the soldier to attack the dummy. He watched as it began a slow, stiff jog to the target. Dylan frowned and ordered it to move faster. There was a short delay between when the command was issued and when it was executed, but the soldier did eventually speed up.
When it reached the dummy, it took its sword and began to attack. Its movements were still stiff, but they never stopped. While it was fighting, Dylan turned to the archer.
He ordered it to shoot at the target’s head. He wanted to make sure that it wouldn’t hit the soldier, and considering how big the dummy was, he figured aiming at the head was a safe bet.
Dylan watched the phantom closely. He wanted to know where the arrow would come from.
Like the soldier, the archer’s movements were stiff. It took its bow and drew back the string. While aiming, the mist surrounding the weapon roiled. The space inside the bow became obscured, and after a moment the mist twisted, condensing into a single line. The arrow. Formed already being held between the archer’s fingers, it looked ready to fly. But the archer held back for another full second before finally letting go.
The arrow struck true and smashed into the center of the dummy’s head.
The whole process, from drawing the bow to hitting the target, took about five seconds.
Slow.
Dylan wondered about the power of the blow. The only two stats the phantom had listed on the card were resilience and physical power, so Dylan speculated the Phantom Archer worked on principles like those seen in classes that specialized in ranged damage. Their arrows were often empowered by skills that would convert their physical power into damage.
He watched the phantom charge another shot and fire.
When his next turn came, he chose to draw a card. It was new.
Its face was imprinted with the image of a hand grasping at the empty air. It carried with it an unusual feeling that Dylan didn’t know how to describe in any other way than aggressive stillness.
[Name: Immobilize]
[Type: Spell]
[Summoning Cost: 2 Mana]
[Activation Cost: 1 Energy]
[Effect: Stop all of a target’s movement for 1 second. Channel 1 mana/second.]
What does channel mean?
Focusing on the word, Dylan felt a vibration from the card catalog. Slightly confused, but acting on instinct, he summoned the book.
It seemed to know what he wanted to ask and automatically flipped through its pages until it came to one labeled Glossary. It was blank. But as Dylan stared, words began to appear on a screen above it.
[Channel: When played, a card with channel will immediately activate its primary effect. It will then repeat that effect for as long as its maintenance cost is paid. The Deckmaster may choose to end the effect at any time.]
Interesting. But considering how strapped for mana I already am, maintaining this card is gonna be a hard ask.
Dylan could definitely see the value of the card, but it was expensive. Unless he absolutely had to extend the immobilization time, he would probably only use the basic, one second effect in key moments to disrupt enemies’ movements. He could already see it coming in handy to escape a blow or to hold a target in place at just the right moment for either him or the archer to hit.
To test it out, he activated the Basic Energy card he had, and then ordered the Phantom Soldier to run at him from across the room. When it was nearly to him, he activated Immobilize.
The phantom stopped.
It wasn’t just stuck in place like Dylan had expected, it was completely frozen. Thinking back to the card’s wording, it had said it would stop all of a target’s movement. Was this what it meant?
It was much more powerful than he’d previously thought. He would have to carefully consider how best to make use of it.
He watched as the soldier was released, staggering while it caught its balance.
Very interesting.
In much the same way, Dylan continued to practice and play through the rest of his deck. No more new cards appeared, and with each activation, he became more familiar with controlling the ones he’d already seen.
Finally, when the last Mana Bolt hit the target, Dylan decided to unsummon the deck. He’d wasted enough time learning about the cards that his remaining mana supply couldn’t feasibly support the cost of reshuffling.
As the deck dissipated, the voice of the System reappeared.
[Congratulations on finishing your first experience with Card Play.]
[Meditate and Restore your deck.]
[You will be given six hours to prepare for the next phase of the Tutorial.]
[Until that time, you will have expanded access to the controls of the training room.]
[Good luck.]
Dylan let out huff of air.
While the Tutorial showed slight variations for each class, there were enough commonalities to see a few general trends.
Dylan most likely knew what was coming next. Every time the System gave a combat class extended time to practice and control over the training room, it meant the same thing.
Monsters.
After six hours, he would be fighting monsters.