Wolfe had his deck out as they sat at the kitchen table in his house. The new cards he had gotten from the would-be assassin—whose name had turned out to be Harvey, which made Wolfe laugh—were spread out on the table as well.
Malviere was playing with his two cavapoos, and Cereboo lounged at Wolfe’s feet.
He had written down his own deck, and stared at the list. It was fifteen cards—he had gotten almost all his cards through the first couple weeks after Drop Night, nine months ago, but he had been trading through the internet and a few auction sites since then.
The biggest change had been when he discovered how utterly cheap the angry Hellhounds were. They had been ubiquitous to last season, ten years ago, but almost no one ran Infernal and Beast combination decks, and those that did didn’t want the Angry Hellhounds, which were widely regarded as ‘F tier,’ ‘Never Use,’ or something similar, depending on which forum’s lingo you were using.
Despite the normal minimum of around fifty thousand per card, in the frenzy of buying and selling after the latest drop night, the price of most of them had dropped to around twenty-five thousand, and Wolfe had snatched up a ton of them. He had sold most of the spare cards he didn’t need, as well as most of his share from the Frozen Tomb dungeon. He now had four Tier-3 Angry Hellhounds.
Angry Hellhound
Common Tier-Three Beast/Infernal(Canine) Creature
Two Beast or Infernal Power
Health: 13
Attack: 8
Defense: 5
Magical Attack: 5 (bonus)
Magical Defense: 5
Special: When this creature makes a physical attack, it also makes a Magical Attack of either Fire or Infernal typing on the same target.
Special: Immune to all mind-affecting debuffs.
Special: +1 to all attacks for every other canine on the field.
Special: Gains +1 Attack for every Escaped Damned on the field.
“It could be argued that most things in the Infernal realms are angry, but these hellhounds take it to an entirely new level—and this one has torn many a spirit to the point its needs to reform on many an occasion.”
The Angry Hellhound’s specialty seemed to be gaining unusually good ‘tier up’ bonuses and making multiple attacks—plus benefitting from other canines. Additionally, it was both Infernal and Canine, which meant every bonus Wolfe had would pretty much stack into it.
His deck also contained Cereboo and Infernal Rift, his two ‘gate to hell’ set cards, Malviere and Cerberus’ Home for Wayward Hellhounds, which were his two cards that had been upgraded by his Infernal Rift card. He had also had two Rescue pups that had been converted to Lost Hellhound Puppies, two Pack Howls to give large static boosts to his canine cards, his mantle, his Fireborn Hellhound, and now Brimstone—his new gun.
He pulled his stats up.
Ethan Madison Wolfe Status:
Level 19 Mortal
Deckbearer Perks:
Deckbearer Perk 1: In the Thick of it: +50% to all numerical benefits gained from mantles
Deckbearer Perk 2: Man’s Best Friend’s Best Friend: Gain 1 Beast Power. May have one extra card in play so long as it’s a Beast(Canine or Hybrid Canine).
Deckbearer Flaw: Fallen: May not gain Divine Power, nor use Divine cards unless they are also Infernal or Corrupted.
Deckbearer Stats:
Cards in Deck: 15 (1 pip)
Cards in Hand: 4 (1 pip)
Cards in Play: 3 (1 pip)
Length of Play: 5 minutes
Specialty Cards: Companion: 1
Minion: 1 (1 pip)
Total Power: (upgraded 5 times): 8 -1 (Infernal Rift) = 7. (Total pips 15)
Type 1 and Power: 4 Infernal (5 -1(Infernal Rift))
Type 2 and Power: 2 Beast
Energy 1 and Power: 1 Fire
Personal Perks:
Inborn Perk 1: Vicious Killer: +25% to all Attack and Defense, check twice for attack modifier and take the best
Inborn Perk 2: Tough as Nails: +10 Health
Acquired Perk 1: Crafty Street Fighter: +3 Attack and Defense
Personal Stats:
Health: 30/30
Attack: 10
Magical Attack [None]: 0
Defense: 10
Magical Defense [None]: 5
Then Wolfe spread the other ten cards he had. One was the Rescue Pup that he had replaced to put Brimstone in. The other nine were the remains of Harvey’s deck.
Compared to most decks that Wolfe got, this deck was incredibly odd. It had a ton of stuff that wasn’t immediately useful—Wolfe honestly wondered if Brimstone was the only thing that was useful that Harvey had pulled in his first card draw.
The first card was the Fallen Assassin mantle, which gave attack stats against Mortals—Wolfe was incredibly glad Harvey hadn’t gotten that on before fighting him. Not useful to Wolfe—he already did far more than enough damage to kill most actual mortals in a single hit, and usually went after Infernal deckbearers.
Second were two copies of Infernal Creatures—the Imp and an Infernal Leech, a creature card that functioned almost like a damage over time persistent, but had to do at least one damage in a combat round to start it. There were two copies of Pile On, a neutral card that allowed an extra creature summon when an opponent’s creature was killed.
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But the other four cards… Wolfe stared. They were legitimately bizarre.
One was a card called Infernal Nobility. It was an enhancer card.
Infernal Nobility
Rare Tier-1 Infernal Enhancer
0 Power cost
Enhancer: Null card. May not be directly used in the Great Game
Special: +1 attack, +.5 Defense, +.5 to all Infernal cards attack, +.5 Infernal Power, and +2% total lifespan per Infernal Nobility in deck.
Special: Every four Infernal transformations in the deck will give the user an Infernal feature, which may add stats.
“The Infernal Realms sometimes grant their power to their favorites.”
“Wow,” Shel commented, reading the card upside down. “That’s… powerful.”
“Maybe,” Wolfe said, skeptically. “To get any real power from it I would need to have at least two in my deck, and that would take out two cards out I could use. Not to mention spend three leveling pips to have the two enhancer cards. Not sure it’s worth it.”
“What if your deck was only twenty of those cards, no power cards at all?” Shel said, staring far away. “Like Alexander the Colossus.”
Wolfe nodded. If he had spent on cards only, and gotten a bunch of those, he would have another thirty or so years of life and he would fight as an absolute beast himself.
“Yeah, we can’t even begin to afford a bunch of rare enhancers. They go for millions of dollars, plural, each. I could start a small crime empire of my own just by selling this one.”
Shel laughed, and they turned their attention back to the cards.
The next two were new minion cards called Junk Tinkerer Orphan.
Junk Tinkerer Orphan
Uncommon, no-tier Mortal/Golem minion[orphan]
0 Power
Health: 6
Attack: N/A
Defense: 6
Magical Attack: N/A
Magical Defense: 4
Special: Will fetch normal objects and such with a decent degree of precision and help carry up to fifteen pounds.
Special: If kept ‘alive’ for five straight years, will turn into a rare, Mortal/Golem, 2 power, tier-4, equivalent creature card called “Urban Outfitter.” Will also produce a uncommon 1 power equipment card and a single uncommon 1 power Golem creature card. If ever ‘killed,’ the timer resets.
“This young boy was born on the streets and raised by them. But he had a natural affinity for tech, and even without formal training, is a dab hand at equipping the gangs and struggling businesses around him.”
“Wow, a golem orphan. I’m impressed.”
Wolfe nodded. “Pretty weak for what it is, though. I mean, it basically converts to a tier-4 card, which is nice, but hardly worth writing home about.”
“Maybe Rhett would want it?” Shel asked.
“We can just sell them, you know,” Wolfe said, irritably. “Or grow them to sell off the equipment pack cards.”
He stared at the last card.
Orphanage of the Lost
Uncommon Tier-1 Mortal Building
No cost
Building: Null card. May not be directly used in the Great Game
Special: Creates a run-down orphanage of 12,000 square feet. It may utilize power and water if hooked to an appropriate grid, and will generate food for up to 50 inhabitants, of poor quality, ever day. Any deckbearer inside gains 2 Mortal Power.
Special: All orphan cards ‘age’ at 3x the rate
“Well, looks like we finally found a card for you,” Wolfe said to Shel. “A sad orphanage. It’ll give you a lot of power, though, especially if people try and come for you inside the building.”
She was staring at it, not speaking. After a moment, she glanced up. “Wolfe… I know you’re gonna say I’m being a martyr, but I want to propose something.”
“Shel, I can’t use the card—and I don’t think we should just sell it to buy me better stuff.”
“Actually, I think you can use the card. Your Infernal Rift can still convert one building card, remember? You could make it an… Infernal orphanage of some sort. It’ll be a free specialty card for you because of the way the Infernal Rift works.”
Wolfe laughed out loud. “Are you serious, Shel?”
She nodded. “The cards get slightly more powerful each time they’re upgraded. And the Infernal Rift takes a permanent Infernal power from you—shouldn’t you get its full benefit? Besides, it’ll almost certainly make Malviere grow far more quickly. She’ll be an amazing card when she’s ‘grown’”
Wolfe hesitated, but he had to admit—her mentioning that the Infernal Rift could modify the card intrigued him.
He thought about it for a moment. “Are we sure we want to do the orphanage? If I modify this, Infernal Rift can’t modify any other building cards. Cerberus’ Wayward Pound, the little Lost Hellhound Puppies, Malviere, and this orphanage will be the modified cards forever. I mean, I could get a dark temple or something instead, power everything up.”
Shel hesitated, her lips pulled to the side. She played with her hair as she thought.
“Everyone says the orphan cards are a huge deal—although I haven’t heard of anyone managing to grow one yet. I think that leaning into our Season’s cards—and what will almost certainly be numerous other seasons, since the cycle of the Lost and Lonely will probably continue for a while—will be a huge benefit to us, long term. I think you should do it.”
Shel smiled again. “We can try and find me an angelic orphanage or something.”
Wolf laughed at that. “Alright, I’ll do it. What card should I pull out, though? It’s a pretty synergistic deck at the moment.”
Shel considered. “I’d take either one Lost Hellhound or one Angry Hellhound out. You’ve got a total of seven hellhounds still in your deck, and you pull a quarter of your deck every time you swipe. You can afford to not have it.”
It lined up with Wolfe’s still organizing thoughts. “Thanks, I agree… you’ve been getting more confident, you didn’t used to suggest much about my deck, before.”
Shel blushed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”
Wolfe held his finger to her lips. “Hey, slow your roll. I wasn’t upset. Just commenting. I like you suggesting things—I wouldn’t have thought to put the orphanage in my own deck.”
Shel smiled. “Okay, well, don’t keep a lady in suspense. Let’s see what happens.”
Wolfe placed his hands over his chest, his old scar itching, and felt his power. Dark and eternally hungry, somehow.
He pushed his hand out, and his cards came into existence. Two of his Tier-3 Angry Hellhounds came up, and he touched the Orphanage of the Lost and willed it into his deck.
The Hellhound popped out, and the orphanage went in. Immediately, he had the same sense as before—options appeared in his mind but were immediately picked as he had only one qualifying card. The Orphanage of the Lost warped and turned into…
Hellmouth Institute
Unique, rare equivalent Tier-2 equivalent Infernal Building
No cost
Building: Null card. May not be directly used in the Great Game
Special: Creates an ostentatious orphanage of 24,000 square feet. It may utilize power and water if hooked to an appropriate grid, and will generate food for up to 100 inhabitants, of excellent quality, every day. Minor magic within the orphanage makes the entire place far easier to live with. Any Infernal deckbearer inside gains 2 Infernal Power.
Special: Any additional Infernal Buildings gained will add bonus benefits to orphan or transformed orphan cards.
Special: All orphan cards ‘age’ at 3x the rate, unless they are Infernal or would become Infernal without the aid of this building, in which case they age at 5x the rate.
Special: Every orphan card that transforms that is Infernal or would become Infernal without the aid of this building gains 1 tier of equivalent power as a permanent modifier.
Special: Every Mortal orphan card that transforms becomes Infernal and is modified accordingly, but gains no total increase to power.
“Alright, I can see the next stage in the evolution of my deck,” Wolfe said. “Or at least one possibility. And that’s to get more buildings.”
“Buildings cards are extremely rare and extremely expensive,” Shel warned.
Wolfe nodded, but his mind was alight with ideas.
“Speaking of expensive,” Shel said, holding her phone up. “I checked the prices. If we sell everything we got from Harvey except Brimstone, the Hellmouth Institute, and the Infernal Nobility card, we can afford to get a single copy of either a No Kill Pound, or a Gehennan Kennel Master for your deck.”
Wolfe hesitated. They had looked at both of those as significant ways to increase the power of his deck… but he felt like he was leaving Shel out.
“Look… just humor me, okay? Please get something for your deck, instead. Or save the money in case we need it. I know this was ‘my kill,’ but I feel like we’ve been really neglecting your deck growth. My allies—my pack—is my power too, if you’re just worried about me.”
Shel hesitated. “I was saving to try and get one of the other three of Raphael’s companion angels. Although I can only even find mention of one of them—Aliel is owned by a coder named Sapphire Duvall in Noimoire that got a Divine deck in the last drop. I think he might be willing to sell, though. If you’re serious, I’ll add that to the fund… although, at this point, it’ll basically be the fund, near enough.”
Wolfe nodded. “Alright. Do that.”
He turned his eyes to the back room, where the boxes he had taken from Emmett’s office were. “Alright, let’s figure out what’s going on with the damn trafficking case, and see if we can start hunting Damian. I really want to be able to put my new twenty-four thousand square foot ostentatious home somewhere, but I’d rather not call attention to us before we smoke him.”