Victor took them to a table on the outside edge of the great balcony overlooking the rat Arena—the wall was stone in some places and brick in other, incongruous to the build. The table was lower to the ground and had multiple couches around it. A tall man, overweight but not grossly so, with brown hair and brown eyes, was sitting at the table. His only distinguishing feature, besides being big, was a huge wart on the inside of his arm that a hair was visibly growing from. Next to him sat a pretty blond-haired girl that was obviously trying to hide her looks. She was dressed like a pile of laundry—she had on baggy black sweatpants and an oversized black hoodie. She wore glasses, and had a black laptop with her.
Victor gestured to the pair. “This is Hans and Lisa Berwick. They move cards that have… issues attached to them. Issues that would make it harder to sell them through a reputable card trading company like Gavins.”
Wolfe stared at the pair. They looked like gamers, or accountants, or maybe the kind of people that had been working on a novel in a coffee shop on and off for five years. What they didn’t appear to be were fences for what was probably cards gained by murder or theft, or through the trade that still existed to third world countries with wars, civil or otherwise, where the cards could be bought far cheaper.
I guess not every jackass I meet can look like they stamped villain on their forehead, like poor Gopal.
Wolfe glanced at Shel.
She nodded.
“Alright, we’re looking for Mortal and Divine faction cards,” Wolfe said.
“Particularly civic type Mortal cards,” Shel said. “Cards that have jobs like police officer, or EMT, or have the word civic in their name.”
The pair nodded in near-perfect unison, briefly meeting each other’s eyes.
“Lisa will see what we can do for you,” Hans said.
Lisa stared at her computer, poking away at the keyboard for a minute or so. Wolfe waited, wondering what cards would be offered.
After a bit more, Lisa turned the computer around. “Okay, we have a few options in that area, but also a few other, rarer options for Mortal and Divine.”
A list of cards was on the screen, with prices attached. Shel knelt next to the low table and checked the screen. Wolfe stood, reading over her shoulder as Shel scrolled. First he saw a Veteran EMT, then a couple of the Rookie EMT’s, then the same for the Riot Police cards.
Then things started to get interesting.
Shel stopped the screen as she was scrolling. “Is that an enhancer?”
Wolfe glanced at the card.
Caretaker of the Lost
Rare Tier-1 Mortal Enhancer
+2 Health
Enhancer: Null card for the Great Game
Special: All minion[orphan] cards grow at twice the rate. This stacks multiplicatively with any other source of minion[orphan] growth.
Special: When any pack is opened, there is a 20% chance one card becomes a minion[orphan]. This ability does not stack.
Special: When a minion[orphan] card evolves, it gains 1 tier automatically.
Special: All evolved orphan cards gain +10% Health, Defense, and Magic Defense.
“The next generation is the future, but they stand on the shoulders of the ones that came before.”
“That’s… interesting,” Wolfe said, eyeing it. “It feels like a very long run build. Is there any stuff that’s faster?”
“Let me just check the price,” Shel said.
She looked. They wanted five-hundred thousand for the enhancer card.
Shel scrolled a bit more. Soon, a persistent came into view.
Police Academy
Uncommon Tier-1 Mortal Persistent
3 Mortal Power
This card produces a Rookie Riot Police every 30 seconds until 1/5 levels of the deckbearer is present on the field. If this card is dismissed or removed, they all dismiss as well.
Special: This card counts as a ‘Veteran’ so long as it’s on the field.
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“There is no substitute for training and experience, no matter your field. No amount of natural talent can make up for 10,000 hours of keeping your nose to the damned grindstone.”
“That’s more like it,” Wolfe said. “That’s like the ‘No Kill Pound,’ which has been one of my best cards.”
Shel nodded and muttered, “mmhmm.”
But she kept scrolling. A moment later, a Barter the Soul came up.
Shel touched the price. They wanted fifty-thousand, which was a discount—most common cards went for that much in the open.
“hmm…” she murmured again.
After a bit more scrolling, she came to another card.
Grail of Free Will
Mythic Tier-1 Divine Persistent
2 Divine or 2 Mortal Power
Special: All Divine cards gain the best option of being treated as Mortal or Divine under all circumstances
Special: While this card is out, no Mortal or Divine card may be controlled or sacrificed without the specific consent of the deckbearer.
“This grail contains the essence that is most Mortal—the essence of choice.”
Shel stood, leaning up to Wolfe’s ear. “This was one of the mythic Grail cards from the last three seasons. It’s almost certainly the card that belonged to Officer Klinefelter!”
Wolfe remembered the poster hanging on Rhett’s office wall of the missing officer. Whomever killed him sold his cards rather than keeping them for themselves.
Still, I wonder…
“Where’d you get this card?” Wolfe asked.
Everyone tensed. Victor didn’t say anything, but Wolfe could see the disapproving look on his face.
Wolfe could tell he wasn’t going to get an answer, and might get himself in trouble.
Hans’ brow was furrowed, and he started to open his mouth.
Wolfe held his hand up. “Sorry, my bad. Didn’t mean to pry.”
Everyone relaxed, and Wolfe nodded to the laptop screen. “It’s an amazing card. How much?”
Shel scrolled slightly. The number that came up made Wolfe wince.
Twenty Million.
Wolfe sighed. Unless something in his life changed dramatically for the better, the grail was off the table.
“What about the other ones? The police one and maybe the Veteran EMT?” Wolfe asked.
Shel hesitated, then touched the price on the cards. A hundred thousand for the Police Academy, and fifty thousand for each of the Veterans. Far more reasonable than the other stuff.
“I’d have to use a few levels to really benefit,” Shel said. “That’ll put my other plan further back.”
“It’ll be a while before you gain three more companions anyway,” Wolfe said. “Just go with it.”
Shel stared for a bit longer, then checked the prices on the rookie EMT and rookie Riot Police cards. Thirty-five thousand each, a huge discount.
“I’ll take three each of the Rookie Riot Police and the Rookie EMT cards,” Shel said. “And also a Veteran EMT, a Veteran Riot Police, the Police Academy, the spare Barter the Soul, and the Caretaker of the Lost.”
“Really?” Wolfe asked, doing the math in his head. They actually had nearly that much between the two decks they had sold one way or another over the course of the day… but it would nearly empty them again.
Shel nodded. “Yeah. I think the orphans are going to be hugely important to becoming a truly powerful deckbearer as time goes on. Adding ten percent to three categories is about a free tier upgrade, essentially. But I need power now as well—and improving my Mortal cards will give that to me.”
“Alright. You’ve supported me wholesale in my deck-building ambitions, so if this is what you want, let’s do it.”
***
The thirty minutes after they decided what they wanted were taken up with bank transfers and fetching the cards from hidden back rooms, but finally, Shel and Wolfe sat at a table with all her new cards—and her status sheet. Shel had gotten a pen and paper and written down everything so Wolfe could see, although they planned to burn it afterwards.
“I’ve taken an additional five cards in deck, bringing me up to fifteen,” Shel said. “I also took an enhancer slot and increased cards on field. With my five total power, I’ve got some decent options.”
Wolfe stared at her sheet.
Rachel Lyons Status:
Level 16 Deckbearer (8 Levels pending)
Deckbearer Perks:
Deckbearer Perk 1: Divine Favor: When pulling from a Mortal or Divine pack, one random card will be a rarity higher.
Deckbearer Perk 2: Guiding Light of the Divine: Gain 1 Light Power. May have one extra card in play so long as it’s a Mortal(Any EMT, Police, or card with Civic in the title).
Deckbearer Flaw: Pacifist: May not gain attack from Mantles
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)
Enhancer: 1 (1 pip)
Type 1 and Power: 1 Divine
Type 2 and Power: 3 Mortal (2 pips)
Energy 1 and Power: 1 Light
Personal Perks:
Inborn Perk 1: Small: -1 Attack
Acquired Perk 1: Police Training: +1 Attack and Defense
Personal Stats:
Health: 20
Attack: 5
Magical Attack [None]: 0
Defense: 6
Magical Defense [None]: 5
“What’s your deck going to look like?” Wolfe asked.
Shel spoke with conviction. “I merged the three new and three old of each of my rookie cards, so I have two each of the Rookie EMT and Rookie Riot Police. Then I added the veteran of each as well as the Police Academy, which makes up half my deck right there on the ‘Civic’ type cards. The Vengeful Orphan and the Caretaker of the Lost bring me to ten, and cover the ‘future growth’ of my deck for the moment. Sorenia, the linchpin of the build, makes Eleven. My mantle, Resilient Martyr, makes twelve. I’ve got two Barter the Souls, as I think that’ll be a black horse trump card, and I think for my last card I’m going to put the Guiding Light persistent back in, as another way to improve my Mortal cards.”
Wolfe nodded, considering. A mantle, two mortal empowering cards, and a ton of efficiently organized mortals—and two cards to use her cheap mortals to upgrade if the enemy brought a giant monster to the field. Not bad.
“Alright, shall we find you a fight, then?”
Shel bit her lip and checked her watch. “Okay, but we need to be at the police Gala tonight at 6 pm. If we get dropped off at a rental place and then head there, we probably have time for one more match. Sure you don’t want it yourself?”
Wolfe shook his head. “No, you go. I’d like to see you make some levels.”
Shel nodded to his words. “Alright, let’s see what we can find.”
Shel looked out into the rest of the balcony, which was filled with numerous members of the Noimoire criminal underworld, and Wolfe followed her gaze. Half the punks here probably had Infernal decks. It should be easy…
But Shel was still biting her lip, and she was twisting her fingers in her long red hair.
It took a moment for Wolfe to get it.
She’s only ever had one real deck fight where I wasn’t supporting her. And she very nearly died—would have if I’d be about fifteen seconds late.
She’s terrified.
He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. You’ve got training now, and no one can hurt you for real. Or, at least, the hurting will stop and you’ll be fine again.”
Shel chuckled. “Your inspiration leaves a bit to be desired.”
Wolfe chuckled along with her. “Fine. Point is, no real consequence worse than the loss of a single card will come. You can do this.”
Shel stood. “I can. Let’s go.”