After waking up the second time Ozlo was informed that he was cleared to leave and told him where to meet the rest of his squad.

Entering the newly formed camp was awkward to say the least. Ozlo couldn't help but think back to the completely one sided attack that they suffered through. Arrow after arrow piercing their skin and no help to be found.

"Good to see you boy, the rest of your group were just regaling us with tales of your heroics. How you single handedly saved everyone." Boyd started speaking as soon as he spotted Ozlo and gestured to Andrew and John who seemed as exhausted as he felt.

"Ahem, sad to see Elizabeth go and all that lad. Perhaps we could say a few words over stew tonight." And that was that. No-one wanted to speak further on the events that just transpired and Ozlo couldn't blame then. He just wanted to get some warm food and nurse his injuries, but first he had questions. Questions that couldn't wait.

"Boyd, why did I pass out? After I got Elizabeth's card and used it a few times I just... It's like I was running on empty." Boyd clapped his hands and gestured for Ozlo to come towards him.

"Good question. You've probably heard that cards reside in your soul. They become part of your being. They're not immovable of course, but they're inside of you. Safe from those who might wish to do you harm. Part of that is that the card becomes are part of your soul. It changes you and you change it."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Boyd rummaged through his pack and pulled out a small brass lantern. "So this lantern, even though it's empty now, could be filled will oil. And through a special medium of sorts, a wick, you could use that oil as a fuel. Of course you could use the oil as a dim light, or if you adjusted it just a bit, you could have a much brighter one." Boyd gently tapped Ozlo in the middle of his chest.

"The oil is your soul force. Or power, or whatever you want to call it. The point is, your soul powers your cards and provided you have enough energy, you can use them as much as you want. Of course, you don't have enough energy, your card is only level 1 and your soul hasn't grown enough to efficiently use the card. Not to mention that you used it immediately after slotting it. Giving your soul time to merge is pretty important."

Boyd gestured to the fire and after a few moments it grew larger and larger, eventually stopping when it reached the edges of the pit. "The longer your card is part of you, the better you grow at using it, usually. You can let your cards stagnate of course but that rarely happens. One important factor is shards as well. Cards gain their power from shards and shards can reinforce and empower your soul."

Ozlo let that mountain of information sink into his thick skull and started to formulate his thoughts. "Wait, so if more shards in my cards can empower my soul then..." Ozlo approached his captain once more. "So if I have a high leveled card in my soul and a low leveled card in my soul, then will my low level card be more powerful than someone who doesn't have a bunch of shards inside of them."

Boyd nodded in the affirmative and went back to his stew leaving Ozlo to ponder the implications. "The more shards I have, the stronger I am and not just in any one card. That... Why wasn't I taught that at the church?"