When The Slaycast ended, Walt received a prompt on his interface.
[Congratulations!]
[Slaynami Social Profile Unlocked!]
He clicked on the profile icon, and a section opened up listing his details. His name, his age, his class and his record. But then the following section caught his attention.
favorites: 10,112
follows: 9,346
He watched the numbers tick up in real time.
patrons: 1
This was all followed by a burst of achievement dings.
[Congratulations!]
[First Favorites Achievement Unlocked!]
[First 1k Favorites Achievement Unlocked!]
[First 5k Favorites Achievement Unlocked!]
[First 10k Favorites Achievement Unlocked!]
[First Follows Achievement Unlocked!]
[First 5k Favorites Achievement Unlocked!]
[First Patron Achievement Unlocked!]
“What are you receiving?” Richard said.
“Slaynami Social Profile,” Walt said. “But does social currency carry any weight?”
“I would think so. Otherwise why have it? It would just be system bloat, right?”
“I’m not sure if our system overlords care about efficiency. Everything I’ve seen so far from them is excessive.”
Then another prompt flashed.
Incoming Patron Message….
Accept
Y/N?
Walt accepted the message. An iris panel swirled open on his gauntlet, emitting a stream of light. A holographic message played atop the vehicle dashboard.
The image was of a silhouetted figure behind a drafting table. Were those card frames on the table? There were strange machines and gadgets crowding the space. It looked like some type of workshop, but everything was in shadow, filtered through the blue light of the holograph.
It was hard to tell if the figure was male or female. When they spoke, the voice was distorted. “An impressive performance thus far, Walter Harmon. I particularly enjoyed watching that Hellpriest brat kill herself.”
They coughed and raised a rag or handkerchief to their mouth. “Needless to say, I am following your duels with great interest. In the mean time, please accept my gifts. Consider them a token of trust.”
The figure was doing something with one of the card frames. It looked like they were using some type of lever arm to wield a special pen. Instead of drawing they could have been soldering. “There are challenging days ahead. You’ll need them. I’m rooting for you to win your next Trial duel. So the next time you receive a message, you’ll be an official Psycho Slinger. Slaynami will just love that.”
The last line was delivered in a sarcastic and spiteful tone. It was followed by a sardonic laugh. The message ended. The light stream blinked off and the iris panel on Walt’s gauntlet closed.
“They seem lovely,” Walt said.
“Gifts!” Richard said. “You lucky dog.”
Incoming Patron Gifts…
2 Patron Gifts in Queue…
Open Gift 1?
“Well,” Richard said. “Are you going to open them or are you just gonna stare at them?
Walt gave him a look and then his attention went back to his interface. He opened the first gift.
[Congratulations!]
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
[First Patron Gift Achievement Unlocked!]
[You have Received]
[Class Compendium]
Walt couldn’t resist. He mentally clicked it open. A holographic document opened in the air between Walt and Richard so that they could both read it.
Slaystone ™ Class Compendium
Class is the primary factor of a Duelist’s powers and abilities. Each class represents a unique role and determines a Duelist’s Hero Ability and which card sets they are able to use.
There are ten base starting classes that may evolve into more advanced classes by using Psycho Points, Card Gauntlets and Evolver Cocoons. Information on Advanced Classes and the Ultra Slinger and Apex Slinger forms is included in the Slaynami ™ Advanced Form Slinger Compendium.
The ten base classes are:
Bloodhound: Tough and resourceful hunters who can track any beast, man or monster through both the wilds and cities. Hero Ability: Tame Beast. Can tame a nearby animal and turn it into a dangerous minion. Cost: 1 Vigor Stone.
Silentblade: Sneaky and agile assassins who use subterfuge and stealth to get intimate with their opponents. Hero Ability: Stealth. Can blend in with the shadows and their surroundings to disappear from sight. Cost: 1 Vigor Stone.
Steelclad: Warriors and sell-swords who use steel and iron weaponry to control the battlefield and armor to soak up otherwise dangerous attacks. Hero Ability: Battle Frenzy. Gains 10 Armor and Enrages, doubling damage with weapons. Cost: 1 Vigor Stone.
Voidlock: A Darkened Artist who uses the potential of souls to tap into unbelievable depths of power. Hero Ability: Soultap. Trade 10 Health Points for 1 Vigor Stone. Cost: 10 Health Points.
Necromancer:As master of the undead, Necromancers have the power to summon an undead army to overwhelm and consume opponents. Hero Ability: Summon a Skeleton Minion. Cost: 1 Vigor Stone.
Thaumuturgist: Practitioners and masters of the Arcane arts. They wield powerful single-target and area of effect spells to blast down their opponents and arcane trickery to manipulate their opponent’s attacks. Hero Ability: Arcane Blast. Arcane energy blasts out of the mage, dealing 10 damage to nearby opponents. Cost: 2 Vigor Stones. 2 extra Vigor Stones per accumulative use.
Cardcleric: Wielders of the White, who use the healing powers of their benevolent Deity to administer purifications, cleanses and mending during times of conflict. Hero Ability: Battle Blaze. Healing blessing that heals self or target for 6 Health and an additional 6 Health Points the next Turn. Cost: 1 Vigor Stone.
Hellpriest: Supplicants and clergy of Leviathan who rules over the Hell dimension. Use Leviathan’s power for both pain and pleasure. Hero Ability: Heal. Heal self or minions for 10 Health Points. Cost: 1 Vigor Stone.
Greenmage: Protectors of Gaia and the verdant wilds, they wield the powers of nature to establish control of the battlefield. Friends of both the trees and the stones, expect both to aid them during times of need. Hero Ability: Friend of the Forest. Summon three Ygdar Ents and root your opponent for 1 Turn or until freed. Cost: 3 Vigor Stones.
Songslinger: The Bard swordsmen of yore. They use music, poetry and theatrics as weapons. A limerick or a well-aimed verbal barb can be just as dangerous as a blade with these raucous and dramatic performers. Hero Ability: Razor Song. A musical attack that turns musical notes into either razor blades or a personal shield. Deals 10 damage. Or Blocks 10 Damage. Cost: 3 Vigor Stones.
“Wow,” Richard said. “This is extremely useful. I remember seeing some info when the gauntlet asked me to choose a class, but I haven’t been able to access the info since.”
“I was in the middle of a life or death situation,” Walt said. “So I only got to skim through two or three of them. This is very helpful. Now we know what the classes actually can do.”
“It also gives us some idea of what to expect from their card sets. Or at least some inkling on the theme. Although…”
“What?”
“The mention of the advanced forms. It says these are just the base classes. More are possible.”
“Ultra and Apex forms. That seems further down the line then. And they probably take a lot of resources to achieve.”
“You know what this means, though?”
“Psycho Slingers are going to be racing to evolve into the more advanced classes.”
Richard whistled. “And here I am, an old fart just trying to get an understanding of the basic classes.”
He dug through his pack and pulled out a stick of beef jerky and chomped on it. He was deep in thought, chewing, scanning the compendium.
“Is that homemade jerky?” Walt said.
“Yeah, why?” Richard said.
Walt grabbed it and threw it out the window.
“Hey!” Richard said. “What the hell are you doing?!”
“I’m not going to be stuck in here with you for the next few hours while you fart up a storm. This is non-negotiable.”
“My bowels are none of your business!”
“They are when I’m stuck in a van with you.”
Richard harrumphed and crossed his arms.
Walt’s thoughts went to the patron. Why were they deciding to help him? They knew he’d benefit from this information. Were they reaching out because they were amused an NPC was beating Psycho Slingers? Who were they and what did they want?
Richard was now chewing on peanuts. “What about these? Are these okay?”
Walt nodded. “Sure, but let me have some.”
Richard passed him the bag. “God forbid I get snacky. Here’s the thing, kid. I get snacky when I’m nervous. But can you blame me? I’m a growing man.”
Walt laughed. “You’re old enough to be my grandpa.”
“It’s a joke, son. I like to eat, alright?”
Walt grabbed a handful of peanuts and gave the bag back.
“What’s the second gift?” Richard said.
“Huh?”
“You got two gifts, remember?”
He was right. There was another Patron gift in the queue.
Open Gift 2?
Walt opened it.
[Congratulations!]
[First Patron Beacon Achievement Unlocked!]
A blinking icon appeared on his gauntlet.
[Patron Beacon]
“What’s a Patron Beacon?” Richard said.
“Let’s find out,” Walt said.
He clicked on the beacon and a holographic map appeared on his interface. It seemed to be a portion of Georgia and Tennessee that was up ahead. There was another icon on the map, that was right on their route.
Walt discovered he could zoom in on it.
Words appeared underneath the map marker.
Location: Johnny Cash Rest Area
Slaynami Card Forge
The card forge was represented by a blacksmith hearth and anvil icon. It was rotating. It glowed in an almost seductive manner.
“What are you looking at kid?” Richard said.
“It’s a map.”
“To what?”
“A card forge.”