“Let’s talk about this.”
“What’s there to talk about?” Janice said. “Our family is in danger. I need to know how to use one of these gauntlets.”
Walt searched for the right words.
Janice pressed. “I need to know how to use the cards.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
Janice’s mouth went slack and she shook her head, looking at Walt like she didn’t recognize him. “You’ve grown up some.” But then her face hardened. “But I’m still older than you. I’ve been taking care of this family for a while now.”
“That has nothing to do with it. You could die. This is life or death.”
Janice raised her hand wide, pointed out into the distance. “Then you know I can die out there anyways. At least if I have a gauntlet I can better defend myself.”
He looked out over the lake, thinking. “I can defend you.”
“I know you can. But what happens when you need help?”
Walt didn’t know how to respond.
“I can’t let you bear this burden alone. Also, I used to beat you at poker. Remember? You may be able to count cards, but you have a terrible poker face. We could all tell whenever you were bluffing from a million miles away.”
Walt laughed. It was true. Although his sister had gone in a different direction with her interests and passions, as a child and teen she had their father’s knack for card games.
“Don’t make me go find a Starter Deck myself.” She tapped her temple. “It’s not like I haven’t gotten pings from the Slaynami system tempting me.”
Walt stared at her. She was dead set on this. He sighed. “Before I agree to this, you have to promise me a few things.”
Her face lit up, her hazel eyes sparkled and a giant smile spread across her face. Glad she gained some ground with him. “Let’s hear ‘em.”
“No putting on the gauntlet until I say,” Walt said. “Not until you complete your training.”
“Training?”
#
Back in the cabin, Walt had found what he was looking for. The box of Mythic cards was sitting there on the shelf in the game closet, right next to the stack of board games. Monopoly, Settlers of Catan, Life, Ticket to Ride and plenty of others. All the stuff they had liked to play as a family.
Walt set the box on the coffee table in front of his sister. “Here’s your training wheels.”
She grabbed one of the deck boxes and opened it, tapping the stack of Mythic cards into her hand. Each card bore the Mythic logo on one side, the other had gorgeous fantasy illustrations by talented artists and the stats of the minions, spells and objects.
Walt received a system ping.
You have gained a new patron!
patrons: 2
[Congratulations!]
[Second Patron Achievement Unlocked!]
Incoming Patron Messages…
Accept Message from Anonymous Patron 1
Y/N?
“Take some time to get familiar with the cards,” Walt said. “Later today, I’ll walk you through some matches and deck styles.”
“Then you’ll give me the gauntlet?” Janice asked, batting her eyelids.
“You’ll get the gauntlet when you last longer than five turns against me in a match.”
#
Walt moved to the bedroom, closed the door and accepted the message. An iris panel swirled open on his gauntlet, emitting a stream of light. A holographic message began.
It was his first patron, the same person who had sent him the Class Compendium and the beacon that led him and Richard to the location of the Card Forge. Again, the image was of a silhouette behind a drafting table in some kind of workshop.
When they spoke, their voice was distorted. “Congratulations, Walter. How does it feel to be an official Psycho Slinger? Do you feel victorious?” They snickered. “Or are you underwhelmed?”
Walt felt a bit both. Victorious that he was officially one of the competitors. But underwhelmed. Because at the end of the day, what exactly did he earn? The right to keep fighting the invaders?
“I’ve never seen someone speedrun their trials like you did, so kudos on that. But we both know that the real reward is that you’re still alive, don’t we?” The mysterious patron picked up some type of high-tech pen. They dipped it into something off-screen. When it reappeared the tip was glowing in the same hue as Vigor Dust.
Then it looked like they started writing or drawing. “But, I’m not sending you this message just to congratulate you. Seems like the subject of your latest opponent was a sore one for certain people. If you ask me, that was one duel to many for your first day. But I guess you didn’t have much of a choice, huh?”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Well, the people you’ve angered won’t care about that. The fact of the matter is, a duelist is eliminated. From both the tournament and life.” They chuckled again. “And you’ll be the one to blame. And in moments like those, you’ll have to learn to fight outside of a battleboard barrier if you want to stand a chance.”
They grunted and stopped their work. Leaning back as if to gain a different perspective. “Don’t be fooled. The duels are duels. But the real game is how you play off the battleboard.”
What were they getting at exactly?
They coughed. Then they picked up a cloth and wiped their mouth, clearing their throat. “So, I’ve sent you a gift to help you figure that out.”
The patron reached across their desk to turn off their recording device and then stopped. Their darkened face was up close now. For a moment he thought he saw the reflection of glasses, but then the features were indiscernible again. He still didn’t even know if it was a man or a woman. “Oh, I almost forgot. This probably goes without saying. But be careful who you trust. Some people, they may not be who you think they are.”
The holographic message ended. Walt stared at the empty space where the message had just played, unsettled.
Was he talking about someone in particular? Someone Walt had already met? Or was it a general warning for people he might come across?
Incoming Patron Gift…
1 Patron Gift in Queue…
Open Gift?
He accepted the gift.
[Congratulations!]
[You have Received]
[Vaulted Deck of Cards]
“Huh,” Walt said. He saw that the deck had appeared in his card collection.
Examine Vaulted Deck of Cards
Y/N?
“Examine,” Walt said. The deck of cards ejected out of his gauntlet, arranging themselves in a stack that floated above the device. He flipped through the cards, pulling one out at random.
Oast. Minion. Set: Slaynami Vault. Rarity: Common. Tall humanoids with blonde hair and blue eyes, bred as livestock and beasts of burden by The Unavoidables.
Root: Root opponent for 1 Turn
Cudgel: 1 Attack, Cooldown: 5 seconds
Cost: 1 Vigor Stone
Walt arranged the cards in a grid in the air and scanned through them.
Night Vision. Spell. Set: Slaynami Vault. Rarity: Common. A basic spell useful for those moments when vision is impeded by the dark.
Night Vision: A target enhanced with Night Vision can see clearly in the dark.
Enhances target’s eyes with night vision for 3 Turns.
Cost: 1 Vigor Stone
They all seemed to be like this. A stack of common cards that didn’t seem all that impressive. It was very basic, and at first glance, he didn’t think there was anything he would throw into his current decks he used in duels.
“The hell?” Walt said. Other than basic utility, he had no idea why he would want to use any of these cards. He did notice a theme, though. There were a lot of cards that had stun and crowd control effects. Spells that messed with vision.
What had the patron said? Walt replayed the message.
“But the real game is how you play off the battleboard. So, I’ve sent you a gift to help you figure that out.”
Walt stared at the deck. He began to understand.
#
Calix opened another bottle of bourbon. He drank straight from the bottle now. He had stopped using glasses since he learned of Shae’s death. This world for him had begun manifesting itself as some strange nightmarish fever dream. He hadn’t slept since Winternath, running on rage9, bourbon and adrenaline-tinged grief.
Footage of him and Shae, from their various media footage, played on the wall across from him. A Chronico drone projected the moments straight from his system files. He took a swig of the bourbon and staggered over to the wall, stepping into the stream of projected light.
Shae was showing off one of her outfits at one of the Slaynami press events. It was the dress Calix had commissioned from Ikarai J, her favorite designer. It was a blue wedding dress, the bottom designed to look like a spray of real sea foam. It transformed her into a siren from the sea. She had never stopped raving about it.
He reached out at her holographic image, as if he could caress the memory of her face sculpted in the light. He closed his eyes and leaned towards her recorded image, wishing he could press his forehead against hers now.
The intimate moment was interrupted by Castor. “Boss.”
Calix opened his eyes and the projection immediately cut off. “Don’t you fucking knock?”
The stocky Steelclad was standing in the threshold of the door entrance. He shifted, sheepish. He glanced, briefly making eye contact with Calix before looking away. Unable to hide how awkward it was to interrupt this moment. “I did. There was no answer.”
“Well what is it?”
“The twins are here.”
#
The Shadow Wolf Brothers were two Bloodhounds named Mr. Fang and Mr. Nose. They were identical twins. But there were two ways to tell them apart. Mr. Fang was clean-shaven and deaf. Mr. Nose had a five-o-clock shadow and wasn’t deaf.
Calix found them in the library, the two men taking in the environs. The Bloodhounds had the sides of their heads shaved, their long hair pulled back into dangling braids. In this hot climate, they wore vests, their chests and arms covered in runic style glyphs.
The Songslinger used a Chronico drone to broadcast footage and images of Walt Harmon. “I need you to find this NPC. Jason can show you where he was last seen. The location where he…the location of his last duel.”
As Calix spoke, Mr. Nose interpreted for his brother through sign language. When he finished interpreting he said, “And what would you like to happen when we find him?”
“Nothing,” Calix said. “Other than giving me his location.”
Mr. Nose interpreted for his brother. Mr. Fang’s mouth twisted. He looked perplexed and signed back to his brother. Mr. Nose read his signing and then said, “You don’t want us to trap him?”
“All I need from you two are your exceptional tracking talents,” Calix said.
The brothers signed at each other again. Mr. Fang was even more confused. The silent brother’s attitude seemed to irritate Mr. Nose, who said, “So you don’t want us to bring back his gauntlet?”
“No dueling. He’s mine.”
The brothers shared a look and then stared at Calix.
“I just need you to find him. We’ll handle the rest.”
Mr. Fang signed something. Calix had trouble reading the man’s face. He had a stone cold presence compared to his brother. He waited for Mr. Nose to interpret. They seemed to argue back and forth for a moment in a flurry of sign language.
Finally, Mr. Nose sighed while his deaf brother looked at him, eyes simmering. “He wants to know what we get in return.”
Calix nodded at Jason, who brought over a metallic case. He unlocked it, opening it. Red light shined out of the case. Calix upturned the box so the Shadow Wolf Brothers could see what laid within.
Two Legendary cards rotated upright in the case.
Mr. Fang stood and slowly approached the case, surprise on his face. Mr. Nose did a double take, standing to get a closer view as well. If anything, they seemed mystified.
“The Skinning Knives of Sol Kaine,” Mr. Nose said, unable to contain his awe.
Cutter. Weapon. Set: Skinning Knives of Sol Kaine. Rarity: Legendary. One of the twin skinning knives of the owner of The Black Lodge, Sol Kaine.
Bleed: A successful hit bleeds opponent for 9 Health Points per Turn
Hack n Slash: 9 Attack, Cooldown: 5 seconds
Cost: 4 Vigor Stones
Mr. Fang looked between the two cards, his black eyes glinting with greed.
Ripper. Weapon. Set: Skinning Knives of Sol Kaine. Rarity: Legendary. One of the twin skinning knives of the owner of The Black Lodge, Sol Kaine.
Hunter’s Thirst: A successful hit transfers 9 Health Points to wielder.
Hack n Slash: 9 Attack, Cooldown: 5 seconds
Cost: 4 Vigor Stones
Calix watched their expressions and smiled. He knew he had them in his hands. “Do we have an agreement, gentlemen?”