Before Walt reached the doorway to the stairwell, he looked over at the elevator. He didn’t want to take the lift, not when the building was susceptible to structural damage like this. With his opponent out there, summoning monsters and spells that could cause destruction, the last place he wanted to be in was an enclosed space that was dangling on cables in a concrete shaft. At least on the stairs, he had freedom of movement and choices to make.
He noticed his reflection in the burnished surface of the elevator door. The white streak running through his hair and the new color of his eyes made him look kind of bad-ass. But he was still in his Amazon delivery driver uniform so he also looked kind of goofy.
Except for the glowing card gauntlet on his arm. That looked downright amazing no matter what other accessories or fit he had on. At least in his opinion.
He could get used to being a Voidlock. But he also wondered if it was ever possible to switch classes.
His thoughts went to his sister Janice and to his mother in Nashville. As he went to dig out his phone and call them to see if they were safe, the condo door behind him opened and Joy, the goth girl, emerged into the hallway.
Her hammer was still in her hand. But it wasn’t raised. It was merely dangling at her side.
The succubus, Walt’s minion, moved towards Joy.
“Wait!” Walt said. “Don’t attack her!”
The succubus stopped. Her mouth twitched, disappointed. And her deadly barbed tail moved in the air like a serpent, its tip pointed at Joy. “You sure about this? I feel like she deserves a good skewering just for that hair cut alone. Really, girl? Who told you bangs were a good idea?”
Joy stared at the succubus in fear, backing away into the condo. Her hands were trembling. She closed the door and locked it.
“I told you I wasn’t going to hurt you,” Walt said. “Even though you left me in the hallway to die.”
There was no reply.
Walt turned to leave.
“I wasn’t leaving you out there to die,” Joy said through the door.
Walt stopped. “What was that?”
“I said I wasn’t leaving you out there to die. I didn’t trust you. How do I know you wouldn’t have shoved me out into the hallway with that thing?”
“I did give you my word.”
“Sorry, but I need a little bit more than someone’s word. Especially since…well, look at the circumstances.”
“That’s understandable.”
Walt stood there, staring at the door.
“Timer’s ticking, boss.” the succubus said.
She was right.
T4 01:30
He should get moving. This girl wasn’t his responsibility. He left and reached the stairwell door. As he put his hand to turn the doorknob, the condo door opened again.
Joy stepped back out. “Can I come with you?”
“Where I’m going,” Walt said, “isn’t going to be safe.”
“Way I see it, you got the Starter Deck. You’re the only one who has a chance at defending himself against what’s happening. That makes you the safest bet.”
Walt looked down and shook his head. “How do I know you’re not going to try and screw me over?”
“If I was going to screw you over, I would have bashed the back of your head in with this hammer when we were in the elevator.”
“Fair enough.” Walt thought it over. Would she be able to even do anything against him, now that he had a deck and a gauntlet? The one minion he had out seemed pretty hellbent on protecting him. And he didn’t see Joy standing a chance against the demon lady. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. So I can’t promise you anything. But if you try anything, keep in mind that these minions are probably designed to protect their cardholders.”
“I just want to get out of this building,” she said. “Which I think I’ll be able to do after your Duel is finished.”
“Fine, follow me if you want. But I still think you’d be more safe waiting this out in that condo.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
As far as odds went, Walt knew he would probably do the same thing if he were in her shoes.
#
Walt and his succubus headed up the stairs. Joy followed a ways behind, giving them space.
Turn 5
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Vigor Stones 5/5
03:00
How many to Draw?
Walt looked at his hand. He figured he should hold onto Life Leech, since it was a combo trigger and was a possible win condition. It would require planting Blood Mirrors though. And the caveat is that some of the Blood Mirrors had to survive. He didn’t need Eldritch Guard just yet.
So he decided to draw two cards. The gauntlet sucked in Eldritch Guard and it was added to the Discard Pile. He watched as the gauntlet shuffled the remainder of his deck and two the edges of two cards slid up. He commanded them to join his hand.
He looked at his current hand.
Life Leech
Blood Mirror
Soul Armor
Blood Imp
Desecrate X
Walt could feel Joy watching him from down the stairs. She was taking in the deck and the floating, glowing cards in wonder. There was awe on her face.
“So that announcer guy was for real,” Joy said. “The Psycho Slingers, the card game tournament, the cards becoming real…it’s all true.”
“Unless we’re all having the same hallucination or living in the same nightmare, Walt said, “then yes.”
He looked back at these new cards.
Blood Imp. Minion. Set: Darkened Soul Arts. Rarity: Common. A mischievous spirit summoned from the blood of the fallen.
Blood Strike: 6 Attack, Cooldown: 2 seconds
Projectile Vomit: 5 Attack, 2 Poison Per Round, Cooldown: 30 seconds
Health: 7
Cost: 2 Vigor Stones
Another minion. Nice. Then he checked out the other new card.
Desecrate X. Spell. Set: Darkened Soul Arts. Rarity: Common. Cast this affliction spell to weaken an enemy minion or enemy hero. Surrounds them in a noxious green cloud.
While this spell is in effect, will amplify the damage the enemy minion or hero takes from other Darkened Soul Arts Cards. 3 damage per instance. This will last until the spell is cleansed or cured.
Cost: 3 Vigor Stones
“A debuff,” Walt said. “This could be very useful, especially if my opponent has no way to deal with it. The potential damage could be huge.”
“You already know how to play this game?” Joy said.
“I get the gist of it.”
“How?”
“I like card games.”
Joy processed this. “I’m glad that the person who ended up with the Starter Deck here knows what they’re doing.”
“I’m learning as I go.”
“You sound like you know what you’re talking about, though.”
“We’ll see.”
Walt didn’t have a ton of options with this hand. Life Leech couldn’t be played yet. That would require multiple turns to set up Blood Mirrors, and then he would need a round where he could afford to pay the eight Vigor Stone cost.
There was also no point in playing Desecrate X because there were no enemies in sight for it to effect. When he interacted with the card an arrow lit up off to the side of the card, indicating it wanted him to select a target. There were no targets to select. So he assumed it was a line of sight thing.
Which meant that cover was going to be a real life mechanic in this real life card game.
This was getting extremely interesting. How many little nuances and details to discover in this game?
He called Soul Armor to his hand and flicked it into the air. It burst into light and then he saw a visor made of purple light closing over his head, as if his head was inside a helmet. There was the satisfying sound of metal clicking into metal, as if a suit of armor had snapped into place.
A Voidlock armor icon appeared over his head. It was a black metallic crest framed in eldritch green light. There was a symbol on the surface. Embossed purple tentacles intertwined into a knot. In the center was an octopus-like head with a keyhole in the center. Was that his class symbol?
Health: 100
Armor +10!
Armor: 10
Joy was examining Walt with her interface. It was clear she could see the effect the card had on him. “Armoring up?”
“Might as well do it now,” Walt said. “That way when I find this fuck I can play more active and aggressive cards to keep this guy on his toes.”
Next he chose Blood Mirror. He wanted to see if it would work when his opponent wasn’t in sight. The Battleboard was a three-dimensional space. But could he place these objects anywhere within the Battleboard area?
The card flew to him and he caught it, then tossed it into the air. Another explosion of light and a round mirror with red glass appeared in the air. It had a baroque frame. Metal tentacles wrapped around the edge of the glass.
The Blood Mirror rotated there, awaiting his command. It looked like he had two targeting arrows. One was for placement on the Battleboard, or the physical space around him. And the other was for targeting, because it would attack an enemy upon placement. But since there was no enemy around, it would just be used for placement.
“These need to stay intact,” Walt said. “If it gets destroyed, it will weaken my finisher combo.”
Joy pointed down below at the wall. There was a glass case with a fire ax in it. “Can you put it in that case?”
She hopped down and opened the glass door, removing the axe.
Walt stretched out the targeting arrow and mentally clicked it on a spot where the axe was. The Blood Mirror flew, spiraling through the air and positioned itself in the case. Joy carefully put the fire ax in front of it.
The mirror was still visible, but it was better than putting it out on the middle of the stairs somewhere. At least it was hiding behind something.
He finalized the position, releasing the arrow.
Since the Blood Mirror cost one Vigor Stone, and Soul Armor had cost two, he still had two Vigor Stones left to spend. He could play the Blood Imp card to maximize his resources.
Not spending all his Vigor Stones in a round would be inefficient and a mistake. And it would lessen his odds to win. That was an important basic rule when playing a game like this. Maximizing the use of resources and wasting no Vigor Stones.
He flicked the Blood Imp card at the ground. In a poof of light, a pool of blood appeared on the floor. It swirled. Then a red clawed-hand emerged out of the pool.
The blood imp was a homunculus about two feet tall. It ripped through the crimson jelly sac covering its form, a child tearing its way through the embryonic sac.
Instead of flesh and bone, it seemed to be composed of liquid blood. The outer layer of blood congealed into scabs, which hardened and served as its skin. It had beady black eyes and its teeth glinting red shards.
It let out a little birth mew and hacked up black blood. Then it stretched its arms and yawned.
Above its head, Walt could see its stat icons.
Armor: 0
Health: 7
Blood Strike: 6 Attack, Cooldown: 2 seconds
Projectile Vomit: 5 Attack, 2 Poison Per Round, Cooldown: 30 seconds
“Why hello little one,” the succubus said. She leaned down in front of it and smiled.
It looked at her, tilting its head up. Then it raised its arms. “Mama!”
The succubus laughed.
The blood imp noticed Walt. It ran over to him and hugged his legs, smearing his pants with blood. “Papa!”
Walt looked over at Joy and she was watching this all with a mixture of fascination and disgust.
All Walt could do was shrug.