Blake approached Domingo Rodriguez, who was still reeling from his defeat in the dueling arena. He tried to get up, but his arms and legs were weak. Domingo’s eyes were dark and brooding, and he did not look happy to see Blake coming toward him.
“Hey, Domingo,” Blake said, trying to be friendly. “I just wanted to say that was a great battle. You’re a really talented duelist.”
Domingo didn’t respond. Through sheer force of will he seemed to pick himself up and crossed his arms over his chest in wounded pride.
“I believe this is the point where I get the card you wagered,” Blake said, trying to keep his voice even.
Domingo’s expression darkened even further. He scowled, but he reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. He tossed it toward Blake, who caught it.
“There,” Domingo said. “Take it. But don’t expect me to be happy about it.”
Blake looked down at the card in his hand. It was a Fire Wings card, which could let its user fly. Almost like Harry’s Gargoyle’s Fury card!
Blake’s heart leaped with excitement. This was a rare and valuable card, and he was thrilled to have it in his deck, but at the same time, his thoughts turned to Harry. Where was his friend?
“I never, in a million years, thought I’d lose that card to a newcomer like you,” Domingo said, and Blake felt like the bitter Challenger was about to spit on him. “That’s the only reason I wagered such a card.”
“Clay Atlas himself ordered me to come here to duel. If you want to be angry at someone, be angry at those who run this city for matching you up against me,” Blake said.
“Hmph,” Domingo grunted, his voice dripping with bitterness. Then he turned and limped away from the battlefield.
Despite having potentially made an enemy today, Blake couldn’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction as he walked away, the Fire Wings card clutched tightly in his hand. He had won a rare and valuable card, and he was one step closer to rescuing his parents and escaping the city of New Meridia.
He hurried out of the arena and hoped he would make it out before the throng of spectators descended on him.
Unfortunately, there was no escaping that mob.
Blake emerged from the dueling arena, he was greeted with a sea of faces, all looking at him in awe. People he had never met before were congratulating him, patting him on the back, and asking for his autograph. The street vendors were calling out to him, offering him discounts on their wares and begging him to try their food.
Blake felt like a celebrity, and he couldn’t help but bask in the attention.
As he made his way through the throngs of people, he thought about how different things were from just a few hours ago. Before the duel, he was just another stranger in the city, a nobody.
But now, he was a winner, a Challenger, and everyone seemed to know it.
Blake noticed that Atlas Security forces were now standing at a respectful distance, no longer watching his every move. It was like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
As he walked, Blake noticed a small girl, no more than ten years old, staring at him with wide eyes. She approached him timidly, and Blake smiled down at her.
“Can I have your autograph?” she asked, holding out a small piece of paper and a pen.
Blake didn’t really know what to say, but he signed the paper and gave it back to her with a smile. She thanked him and ran off, beaming with excitement.
As he continued on his way, Blake felt he had been given a new lease on life. He was no longer just a stranger in the city, but a respected member of the community. He had proven himself on the battlefield, and now, he was one step closer to finding his parents.
With his pockets now filled to the brim with credits, Blake had a tough decision to make. He decided to take his time and not make any impulsive decisions and spend the night at his apartment before making any important purchases.
As he walked through the bustling streets of New Meridia, he began to consider his options.
The first thing that came to mind was upgrading his Lair. With the credits he had, he could now afford some of the more advanced and powerful additions, such as the Monster Breeding Module.
This particular module caught Blake’s interest because it offered the opportunity to experiment with monster breeding. Instead of having to destroy two cards to create a new one, Blake could now use the breeding process to fuse two of his existing monsters together to create a new, powerful creature. This would take longer, but it would also allow Blake to experiment and test different combinations without risking the loss of his cards.
But Blake’s interests didn’t stop there.
He now had the funds to purchase most of the cards that he desired from the Power Card store. This would allow him to fill the gaps in his deck and make it even stronger. He was in dire need of a monster that was focused on defense, one that could take the focus of enemies and protect the other monsters in his deck.
Additionally, he also needed a few ranged attackers. The recent duel had made him understand just how crucial it was to have monsters that could engage enemies from a distance.
Blake was walking down the dimly lit promenade toward his apartment building, lost in thought, when he heard a voice behind him. He spun around, tense that someone might be looking to pick a fight with him, but he relaxed when he saw that it was just Chelsea Otto, Clay Atlas’s personal whatever-she-was.
“Blake Thornwood. I doubt that anybody is going to be able to forget that name after the show you put on tonight,” Chelsea said, stepping out from the shadows. Her tone was friendly, but Blake couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease.
“Yes, well, Clay didn’t really give me much of a choice, did he?” Blake replied cautiously.
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“Summoning monsters,” Chelsea said, her eyes fixed on Blake like she was trying to look right through his skin and into his soul. “That’s quite odd. As far as the card encyclopedia goes, there are no cards that are a part of this system that summon monsters.”
Blake felt a shiver run down his spine. This was it, the game was up.
Chelsea knew there was something wrong with him, and now she was going to expose him.
“What do you mean?” Blake asked nonchalantly.
“Don’t play dumb with me, Blake,” Chelsea replied, her tone serious. “I know you’re capable of summoning monsters that should be impossible to summon.”
Blake felt backed into a corner. He had been careful to keep his abilities hidden, but it seemed Chelsea knew more than she was letting on. He decided to try to deflect her questions.
“I just use the cards that I get from the system,” Blake said, shrugging his shoulders.
“I don’t believe that for a moment,” Chelsea said, her eyes narrowing. “There’s something more going on here, and I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”
Blake felt his heart racing. He had always known that Clay Atlas and his people were dangerous, but he hoped to be able to escape close scrutiny. He took a step back, trying to put some distance between himself and Chelsea.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Blake said, his voice shaking slightly. “I’m just a duelist trying to make my way in this city.”
“I’m going to find out what’s going on with you, Blake. Whether you like it or not.”
With that, she turned and walked away, leaving Blake standing there, feeling like he was in over his head.
Finally reaching his apartment, Blake let out a sigh of relief as he stepped inside. He was in dire need of quiet and peace to recharge his batteries for the next challenge. He locked the door behind him, went for a shower, then pulled one of his daily ration packs out of his fridge and started eating.
Eventually, the adrenaline from the duel and his encounter with Chelsea Otto wore off, and the exhaustion of the day hit him like a freight train.
He headed into his bedroom and stared up at the ceiling as the lights of the city gently illuminated the inside of his bedroom with their neon lights. He thought about closing the blinds but was too tired to stand up again.
Blake lay in his bed, his mind racing with thoughts of how he was going to escape the city once he rescued his parents. He couldn’t just barge in and try to take them by force, not with the resources Clay Atlas had under his command.
But Blake had a sneaking suspicion that if he did fight the three duels that Clay Atlas wanted him to fight, something else would just be put in his way. Especially now that Chelsea and Clay would suspect that there was something wrong with him.
He pondered all the things he had learned so far in the city, about the power card system, the Challenger Rankings system, and the hidden dungeons where Clay Atlas locked up those who dared to defy him. He’d need all the help he could get, and he was going to have to be careful about who he trusted.
The thought of his parents wasting away in one of those dungeons made Blake’s heart ache. He had come so far, and he wasn’t going to stop now. He was going to find a way to get them out, no matter what.
As he lay there in the dark, he heard a faint noise outside his window.
He sat up and listened, trying to make out what it was. It could have been a branch scratching on the windows outside, or possibly the claws of someone using a power card to creep around after dark.
Blake’s heart raced as he got out of bed and cautiously approached the window. He peered out into the night, but all he could see was darkness.
He waited, standing behind the wall next to the bedroom window, and suddenly felt uncomfortable leaving it open. He closed the blinds, cutting off the glowing lights of the city from his bedroom.
He lay back down in the bed, but the noise kept repeating.
Blake stuffed the pillow over his head and tried to block the noise out. Eventually, sleep found him, but his dreams echoed the sick worry he felt in his heart.
In his dream, which felt like it was only moments away from becoming a nightmare, Blake found himself floating in a black void, with no sight or sound of anything else around him.
Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the distance and rapidly grew in size as it approached him. It was a meteor, blazing with an intense heat, just like the one on the front of his Meteor Strike card that summoned his Meteor Colossus.
Dread washed over Blake as he realized the meteor was flying straight for him, too fast for him to have any chance of escaping!
As the meteor drew closer, Blake could hear a voice speaking to him. It was a deep, powerful voice, full of authority and otherworldly knowledge.
“You have been chosen, a joker to upset the balance. Fate is a wheel that turns, but the wheel turns around you,” the voice boomed.
Blake tried to resist, but he was powerless against the force of the meteor. He was pulled inside by the overwhelming gravitational force, and he felt his body being torn apart and reconstructed in an instant.
He found himself in a strange, new world surrounded by towering trees and creatures he had never seen before.
The voice spoke to him again, this time with a sense of amusement.
Blake couldn’t make out the words, but he got the feeling that he was nothing but a puppet in a much larger game.
Blake woke up in a cold sweat, panting and shaking from the intensity of the dream. He rubbed his eyes and tried to shake the feeling of unease.
No matter how he tried to rationalize it by telling himself it was all a chaotic mix of memories, a natural reaction after such an exciting day, he couldn’t help but feel there was more to it. Like the dream was trying to tell him something, but what?
Blake slapped his cheeks. Forget weird dreams. He needed to focus on the present and figure out a way to escape New Meridia and rescue his parents as soon as possible.
Blake glanced over at the clock on his bedside table. It was only 3am in the morning.
Okay, maybe not quite parent saving time yet. He really did need the rest.
Blake tried to, but it soon became clear he wasn’t going to be able to return to sleep, so he took a deep breath, steeled himself, and got out of bed. He had a long day ahead of him.
Blake sat in his apartment, waiting for his oats to boil. He stared at his New Meridia OS interface as he tried to send a message to Harry.
The delivery status of each message remained stubbornly stuck on sending, never making it to delivered.
Frustrated, Blake tried again, and typed out a message with a sense of urgency.
‘I didn’t see you at the arena last night, man. Hoping you’re okay. Just hit me back when you can, okay? Blake.’
He hit the send button. Once again, the message remained stuck in the sending status.
Blake was becoming increasingly concerned as he sat in his apartment. He had tried repeatedly to reach Harry through the New Meridia Messaging Service, but all of his messages seemed to go unanswered. This was highly unusual, as Harry was always quick to respond.
He wondered if Harry was in some sort of trouble. It was possible that he had been captured, or that he’d pissed off Clay Atlas and his goons somehow. Blake didn’t know what was going on, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong.
Blake sighed, running a hand through his hair.
He hated feeling powerless. He was in an unfamiliar city, surrounded by people and creatures he didn’t understand, and without a clue about what was going on.
He was starting to think Harry’s plans of leaving this place might have been the right idea.
But he couldn’t give up and leave. He had to find out what was going on, and he had to find out what had happened to Harry. He was his only ally in this strange city, and Blake wasn’t about to abandon him.
He was going to find out what was going on, and he was going to get to the bottom of this mystery. No matter what it took, he was going to find answers.
Blake tested this out and sent a message to Kenji Nakamura, who he’d also been friendly with.
‘Kenji, did you see my fight in the arena last night? How’d I do? Blake.’
He watched the status of this message move from sending to delivered in an instant. That filled Blake with a feeling of dread.
If Clay Atlas had cut off people’s ability to send Harry Grenfell messages, then Harry was in trouble.
“Damn it, Harry. What did you do?” Blake asked as he tried to figure out his next move.
If Harry had gotten into some kind of trouble and had his access to the messenger application revoked and messages blocked, then there was only one place that Harry could be.
Harry was probably in the dungeons beneath Atlas Tower, just like his parents.