“Trust is earned?” Gus said in a mocking voice. He snatched the Camouflage card out of Max’s hand and said, “You just lost mine, buddy.”

Gus absorbed the Bell card into his deck and activated it. His skin slowly changed to match the browns and greens in the forest around them. The illusion spread to his clothes a moment later. When the card was done, he looked down at himself.

“Told you I didn’t steal the damn Listen card. I would never use a card like that. This one either. It’s shit,” Gus said and pulled it back out of his deck.

Max had to agree. The camo was slow to take effect, never fully matched the background, and didn’t handle movement well.

Gus handed the card over to Yang. She absorbed it without comment and soon faded into the background. Max took back his unkind thoughts about the card. Yang was much better at using it and fully matched the colors of the earth forest around them. She didn’t disappear, but she was much less noticeable.

She took the card back out and held it out. Max tossed it to James. He pulled it into his chest and activated the card. His camouflage was better than Gus’ but not nearly as good as Yang’s.

Max found it interesting how wildly different the same card was in different hands. There was something to be said for natural aptitude. None of that really mattered though. He had just tested three people and none of them had a Bell card slotted.

“I apologize to all three of you for doubting you. It’s clear none of you stole the card,” Max said as sincerely as possible.

Gus scoffed. “Or they are smart and took it out before you called everyone together. I bet it was your buddy James over there.”

James flipped him off and Max held up his hands between the two. Max said, “That’s ridiculous, Gus. I just had the idea. Even if someone was reading my mind, they wouldn’t have had time to act on it. The matter is closed.”

“Whatever. I’m keeping my eye on you, chubby.” Gus said.

“You’re one to talk,” James said and pointed at his gut.

“Shut it, both of you!” Max said.

The men moved to opposite sides of the group.

Yang waited a moment and then said, “With that resolved, may I have the Camouflage card?”

“Sure thing. Let’s divide the rest of the Bell cards while we are at it. We have Startle, Sonic Bolt, and Foul Odor left. Gus, I’ll give you first pick,” Max said, trying to extend an olive branch.

Gus scowled and snatched the cards from his hands, reading them over again. To Max’s surprise, he picked the Startle card. Predictably, James grabbed the Sonic Bolt card.

“Don’t use that one until we are already in combat, James,” Max said. “With a name like that, I bet it’s loud.

James nodded seriously and slipped it into his active deck.

A shock hit Max, like he was hit by a taser. He jumped back and looked around for the source. Gus laughed and slapped his knee.

“Sorry, I thought you liked tests?”

Max took a deep breath and tried to calm down. It didn’t work. “Knock it off, asshole. ”

Gus stood taller and said, “Oh yeah!?”

“Look around, Gus. Everyone here is my friend,” Max said. Calling Yang his friend was a stretch, but the other two were clearly on his side. Max put his hands on his hips. “Don’t you want to be my friend too?”

Gus looked around, realizing he had four people staring him down. His expression hardened and he said, “Yeah, sure, whatever. Don’t get your panties in a twist.” Gus moved off to the side so no one was behind him.

Max rolled his eyes and got back to work on his crossbow. The glue was set, he just needed to work on ammo now. He had eight regular bolts, but that wasn’t enough against serious monsters. He sat down and focused on his Drill card.

The default drill that the card created was a straight line hand drill with a tapered tip. That was halfway there to an arrow already. He needed to make the handle much longer and thinner.

A vision of what he wanted slowly built in his mind. He had learned that Citadel cards work best when he was incredibly specific. He specified the drill’s exact length and width in his mind. When he felt ready, he pressed that mental button.

Dozens of tiny lights appeared and moved to devour and change the stick he held. They were chaotic and ordered, like a murmuration of starlings. When their work was done, he held a long thin drill.

Max pumped a fist. He hadn’t gotten the fins he wanted, but that was looking pretty good. He grabbed the repaired crossbow and slotted in the new ‘arrow’.

It didn’t fit.

He had made it slightly too wide. He sighed and checked his mana. He still had plenty, he could go again. That reminded him, he had upgraded his mana pool to 42 earlier. He guessed that he could complete his Hammer evolution quest now.

First things first. A better magic arrow. He lowered the diameter in his mind to seven centimeters and tried again. Another light show and he had a similar looking long thin drill. It wasn’t as long as a typical bolt, but it fit into the rail. Good enough for a test.

The real question was if he could activate its magic pierce effect as he fired it. It should be possible. Ebba had activated the effect as she threw one of his hammers.

He moved off to the side from the group for his test firing. He glanced around to see what everyone was up to. Yang was working on perfecting her camouflage. Lily was practicing with her new summons, a drop bear. James sat close to her and talked strategy. Gus had cut his palm and was dripping blood into a small water bottle.

Max shook his head. There was no need to cut your palm when you needed blood. The back of your forearm would be way better. Less nerves, easier to bandage, and wouldn’t interfere with a fight. Not that he would tell Gus that. The ass could figure that out by himself.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

The crossbow looked like a kludged together piece of trash. It was time to see if looks were deceiving. He aimed at a nearby tree and mentally activated the drill ‘bolt’. A light twang sounded as the drill shot off. A beam of yellow light flashed, gone before Max had time to register it.

He walked over to the tree to see the damage. A neat hole had been bored through the three foot wide tree. It was exactly what he had hoped for, but there was a problem. The drill was embedded into the tree at an angle. Even over fifteen feet, the improvised ammunition had started to tumble. He needed to readjust the center of balance.

He sat back down and transmuted another drill, this time with the weight farther forward. He still wasn’t able to get fins to appear though. The magics of the Drill card were flexible, but not that flexible. Instead, he peeled off the fins from a bolt and glued them back onto a thin drill.

This time when he tested it, the magic ammunition flew straight for fifty feet and pierced all the way through a four foot trunk. He grinned. Now he had some serious firepower.

He emptied out his mana pool by making one more drill-bolt. That meant he had two good bolts, which was honestly enough. Without the modern reloading lever, it took thirty seconds to reload. Most combat was long over by then.

He hooked the crossbow’s strap on and slung it over his shoulder. That took care of his ranged attacks, now he wanted to see about making better hammers. He could use his Augment card now, as well as complete his Hammer evolution quest. Either option would have to wait for his mana to refill though.

“Is everyone ready to head out?” Max softly asked.

Before anyone could answer, a twig snapped in the distance. Everyone froze. There was the soft sound of footfalls on the forest floor. Max slowly aimed his crossbow in that direction. The steps sounded out of sync, like a monster with a missing leg.

A new voice softly said, “Where in the clutch is Ebba? She was supposed to lead them here yesterday.”

“Broken shells, Agneta, I keep telling you she slipped through on her own,” another voice responded.

Agenta tsked. “I know Ebba. She wouldn’t steal from the Elders. She’s a true Lunuk.”

“You heard what the Elders said. Those humans are carrying a small fortune in cards. Maybe their greed rubbed off on her and she extracted the cards for herself.”

“You think she could? I know humans are dumb, but they wouldn’t fall for the old ‘let me recharge your cards for you’ trick, would they?”

“She isn’t here, doesn’t that prove ...” the voice faded out as they walked away.

Max turned to the others blinking in disbelief. Did he hear that correctly? Was Ebba supposed to lead them into an ambush to steal their cards? Had she been planning on doing the same thing that the mind controlling Lunuk had attempted?

Gus softly said, “They are far enough away now. We should get going.”

“What the hell was that?” James said. “Was Ebba supposed to give us up? Do all Lunuk want to steal our cards?”

“Certainly sounded like it,” Lily replied. “Damn. I was just grieving her, but should we hate her now?”

“Ebba saved us on many occasions. It’s possible she was ordered to lead us into an ambush, but never intended on obeying,” Yang said softly.

Gus scoffed. “Don’t be naive. Everyone is out for themselves in this damn ball.”

Yang shook her head with a stony expression.

Max softly said, “We’ll never know what she would have done. I choose to believe she was on our side. No matter what, we need to get out of here. Let’s set up a formation. Yang, can I ask you to scout ahead a hundred feet or so? I think you can move quieter than the rest of us, and your new card makes it safer. I wouldn’t want you to get too far ahead though. We need to be close in case you get attacked.”

She gave Max a short nod.

Max nodded back. “Alright, Yang leads the way, Gus behind her. Use your Troll Form potion if anything attacks. Lily, I’ll have you behind him and support the front line with your summons. James, you are next with ranged support. I’ll guard the rear and use my crossbow. Everyone good with that plan?”

Most people nodded but Gus made a gimme motion. “I need one of your magic hammers if I’m gonna be on the front line.”

Max handed over the hammer he had used at the city gate. “That’s my last one. I’ll have to make more as we walk so everyone has a backup weapon.”

They headed out shortly after that, carefully making their way through the forest. They had left the red trees behind and entered an earth style temperate forest. Maple, oak, sycamore, and shagbark trees crowded around, vying for sunlight. The underbrush was thick, but not nearly as bad as it had been on the third layer. There were magic plants scattered throughout, but fewer once again.

The forest still felt magical, but less so. Max wondered if the first layer was entirely mundane outside of the dungeons.

The first hour of walking passed without incident. It wasn’t surprising since they were still fairly close to the city. The city probably sent out hunters on a regular basis, just like Wild Plums.

Max found his thoughts drifting back to the guards he killed. They had been xenophobic bastards, but he was feeling guilty for ending their lives. They weren’t his enemies, just people that got in the way.

Ebba had made a plan to distract some guards and kill the others, and they didn’t consider any other plans. A wave of shame washed over him. They should have thought of a less violent method of escape. He should have pushed for it, but he didn’t. Now he had a level up to assign, and it felt tainted.

He was drawn out of his self incrimination when Yang stopped and hurried back to the group.

She motioned for everyone to crouch down and whispered, “Crabby found a big slow monster up ahead. Do we want to go around or attack?”

“Crabby?” Max asked.

Yang gestured to the ground where a little blue crab sat. It waved a little claw. “He’s my summons. I have him scouting ahead.”

“Alright. Can Crabby tell us anything more besides big and slow?”

The crab did a little dance and Yang nodded back. “Crabby says the monster isn’t as tough as he is. I assume that means it doesn’t have an exoskeleton.”

Gus pulled out his water bottle. The potion he made had turned a light green. He said, “I vote we attack. I wanna try out my new card.”

Max said, “Good idea. We have to fight sometime, at least now we can prepare for it.”

He pulled out his crossbow and opened up his belt pouch. He pulled out a copper hammer. He had made one as they walked, but didn’t have enough mana to make another yet.

“Let’s fight it here where we can use trees for cover,” James said and gestured.

“Good idea. Lily, send your mushroomantis out to lead the monster to us, Gus, bottoms up,” Max said.

Lily and Gus nodded. She sent her summons out and he took a drink from his bottle. A transformation quickly washed over his body. His veins turned black and bulged out. He grew two feet and his skin turned gray and pebbly. A groan of pain escaped his lips as his muscles bulged out. His pants and shirt grew tight, and his shoes tore open.

When the transformation was complete, Gus hopped up and down a bit and stretched out. He was quicker than before. Probably much stronger as well. He turned to the group and said, “Mér líst vel á þetta.”

Gus seemed surprised and tried again. Another set of mumbled gibberish came out. He was having real trouble controlling his tongue.

Max laughed and said, “Apparently trolls can’t talk.”

Gus tried again, but couldn’t get his tongue and mouth to behave.

“I like him better this way,” Yang said from behind a nearby bush.

Gus’ fingers worked just fine and he flipped her off.

“Heads up. It’s coming,” Lily said.

A few moments later the monster came into view. Max immediately regretted his decision to fight. It trampled the mushroomantis and charged forward without slowing. Inspect triggered.

Poison Bear

The monster was twelve feet tall at its shoulders and hairy all over. It had six long legs, ending in sharp hooves. It loped forward in a loping gait much like a giraffe running. Its face had four large eyes with six more small ones surrounding it. Two large fangs jutted out of its mouth, green dripping from the tips.