The room was cheap; only ten copper. I had to fend off a very persistent Anna who wanted to play just one more game of card battle before making it to my room. While normally I wouldn’t mind humoring her, there was something I needed to look into. When I checked my skills after getting my class, I noticed something. Imbue Card was still there. I was positive Anna said it was temporary.
I took out the cards and paintbrush and got to work. The first skill I made into a card was Break Stuff. The moment I painted the word, the image of a dwarf breaking a vase with a hammer appeared. I laughed and went on to the next one; Wallop. That one formed the image of two dwarves engaged in a fistfight. Ping turned into the image of a radar dish that looked out of place in the game, and Ignore Darkness was another dwarf standing with his arms crossed with his back to the starry night sky. I tried to do my two proficiencies but the cards rejected them.
I wasn’t sure if the last skill was going to work. Imbuing the Imbue Card skill onto a card felt like it would break the game, if for no other reason than that it might create a paradox. I thought my fear was becoming a reality when a mirror recursion of a pen and a card appeared on the card. The same image appeared in the card on the card and then a smaller one appeared on that card. It happened over and over until all I saw was a dot on the smallest card.
Once I finished inscribing my skills, I thought about how to use them. I knew she lent me the skill for Card Battle but she also mentioned something about a heart deck. Did I have one of those? I held the Break Stuff card to my chest.
Error: Inappropriate Class. Eligible classes include Card Battler and Card Master
Skill Detected: Imbue Card
Heard Deck Slot Granted: 1/1
A slot opened in my chest just big enough to insert a single card. Since I was unsure if I’d be able to swap it out, I held off. I needed to figure out a way to get a skill I didn’t already have. Since there was little point in sleeping in the game, I packed up my cards and left the inn room.
Downstairs, I noticed Phylis preparing a different special than the first time I visited. I walked over to the bar overlooking the kitchen. “Whatcha making?”
“Oh, welcome back, Dearie,” she said without looking away from the stove. “This dish is called Chicken Cacciatore. Would you like a plate?”
“Yes, please,” I replied. “And a few more for the road.”
She placed a plate in front of me and a large bag to go. “That’ll be twenty silver.”
I paid her while storing the to-go bag in my inventory. Then I sat down to eat. Anna slid onto the stool next to me and shook her deck of cards in front of me. “Can we play now, ple~ease?”
I gave my food a mournful look. “Sure, I suppose.”
She took out the red dragon deck and I held up a hand. “But not that deck.”
“Fi~ine,” she whined.
Phylis set a plate in front of her. “Go easy on him, and eat something first. You know better than to interrupt a guest’s meal.”
“I know,” she droned. “But he’s going to leave soon and I want to play him again.”
“He already said he will play you,” Phylis consoled her daughter.
“I know,” Anna pouted before turning her attention to me with a mouth full of food. “What kind of monster do you want me to beat you with today?”
“Do you have anything weak like a slime?” I asked, taking a bite of food.
“Oh, yes!” She grinned. “My slime deck even includes a demon slime. Wanna see? He has a dragon companion.”
“Do you have any decks that aren’t overpowered?” I asked.
She stuck her tongue out and shook her head, which resulted in food coming with it because her mouth was still full.
I took out the blank cards and paintbrush and implemented my plan. “Maybe I can copy some of your cards…for my deck, you know?”
She looked down at the blank card and frowned. “Oh, Gods! I forgot to take that skill back. You aren’t supposed to keep it.”
The Class Trainer Anna has removed your skill: Imbue Card.
I frowned. It was the worst-case scenario. While I’d hoped to copy some more monsters or skills from her, I knew there was a chance she would take the skill back. I feigned disappointment and swapped to my backup plan.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
“We can still play, can’t we?” She asked, her lower lip quivering in a very cute pout.
“I don’t know,” I replied, conning the poor child. “The deck you gave me isn’t that good.”
Anna slid her empty plate away and rummaged through her bag. “Wait, I might have some cards that will help your deck. Will you play me then?”
“I don’t know,” I replied. “Only if the cards are good enough.”
She pulled out a pair of cards.
Buff
Card Battle Card
Raise a monster’s attack and defense 5X for 3 turns.
Debuff
Card Battle Card
Halve an enemy monster’s attack and defense for 3 turns.
“Will these do?” She asked, clasping her hands together in a mock prayer.
“Yes!” I replied. That was exactly what I needed.
She ended up playing her slime deck, and as expected, it was utterly destroyed. The cards she gave me didn’t help at all. I wasn’t worried about winning, though. What I wanted was information.
“Can you tell me a little more about the class you offer?” I asked.
“Sure,” she chirped, eager to discuss anything about Card Battle. “Whatcha wanna know?”
“First of all, how do cards work against monsters?” I asked. “You mentioned the heart deck, but do you put monster cards in there? Or do those not work outside of the game?”
“Oh, you summon monsters,” she replied. “You don’t place them in your heart deck. The heart deck is for skills and abilities. That way you can call on them whenever you need them.”
“Can you use abilities, say this buff card, when it’s not in your heart deck?” I asked.
Anna frowned, looking up from the game. “Why would you want to do that?”
“Isn’t there a limit to how many cards you can store in your heart?” I asked.
She laughed and waved the question off. “Oh, that. It’s a lot harder to fill the ten card slots in your heart deck than you think. Well, it is if you put quality cards in.”
“What do you do with lesser-skill cards?” I asked.
“What do you mean? She asked. “Who uses those? You shouldn’t use them once you get better ones. The only exception is monsters. Even weak monsters have a purpose when fighting their natural prey or opposing element.”
“But can you use skills outside of your heart deck?” I asked, trying to keep my secret while prying information from the girl.
She rubbed her chin. “I suppose but it would be a waste. You see, skill cards used outside of the heart deck vanish after you use them.”
“Oh, is that all?” I heaved a sigh of relief, earning myself a dirty look from Anna.
“Even weak cards don’t deserve to be used up like that,” she said, putting her cards down. “You don’t want to be a Card Battler, do you?”
“How about Card Master?” I asked, watching to see her reaction. “Can you teach me that class?”
“C-c-card Master?” She asked. “How do you know about that?”
“I did some research,” I lied.
Anna frowned. “That is an advanced class. I can only teach you that if you accept Card Battler and meet certain secret requirements.”
“I see,” I replied, making a note. Were there hidden classes like there were dungeons?
Anna lost interest in the game after that and quickly finished me off. Her demon slime disintegrated my aquan despite his buffs.
She packed up her deck and stood to leave. “If you ever get serious about becoming a Card Battler, come see me. It’s lots of fun.”
“We might be interested,” a pair of women who entered the inn while we were playing called out from a nearby table.
Anna squealed and ran over. “Really? Do you want to play Card Battle?”
“No,” the woman who spoke replied. “But we would love to hear about the class you offer.”
I went back to semi-immersion mode so I could try the food in real life while I listened in on their conversation. The replicator had already prepared a copy of the chicken cacciatore. While Anna explained the class to one of the women, I noticed my character had the attention of the other.
She walked up to me and asked, “Where did you get the Excavator class? Is it any good?”
“It’s a gathering class,” I admitted.
A look of confusion crossed her face. “Are you going to stay in town?”
“No,” I replied. “I’m headed to Kingstown.”
“Oh, really?” She asked, perking up. “We’re headed there too. Do you want some company?”
Who was I to turn down the company of two beautiful women? Sure, they were only their avatars but my brain didn’t care. Love the one you’re with, right?
Sasha
Class: N/A
Level: 3
Nelly
Class: N/A
Level: 3
She smirked, obviously knowing what I was doing. “Don’t worry. We both know how to hold our own. We just didn’t find any classes that we liked in this town.”
“Speak for yourself,” Nelly called from the table with Anna. “I think I’m going to try this Card Battler class.”
“Really?” Sasha asked. “Is it so good that you’re willing to miss out on whatever we might find in Kingstown?”
“Anna says we can change them at level five,” Nelly explained. “We should both pick classes here to try out. We can swap them when we get to the city.”
“Is that true?” Sasha asked, looking at me for confirmation.
“That’s what I heard. You can swap classes every five levels,” I replied. “But I haven’t tried it yet.”
“Doesn’t that mean people will change classes every chance they get?” Sasha asked.
Phylis, who was still cooking across from us, explained. “Changing classes comes with a penalty. The lower level you are, the lesser it is. This way, people are discouraged from changing classes later in the game unless they mean it while new players are encouraged to try lots of new things.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” Sasha said, her face lighting up. “I guess that means I should get a class before we leave. Did you see any good ones out there?”
“Would you like to be a chef?” Phylis asked.
“Thank you but no,” Sasha replied. Phylis shrugged and turned back to her cooking.
----------------------------------------
I ended up going with Sasha while she shopped around for a decent class. She wanted something scrappy and didn’t believe me when I told her most of the town’s classes were crafting-based. With visited all the shops and trade stalls. Sasha even knocked on some of the house’s doors. I couldn’t help but admire the character she designed. She was a short woman with cropped red hair and lots of freckles in all the right places. She still wore her starter clothes which showed lots of skin. She spoke with a European accent that I couldn’t quite place. All in all, she was fascinating, and I wanted to learn more about her.
“I think I found something,” she called out, making me realize I’d been daydreaming. “This guy says he’s good with a spear and he offered me a class called Pikeman. What do you think?”
I opened my inventory, took out one of the crude aquan spears, and held it out to her. “I think you should try it. You aren’t going to find a better job. Not in this town anyway.”
She accepted the spear in exchange for a smile that made my toes tingle. “Thanks, Veri. I think I’ll try it.”
“Veri?” I asked.
“Calling you Veritas sounds odd,” she replied. “It’s not really a name.”
“Hey! I like my name,” I whined.
“Do you not like being called Veri?” She asked, fluttering her eyes.
I sighed. “I guess it’s okay.”
Thus began my life in The World with a nickname…and two new traveling companions.