“Honey, stop scaring the guests,” Anna’s mom chastised her from across the restaurant.
“Sorry, Mom,” she called back before continuing in a hushed tone. “If I teach you this skill, you have to promise not to tell anybody or show it to anybody else. Technically, I’m not supposed to teach it to anyone but people who choose the class.”
“It’ll be our secret,” I replied. “I promise.”
“Okay,” she replied, pausing and giving me a serious look before continuing. “Take my hand.”
I reached out and gently placed my hand in hers. “What supposed to…ooh!”
A jolt went through my body almost like a static shock followed by a feeling of warmth like sipping chicken soup on a cold winter day. When she released me, I felt as though I could make drawings come to life but only on a certain piece of card stock.
New skill acquired. Imbue Card
“There,” Anna replied, reaching into her pocket and offering me some blank cards and a fine-tipped paintbrush. “It’s done. Now, what do you want to make?”
“Where’s the ink?” I asked, accepting the offered supplies.
“The ink comes from your soul,” she replied. “When you activate the skill, it will allow you to paint your mana onto the card. Just think about a monster you fought or a skill you used. Since you don’t have a class, I doubt you have any skills, so just pick a monster.”
She was wrong. I did have one official skill and several unofficial ones. The question was whether or not I could turn any of them into cards. I thought about all the things I managed to do. First, there was holding my breath by not holding my breath. Could I make a mind over matter card? How would that help against a dragon? Then I learned how to climb by making myself nearly weightless followed by crushing my foes by making myself way a lot. After that, I put it all together by starting heavy and making myself lighter to jump over a wall.
“Hmm,” I stuck my tongue out of the side of my mouth as I started sketching before tearing the card up and starting over.
Anna looked like I’d just kicked a kitten. “No~o. Don’t tear them up. Cards are precious.”
I looked at the inventory she’d given me.
Blank Card: Unlimited
Still, I didn’t want to offend the kid. “I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful.”
“What’s wrong?” She asked. “Your skill should let you make a card for any monster you fought even if you didn’t win.”
“I want to paint a skill,” I replied. “Only, It’s not exactly a skill.”
Anna tilted her head to the side before blurting out. “You’re weird, Mr. Veritas.”
I chuckled and held up the universal sign for ‘A little.’
“Can you help me?” I asked.
Anna heaved a telegraphed sigh and stuffed her deck in her bag before walking around the table to me. I tried to stuff my deck into my inventory.
Error: You do not own this item.
I groaned in frustration and placed it face down on the table.
“Relax,” she said. “I already know what all the cards in that deck do. You don’t have to hide them from me. Now, tell me about this skill. Does it have a name?”
I wasn’t expecting to have to name my skills. Cannonball only got its name because I called it out while plummeting to my death. Was it that simple? I did do all of the things I had in mind. Perhaps naming them would make them into true skills.
“The first one I want to do is called Super Jump,” I said, looking down at the blank card.
Labeling Skill: Super Jump.
I gave a small whoop when the system ratified my skill. Using it would be a lot easier if I didn’t have to adjust my weight mid-jump every time.
“Write that on the card,” Anna instructed.
When I did, my sloppy handwriting vanished and a printed label appeared with the image of a man jumping over a mountain.
“Wow, you do have skills,” Anna said with a low whistle. “I didn’t think classless people got any.”
“How do you know I’m classless?” I asked.
Anna shrugged. “I don’t know. Just do.”
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I started on the next card. “Hmm, what should I call this one?”
“You can’t just make up skills,” Anna whined.
“I just did,” I replied, holding up the Super Jump card.
“You made that up?” She asked, snatching the card and looking at it in the light. “Well, you made the card so it must be real. You really are weird.”
“Thanks,” I replied, still trying to devise a name for the new skill. “How about Power Rush?”
I wrote the name down. Nothing happened.
Anna giggled. “That’s what’s supposed to happen when you try to make up a skill.”
“Oh,” I replied.
I supposed I could make a card for eternal breath or a worm monster card but what was the point? I needed something that would defend my aquan against a dragon. The problem seemed to be that I needed to have executed a skill for it to be applicable. Theoretical skills didn’t count.
That left just one skill to imbue. Cannonball. A picture of a man tucked into a ball appeared above the word once I finished writing it.
Anna examined the card before handing it back to me. “Anything else?”
I sighed. “No, that’s it.”
“Which one do you want to play?” She asked.
I held both cards up and shrugged. “How do I know what they’ll do? In Card Battle, that is.”
Anna walked back to her seat. “Hold the actions card over the monster and it will tell you everything you need to know. Some skills work over multiple turns while others are one-time use. The card will tell you everything.”
I held out Super Jump over the miniature aquan on the table.
Super Jump
Jump high in the air before crashing into a monster. [Deals Double Damage]
*This move takes 1 turn to execute.
**This Card allows melee monsters to attack the back row.
Next, I checked Cannonball.
Cannonball
Modify body weight to deal massive damage on impact. [Deals 5x Damage]
*This move stuns the monster for 2 turns.
**Cannot be executed if the target has the high ground.
I held out the Super Jump card. “I think I’ll use this one.”
The moment I said it the aquan took a running start and jumped straight up into the air and vanished.
“Where did he go?” I asked.
Anna giggled, “He’ll be back next turn. In a normal fight with lots of monsters that might mean something. In this case, I’ll just end my turn and wait for it.”
As she said, the turn ended and the aquan came crashing down on the dragon’s head.
-4HP[6 Remain]
“Now it’s my turn,” Anna announced, rolling up her sleeve. “I use the Devour card.”
She held out her card and the dragon ate my aquan.
-10HP[-7 Remain]
Anna giggled again. “I win! Wasn’t that fun.”
“Hey!” I barked. “That wasn’t fair.”
Anna stopped laughing just long enough to reply. “It wasn’t supposed to be fair. I was showing you how the game works. Real card battle is much more exciting. There are so many monsters and they can attack you as well. It’s a strategy game.”
I tried to return the blue deck and she pushed my hand away. “You keep it. That’s a starter deck. You can get more cards from quests and monster drops. Or from other players if you make a bet with them.”
“Can I have a dragon card?” I asked hopefully.
“Heck no!” She snapped. “Do you know how rare…”
“Anna!” Her mom gave her the stink eye. “Be nice to the customer.”
“Fi~ine,” Anna drawled. “You can have this one…but only this one.”
Dragon Whelp
Card Battle Card
Attack 3 Defense 1
I smiled as I accepted the card. “Thank you, Anna.”
“You’re welcome,” she sighed, before perking up. “Can we play again later?”
“If I have time, sure,” I replied. “First, I need to get a map so I can meet up with my brother.”
“Hello, Dear. My name’s Phylis,” Anna’s mom said with a wave. “I waited to give the two of you time to finish your game. Would you like to try the special?”
“The special is yummy,” Anna agreed.
“Yes, I’d like that,” I did want to see what good food tasted like in game. Hopefully, the innkeeper was a good cook.
“It’ll be just a moment,” she winked at me before walking back to the kitchen.
She wasn’t lying about taking just a moment. I barely had a chance to blink before she returned with a bowl of stew.
Daily Special - House Stew
Bonus: Health +20%, Mana +20%, Stamina +20%
Duration: 6 hours (Earth Time)
I tried a bite. The savory broth provided a deep umami character, while the bite of braised beef was so tender it melted in my mouth. Perfectly chopped potato chunks mixed nicely with an assortment of tender vegetables to bring the dish together. I also wasn’t complaining about the stat boost.
Since I didn’t want to disturb the other patrons, I pulled up the in-game terminal and switched to semi-immersion mode. Once outside of the game, I said, “Replicate the dish I just ate in game.”
“Coming right up,” the house AI droned.
A few minutes later, slower than Phylis, the same dish appeared on the table. I took a bite and compared the flavor. There were differences but it wasn’t what I expected. The flavor and tenderness of the stew was the same. It was the way my body experienced it that changed. In the virtual world, food was something I experienced with my whole being. It sent digital waves of pleasure to all the correct places in my brain to make me feel I was experiencing the perfect meal.
The primary drawback was that it didn’t satisfy my hunger. By that same logic, I could also sample everything on the menu and not feel stuffed. The same phenomenon occurred when going to the bathroom in the game. Sure, it felt great while doing it but there was no sense of relief at the end. If you had to go in real life, you still had to go.
In the real world, the same stew was a little less satisfying but significantly more fulfilling. It looked like I was going to have to frequent Phylis’s restaurant several more times if I wanted to feed all her recipes to my food processor.
“Does the special change every day?” I asked when I returned to full dive.
Phylis, who was watching me, replied. “Not exactly. I change the special every eight days which I believe is one of your days. That way as many guests as possible can sample each dish.”
“Do all of your meals have bonus stats?” I asked, hoping the NPC knew what a stat was.
Phylis smiled. “No. While I provide the best ingredients, the cheaper ones only taste good and satisfy your hunger. Stats are reserved for premium dishes, and those cost more. The only exception is the daily special which I sell at a discount. That way anyone can get their daily boost without breaking the bank.”
“That’s right,” I replied. “I forgot to ask how much this costs.”
“Normally, I charge one silver for the special,” she replied. “But since this is your first time, it’s on the house.”
“Thanks,” I said between mouthfuls of stew. “I’ll be sure to buy something next time I’m in town. Speaking of which, do you know where I can get a map? I need to meet up with my brother.”
“They cost five copper at the general store,” she replied. “Or you can get a fancy one with all the locations marked for a gold. It’s expensive but it has most of the landmarks listed. I can send Anna to fetch one for you if you like.”
I had a dilemma. While I could afford the more expensive map, it also took half the fun out of exploring. The way I saw it, if I was busy heading to a regular dungeon marked on the map, I probably wouldn’t have discovered the hidden one at the bottom of the lake.
Dedicing exploration was the right path for me, I fished out five copper coins and set them on the table. Anna skulked over and scooped them up.
“Hurry, dear,” Phylis called after her as she trudged out the door.
She returned with it just as I was finishing up dinner. I cleared the food off the table and spread out my new map. The World was massive, spanning five continents and four major oceans. I was currently in one of the subtropical continents very close to the equator. The only thing listed on the map were major cities. It was time to call Jed.