The door to my room flew open so fast, I thought the door would fly from the hinges. Startled, I hid behind the table and peered over to see Brimiri standing in the door, her eyes wide and breath labored.
Yet, this wasn't the Brimiri I remember growing up with. Well, she was mostly the exact same except for the silver hair, purple eyes, being 7'0" instead of 5'9", some of the sharpest ears I've ever seen, and her skin had paled greatly even though her skin seemed to shine. She was still missing the arm she lost in college due to a machining accident that removed all functionality; they had amputated at the shoulder.
"Syil! Are you ok? I felt the energy here fluctuate wildly...."
Though the words seemed to have gotten caught in her throat when she noticed the single card and 4 floating orbs. Her stance noticeably shifted and she let out a breath of air I didn't realize she was holding.
"Syilten Flykra before me this instance!" She just about shouted at me.
I quickly complied, putting myself between her and the orbs behind me, my hands fidgeted in one another nervously.
‘Did I do something wrong? Is being a Card Cultivator rare or frowned upon here?' My thoughts were wild and untamed, panic rushing through my veins. 'And why am I dreaming of Brimiri as an elf, and still getting a lecture?'
Seeming to notice my tension, Brimiri put her hand on my shoulder to try and help me calm down. I flinched and she pulled back her hand.
"Syil...." she seemed to stammer before she got her composure back.
"...I think I came off a little too harsh, Syil. I'm sorry. But you can get hurt if you're not careful during your awakening, that's why I told you all to come to the Cathedral for the coming of age ceremony." She let out a long sigh.
"I guess I'll have to stay by your side here till you're done, they won't move till they are all awakened. That light pink one is the one I'm worried about, strong cards cause phenomena to happen when they awaken, especially high rares like that one...You have astounding luck Syil," she said almost with reverence. Perhaps even fear.
After a while of me looking at her, she finally spoke.
"I was almost certain you'd be an Essence Cultivator, but the world throws us curve balls sometimes with our expectations." Almost confused she said,
"Are you going to awaken your Cards or are you waiting for my permission?" She quipped.(?)
Quickly realizing that I had in fact frozen up and forgotten the orbs behind me for a moment in my panic, now after taking my breath I stepped back before my Cards, or at least the one that already formed and the 4 orbs.
"Don't forget to inspect them, Syil!" I lightly heard in the background as my attention was pulled to the card before me.
ICE SLASH: Common
- Summon and shoot a weak blade of ice to slash at your enemies.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
--Add to Deck for further information--
"Okay...not amazing, but not terrible either.." I trailed off as I noticed a 1/? in the corner of the card.
"Is that a set number? Like on trading cards? Wonder what that means....more stuff to figure out," I grumbled. "I guess Rust is common? Brimiri said red was Rare, what's green?"
Guessing I should start the awakening of the other cards, my hand drifted over to the next common. Just as before, there was a small blinding flash and a new card was floating before me. This one was different from cards before, this one (try ‘it’ maybe) gave a calm and constant feeling while ICE SLASH felt energetic and eager for a lack of words.
'What does that mean?' I thought as I started to inspect the new card.
Cold Resistance: Common
Type: Passive
-Effect: The cold has always been a friend with a bite, now you can have a true friendship.
-- You have +10 to cold resistance and +5% increase to all cold or ice related abilities
--Add to Deck for further Information--
"Huh?" I voiced as I notice a line I didn't see before on the Ice Slash Card, but i re-inspected the Ice Slash Card to be safe, and to my surprise, another new line was added to the Card description
Ice Slash: Common
Type: Active
-Summon and shoot a weak blade of ice to slash at your enemies.
--Add to Deck for further information--
"So guess if I choose to explore the System, it'll give me more information, but I have to be the one to look for said Knowledge." I scratched my head in wonder.
'These are just common so far and I have one more to go and I'm already blown away, did I die and go to Tcg Heaven?’
Try 'These are just common so far. I have one more to go and I'm already blown away, did I die and go to Tcg Heaven?’
The sound of a throat clearing behind me brought me out of my reveries.
"Sorry Brimiri... I know you're busy," I apologized.
She simply giggled.
"Oh I was young once, Syil. But unlike you I'm an Essence Cultivator. I was over the moon on my Awakening day. As you know, Almiri when they awaken as Essence Cultivators, one of their 4 Essence slots are already filled by our natural affinities of the celestial variety. My father chased me around as I went crazy showing off my first ability till I ran out of Aura and passed out. Just don't get too lost in them before they've all awakened," she said softly with a smile.
My thoughts reaffirmed as I reached out for the final common Card.
This one felt similar to ICE SLASH yet different, like another flavor, yet similar.
Spacial Shot: Common
Type: Active. Affinity: Space
-Effect: You've begun to be able to perceive the fluctuations of space around you allowing you weak control over the power of space.
-- You can harness special mana to fire a disrupting shot. Depends on intent, Tier, Rank, different status effects can arise.
--- Current possible status effects: Disorientation, Nausea, blindness, Reversed motor controls, ?.
--Add to a Deck for Further information--
'Cool, an auxiliary skill to get out of dodge… And Affinity is now on the Cards. Strange that that doesn't show up from the start." This System seemed to like giving the bare minimum, telling you to figure it out afterwards.
'I'll cross that bridge when I get there. I'll probably wake up soon, so I should enjoy this.'
"I'm done with the commons Brimiri, you said I might have to worry about these two right?" I said and she nodded
"To be more accurate I'm only worried about the Rare. I don't know if it's a regular Rare or a High Rare, but it is certain to have some reaction to the physical world when you wake it up.”
With a firm nod, I reached out to the Green orb. Unlike the commons, the flash of light seemed to linger for a while longer, and a slight chill seemed to kiss the air for but a moment before it was gone.
'Strange, everything about this so far has been so strange,' but as the light faded and I saw the Card, my thoughts ran still.
Displaced Spear: Uncommon
Type: Active. Affinity: Ice/Space
-Effect: Your soul deeply loves the cold and has an intrinsic knowledge of space.
-- Fire a Spear made of Spacial ICE within eyesight(limit 3 meters). Can be fired at an enemy from anywhere as long as it's in eyesight as well as the enemy you're trying to hit. Can only summon 2 spears at a time.
--Add to Deck for further information--
"Huh...guess the effect either gets more specific as the rarity does or just becomes more complicated and specialized?" I murmured.
"So I'm guessing so far that I'm not a front liner, though I'd prefer a spell blade."
I felt Brimiri come to stand beside me.
"I'm going to put you in a barrier, Syil, the rest is up to you. If you can't handle the awakening of this Card it could cripple you. (*)*Cards are living things one and all, if you don't respect them then there are consequences, but I believe in you Syil." was the last thing I heard before I became surrounded in what seemed to be a barrier of pure Jubilation.
(*This could be a good place to explain to the reader who can't see her why Brimiri would be weary of physical effects)
*(Post edit addition)
After taking stock of the barrier surrounding me,
‘I guess Brimiri is scared, though I'm still processing Brimiri using magic…
I shrugged and reached out to touch the last orb when the world became nothing but the color blue. I felt a strong suction from my consciousness to my core before the world went black once more.