All The Skills

Brixaby waited for a beat. "Just kidding, of course. I'm going to consume the card!"

"Hold on there," Arthur said, slightly alarmed. "Let's wait until we get back to our room. We don't know what will be waiting for us." Or how Brixaby would react after consuming a Legendary, especially since his Personal Space was practically popping at the seams.

He looked around at the dark, still landscape. It was so quiet and peaceful that it was easy to let himself believe they had gotten away with their theft. But that was an illusion.

"I don't even know what day it is," he admitted, and with those words, the weight of exhaustion once again settled on his shoulders. They'd faced too many battles in too short of a time: first the dungeon waves and then the four dragons, one of which was still alive and needed interrogation. It felt overwhelming to think about what he still needed to do. "Let's just… get to our room first," he said on a sigh, dreading the long walk ahead.

"I can take us," Cressida said. "I can sense the shadows, and there are a lot back in that room."

"Are you sure? What about those monsters? Your mana?” She might have regained some mana in the last few minutes, but it wouldn’t be enough to completely replenish her.

"Well, I won't be good for much after," she said, "but neither will any of you if we spend the next couple hours walking. As for those shadow monsters," she shrugged. “Like I said, I wouldn’t want to teleport multiple times within a few minutes, but they seemed far enough away the last time.”

"Cressida, I don't think—"

She cut off his argument by placing one hand on his shoulder and the other on Joy's. A second later, they were enveloped in shadow. Shadow that seemed to last and last.

“Cressida?” Arthur wanted to say, though no sound came out. His alarm grew. What if this was too much for her? What if they were stuck in this place?

Well, he decided. He had combat cards now. He’d fight their way out if he had to.

But then they emerged in a room that was nearly as pitch-dark as the shadows, save for a couple of vague outlines.

That was when Cressida collapsed into Arthur’s arms.

“Cressida!” Joy shrieked.

"Brixaby, get the light," Arthur instructed. His arms supported Cressida’s legs and back, holding her close. Despite being unconscious, she wasn't very heavy. Cressida was petite, but her personality always made her seem larger than life.

Brixaby acted fast and buzzed to the front of the room to pull back the curtain to the balcony. The scattered anchor lights from other balconies and walkways provided a soft illumination. It was enough for Arthur to make his way to Cressida’s cot and lay her down.

“Will she be okay?” Joy asked, coming over, and knocking over a few pieces of furniture along the way. “Will she? Will she?”

Before Arthur answered, Joy halfway climbed up on the cot – but she was too heavy. Rope lines that held up the mattress frame snapped, as did some wood. The right side dipped alarmingly.

“Joy, get back! She's fine. She's breathing. I need you to give me some space," he said, pushing back her head, which was about twice the size of a horse's.

The pink dragon did fall back, but still managed to hover. "But she's not waking up. She's not saying anything!”

“That last jump must have drained her vital energy, but it's not permanent. It can be replenished with rest," he explained. Joy was intelligent and familiar with mana replenishment, but she was also panicked and not thinking straight. “You haven't received a quest to save her or anything, right?"

"No, I haven't gotten a quest for some time," she replied. "I think I might've skewed the reward system a bit by getting so many great cards all at once."

No doubt, he thought with a sigh. Then he remembered his healing card.

Without another thought, he withdrew it from his card anchor tattoo.

Moderate Self Repair

Healing

Uncommon

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The wielder of this card will be granted the ability to repair minor to moderate wounds and injuries. Severe, crippling, complex, or mortal wounds may be only partially healed. This is an active effect and requires the use of mana.

He scowled at that last line. Cressida’s lack of mana had caused the Shadow Teleport effect to eat into her vital energy. Adding any card – even a healing card – wouldn’t help at this point. Besides, it wasn’t like she needed the healing.

Reluctantly, he tucked it back into his anchor tattoo.

“She needs time. Joy, watch her for a bit while I talk to Brix.”

“Yes, yes! Of course.” Nodding frantically, Joy tucked herself up against the side of the cot, her neck stretched up to lay right beside Cressida. One sky-blue eye fixed on her face.

Knowing the dragon would watch her like a hawk, Arthur got up and walked to the front of the room. He paused and glanced back. Joy had really grown recently. It had been easy to miss over the last few weeks, but he suspected she would be on the larger side for a pink dragon when all was said and done.

She had grown while Brixaby had stayed the same.

Arthur continued out to the balcony where he found his dragon perched on the rail, staring at the card in his claws.

“I’ve flown a circuit to scout,” Brixaby said as Arthur walked up. “Nothing seems amiss and my danger sense hasn’t triggered.”

Arthur nodded. Typically, he tried avoiding discussing important matters outside where anyone could hear. But he wanted Cressida to rest. Besides, it was so dark and still out… he had a hard time believing there were any watchers.

Still, he lowered his voice. “So, what's your plan with the card? Do you want to consume it? Not add it to your core?"

For the first time, Brixaby seemed hesitant. "I need to become stronger."

"You can do that by adding it to a secondary core."

"A Legendary card in my secondary core?" Brixaby sounded taken aback. "Why would I add the best of cards to a lesser core?"

Yet, there was a hint of uncertainty in Brixaby's eyes — an unfamiliar expression on his usually confident face.

Reluctantly, Brixaby held out the card to Arthur. "Shouldn'tYouTakeIt?" he said so quickly that Arthur almost didn't catch his words.

"Me?” Arthur began, then took a moment to truly think about it.

A Legendary was too magically heavy to add to his card anchor deck. But what if he added it to his heart deck?

He took a moment to mentally review his deck.

Master of Skills and Master of Body Enhancement were his current Legendary cards. Because they were a pair, they counted as one slot. Skills in his Spirit Slot and Body in his Body slot, of course.

Personal Space, Mental Bookshelf and Eidetic Imagery also counted as one slot as they were three-of-a-kind. Those were all linked to his mind.

His other heart deck slots included: Nullify Card, Charming Gentle-Person, Return To Start, Phase In, Phase Out, Nice Shot, Makeshift Weaponry, and 20 Point Spree

8 slots were taken out of 10 in his heart deck.

Counterfeit Siphon was a linked card he shared with Brixaby. It existed somewhat outside his heart deck in a special space only reserved for him and his dragon.

Even his card anchor, however, felt a little strained with: Moderate Self-Repair, Mana Amendment, and Mana Vault. He’d needed to get it upgraded for some time.

He could slot the Legendary card into his heart deck, but…

"No." The word was painful to say, and even Brixaby appeared taken aback.

"No," Arthur reiterated, with more determination this time. "You know I like having a variety of cards in my deck, but most of them are utility-based. This card… just wouldn’t fit.”

"It would give you the element of surprise," Brixaby pointed out.

Arthur shook his head. "Legendary cards carry more weight than any others. They're the foundation of a deck. I don’t want a deck of sonic cards. It’s not me."

Yet, Arthur recognized his hypocrisy. If he didn’t take it, Brixaby would consume it which meant destroying that card. Forever.

He wasn’t thrilled with the idea, but he wasn’t to stop Brixaby from growing stronger.

With the same hesitation Brixaby had shown earlier, Arthur returned the card to his dragon. "No," he said for the third time, "this belongs to you. You should consume it."

Relief washed over Brixaby's face, followed by excitement and naked greed.

"This will greatly empower me!" Brixaby declared. Without further ado, he swallowed it down.

The card, bigger than Brixaby's head, looked oddly small as it seemed to shrink upon entering his mouth, drawn in by his Call of The Void.

“I was going to ask if you wanted to remove that dragon from your Personal Space first,” Arthur said, amused.

"That is my Personal Space. This will add strength to my card, not take up room in my core. I wonder what ability I'll gain—" he began, but was interrupted by a burp that sparkled with mana breaking down. Then he burped again. And again. The last burp was big enough to knock him off the railing where he caught himself with his wings.

"Are you okay, Brixaby?" Arthur asked.

"I feel…very, very full," Brixaby replied, pressing his now bulging stomach.

Arthur remembered Brixaby's hatching day; How the dragon had tried to consume several Legendary cards at once and had nearly gone mad with the attempt.

Brixaby buzzed back to his perch on the railing, but he was visibly drooping. He looked like he was ready for a good nap.

“Let’s get you back onto a cot, too,” Arthur said, lifting the weakening dragon into his arms. Brixaby didn’t even try to protest.

As he walked back, Arthur wondered if this was the last time he’d be able to carry Brixaby like this.

He found Joy still where he left her, but asleep. Cressida’s breathing was still even, her skin a little more pale than usual, but not bloodless. Arthur laid Brix on his own cot and laid down next to him.

Resting his hand on Brixaby's back, he closed his eyes, intending just to rest them for a moment.

He was jolted awake by the sound of alarms echoing throughout the hive.

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