All The Skills

None of the cards were on the verge of complete disintegration, like the ones from the brown dragon. But warning sparkles drifted off them, indicating they were in very bad shape.

Arthur longed to study them but only nodded at Brixaby. "Put them in your Personal Space," he said, then after a glance at the silver dragon, raised a hand to rub over his eyes. “I need to think, and I can’t do that here.”

"It reeks," Brixaby agreed.

Arthur shot his dragon a sympathetic look. He had tied a rag doused with vinegar over his nose to mask the smell, but Brixaby had gone without, even though his nose was much more sensitive than Arthur's.

"Let's get out of here." Arthur took one more look at the dead hulk of the silver dragon, wondering if he was missing anything. But if there was, he couldn’t see it. The dragon had been long dead. It wasn’t going anywhere.

Maybe its rider is lying along with him, Arthur thought with a reflexive shudder that went up and down his spine.

Collecting his tools, he turned and made his grateful way out.

Of course, the area outside the nest wasn't much better, with the scourgeling bodies sometimes stacked on one another. Brixaby crouched in silent invitation for Arthur to come on board. As soon as he was seated, his dragon took off into the sky. Arthur ripped off the vinegar-soaked rag and stuffed it back into his Personal Space. Then he breathed the clean air.

Brixaby headed back toward the city and landed past the border of the dead lands. The sun was low in the sky, and hopeful crickets were peeping from the shadows made by clumps of weeds and bushes. It was peaceful here, and it helped calm Arthur's nerves. He didn't realize how thinly they’d been stretched until now.

The fact was, every scourgeling nest likely had a dead dragon under it, and those were only the ones that he knew about. Or the ones left that still had viable cards in them. Whenever that battle had happened, it had been long ago. The dark heart had gone through many different cycles, and Arthur guessed that those had depleted the strength of the cards inside the dragons.

The dead lands here were possibly an entire graveyard of dragon bodies.

Arthur shook his head. He didn't want to think about that right now. It was something that had happened long before he was born, something he couldn't change.

Though, he wondered if the city-state's administration knew about it.

If they do, I doubt that they care, he thought.

Then he turned to Brixaby. "Let's take a better look at these cards. Pull them out, one at a time."

Brixaby did, and Arthur was glad to see that his dragon was on the same page as he was, because he pulled out the most interesting card out of the three.

Card Repair

Meta

Rare

The wielder of this card will be granted the ability and suite of basic skills in order to repair a damaged or malfunctioning magical card. When using any of these skills to repair a card, chances of spontaneous card fragmentation or scourge spawning are reduced by 25%. The skills which are granted are based on personality and ability in similar repair crafts. This card is skill based and uses mana. This card does not unlock mana.

Search out other cards in this set to add to meta card knowledge.

Another skill-based card, which would fit nicely with Arthur’s Master of Skills.

It was also the most damaged out of the three, with a faint translucent quality the others didn’t have.

"Ironic," Brixaby said, "that this Repair Card is in desperate need of repair itself."

Arthur slanted a smile at his dragon, then nodded at him. Brixaby put the card back into his personal space. It was timeless there and would halt any further disintegration. At least he hoped.

Taking a bracing breath, Arthur spoke what was surely on both of their minds. "That's not the only problem."

His dragon sent him a sympathetic look — which was another sign of his growing maturity. "You currently have no card anchor deck to add that card to.”

“I'm not sure that adding a currently disintegrating card anywhere into myself is a great idea," Arthur said.

Brixaby snorted. "But you would do it anyway."

"If I could, yeah," he admitted. There was no point in lying to his dragon. There was a reason why they had linked to one another.

"Okay," Arthur said, "let's take a look at the next card."

Brixaby brought out Card Sympathy.

Card Sympathy

Meta

Rare

The wielder of this card will be granted the understanding of magical cards on a fundamental and instinctual level. Every card has its secrets that are not spelled out in the description. The wielder of this card will automatically be granted more insight into their own cards, and others that they see. The wielder will have unusual insight on how to best use compatible cards for the best effect.

Search out other cards in this set to add to meta card knowledge.

And finally, the last:

Card Shard Insight

Meta

Rare

The wielder of this card will be granted unique insight on the nature of card shards on an instinctive level. The wielder will be able to position shards in the optimal position for the desired outcome when creating a card, as well as receive a 25% greater chance of harvesting a corner piece. In addition, the wielder will have a 5% chance of spontaneously harvesting a card shard of a higher rank rarity than a scourgeling’s baseline rank.

Search out other cards in this set to add to meta card knowledge.

They only took a moment to read the final card before Brixaby put it back into his Personal Space.

"No doubt about it," Arthur said, "those are three of a kind."

Which meant that they would only take up one spot in his heart deck. But his heart deck was getting mighty full, and there was a risk because of his recently destroyed card anchor. If he did this, he would have to be absolutely sure it was what he wanted.

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"Well, while we're here, let's take a look at those other cards, too," he said. "The ones that we made from the card shards."

There were three Commons, and one Uncommon. All were either useless or trash-tier cards, but then Arthur checked his assumptions. Was he becoming a card snob? Was there such a thing as a trash-tier card?

Effortless Paint Mixing

Utility

Common

The wielder of this card will be granted the uncanny ability to know the exact proportions of paint colors to mix in order to achieve the shade they wish. This card will not automatically provide the ingredients and dyes to mix.

Tracking Scent

Utility

Common

Once every twenty-four hours, the wielder of this card will be able to mark a target with a scent-based tracker. This tracker will only be smelled by the wielder and can be used to follow the target. This effect lasts 3 hours.

I Mustache You A Question

Body Modification

Common

The wielder of this card will be able to grow, on command, an impressive mustache. This is a skill-based ability and the higher the skill, the fancier and thicker the mustache.

A Twist of Timber

Crafting

Uncommon

Using mana, the wielder of this card will be able to slowly twist, move, and distort wood out of its usual state into the artistic design of their choice. This altered wood will be resistant to rot, termite, and water damage. As all trees grow in their own time, the wielder of this card will also be granted with the gift of unusual patience.

Okay, maybe there was such a thing as a trash-tier card. He didn't know how anybody would find a use for the Mustache ability. Except that any card in the heart, no matter how silly, allowed a person to travel into the dead lands without getting scourge-sickness. When he had been a child, he would've accepted anything into his heart to be a card user.

They also had the auction cards that they had won, and one more.

"Don't forget the toughness card,” Brixaby said. “I have been hiding it on the rooftop terrace.”

Arthur blinked and realized that he had indeed overlooked that card.

Alter-dimensional Tanky Constitution

Body Enhancement

Rare

The wielder of this card will be able, at will, to move their physical body into a dimension that is slightly more “real” than our own, with the effect of hardening the body past most physical material penetration. This effect also hardens mental and emotional resistances up to 50%, and counters a variety of non-corporal attacks. This effect does not use mana. WARNING: .00001% chance wielder may become either temporarily or permanently stuck in this alter-dimensional state, wherein the body will not be able to properly absorb food or drink.

"Well," Arthur said again, "That one’s useful, but I’m not sure about that drawback. We're getting quite the collection, aren't we?"

Sitting up, Brixaby curled his tail around his claws. He looked very pleased with himself. "Indeed. Perhaps we should sell the useless ones to a card shop, or trade them for others.”

Arthur thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. “What are the chances the sheriffs won’t be watching for that exact thing? We could give them to Marion and Soledad, but Marion hasn’t even taken the illusion card.” He frowned. “Let’s talk to Dannill – and see if he’s rented the top roof terrace to someone else yet.”

Brixaby lifted his lips in threat. “He had better not.”

****

"I started to wonder if you had died," Dannill said to Arthur as he greeted him in his shop, though the man was smiling as he said it, so clearly he hadn't been that worried.

"I've been busy," Arthur said, not mentioning that he had been in and out of the hospital… twice. Though, from Dannill's sly look, Arthur suspected that the man knew.

"Well, you and your dragon have certainly made a name for yourselves," he said. "People have started to call you the scourge of scourgelings."

"Don't tell Brixaby that," Arthur said, quickly. "Word of advice: Don't ever compare a dragon to a scourgeling to his face."

"It's all in good fun.” Dannill must have caught the warning look on Arthur's face. "But you are the expert on dragons. So, how can I help you?"

Arthur hesitated for a moment, weighing his decision. Then, he nodded to himself and drew out the Commons and Uncommon cards from a leather bag. He didn't want to put anything into his Personal Space that was that magically heavy, so after he’d gotten them from Brixaby, he’d carried them by hand. And of course he kept the meta cards back.

"I have a feeling that you could find some buyers for these."

Dannill’s eyes widened, and there was a glint in them that was impossible to miss. "How did you get it past the sheriffs--" He stopped and looked around, though the shop was empty, and hustled Arthur into his office. Once inside, Dannill reached for a card anchor, and new runes glowed on the walls. "This isn't a setup, is it? You may be a powerful dragon rider, but I warn you I have powerful friends in the city…"

"I have better things to do than set you up," Arthur said. "And if any of your “friends” are interested, there’s more where these cards came from.”

The man actually licked his lips. "Let me see."

Dannill took the cards and looked them over, nodding to himself. He seemed to even appreciate the trash-tier card. Arthur suspected that in a place teeming with refugees and people looking for any advantage to survive in the dark heart, these cards would quickly find buyers.

"I can do something with these," Dannill said. "Now, what do you want for them?"

"Rent, the supplies we talked about, and most importantly," Arthur said, "a private workshop for Brixaby and I to prepare for the dark heart.”

The dark heart would be opening soon, and they needed to be as prepared as possible. Plus, the small rooftop terrace was not going to fit Cressida, Horatio, and their dragons when they arrived. They would need places to rest, recover from their journey, and get ready for the dark heart as well.

Dannill’s enthusiasm dimmed a touch, and he stroked his chin. "A workshop, eh? That will be expensive. Every day, more people are fleeing in, and there's less and less space in the city."

Arthur shrugged. That wasn't his problem. "Those people coming in will need cards, too."

"Yes, I'll see what I can do," Dannill said, which Arthur knew was as good as a yes.

****

Dannill started showing Arthur warehouses that could function as crafting spaces within a couple of hours. Unfortunately, none of them were perfect.

"Much too small," Arthur said, barely glancing at the empty room Dannill had shown him. It was about the size of his apartment he’d shared with Horatio.

"Well, no offense," Dannill said, "but your dragon doesn't require a lot of room."

No, he wouldn't, but Sams certainly would when he arrived. Arthur was still keeping that little fact under his hat, though.

Instead, he channeled his inner Brixaby and gave Dannill a hard look. "He may grow.”

"Ah, well, this location is rather centrally located…" He trailed off at another look from Arthur. "But of course, you're a dragon rider, so I suppose that doesn't matter as much to you as it would to the rest of us." He hastily cleared his throat. "Come along, there is another option I have in mind."

The second one was an easy no as well. It was certainly larger, but...

"We need somewhere more private," Arthur said, casting a glance at the various crafters who were busily working in separate stations all around. While everybody certainly had room to expand, the noise of banging and item making created a cacophony. Arthur had to raise his voice to be heard and feared that if Brixaby tried to do the same, he might accidentally unleash his stunning shout.

Dannill seemed intent to put a spin on things. "I hear that many artists and crafters thrive when surrounded by like minds. Think of all that you could learn from one another.”

"My dragon requires privacy," Arthur said. And so did he.

"Well, there is one more option… But it is right on the edge of town, far away from the dark heart."

"And closer to the dead lands," Arthur said, meaningfully.

Dannill wasn't stupid. He’d likely guessed where Arthur had gotten his cards, so he brightened at that. "Okay, but renting it until the heart opens will cost you the Uncommon card all by itself."

"Let me see it first," Arthur said.

The last location was a large barn-sized building, with a double door big enough to allow a large dragon to walk inside. It still smelled faintly of animals, and Arthur suspected that it had recently housed wooly bison. But the floors had been swept clean of every bit of straw, and the walls and roofing looked solid enough.

"This will do," Arthur said with a nod. He only hoped it was big enough for everything Brixaby had in his Personal Space. The dragon had continued to be cagey about everything he fit in there.

Dannill clapped his hands. "Excellent, what else can I do for you?"

Arthur fished in his pocket and pulled out the piece of paper that the heart deck specialist had given him. "I need directions to this location."

He hadn't told Dannill of the three-of-a-kind cards, only the trash Common and useless Uncommon. He wanted the repair card and the others as his own.