All The Skills

Brixaby was overjoyed when Arthur showed him the barn, and only resented a little that renting it would cost them the Uncommon card.

Arthur also sold the Commons to Dannill for food, basic furniture to make the space comfortable, and more crafting supplies.

From the enthusiastic way Dannill agreed, Arthur suspected he was getting the better part of the deal. His Haggling skill didn’t seem happy with him, either. But he didn’t particularly care. Scraping up more cards was just a matter of he and Brixaby flying out to find more scourgeling nests, collecting the shards, and putting them together.

Since they’d mostly be Common cards, it wasn’t exactly an unlimited money scheme… but it would make them comfortable while they were in the city. As long as Dannill didn’t get caught fencing the cards.

Brixaby quickly claimed the back half of the barn as his own and immediately started storing things from his Personal Space.

Arthur blinked. “Why do you have a full furnace in there? You know you can’t use it in your Personal Space, right?” The fact that time was frozen made something like using a furnace, which needed to have the temperature changed constantly, an impossibility.

Brixaby started to answer, but an even better question occurred to Arthur.

“Wait, how do you even have a furnace? Where did you get it?”

Brixaby looked at him like he was being a fool.

Arthur groaned. “Did you take it from Mesa Free Hive or Free Hive of the Waves?” He wasn’t sure which was worse.

“When would I have had the time to properly loot the Free Hives of the Waves?” Brixaby asked with indigitation. “It was all but destroyed by the Mind Singer.”

Which meant he had stolen it from Mesa Free Hive. Arthur really should have kept a closer eye on him during that time.

On the other hand, no one had ever asked him about a mysteriously missing expensive furnace. So they’d gotten away with it.

It wasn’t like Arthur hadn’t come away with a few free items, himself. He still had seeds from that very useful purple apple tree that provided temporary psychic blocking abilities. So he stood back and watched as Brixaby started unstoring more and more objects. Enough to fill out the back half of the barn. There was everything from strange bits of metal objects, most rusted, though Brixaby must have seen some value in it – to more than his fair share of blacksmithing and chainmail making tools. Most of the tools were in good repair and had other crafter’s names stamped on it.

Leaving him to it, Arthur went to a shelf that had been built into a sidewall and started to stack his own supplies. Though he kept most of what he had in his Personal Space. He didn’t like to be without any tools he might need.

It’s not hoarding, he thought with a frown. I’m just being practical.

He thought about unstoring the turkey poults, ducklings, and baby chicks he’d had in a crate for the better part of a year… But they were better off in his Personal Space.

He turned to Brixaby to see the dragon still unstoring objects. “All right, I’m off.”

Brixaby grunted. His claws were full of a long metal bracket which had become bent over time. With a flex of his claws and a screech of metal, he straightened it.

With a fond roll of his eyes in exasperation, Arthur took off.

He didn’t need Brixaby to ferry him back and forth as if he were his own personal horse. In fact, considering the fame that they’d gathered in the city, it was best that he didn’t.

Instead, he walked the streets, enjoying the sights… if not the smells. It seemed that this part of the city didn’t have someone with the proper card to maintain a sewer system. Also, from the thick scent of manure in the air, it was also close to the area where they stored some bison.

There weren’t as many people on the streets, and those that were there had the air of being on business. There was none of the festival atmosphere he’d seen on the other side of the city when he’d first arrived.

Most importantly, the address of the heart deck specialist was on this side of town.

Arthur followed the messy map that Dannill had scrawled for him.

Within a few streets, he found himself in front of a storefront that had a curtain in place of a front door. There was no signage, but the little number on the side of the door was correct.

“Hello?” He peeked his head in.

There was no furniture in the room beyond, no desks or crafting equipment. Not even a bed. Just a colorful woven rug, and a thin bearded man who sat cross-legged on it.

He completely ignored Arthur.

Arthur could feel a sense of power radiating off him and suspected he had the ability to throw anybody out that he didn't want to be there. The power was odd. It didn't have quite the flavor of a Legendary, but it was close enough to count. Maybe it was a Legendary with some sort of mitigating card?

The man continued to ignore him, so Arthur walked in and spent a few moments looking over the paintings that covered all four walls, and the ceiling. They were of cities — some of them fantastical with floating buildings and animals he had never seen before. Some sort of brown creature with a deer-like head, but a long tail and two paddle feet. The scenes outside the cities mostly depicted people smiling, talking, and crafting and working the fields.

There were no dragons in the sky, though he did see plenty of birds.

"You are the dragon rider."

Arthur turned at the man's voice. His eyes were still closed, though Arthur had no doubt the man had peeked at him.

"I am. My name is Arthur. Did the heart deck specialist say I was coming here?"

Eyes still closed, the man's lips peeked up at the corner. "Did he send you? Or did you come here of your own choice?"

Arthur hated it when people answered questions with more questions. But he decided to play along. "Both. I recently had an accident and destroyed my card anchor deck. I was told that you could help."

"If you destroyed your card anchor deck and still remain standing among the living, you might have already used up more than your fair share of luck," the man gave a sigh and opened his eyes. Even though he had a rather swarthy face, his eyes were a startlingly blue color. He stood in one swift motion, and said, "Where is your card anchor?"

Arthur held out his arm and turned his wrist. The man caught it and spent the next few moments examining the thin, spidery lines that were all that was left of the tattoo. His brow furrowed. "Was the anchor empty when it was destroyed?"

Arthur hesitated for a moment, debating on what to tell him, and then shook his head.

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“Have you heard of the card shuffling skill?”

"Ah, yes.” The man exhaled. “You’ve mastered that skill, have you?”

Arthur jerked in surprise, and the man dropped his arm, giving him a gentle smile.

"I see it occasionally with craft masters, and those who use classes or bundles of skills in their work. They're able to bend the rules, past what normal skills allow. It’s a mark of proficiency, and nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I’m not ashamed, I’m just not used to people who understand how I use skills.”

His smile deepened, now reaching his eyes. “What kind of a healer would I be if I could not diagnose my patients?”

"Which means that you have a card that gives you special insight into others' cards," Arthur said.

"No," he said, "I have several cards which give me such insight, and they are from the same deck." He paused for a moment. "I suspect you know exactly what that means."

This was getting uncanny, and Arthur glanced toward the door, wondering if he should just leave.

"I should also tell you," the man said, "that I am bound by my own oaths not to discuss my patients' lives and medical conditions with others."

"Does that include the sheriffs?" Arthur asked pointedly.

"Is there a reason why the sheriffs would come sniffing around?"

Answering another question with a question. Arthur gave him a hard look.

This time the man gave in and answered. "They have asked before – not about you, but someone else -- and what I can tell them is limited. They accepted it because they don't want to get on my bad side."

"Why not?"

"Because they use my services, too," he said. "I'm afraid I haven't introduced myself which is very rude of me. But I admit, what I felt from you got me intrigued. My name is Ravi."

He held out his hand to shake. Arthur hesitated for a moment, again wondering if he should just walk out the door. But he had come here for some very important reasons.

"Pleased to meet you, Ravi," he said, adding in his mind, I think.

"Come, let us sit and talk."

Ravi had no chairs and simply sat on the floor, cross-legged. Arthur did the same, facing him.

"Why have you come here, Arthur?" Ravi asked.

"Uh…” Hadn’t he just told him? “My heart anchor got destroyed, like I told you, and while I was able to retrieve the cards, I have nowhere to put them. I need to see about getting another card anchor, but the heart deck specialist said that he wouldn't recommend I get one for over a year."

"You don't strike me as the type of man to follow advice that you don't like," Ravi said.

Arthur thought of himself as somewhat cautious while Brixaby was the one who took chances. But, thinking back on his life, and particularly the last few months… He had to agree.

He shrugged. "I guess I could get a card anchor in a place that is far away from my wrist, like… the top of my foot. Or even get a card anchor bag, but it would still need a point of contact with the rest of my body, right?"

Ravi nodded, and Arthur continued.

"I guess I didn't because…" Again, he hesitated. This wasn't something he had been fully aware of until Ravi had asked at all. "It feels like a really bad idea. Not just because I was told not to by a specialist, but I can feel it would be a mistake, deep inside."

Ravi nodded. "Your soul is telling you not to do it, and you are wise enough to listen.”

"But I'm going down to the Dark Heart," Arthur said. "And I need those cards."

"You would not be the first person to have that problem," Ravi said.

Arthur stared at him for a moment, wondering if he would have anything else to say. Ravi just gazed back at him, calmly.

"So what do I do?" Arthur said, after the silence became awkward. "Is there a card that functions as an artificial anchor?"

"Almost most assuredly," Ravi replied, calmly. "After all, there is a card for every spell, skill, or craft with a touch of magic out there."

That threw Arthur for a moment. "Magic? But my particular skill card doesn't allow for magical skills."

Ravi laughed softly. "It may not use mana, or allow you to cast spells, but it is most assuredly magical, and not mundane."

They were getting off topic. "So what do I do?" Arthur repeated.

"There are several options open to you," Ravi said. "You could, of course, wait. You are young and the Dark Heart will have another cycle or two within your lifetime. And, since you're a dragon rider, it would be easy for you to flit off to another city-state." He twinkled his fingers in the air. "And find another Dark Heart that is ripening. There are adventurers who make their whole career out of plundering Dark Hearts.. Then in a year, you may get another card anchor, though there is no guarantee that one may stick for you. It depends on the scarring to your soul, though, by the fact that you seem to be whole and healthy and sane, I do have high hopes that won’t be an issue."

"I don't want to wait," Arthur said. "What else?"

"Well, as you said, there are cards available that do function as additional storage space for the heart deck. But, as you can imagine, these are high-ranked, enormously expensive, and likely kept a very deep secret.

Arthur perked up. He might be able to find something like that, using Brixaby's seeker card.

"The problem with that, of course," Ravi continued, "is that your heart deck is not only almost full, but incredibly cluttered and disorganized."

That brought Arthur up short. "It's not disorganized.”

"I can feel that you have at least two pairs in there, and you just stuck the rest in willy-nilly haven't you?" Ravi said.

"I like being a generalist."

"Well, it means that you have nearly filled up your heart deck slots. I suspect you’re the type to get your hand on an additional heart storage card, if one existed. But make no mistake: That would be a false heart deck." The gaze that Ravi gave him was unexpectedly severe. "There are consequences for having something false within your heart."

Arthur opened his mouth to ask a question, but then realized he already knew the answer. "The cards in your heart deck become part of you.”

"Yes, and people do not think of those consequences before they shove something into their heart," Ravi said.

While Arthur could agree with what he said, generally, he couldn't say that he actually regretted his own path. He had added cards to his heart like Return to Start, which had a serious double-edged sword effect, and Charming Gentle Person card which gave him extra points to his charisma.

Those seemed silly at first glance, but both of those cards had helped him immensely. The Return to Start card had saved his life several times, and though he didn't think of himself as charismatic, he did have to deal with people on a daily basis. Being slightly more likable in their eyes helped smooth the way.

He certainly didn't regret his two Legendary cards. As they were a pair, they acted as one and took a one-card slot in his heart deck. It was the same thing for his three of a kind. His Personal Space had come in handy too many times to count. And he relied silently on his Eidetic Memory card to instantly recall things that he had read. Meanwhile, the Mental Bookshelf card helped tie the three together and allowed him and Brixaby to actually go into his Personal Space.

No, he had no regrets for that. Or any of them.

"I can't undo what I've done in the past," Arthur told him, "and, looking back, I'm not sure that I would. The cards in my heart have made me the man I am today, and I like that man."

To his surprise, Ravi's smile grew brighter. "Good, good, this is exactly the mindset that you will need."

"What do you mean?"

"The third option," Ravi said, "and the one I feel would be best for you. But in order to do it, you must be open to exploring your own heart deck and be comfortable with the truths that you may or may not uncover there."

"Explore my own heart deck?"

"Yes, to rearrange it," Ravi said, "and make room for more cards in your heart."

Arthur stared at him for a stunned second. "You’re not talking about a card to add more cards? Just… more space in my heart? That's possible?"

"Oh indeed," Ravi said. "In fact, that's where my specialty lies. Usually, I help people process the grief of losing cards. Together, we work toward readying that person to accept more cards into their heart. But occasionally, there is someone who, for one reason or another, needs more cards in their heart and can't – or won't – use a card anchor deck. The process is not easy, and you're in luck because it does usually require the Dark Heart."

It finally clicked for Arthur. "Because the Dark Heart bends rules."

Ravi smiled again. “Much like a skills master, yes?”

A while ago, Arthur was asked what he truly wanted from the Dark Heart, and other than a general desire for more power or a way to defeat the scourgelings, he hadn't been able to find an answer. Now, a whole new possibility opened in his mind. "You're saying that the Dark Heart can allow me to add more cards to my heart deck? How does it work?"

"No one knows how it works, exactly. And it is certainly not an outcome that is guaranteed. What I can do here is prepare you and your mind. It is said that those who delve into the depths of the Dark Heart have exposed their soul, and their greatest wish is granted. But what you want and what you need are sometimes different.” He paused, letting that sit for a beat before he went on. “What I can do for you, Arthur, is help prepare you and give you the right mindset that you will need to delve into the Dark Heart, and perhaps have this rule bent or even broken for you."