Source & Soul: A Deckbuilding LitRPG

After completing a few errands, I passed an updated bracket board in the Coliseum’s halls on my way to Esmi’s duel and immediately paused to inspect it.

The winner’s bracket matches were in the upper half, while the loser’s took up the lower portion in a more condensed fashion. Right at the top, I couldn’t help but notice that the prince had emerged victorious against Afi. The sight brought on a cold rush of doubt: she had a Rare Soul and was the best student at Biddlewyn, which was why Warrick’s parents had chosen to sponsor her for the tournament. Someone of her skill and standing hadn’t been able to best Gerad, and yet I believed myself capable of such a feat?

My recent Air cultivation saved me: the desire to go where I might and do as I wished still ran strongly through me and brushed the doubt away. I can reach for whatever I like, and if I get sent to the loser’s bracket along the way, I’ll fight my way free of it and still best him.

I was pleased to see that the vampire Lustra had beaten the prince’s other toadie, Reggie, and that he would be facing off against Losum in a later loser’s match today. That meant only one of them could advance to top eight and have a chance at attending war camp – practically a scandal considering their fathers were the realm's two generals. I was especially delighted, though, because the situation would certainly be a thorn to Gerad. If I knew the crown prince at all, he wouldn’t be able to enjoy the top eight spot he had already secured in the slightest with his underlings losing face like that.

I scanned the rest of the info quickly, humming happily to myself, the match numbers showing the order they would take place in; it was a fortunate thing that I’d be able to watch Esmi’s duel, catch some of Hull’s against Spignit, who was that kestrel summoner from the night before, and then just get to my own match. I hadn’t noticed previously that Hull would fight the loser of Esmi’s match against the Earth bruiser Haze, just like I would fight the winner after beating Plutar. That made it all the more important that I studied both their decks thoroughly, which got my feet moving in a hurry and headed toward the ground floor of the Coliseum.

As expected of a winner’s side match, the stands were absolutely packed, and I had to do some searching to locate a seat. My resulting find was farther up than I would have liked, but I preferred that over having to sit pressed shoulder-to-shoulder and shin-to-shin with other spectators. I might not have gotten a seat at all, but some kind folk recognized me as a competitor and scooted over, so I could take the very edge of the bench they were on.

The announcer, a rather bubbly fellow, had us complete the usual prayer, which sent the ante spinning up into the air. The two cards, both Rare, where then magnified for all to see as part of the magic of the Dueling Dome.

The cards gave hints about the decks they were attached to, the first considerably more so than the second. Esmi would have no reason to include the Spitfire Kobold unless she were running a considerable number of other kobolds, which, judging from the pack I’d seen trailing after her before, I could safely say she was. The bruiser’s card, on the other hand, was flexible removal that could be useful in almost any sort of deck. However, from what Warrick and Esmi had said about him, combined with how he had chosen to participate in last night’s ill-fated Flinch Test, I guessed that Haze planned to use the card to deal with blockers that might get in between his fists and his opponent.

“And now the opening gambit!” the announcer declared. “To no one’s surprise, Haze uses Earth Source, while our very own Esmi Fireheart – a title she earned after thrashing many a Charbonder – uses Fire, meaning she will have the first go!”

While the competitors were playing their starting Sources, I pulled a monocle from my vest pocket and held it up to my right eye. It had been my grandfather’s on my mother’s side, and was one of the items Atrea had retrieved for me. It was an Artifact: an older, weaker version of Gamemaster Glasses.

I watched Esmi draw two more cards, hesitate a beat, and then play a Soul. My monocle showed me the truth of it, just as if I were competing under the Dome.

“Esmi plays a kobold,” the announcer said. “To anyone who has watched her previous two duels, this comes as no surprise. What is surprising, folks, is that she’s not attacking!”

Fire decks were notorious for their aggressive play, and the same was true of swarm builds. Put those together, and I wasn’t only surprised that Esmi was keeping the creature back but also that she hadn’t devoted her Fire Source to put two such Souls onto the field.

“You’ve got him, dear!” a woman from a lower portion of the stands called out encouragingly.

“Don’t be scared to wallop him!” another man shouted.

But her blue-scaled kobold continued to stand there, the only thing about it moving being a nimbus of soft flame that shimmered around its torso. I wasn’t sure what the fire was doing there, considering the Soul’s card didn’t have any abilities.

“For those of you who haven’t seen Duelist Haze compete before,” the announcer said, perhaps in response to the crowd, “or didn’t see him during the Ability Competition, keep in mind the power of his Soul: not only does he possess the Strong ability, but he is fated to do 2 damage to anything he strikes. Esmi surely has reasons for playing this as she has.”

I leaned back on the bench at that revelation. He had Strong and 2 Attack? I knew that Rare Souls were incredible, but that combination sounded borderline unfair. It helped explain why Esmi wasn’t attacking, though. If she did, the kobold would be destroyed by Haze’s return strike, and then she’d be left vulnerable. I frowned. But with Strong, Haze could just push past the Cold-Blooded Kobold anyway, so was there any value in waiting to attack?

“Haze plays a second Earth Source and devotes it to summon!” the announcer cried.

A creature of dirt and mud came into being on the wooden dueling platform. Its limbs were loose suggestions of arms and legs, unequal in size and with little defined detail, and its body was garnished with grass and even some flowers in bloom. But its ability… what I wouldn’t give for an Order card like that.

As soon as the troll finished forming, Haze rushed past it barehanded.

“And he’s going in for the first attack!” the announcer cried.

At a command from Esmi, the Cold-Blooded Kobold moved to intercept and somehow managed to grapple Haze to a standstill despite the duelist’s strength, mystifying me.

“Esmi’s soul ability is no slouch either, my friends!” the announcer declared happily. “Not only does her fiery touch deal a point of damage to anything that strikes her, but she empowers all kobolds she summons, giving them plus one Attack!”

If my eyes could have popped out my head they would have; that’s how stunned I was. An additional Attack to every single kobold under her control? When attacking or on defense? That was an incredibly powerful ability, and made me think that her Soul must be edging near to Epic rarity. It was no wonder Plutar was desperate to marry her in my stead.

On the arena floor, Haze punched the blue creature, dealing his 2 damage. At the same time, the Cold-Blooded Kobold slashed him back for 3 due to Esmi’s buff. But Haze released a card from his hand, blocking the damage in an explosion of shards that my monocle let me catch the original form of before it broke apart.

“He uses an Iron Troll to stop the entire attack!” the announcer narrated. “These Earth Souls are only Uncommon, but are the perfect sponges for soaking damage.”

Because of the kobold’s sacrifice, Esmi had time to draw her next two cards, play a Fire Source, and summon two more Souls between her and Haze.

Like before, she only focused her Sources, so they’d return as quickly as possible – she was obviously prioritizing having a steady stream of summons over flooding the board. The Kobold Fighter was quite useful for that, letting her bring forth another kobold ostensibly for free. If there was a backbone to her deck, I was fairly certain that I was looking at it: with its tough, dun-colored hide, sword in hand and shield on its back, waving for the other kobold to stand by its side. The Fighter was one of the ones I had seen with Esmi in my parent’s drawing room not long ago, but it looked much more fearsome now than before.

I suspected that she would attack with the Fighter since it had Bloodlust, an ability that let a Soul attack the turn it was summoned by only focusing instead of devoting, but –

“And again she doesn’t attack!” the announcer shouted. “Is playing it this slow really the right move?”

From his draw, Haze played an Order source and pulled deeply from it and his available Earth Source, devoting both and making me and many others lean forward in our seats: what did he plan to cast for that much Source? A card in his hand vanished in a flash of red, and a chunky, brown pendant appeared in the air before Haze. He quickly ducked his head under where it hovered, slipping the Relic on.

As soon as the Pendant was around his neck the entirety of the dueling stage filled with mud and muck, the mire boiling up from between the platform boards. When Esmi and the kobolds tried to move experimentally, the magically created mud sucked at their feet, making Esmi grimace and the two kobolds hiss in frustration.

“He already has his Pendant, ladies and gentleman!” the announcer shouted. “One of the best cards in his arsenal to counter swarm focused decks. We’ve seen it grind matches to a halt, giving Haze the eventual win. Does Esmi now regret not attacking these past two turns? Is this the beginning of the end for her?”

There was a rumble of worry from those I sat beside, who I suspected wanted a local of Treledyne to win. Personally, I thought the announcer was being overly dramatic. The Pendant was indeed powerful – as well it should be, considering it was an Epic – but its restriction went both ways. Haze would now have to decide each turn if he wanted to attack or to send forth whatever trolls or other Earth denizens he summoned.

However, as Haze barreled through the mud to attack again, I had a creeping suspicion. Warrick had said that the bruiser didn’t run many Souls. If the ones Haze used were only there for defense, like the Iron Troll, or to get him more Source, like the Soil Troll, and he planned to do all attacking himself, then he would successfully ignore the downside of the Pendant.

Maybe this was a terrible spot for her.

In a repeat of before, Esmi used her new Cold-Blooded Kobold to block Haze, leading to its demise and him taking 3 damage, which he shrugged off this time using a different card.

I instantly recognized it as the same card the bruiser had used during the Flinch Test, and what a card it was. Its flexibility in target alone earned its Rare status. The effect it granted combined with Haze’s 2 base attack, meant he had hit the prince and Hull for 6 damage each the night before. No wonder they had both looked like they might topple from the strike.

“Earth cards,” the announcer commented nonchalantly. “So good at defending, eh?”

He wasn’t wrong. Slow Earth excelled at blocking damage, while faster starting sources like Fire and Air were quite poor at it. Their speed of play was believed to offset their weakness in defense, but Esmi hadn’t used her opportunity to go first to accomplish much. From my research into Fire Spells in preparation for my match against Plutar, I knew there was one called Melt, which would destroy a Relic. Perhaps she had one of those in her deck and was waiting for the right time.

Esmi drew her cards and played an Order Source like Haze had on his turn before. With three Source now at the ready and five cards in hand, she surely had a variety of options available to her. For whatever reason though, she only devoted a single Fire Source, and made a play much like the turn prior.

Once again, the utility of the Kobold Fighter was clear, and I could understand why she had previously used it to tandem summon a Cold-Blooded Kobold instead of a regular Kobold like this. Even with her Soul ability buffing it, the little Soul only had 2 Attack, so couldn’t defend against Haze’s Strong.

“With three kobolds against one troll, Esmi still doesn’t attack! What could she be waiting for?”

Even her supporters near me grumbled at her lack of action, and I wracked my mind, trying to rationalize her line of play. Esmi was the second seed of this tournament, just under the prince. There were a variety of factors that went into the placement, but it was largely determined by duel wins. I hadn’t gotten to watch those matches because they had happened in Charbond, but the ranking must mean that she had been very successful in them.

So why hadn’t she attacked with at least the Kobold? It was wasted as a defender and even had Bloodlust. Was she worried about a trade with the Soil Troll, and Haze getting another Earth Source? He did have two cards in hand, so it was possible he had another ready to play should the Troll be destroyed. But even if that was the case, what could she be setting up for that was better? Maybe Convocation? It was a Fire Spell that turned all Fire Soul cards into Fire Source for the turn, so they could be used to power an even bigger summon. I hadn’t given the Spell much thought in my studies since Plutar apparently didn’t use any Souls, but for a Soul-heavy deck like hers, it could be her plan.

Haze seemed equally confused by Esmi’s defensive play and yanked two cards from the air. He played another Earth Source and then devoted his only two ready Sources, both Earth.

“Does he have his board clear??” the announcer speculated loudly, his voice ringing out around us.

A board wipe would be disastrous for her right now, and yet when I looked at the woman I hoped was still my fiancée, she seemed attentive, not worried. She still had two of her own Sources at the ready, one Fire, one Order, and she was watching Haze closely, her cards in hand lifted, clearly ready to play in response to whatever he did. I had glossed over other Fire cards that affected friendly Souls in my research, and now I wished that I had asked Atrea to bring me that book so I could be referencing it right now.

The card that Haze played vanished in a familiar flash of red, and a gauntlet made of white stone surrounded his right fist.

“No!” the announcer shouted. “It’s another of his Epic Relics!”

Two Epics, and from the wording of this card it sounded like part of a paired set, which meant he might have three. No wonder he had been victorious in the youth tournaments in Dalrish. That also explained why he hadn’t minded losing cards these last few turns by clearing the kobolds himself instead of waiting for a board clear: he was powering up his Gauntlets. If Haze did possess Dyran’s other Gauntlet and got it into play with enough in discard, it would surely lead to a game ending hit. If Esmi was going to win, she needed to do it quickly.

“– able to hit for four now or stop damage spells Esmi might throw at him,” the announcer was saying. “She better watch out!”

However, instead of attacking himself, Haze sent his troll clumping through the muck covered ground that, because of the similar color, looked very much like an extension of the troll’s distorted body.

“He’s not going to let her ignore the Soil Troll any longer!” the announcer chortled.

Any of her buffed kobolds could trade evenly with the troll, and I expected her to use the lesser of them for this, but I gasped along with the crowd when Esmi had her kobolds part, letting the Soil Troll stomp right up, swinging at her with an overlarge limb.

“She’s taking the hit, ladies and gentleman! She’s taking the hit!”

Esmi’s skin lit aflame like it had during the ability competition, and the troll was burned. Also, like Haze had done when damaged, she pulled a card from hand, blocking the Soil Troll’s strike, and knocking it away in a burst of shards that had originally been another Kobold.

From that play, I could only deduce that Esmi really did not want her opponent to get another Source. With him already having four out and apparently a board wipe in his deck, I could concede that it made some sense, even though it hadn’t been the route I had expected her to take.

Esmi played another Fire Source, giving her two Fire and one Order available like her last turn. She hesitated, and I wondered if she’d finally attack with one of her three waiting kobolds. This time, maybe because the Soil Troll wasn’t available to block, she finally did, sending her basic Kobold charging forward on its short legs.

“She’s on the attack!” the announcer cried, and there were a smattering of cheers among the crowd.

The muck coating the field slowed the Kobold down, but it still managed to slip around the recovering troll and stab its small spear at Haze, a nimbus of fire surrounding its chest and arms, just like the other kobolds. Haze blocked the two damage with a card from hand, which I didn’t catch, and then punched the Kobold with his bare fist, leaving his Howlite Gauntlet at the ready and turning the small creature into a spray of card shards.

Before her turn was over, Esmi quickly focused one of her Fire Sources, and summoned what was clearly another staple of her deck, with a maximum of three copies in use.

It was then Haze’s turn to draw, bringing his hand back up to three and his ready Source to two. He eyed Esmi’s line of three kobolds with contempt, and spit into the mud at his feet before summoning another Earth Source.

A board clear would still be a very useful play, getting rid of Esmi’s sizable defense, but instead, Haze brought another Soil Troll onto the field. The creature rose up through the muck, looking just as glommed together by earth, weeds, and mud as the damaged one beside it did.

He only had one card left in hand, which had to mean that it wasn’t a board clear.

Once again, Haze charged forward through the mired field, and Esmi sent her last Cold-Blooded Kobold to intercept him. It took no effort for the bruiser to destroy the creature, but he did have the kobold’s return strike to deal with. One of the Earth Sources over his head darkened, and stone armor surrounded his body, stopping some of the kobold’s damage. The others he took directly, not bothering to block with his remaining card in hand, and 2 damage worth of cards shed from him. The monocle didn’t let me see what they originally were, but they built his discard size regardless.

“Our first use of a Source Power this match!” the announcer cried.

While I didn’t have Tigru Han’s Book of Fire Spells with me, I did have Delane’s Compendium of Source Abilities – it was another item I had asked Atrea for, so I could discuss Nether in greater depth with Hull. I pulled the small book from my pocket and thumbed to the reference list concerning Source Powers.

From previous studies, I already knew that Earth Source could negate a damage for every 2 Source spent, just like Fire Source could deal a damage for every 2 Source, but still, seeing the words penned before me was comforting confirmation.

For her turn, Esmi drew and summoned another Order Source, giving her five Source balls to use, compared to Haze’s single card in hand and only one Source at the ready. She could go for a big swing if she had it, and he presumably wouldn’t be able to do much to stop it. Esmi continued to play cautiously though, using only some of her Source to summon a type of kobold I hadn’t seen before.

The new Soul was similar in look and size to the others, but when it appeared, it held a torch in front of its mouth and blew a stream of flame right at the undamaged troll. The creature of earth and mud lit aflame, crackling and cracking, until it burst apart with a piteous groan.

The crowd let out a cheer, as the announcer said, “Now that’s the type of thing we paid to see!”

As it died, the last card in Haze’s hand drifted up, becoming another Earth Source. Esmi reacted with an annoyed look I’d only seen a few times from her before, and she followed it up by devoting one of her available Fire Source to create a fist-sized fireball over her outstretched palm. It hovered there a moment as she moved her arm to line up with the other troll and then it shot forward, striking the creature in the chest in a small explosion of flame that turned the Soul into shards.

“Esmi Fireheart, true to her name, uses her own Source Power to take out the damaged troll! And she does it when Haze has no cards in hand to make use of its Dying Breath ability. She’s waited for this and now she’s struck!”

Those beside me cheered for the play, pumping their fists in the air, and though it wasn’t my usual way of acting, I gave a hearty whoop of encouragement along with them.

The lack of trolls also meant that there was nothing to stop a kobold running through the mired field to attack Haze, and Esmi sent her newest kobold off to do just that. The Fire-Eater dropped its torch in the mud along the way, which guttered out, and leapt on Haze, biting him in the shoulder.

“Duelist Haze takes three damage from his Mind Home!”

The bruiser clubbed the creature in the side of the head, smashing it into shards.

The kobold had delivered a good hit, but if Haze managed to get his other gauntlet into play, he’d be able to return the favor with an even bigger attack of his own now.

Haze drew his two new cards, which made up the entirety of his hand, and smiled as multiple Source balls above his head dimmed. The card that vanished did so in a silvery flash and to my monocle showed itself to be…

“He drew it!” the announcer cried, as the huge stones appeared in the air, striking the center of the dueling field with a thunderous noise and rolling across it. “His board clear!”

The three kobolds on the field hissed in alarm, but their cries were cut short as they were smashed by the massive rocks. Esmi stood her ground as the Spell passed in front of her, decimating her forces. What’s more, the Fire Source and Order Source she had at the ready dipped in the air, going dull – two Sources I realized she had continually left untouched – and she loosed a card from her own hand.

“But she answers back!” the announcer screamed.

The Rockslide had hit the wall of the Dueling Dome by now, dissipating into shards, but from the muck and leftover rubble of the Earth Spell, new kobolds were emerging. They were a bit smaller than the ones that perished, but Esmi’s nimbus of fire energy surrounded them, meaning that each would have 2 Attack. Not enough to block Strong though, which Haze took full advantage of, bowling past them and striking at Esmi.

I flinched as she didn’t block the blow with her last card in hand, taking the punch from the Gauntlet and his strength behind it, resulting in a plume of card shards.

“He hits for four damage, taking one in return from her fire skin! She only has six cards left in her Mind Home, and Haze only has five!”

The explosion of shards on both sides pushed them apart, their feet sliding in the mud that still coated the platform from his Pendant. The space gave Esmi time to replenish her hand with two new cards. She was breathing hard, hair sticking to her face, but she looked stunning to me, my heart swelling to see her so unafraid and fiercely focused on her goal. She closed her eyes briefly, and a sudden swirl of fire and light shot up around her, in a pillar as high as the Dueling Dome.

I couldn’t believe it, she was –

“She uses Source Explosion!” the announcer cried in disbelief, his words echoing over a crowd that had gone silent in shock from the sacrifice Esmi had just made – a sacrifice that would give her one last ditch play.