The Legendary Fool

“Blade Manifestation,” Tom bellowed, his actions intended to serve as his response.

An azure greatsword blinked to life in place of the longsword that was supposed to— the Revenant Claw’s [Greater Enhancement] skill displaying its prowess.

Zakeran was the first to react, positioning his wrist seconds after Tom summoned his [Energy Sword]. The [Deck Card] in his hand began to glow, the earth underneath his feet erupting with momentum. It’s fluidity lasted for only a few seconds as the tip began to shape itself and consequently, rapidly hardened.

[Earth Manipulation].

A lance of hardened rock sailed through the air, clearly headed for Tom’s abdomen. It seemed that Zakeran no longer cared about taking him alive—which was fine, since Tom hadn’t been banking on his mercy either.

Moving his greatsword with his mind’s eye, he positioned it before him—-ready to change its direction in case Zakeran had an ability similar to his [Blade Manifestation].

A loud crack echoed out as the tip of Zakeran’s earth spear shattered, before it crumbled entirely. Tom’s [Blade Manifestation] was 75% more effective than it normally should have been due to [Greater Enhancement], so Tom hadn’t been worried about his skill coming up short from the very inception.

Zakeran hurriedly stomped his foot down to create an earthen shield, expecting Tom’s Energy Sword to lance towards him.

However, that perceived attack never struck.

Instead, Tom pointed his [Revenant Claw] towards the blonde woman as he willed his card gauntlet to switch his active card.

“Water Propulsion—Torrent,” Tom whispered under his breath. A second later a veritable cannon of water exploded outwards from his [Revenant Claw], the sheer recoil sending his arm jerking backwards.

The blonde woman tried to raise her card up in defence, but before she could channel her soul power a beam of compressed water smashed into her, sending her crashing into the side of a residential hut and then collapsing the hunt along with it.

“What the fuck are you!” The thief, Aelek, screamed as his [Deck Card] activated.

A bow and arrow set fashioned out of the same azure energy that powered his sword manifested in his hands and he drew the bowstring back.

Since Tom had already cast blade manifestation, he didn’t need to keep using the card to maintain its activeness unlike with [Water Propulsion] and [The Flame].

Blade Manifestation was already protecting his vitals, so Aelek aimed for the next best thing.

Tom bit down a grunt of pain as the energy arrow grazed his left arm.

“That hurt,” Tom remarked, loud enough for Aelek to hear him. The card in the Revenant Claw once again changed.

“Earth’s Vitality,” Tom whispered, and a powerful golden halo ensconced him. Seconds later, the blood loss was stymied and the wound was well on its way to healing. In another thirty seconds, it would be healed.

The shock on Aelek’s visage was replaced with fear.

Before he could fire off another arrow at him, Tom pointed at him and let [Water Propulsion] explode outwards. Aelek attempted to dodge but unfortunately, he didn’t manage in time and met the same fate as his teammate.

That only left Zakeran, who stepped out from behind cover, his right hand wreathed in flames. A second later, he sent a blazing flame lance arcing through the air, headed right for him.

Tom followed his train of thought—as formidable as his blade manifestation was, a sword couldn’t block a mass of flames and water would simple evaporate.

Unfortunately for Zakeran….

Tom pointed at the flaming lance, waiting as his gauntlet switched to the first [Deck Card] he’d acquired in this world—[The Flame].

The only way Tom could describe the sensation was like having access to a flamethrower at the tip of his fingers— his flames licking against Zakeran’s flaming lance and subsuming them a second later.

Before Zakeran could do anything else, the tip of his giant greatsword was resting against his throat, causing a drop of blood to trickle down his neck.

“Try anything else and you die.”

A young girl cloaked in faded black robes peeked at the scene below from a rooftop, if the one storey building could even be called as such. An old stone chimney was the only cover she managed to find that let her observe the group whom she had been tracking on and off for a few months now.

Zakeran’s group had caught her interest— one among six candidates that met her exacting standards, if only barely. [Deck Cards] were not something the young girl was particularly interested in. Power only mattered if one possessed the know-how to utilize it properly. Zakeran was a belligerent man, but not a cruel one— she hadn’t seen him, or their group, kill anyone—at least not yet.

That was workable.

Someone stronger than her was a variable out of her control. Someone who equaled her strength was a risk. Someone weaker than her was at least manageable. That was what she liked telling herself, atleast.

The simple matter of the fact was that she wasn’t satisfied with their strength—- not with Zakeran’s and not with the other candidates.

But she hadn’t given up.

More like… she couldn’t.

And now, her perseverance had paid off— a single, mysterious young man had dispatched not only Zakeran, but his teammates too— alone.

She couldn’t believe it but… reality had unfolded before her.

As Tom finished robbing Zakeran and his goons of their coin and weapons, he angled his gaze down to the kneeling, now pitiful looking black haired man.

“The next time you think of robbing innocents or asking others for tribute, remember the despair you felt in this moment. Remember the pitiful state I, Aloeric Fold, left you in!”

With that, Tom lashed a kick that knocked Zakeran into unconsciousness.

Rummaging through his pockets, Tom found the [Earth Manipulation] card Zakeran had been using earlier, which meant the flaming lance was his soul card. Shrugging, Tom pocketed it.

It was the least he could do after they tried to kill him.

The young girl still watched Tom from afar, slowly changing her position.

Aleph Longstradia, a fallen Noble from the House Longstradia had a smile on her visage— a smile after so long that she couldn’t even recall the last time she had expressed her happiness so.