Chapter 5b: First Card

 

[Deck Selection Available!]

-[Encyclopedia Available!]

-[New Card Obtained!]

-[Available Cards]-

[Card XIII: Prometheus LvL 1]

-[Claimable Card Available]

Claimable card? Victor thought, raising a brow and touching the interface only for a card to appear in his hand.

Wait! This-

“What are you doing? Are you interacting with your system?” Destiny said, appearing in front of Victor, the woman's face side by side with the card that showed a stylized portrait of her face.

“Uh, yeah, could ya, move a bit? This is pretty finicky,” Victor replied, stepping around Destiny.

[Claimable Card: Card I Series: Destiny Von Valeria LvL 1:

Primary Effect:

-Skill: Frost Bolt

Secondary Effect:

+3 Int

[Claim?] Y/N?]

A card? Why did I get a card? How does this new system work? Victor wondered to himself, eyeing the effects and then glancing towards Destiny staring in awe at the darkened clouds above.

[System User: Victor Fierce]

[Species: Human]

[Title: Heretic{UNABLE TO LEVEL}]

[Level: -174]

[Class: None]

-HP: 200/200

-MP: 180/180

-Stamina: 80/80

 

-VIG: 20

-END: 13

-STR: 18

-DEX: 17

-INT: 15

-WIS: 15

[PRIMARY CARDS]: 1/2

-Card XIII: Prometheus LvL 1

-NONE 

[SECONDARY CARDS]: 0/3

-NONE

-NONE

-NONE

So… I can earn cards? That slot into either a primary or secondary slot? And I guess these determine my skills since I can't level up? Victor reasoned as he touched his system and pulled out the black card of Prometheus. But… How do I earn cards? Why did I get one from Destiny?

“Hm? Is something the matter, Lord Fierce? Is that a skill?” Destiny asked, eyeing the back of the card in Victor's hand. “I thought with the heretic title one couldn't use skills?”

“That's a misconception. Heretics can still use skills, it's just when they're depowered, their abilities are deleted,” Victor explained.

“Oh, fascinating! The ability of system users has always piqued my interest. My father is one, but sadly, the ability never passed to me,” Destiny said.

“So, you have a crest?” Victor asked with the woman shyly retreating into herself.

“I… do my lord, all members of House Valeria are ordained with one,” Destiny replied sheepishly, her slender hands moving towards her stomach.

System Users weren't the only ones with levels. Everyone naturally gained strength and power as they trained but only System Users had the accessibility to dictate their paths. Crests were a way for people to track their growth, but they required a System User with an observe ability to quantify their stats and update them whenever sufficient growth had been detected.

For the guild halls, businesses, and mercenary recruitment, the Crest system acted almost as a resume of people's histories, allowing potential employers to find the talent they needed.

Or, in the case relating to Destiny, a selection process of finding a suitable bride for a prince.

“So, what's your specialty?” Victor asked in an attempt to confirm his suspension with the translucent card of the woman in his other hand.

“I am a third tier mage, Lord Fierce. With tutelage under my mother Magos Valeria.”

“Again, it's just Fie-,” Victor stuttered, a sigh escaping his lips, “Just call me Victor. Please.”

“I… uhm. Pardon, it wasn't my place to make you feel uncomfortable,” Destiny hastily bowed.

“It's fine,” Victor replied. “I'm no longer a prince, so you needn't address me as such, Lady Valeria.”

“And I'm no longer a Scion of House Valeria, so I think you needn't address me as Lady Valeria,” Destiny countered.

A faint smile crested Victor's face, unfortunately he had more pressing concerns to worry about as his eyes settled on his system.

Damn you Prometheus, you could have explained how this worked, Victor intoned before flicking his wrist, the card vanishing.

“Pardon me, milady, I need to talk with Matilda about something,” Victor said before quickening his pace to catch up with the middle-aged maid somehow expertly climbing a slope of soot and ash with her heels.

“This isn't good,” Matilda said upon Victor catching up to her. “An escort should have greeted us already.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Victor said, his eyes scanning the miles of empty terrain upon reaching the top of the slope. “Which leads me to believe that either our escorts are dead or-”

“They were never dispatched in the first place,” Matilda surmised. “There is a good chance we are in grave danger.”

Victor had a feeling that his father had no intention of keeping him alive and exile to the fridges was just an excuse to discreetly wipe out the memory of his existence while they cleaned up his outburst.

“We both knew that the Royal Court wouldn't let me go unscathed,” Victor said, scrunching his nose, “There's no path forward with me, you should take Destiny and find a way back to Apheriam.”

“And I would like nothing more,” Matilda replied with none of the decorum Victor was used to as she turned to observe the young woman struggling to climb the hill. “But that choice isn't up to me.”

Matilda set down her suit cases and slid down the slop, the maid coming to a full stop beside Destiny to help the woman up.

Victor clenched his jaw and looked away towards the distance and scanned the hilly outback until he spotted a manmade structure of walls in the distance.

“You should shift your weight to the balls of your feet, engage your core, and walk at a slight zigzag angle,” Matilda instructed.

“Oh! Wow! You're so good at this!” Destiny exclaimed. 

“I can see the outpost in the distance, at our pace, we won't make it by nightfall,” Victor said.

“My apologies Lord Fierce,” Destiny said, the woman doubled over and attempted to catch her breath. “It's because of my lack of experience that I have troubled you.”

“It's just Victor,” Victor corrected, “Even if we were moving at double our speed we wouldn't make it to the outpost before nightfall.”

“Then! We should make camp!” Destiny said earnestly, the woman regaining some of her strength. “I'll gather some wood!”

Victor glanced at Matilda, the two saying something unsaid.

“Forgive me my lady, but we must keep pressing forward,” Matilda said, stopping the eager woman. “We shan't linger more than necessary in the darkness of the foullands.”

“Matilda is right,” Victor said, eyeing the purple vapors rising from the earth. The first sign before the horrors of the night began. He turned, addressing the pair, “The foulspawn will be upon us soon. But if we hurry, we can make it to the outpost in an hour or-”

The sudden rush of wind forced Victor to blink and in that moment, Matilda vanished. 

Victor's eyes widened, the sound of a tree snapping in half drawing his attention to the ten foot tall beast of bristling grey fur standing over Matilda.

“LADY MATILDA!” Destiny cried out in shock at the sight of the bloodied maid holding a suitcase aloft that prevented the open maw from taking her neck.

“That's! That's a wolfman!” Victor said, his face twisted with a warped smile. “That's means there's wolfwom-”

“Victor! Take the lady and run!” Matilda shouted, snapping Victor from his stupor before the beast snapped its head to the side and flung the maid into the sky.

Returning to his senses, Victor reached over and snatched Destiny's wrist, the former prince pulling her forward as the woman began to protest.

“What?!” Destiny panicked, “What! Wait! No! We have to-”

“That's a corrupted wolfman! We can't fight it! Not without silver!” Victor said as he pulled Destiny into his arms before sliding down the slope. “We need to get to the outpost, now!”

“But Matilda!”

“She's a warrior maid! She knows her job!” Victor barked, clenching his teeth as the pair reached the end. “If there's a wolfman, than theres-”

Howling echoed out, the sound of moonlight beasts stirring as the orb in the sky began to set.

“-wolves…” Victor grimaced, finishing his sentence as four grey snarling beasts emerged from the vapors rising from the earth. “Well… this sucks. And here I was hoping to run into a hot wolfwoman.”

Half formed, the mutated wolves began their approach, growling and encircling the duo, their large maws releasing copious amounts of drool that trailed behind every movement.

“Go! Go!” Victor barked, pulling Destiny along as the wolves snarled.

“Why aren't they chasing us?!” Destiny screamed, struggling to keep pace.

“They haven't fully formed yet! Which means we've got some time! We need to get as much distance as possible!” Victor replied, his eyes dead set on the outpost in the distance whose illumination could be seen by the darkness beginning to consume the sky.

“Wait! Please! I can't! I can't! Keep up!” Destiny exclaimed before the woman’s heel snapped, the breaking shoe twisting her ankle and sending the noblewoman crashing to the ground.

“Destiny!” Victor spun, the card in his hand before he realized it as a wolf bore down on the woman. “Stasis!”

 

****

“Hm?”

In a chamber of gold decorated by excess, Orlo Fierce blinked once from his throne of ivory chiseled from the carcass of the mighty northern dragon.

The several hundred year old emperor’s golden eyes furrowed, his hands gripping the edges of his armchair so tightly the metal and ivory cracked from his strength.

“Prometheus, what have you done?”

The God of Mankind rose, his vision scanning the marble pillars etched with tales of his achievements and the gilded Praetorians who stood eternal vigil over him.

Orlo shifted his head to the system notification at the corner of his vision.

[-93250 HP]

“I see, after all these years this is how you greet me, old friend?” Orlo hissed as crimson ichor spilled from his mouth, the droplets staining the perfect white floor beneath his feet. “But I won't go quietly. This. world. Is. MINE!”

Orlo’s roar shook the chamber, his voice booming through the entirety of the Kingdom of Apheriam before he brandished a blade forged from the fang of a beast and plunged it into his own heart.

“M-my! Emperor Fierce!” A Praetorian screamed, the legion of knights rushing towards their charge whose body turned to solid stone.