Chapter 6b: Card!

 

“Stasis!” Victor spat, the card in his hand vanishing as the four-legged monster hung suspended midair.

[Cooldown: 5 Seconds]

“Wha?!” Destiny let out before she was violently dragged from beneath the wolf as it began to twitch.

“GO! NOW!” Victor barked, shoving the woman forward as he delivered a kick into the wolf's head.

Another mutant charged at Victor, it's maw open to rip out his neck. But Victor wasn't a push over, and this wasn't his first wolf. He reached out, hands pushing away the beast but not with the force he expected.

Shit! This is totally different without my suped up stats! Victor realized too late as the wolf hit the ground and bit his ankle while another grabbed his arm.

[-12 HP]

Unbalanced, Victor fell, his eyes wide as a hungry maw filled his vision.

“ICE HAIL!” Destiny chanted, her palm held outwards and delivering a storm of thin icicles that pelted Victor's assailants enough for him to break free of their assault.

“Ice wall!” Destiny said, lifting her palms upward, her movements lithe and trained as she created a thin box of ice around her and Victor.

“Lord Fierce! Are you okay?!”

“I'm fine! But we need to figure out a plan!” Victor replied with a grimace as his body radiated steam from the injuries of his wolf bites. He turned, frown on his face at the sight of the beasts smacking into the wall and creating cracks along the magical barrier in their rabid attempt to devour the two humans.

“There isn't much water mana in the air! My barrier won't hold them for long!” Destiny exclaimed, the woman visibly struggling to uphold the walls of ice against all four assailants.

Maybe I didn't give Destiny enough credit. Still, four wolves is bad, but it's worst I don't have any weapons or skill-

Victor furrowed his brow and opened his system, the option to obtain Destiny's card still available.

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

Primary Effect:

-Skill: Frost Bolt

Secondary Effect:

+3 Int

[Claim?] Y/N?]

 

Let's hope this doesn't have any adverse effects.

“Claim.” Victor whispered as the card of the white haired woman manifested in his palm alongside Prometheus’s card.

“I… I don't…” Destiny wobbled, only to be caught by Victor.

“Lady Valeria!” Victor shouted, cradling the woman close. For a moment he thought his claiming of the woman's card had been the cause of Destiny fainting. That was before his eyes noticed the trail of red ichor on the forest floor that matched the blood spilling from the woman's feet. “You're bleeding.”

“I… I'm okay Lord Fier-CE!” Destiny attempted to assure only for a snout of a snarling wolf to break through the ice wall.

Time to test this. Victor said to himself before he swiped the air with Destiny's card, the action creating a bolt of ice with an intricate pattern that Victor recognized as the crest of House Valeria. Then the bolt of ice flew, piercing the skull of the wolf and killing it on the spot.

“Lord-Lord Fierce, t-that-how?!”

“We've no time, there's still three wolves and no doubt more foulspawn on the way,” Victor said as he lifted the woman up in his arms. “I have a plan, but it's entirely dependent on you.”

“Lord Fierce…” Destiny replied, the pair locking eyes, “You can rely on me!”

“Can you use your magic to create a wide trail of ice behind us? We'll remove traction on the floor and make it harder for the beasts to catch us while I hit them with frost bolt,” Victor said as more cracks began to appear on the walls. “When we reach the slop, create a slide of ice for us and we'll use that to put more distance between us.”

If there was one strength non-system users had that gave them an advantage against system users, it was their flexibility to use their magic or skills outside of the description dictated by the system.

Mages could use water like tentacles, or freeze them into icicles while ki users could transfer energy from their bodies to conjure flame to their weapons. Of course it wasn't easy, it took years of mastery while system users could skip the hassle entirely in order to achieve a singular effect.

But a singular effect wasn't something Victor needed right now.

“I can do something better,” Destiny said with a determined smile on her face. “But we should move! Now!”

Destiny released her spell, the barriers of ice falling away with Victor taking off as the charging wolves slammed into nearby trees.

“Hold on!” Victor shouted, taking off as Destiny reached over his shoulder. The woman motioned with her fingers, conjuring the somatic component of her spell to unleash a cold chill that could be felt trailing behind Victor.

Ice crept along the forest floor, quickly spreading out, the wolves in pursuit sliding across the ice and slamming into nearby trees as their movements became uncontrolled.

“Nice!” Victor said, approaching the hill drop that was steeper than he had assumed. It was far stepper, in fact, it was nearly a twenty foot slope that was more of a drop than an incline.

“I'm not done!” Destiny said as she clenched her fist. Suddenly spikes of ice emerged from the earth, the ice created by her spell forming large icicles that pierced the underbellies of the ragged beasts, skewering them in place. “Ha! How's… how's…”

“Lady Valeria?” Victor swore, the woman unconscious. He glanced over his shoulder at two of the wolves, bloody but still in play. “Damn it, did she pass out because of me? Or did I push her too hard?”

Unable to safely climb the slope with Destiny, Victor softly placed the woman on the floor and took off his dirty jacket while maintaining eye contact with the wolves.

He moved the cloth, wrapping the once fine wedding jacket over his right fist tightly to create a makeshift bracer but not too tight that he couldn't release it.

“Can't run, can't freeze up, only one thing to do,” Victor exhaled, furrowing his brow and lowering his center of mass with a smile on his face as the rapid drumming of his heart pounded in his ears. 

Two second freeze. Should be long enough if I time this right.

“COME ON!” Victor shouted as two cards manifested in his left hand.

The wolves snarled, racing forward, the two misshapen canines trailing blood as they ran through the melted ice towards their meal.

Victor threw a punch, catching the open maw of the first wolf with his clothed fist, the inertia spinning him in place as he threw his black card at the other wolf.

With the beast latched on, Victor allowed the momentum to spin him in place, his makeshift bracer carrying the creature towards the hill's edge.

Then Victor released his shirt and allowed the expensive cloth to fly into the air along with his first assailant.

“Ha! See-!” Victor gloated before his world view spun as something struck him and his feet left the earth. “Eh?”

Shit! I miscounted the seconds!!! Victor realized too late as the second wolf bit into his side and dragged him over the hillside.

 *****

Covered in blood and gore, Matilda cradled Destiny over her shoulder as she stood over Victor's unconscious form draped over the wolf that had broken his fall.

The middle aged maid’s eyes crinkled as an ugly thought lay at the forefront of her mind.

Alone and without any witnesses, Matilda could easily fullfil the mission she'd been given by Lord Twentieth-to eliminate Victor. 

But the prince wasn't here, and technically Matilda too was now in exile. So even if she succeeded in her mission, would the prince keep his word and reinstate her position as head maid? Or would he eliminate her just as well?

Years of waiting, watching, and taking orders told Matilda it would be the latter. The Fierce family were exactly that, Fierce. Prone to violence, backstabbing, scheming, and overindulging, the Fierce Household were egotistical maniacs all concerned with one thing and one thing only-

Power.

Matilda stared long and hard, her face scrunching with annoyance as her heel lightly pressed against the boy's tempo.

Except…

Victor was different. As infuriating, obtuse, and annoying on his perverse obsessions as he was, he never once expressed interest for the throne. Matilda glanced over to the woman unconscious over her shoulder before looking down at the slumbering man. man.

It would be so easy. One tap of my foot and this fool would be done with.

Yet she hesitated, her heel moving away to pierce the skull of the groaning wolf beneath the former prince’s body.One opportunity.

Matilda exhaled, the stress in her shoulders acting up as she turned to the sight of torch light on rapid approach.