Honour Rae
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B5 Ch2: Cardomancy
🕑 Added 2024-05-22 05:46:16 +0000 UTC
Outside of himself, Arthur was aware of people talking, quick shushes, and the occasional playful squeal of a new-hatched dragon. He had forgotten out loud and shrill the first few weeks after coming out of the shell.
He put all of that aside and did not allow his concentration to waver from the cards.
New Body Enhancement Skill: Focus Under Pressure
Due to your card’s bonus traits, you automatically start this skill at level 5.
New Skill Level: Meditation (Insight Class)
Level 19
He let the alerts for the new skills wash over him, though he was somewhat aware there had to be a connection between the two. He was in a state of focus so pure it almost felt meditative.
It helped to know that any time his attention truly wavered, he was at risk of destroying Cressida’s cards forever.
Mechanically, Arthur popped more mana chips in his mouth.
His draining mana vault was restored, and he continued on.
Slowly—ever so slowly, like the ember of a coal burning its way across a wet page—new letters etched themselves into the card at the end of each description. And just as slowly, those new letters became words.
It was much more than a change at the surface. Every swoop of a mark that would eventually make up a letter adjusted the card’s matrix underneath. One bad move could start a chain reaction that would corrupt it and eventually cause the entire card to collapse.
He was already further along than he had been with the practice cards, and he never could have gotten this far with one card – much less all four at once – if not for the fact there was an aspect of malleability to the cards he had never felt before.
In a distant corner of his mind that was not utterly committed to the process, he realized that made sense. These cards had rested in Cressida’s heart, and she wanted this to happen strongly enough that she would put herself at great risk. He had always thought of the heart growing and changing around the cards within it.
Until now, it had never occurred to him that the reverse could be true.
Finally – finally – the new line at the end of all four cards was complete.
“This card is part of the Animal Summoning set. Seek out new animal summons in order to complete this set.”
It was a version of the same phrasing that was at the end of his Master set, and an indication that all the cards in the same set existed in the world.
With a mental breath, he let go of his hold of the cards and felt the new phrasing settle into place within the matrix. It felt as satisfying as slipping in the last piece of a complicated puzzle. And, oddly, it felt just as well. As if the cards themselves had been waiting for this moment.
New Level Increased: Card Intuition (Card Smith class)
Level 15
New level gained: Card Manipulation (Card Smith class)
Level 9.
New level gained: Card Repair (Card Smith class)
Level 7.
New level gained: Card Insight (Card Smith class)
Level 6.
New Skill Gained: Set Creation
Due to your card’s bonus traits, you automatically start this skill at level 5.
Suddenly, his focus shattered and the rest of the world outside of himself took on meaning again.
He could smell the scent of burned food and charred spices in the air. Marion must have been trying to cook again, with Soledad adding her part with her emphasis on what she called ‘southern spices’.
Closer, Cressida sat next to Arthur – her body a warm line against his own.
Brixaby, who had long ago returned from a hunt with Joy, sat on the other side. He growled something darkly under his breath, but Arthur felt too fuzzy to pick up on it.
Speaking of that, he was soaking with sweat, yet his throat felt as dry as the deadened lands. His head pounded so hard that his vision swam in front of him.
But none of that mattered because in front of him sat four cards of the same deck.
New Hidden Class Unlocked: Cardomancy
You may combine these eight skills into the hidden Cardomancy class:
Card Shuffling
Card Counting
Card Intuition
Card Repair
Card Insight
Set Creation
As this is a hidden class, there are no average skill level requirements, and may draw upon skills already in existing classes.
When equipped, card wielder will learn all Cardomancy Class levels at a 1.25 times rate in addition to existing skill bonuses.
+ 5 to Luck
+3 Charisma
+ 20% efficiency to all mana-based cards in the heart deck.
Enhanced synergy between all skills in this class.
Succeeding with the cards had already been worth it, but this was the icing on top.
Cressida must have realized that he had come out of his extreme state of concentration. “Arthur?” she asked gently, laying a hand on his shoulder.
“I did it,” Arthur said, and then promptly passed out.
****
Arthur woke up laying flat on his back and staring right into the face of a Silver dragon. Asha was young and unusually fine boned, with a thin, delicate muzzle that emphasized luminous eyes.
Like most hatchlings, except for Brixaby, Asha had started growing from the moment she broke her shell several weeks back. She was now the size of a large dog, and fairly intimidating as she practically stood on top of him grinning a dragon’s smile full of teeth.
“I breathed on you,” Asha said.
Considering that she had a powerful Breath of Healing card, this was no bad thing. “Thank you?” Arthur croaked. He wasn’t in a bed, he realized. He was lying on the floor – he probably hadn’t been out for more than a few minutes.
“I did my part, too,” Marion drawled. He stood nearby and tapped his dragon’s shoulder to get her to move away from Arthur. “You were suffering from dehydration, the beginnings of heat-stroke, and for some reason, a buildup of lactic acid in all your limbs.”
Arthur stared at him. “What?”
“It was as if you were running all day,” Marion clarified. “I would have applied healing spells before you fainted, but I was told that may interrupt your concentration. No matter, how do you feel?”
Arthur thought about it for a moment. “Fine,” he said, a little surprised. It felt like he had just woken from a satisfying sleep. That must be Marion’s Full-Body Polish card kicking in.
Now that the weight of a young dragon was off him, he was able to sit up—where he was surprised to see himself the center of attention from the rest of his retinue and his own dragon. Brixaby looked severely annoyed while Cressida was slightly teary.
“I shouldn’t have asked you to do that,” Cressida blurted out, as if she had been holding the words in by force alone.
Arthur shook his head. He did not ask if the cards had truly become a set, because he felt that they had both in the last moments before he passed out, and most importantly, in her heart deck. Through his Master of Cards, he could feel the power of her cards more clearly than ever before. They acted as one, as a set.
“No, it was worth it. I got so many skill increases, and a new class,” he said, adding that last part to mollify Brixaby. “It’s a good one, too.”
His dragon’s blood-red eyes narrowed. “You will tell me the details of his class later. Though… if it is good, it might have been worth it to see you collapse.” He threw a truly evil look at Cressida. “My rider has given you a gift. Be sure you use it well.”
Or else, was heavily implied.
She straightened, and though she still looked regretful, her noble pride wouldn’t allow her to take the chastisement sitting down.
“I will.” Chin lifted, she made a slight motion with one finger. All her animal summons puffed into view. They were the same shapes Arthur was used to seeing, but now they looked more… real. The flames on Whicker looked exactly like short fur with darker orange shadings along the joints of the legs as if the light were reaching those parts differently. The water cranes moved exactly like real birds and started to peck at hopeful crumbs on the floor. The spiked hedgehog appeared obediently by her ankles and stood on its hind legs to look up at her, its nose twitching back and forth. And the kittens…
Arthur had to look away from the adorable kittens as they tumbled together. If you gave them more than a brief glance, you would be watching them whether you wanted to or not.
“They can now draw power from one another,” Cressida said, “and they use much less mana to summon and maintain.”
“Good.” Arthur got to his feet slowly, wary of any light-headedness or pain. There was neither. Between the Breath of Healing and the Body Polish, he was back to normal – if completely drained of his own mana. “If that’s the case, I think it’s just about time we returned to our own kingdom.”
He looked around at the others one by one, pausing for a moment on Soledad and her own dragon who stood off to the side. Equinox was the same age as Asha. As a red dragon, he had no problem playing with figurative fire and was watching the mind-capturing kittens with a dumbstruck look on his face, even though he knew better.
Horatio stood off to the side, watching Arthur with his arms crossed. Arthur returned the look.
“Horatio, I know you’ve been wanting to save the surprise, but it’s past time we knew your card’s power.”
Horatio grinned – with his long face and slightly crooked teeth, it wasn’t the best look. But Soledad smiled back at him with a slightly sappy expression in her eyes.
“As a matter of fact,” Horatio said, “I was going to show you today, though when I got back here, I saw you were trying to upstage me by doing the impossible and then swooning away.”
“I didn’t swoon—”
“Right in Cressida’s arms,” he confirmed. Then before Arthur could tell him off, he added, “But if you insist, why don’t you come outside. I’ll show you what Sams and I have whipped up.”
Comments
KeenTowers
I think card manipulation and then Card lore, which was mentioned in the previous chapter, are the missing two
R. Maxwell Steele
Typo? There are several myths about lactic acid, including that it causes muscle fatigue and soreness, and that it's a byproduct of exercise that damages cells: Muscle fatigue and soreness In the past, experts believed that a buildup of lactic acid in the muscles during intense exercise, known as acidosis, caused muscle fatigue and tissue damage. However, modern research has shown that lactic acid is actually an important fuel source for muscles, and that it's flushed out of muscles so quickly that it doesn't cause pain or damage cells. Instead, soreness after a workout is usually caused by microtears in muscle fibers.
Jasmine
What would happen if Arthur altered more than 5 cards to be in the same set?
James Donnelly
Brix said that his uncle has a rare in his heart. My guess is that the kings condition on letting Arthur's family keep the Dutchy was that the duke can't have a legendary card.
Blas Borde
I think you may have responded to the wrong comment
Salvo
Yeah, imagine 1 skill is ‘negate card effect’ like mind shielding, but for all card powers! The king’s mythic dragon had some nullify aura, so a skill for that may exist in a cardomancy class.
copperspike
i'm interpreting the body polish as "polishing up the non vital but unpleasant parts" so like aesthetic and quality of life type stuff
James Donnelly
I dont think that's how the link works. Cressida should have her own version of charlatan pair to use.
killer
Cressida would also need to complete the set for the quest card, or the bond will probably break, so she needs to collect 10 cards.
James Donnelly
Joy's Card Charlatan Pair _eta Ra_e When linked ____, matches and duplicates a _____ random card of the same set, Warning: Must use ___ of the ___ rank and tier. This is how I believe the description reads. When linked together, matches and duplicates a different random card of the same set. Warning: Must use cards of the same rank and tier.
James Donnelly
I wonder is Cressida can use charlatan Pair to make a pseudo legendary card out of that set. Maybe it would not count as an actual card upgrade but would still give the benefits of 5 of a kind.
killer
They ascend when a full set is collected and a set, as far as we know, is always 5 cards, and when Arther’s dad (I think that’s who told Arther about sets, it could have also need Red or 2nd) told him about sets he wasn’t do it under the guidelines of Arther being able to change sets, and as far as we know there could be natural l sets that don’t follow that guideline too. TL:DR as far as we know maybe, but probably not.
CasStocks
Thanks for the chapters! I’d be really interested in the retinue getting a once over with Arthur’s card insight card to see how each card could be better used (and for us to get a read on some of the other cards) as of right now I don’t think we ever got a full description of joys birth card or the card joy and Cressida got from linking, we don’t know what eclipse (equinox’s?) birth card does or what their linked card is or what Marion and his dragon got from linking their cards, I’m excited that it looks like we’re going to find out what Horacio’s new card is in the next chapter
The Broken-Melody
Thank you.
Krazo
Lung Bao also seems like the most obnoxious Epic Dragon of the bunch. Arthur seems to have advantage in assembling "Master of" set in that his family was probably assembling this set once before. This was probably his father's crime. My guess is that his uncle is the one that has Master of Magic. Brixaby's set on the other hand seems like a much more of a coincidence, considering that he seems to have born completing his set, next to three cards of an existing set (counding two of Arthur and one of Penn). I would like to see his luck stat.
Salvo
My mistake, so grindstone the card said crafting skills, but in book 4 ch23, call of the void just said a 33% overall rate in learning. No specific limit on crafting skills. And other skills like insight started at level 5 later. When he broke his card anchor, a line said a few levels in pain tolerance were helping and I guess I messed that up.
Decide
Where was pain tolerance recently mentioned? I don't recall. I thought every skill since endless grindstone was absorbed started at level 5.
Katsu
Was it mentioned how a whole card set lvls up? Does the 5 cards become 1 legendary or multiple. This is gonna get exciting.
Katsu
Wrote this at the end of book 4: "I can´t wait for Arthurs modification of Cressidas heart deck. 4 rares of a kind should be incredibly strong. The zoo summoner Cressida. :D" Thanks Honour Rae for making my guess reality. :) But I guess Cress needs wait with her fifth card for her dragon, to also have 5 of a set?!
Salvo
Grindstone was about specifically crafting skills, the focus under pressure body enhancement skill was also lvl 5. As an example, pain tolerance started as lvl 1.
James Donnelly
I thought it was boosted from the endless Grindstone card he ate.
Salvo
“Due to your card’s bonus traits, you automatically start this skill at level 5.” Just want to point out every skill probably starts at level 5 now, another boost from master of cards to the set. And, Arthur sensed Cressida set within her. I wonder if Arthur can detect the number of shards in a scourglings? would be helpful if a leader knows the rewards his common soldiers could receive ahead of time.
Salvo
Legendary riders are required to be under the king’s retinue. I think it’s about centralized power. Would nobles kill legendary dragons to further their set? What would happen if Arthur got killed by a demiscourgling with the master of magic card?
Salvo
I think the card smith class is about one card, when Arthur got ‘set creation’ it became world changing magic. There is now a 5th card out there in the world, outside his focus. Like, Frankenstein isn’t a necromancer, because the scale of undead creations are different.
Voror
There an aspect of the changes Arthur did I wonder about. Is there a set amount of cards that make up a set? Master is a 5 card set and the only other example was as well. Also Cressida doesn't exactly seem to have a Joker card precisely. Or is it actually open enough that there may not be a limit so long as Arthur inscribed cards that align with it?
Thomas Dallaire
What was the limit for a set growing the next rarity level? For some reason I had it in my mind that it was five... Does that means Cressida is one more card edit from bumping up to legendary? Would be great to see the whole team start to power up around Arthur
Preston
There is a place for it on the discord that gets more attention
Squirtle
@Arnon I don't think that's entirely accurate. In the Meet the Mythic Crew chapter, when they were speaking with the mythics, one mythic asked Lung Bao (or whatever her name was) if her kingdom still made it illegal to assemble sets. I don't think all the mythics stop people from assembling sets. This next part is just speculation, but maybe the Faberge kingdom just has more legendaries so it's more of a threat to her position.
Tartlet
I love that he has to treat totally adorable kittens as unseeable horrors 😆😂🤣
Blas Borde
Shouldn't the class be called cardomancer? Like a cardomancer does cardomancy, just like a necromancer does necromancy
Dakay
No it makes sense. I took a look back at Tier 3 and the Cooking is the Class that the skills are associated with. Maybe since Cardomancy is a hidden class it doesn’t have normal activation? There could be a Card Smith class which is the normal class, and Cardomancy is the special version?
James Donnelly
I'm assuming that Card Smith is the name of the general type of skill class and not the name of the actual class itself.
Dakay
Thank you for the clarification but I am still confused. It says that certain skills are a part of the Card Smith Class. Not Cardomancy.
James Donnelly
Card Smith is a type of skill from a Card. Cardomancy is a whole Class that is comprised of card crafting skills.
Dakay
What is the difference between Cardomancy vs Card Smith?
The Broken-Melody
Minor typo (He had forgotten out loud and shrill the first few weeks after coming out of the shell. ) It should be how loud and shrill. Sorry, if this is unwanted. Someone in here tell me, and i wont comment corrections anymore. Just figured any beta reading involved pointing out typos. I’m just so new to being a subscriber i don’t know if this is the proper form. Like i said sorry again if this is inappropriate. And as always thank you for the chapter and such an amazing story.
James Donnelly
Now to change Card of Covetousness and Tanky constitution to eliminate/reduce the drawbacks. I feel that CoC would be perfect for Brixaby since his seconday core should be full. Also what happens to the other cards in the flame summon set now? Can that set now just never be completed?
Zizawah
“He had forgotten out loud and shrill …” — how loud and shrill newborn dragons are Thanks for the chapter!
Salvo
Any chance we could get some clarity on the ‘body polish’ card. Here I was thinking it was like a scar remover or hair regrowth card. Now this chapter makes it’s function as a night sleep in a card. Arthur is a noble and he can’t hang around with crooked teeth dragon riders! Can you imagine a rainbow knight without pearly whites?!
James Donnelly
I'm wondering if the Master of Magic card is actually Master of Mana. Master of Magic seems very broad in a world where everything is magical.
Finn Ryan
That 20% mana efficiency is going to be great once he gets the master of magic card!
Tommy
Is Soledad’s dragon Equinox or Eclipse? Referred to as Eclipse in Book 4 Epilogue
Krazo
It will have to be a Joker card, so it will affect summoning itself
DirePants
What a chapter! First off nod to lactic acid line. But great movement in the story and I’m loving the growth of the characters. And way to make sure I stalk your Patreon for Ch3 because that cliff hanger was hurtful 😭 Thnx for the chapter!
DirePants
Still reading the chapter but I had to stop and say Cardomancy is an awesome name for a skill. It has card and Dom, like dominion. He has dominion over cards. Pretty sick. 😁
Salvo
I wonder if a new card had been born somewhere just to create the set, there isn’t a ‘wild’ type to the set. Maybe a pure mana type summon, like a slime or copy another summon. Brixaby legendary search powers will be forgotten;too big a change to the narrative.
Arnon Parenti
They became rare because both the mythic dragons and the scourge gods kill anyone who starts assembling a set and then put the cards in the dark heart library. There are sets you have to dive into a living scourge eruption just to pick one of and run.
Reno
I think there's a mistake in the new class description: "You may combine these eight skills into the hidden Cardomancy class: Card Shuffling Card Counting Card Intuition Card Repair Card Insight Set Creation" Card Manipulation isn't there and there aren't eight skills like the description said... Unless I'm forgetting one.
Reno
This has built up for so long. With all the context around cards, how rare it is to see multiples from a set, and all the politics surrounding cards.... It's so much more satisfying to see something in the story I never expected to see. Thanks!
Salvo
@honour thanks for that chapter, a few errors. Meditation hit lvl 20 in book 4 which gave insight skill, you list it as 19 now. You say 8 skill for cardomancy, but list 6, add card manipulation and card smithing. Both were mentioned previously. Also, there is no tier listed for cardomancy, is hidden its own tier?
Steven Beal
thanks for the chapter
Lukas
TFTC! Yeah, was waiting for it.
Vic
I'm a big fan of the fact that Arthur had to deal with lactic acid buildup from straining his muscles
Travis
I thought the title was chronomancy for a second and my first thought was “wooooah how’d we end up here”
Decide
Woooooooo
Decide
Yes yes yes yes yes. I'm so glad the benefits are so clear and distinct.
