Honour Rae
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B4 Ch36: Final Preparations
🕑 Added 2024-04-01 01:40:35 +0000 UTCNote: Last chapter for the night!
The moments of silence while everyone read over Arthur’s Legendary cards felt both weighted and stretched.
Arthur felt as exposed as if he had removed all his clothes and then asked his friends to look for flaws on his body.
In a way, it was even worse than that. His deepest truths were finally exposed for all to see. These were cards from his heart – a portion of his soul laid bare. Which was why it was so monstrous during the occasions he’d seen people trade heart cards for objects or money.
Cressida was the first to finish reading. Silently, she nodded to him and leaned back. She didn’t look surprised because he had told her the nitty gritty details during their time together at Mesa Free Hive.
Horatio was next. He shook his head, catching Arthur’s gaze and rolling his eyes. He, too, knew the broad strokes of Arthur’s secrets, though perhaps not to this extent. “That is a doozy of a card pair. And that second card… So, what are you? Stronger? Smarter?”
“I’m getting there. When I get a physical body enhancement skill up to level 20, it usually provides some benefits.” He glanced at Brixaby who was having his own side conversation with Joy and Sams. “My Master of Skills provides classes for clusters of skills, and those give extra attributes, too.”
Soledad whistled. “Reminds me of a saying my dad used to say: Born on third base.”
“Whose base?” Horatio asked her.
She shrugged. “Don’t know, but it means born lucky.”
“I grew up in… well, I guess you could call it a prison camp,” Arthur said. “Getting my Master of Skills card was the first stroke of luck I ever got.”
“Well, it looks like you saved up all your luck for that moment.”
Though Marion was likely the fastest reader of them all, and had seen a glimpse of Arthur’s cards before, he was the last to look away from Arthur’s projected cards. “Either one of those are Legendary cards fit to be assigned to a prince or a princess.”
Arthur stiffened and resisted the urge to cover his heart with his hand. But Marion wasn’t voicing a threat – just an observation.
Marion continued, all of his attention on Arthur. “But you don’t act like you have these cards. You’ve had Master of Skills since you were twelve? So that’s five, six years? Seven?”
Arthur started to answer, but in his usual irritating way, Marion spoke over his reply.
“I know that skills take some time to ramp up from novice to journeyman to master, but I’ll be perfectly frank, Arthur: It feels like you haven’t been using your cards to your best advantage.”
“What do you mean?”
He waved a hand backwards, indicating the past. “I’ve seen you fight. It was luck that got us out of that hive’s eruption.”
“I can’t use combat skills,” Arthur said. “That’s another card – Master of Combat.”
Marion drawled. “Yes, the one your cousin has.”
That sent an unpleasant chill down his spine. “Yes.”
Marion nodded, then picked up a corner of crusty bread and flicked it at Arthur’s head.
Arthur shifted out of the way before it hit. “What was that for?” he asked, and at Cressida’s irritated look for making a mess, bent to pick up the crust from the floor. It was half stale and no good to eat, but no need to attract mice.
“Why didn’t you catch it?” Marion asked. “You do have a catching skill, right?”
He shook his head. “I have a juggling skill.”
“Show me.”
Horatio grinned. “He juggled up a storm back when we were both nobodies in Wolf Moon Hive. He was one of the best bartender’s you’d ever seen. The tips were crazy.”
“Can we get back on track?” Cressida asked, looking between them all. “We should work out some plan for delving into the dark heart.”
Marion held up a hand as if asking for patience. “This is part of a plan. Arthur, show me your juggling.”
Privately, Arthur agreed with Cressida, but there was no harm in a little fun. In fact, he decided to show off a bit and picked up a few mismatched, differently-sized objects. He used the bread crust as well as a graphite writing stick that sat nearby, and Marion spotted him a copper coin. He tossed the crust and the coin in the air, followed by the stick.
It had been quite awhile since he last did this – since before he’d known of Brixaby’s egg. By all rights, he should have been rusty. But that was one of the benefits of using card-based skills. He didn’t forget or backtrack.
Yes, his skills were a little slower to ramp up, as Marion said, but those levels represented knowledge and experience. He didn’t lose those.
He’d gotten a few tosses in when Marion threw another copper coin at him. Arthur smoothly caught it and incorporated it into his juggling. When he glanced at his friend, he saw Marion frowning.
“You caught that just fine, but you said you don’t have a Catching Skill?”
“Well, this is part of juggling, isn’t it?” With a flourish, Arthur flipped all the objects in the air and caught them one by one. “See?”
“But why don’t you?” Marion asked.
Arthur paused. “I just don’t get skills for everything I do. Like sitting in a chair or grabbing something.”
“But why not?” he pressed.
Horatio made an annoyed sound and Cressida looked irritated by what she clearly thought was a waste of time. Soledad, however, leaned forward.
“No, he has a point. Grabbing for something and pulling it to you isn’t just something you do – little children can grip almost out of the womb, but they have to practice grabbing with intention.”
“I’m not a baby,” Arthur said.
“No but you’re being obtuse,” Marion countered. “You know what she means.”
He supposed that he was. Arthur frowned, thinking about it. “It guess it’s all about intention. When I first got the card, my dad had me learn my letters and reading, but he mentioned I had to do so with intention. I guess that is the difference between a skill I level up and something I just… do.”
“I still don’t see why this is important,” Horatio said. “What would grabbing do for him?”
Marion had an immediate answer. “Maybe increase his finger strength if he was holding onto a ledge. Especially paired with his Master of Body Enhancement card.” Then, without warning, he threw another copper coin straight at Arthur’s head.
Arthur caught it. “If this keeps up, I’ll be rich.”
“Did you think about catching it?” Marion asked.
Embarrassed, Arthur lobbed the coin back to him. “No, do it again. It may take a couple of repetitions for the skill to activate.”
Horatio snorted.
“Before we all start throwing things at Arthur,” Cressida said, “Can you please explain why you’re fixated on catching something, specifically? Because I’d rather we be taking this time going over strategies of the dark heart.”
Marion adjusted his glasses, then nodded. “Because our fearless leader cannot combat dodge, and while he might be catching a coin now… what if he can soon catch a thrown fist? Or an arrow headed for his throat?”
Cressida’s mouth clicked shut and she looked at Arthur with raised eyebrows as if asking, ‘Is that possible?’
Arthur frowned. “I would have to get the skill up pretty high.”
“Then no time like the present. Everyone: Start throwing things. He’s a Legendary Card user. He can take it.”
Horatio visibly perked up and even Cressida smiled. Soledad was the first to throw a balled up paper. Arthur caught it just in time, and braced himself for the hail that was to come.
***
They didn’t let up throwing things at him until he had reached level 7 and finally called for a halt.
Arthur pointedly asked Cressida to explain to the group what she knew of a dungeon. It was the closest thing to the dark heart that they had dealt with.
Horatio knew the theory behind dungeons, vaguely, and Marion knew a bit more. Though he had never experienced one.
Cressida looked surprised. “Surely, you were trained in a dungeon, seeing as you were…” She paused, seemingly torn about whether bringing up that he was former royalty was rude or not.
Marion understood. “My card was neither combat-based or leveled up with a skill. There was nothing I could do to improve its function – only learn to endure it. You have no idea how constantly seeing into the future can alter your sense of the present. Anyway,” he continued before anyone could find something to say. “My sister, Echo, was constantly in and out of dungeons. I have heard her stories.” He nodded to her. “I would appreciate your input, Lady Icehouse.”
Horatio groaned. “Don’t call her that. You’ll give her a big head.”
“That is my name,” she said tartly. “I may be a dragon rider now, but I will not forget my roots as a noblewoman.”
He smirked in reply but didn’t answer back. It seemed that riling her up had been the goal. There had been no heat in either’s words. Horatio and Cressida had formed a sort of friendship while traveling here, but to Arthur’s eye, it wasn’t a particularly warm one.
Shaking off the teasing, Cressida put her hands on her knees and straightened her pose in what Arthur thought of as a teaching pose. “Dungeons are extra-dimensional pockets created by card wielders called dungeoneers. As Pri—” she caught herself. “As Marion said, most of them are used as training grounds. Let me tell you about the two I’ve been in…”
She spoke for a good length of time, though it was nothing she hadn’t told Arthur before. He was able to add some examples of the second, wave-type dungeon he’d been a part of as well.
Cressida finished with a sigh, shoulder’s sagging. “But dungeons were created by people, and the dark heart isn’t.” She looked at Soledad, the one native to this land. “Right?”
“I’ve always been told it’s the heart of a former hive,” Soledad said quietly. “I’ve never been in one either, but from what I’ve heard there are levels – usually three, and sometimes more. Each takes you deeper, and within these levels are challenges.”
Arthur exchanged a look with Cressida. That sounded a lot like a dungeon.
Soledad went on. Her gaze was fixed to the middle distance, eyes haunted by something they couldn’t see – likely, the destruction of her former city. “The deeper you go, the harder it is but the greater the rewards. People say it’s the dark heart’s way of killing those who get too close to the center. And they say the further you go, the more the rules of the world change. Sometimes they’re broken completely.”
“Give an example,” Marion said.
She shrugged. “I’ve heard of mana becoming unlimited, and someone who uses a lot of their mana finds that their overall pools or regeneration have increased. Nothing’s changed on their cards, but maybe their regeneration has tripled. Or they go to a level where everything weighs the same – like you have the weight of an apple, but you can’t move smaller objects because you have no force behind it. And you get a gravity card out of it. Some people tell of finding cards that fit exactly in their heart to fill the holes of what was lost. They come out, and they’re not in pain anymore.” She didn’t quite look at Marion at this last bit, and Marion showed no outward reaction other than to go very still.
“So it’s always good?” Horatio, naturally skeptical, asked.
“Unless you’re killed, or the dark heart ripens before people can harvest all the magic out of it. But…” She trailed off. “The heart messes with people’s minds. Sometimes people go down as teams only to be pitted against one another, only to then find out it was a fake and the fight was an illusion. Or worse, they thought they’d killed someone only to find out they’d murdered someone else.”
So you can’t trust your senses down there, Arthur thought with a frown.
Soledad continued, “Two people will delve the heart together and have completely different experiences on the levels. There ain’t no rhyme or reason to it… except,” she swallowed, “people say what you face down in the dark heart – it reflects what’s in your real heart, too. That’s why you gotta go down there with a focus on what you need from it.” Her gaze drifted to the dragons. It was clear that concept would be her focus.
Everyone went quiet as they took in her words. Finally, Marion spoke.
“Does the heart only reward with cards and abilities? From what I understand, dungeons can occasionally reward with mana-created objects.”
She shrugged. “Never heard of that, but it’s the heart. Anything is possible.”
Horatio let out a long sigh. “Which means that there’s no point in making a specific plan other than ‘come back out alive’.”
Arthur gave him a sharp look. “You don’t have to go in if you don’t want to.”
“I never said that. I’m just realistic.”
And, unfortunately, he had a point. “Our plan should be to stick together, if the heart will let us.” He looked at Cressida. “There may be information in the library about previous delves.”
She brightened. “I’m sure there has to be something.”
“It will go faster if you offer the librarian a bribe,” Marion said, then seemed surprised when everyone looked at him in surprise. “What? I came to this city knowing nothing. How do you think I found the resources to acquire the language and a job at the hospital.”
“Well that’s where Sams and I come in,” Horatio said. “If we need shards for bribes—well, there are scourgelings right outside the walls for the killing. Hey Arthur,” he suddenly said, “catch.” And he flicked the rind of a fruit right at Arthur’s forehead.
Arthur caught it just in the nick of time. He sighed. “Guess I know what I’ll be doing: Leveling.”
***
If Arthur thought that the previous week was busy, it was nothing to his schedule now. He was running on full steam. If he wasn't busy finding and storing away in his Personal Space anything and everything he thought might be of use, he was cooking and trying to prepare supplies for the delve.
That wasn’t easy as prices for food in the city were now sky-high as the last of the people hoping to delve into the heart flooded in. Enhanced spices with magical effects were even more expensive. He quickly became glad that Horatio and Sams went out every day to hunt and harvest scourgelings. Arthur even directed them to lower leveled scourgeling nests so they could clean those out.
Arthur used his few moments of downtime continuing to level his meditation skill. He didn’t receive any new insights, like with Ravi’s guided meditation, but he found the action relaxing… even restorative, as if he had taken a satisfying nap.
And of course he always had to be on the lookout for someone throwing something at him. His Catching skill was leveling quickly, and he surprised himself, and Horatio, at level 12. Horatio had just lobbed a green crab-apple his way. Arthur snatched it out of the air, and without even thinking about it, rolled his wrist and sent it back in a way that the apple kept its momentum. Now his throwing skill came into play, and he nailed his friend dead center between the eyes. Luckily, it hadn’t been a hard throw.
Arthur hadn’t laughed so hard in weeks.
Meanwhile, Brixaby’s enthusiasm for smithing, and specifically chain mail making, had been entirely reinvigorated. While he occasionally went with Horatio, Sams, and Joy on a scourgeling hunt, he was more likely to be found at the forge.
The first thing he made was another chain mail glove for Joy to fit over her venomous forepaw. Her recent growth spurt had strained the previous one to the point that links were about to burst. The new glove was butter soft with the links so small and even that there was no danger of the glove catching on even scratchy fabric. Joy hugged him again, much to Brixaby’s embarrassment.
Cressida researched at the library and returned to the barn every night with tales of previous dark heart openings. All were varied: One that stuck out in Arthur’s mind was an endless field where people had to fight others and scourgelings for loot.
But many coming from the depths of the dark heart refused to speak of their experience, and returned fundamentally changed from the men and women they had once been.
While this was going on, Marion and Soledad returned to their work at the hospital. From there, Marion was able to keep an eye on the talk of the city, and occasionally pass purloined herbs to Arthur to add to his recipes.
Between all that, Arthur only got a few hours of sleep at night.
Finally, on the fifth night after their meeting – two full days before the dark heart would be ready at the earliest – sirens rang through the city.
The dark heart was finally ready to be delved.
Comments
Jasmine
Time to see Arthur intentionally walk
Tajana Centis
Love this
Dan
Right? He literally has a cooking skill called “knife work” Using that plus Butchery in combat may not be for the “express purpose” of killing. But it should do the trick.
BoxQueen
Marion pointed out the thing with Arthur's Master of Skill is quite interesting. I thought it was due to the fact that he had his attention everywhere (which for a kid growing up to a teen while trying to survive, it made sense), but I did forget about those words from his dad about 'intention'. Sometimes it is hard to remember things when it happens so close to beginning. Arthur's levels were steady when he was in the orphanage while growing his ability to be a cook. Those were simpler times. Hope Arthur gets into the grind steadily, there are things you shouldn't neglect.
Preston
He also got it and immediately had to hide it from everyone. Appearing too skilled was dangerous. its a hard mindset to break out of.
Reaper
*facepalm* yeah, mid combat butchery and other utility mid combat viable skills he has.
Victor Cavalcanti
Arthur is really slacking when it comes to master of body.
Salvo
I think it’s a mental block. He didn’t WANT master of skills: he wanted to give it his dad. Arthur doesn’t want the responsibility of the card, that relentless training is a requirement to make the card effective. Are we in the ‘information is free’ age any different?
Logan Loophole
he has breathing, thats mentioned way back in book 1 or 2 before brix hatches, when hes getting the weightlifting skill
Dan
I think he’s been kind of running from situation to situation putting out fires. In the first book he was searching for a mana card and a way to get stronger. The second book he was focused on the egg and his cousin/learning the politics of the hive. The third book he had been kidnapped and wound up helping save the free hive. Now he is at the dark heart. Since someone finally pointed it out a hack to the “no fighting skills”, I think we are going to start seeing him focus more.
James Donnelly
Not all dragon teams can share cards other than their 3 joint cards. That's one of the things that makes Brix and Arthur special.
Salvo
Exactly! Each skill is potential attributes, imagine if he just upped his intelligence so focusing on learning skills was easier! He still isn’t at 50 in a single skill. Not cooking or jumping or basic math. He even has a library in his head and never filled it once. Not even enchanting! He has books now! Honestly, the skill table for the author has gotta be too scary to summarize or some the first thing that would happen is he’d go into his library and write down a to do list. “If I get rock climbing to 20 I can get 3 more stat points!”
FossilWreckers
It's hard to believe that once he becomes aware of a class, he doesn't chase it down.
Reaper
I saw multiple updates and started reading the one from the previous book first. Big mistake.
Waterhobit
The fact that he hasn't attempted this yet is just a bone-head move.
Waterhobit
I think the reason Arthur doesn't think of it that way is simply habit. He gained the card when he was what, 12? At that point he basically was just using it to stay alive and improve his life a little bit. He didn't exactly have the same ambitions and needs that he currently has. I think he kinda needed somebody to give him a little kick and tell him how grossly he was under-utilizing it. After the Dark Heart arc, and the clean up the wasteland by farming scourgeling nests and petrified dragons arc, they need to return to the free hive and spend some time picking up every conceivable skill they can find. For that matter they haven't even tried to teach each other their individual skills have they?
Waterhobit
Yea, I expected that trio of cards to go to Marion or Cressida/Joy since they come from a Meta set. And yea scourgelings are somehow a result of dragons in my opinion.
Hammy
Honestly I am glad someone finally pointed it out to Arthur that he has been lax and kinda dumb with his Master Cards. Honestly he has plenty of time to learn dozens of if not hundreds of life skills that would be handy and yet he ignores that all the time. I hope he finally starts working on actually getting skills and leveling them.
Darrin Downey
I am on the edge of my seat to see what comes next!
Bodhitza
Okay I just had a thought. What if Arther gets a dragon rider class?
Rubeno
Btw sexuality here is kind of funny. All dragons of opposite gender in legendary's retinue are their consorts. We have already even seen male rare having two dragon females as his mates. It makes sense for legendary to even be encouraged to make harem so as to increase chance to become parent to another legendary. How does that work with epic dragons though? Are legendaries, heads of hives their consorts too (ig would create bizarre pyramid of harems lol)? Then there is Arthur who obviously have thing for Cressida but due to his attractiveness that comes from character, status and power means that Cressida will have to chase away girls like mosquitos 🦟 as considering Arthur's status it wouldn't be scandal for him to take many spouses. I imagine that Brix will have harem whereas Arthur will end up only with Cressida considering how things were foreshadowed till this point.
Jordan King
And just really thought about how much he relied on his card anchor cards. Like he’d rather use those instead of his master of skills card. I mention that because he’s found so many creative ways to use them in unorthodox manner (turning off his return to sender card, a combat card for chain mail links of all things, there are many other ways I just can’t remember off the top of my head) why does that creativity seem to almost avoid his legendary cards? Does he have a mental block when it comes to utilizing that cards full potential? Did the king tweak his mind unbeknownst to him or Brix? Or is it to keep Arthur from being OP? The story is great so I don’t care honestly but it is interesting when you really think about it. It would be awesome if he got a trainer. His natural attitude definitely isn’t geared towards fighting, and needs some help moving forward.
Jordan King
Thinking of life saving, non combat skills, or general skills: Jumping Parkour Strength Training (Full Body lv 20 strength, would that be superhuman?) Perception Skill? (Train while blindfolded, block out hearing, paralyze his sense of touch, etc and maybe make an improved senses class?) Balance Didn’t even realize it until it was pointed out that after 7 years his best class is cooking. Pretty wild
Martin Sharlow
Should this be book 4 not book 3?
Christian Kenney
If Arthur and crew has now realized he can be learning -important- -life saving- skills by practicing with intent…and they’re about to go into a dungeon knowingly…why not have Arthur quickly try to learn Trap-Spotting as a skill… make up some quick n dirty traps and have Arthur try to find them outside the barn.
Rubeno
Also, why aren't Cressida and Joy sharing cards? Cressida's stealth card would work wonders with Joy's poison powers. It was never touched upon why they are handicapping themselves.
Rubeno
Well, only right now he has realized his missing potential. After dark heart tumble he has a lot to catch up.
Touch
And it’s already book 3 too, and I don’t see anytime soon he’s going to get those and more fundamental skills
Rubeno
Arthur is massively underutilizing his legendary cards. Imagine Speech skill to become more charismatic, Body Banguage skill to take responsibity for what emotion he conveys and to decipher others, Breathing Skill to increase stamina etc
Decide
Ahh these chapters are satisfying. I can't wait for them to go down there and get the next card. I bet the next legendary will make leveling skills easier, or make them purchasable somehow. Ps: when they talked about Marion wanting to be a healer, I sort of made me expect him to gain the card repairing cards. PPS: anyone else think that the scourge only exists because of dragons?
Fates
A bad thought just occur to me. What happen if those people who delved deepest and came out deeply changed were actually replaced by human-shaped scourglings
DirePants
Thanks for three chapters Rae! Taking next month off. See ya ✌🏾
Joshua Gunty
*que action movie music*
Mortch
Thanks so much!
Steven Beal
Thanks for the chapters
Zizawah
Wonderful to be able to read three chapters in a row. Thanks so much!
satetheus
Oh haha! I hadn't read any of the comments yet. Well, you definitely beat me to it.
Mikey Sawanec
I said that last chapter, lol
satetheus
3 chapters in one night? Careful, we're going to be spoiled at this rate.
