Honour Rae
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B3 Ch26: Good Shot, Man
🕑 Added 2023-06-03 05:19:57 +0000 UTCSometimes, the abilities of cards created from shards were a complete mystery. At other times, they fit so perfectly that it was almost eerie. This combat card was of the latter variety.
Hey Man, Nice (Metal) Shot
Combat
Rare
This card grants its wielder a ballistic-telekinetic affinity to metal objects less than one centimeter in all dimensions. The wielder will have fine control of this object within one inch of their body. When charged with mana, these objects may be released at high speeds. The wielder’s control of the metal ends once it passes beyond one inch of their body.
This card grants the use of mana.
Brixaby whooped and executed a flip in mid-air. "This is perfect!”
Suddenly, his right forearm seemed to blink out of existence. Within a moment, he was holding a silver chain mail shirt. "Here," he thrust it at Arthur, "I made this for you."
Then, unexpectedly, he pulled it back before Arthur had a chance to reach out for it. "No, wait! I need to modify this."
There was a slight displacement of air, as if Brixaby had stepped into his Personal Space and returned, still holding the new shirt. In an instant, the chain mail appeared more worn around the wrists. Brixaby had attached some links with openings on them so they could be easily removed from the shirt. They clinked as he buzzed up and down in excitement.
"Now it's ready. Wait, why haven't you added the card?"
Arthur was reeling inside. He looked from Brixaby to Cressida and back again. "But, you're the one with the chainmail skills. You should have this."
He had several cards that had kept him safe so far. His 'Return to Start' and his 'Phase In/Phase Out' card, not to mention the skills and resistances that he had been advancing over the last couple of months.
He wasn't resistant to the idea of finally adding a combat card to his deck, but he wanted to keep Brixaby safe.
The little dark dragon snorted at him. "I don’t need that."
"But—"
Brixaby waved a clawed hand at him. "Put it in your heart deck—we will simply share the card." Technically, this was true. He and Brixaby shared the capabilities of their heart decks.
Not all dragon-rider pairs were like this—case in point, Joy and Cressida. Still, it wasn’t a perfect solution.
"But… it won't be your card, though," Arthur insisted. He knew that this was likely a losing battle, but he had to make sure Brixaby knew what he was giving up. "Yes, you’ll have access to my card, but it won't be your card. It won't be imprinted on your soul. You'll have to think about accessing it, and this is a combat card, Brixaby. That means you might need it at a moment's notice."
Brixaby did not seem concerned. "Then I will simply take the next combat card we come across. Or consume it," he added after a moment.
"Arthur," Cressida laid a hand on his shoulder. "Take it from your retinue rider. You need a combat card. It's past time.”
“I want to see you put holes in stuff with your new metal powers," Joy said, then lifted her deadly forearm and pretended to sight down it. "Pew, pew."
"Alright," Arthur said, "if you insist..." He snatched the card from the table and shoved it into his heart before anybody could think of a true reason why he shouldn't.
He had politely refused… but he really wanted the card. It slid into his heart deck as if it was meant to be there.
Along with it came a curious sense of... weight? He couldn’t quite define it, but this card felt different from the other—mostly utility focused—cards. It was as if he was now accessing a different part of himself. One that had been severely underused.
He didn’t have time to think about it before Brixaby was, once again, shoving the chainmail shirt at him. "I demand that you try this on, and practice with it often. I will not have my rider miss his mark and embarrass me."
"I care about you too, Brixaby," Arthur muttered, rolling his eyes. But he grabbed the chainmail, anyway. It was shockingly well made, and so much had happened within the last few moments that he hadn’t had time to realize until now… Brixaby had made this specifically to keep him safe.
And, somehow, he had managed to get Arthur’s exact measurements because the chainmail slid on over his existing shirt without feeling either tight or baggy.
Raising an eyebrow, he glanced at Brixaby but found the little dragon buzzing around him, examining his work.
"Almost there…" Brixaby said, and there was once again that distortion in the air before he pulled out a smooth leather patch that clipped perfectly over Arthur’s right shoulder and down his arm. It was a landing pad for Brixaby.
"You know, you’re almost too big for me to carry you, nowadays," Arthur said. He knew that Brixaby had a habit of sneaking card shards whenever he could. He hadn’t been growing quickly, but he had been growing.
"Nonsense," Brixaby said, "you will simply have to work on the strengthening aspects of your 'Master of Body Enhancement' card. Think of carrying me as a training opportunity." Though he backwinged to settled back on the bed, watching Arthur expectantly.
They all were.
They all wanted a show. Arthur grinned to himself and accessed his brand new card.
Instantly, he was aware of the chainmail in a way he’d never imagined. He felt every link, each woven with the others in perfect or near-perfect alignment. Brixaby had indeed done excellent work.
It took a mere thought and a trickle of mana to separate one of the already unlinked rivets from the others at the edge of the sleeve.
"Next time, you don't have to leave that gap in the rivets," Arthur said, his voice slightly distant sounding as most of his attention was on his task. "I can just break them myself if I need to."
It was strange. As if he were moving the rivet with an extra, invisible hand. Only there was a definite barrier when he lifted it upward. He instinctively knew that if the rivet traveled more than an inch from his skin, he'd drop it.
"Send it at something!" Joy said enthusiastically. "I wanna see how fast it goes."
Arthur nodded absently and raised his hand, choosing an object at random: his pillow.
Again, he knew what to do on an instinctive level. This card was in his heart deck. Its description was now stamped on his soul.
It took only a moment to charge the rivet with mana.
Though there was no outward change he felt it. The tiny rivet had weight.
Then he released it.
With a ping like a spoon striking the bottom of a pan, the rivet shot off. It was so fast that Arthur didn't even see it move.
The pillow twitched and feathers puffed out of a new hole on the surface.
Brixaby and Joy both let out roars of approval.
Cressida turned to him, hands on her hips. "Did you just put a hole through your brand new down-feather pillow?"
"Uh," the answer was yes, but Arthur wasn't an idiot.
Or maybe he sort of was because he liked that pillow.
Then he saw Cressida's top lip twitch. She was holding back a smile.
"That's a nice card," she said. "Let's see how it does against my mana shield."
Despite Arthur's initial reservations, Cressida didn't have a wish to put herself in danger twice in one day. Her shield bubbled about her in a sphere, but she had Arthur fire to the edge of it just in case his rivet punched through.
It didn't, but it did ricochet off at an angle and strike the far wall hard enough to send rock chips flying.
Arthur lowered his arm. "I think we should practice outside."
"I agree," Brixaby said, which surprised Arthur. Then he turned to Joy. "Did you exterminate all the rabbits in that warren, or are there a few left for me to shoot at?"
"I think it would be better to find a new warren. All that's left are the baby bunnies," Joy said then turned to Cressida. "OH! I forgot. Brix and I were talking, and we decided you should a card, so you can be sneaky."
She looked meaningfully at Brixaby who only reluctantly pulled the Stealth Class card from his Personal Space.
Arthur was shocked his dragon hadn't eaten it already.
"Brix, are you sure?"
"You can't give me that card," Cressida said in the same breath.
"What is with you humans and not accepting cards?" Irritated, Brixaby flicked the card at Cressida who caught it out of reflect. "It is a skill card, so of course I don't need to add it to my secondary core, but I would very much like to eat it so you should hurry up and add it to your deck." He eyed the card meaningfully. "Before I change my mind."
"But..." She looked at Joy who extended her neck and nudged the card back at her with the tip of her muzzle.
"My venom claws protect me, but I need to know you're safe, too."
Blinking back tears, Cressida nodded and pulled down the collar of her shirt to push the card into her heart.
She closed her eyes and a moment later... she became harder to look at.
Though Arthur stared straight at her, it was as if his eyes wanted to slide to the side and focus on something else. Strange. He had never seen multiple Stealth skills work from the outside before.
"This is amazing," Cressida whispered. She deactivated her new card because suddenly she was front and center in Arthur's view again. Her eyes were full of tears. "Thank you, Joy, and... thank you, Brix."
"Yay!" Joy wrapped her wings around her rider in an enthusiastic hug -- being very sure to keep her deadly arm from her.
Brixaby let out a long, wistful sigh. It was clear he wanted to eat that card.
And, likely, many of the shards that had gone into Arthur’s too.
The next words slipped from Arthur without his thinking about it, but he knew it was right.
"Don't worry, Brix. You'll have more soon."
"What do you mean?" Brixaby asked.
Arthur took a breath. "We need to test our new cards out. Most of us have Stealth and now we all have ways to defend ourselves. It's time we find out where the council stashes their combat cards."
Comments
Zizawah
Brix and I were talking, and we decided you should a card, so you can be sneaky." — should add a card
Tommy
Out of reflect —> out of reflex
Tom
I think it would actaully be pretty funny if a card was intentionally hard to interprete or use. like a card that says you can run fast at 50mph but only for 75km with a cooldown of 1/700 of a year. Haha! :D
Honour Rae
lol. No just went to a grammar school that taught both, so I tend to think in millimeters and centimeters in small measurements.
Honour Rae
Lol no I tend to think in both in small measurements. My grammar school taught us both because for some reason they thought we'd go metric. But good catch! I didn't even realize I mixed them in. ;)
Kenneth Darlin
It’s fine
Adam McGuire
Seems minor but it doesn't make sense that another world with magic. That the magic system would have two different math systems. Personal preference would be to use metric on all cards
I feel like maybe you have to consider how the whole set would look, AND the set name, as it is how the rest of story is structured. The "big" cards that are more relevant for the story always seem to include the set name, but rarely the smaller ones. It creates some disconnect!
DirePants
Can’t be too meta bro.
Gopard
Thanks for the chapter!
Corpse Garden
Card name is good. It's descriptive, unique, and the name is fun. It's length demands that we don't use it often in dialougue but otherwise I say keep it.
Aguy768
Second: Mass is important and might be a better restriction then volume. If you want to keep the volume restriction, Arthur should be trying to use the max amount of mass in his projectiles. Since it's magic based, does lead work? It's been common for centuries. There's a saying that Energy is the Envelope and Momentum is the Message. Energy (1/2) Mass*Velocity^2 when you fire basically defines how the projectile travels. Momentum Mass*Velocity at the point of impact determines damage. Momentum vs area of impact determines penetration. Arg, this is me trying to keep it short. Darts and Spinning balls are probably necessary for any range. Darts are better if they don't tear apart due to the force.
Aguy768
I can suspend my disbelief, but this kinda around my hobby so I'd like to monologue on a few physics things. Feel free to ignore. First: If Arthur wants to shoot anything beyond 10m his ammo needs to one of a few aerodynamic shapes. Flechettes (darts), spheres and spinning disks are the only good options. Everything else tumbles(rotates randomly) in air and loses power/accuracy very quickly. Spheres are actually very hard to manufacture accurately enough to not waste a lot of energy. Darts with a max size projectile embedded in lighter material for the shaft/fletchings is likely optimal.
Undead Writer
Thanks for the chapter! I like the card name
Reaper
It’s a meta card and she was given a rare card by Brix. That may or may not count. She requested the recipient be changed to her rider.
So from my engineering perspective, look up Coil Guns, Gauss Rifle, lenz's law. Basically an electormagnetic linear accelerator. The concept seems spot on, his mana is the electrical energy, his body the 'coil', and once the feromagnetic material has left the coils influence its no longer under control. So Maybe call it Gaussian Metalurgy, Gaussian Accelerator, Gaussian Control. Something Similar to add, look up ring launcher, also a similar concept except it works on any conductive ring of metal. People think rail guns are cool, but they are self destructive.
Derze
Wasn’t joy supposed to also win a card through her quest?
Lawrence
Loved the name
Menphy
Thanks for the chapter! I would remove metal from the name of the card, or move it to the end, but I like it :)
Cinque Culver
Crazy mechanics Man. Thanks for the chapter.
Scrigast
I wonder if HR is Canadian then, the mixed measurement systems seems like the kind of thing one of my relatives might do lmao
Salvo
I humbly suggest "Nailed it!" As it expresses the bits of metal being shot, without a gender and could (arguably) be free of the crime of slang.
Reaper
So, links or attached darts / cubes can fire bullet like or it can unravel and strike out snake like if all the links are fired together then it can be reeled back in and reformed around him. Perhaps multiple at once if he has material to make them long enough. Then again, the one inch from him rule doesn’t mean there can’t be folds on his back ready to be pulled into play. Nice. Not quite full chain manipulation but with added ballistics. Then consider what could do if he added teeth to the chain links.
Tommy
Someone’s been listening to filter whilst writing lol
Tom
I think the name is fine. Is using both metric and imperial measurements intentional? Also, i think you might using rivets wrong. They are tiny, paperclip thin bits of metal that hold together the two ends of one ring. They aren't the rings themselves and don't hold multipul rings together.
Disgruntoad
I did think the name was a bit off, though just dropping the "(Metal)" would make it flow better.
Thaldor
Very Meta, but still acceptable. Part of the "Hey Man" series, for sure 😂
K
I like the filter on the card. Nice shot man.
