Written in the Cards Part 4

"And we're done," Mist muttered when he realized how much it would cost to boost Zaldar's new gypsy card.

"Any luck?" Zaldar asked.

"More all like all the luck," Mist replied, a bit surprised that he'd managed to push things as far as he had with his card. "Your Gypsy card turned into the Crossroads’ Gypsy: Greatly Enhanced Agility, Stamina and Durability with a moderate increase to Strength, Luck and Magic. Passive: See the soul cards someone can draw if awakened. Active ability: Favorable Deal, this ability allows the user to reshuffle one of the cards the target can get when they're awakened, giving them a different card based on their life and bloodline, generally in a favorable way. Cool down, one minute."

"That's bullshit," Zora said in disbelief.

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting the reshuffling ability to turn into something that useful," Mist admitted.

"And my thief card?" Zaldar asked, hoping he could turn it into something else because there were people that had the ability to check the names of cards and anyone with a thief card was usually treated with caution if not outright hostility.

"Scavenger’s Luck: It greatly increases skill acquisition and damage with blades. Extra loot is generated when you kill monsters or when you steal from someone. You can hide the details of your cards from cards of equal or lesser rank. Active: Conjure shadow blade."

"Damn," Zaldar replied, looking forward to testing his new cards on some of the monsters.

"If you want to wait, I might be able to improve your loot ability but I'm already at the point where I'd need more mana than I have to boost your Gypsy card," Mist told him, not seeing a point in mentioning that he didn't actually have to sink all of the mana into the card at once since Zaldar wasn't sticking around more than a couple of days and the cards were already damned nice.

Zaldar shook his head. "Having the ability to hide the details of my cards is amazing, same with the loot ability and the ability to conjure blades, I'd rather not risk it."

"Fair enough," Mist replied as he used his awakening ability, causing Zaldar's cards to appear in his hands. "Tell us what you got."

Zaldar stared at the cards in disbelief for a couple of seconds. "Crossroads' Gypsy and Scavenger's Luck." He quickly used the cards after double checking the details. "They're exactly like you described except they're legendary."

"I shouldn't have to say this but you should avoid mentioning any of this to the Awakening guild, some of the idiots would probably resort to drastic measures to recruit you," Lisa warned them as her husband walked out of the farm mirror with another tied up scarecrow.

"I wasn't planning on it," Mist assured her, not particularly interested in getting locked in a gilded cage or shanked because he didn't fall in line.

Zaldar grinned when he conjured a shadowy throwing dagger. "I'm going to have to test this."

"Yeah," Mist agreed as he reached out with his foot and touched the spare wheel that he'd grabbed from the wagon. He glanced at Mr. Henderson then glanced at the rest of the group, making sure that no one had walked into the mirror. 'It shouldn't collapse when I make another one but there's no point in taking chances.' He focused on the wheel and activated his Treasury card, causing the wheel to turn to dust and an ornate door sized silver mirror to appear floating a few feet in front of him. He glanced at the original mirror that was still floating above the ground where he'd left it then focused on Zaldar. "I happen to have an abundance of test subjects."

"Perfect!" Zaldar replied and dashed through the mirror, curious what he'd find and looking forward to testing his new loot ability.

Victoria picked up one of the pitchforks that she'd gotten as loot from the farming dungeon. "I should probably make sure he doesn't get himself in trouble."

"It wouldn't hurt," Mist agreed as he took a couple of steps away from the mirror in case they had to leave in a hurry.

Derrick watched Victoria walk through the mirror then turned and focused on Lisa. "How much do magical items sell for?"

Lisa pulled her attention off her husband's attempts to attach the wiggling scarecrow to a pole and focused on Derrick. "That depends entirely on the magical item, anywhere from a couple of silver for simple items created by card skills to hundreds or even thousands of gold depending on the quality of the enchantment and the specific effect. What are you looking for?"

Derrick shrugged. "Some type of stealth enchantment or defensive enchantments that take the place of armor."

Lisa shook her head. "You'd have to go to one of the major cities to find decent defensive gear or get lucky with a traveling merchant."

Sarah grinned when she realized that she knew how to make some really nice defensive gear as long as she could find the right type of metal. "I can make Bracers of Armor, I just need the right type of metal."

"Nice," Eric said, not looking up from the picture he was drawing in the journal that Lisa had given him. "That's going to make exploring safer."

"Right type?" Derrick asked.

"Something better than iron or aluminum, the strength of the force field is basically equal to the strength of an eighth of an inch of the material that the bracers are crafted from," Sarah explained.

"In other words, we're going to want something like carbon steel or titanium," Derrick mused.

"Or mithril or adamantine or whatever magical metals I can find," Sarah replied with a grin as she used her card and generated another one pound ingot of metal. She smiled when she checked the ingot with her identification power and realized that it was twenty three percent mithril.

"I doubt you're going to find anything nearly as good as what she can make unless you visit one of the major cities or get extremely lucky with a merchant," Lisa offered. "One of the shops in town sells a cloak that blends into the forest for fifty silver but you should probably avoid the cloak as it's barely better than just wearing the right colors since it doesn't do anything about your scent. You're probably looking at a couple of gold for actual invisibility unless you need something that can get past people with perception cards or enchanted gear."

"Let me guess, the price jumps?" Tiffany asked.

"Yeah," Lisa agreed. "The price starts at fifty gold for something that can avoid most common cards or equipment and quickly reaches the point where you'd bankrupt most merchants if you want something that can avoid rare cards. I've heard legends and stories of items that will let people sneak past anything and anyone but most of those stories are probably exaggerated or the person had some sort of powerful stealth card already."

"Makes sense," Derrick mused, figuring a bit of research probably went a long way when it came to perception type cards and sneaking into places you shouldn't be. "How much would a set of Bracers of Armor sell for?"

"No clue, I just know how to make the stuff, it didn't come with a price guide," Sarah admitted.

"The price generally depends on the quality of material, boiled leather bracers are maybe forty or fifty silver for common leather and several gold for something more impressive," Lisa said, thinking about the last time she'd been to the marketplace in Khardune. The metal versions usually start at a hundred silver and go up from there, depending on the rarity of the metal and the skill of the blacksmith or enchanter."

Sarah spent the mana to create another ingot of metal, getting an ingot of bronze colored metal. She checked the ingot and sighed when she realized that it was actually bronze. "Bog standard bronze."

"We should probably grab a couple of boxes in town and label them for the ingots," Mist suggested.

"Probably," Sarah agreed as she spent the mana to create another ingot, getting a large silvery blue ingot. "Mithril and a tiny amount of celestial bronze, that explains the size."

Eric glanced up from the demon that he was sketching. "How does that explain the size?"

"Mithril is lighter than aluminum and a lot stronger. If we had a bit more celestial bronze, I could make something that's even better but the ratio is off," Sarah complained.

"The fact that your ability gave you any celestial material is impressive," Lisa told her. "You should probably avoid mentioning that your ability can create angelic metal."

"Good to know," Sarah replied, already thinking about the best way to turn the lump of metal into a set of defensive gear so she could go monster hunting.

"Rare?" Ted asked thoughtfully.

"Extremely," Lisa replied. "While angel metals are supposed to be common in the angelic realms, the only reliable way to find it in the mortal realms since the heavens were sealed thousands of years ago involves hunting particularly nasty creatures that can rip through hardened steel like tissue paper and shrug off spells and mundane weapons like a duck shrugs off water. Angelic metals are difficult to acquire and thus more expensive than nearly anything man can create."

Victoria walked back out of the mirror carrying a spare wagon wheel. "That card made him a monster, he's cutting through the goblins like a hot knife through butter. They're also dropping wagon parts, including sections of the walls."

"Do they have ranged weapons…" Mist trailed off when he saw a person-shaped bundle of cloth and a pillow being carried up the trail to the farm by two dozen gnomes which the others had yet to notice.

"Slings and arrows, but he's dodging them like some sort of ninja," Victoria replied with a grin.

Zora bounced eagerly on her heels. "I'm looking forward to seeing my cards in action."

"Same," Mist agreed, looking forward to seeing how far he could push Zora's cards. "Speaking of ninjas, what's up with the gnomes?" he asked as he gestured toward the gnomes that were carrying the person shaped object.

Lisa glanced over at her husband who was still working on adjusting the scarecrow as it beat at him, its blows too soft to do more than muss his hair, then focused on the gnomes as they hurried over with their bundle. "That's probably Azara, no point in waiting until morning."

Azara blinked a couple of times as she woke up and realized that she wasn't in her bedroom, her surprise turning to panic for a second before she recognized her friend's grandmother. "Ms H?"

"I found someone that can awaken your cards and we figured sneaking you out of town would be easier," Lisa explained as the gnomes carefully lowered the tall busty red haired girl with flawless skin and emerald green eyes and her blankets to the ground.

"Thank you!" Azara squealed as she pushed her blankets off and stood up, revealing a nightgown that was a bit transparent. "What do I have to do?" she asked excitedly.

"You just have to answer a couple of questions," Mist replied as he studied the girl's cards. "You have nice cards."

'Damn,' Eric thought as he looked up from his drawing, rather happy about the view. 'I'm going to have to add her as a character in the story,' he mused as he flipped the page and started another sketch of the attractive girl.

"If I don't boost your cards and just unlock them you'll end up with the ability to turn organic material into a leather bound book with a lock on it along with the ability to write five times as fast and a basic magic card that would boost your magic and let you turn water into ink by spending mana."

"If you don't boost them?" Azara asked, wondering what her options were.

"That's my trick, I boost and awaken cards," Mist replied with a grin. "You can ask Mrs Henderson if you don't believe me."

"Unless he managed to find a random gypsy with two amazing cards, I'd say his ability checks out," Lisa assured her.

"Where do we start?!" Azara asked excitedly.

Mist spent the mana to upgrade her journal card, causing five cards to appear over her journal card. "Do you want more control over the leather the cover is made out of, better locks, more writing speed, the ability to fake other people's handwriting or do you want the ability to use less material? Everything sort of builds on the previous choices."

"We can basically skip the last one, there's a lot of plants around. I'm already good at faking handwriting and that would just get me in trouble so that's out. Any faster and I'd probably trip myself up at this point. Let's go with better locks," Azara said, thinking about the times that people had read her diary without her permission when she was younger.

"That works," Mist replied as he selected the better lock option. He spent the mana to improve the card again, getting five new options. "Better covers, better paper, magical locks, magical locks, a minor boost to magic and eldritch covers, and better paper and the pages are waterproof."

"As in, the ink won't run or the pages are just waterproof?" Azara asked, curious despite the fact that she was probably going to pick the card that boosted her magic.

"I don't know," Mist admitted. "I just can just see the descriptions. I'd pick the card with the magical locks and eldritch covers considering it boosts your magic but that's just me."

"Let's go with that," Azara agreed.

Mist spent the last of his mana to boost the card again. "Ten percent chance of your books ending up cursed but you magic increases to moderate, madness inducing books but you get a talent for conjuration, the option to make your books glow in the dark, better paper and cover material without any downsides, and the ability for people to blood lock the books as well as a talent for blood magic."

Lisa coughed. "You should probably avoid the first two abilities and the last one, the curses would probably randomly appear over time and the talents usually come with a flavor based on the rest of the card. You also don't want to be summoning eldritch abominations or using your blood to cast your spells or other people's blood for that matter."

"As much as glowing books would be interesting, I'll take the better paper and cover material this time," Azara said.

"That works," Mist replied as he selected the better paper option. "And I'm out of mana for the moment."

"Here." Lisa pulled a mana potion out of her pocket and handed it to Mist. "It's a mana potion, it should restore a decent chunk of your mana."

Mist glanced at the blue potion for a couple of seconds then uncorked it and drank the raspberry flavored potion. "Thanks." He shivered slightly when the potion restored a little bit over a fourth of his mana pool, giving him plenty of mana to keep pushing her cards and making him feel like he'd drank a milkshake too fast for a second before that feeling vanished. 'Does that count as a decent chunk or do I just have a large mana pool?'

"Sounds pretty useful already," Tiffany said.

"Let's see how far we can push things," Mist said as he spent the mana to improve her card again, getting another five cards. "Bloodbound Journals, Dream Binder, Magical Librarian, Spellbound Sorcerer and Soul Trap Pages."

"Soul trap pages?" Azara asked warily.

"Not as bad as it sounds, it basically lets you create books that can trap creatures in the pages and release them," Mist explained. "The Spellbound Sorcerer option lets people write spells in the journals and cast them like they know them, unfortunately it decreases your physical abilities. The Magical Librarian card increases your ability to use books but costs your ability to conjure them."

"No thanks!" Azara replied without any hesitation, not wanting to lose her family's bloodline or cripple herself.

"The Dream Binder card gives you the ability to create journals that let people write stories in the journal and jump into them in their dreams."

"That would be fantastic!" Eric blurted out.

"It also comes with a minor Enchanting talent which makes it a solid choice. The Bloodbound journal option lets people blood lock the journals so that no one but them can read them… other than you, but I don't think I'd tell people that particular detail."

"Yeah, no," Azara agreed.

"Having a talent for Enchanting would let you make a really good living and Mist can probably push the minor talent to something more impressive, right?" Lisa asked.

"It's certainly worth a try, unless you want the ability to make books that can capture people and monsters?" Mist asked.

Azara spent a minute weighing her options before making her choice. "I think I'd rather have the Enchanting talent."

"Makes sense," Mist replied as he selected the Dream Binder card. "And the mana cost just went through the roof. I'm going to need a nap or a couple of hours to meditate if I want to increase it again, let's work on the other card then take a break."

"Sounds good," Azara agreed.

Mist spent the mana to boost her other card, getting five options. "The first one would increase talent for tantric magic, the second one just gives you better magical ink, the third gives you more magic and better ink, the fourth more magic, glowing ink and a talent for Enchanting and the fifth gives you more magic, a minor talent for all types of magic and the ability to summon a magical outfit that boosts your magic."

"Do I lose the ability to create ink with the last one?" Azara asked.

"No, it just didn't increase it," Mist replied, wondering if he should tell her that the outfit was a copy of her nightgown. 'Is that because she's wearing it or because she's had it for a while and she likes it?'

Azara nodded. "Let's go with the fifth one, getting more magic and a talent for everything would be fantastic along with magic boosting clothes, that sounds perfect."

"Depends on the clothes," Tiffany mused.

Lisa shook her head. "Magic boosting clothes are expensive and a minor talent for every type of magic is better than a normal talent for one field, even if it's Enchanting, especially since her cards would stack giving her a normal enchanting talent."

"I'll take the one with the outfit," Azara said.

"No problem." Mist selected the fifth card and spent the mana to improve it, getting five new cards. "The Enchantress card increases Magic and Allure and gives you tantric rites that increase your mana regeneration."

"Nope," Azara cut in. "I already have enough problems with assholes, I don't need to boost my Allure."

"Makes sense," Mist agreed, thinking about the Mayor's obsession. "The Vampiric Card gives you the ability to drain energy from people and increases your magic. Silk Witch Card increases your magic, your agility and stamina and changes your outfit to silk, boosting the amount of magic it gives you. The card also gives you the ability to summon a witch hat that protects you from getting rained on and decreases the time it takes to learn magical spells and abilities by half while you're wearing it."

"Cuts training time in half? You should probably grab it unless the other two are better," Lisa told her.

"The Bookbinder, your costume changes to a robe and you get the ability to bind books to people or locations. The fifth card is the Eldritch Librarian, which does everything the Silk Witch card and the Bookbinder card does and lets you copy books into a blank journal."

"So the fifth one is just better?" Azara asked.

"Looks like it," Mist replied.

"Grab it," Azara told him, not seeing a reason not to go with the best option.

Mist selected the Eldritch Librarian card and checked the mana cost to upgrade it, not surprised that he didn't have enough mana to upgrade it again. "It probably has something to do with your bloodline and your other card. I'm curious how far we can push things but I'm out of mana, I should be able to boost your cards a bit more once I've had a break, thirty minutes, maybe an hour."

"I can wait," Azara assured him, fairly sure no one would notice that she was gone until the morning when her brother woke up.

"Let's go see if Beth is still awake," Lisa suggested as she headed for the house. "She's been glued to her book for the last couple of days."

"Thank you," Azara told Mist then grabbed the blankets and followed her best friend's grandmother, happy that they were looking out for her.

"We should pick up an alchemist," Molly suggested.

"Mana potions?" Tiffany asked.

"Mana potions," Molly agreed as she used her new power to conjure an ice cream bar.

"It's on the list," Mist said as he held his hand out. "Can I get an ice cream bar?"

"Yep, here you go," Molly replied as she handed him the ice cream bar and used her power to make another one.

"Where did you learn to make ice cream bars?" Derrick asked as he held his hand out for one of the bars.

"My mother," Molly replied with a grin as she handed Derrick the ice cream bar. "She was paid a stupid amount of money to teach a class on making old fashioned and organic ice cream, so she looked it up and we spent a couple of days making ice cream," she explained as she started handing out ice cream bars to everyone.

Mist took a bite of her ice cream and savoured the taste for a couple of seconds, making a note to thank Molly's mother if they ever got back. 'At least we won't have to worry about starving or questionable food.'