No, I need to make this decision myself, he thought, pursing his lips and taking a deep breath.
Flynn thought back through all the battles he’d had in the last few months, imagining how useful each ability would have been in each. He quickly realized that the number of battles he’d fought in over the course of the last few months was the most significant thing. If he fought a battle every day, which wasn’t far from what he’d done, a special ability that could only be used once every thirty days simply didn’t have a very high level of usefulness.
It was hard to pass up an ability that could essentially bring him back to life, but an ability that would help him in every battle was more valuable.
I just need to make sure I don’t take fatal blows, he declared silently as he selected the Mark of the Troll special ability.
With his choice made, Flynn reviewed the information on his newest card.
Card Name: Troll Skin
Rank: Advanced
Advancement: 0 / 500 to Elite
Proficiency: 0 / 100 to Elite
Class: Enhancement
Special Abilities:
- Mark of the Troll
Having thick skin can be very beneficial in daily life, and it’s crucial when battling monsters. The Troll Skin card increases the general durability of the card wielder while providing a continual, passive healing effect. At Advanced rank, card wielder gains a moderate amount of protection from sharp and pointed attacks and receives a significant increase in natural healing ability.
The card description hadn’t changed much, other than to note an increase in the protection and healing provided. He wasn’t sure what was required to increase the proficiency, but if it was like other cards, it would require taking damage from an Advanced level monster or above.
Flynn didn’t relish the thought of taking damage a hundred times, but knew it was an inevitable part of battle. Besides, he wasn’t in a rush. He wasn’t even sure he would level up the card beyond advanced rank. He had two cards on his chest and only one of them could be increased because Elite rank card tattoos required two body parts and he only had one opening remaining on his torso.
The other card tattoo on Flynn’s chest was one that he didn’t think about much, but it provided constant protection from attacks.
Card Name: Ironhide
Rank: Advanced
Advancement: 0 / 500 to Elite
Proficiency: 100 / 100 to Elite
Class: Enhancement
Special Abilities:
- Rubber Skin
It takes a thick skin to go against societal norms. That’s even truer when you go up against monsters. The Ironhide body enhancement card provides instant armor, protecting the wielder from attacks. At Advanced rank, card wielder receives significant protection from sharp and pointed attacks and moderate protection from blunt force attacks.
Flynn was thankful for the protection the Ironhide card provided, but he definitely took it for granted. That was especially true for the Rubber Skin special ability which he had never even used. It went against every instinct he had, both natural and card-gifted, to let an enemy hit him with a big strike just so he could reflect the damage back at them.
He had more than enough card fragments to rank up the Ironhide card since it had already reached full proficiency, despite his best efforts to avoid enemy attacks. There was some amount of temptation to do that, just so he’d have another card at Elite rank, but there was a reason he hadn’t done it already. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to commit more resources, particularly the limited number of spaces he had on his body for card tattoos, to a card that was really only body armor.
Armor was important, but it was something that could be obtained with high quality gear like his shirt and vest.
The cards Flynn really wanted to level up were his combat cards. Unfortunately, neither of them had reached the proficiency requirement to do so.
He looked down at the elaborate tattoo of a sword that stretched from his elbow down to the back of his right hand and brought up the information on the first of his combat cards.
Name: Short Sword
Rank: Elite
Advancement: 0 / 2500 to Epic
Proficiency: 57 / 100 to Epic
Class: Combat
Special Abilities:
- Curtain of Blades
- Melee Mirage
Swords are one of the most common weapons used by the average person as well as the seasoned expert. Sword masters can defeat virtually any opponent and look good doing it. The Short Sword combat card gives the wielder an innate understanding of swordsmanship, and at Elite rank, card wielder will have an instinctual understanding of advanced sword fighting techniques applicable to all swords less than three feet long, including dirks and daggers. Elite rank swordsmanship skills allow the card wielder to deliver substantial damage to Elite level opponents and significant damage to Epic level opponents. Tremendous damage will be done to any opponent below Elite level.
Flynn wiggled his fingers and watched the muscles of his forearm ripple under the sword tattoo and smiled. The Elite rank Short Sword card tattoo was one of his two favorites.
He turned his attention to his left arm where an elaborate battle hammer covered his forearm and hand. The head of the weapon completely covered the back of his hand and when he made a fist it looked like he could punch with the hammer head.
Name: Battle Hammer
Rank: Elite
Advancement: 0 / 2500 to Epic
Proficiency: 56 / 100 to Epic
Class: Combat
Special Abilities:
- Hammer Shield
- Recall
Blunt weapons include everything from mauls and cudgels to hammers and maces. Hammers can literally build or tear down empires. The Battle Hammer Combat Card gives the wielder an intrinsic understanding of all blunt force weapons, including how to use them to defeat any enemy, plus specialized abilities related to one-handed battle hammers. Elite rank battle hammer skills allow the card wielder to deliver substantial damage to Elite level opponents and significant damage to Epic level opponents. Tremendous damage will be done to any opponent below Elite level.
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Flynn found it a little odd that the Short Sword and Battle Hammer cards didn’t have identical proficiency levels, but it didn’t really matter. They would both reach full proficiency at roughly the same time. Probably in the same battle at some point in the not-to-distant future.
That day is not today, he lamented.
The other card that could potentially get Flynn to Epic level was even further away from being able to rank up.
Card Name: Analyze
Rank: Elite
Advancement: 0 / 5000 to Epic
Proficiency: 46 / 200 to Epic
Class: Enhancement
Special Abilities:
- Counting Cards
- Monster Seeker
Knowledge is power, and being able to effectively analyze items and opponents is a critical skill. Analyze allows the card wielder to identify key characteristics about items, monsters, and people. At Elite rank, detailed information is provided for all Elite level items, weapons, people, and monsters. It also blocks information that is not common knowledge from being shared with anyone possessing an Analyze skill lower than Epic rank.
Placing the Analyze card tattoo on your head has increased the power of the card. It has also increased leveling requirements.
There were increased requirements to rank up the card because the tattoo had been placed on his head, but that wasn’t the only reason Analyze was further away from advancing. The fact that the proficiency only went up when he analyzed an Elite level monster or item was very limiting, at least in the Wastelands. Nyx had promised that problem would be easily overcome when they reached Khalreth. Visiting two or three high level specialty stores would give him more than enough Elite rank items to reach full proficiency. Then he’d just need to use a fortune in fragments to advance. Even more than the huge pile in front of him—the huge pile that was begging to be used.
Flynn frowned, uncertain of what, if anything, he should rank up. The Strength of Arms card on his left shoulder and the Dual Wielding card on his right shoulder were both capped at Advanced rank because he definitely wasn’t going to downgrade his combat cards to allow them to expand. His Summoned Familiar card was also not an option, its proficiency requirement far from being met.
Card Name: Bonded Familiar
Rank: Elite
Advancement: 0 /2500 to Epic
Proficiency: 17 / 100 to Epic
Class: Utility
Special Abilities:
- Skill Share
- What’s Mine is Yours
The Bonded Familiar card allows the card wielder to summon a random familiar from another realm and create a lifelong bond that cannot be broken by anything short of true death. Duration of summoning and cooldown time between summons is dependent on both the rank of the card and the level of the familiar.
Flynn had made sure to summon Thunderbough every day to increase the Bonded Familiar card’s proficiency, but he was still nearly three months away from reaching full proficiency. This would likely be the last of his four Elite rank cards to reach Epic.
That left his two speed related cards as the only real upgrade candidates.
Card Name: Fleet Feet
Rank: Advanced
Advancement: 0 / 500 to Elite
Proficiency: 100 / 100 to Elite
Class: Enhancement
Special Abilities:
- Dash
Speed and Agility are critical in battle and in life. Whether you are traversing uneven terrain or sidestepping a fatal attack, quick agile feet are essential to keep you safe. The Fleet Feet body enhancement card increases foot Speed for all activities while improving Agility. At Advanced rank, Speed and Agility are increased by a significant amount which can enhance every aspect of life.
Card Name: Boundless Stride
Rank: Advanced
Advancement: 0 / 500 to Elite
Proficiency: 100 / 100 to Elite
Class: Enhancement
Special Abilities:
- Bull Rush
Speed and Stamina. The ultimate combination. The Boundless Stride body enhancement card increases both Speed and Stamina, allowing the card wielder to do almost anything faster and longer. At Advanced rank, Speed and Stamina are increased by a significant amount.
The two speed-related cards had become an intricate part of Flynn’s fighting style, and he used the benefits of both without even thinking about them. He also used the special abilities from both cards regularly.
He could only upgrade one of them, though.
Both of the cards provided a Speed boost plus a second enhancement. For Fleet Feet, that was an increase in Agility. For Boundless Stride, there was an increase in Stamina.
Flynn was really fond of the Bull Rush special ability that came with Boundless Stride. He had used the powerful attack multiple times and so had Thunderbough who had access to the card and special ability thanks to the Skill Share special ability.
By comparison, the Dash special ability from Fleet Feet was more of a supporting skill. Flynn remembered that there had been a special ability when he ranked the card up that did have a direct combat use, Evasive Step, and he would likely be given the option to choose it if he leveled up Fleet Feet to Elite rank.
Choosing which card to rank up based on special abilities wasn’t the right way to attack the problem, though. Flynn knew he needed to focus on the actual benefits associated with each card. Special abilities were just a bonus.
When he thought about things from that respect, it became an easy decision. Using the same logic he’d used when choosing the Mark of the Troll special ability, Flynn decided that improved Agility would always be helpful while increased Stamina would primarily be helpful in long battles.
With his choice made, Flynn took off his boot and pulled up his pant leg then started the arduous process of feeding five hundred Basic card fragments to his Fleet Feet card tattoo.
Half an hour later, he finally got the message he’d been working toward.
Fleet Feet card has been upgraded from Advanced rank to Elite. One special ability available.
There was more to the message, but Flynn ignored that for a moment and instead focused on the tattoo that was expanding and changing. The old tattoo had been a simple drawing of a disembodied foot with wings coming out of the side. He watched as the wings grew, consuming the small image of the foot as they seemed to anchor themselves to his own foot, starting just in front of the ankle bones on either side. The wings extended up his lower leg and around the back, ending near the top of his calf. Curving and swirling lines appeared around the wings giving the impression of wind blowing, or more accurately being created by the wings. A crossed pair of swords materialized on his upper shin, just below his knee, expressing the combat ability the increased Speed and Agility of the card gave him. The last change was a line of magical runes that extended down the front of his shin, starting below the crossed weapons and running between the wings down to the top of his foot.
The elaborate body art clearly conveyed the power and utility of his new Elite rank card. Flynn smiled as the tattoo finished its transformation then turned his attention to the rest of the rank-up message.
You have four special abilities to choose from.
Evasive Step
Fighting Footwork
Wind Kick
Wind Sprint
Evasive Step and Wind Sprint were offered when the card had leveled up to Advanced rank. Flynn remembered the basics of what they did but brought up their descriptions to refresh his memory.
Special Ability: Evasive Step
Evasive Step increases card wielder’s instinctive dodging ability, specifically related to foot movement to avoid attacks.
Special Ability: Wind Sprint
Ability causes swirling currents of air to be produced in card wielder’s wake when running at full Speed.
He had passed up on both of these abilities before, and Wind Sprint still seemed like an ability that he wouldn’t really use, so it would get passed over again. Evasive Step had definite combat-related benefits, and he wasn’t going to rule it out entirely until he reviewed the two new offerings. Flynn hoped the new abilities would be better, though.
The first new ability Flynn evaluated almost guaranteed he would also be passing up on Evasive Step.
Special Ability: Fighting Footwork
Fighting Footwork increases card wielder’s instinctive footwork and improves agility for all combat movements, both attacking and defending.
Flynn didn’t have any way of comparing the exact benefits of Fighting Footwork versus Evasive Step, but the fact that Fighting Footwork helped both attacking and defending made it the better choice, in his mind. If he decided to go with a passive ability.
The second new ability offered a strong alternative.
Special Ability: Wind Kick
Wind Kick is a special attack that creates a blade of wind that causes damage commensurate with the rank of the associated card. At Elite rank, the wind blade causes significant damage to any target Elite level or below.
Cooldown: 1 hour
The cooldown for the ability was long enough that it would only be good once per battle, but it was the type of unexpected move that could alter the course of a battle.
Flynn considered his options for a moment, trying to decide whether to take an ability that provided a small constant benefit or one that gave him a potential game changing special attack. The fact that he didn’t know exactly how significant the benefits were for Fighting Footwork helped him make the decision. That and the fact that he had already passed up on one powerful special ability that day.
He selected the Wind Kick special ability then reviewed the updated information on his fourth Epic rank card.
Card Name: Fleet Feet
Rank: Elite
Advancement: 0 / 2500 to Epic
Proficiency: 0 / 100 to Epic
Class: Enhancement
Special Abilities:
- Dash
- Wind Kick
Speed and Agility are critical in battle and in life. Whether you are traversing uneven terrain or sidestepping a fatal attack, quick agile feet are essential to keep you safe. The Fleet Feet body enhancement card increases foot Speed for all activities while improving Agility. At Elite rank, Speed and Agility are increased by a substantial amount which can enhance every aspect of life.
There wasn’t much change to the description other than to note the now substantial increase in Speed and Agility. Flynn knew from previous rank ups that the change would be, well, substantial.
With all the potential rank ups done, Flynn glanced at the still-large pile of card fragments and decided he didn’t want to stuff all of them back into his saddlebag. That was especially true of the fifteen hundred plus Basic card fragments that remained. Instead, he added seven hundred Basic card fragments each to his Short Sword and Battle Hammer cards. There was no question that he would upgrade both of those cards as soon as possible so there was no harm in starting the advancement.
It took Flynn almost an hour, but when he was done the pile of card fragments was much smaller. He packed up his remaining cards and fragments and grabbed another bowl of stew, content to relax a little bit before life threw another battle at him.