The moment 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 twenty, 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 backward, 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 bartenders 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 differently sized mismatched 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 a while 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 on to a ledge. Especially paired with his Master of Body Enhancement card.” Then, without warning, he threw another copper coin straight at Arthur’s head.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

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 on 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 extradimensional 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, shoulders sagging. “But dungeons are 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 farther 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 asked, naturally skeptical.

“Unless you’re killed, or the Dark Heart ripens before people can harvest all the magic out of it. But . . . 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 can 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 people with cards and abilities? From what I understand, dungeons can occasionally reward 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 being 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 scourglings 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 few days were busy, it was nothing compared to his schedule now. He was running on full steam. If he wasn’t busy finding and storing away anything and everything he thought might be of use in his Personal Space, he was cooking and trying to prepare supplies for the delve.

That wasn’t easy, as prices for food in the city were 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 scourglings. Arthur even directed them to lower-level scourgling nests so they could clean those out.

Arthur used his few moments of downtime to continue leveling 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, after hitting 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 chainmail making, had been entirely reinvigorated. While he occasionally went with Horatio, Sams, and Joy on a scourgling hunt, he was more likely to be found at the forge.

The first thing he made was another chainmail 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 snap. The new glove was butter soft and the links so small and even that there was no danger of the links 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 scourglings 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 was supposed to be ready , sirens rang through the city.

The Dark Heart was finally ready to be delved.