Arthur walked into the door made of light.

Despite Laird’s assurances that the dungeon’s trials were over, he still braced himself with a light thought on his Phase In, Phase Out card. He half-expected to come face to face with a never-ending horde of scourgelings, their pincers clacking.

Those scourgelings would be showing up in his nightmares.

But there was no final ‘gotcha’ from the dungeon. That had been in deciding who would claim the card library.

Instead, Arthur stepped into a cool, white marble room. Completely bare of furniture, it was large enough to easily fit Laird and Shadow, with much room to spare for the rest of them.

The only feature was at the furthest wall from the room: thin shelving meant to house cards.

Those shelves were half empty.

Considering they stretched from floor to ceiling, this wasn’t a disappointment.

Arthur longed to rush over there and start perusing the cards. But he had promises to keep.

He’d given his word up, down, and sideways that the first thing he would do would be to release the others so they could all approach the cards together.

Arthur removed Brixaby from his Personal Space.

The little dragon erupted out into the air, claws already out. He’d been thinking along the same lines as Arthur.

He looped around in the air to take in the room in a flash. Then he looked back at Arthur.

“Naturally, this means we’re taking our picks of the cards first?”

“And cards for Cressida and Joy," Arthur confirmed. He felt only a twinge of guilt about breaking a word he’d just given. "If there’s anything especially suited for them.”

“Yes, as my retinue riders they should have the top choice.” Brixaby started to buzz to the far wall and then stopped. “I believe Joy’s cores are still too unstable to accept another card right away.”

“If that’s the case, we’ll have to be something to fit her as she grows.” With great dignity, Arthur walked to the wall. Unlike what he actually wanted to do, which was to sprint over there like a madman and tear into the cards. He’d worked hard for this moment, and he wanted to savor it.

Glancing at Brixaby he asked, “How is your core?”

An arrogant snort was his only response.

The two looked at each other, and then their patience snapped. Arthur ran flat out the rest of the way for the wall of cards. Brixaby, of course, got there first.

The dark dragon started examining the shelves from the top down. Arthur began from the bottom up.

If there was an order to the cards, he couldn’t find it. They weren’t sorted alphabetically but grouped together in a kind. Even if the ranks were mixed up. The vast majority were Common with a few Uncommon and a couple Rares mixed in.

But each and every one had combat applications which made them hugely valuable.

Arthur quickly scanned the titles.

Fog Veil, Water Vortex (which was an Uncommon but only worked when both parties were submerged in a large body of water), Ice Sword, Shocking Finale…

The next few cards in the row were earth elemental, which didn’t interest Arthur.

The next, however…

Ember Rain

Elemental Combat

Uncommon

The wielder of this card will be able to conjure a shower of hot embers from twenty feet above their heads. They will be immune to any heat or impact-based damage, though allies and enemies will not be. This is a skill-based effect.