Arthur landed, with knees loose to absorb the impact, on unpleasantly soft ground. Wisps of toxic gas still drifted from the corpses, most of which were unrecognizable from the scourgelings they once were. Aside from the effects of the toxic gas, the adventurers had thrown everything they had into the pit during that last final push, leaving behind a gruesome sight.

Bradley stood on the other side of the pit, hands on his hips, grinning broadly at Arthur. "Well, it looks like you have more balls than them up there, kid."

Arthur began to walk forward. Only patches of the ground were visible. Most was covered by corpses, often several scourgelings deep. He didn’t dare take his eyes off of Bradley in case he pulled a trick, and so had to rely on his Balancing skill so he didn’t misstep.

"You don't want to make an enemy here," Arthur said, his voice steady. "You'll still get your fair share, Bradley. But so will everyone else."

"An enemy of who? You?" Bradley laughed harshly. "Kid, you can't even get close to me."

A green, toxic-looking gas began to spew from Bradley as if he had sprung a leak.

Arthur continued to advance.

Bradley's grin widened, his teeth a stark white against the billowing gas. "Your funeral."

Then, the volume of gas doubled, rising to obscure Bradley completely. It thickened and built up, reaching above the height of a man. The message was clear: if Arthur got too close, there would be no escape from the toxin.

Arthur pressed on. He had various poison resistances, thanks to his experiments with odd plants for Fossie back in Mesa Free Hive, but they were mostly at levels 2 and 3. It was uncertain if any would counteract Bradley's poisons. No doubt, those resistances would be getting a work-out soon.

Not yet near the gas, Arthur's eyes already stung and burned.

As he moved, Bradley continued to spew out his toxin until it collected into a fierce-looking thundercloud. Above, the watching adventurers fell silent. Arthur felt Brixaby's gaze upon him, and though he didn’t know if the dragon's look was one of encouragement or scorn for not having already killed Bradley, he knew Brixaby would step-in if necessary.

The moment Arthur reached the halfway point in the pit, where retreat to the walls was no longer an easy option, Bradley made his move.

The green poison cloud, which had been building up like a thick wall, suddenly surged towards Arthur.

Above, people shouted curses at Bradley and encouragement for Arthur. Brixaby roared his support, drowning out all the rest.

Just before the toxic gas engulfed him, Arthur activated his Phase-In, Phase-Out card. It had come off cool down sometime before, and he now had a full 30 seconds where literally nothing could touch him. He hoped that would be enough.

The cloud enveloped him like a suffocating blanket. All Arthur could see was a dim view of the sun above, and within moments that was gone. He was plunged into blackness.

Closing his eyes, Arthur focused on Brixaby’s cards. Brixaby had often claimed he could smell the cards within people's hearts. Arthur always figured it was either an exaggeration or a scare tactic… but what if…?

Brixaby’s Call of the Voice and Call of the Heart were part of the same deck. Because of that, they overlapped and boosted each other's powers, similar to how Arthur's Master of Skills and Master of Body Enhancement worked.

Concentrating in a way he’d never thought to do before, Arthur began to sense something outside himself.

Card shards flickered in tiny motes of power from the corpses all around him. Stronger pulses came from the higher-ranked scourgelings who’d had full cards.

Common cards felt like lit candles in darkness. But they were outshone by Uncommon cards, which blazed like oil-fed torches. Those in turn were nothing to Rare cards, which were like a full moon casting silvery shadows across the land at night. His own Legendary cards, however, shone like the sun at noon on a clear day.

Each rank of card wasn’t a simple step up from one to the next: It was an exponential leap of power.

In his mind, the pit transformed into a hilltop of glittering gems, each representing a card or a shard. It was nearly overwhelming, yet… barely manageable.

Most importantly, Bradley's three Rare cards stood out to Arthur like a lighthouse in a foggy night.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

In his arrogance, the man had moved only about 10 feet to the left, trusting that the obscuring toxic gas would hide him.

Arthur advanced straight toward him. Fifteen seconds left.

His plan was to use his Counterfeit Siphon card once he got within range of the man’s aura, copy the gas, and somehow turn it against him. But when he got close and his Counterfeit activated, he was met with a surprise.

New Counterfeit Siphon Spell

Smoke Obscura

Time Remaining:

minutes, 59 seconds.