The blank card in Deckard's hand shimmered as it pulled in his latest target.
Seven-Armed Starfish ?
Rarity: Common
Type: Creature
Affinity: ??
Cost: 2
Points: 0
Effect: +1 for each starfish discarded this turn. Regeneration.
This was the last of the ten starfish Ronan had asked him to capture back when he was drafting them. Deckard had captured them all again, albeit in a different way.
Like all the others, it was a common card—barely playable. However, thanks to the regeneration keyword, he could see its potential in certain decks.
Especially in his first few decks, he would have no choice but to include plenty of fillers until he expanded his collection. Starfish was a great candidate for these fillers. If he could use the starfish as discard fodder and later resurrect them into play, they might prove useful. It was too early to tell what exact strategy the starfish cards would serve, but it was nice to have options for future deck-building.
Additionally, after capturing ten starfish from Ronan’s list and two others he’d found along the way, his HP regeneration had increased to 1.4 HP per second. He could now recover a full HP bar in 70 seconds!
Deckard had been wading through the water for hours, confident that he’d found every starfish in the area. He glanced out toward the horizon. Just in case, he decided to venture a little deeper. Maybe there were more starfish hidden further down.
He walked until the water reached his chest. The surf blurred his vision, so he instinctively reached to take off his glasses before he dove, only to remember he wasn’t in the real world. His vision was flawless in AstroTerra. Chuckling at himself for forgetting, he took a breath and dove his head into the salty, cool water.
A flicker of movement caught his eye.
Something silvery zipped through the haze, vanishing just as quickly. Deckard held still, squinting beneath the surface. A fish. No doubt about it. It darted in and out of view, quick and twitchy, never lingering long enough for him to reach for it.
You’ve watched a sardine.
Your Understanding of it grows.
A sardine. Cool! And I can capture it, too!
The fish came close again. Deckard didn’t move. He just watched patiently, fearing he would spook the fish away. Once he'd observed it for long enough, he pulled up an empty card.
Subdimensionalize!
Capture successful!
He surfaced, holding the new card.
Sardine ??
Rarity: Common
Type: Creature
Affinity: ??
Cost: 1
Points: 0
Effect: Heals 1.
It wasn't anything special. [Healing Ray] did a much better job at healing his castle. But still, he was curious about what stat it would get him. He held it against his binder.
Collection updated.
+0.1% movement speed
"Movement speed? Nice!"
It was a small boost, but if there were enough species of fish on the island, he would become much faster!
He dove again. Looking for any more fish. There was another streak of light. He got his hopes up, but on closer inspection, it was just another sardine. And another. And another. Sardines everywhere. Maybe he hadn’t noticed them before. But now that he had caught one, they were everywhere. No variations. No rarer species.
Maybe I have to go into deeper waters to find more fish.
Eventually, he gave up on looking for fish and turned his focus elsewhere.
Beneath the surface, he noticed clusters of rock. He focused on them, scanning for starfish, but found nothing. Then, something different caught his eye: a series of sharp, fan-shaped shells clung to a rock, resisting the current’s pull. They jutted from the stone in strange formations, almost like teeth, their edges ready to bite.
He studied them for a few long moments, and then, as expected, a notification appeared.
You’ve observed Blue Mussels.
Your Understanding of them grows.
So, I can capture these, too, Deckard thought. Given that he now had some Understanding, Deckard grabbed a blank card and pointed it at the mussels.
Subdimensionalize!
The card shone brightly, and the mussels disappeared, captured in one go.
Blue Mussel ??
Rarity: Common
Type: Creature
Affinity: ??
Cost: 2
Points: 0
Effect: +1 if on attacking lane.
He twisted his mouth. “Well, that’s underwhelming.” With its low attack boost, the blue mussel card was hardly playable. He stowed it in his repository anyway.
Collection updated!
+0.1% damage resistance.
“Hmm. Looks like mussels raise defense,” he mused.
Now that Deckard had found one mussel, he kept his eyes peeled for more.
“Starfish or mussels. Come on! Daddy needs starfish or mussels,” Deckard repeated as he scanned the ocean floor.
He kept finding more mussels but nothing else of interest. Deciding to venture a bit further, he waded until the water reached his neck. Here, he found more rocks where he spotted mussels and starfish that he already had in his collection. Then, just beneath a ledge, he noticed something different—a royal starfish nestled against a clam, half-buried in the sand.
The shell was smooth and rounded, and its pale surfaces shimmered faintly in the watery light. Deckard dove down, picking up both starfish and clam, and brought them over to the surface for a better look.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
You find a Surf Clam.
Your Understanding of it grows.
You’ve watched a Surf Clam fighting for its life.
Your Understanding of it grows.
“Sorry, starfish. This one’s mine.” Deckard said, yanking it away from the shell and throwing it into the water.
Subdimensionalize!
Capture successful!
Surf Clam ??
Rarity: Common
Type: Creature
Affinity: ??
Cost: 1
Points: 0
“Alright! Second clam. Let’s go!” Deckard tucked the card away and continued his search, but the game’s system had other plans.
You’ve run out of breath. Return to the surface, or you will die.
You’re out of energy. You receive [Exhausted] debuff.
-90% movement speed.
-1
-2
Deckard surfaced promptly. His energy bar had hit zero without him noticing. “So, being underwater consumes energy. And after I run out, I start losing health. Bothersome but fair."
With no choice but to wait, Deckard trudged through the water as his energy bar filled at a snail’s pace. After a few minutes, he dove back in, resuming his hunt.
At the edge of his vision, something caught his attention. Squinting, he thought he saw a large, flat rock a bit further out, deeper into the ocean. Curious, Deckard swam toward it while keeping an eye on his energy bar. Swimming consumed even more energy than keeping his head underwater, but he pressed forward.
Once he was close enough, he realized it wasn’t a rock at all. It was a starfish! With wide, sprawling limbs, it seemed almost otherworldly, each arm flexing and pulsing in sync with the others as it moved. Counting quickly, Deckard noted it had at least twenty arms, each stretching out like the rays of a sun. The creature’s core pulsed slowly, making it almost hypnotic to watch.
Deckard’s eyes followed its trajectory as it slid along the seabed, graceful despite its size, until he spotted another starfish fleeing just a meter away. So, this one hunts smaller starfish, he mused, thrilled at the prospect of capturing a powerful new card. He frowned as he realized there was no notification yet. Can this card even be captured? After half a minute, a notification finally appeared:
You’ve observed a Sunflower Sea Star chase prey.
Your Understanding grows.
Deckard surfaced to open his card binder. A rough sketch of the creature now decorated the nanite-made pages. Alright, I can capture it. It must be a higher-grade card if it took that long to register.
It made sense if this creature were an apex predator; it was more valuable than the other starfish, and therefore, required more time to study before he could capture it. He resolved to be patient, keeping a close watch on the Sunflower Sea Star.
In the short time he’d spent above water, the giant starfish had closed in on its prey. Deckard watched with growing fascination as the larger predator reached the smaller starfish, which twisted and squirmed in an attempt to escape. The sunflower’s many arms wrapped around it slowly, engulfing the smaller starfish whole.
You observe the Sunflower Sea Star consuming a Seven-Armed Starfish.
Your Understanding of it grows.
Just like with the Coconut Seagull, each new action he observed added to his understanding. I’m starting to get the hang of this.
The Sunflower Sea Star paused for a moment, its arms shifting and fidgeting as it digested its meal. Deckard used the opportunity to lift his head above water, regaining his energy. When he looked back down, the sunflower sea star had resumed moving, leaving behind only a pile of small ossicles.
“Gross,” Deckard muttered, shuddering but still curious. He continued to follow the massive creature as it roamed, and then its aimless drifting stopped. It had locked onto a new target. Deckard’s eyes followed its path toward a small, round shape. Covered in sharp, needle-like spines, it moved cautiously across the sand, its spines occasionally shivering.
What is that? Deckard wondered. He decided to wait for the system to answer.
You’ve observed a Sea Urchin moving underwater.
Your Understanding of it grows.
You’ve observed a Sea Urchin evading a predator.
Your Understanding of it grows.
“So, it’s a sea urchin,” Deckard murmured. He’d heard of them before, though he didn’t know much. Now, he faced a choice: capture the creature or let the sunflower sea star continue its hunt so he could gain further Understanding of it.
“Well, the sunflower sea star isn’t going anywhere. And it did just lead me to a brand-new card,” he thought with a grin as he readied a card.
Subdimensionalize!
Capture successful.
You’ve run out of breath. Return to the surface, or you will die.
You’re out of energy. You receive [Exhausted] debuff.
-90% movement speed.
-1
-2
Deckard gasped, releasing a cloud of bubbles, and traveled back to the surface. When he used the skill, he’d used up all his remaining energy! “Yikes. Gotta be more careful next time.”
He studied the new card in his hand.
Sea Urchin ??
Rarity: Common
Type: Creature
Affinity: ??
Cost: 2
Points: 0
Effect: +1 if on defensive lane.
After a couple of minutes, Deckard dove back in. The Sunflower Sea Star had resumed its aimless roaming, searching for its next unfortunate victim.
It only took a minute to find another target. This time, it was a mussel that Deckard already had in his collection, so he simply observed as the starfish hunted it down.
You’ve observed a Sunflower Sea Star devour a mussel.
Your Understanding of it grows.
Deckard swam eagerly after the predator as it ventured into deeper waters.
“Let’s go, sunflower! Show me more cards!”
*
It had been an hour since Deckard started trailing the Sunflower Sea Star, and patience had paid off. He’d captured three new types of starfish and four additional types of shellfish. Some had eluded him earlier, their small size or perfect camouflage against the rocks, making them nearly invisible. The shellfish, in particular, had been a challenge to spot. Deckard grinned at the idea of putting a leash on the sunflower sea star, using it as his hunting companion.
Just like the dogs they use at the airport to sniff out drugs and explosives, he mused with a chuckle.
The sunflower sea star began homing in on yet another target. Deckard followed its path, only to discover it was yet another sea urchin—the fifth in a row. He sighed, realizing it was time to wrap things up.
A vibrant, detailed picture in his repository now matched the sunflower sea star perfectly. It shouldn’t be a problem to capture it now. Deckard readied a card, pointed it at the massive predator, and whispered to himself, “So, like I mentioned—a leash.”
In one swift motion, Deckard activated the card, and the Sunflower Sea Star was drawn in without resistance. His high understanding of the creature had made it an easy capture. Eagerly, he picked up the new card, his anticipation mounting as its stats began to materialize. Then he froze, his eyes widening.
It was…not a common card. It was his first rare card! Even better, it had a powerful effect—one that could tie a whole starfish deck together.
Sunflower Sea Star ?
Rarity: Rare
Type: Creature
Affinity: ??
Cost: 3
Points: 0
Effects: Banish all starfish in graveyards or field. +1 for each.
This is the card that makes all the other starfish…viable.
His mouth watered at the thought of playing it in a match, seeing it become a massive creature, and winning him the game.
Deckard’s grin stretched wide. This was the most excitement he’d felt in AstroTerra so far. Sure, defense boosts and HP regeneration had their appeal, but there was nothing quite like finding a good card. This was what he had joined AstroTerra for, after all.
Carefully, he slid the card into his binder. As he did, a ripple of energy pulsed through it, and something unexpected happened.
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