Jacob stared at the casting platform as Rama set it up, changing the settings to match those used by Kerl in his last match. She double and triple checked that the difficulty level was the same, and that the arena would pick up at the next assigned environmental equip - the grassland. Altering the parameters at any point could cause catastrophic results, making it nearly impossible to rescue Kerl. Currently, the German man existed solely in the memory buffers of the arena. If those buffers were reset, he could be gone for good.

  “The next environment you’ll be in is the grassland” Rama continued to press buttons, whirring the casting platform into action “And each environment should last exactly two turns; one for you, one for your opponent. It will go in order of what you see around the room, so pay attention when choosing what cards to cast. You can use your own deck, and all cards are legal.”

  “I don’t have to use Kerl’s deck?” Jacob looked at the platform skeptically “Won’t that change the parameters?”

  “Decks are assigned by the user. When Kerl vanished, his deck vanished with him. As soon as you start casting, the system will assign yours to you.” Rama stopped pressing buttons, and looked Jacob in the eye. “I mean it by the way, all cards can be played in this arena.”

  “Sounds like advice that would have helped Kerl.” Jacob said dryly, taking in the empty arena below. The longer he stood there, the greater his nervousness became. He had seen what had happened to Kerl. The matches were dangerous. There was every possibility he would get hurt. Or worse, if Kerl’s fate was any indication.

  “Kerl was a fool.” Rama turned back to the interface on the platform “The best advice in the world cannot help those who refuse to hear it.”

  MATCH SYSTEM ACTIVATED. USER PRESET FOUR. SETTINGS CONTINUED FROM PRIOR MATCH. ALL NON-CASTERS MUST LEAVE THE PLATFORM.

  Rama stepped away from the casting platform, and gestured for Jacob to step up.

  “Your faith in your cards can save you.” Rama said quietly, so the others couldn’t hear “Don’t waver Jacob; the cards speak of you. They do not say this is your last duel.”

  Rama stepped off the platform, dropping 10 feet to the ground below. She landed effortlessly, and looked up at Jacob.

  “You only need to last 10 turns to fetch Kerl from the sea.” Rama called up “Try to make those turns a show, the last match was boring!”

  “You’re telling me.” Cleopatra appeared on the other platform, taunting Jacob “Let me guess, you also have a big creature you want to dazzle me with.”

  Jacob considered what Rama had said, then tapped his equip deck box. It spat out the Hand of Aman’thea card he had gotten from his grandfather. A card which promised to increase his deck’s power to match his faith in it. Jacob didn’t know how much he bought into the Sacred cards, or what the order espoused. He definitely didn’t have the confidence in himself to say he would come out of this match unscathed - he wasn’t delusional. But he trusted the cards that had gotten his Grandfather through war. His goal wasn’t to win. It was to survive. His grandfather was living proof the cards could make that happen.

  “My creatures are exactly as big as they need to be, Cleopatra.” Jacob called back “More likely it’s you, won’t dazzle me.”

  CYCLICAL MATCH SETTINGS CONTINUING. NEXT ENVIRONMENT DEPLOYING.

  The arena flickered, before turning into a massive grassland. A small field of flowers grew in the right corner of Jacob’s side, and he could see the small wooden bench across the arena. The soft warmth of spring sunshine radiated from the field, and the smell of the flowers filled the air. Several Micro Fairys flittered about, and a light glint drew Jacob’s attention to the bench. He squinted, and spotted the Quartz Encrusted Frog sleeping lazily on it. The arena loaded in more than just the basic appearance of a field; it brought in a few creatures of its own. Jacob smiled at the magic of it. This match was going to be interesting, no doubt about it.

  Jacob glanced away from the field, and looked to where the grassland once was. It had been replaced with a coral reef, with no sign of Kerl. Interesting.

  {select your chance option}

  A small line of text appeared on the casting platform, flashing just above where the cards for the match would be cast. A line of numbers was directly below it, running from one to twenty. Jacob picked fourteen, and the image of a die appeared on his platform. It rolled on its own, landing on a thirteen. Small strips of lights along the platform glowed green, and Jacob was shown Cleopatra’s number. She had chosen 10. Jacob would go first.

  CHANCE OPTIONS SELECTED. JACOB CHARLES OLIVIER III SHALL GO FIRST.

  Jacob’s deck box whirred, dispensing five randomized cards. While the match had loaded his deck box had shuffled his cards, making what he drew a complete surprise. He drew them with his right hand, and reviewed them. In his hand Jacob held Wall of Token, Smiling Dewdrop, Unholy Tsunami, The Snakes of Seraph, and a FateCo card, Match Pause. 2 creature cards and 3 spells. Overall it was a fairly weak draw, though there was potential for surprise with Unholy Tsunami and Wall of Token. Both his creatures were on the weaker end, but for the beginning of the match would provide a small line of defense.

  LET THE MATCH BEGIN

  A buzzer sounded, and Jacob’s turn began. He drew a card from his Deck Box to start - Battlefield Wormhole, very promising - and a timer began counting down on the platform. He had two minutes to make his first moves, and set up his side of the arena. He glanced up at Cleopatra, who stared back at him smugly.

  “Let’s start things off simple.” Jacob called out to Cleopatra, placing down The Snakes of Seraph onto his casting platform. Directly beneath the card a small hologram appeared with its stats and effect:

  Strength: 1500, Defense: 1000 - This Card gains strength in higher temperature environments, and loses strength in lower temperature environments.

  Strategically, Jacob knew his Snakes of Seraph would have done far better in the magma fields, but it was better than playing the weaker Smiling Dewdrop - especially since the Dewdrop’s effect would be more useful in the Cyber City.

  “I hope you’ve got something more impressive for me later.” Cleopatra sneered at the creature on the field “No matter what they say, size does matter in this game.”

  “You have a lot of modern jokes for such an ancient woman.” Jacob called back. He tapped his equip deck box and it spat out one of his only battle equips, which he placed on the casting platform. Immediately the shining form of Lost Armor of the Wandering Warrior appeared around him, giving him a strange sensation of power. His strength and defense stats must have internally increased, but by how much he would never know. “I would taunt you back, but I was taught to respect my elders.”

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  Jacob placed Battlefield Wormhole face down on the casting platform, on an area reserved for snare cards. The image of a card manifested on the arena just below him, and on Jacob’s casting table the card’s text appeared:

  Destroys all creature, snare, and spell cards on the field. Can remove equips an opponent places on you.

  Placing it automatically moved Jacob into the entrapment phase of his turn, and he looked towards the small blue button on the edge of the casting platform. At the first internationals a few rules had been set that had never changed: one of those was the usage of snare cards; unless they specifically stated otherwise on the card itself snare cards had to be placed on field for at least one turn before use, no exceptions. All arenas were programmed to immediately discard any snare that attempted to be used otherwise, preventing it from properly being cast.

  The blue button was another such rule. Jacob pressed it, and the green lights on the side of his casting platform turned red. The Blue button ended the active part of his turn and moved to the special phase, resolving any card effects before his turn properly ended. His Snakes of Seraph card glowed slightly as it’s effect kicked in, raising its attack and defense stats by 100 points in the warm spring air.

  Cleopatra smirked as she drew a card, beginning her turn.

  “Your snakes are cute, but I prefer mine with a little more venom.” Cleopatra placed her first creature card on the field, calling out to Jacob. “This fellow doesn’t have a strong bite, but he’s tall and and does whatever I say; what more could a queen want?”

  On the arena a Golum of Aratus appeared - a large menacing clay figure that stood patiently at her end of the arena. It was eight to ten feet tall, and stood completely still, waiting for commands. A small icon appeared on Jacob’s casting platform to acknowledge its presence, along with its basic stats and effect.

  The Golum of Aratus - Creature - Stone Type - Strength: 1900 - Defense: 2100 - A clay automaton from a forgotten civilization. Every round this creature is active it’s clay hardens slightly; this card gains 100 defense every turn, and loses 100 strength every turn. If this card has not attacked during this turn, it can attack during the special phase at half of its strength.

  It was a card Jacob was vaguely familiar with; it had been in the shadow pack he had opened weeks ago, but he hadn’t used it yet.

  “Your arena has shadow cards?!” Jacob looked at Rama, who shrugged.

  “I run a card factory” Rama called back “Why are you surprised?”

  “Speaking of Shadow Cards.” Cleopatra called out, drawing Jacob’s attention. She smiled sweetly as she moved into her spell phase “Here’s another one you might recognize, unfortunately I don’t think your snakes will like it much.”

  Cleopatra placed a card on her platform, and a there was a great roaring sound from her side of the arena. A massive wall of water burst forth from the wall, sweeping over the field as Unholy Tsunami took effect. The magic of the card slammed first into her own Golum of Aratus; the creature buckled under the forcebut remained standing, digging into the dirt below. Small chunks of clay flew off it, leaving the creature malformed but otherwise unscathed. It’s Strength and Defense stats decreased, reducing to 1200 and 1400 respectively.

  Jacob’s snakes on the other hand fared significantly worse. The wave completely swept the reptiles off the field, slamming them into the walls of the arena. Their attack and defense plummeted as they drowned, swiftly reaching zero. The card automatically slid across the casting platform, landing in the destroyed pile. The tsunami had no effect on Jacob’s snare card, leaving him with a nuclear option if needed.

  “And since we’re leaving surprises, I’ll place one of my own.” Cleopatra placed a face down snare card, then looked at Jacob. “Unfortunately this leaves you with no creatures on the field, at such a bad time to be alone. Golum, attack!”

  Cleopatra entered the Special phase, and Golum of Aratus’ strength stat dropped to 600. The malformed clay monstrosity pounded into the earth, pulling up from the grassland a long javelin. It threw its creation, the firm earth shooting through the air like a bullet. It struck Jacob in the left shoulder before he could move, piercing him like a blade. He collapsed to the floor as pain shot through his body; he raised his hand to his shoulder, but the weapon had already dissolved back into soil. A pool of blood started to form where it had struck, clotting with the earth the Golum had used. Jacob lay there for a moment, breathing deeply as the pain slowly began to wane.

  Jacob fought back his panic as he heard the rest of the tour group begin to talk frantically below. His heart was racing in his chest, and his breath came out raggedy. He felt the old pneumonia scars constricting his lungs once more, as he lay on the floor fighting pain and his own mind.

  Calming himself after what felt like an eternity, Jacob gripped the platform with his right hand. He raised himself to his feet unsteadily, returning to the match before him.

  “Jacob!” His grandfather cried up

  “I’m fine.” Jacob looked directly at Cleopatra. “Barely felt a thing.”

  CYCLICAL ENVIRONMENT ACTIVATED. THIRD CYCLE DEPLOYING.

  The arena flickered for a moment, and the grassland was replaced with a small section the Cyber City. A few aliens walked down the street, and Jacob spotted the malformed Golum of Aratus standing in the middle of an intersection in front of Cleopatra’s platform. Some of the aliens walking seemed to look at the Golum, before shying away.

  “I like a man who can take a hit or two.” Cleopatra teased “Let’s see now if you hit back.”

  Jacob drew a card, and his turn started. He looked down at it and relaxed slightly.

  Pirate Code of Honor - Spell - All creatures cannot attack for five rounds of casting. If used in a match, each caster must draw two cards per turn. May only be placed on the field once per match.

  Jacob had gotten lucky. He needed to last 10 turns in the arena; Pirate Code of Honor would ensure he would last until turn 6. If he could pair it with the Wall of Token in his hand he could make it all the way to the end of the match, and rescue Kerl from the stormy seas. Jacob had no idea what card Cleopatra had placed in the snare zone, but he had little choice but to cast what he had drawn.

  “It’s impolite to hit a girl” Jacob placed Smiling Dewdrop on the casting platform “Fortunately I have plenty of creatures to do that for me.”

  Jacob’s side of the field suddenly glimmered, as the card was summoned. Half of the buildings below were coated in a thin layer of dew, each drop wearing a tiny smile. The creature was subtle, but that didn’t make it useless. As he placed it down the usual card description appeared below it on the platform.

  Smiling Dewdrop - Creature - Freshwater Type - Strength: 1500 - Defense: 200 - A smiling shimmering drop of dew. Covers the surface of the field; gains 100 defense for each unique surface it covers

  “If that’s what you’re hitting me with.” Cleopatra looked down at the arena unimpressed “then you’re going to leave me sorely disappointed.”

  Jacob glanced over his casting platform to check on Cleopatra’s Golum of Aratus. While Jacob had been recovering from the strike the first part of the creature’s effect had been activated, lowering its strength to 1100, while raising its defense to 1500. He couldn’t attack it without also destroying his Smiling Dewdrop, but he could buy himself some time to draw something stronger.

  “Unfortunately that’s a disappointment you’ll have to wallow in for a bit.” Jacob placed down the Pirate Code of Honor, and massive black pirate flags appeared around the arena. The sound of pirate laughter filled the room, and a line of pirates appeared in the middle of the cyber city between the two sides. “As much as you enjoy it, nothing will be hitting you any time soon.”

  “Not bad.” Cleopatra called back “Pity it only affect Creatures.”

  Cleopatra flipped her snare, revealing what she had put down.

  Mysterious Figure - Snare - This snare summons a mysterious figure. It is unknown what they do.

  A mysterious hooded figure raised from her side of the field, looking at Jacob ominously. Jacob Grimaced and drew another card, skipping his Entrapment phase. He looked at the card and froze.

  He had drawn mysterious figure.

  He looked up at the field as the realization dawned on him, his horror quickly wiping away the confidence he had projected. Now he understood why Rama had asked him to equip his sacred card.

  The match was three turns in. He had already been injured.

  And Cleopatra was playing with a deck made entirely of his cards.

  Jacob was in trouble.

  his own deck to go against him. Cleopatra was known for her intellect, and she is using it against Jacob. Big shout out to my commenter who was asking for more duels; I took that as a challenge and looked for extra places to add even more epic dueling - this was one of them.

  4 chapters in a row. I want each duel to be a spectacle, especially as more and more formats are introduced. There are a lot of ways to battle with the cards, and I want each one to feel like a spectacle. This story involves a lot of buildup to get to each duel; I want them to be worth it when we do.

  trust in the cards…

  What other figure from history would you like to see in a duel?