The monsters that roamed the vast desert—more specifically, the cards and card fragments they potentially carried—were the reason that many people came to the frontier. That was the same reason that Flynn had ventured so far out from the city walls.
And he had been rewarded.
A short distance away, a small monster was scratching at the hard, reddish ground with the sharp claws of its rear legs. The young man locked eyes with the creature, mighty weapons gripped tightly in each hand—a cobbler’s hammer with a cracked handle and a rusty kitchen knife.
Flynn had spent hours searching for signs of a specific kind of monster. One that would produce a card fragment, yet not kill him outright. A creature he could defeat—probably.
He had finally found one, and it was time to do battle.
His chosen foe looked more like a featherless chicken than its cousin, the mighty dragon, as it bobbed its head and flared out bony wings that had clearly never been used for flight.
The magic of the card system told Flynn what he faced, the information flashing into his mind as if it had always been there and was simply being recalled for the current situation.
Name: Adolescent Fire Drake
Drakes are the most common of dragon kind, and fortunately for the rest of civilization, the least powerful. Of course, that is like saying a dagger to the gut is better than a sword to the heart. Fire Drakes can burn, bite, and scratch with lethal effectiveness. This Adolescent Fire Drake is far less dangerous than its older siblings and deadly cousins, so you just might survive with the help of a combat card and a good weapon.
Unfortunately, monster identification was the only part of the card system that Flynn had access to. He had neither a combat card nor a good weapon. That was not going to stop him from defeating the drake and—hopefully—harvesting a card fragment.
The small monster reared back on its hind legs and opened its mouth in a poor imitation of a roar. The drake’s front legs clawed at the air as its chest expanded and began to glow.
Flynn knew what was coming next. His deeply tanned skin had been scorched by drake fire before, and he didn’t want to experience that again. He dove to the side as flames shot from the small Fire Drake’s mouth, barely missing the nimble teenager.
The fire quickly sputtered out, and the small Fire Drake flopped back down on its front legs, shaking its head slightly and growling as Flynn completed his sideways roll and popped back to his feet.
The young man rocked back and forth on bent legs, his eyes still trained on the creature, waiting for the next attack. Flynn knew that the drake wouldn’t be able to use its fire breath again right away, but that didn’t mean the monster wasn’t dangerous. The creature might look like a scrawny chicken, but it had incredibly sharp claws and teeth. The Adolescent Fire Drake could easily kill someone like him who didn’t wear anything more protective than a thin, tattered shirt or have any card-based skills or protections.
The monster followed the young man’s movement, its head moving back and forth, then suddenly leaped forward.
Flynn swung his hammer and connected with the side of the drake’s head before its jaws could clamp down on him. The blow knocked the creature’s head to the side, but the monster still barreled into him and knocked him backward.
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He fell onto his back, dropping both of his weapons as his back slammed into the hard ground. That left his hands free to grab the drake’s head as the monster attempted to snap down on his face with razor-sharp teeth.
The claws on the drake’s hind legs dug into Flynn as he held the monster’s snapping jaw at bay.
“Ahhh!” Flynn cried out in pain as the creature’s claws shredded his shirt and gouged his abdomen.
He quickly pulled his legs up then kicked out and launched the small Fire Drake away from him.
Flynn quickly rolled to one side, then the other, collecting his weapons, then jumped back to his feet. The drake was already charging forward again, its wings spread wide as if it was getting ready to take off.
The young man stepped to the side as the creature raced past him and brought down his hammer with all of his might.
The tiny metal head of the weapon smashed into the Fire Drake’s wing with the sound of splintering wood and breaking bone.
The young warrior was left holding a broken wooden handle.
The small monster hadn’t fared any better than the weapon and howled as its broken wing sagged uselessly at its side—not that it had ever been very useful.
Flynn wasn’t done. He still had his knife.
He tossed aside the broken hammer handle and reversed his grip on the knife. While the Adolescent Fire Drake coddled its broken wing, Flynn leaped forward and slashed down with his rusty kitchen knife. He grasped the hand holding the knife with his other hand to give the attack more power.
The dull point of the knife found the unprotected area at the back of the drake’s head and punctured the monster’s skin. The force of the blow drove the creature’s head down, and Flynn fell forward. He threw his weight down onto the weapon, and when the drake’s head hit the ground, the young man’s weight drove the blade all the way in, delivering a killing blow.
Flynn lay there for a moment, holding tightly to the handle of the knife.
When the monster didn’t move, he pushed himself off the beast and pulled his knife free. He leaped to his feet, continuing to point the knife at the monster corpse until he was positive it was dead.
A huge smile spread across the young man’s face.
He pumped his fist in the air and shouted, “I did it!”
The movement caused pain to shoot through his body, radiating from his abdomen. Flynn looked down and groaned when he saw his bloody, shredded shirt. The cuts on his stomach would heal—they’d probably even leave cool scars—but the shirt was beyond saving. He only owned one other shirt, and it wasn’t in much better shape than this one was now.
He shook his head. It doesn’t matter. I have enough fragments to make a card now, and life will be so much better now.
At least he hoped he’d be able to make a card. There was no guarantee that a monster, especially a young one, would produce a card fragment. He couldn’t count the number of small monsters that he’d defeated, only to have his hopes dashed when there wasn’t a card fragment to be looted.
But this was a dragonkin! He’d never heard of a dragon not having at least a Basic card fragment. It might even have more than one fragment.
Flynn wasn’t greedy, though. All he needed was one more fragment to make his dream come true.
He tentatively stepped forward so he could check for loot. Once he wielded a card, he would automatically be told when a monster had been defeated, but until then, he had to check manually. His hand shook as he placed his palm on the Fire Drake corpse, his entire body tingling in anticipation.
You have defeated Adolescent Fire Drake. Do you wish to loot the body?
“Of course I do,” he said excitedly.
You have found one Basic card fragment.
A semitransparent glowing card fragment appeared above the slain monster. It was gray in color and had two smooth edges and two jagged edges. The fragment could be combined with three others to create a Basic level card. As a fragment, it was valuable currency, but when combined with others to create a card, it would be his entry into the world of magic and power. His key to leaving behind a life of poverty and hardship.
Flynn reached out with a trembling hand, and as soon as his fingers touched the fragment, it solidified in his palm. His body shivered in excitement as visions of his potential future flashed through his mind.
He saw himself slaying monsters, conquering dungeons, and winning fame and glory in tournaments. There were piles of gold and fancy parties and a life far better than anything he had ever experienced. And women. Beautiful women in fashionable dresses.
They were admittedly romanticized images of what it meant to be a card wielder. Most people with card powers used them for nothing more than making their daily lives easier. They could do so much more, though, and Flynn intended to use the powers to their fullest.
He quickly dismissed the fantasies and glanced around nervously. Cards and card fragments weren’t just powerful magic, they were money. A single card fragment could buy a week’s worth of food for a small family. There had been times when hunger gnawed at his stomach so bad that he’d considered selling one of his hard-earned fragments to buy food or other necessities like new shoes or clothes.
But Flynn had never given in to the temptation and now possessed five card fragments, which was enough to create a card, including the fee a Card Master would charge to combine four fragments into a full card.
He shoved the card fragment into his pocket and collected the broken pieces of his hammer, then looked around again to make sure nobody had seen his battle and subsequent looting of the monster. Satisfied no one had seen him, Flynn turned toward the city and began the long trek back to Aramath and the beginning of his life as a card-wielding adventurer.
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