Loud snapping and screams alerted the pair to problems a minute later. When the pair caught up to Lois, she was fighting a very unhappy-looking six-limbed panther; the same kind they had encountered during their first fight. This time, the panther seemed to feel it was backed into a corner given that it made no attempt to flee. As Jaden was preparing to aid her, Yuki appeared from a nearby bush; plunging his spear into the panther’s side. The spear stuck between two ribs, and Yuki allowed the spear to remain inside the panther. Jaden thought it might have pierced a lung, as the panther collapsed on its side, breath coming out with a gurgling whine.

The panther looked up at Lois in terror as she stalked toward it with cold fury. Despite being unarmed, her fist plunged down; driving through the panther’s head.The body let out a single wheezing breath, and went still. Yuki moved to reclaim his spear silently as Lois turned to regard her companions coldly.

“What do you want? If you’re not going to help me, then stay out of my way.” She growled.

“What-” Jaden began, but was cut off by an angry growl. He turned, and found another panther. It was twice the size of the one Lois had just killed. Jaden broke into a cold sweat when he realized the panthers they had fought up to this point were actually kittens.

The creature roared, releasing a tone several octaves above a lion’s roar, but no less frightening for it. Snapping out of his momentary paralysis as the panther dove towards Lois, Jaden activated his battle grid. It reached Lois as he was drawing his hand, and the thought seemed to reach her in that moment that she no longer had her battle armor. Lois blurred into motion with a frightened squeak as she dodged multiple strikes from the paws extending out of its back. Just dodging the creature proved too much for her current level of skill as a shallow bloody gash sprouted on her leg; tearing through one of the bandages that still remained attached to her limbs.

This proved to be a fortunate location to receive damage as the wound quickly closed from the medicinal properties imbued in the bandage. Unfortunately, the bout of healing proved to be too much strain, draining the last of the mana from the bandages. Unceremoniously they faded from existence, leaving her clad only in the torn scraps of her clothing. While they still covered the important bits, Jaden did his best not to look at her significant amount of exposed skin as he began playing cards.

“First I play my Jungle card.” He exclaimed, speeding through the announcement due to the seriousness of the situation. Jaden invested forty mana into the land card with a thought. Yuki entered the fray as he was speaking, attempting to stab his spear into the creature as he had the first. Yuki grunted in anger as the panther used one of its back arms to grab the spear’s shaft mid-strike. Effortlessly it broke the shaft, the spear-head falling uselessly to the ground.

“Next I play Charging Berserker!” Jaden declared, investing all of the mana from the land card as he placed the monster card onto the field.

A man with gargantuan muscles dressed in a tiger pelt, and not much else appeared; roaring in fury. In his hands was a two-handed sword, which Jaden peripherally identified as a claymore. With a mental command from Jaden, the berserker tore through the brush; screaming defiantly the entire way as the panther turned to face the new threat. Claws met steel as the berserker swung, but Jaden breathed out a surprised breath when the claws won; tearing a furrow into the steel with a horrible sound of screeching metal.

Resigning himself to the loss of his barbarian, Jaden looked down at his hand. By this point, Niko had reached the battle with her sword in hand. Taking advantage of the panther’s attention being focused on the berserker, she swung her sword. The paw that was in the process of eviscerating the berserker was struck cleanly. Though the force of the blow was insufficient to fully cleave the offending limb, Niko determined she had severed a nerve as the paw stopped moving, falling slack. The panther pulled back its paw; yowling in outrage, and pain. This time it was the panther’s turn to go on the defensive as Niko began furiously swinging her sword. The berserker slumped to the ground, gasping for breath as his mana began rapidly declining. Meanwhile, Jaden was happy to see one of his trump cards, and immediately played it.

“I play the fusion card, and fuse my Charging Berserker with the Rat Knight from my hand!” Jaden dumped all of his remaining mana into the card, including the small amount that had been regenerated by the Jungle card.

It was his first time experimenting with fusion under this new system, and he wasn’t disappointed. Shining with an internal light, the berserker’s wounds healed. He began to grow fur, and soon stood with a growl; drawing a sword that had appeared at his belt. The new sword was primarily a longsword, but had a small curved hook on the tip, pointed toward the foe. The rat-man roared in much the same way as the berserker had.

Jaden looked down at his battle grid, and examined the card he had created. It was one he didn’t recognize from his time playing the official game, and he realized he had literally created an entirely original card.

Quickly, he read the pertinent information.

Name: Enraged Wererat Knight

Effect: The rat’s regenerative powers allow him to continue fighting long past his expiration. Any damage will be healed by the beginning of the next turn.

Attack: 2200

Defense: 1200

Hp: 1000

While the card was strangely still worded in the context of the original game despite being something entirely new, Jaden nodded. It wasn’t the most powerful card he had ever seen, but it only cost him two of his average monsters to make. Naturally, the original stats were largely irrelevant given the fact that its strength was determined by mana, but the effect made it useful as a frontline fighter. If his suspicion was correct based on the land cards, the world had decided that the length of a turn was thirty seconds; meaning any non-lethal wounds would be healed within thirty seconds. What that meant in the context of mana was anyone’s guess.

The wererat charged almost before he had given the order, crossing the short distance in an instant. With a shout, it stabbed the hooked tip into the panther’s backside; just in front of the hip. Jaden suddenly understood the purpose of the hook, which dragged out a chunk of meat when the rat withdrew his sword. The panther cried out in sudden pain, the momentary distraction allowing Niko to score a hit on its head. While she wasn’t able to deal critical damage, she left a small gash in the side of its face.

The now panicked animal made a furious attempt to bite at her while its remaining functional arm swiped at the wererat. Neither attack landed, and both targets immediately counterattacked the crippled panther. In the end, it was the wererat who dealt the killing blow. The hooked end of the sword biting into the panther’s throat. The panther, having already lost a great deal of blood, expired a moment later; the damage finally too extensive to continue functioning.

Jaden immediately received a notification.

*************************************

Spoils of War Announcement

You have absorbed the soul of:

-1 Macho Panther

As a result, your maximum mana is increased by 19 points. Continue absorbing the souls of your foes, and reach ever greater heights. Note that 90% of every soul is taken as tribute by the local arbiter. We thank you for your contribution.

*************************************

Niko wiped her sword off on the ground as she glanced around the clearing. “Where’s Lois?” She asked, concern overriding the fierce concentration her face had shown a moment before.

“That’s… a good question.” Jaden acknowledged. As he glanced around the clearing for some sign of where she had gone, he heard a faint whimpering sound. Gesturing to Niko to follow, they eventually found Lois behind a tree. He knelt over her, putting a hand on her shoulder sympathetically. Faster than he could react, her hand lashed out; grabbing his arm in a crushing grip.

“Lois. Let go. That hurts.” Jaden gasped.

Lois seemed to notice him for the first time, releasing her grip with wide, tear-stained eyes. “Jaden, I’m sorry. I-”

“It’s ok.” He said, pain tinging the sympathetic tone of his voice. “I know you’ve got a lot going on.”

Lois shook her head. “No, it’s not ok. I almost crushed your arm, and you didn’t even do anything. Look, it just hit me earlier that I lost my fiance Jessica. We were two days from getting married, and now the entire universe is gone. I’ve been freaking out this whole time. I don’t expect myself to change right away, but I want to apologize for being so cold to you the past few days. You’ve been nothing but kind, while all I do is put you down. You don’t deserve it.”

Jaden smiled compassionately at her while using his good hand to rummage through his deck.

“I’m still your friend. To be honest, I’ve had much worse friends than you. Though I really need you to not crush my hand. After all, my hands are what make the magic happen. Literal magic.” He waggled his fingers dramatically as he produced the First Aid card, using it to wrap his arms in bandages.

Lois snorted, trying to hold back her laughter for a moment before finally bursting out into full-throated peals of manic chuckles. Jaden patted Lois’s shoulder companionably as he stood, and reached down to help her up. Lois laughed for several seconds longer before taking his hand, transitioning to a teary solemnity during the process of standing.

“Thank you.” Lois said quietly, letting go of his hand.

Before Jaden could respond, Niko tackled them from the side, pulling them into a bear hug while holding back sympathetic tears of her own. Groaning from the excessive enthusiasm of Niko’s hug, Jaden invisibly transitioned ten percent of his mana into fortitude.

“Probably better to just leave that fortitude mana forever.” Jaden muttered to himself as the extra stats went to work reducing the crushing force on his body. Lois laughed, and gave him a slap on the back.

“Don’t look at me, you chose her.” Lois said, laughing.

“I’m starting to think she chose me.” Jaden replied, joining in Lois’s laughter.

“We both chose.” Niko countered, smiling.

Jaden reached out, and held her hand as the trio resumed their journey.