“Hey Aki, what’s going on?” Jaden asked, seeing a flurry of activity.

Aki didn’t look up from his map screen. “Nothing significant, my lord. Just a minor issue ahead of us.”

Jaden cocked his head. “What kind of issue?”

Aki coughed, but found himself compelled to answer. “There is a camp of Klax half a mile ahead of us. I’m coordinating an attack to neutralize them.”

“Why not just tell me that in the first place? That seems pretty important to me.” Jaden asked in confusion.

“Ah, well, it seemed unnecessary to bother you with this when I am perfectly capable of handling it.” Aki hedged

Jaden shrugged. “No need to be like that. Even if you feel like you can handle it, I’d still rather be kept in the loop.”

Aki looked away awkwardly. “Yes, my lord.”

Before they could continue their conversation further, a panicked call came through the magical communications spell. “This is Four to team leader. The Klax are moving, but they’re not moving to engage the boss enemy. They’re heading directly toward you.”

Aki swore. “Have you been discovered?”

“No sir. Our main force is holding a quarter mile from their camp.”

Aki glanced at Jaden, who was looking furiously in every direction. “My lord?” Aki asked curiously.

Jaden shuffled through his deck, pulling out a card when he found what he was looking for.

“I summon Mystical Hunter.” Jaden called out, pouring half his mana into the card.

“My lord, what’s wrong?” Aki asked again.

“There’s a Klax spying on us somewhere. I don’t know how else they could find us so easily.” Jaden replied, looking over his newly summoned hunter. With a thought, he directed his summon to find the Klax scout. The hunter grunted, moving off silently into the brush.

Aki looked around in confusion. “My lord, I don’t think any enemy could so easily slip through our patrols.”

Jaden shrugged. “Do you have a better idea?”

Aki shook his head, and the pair fell silent as they continued moving toward the nexus. It wasn’t long before a roar sounded from a nearby tree. Jaden looked up just in time to see a Klax tumble from a set of branches that didn’t seem as though they should have supported its weight. A spear protruded from its side, having apparently been thrown by the summoned hunter. Jaden winced as the Klax landed directly on the shaft with a loud crunching sound; driving the spearhead through its body, and out the other side.

The Klax expired a few seconds later with a sigh. Moving closer, Jaden tentatively kicked it to ensure it was dead as several Jeffs appeared from the jungle, surrounding the dead reptile.

“Well, that answers that question.” Jaden announced, mostly to himself as he waved his hand; dismissing the summoned hunter. A moment later, Lois and Niko appeared as well; curious about the loud scream.

“What would you have us do my lord?” Aki asked.

“I guess we dig in. Let them come to us, then have the attack force hit them from behind while they’re focused on us.” Jaden replied, distractedly looking through his deck.

Aki bowed. “As you command, my lord.”

Jaden grunted his acknowledgement before finally finding what he was looking for. “Here, Aki, use this.” He said, handing Aki the card.

“What is it my lord?” Aki asked, taking the card curiously.

“It’s a trap card. I don’t know exactly how it’s going to work with the magic system here, but use it to set up some traps in the Klax’s path.”

“As you command, my lord.” Aki said stiffly.

“Seriously Aki, you don’t have to keep calling me lord. It gets a bit old you know?” Jaden admonished.

Aki bowed with all the noble mannerism he could muster. “As you wish, god-emperor.”

Jaden groaned, walking away to talk to Niko. Aki smiled in amusement as he righted himself from his bow. Looking at the card skeptically, Aki shrugged; moving to the edge of the clearing. Glancing at the card, Aki extended it dramatically toward the ground.

“Activate Furious Bear Trap.” He declared flatly.

To his eyes, a small dome of red energy extended two feet in every direction from the point he had focused the spell on. Tapping his chin thoughtfully, Aki looked up from the ball of energy. Waving over the nearest Jeff, Aki stared at him appraisingly. “Soldier, what number are you?”

“One hundred eighty-two, sir.”

“Wonderful. Soldier One-eight-two. Can you see anything right here?” Aki asked, waving at the red dome.

“Just the ground, sir. Should I see something?” The Jeff replied, confused.

“No, that’s perfect. Come step onto the space I’ve indicated.” Aki stepped back for safety; casting a dome of magic ten feet around to prevent anyone from seeing or hearing the experiment.

“Yes sir.” One-eight-two’s leg bumped into the red globe as he moved, triggering a flash of red light. It was only a fraction of a second later that the screaming started. Aki watched in fascination as the Bear Trap not only triggered, but began actively devouring the Jeff; using magic to propel itself up the man’s body as it tore through flesh like a wood chipper.

“I can see why the Bear Trap is considered furious.” Aki muttered, looking at the trap card with new respect.

The trap finally ran out of mana by the time it had reached One-eight-two’s rib cage. The entire left side of his body oozed mana as Aki looked dispassionately at the sobbing man. Though he hadn’t died yet, Aki knew the Jeff’s mana would run out long before the damage was repaired.

“I commend you for your service, soldier.” Aki announced disinterestedly, punctuating the statement with a hand wave. A shard of ice launched from his hand, impaling the Jeff’s head. A moment later, One-eight-two disappeared into a puff of mist. Aki nodded in satisfaction, lowering the dome of mana. Confirming that no one was aware of his actions with a quick glance, Aki set to work placing traps that he linked to land cards. The sacrifice of another Jeff confirmed his theory that the land cards allowed the traps to reset themselves after activation.

“Wonderful.” Aki purred, examining his growing minefield.

………………………………….

“Get ready everyone.” Jaden muttered, watching the red dots moving closer on his map. Luckily, Yuki had been able to adapt the magic he used for tracking prey; allowing him to tag the party of Klax with a kind of magical marker that could display on their maps.

Only a minute later, the first Klax entered Aki’s minefield. Jaden winced as he watched the front-most Klax being devoured by the Bear Traps, screaming in agony as chunks of their flesh were torn by the sharp fangs. As much as the pain he was watching made him uncomfortable, Jaden was also disappointed by the lack of substantive damage being dealt. The Klax, with their thick hides, took only shallow gouges from the traps, quickly moving past them once the mana wore out. As quietly as he could, Jaden activated his battle grid; watching the five cards drawing themselves into his hand.

“Attack!” Aki yelled.

Jeffs boiled out of the jungle, brandishing their spears, and yelling at the top of their lungs. The Klax roared their own battle cry, charging into the fray with gusto. Jaden took this as his cue, popping up from behind the log he had been using for cover.

“I play Plains.” Jaden announced, imbuing the card with a hundred mana. The dirt fell behind him as he drew his next card.

“Next, I summon Dark Paladin.” Jaden used another hundred mana, mostly drawn from the portion he devoted to intelligence to activate the card. A man in pitch black armor appeared in front of Jaden’s log. Glowing red veins extended across his armor, the light slowly pulsing like a heartbeat. A half-helmet covered the paladin’s face; hiding everything but his eyes, and lower jaw.

“Blood for the blood god!” The paladin cried, charging into the fray.

“Yep, definitely never making a sentient version of that guy.” Jaden muttered, watching as the Klax blood pooling by the traps flowed into the paladin. Curious, Jaden opened the stat screen for the paladin.

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

Dark Paladin

Owner: Jaden Harris

Mana: 142/100

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

“Cool, I wonder if I could absorb mana that way.” Jaden muttered. He had long since directed the Jeffs to send their worship mana to Chance, rather than him, meaning he no longer had access to the extra mana pool. Focusing on his new idea, Jaden concentrated on the pools of blood; watching as a red tendril stretched out to him. Flowing into his outstretched palm, Jaden felt a rush as he leached the mana from the blood. A screen popped up a moment later.

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

Skill Gained:

Blood Magic Level 1

Description: Well, looks like you’re a vampire now. Good job on that. Just remember, if you start sparkling, there will be consequences. Skills get better with practice, so let your vamp flag fly. The efficiency of the skill will increase as it levels up. Also, the more mana the enemy has, the better the blood.

Skill XP: 0%

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

After absorbing all the blood within thirty feet, Jaden checked his stat page, then reinvested a significant portion back into intelligence. He wasn’t sure, but he thought the stat was increasing his regeneration speed.

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

Jaden Harris

Max MP: 235

Free MP: 52/118 (50%)

Stats

Strength: 10 (0%)

Agility: 10 (0%)

Fortitude: 33 (10%)

Endurance: 10 (0%)

Charisma: 10 (0%)

Intelligence: 104 (40%)

Magic Resistance: 10 (0%)

*all stats are rounded to the nearest whole number

Jobs:

King of Games Level 6

Skills:

Blood Magic Level 1

Titles:

Fop Level 1

Originator Level 2

Creator Level 1

Status effects:

None

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

“Not bad.” Jaden muttered to himself, looking at the increase to his mana. “I got what, a hundred-fifty-ish mana from that?”

Jaden was shaken from his exploratory reverie by the sight of a stray fireball heading directly toward him. Diving behind the log, Jaden covered his head as the fireball left a small crater six feet behind him. Grunting, Jaden pulled himself back to his feet.

“I summon shield wall!” Jaden called out, pouring his fifty mana into the spell.

A line of shields fell from the sky, embedding themselves in the ground in front of his log.

“Alright, now what?” Jaden muttered, glancing at his depleted mana. Shrugging, he extended his hand, absorbing more blood from the battlefield as he watched the fight. So far, the battle was largely even; the tough scales of the Klax matched against skirmish tactics, and greater numbers from the Jeffs. Jaden watched as his paladin dodged a blow from an injured Klax, using the opening to thrust a hand directly into a wound in the Klax’s leg. Jaden could only describe what happened next as the Klax’s leg exploding as all of the blood in the part of the limb near the paladin’s fist thrust outward in a shower of red needle’s.

“That card is way too metal.” Jaden decided aloud as the paladin delivered the coup de grace to the injured Klax. Glancing around, Jaden watched as Lois and Niko worked in tandem; dueling with a single Klax. Like most of the Klax warriors, it seemed to be specialized more around strength than speed.

Ducking a swipe of its claw, Niko swung her sword; the blade bouncing off her opponent’s torso. Its next attack left a small gash on her arm as she dodged a fraction of a second too slow. As it pressed its advantage against Niko, Lois moved in from behind; shoving a spiked fist into its back. The Klax grunted in pain, swinging a fist in a vicious backhand that narrowly missed Lois. Turning to engage Lois, the Klax charged like an enraged bull; catching her off guard with the sudden move.

Bowled over, and dazed by the impact; Lois began grappling with the Klax, who was doing its best to gouge her with its claws. Before it could do more than score her legs with the short claws on its feet, Niko came from behind; stabbing her sword down into its midsection. The Klax howled, but now its position atop Lois became a disadvantageous one as she held it in place. Over and over, Niko stabbed down into the subdued reptile; not noticing the second Klax sneaking up behind her.

“Niko, behind you!” Jaden cried out, to no avail as she was hyper-focused on ending the Klax that held Lois. Cutting off the flow of blood mana, Jaden pulled a card from his hand. “I cast Broken Mirror!” He cried in panic, pouring all of his newfound mana into the spell. The mirror interjected itself between Niko, and the second Klax, who had been in the middle of swinging a claw at Niko’s back.

The Klax growled as a gash appeared along its own torso on the same location where it had struck its own reflection. Finally reacting to the noise behind her, Niko turned; ducking around the mirror to strike at the new threat. Jaden could see a sneer on her face that he identified as berserker rage. Swearing at his own impotence, Jaden began draining blood from the battlefield again to renew his mana.

Meanwhile, Niko had fallen fully into the rhythm of her battle rage; her weapon now scoring gashes in the Klax’s scales rather than bouncing off. A few feet away, the Klax that was still grappling with Lois continued the struggle; the competition more equal now that it had been weakened by its wounds. Jaden felt torn over which of the girls to help, but ultimately decided on Lois since she was in more danger. Drawing on the seventy-eight mana that his Plains card had regenerated, Jaden flourished a card from his hand. “I summon Loyal Soldier!” He announced, directing the summon to emerge next to Lois’s opponent.

Responding to Jaden’s mental command, the soldier thrust his spear into the Klax’s gill; only managing to penetrate six inches. Pulling his weapon back, the soldier thrust into the same spot again and again. Each stab penetrated an inch farther. The Klax was screaming now, but Lois continued to doggedly grapple it; holding it in place as the soldier dug into the meat of his torso.

Since that conflict now seemed to be a foregone conclusion, Jaden looked to Niko’s fight. This time he didn’t have sufficient mana to intervene, but his chest tightened at seeing a panting Niko who had taken almost as much damage as she had dealt. Her opponent was also panting, but didn’t seem to be burdened by its injuries as it continued to trade blows.

Jaden gasped as he watched Niko take a heavy blow to her stomach, seemingly not noticing the damage as she retaliated; smashing her sword into the Klax’s stomach with all the grace of a cave man swinging a club. The impact caused the Klax’s stomach to cave in in a gruesome explosion of flesh. Finally having suffered a wound grievous enough to hinder it, the Klax’s vicious swings turned desperate; missing spectacularly as Niko backed up, allowing the creature to wear itself out. Within several seconds, the Klax fell unconscious from the mix of pain, and blood loss. An insane smile plastered on her face, Niko drove her sword down into the Klax’s neck.

The moment the sword pierced through the other end of the neck, essentially decapitating the Klax, Niko fell to one knee; still panting, and grinning madly. Ten seconds later, Niko grunted, pushing herself to her feet by using her sword as a crutch. With a wet schlick sound, she withdrew the sword from the corpse; using it like a cane as she hobbled slowly towards where Jaden hid behind his log, still draining blood from the battlefield.

With a sigh, Niko collapsed next to him; leaning into him with a gentle, joyous smile on her face. Softly, she began humming as Jaden reached his hand out to caress her head; accidentally using the hand that was still actively absorbing a streamer of blood.

“Whoops, sorry.” Jaden exclaimed, pulling his hand back as streamers of blood fell out of alignment to drip through her hair.

Still humming softly, wordlessly, Niko grabbed the offending hand, pulling it back into position atop her head. The blood drenched her hair, leaving the blond straw atop her head a dark color; matted, and dripping drops of blood in a soft pitter-patter upon the ground.

Jaden cocked his head in confusion before deciding to roll with it. Deactivating his battle grid, Jaden dug his deck from its holster the moment it reappeared at his waist. Pulling out the First Aid card, Jaden tended to Niko’s wounds; prompting her to snuggle into him harder in gratitude.

“Am I strong enough yet?” Niko whispered, a second before she passed out in his arms.

Jaden sighed, and slung his arm around her shoulder. “What am I going to do with you?”