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93 - The True Windbreaker
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“Come to me for I can give you what you seek.”
For the first time, Lexie actually heard the words whispered in the wind. Just like Tate advised, she ignored it.
Besides, she had bigger and better things to worry about. Her nerves skittered with excitement as she opened up her inventory. She’d brought her crafting tools along with her, including the generator, just in case she got stuck in the dungeon, and needed to craft a card to help them out. She selected one of the blank cards that her father had bought her–of which she only had two remaining–and also selected her most recent card <Windbreaker>.
She was going to make it again, from scratch, the way it was meant to be made.
She sat on the sand, cross-legged, and got to work. Time floated by meaninglessly as she toiled, the whispering voices fading into a familiar background hum. It was easier and faster to craft <Windbreaker> this time because Lexie already had the intent governing her and only had to copy the pathways already there. Although she didn’t time herself, it probably took her thirty minutes, tops.
Once it was done, she wanted to activate it. Unfortunately, there was no one to try it on.
It should work, she thought and decided to open up her SI again. She couldn’t read the language, but she figured that everything should be in the same place so she just clicked on the corresponding buttons to incorporate the card to her deck.
To her surprise, there was no hassle this time, no telling her that the card was too overpowered or making her jump through a million hoops.
The screen was suddenly bright with fake fireworks around what she believed to be a Fae/Eldritch celebratory text. The activation symbol appeared in front of the card, and it was slightly different from her old <Windbreaker> symbol even though the intent for both cards was the same. The symbols glowed and finally, it all settled into the card.
Another surprising thing: she wasn’t asked to provide the name of the card or any other details. It was inscribed on the system screen in Fae/Eldritch tongue. Lexie wondered if the Fae card name was different from the name of the card on Earth. Probably. Its Fae name was likely closer to the intent.
Just like how Naem called <Out of Mind, Out of Sight> ‘The Dance of the Hidden Soul’.
Once Lexie was done with the card, she couldn't wait to try it. She was anxious for Tate to return and kept checking on his 100-meter updates. He hadn’t moved for some time. She was starting to get worried. The surrounding voices began telling her to go find him but she ignored them. The situation had her thinking that she may need to add another functionality to the three-card loop mechanism if she could. Something that would give her regular reports not just of Tate’s whereabouts but also of his well-being so she would know if he was in trouble.
Her mind bounced between thoughts of that and her new card, her core tightening at the possibility she may have just found, the one that would free her to create cards in a different, eldritch dimension and then somehow use those cards with the Earth system.
But would the card work once she got out of here? Could it really be that simple?
She opened up her inventory and called up the <Out of Mind> card just to check. It looked different from all her other cards, and she wanted to ensure that she wasn’t missing anything. She compared it side by side to the card she'd just created and noticed that on her interface, the <Out of Sight> card had a tiny symbol at the bottom. It seemed like a stamp. Why hadn't she noticed it before?
Something popped up when she clicked on the symbol and it was once again unreadable, but it looked like it had a 'yes' or 'no' option. But because Lexie couldn't read it, she didn’t choose either way and simply kept analyzing the symbol. It looked familiar for some reason. Where had she seen that before? It hadn't been on the <Out of Sight> card, she knew that much.
She closed her eyes, trying to figure it out when suddenly she felt a cold hand tap her shoulders.
She screamed, loud and long as she spun around to find green eyes flared in surprise. They wrinkled with mirth.
“Sorry.” Tate's voice trembled from holding back his laughter. "I wasn’t trying to scare you.”
“Don’t sneak up on me then!” Lexie laid her hand over her racing heartbeat. “This place is already spooky enough. You almost gave me a heart attack."
"Again, not my intention. Apologies." His lip still twitched though.
Lexie made herself calm down. "It's fine. I'm glad you're here. I was starting to get worried.”
“Sorry. There was more loot than I expected.” He patted his pouch, which didn’t look full but it never would. He waggled his eyebrows. “Let’s get out of here. I have a feeling you’re going to be pretty happy with what I found.”
Lexie nodded slowly as she followed him to the doorway in the air. As they approached, Lexie was tempted to shove him through the door as payback for the disorientation and genuine fear he’d shown her, but she throttled the childish urge. After all, he was the reason that she’d found this place at all. She should thank him for that. And she would, when she figured out a way to do it without him getting all smug.
Lexie was jittery when they reappeared on the grassy plains outside the dungeon and it wasn’t just the dungeon core sending her mana haywire. It was also excitement and leftover nerves. She needed to get home ASAP.
Tate released her hand and they walked a little bit away to watch the portal as it continued to swirl.
Lexie glanced at Tate who looked very pleased with himself.
“What did you get?” she asked.
Instead of answering, he opened his pouch and began to pull out items dropping them onto the grass. There were stones of different glowing colors, pieces of gold, and a rusty dagger with a curved polished wooden handle and an emblem on the edge.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“The pirate’s dagger,” he said. “The lead pirate lost his dagger, and it was the clue to solving the hidden level. I was able to keep it at the end."
"Nice," she said. "So now that you've solved the secret level, does it mean that no one else will be able to solve it?"
"Who knows?" he said. "I've never gone to the same secret level twice so I guess not." He pointed at the clear gems on the ground.
“Those are for you,” he said.
She bent over and took it apprehensively, wondering at the cool stones resting in her palms. “What are they?”
“Fae Crystals,” he said. “It’s what your cards are made out of, correct?”
“Yeah,” she gaped. “How did you find these?”
“Some dungeons are more intelligent than others and will reward you for completing their mini puzzles. That reward is usually based on your heart's desire limited by how powerful the dungeon is."
"I see." So that was how he managed to find everything he needed as 'The Finder'. The dungeon rewarded him.
"Not all dungeons do that, mind you. But this one did. And since you were there, I guess it factored in your heart's desire too,” he said. “Crushed, I think those should make you like four to six cards? I’m not sure.”
“Neither am I,” she said, and she began wondering how she would even get it crushed in the first place without someone asking questions.
“I can get it done for you,” Tate volunteered. “I know a guy.”
"You do?"
"Of course. I'm the Finder."
Lexie managed not to roll her eyes.
“That's sweet,” she said, truly touched. “Thank you, Tate.”
His ears turned pink and he brushed the front of his hands on his pants. “No problem. I think it’s cool what you’re trying to do, making cards for mundanes. Not a lot of people in your position would even think about that.”
Lexie disagreed but she didn't argue, only shrugged weakly.
“But you know this doesn’t factor into my percentage of the rest of the loot right?” she joked.
“Of course not,” he snorted and glanced at the glowing red rocks. “I collected about twenty mana rocks. I take thirteen and you take seven. Easy. What are you even going to do with them anyway? Because I know you’re not taking mana potions right?” He was asking and warning all at once.
Lexie responded with an arched brow. “That’s for me to know and you to never find out.”
He smirked. “Touche.”
Lexie grinned. Truthfully, she didn’t know what she would do with the mana stones but she had a vague idea. She’d been speaking to Isaac about making her very own mini mana well that was renewable and would never run out of mana. Isaac doubted such a thing could exist but he said he would look into it. He didn't sound hopeful exactly, but Lexie was trying to find encouragement in the fact that he hadn't laughed in her face when she'd mentioned it.
She collected her goods and packed them away into her inventory, except for the Fae Crystals which she gave to Tate. She gave him the gold too, and asked him to trade it for her and simply give her whatever credits he got from the sale. She had an idea of what the exchange rate was so she would know if he cheated her, which she doubted he would.
And speaking of cheating….she kinda felt like she was cheating him in this deal of theirs. She wasn’t doing much in the grand scheme of things, so she didn’t feel like she deserved most of that money that he was offering.
“Let’s do it seventy, thirty,” she said. “With you getting seventy percent of everything. Except maybe Fae Crystals.”
“Why?” He seemed suspicious, rather than grateful.
“Because I don’t think I’m doing much to deserve that thirty-five percent split.”
“You’re doing plenty. That card checkpoint thing you devised was genius and enabled me to go farther than I would usually go."
“Still,” she said. “I think this way is fairer. “
He shook his head. "No. We're keeping it sixty-five, thirty-five.”
She gave him an incredulous look. “Are you turning down more money right now?”
“No, I’m turning down your self-righteous attempt to be the bigger person. We’re both technically criminals here, none of us gets to be the bigger person.
“You said it wasn’t a crime."
“It's not a crime until we get caught. In which case, we just pretend to be oblivious kids. What are they going to do, charge two children with illegal delving?”
“Maybe." Lexie recalled her father telling her that there were child assassins in District 8, who started as young as eight years old. She wondered what happened to them when they were caught.
She also hoped her father didn’t get in trouble if she got caught. She could play dumb and pretend she and Tate accidentally got sucked into the dungeon, but she didn't want them to think of Aiden as neglectful.
“Whatever." Lexie shook her head. "Look, if they do catch onto us and refuse to buy the 'innocent children' act, fair warning, I'm going to throw you under the bus as the mastermind of this little scheme. It won't take much for me to blab either. I have low pain tolerance and I won't do well in prison. I’m just your employee so I'm good with thirty percent.”
Tate wasn't buying it. “Employee? Please. You’re at the very least an independent contractor.”
“Do you just enjoy being stubborn and contrarian?”
“Do you enjoy having the last word?”
The two bickered for a little more until they finally decided on a tentative sixty-five-point-five and thirty-five-point-five split of which Tate only added the decimals to annoy her.
Back at home, it was finally the moment of truth for Lexie. She opened up her inventory to realize the card that she’d created was there, glowing red.
The second she clicked on it, an error message appeared on her screen:
!! ERROR!! ERROR!!
A card created on an alien planet must be incorporated into the EARTH 9 System.
Enter Ambassadorial ID now.
Ambassadorial ID? Next to it, Lexie saw the symbol and noted that it was the same symbol on Aiden’s card. So that was what it was for.
Damn it, she didn’t know what to put there. She didn't have an ambassadorial ID.
“Would you like to try mine?”
Lexie jerked aroun in her seat, her soul nearly jumping out of her skin.
She saw him instantly. Naem was perched outside her window again in bird form, making her heart zip around her chest.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” she told him.
“And you’re not supposed to be crafting cards in dungeons.”
Some of her fear became shock. “I…how did you…were you following me?”
His eyes like death watched her. “Not in the way you think. But I knew the moment you entered the dungeon heart.”
“The dungeon heart….oh you must mean the secret level.”
“Yes. I came here to ensure you had not suffered ill effects.”
“Ill effects? Like what?”
His wings moved in a shrug. “It did not happen, so you don’t have to worry about it.”
What is he talking about? Every time she felt like she was figuring the Demon King out, he would say something else that would throw her for a loop.
“Why do you care about my soul?” Lexie asked finally, apprehension trickling through her. She doubted Naem was just a naturally caring being, so there had to be something he wanted from her. “If this is about signing a contract–”
The bird huffed in a way that could be mistaken as a laugh.
“I have already signed enough contracts with enough powerful beings that I am treated like a King amongst my people,” he said. “I don’t need a contract with a puny [untranslatable] human, who has just barely grasped the capacity of who she is and what she can do.”
Well, that's insulting. Or complimentary, she wasn't sure which. Both?
"What does the 'grasping the capacity of who I am' mean?"
“A contract isn't what I want from you,” Name continued like she hadn’t spoken.
“Then what is it?” she asked carefully, morbid curiosity taking over. Did he know she wasn’t Aiden’s daughter? Was he trying to figure out the source of her soul damage to understand if she was a different soul in Aiden’s daughter’s body?
Naem was quiet for a few seconds, and when he answered, it wasn’t at all like Lexie expected.
“I went through a lot of…trouble…bringing you back when your soul tried to leave your body that last time," he said. "It would be immensely irritating to have to do it again.”
Lexie didn't know what to say to that. Rather than sounding affectionate, his voice was almost threatening her not to endanger herself needlessly.
She avoided his gaze. She didn’t want to endanger herself, but if this was the only way to get cards that worked then she would continue going to the dungeons with Tate.
She suddenly recalled what Naem had said when he appeared, about her trying his ambassadorial ID. Was he for real?
She looked back at him. Eldritch don't lie.
“Why would you help me even though I’m not signing a contract with you?” she asked.
“Curiosity,” he said instantly. “To see if you will be the one.”
“The one to do what?”
He didn’t answer. In a black whirl, he disappeared and an alert dinged on her SI.
YOU HAVE RECEIVED AN AMBASSADORIAL KEY FROM AMBASSADOR TYNRAE-HA.
ACCEPT? [YES] [NO]
Lexie took a deep breath and accepted. A swirling mechanism activated and the words vanished as another set of words appeared.
WELCOME AMBASSADOR. YOU MAY INCORPORATE CARD NOW. PLEASE NOTE CARD POWER IS TOO HIGH FOR AN EARTH SYSTEM. SHOULD A HUMAN MAGE INJURE THEMSELVES USING IT, AMBASSADOR WILL BEAR RESPONSIBILITY. [YES] [NO]?
Lexie clicked 'Yes' and just like that she had a brand new card in her inventory. A brighter, better <Windbreaker>.
The card signalled her to fill in its Earth Name and she chose to name it <True Windbreaker>. She didn’t receive any points for whimsy this time, but she didn’t know if it was because the card had been created in a dungeon, or because she’d already used the Windbreaker name. In any case, she was happy with it. And she couldn’t wait to test it out the first chance she got.
Which happened to be the next day.
Walking to the dojo, she could already tell something was different. There were far more people in the parking lot than usual, hanging around doing seemingly nothing. Some of them looked official, but others looked like regular people. They were whispering among themselves and one person tried the door handle but it wouldn’t give them access. Conrad must have activated the lock, which was rare. He never locked it.
Lexie stood a little away from the crowd and she texted him, Hey. I’m outside and I think the door is locked.
Conrad messaged back, Sending Cara to open it.
A few seconds later, the door opened and Cara peeked out at Lexie gesturing to her to hurry in. Lexie did, cutting through the small crowd who suddenly gathered around the doorway trying to peek in.
Luckily, Lexie made it in without incident.
“Be cool,” Cara whispered to her as she shut the door behind her. Lexie frowned at the other girl. What did she mean by that?
When Cara stood aside, Lexie got it.
It smacked the wind out of her, figuratively.
She choked on air and couldn’t breathe for several seconds.
Cara sighed her disappointment and repeated, “I told you to be cool.”
Lexie didn’t care what Cara said. There was absolutely no way for her to even pretend to be cool in this situation. Top Dog, the Top Dog, was here.
He was standing at the other end of the dojo with Conrad who was telling him something. Lexie barely noticed her trainer or the other people milling about. She had tunnel vision for Top Dog only.
Lexie. She felt like the voice was coming from far away, until someone shook her.
“Lexie!”
“Huh?”
Cara was snickering at her. “Conrad has been calling you for the past thirty seconds.”
“Oh.” She looked back in that direction to see that Conrad was indeed giving her an amused look. She had to force herself not to look at Top Dog again as she responded, “Yeah?”
“I said it’s good that you’re here. Now we can start.”
“Start what?” Lexie asked dumbly.
“Well, you guys are going to spar one one-on-one with each other and my friend here,” Conrad slung his arm around Top Dog’s shoulders and Top Dog shrugged it off. “Is going to evaluate you.”
Comments
Alex Rahr
Typos & similar Lexie, she felt like Lexie felt like (Or there might be some words missing here but I'm not sure which.) The card signaled her fill in The card signalled her to fill in (Extra l in signalled, add 'to' between 'her' and 'fill'.) who has barely just grasped who has just barely grasped Card created in alien planet Card created on alien planet (Unless 'planet' is a mistranslation.) refuse to buy to refuse to buy the wondering at the cool resting wondering at the cool stone resting (Or something else in place of 'stone' , gem or sensation or something, but there definitely seems to be a missing noun there.)
PrettyPinkCupcake
Suggestion: “I went through a lot of…trouble bringing you back when your soul tried to leave your body that last time," he said. "It would be immensely irritating to have to do it again.” >>> “I went through a lot of… trouble …bringing you back when your soul tried to leave your body that last time," he said. "It would be immensely irritating to have to do it again.” (Add ellipsis)
