Source & Soul: A Deckbuilding LitRPG

The metal street that the smiths were on was a wide one, which I was grateful for, as it gave me ample room to pace up and down the reflective length. I was here to use the free upgrade that General Edaine had given me – an opportunity I had spent many an hour pondering, both alone and with Esmi, to determine the very best use of. Yet, now that I had arrived, I found myself wavering.

I held four gold-rimmed cards in my hand as I walked, staring at each in turn as if they would provide a more concrete answer today than all of the other times I had poured over them.

Since I was allowed to elevate any card of Rare level or less, the bargain-minded trader in me wouldn’t consider the lost value in upgrading a Common or Uncommon card instead, which left me with only these four choices. But of course, there was much more to consider than just what was written on the cards themselves. Each had three possible upgrade paths that were clear to me with my Seersight, and others that sometimes flitted at the edges. I had used my one time a day vision to look at all of them again since being granted the free upgrade, but their firmer possibilities remained the same.

And then there was the bigger question, what was I building toward? Fighting out on some battlefield against an invading army like Edaine was training us for, or in a duel against my brother to protect my marriage to Esmi? The latter was of much greater personal importance to me and only a week away now, but should I be putting myself before the good of the kingdom?

The trouble was, the more I trained, the greater the difference between what made for an effective dueling deck and one that was presummoned seemed to me. Equality, for instance, at Epic, instead of removing Souls from the field, could let me summon Souls from hand at no source cost until I had the same number in play as my opponent. In a real fight this was next to useless, but against Gale, particularly if he was using a swarm style Air deck, it would let me instantly match his presence on the field with higher quality Souls.

As for my Rare Souls, upgrades that lead to newly acquired skills presented a similar conundrum now that I was successfully cultivating Life. In a presummoned fight, if I wanted one of them to have Dodge or Hunt, I could simply cast Spells like Fluid Grace or Subtle Scenting on them – the first of which I had a copy of and the second E’lal would be happy to trade me for.

However, in a duel, there was no guarantee that I would get those Enhancement Spells at the same time as the Soul I wished to pair it with. I had done a number of cards-on-the-table style matches with Griff, and this sort of mismatched drawing had happened to me on multiple occasions. What’s more, since those upgrades were fairly basic, Griff had told me that there was a chance that the card might also become cheaper to summon when elevated to Epic, which for my Master Assassin especially would be amazing.

I was looking at that very card now, imagining it with one less Order source in the upper corner, before switching over to Atrea. Seeing her crouched there, waiting, gave me a firm stab of guilt. I had history with this card, history that I couldn’t just ignore. When asking Esmi her opinion, I had finally told her about how I shared a bond with the Human Winged Knight, who I had named and had promised to raise to Mythic to recover her memories. Esmi took the information much better than I dared hope, perhaps because she found my time with a very alive A’cia more worrisome than that spent with a card. But, to be fair to Esmi, she admitted to wanting to do the very same for all of the cards in her deck, and with my help, already had multiple upgrades planned.

While that was all well and good, the truth was, though I was loath to admit it, I wasn’t sure that Atrea really fit my deck anymore. The only defense she helped with was against Flyers, but the Zephyrs and Carrion Condors were better suited to that role, and as for offense, her devote to gain Fast Attack ability left her vulnerable, so I disliked using it. It often felt like the best way to employ her was keeping her in hand to block for 3 damage, which is exactly how I’d used her in the paired duel Hull and I had won against the Paladins. And if that’s all I was doing with her, should she even remain in my Mind Home?

I sighed, my feet slowing to a stop. Esmi and I had decided that I should go ahead and upgrade Atrea, that I should keep my word. However, if I changed my mind, I didn’t think Esmi would hold it against me. In fact, she had admitted herself that there were more optimal upgrades available to me. Atrea had waited this long, hadn’t she? The merits I had collected over the past few weeks were mostly earmarked for more Life cards, some Air, and even another Metal Golem if Throice’s family would part with it, but War Camp still had months more to go. I could upgrade Atrea later on, once I had seen to more important things.

It all made logical sense. But is that the sort of man you want to be? a voice in my head asked. The sick feeling in my stomach indicated that it wasn’t, but it failed to fully propel me in a different direction. Was this sort of conflict what Hull had been experiencing when he had wavered between siding with me or Ticosi? It seemed ridiculous to compare such a critical juncture in both our lives to the mere upgrading of a card, but perhaps that’s just how some feelings were: ridiculous.

“I don’t think you’re going to manage to wear a rut in that steel,” I looked up and saw a stocky man watching me. He was under the metal awning of the soulsmith building where I needed to go, leaning on the support pillar. “Though I can appreciate that you’re giving it your best go.” Three Fire source and three Water floated above his head, and he touched a cigar to one of the Fire to light it before taking a long pull, smoke coming back out his nostrils and traveling past his wide handlebar mustache.

“Sorry,” I said and then regretted it. This was a public thoroughfare, at least public to those who were allowed in the fortification, and I had been in no one’s way as I walked. I stood a bit straighter. “General Edaine has granted me a free card upgrade, and I’ve come to claim it.”

He nodded with a knowing air. “Ay, she told us to watch for you. Thought you’d be by sooner if I’m being honest.”

“Ah, yes,” I said, deflating somewhat. I even folded the cards in hand into a single stack, feeling a tad silly to be carrying them out in the open like this. “The choice of which to upgrade has been a more fraught decision than I expected.”

The man was probably only in late twenties, perhaps early thirties, but he gained some wrinkles when he frowned at me. “Didn’t your advisor tell you what to do? Those folk know what they’re about, you can trust the Twins in that.”

I had consulted Griff as well, and once I revealed my Soul ability to him, he had been emphatically in favor of upgrading one of my Master Shieldbearers so that it summoned when used to block from hand.

“He did, but…”

“But?” the man asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

“But,” I sighed, “there’s something I committed to long before this. Something that I feel I should see done.”

“Right then,” he said. He put his cigar out on the support beam he had been leaning on and then tucked the stub back in a pocket behind the thick leather vest he wore. He then turned back into the smithing area proper, motioning for me to follow.

I ducked under the awning after him, noting the immediate difference in where the heat was coming from: outside it was primarily from the sun above, but in here, various burners and smoking coals that were setup in a series of three stations ahead gave off a thick warmth. The air also smelled of smoke with a touch of oak, but that last bit might have just been what lingered from the smith’s cigar.

“Are you new?” I asked. “I normally see summoned smiths and a different man in here.” I had never committed to upgrading a card before, but I had scouted the location on multiple occasions.

“That would be Jubal,” the smith said, who stood now on the other side of the station. “Bit of a cantankerous fool if you ask me, so I’m glad you did,” he added with a wink. “He likes letting cards do most of the work, but if my hands aren’t in the coals, what’s the point of smithing I say?”

“And you are…” I ventured while at the same time wondering what in the Twelve he meant about putting his hands in the coals.

“Lothar,” he said. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance. Now, about this problem of yours. The upgrade your advisor suggested, I want you to imagine that you came here today, did as you were told, and left with it in hand.”

“I’ll get it the same day?” Esmi had told me as much, but hearing it confirmed by the smith I found rather exciting.

“That you will,” he said, eyes a twinkle, as if he knew exactly what I was feeling. “Go on,” he said, waving a hand at me, “how’s it feel?”

“Um, well,” I replied, taking a moment to get in the proper frame of mind to perform the thought experiment he was asking. A Master Shieldbearer that I could summon just by blocking damage directed at me? It was essentially a two for one with no downside, other than the fact that the card had to be in my hand. There wasn’t as much value in a presummoned situation where I’d already have an active Bodyguard, but the one in hand could serve as a second when the first was destroyed, and in a duel?

“Safer,” I said. “More in control.” With a card like that, I’d be able to counter Gale if he tried to launch some early, high damaging attack on me. With a card like that, I’d be one step closer to everyone accepting Esmi and me.

“Those sound like good things,” the smith said. “Now, what about this other upgrade that’s on your mind?”

Images of beating my brother were replaced by Atrea sitting uselessly in my hand or being destroyed in a spray of shards when trying to defend me by Gale’s Giant Hawk.

“Worried,” I admitted. “Afraid that it won’t really help me.”

The smith spread his hand. “Well then. Sounds like you have your answer. Give that first card over won’t you, and we’ll get things star –”

“No,” I said, shaking my head, “I’ve decided to do the second of the two.”

Lothar had been reaching toward me but stopped, his brow wrinkling again. “Sorry, friend, but you’ve lost me there.”

How to explain when I was just coming to these realizations myself? “In the past I’ve made more decisions than I’d care to admit based on fear, self-doubt, and I… refuse to do that anymore. That’s actually another promise I made to myself, and I nearly forgot about it.” I took a breath; it was grounding to hear this sort of truth spoken aloud and more kept coming. “Doing what’s right shouldn’t be a burden. I should have the strength of character to see it done and faith in myself that I will be able to handle the consequences, no matter what those may be. Thank you,” I told him, being sure to keep steady eye contact with him so he knew how much I meant it, “for helping me realize that.”

“Glad to be of service…” he said, but his tone and the way he was leaning more away now than forward gave him away; he didn’t really understand what he had done for me. “So, who is the lucky Soul?”

It was a blatant attempt to steer the conversation back onto more comfortable ground, and I decided to not begrudge him the transition.

“She is,” I said, offering over Atrea’s card.

It wasn’t until she left my fingers that I felt a pang of loss, realizing that if all went as planned, I’d never see her in that form again.

“A Human Winged Knight,” Lothar whistled. “Haven’t come across one of those before.”

“Neither have I.” I didn’t bother explaining how she had earned the wings in life. After how our last exchange had just resolved, it seemed best to keep the rest of our interaction strictly professional. “For her upgrades, I’m hoping for a few different things. Most importantly, an aura that grants her and other Souls Precision.” After seeing my Assassins struggling against Edaine’s Armored Spirits, this seemed a good way to make them more effective. “In addition, I rarely find use for her Fast Attack ability, so if that could be modified? And if her cost could be changed to have more Any, that would give me greater flexibility in summoning her.”

As I spoke, the soulsmith’s frown had returned and deepened with each added item. “That’s all…. quite specific, friend. Is this the first time you’ve upgraded a Soul before?”

“It is, yes.”

“Ah, then,” he said, blowing out some air in a relieved way. “It’s true an Epic will be powerfully useful, of that there can be no doubt. But targeted upgrades like that have no guarantee. It’s up to Fate and Fortune, after all.”

I matched his previous frown with one of my own. “When my fiancee upgraded a Soul of hers to Epic, her request that it provide more defense from hand was accommodated by the smith she used in Charbond. Do we not have the same exactitude of techniques here?”

His eyebrow twitched. “That’s just one modification, and your list was much longer than that. Making it less source specific, ay, that’s something I can try for.”

That wouldn’t do at all, not when the other abilities I had seen from her, Hunt and Flurry, weren’t nearly as useful to me. I wasn’t sure if revealing my Soul ability would change the man’s tune, nor did I want more people to know of it than needed, so I tried a different angle first.

“I appreciate your honesty. I’ll take my card back then and wait to make my requests to smith Jubal instead. When can I expect him?”

As I had hoped, instead of relinquishing the card, Lothar tightened his grip on it. “That man can barely see what he does, that’s why he relies on Summons so much. And you think he can tease out upgrades as specific as what you want?”

I shrugged. “It’s worth it to me to try.”

He snorted so hard the oiled tips of his mustache quivered. “Fine then,” he said, snatching his three Fire source from where they hovered over him and shoving them into the coals “Precision, better Fast Attack, and less Source symbols it is then.”

“Doesn’t that hurt?” I asked, watching the lumps of charcoal go from nearly extinguished to a gradual ruddy glow.

“Not when you do it right,” Lothar answered. He then ducked under the counter and brought back out a small frame of clay, which he fitted Atrea inside. Then, to the side of where the coal still burned with his Source, he put the frame in a shallow pan and began layering card shards over them: large ones along the four sides and then smaller ones across the top, first all one direction, then the other, as if he was building some sort of latticework. Next, he carefully brought the shallow pan over to the now cherry-red charcoal and placed it on top, gently enough that none of the shards were disturbed. Once there, he picked up the outer coals not directly underneath the pan and began putting them on top of the shards, which I could just barely hear pop and sizzle. Yet again, the way he did it without any gloves or other utensils was thoroughly impressive, and I watched in mesmerized silence as he encapsulated the entirety of the card and surrounding shards with coals that were now red-hot.

“What Sources do you cultivate?” he surprised me by asking.

“Sources?”

“That’s right. Hurry now,” he said, and I saw sweat rolling off of his forehead and down his face; his mustache was so wet, it hung limply on either side of his mouth.

“Order, Air, and Life,” I rattled off, unsure how the information could be useful to him.

“Right. Lean close,” he told me. “And whisper all those things you want to it. Practically blow them in.”

It would have been nice if he had warned me about that part of the process, but I got the impression that we didn’t have much time left, so I did as he bade. The center of the pile seemed to be burning brighter than the rest, so I directed my efforts there.

“Atrea,” I said, so quiet I didn’t think he could hear me. “Help me by helping my Souls, please. Strike faster without so much need for rest, and try to bring your Order and Air sides into balance.” The coals were so hot, I could feel the water pushing out of my own pores now, trying to keep me cool, but before I pulled back, I added. “I believe in you. You deserve this.”

Standing straight, it was like I was breathing entirely different air.

“Done?” he asked, glancing briefly my way, and I nodded. He then did something that flared the pile even brighter and I had to take a step back from the heat pouring off it. He was chanting something too, some sort of prayer, but I couldn’t be sure exactly what. As soon as he stopped talking, he shoved one hand deep into the coals, pulling out the clay frame, which was practically white it was burning so pure. Lothar then took his three Water source with his off hand and shoved them together with my card.

The Water boiled on contact, hissing and spitting, but not evaporating. Instead, it was the card that cooled, the clay breaking off as it did, revealing hints of a red-rim beneath. I no longer cared about the heat and stepped as close as I could, the coals still blazing between us.

“Can I see her?” I asked. If touching the new card burned my hand, I’d just heal it with my Life Source.

“Almost,” he answered, his attention focused on keeping the Water source all together and around the card. “But before you see it, remember, you and I did this together. Whatever the form, it was a joint effort.”

If I hadn’t been so enraptured by the card I was on the edge of getting to see, I might have been more annoyed that the smith was passing some of the responsibility on to me. On the other hand, I had been there the whole time and had gotten to speak my desires. No matter the outcome, I’ll make it work, I told myself, and for a wonder, I mostly believed it.

The Water source had finally calmed, and Lothar released it, letting it float back up into the air. He glanced at the card briefly, and I experienced a spike of jealousy, but not a moment later, he was passing it over to me.

The card was much cooler than I had expected, with nary a bit of clay left on it. “It’s beautiful…” I breathed, my hands shaking at the sight of her.

“Ay, that it is,” Lothar said, sounding pleased but also run ragged.

The image of Atrea dominated my vision for the next few moments and then I read everything about her three times over.

“Her attack is higher, too!” I exclaimed, finally breaking away from looking at the card.

He gave a chuckle. “That it is. Seems like she thought she could do you one better, even with all that you were asking for.”

“Sounds like her,” I let slip, but he didn’t seem to notice. “Thank you, Lothar. I’ll be sure to let everyone know what fine work you do.”

“Now that’s what a smith likes to hear,” he said, pulling his Fire source out of the coals with one hand. With the other, he was already getting his cigar ready to light. How he could want more heat right now was beyond me but also made no difference. With a result like that, he had won my patronage.

I practically scurried from the smithy, unable to contain my excitement. Tucking her behind my ear required more effort, as if being an Epic Soul made her somehow larger, and as soon as she was in my Mind Home, I started drawing cards. Fortune teased me by making me go through almost my entire deck before I got to her, but seeing her again was more than worth it.

I used the source I had been drawing in tandem to summon her, the feel of Order and Air swirling through me and then releasing as the card in my hand vanished. Her armored form took shape a few feet away, wings snapping out to their fullest, causing some workers on the street to give us a wide berth.

A shimmer of blue surrounded her now, but more than that, it shone in her eyes, flickering outward and bleeding into the air.

“Basil,” she said, looking down at her darker armor and then up at me with her blazing gaze. “You did it.”

“We did it,” I said, thinking of what Lothar had said to me. “You… are magnificent.”

“I feel that way, too,” she said, spinning in a slow circle and looking up at the sky. “I’m going to go flying.”

“Feel free.”

She readied herself, feathers rustling, but then turned to me. “Thank you. For staying true.” Her wings snapped down, and the force of wind she created was so strong it pushed me back two full steps and shot her straight upward, fast as a shooting star. By the time I recovered, she was so high up, I had to put a hand over my eyes to find her past the sun.

Perhaps it was my imagination, but her flight lines were different to me, full of great, swooping dives, sharp loops, and spinning daredevil tricks that shot her through cotton ball clouds. It was like seeing Air embodied, and yet I never doubted her control or expertise. Seeing her this way, and knowing she was one step closer to what we had dreamed up for her on sleepless nights, a knot unfurled in my chest. Only as it happened did I realize that the youthful pledge between us hadn’t just been for her, but for me as well. And, though I had no doubt she would be a boon to my deck in her new form, in that moment, neck craned back and eyes watering, it was the furthest thing from my thoughts.