Page 139 of Light Leech

“This format will test your extended focus and the ability to handle multiple responsibilities in scholarship. The battlefield and this match’s environment will be revealed upon entry. Every deck this round will be equipped with additional ability cards which will aid your Lonesome Infant, bringing your starting health to what would be a usual maximum of thirty-five health, but before all cards are added, players will be given an additional fifteen health to compensate for the Lonesome Infant. Additional ability cards may be added as per the players desire. Thank you.”

One blink was all it took for the world to shift from that chamber within a black abyss to the arena from before. The field between me and my opponent was a pixelated rainbow. An orb sat on each end of our fields.

I was sure my opponent was glaring at me and the egg was interesting enough, but Ralia’s off-putting behavior was still bothering me. I might be on the edge of death and the eventual collapse of the world, yet her affect bothered me more than any of these things. I didn’t think I was some great empath and was not humble enough to always put others before me. Was I being prideful for setting her before me? No, that was the opposite of selfishness wasn’t it? Maybe I was selfish for wanting to see her happy again so I could leech off her joy. Maybe I wanted her attitude to return to charismatic perfection so I had someone to lean on during my ceaseless hours of melancholia.

I thought of Boyband. Akna. Naoma was different. I tried to reach further into this emotion and found no clarity. Perhaps it was as simple as wanting my family to be well. Maybe Zhu was right in worrying about Ralia’s Gui, but she had always had issues with him. Yes. Part of it was the selfish desire to be back home with them in a comfortable bliss, but that meant that they too were well. It was all a simple desire that I was overcomplicating. I wanted my friends to be well and safe, but that desire was out of my reach.

The announcer’s voice grounded me to the unreal reality of the arena. “Choose your starting legends!”

Part of me wanted to ask the system why we had to choose our starting legends prior to the battlefield’s theme reveal, but there was no purpose. I wouldn’t have the strategy or familiarity with my deck for that to make any difference and–more significantly–the game had no rhyme or reason in accordance with human logic. It might pretend to be a test of true intellect, but I knew it was as rigged and flexible as any of the modern laws. A system wasn’t running this, but an individual–if the Luxists were leading us well. A human could change the order of the game’s phases all they wanted and any complaints would be ignored. Just as with the politicians outside of the neurocore, our opinions didn’t matter. It was their game, not ours.

I glanced at my opponent on the video cube above, which is the same as the last one as was everything in the arena, save the battlefield. He was an older man, perhaps sixty or seventy but still had a youthful visage. This was no comforting grandfather, but a hardened Scholar who seemed as fit for this event as any other. He was of West Arabasian descent and well-toned, though I wondered if his perfect musculature–as seen by the absence of a shirt–was another part of this illusion. My cartoonish apparel was just as unreal, but at least my body was my own.

I turned back to my hand as he finalized his starting lineup, which would be obscured until the game began. I didn’t think before choosing Zhu and hoped that every game from here on out would let me begin with him. Even if I didn’t use him in combat, his advice was invaluable. Advice or cheating, it didn’t matter as long as I survived until the next round.

I had Digital Dependent in my starting hand and would not use it out of spite. The Pain was back and despite its early death, I wanted to see what it could do. I selected it then chose Swine’s Servant, hoping it would at least be able to die before Zhu so I wouldn’t have to kill him again.

The announcer introduced me on the green side, then the old man as RegLon on the red.

“The gamble deck has been set to match the theme for this round. This rounds’ theme is…”

The field shifted to a frozen plain with miniature glaciers. Lava streams weaved around them with random eruptions of vibrant magma bursting from random cracks in the ice.

“... Hellish Tundra! Beware of your legends’ weaknesses when preparing for random damage from the battlefield. Now, for the gem of this theme…” The eggshells dissolved like frost clearing from a window. The fluid within evaporated before touching the ground. An infant dropped from each egg, clad in nothing but a loincloth.

“Help!” they screamed simultaneously as the soles on their feet faded to purple against the ice.

“Heed their calls, competitors! If one of your Lonesome Infants dies, you will automatically lose this bout. Please select their starting health and your ability cards.”

I adjusted my health to thirty-five, adding ability cards in addition to those they had added for this round, and gave my infant fifteen health.

“Begin!”

I glanced at our health total, seeing that this opponent favored their legends more than the last and gave twelve health points to their infant. RegLon had summoned four legends, two three-costs and two two-costs. Rather than a variety of creatures like mine, all of his had closer ties. Ralia had advised team synergy with my spirit type deck, but I had reason to believe that even my best combinations would pale in comparison to his legends who all shared the name. The two larger Tanuki Brutalists stood on the flanks of the gaunt Tanuki Skirmishers. The bipedal racoon-dogs looked just like the caricatures I had seen as doorstep decorations in East Arabasia, including the giant cartoonish eyes and oversized groin.

RegLon began, sending each Skirmisher out to attack The Pain, which dealt a damage but left it alive. One of the Brutalists raised his iron gauntlet in a shout, damaging the other Brutalists but allowing the Skirmishers to attack with Penetrate.

They eliminated The Pain again before I could use him and dealt two damage to me.

The other Brutalist lifted the infant, cursing the legend with the keyword Frozen. Despite the Brutalist now being a blue statue of ice, the infant suffered no damage in its grasp. I hadn’t expected my infant to take damage so early on, let alone on my opponent’s turn, but it suffered one point of damage.

Green infant: fourteen.

Red infant: twelve.

The lights turned on me. I played an ability card called Rebirth, which returned the infant to its egg for one turn. With my focus back on my legends, I activated Swine Servant’s chant ability, doubling Zhu’s attack for the rest of the turn.

“Play Multipider.”

I looked at Zhu and caught his glimpse. Rather than make him demand trust again, I followed through and summoned the card he had requested.

A reverse centaur appeared with an arachnoid torso spouting twelve arms, and two hairy human legs below. Each arm had a different modification, some with lights and others with blades. Looking at its abilities, I now understood Zhu’s request.

I chose to multitask, granting another legend with spread.

Zhu attacked with his double damage, spreading his fire-fueled staff swing’s damage to every opposing legend.

RegLon shook his head, arms still behind his back. I was relieved to see that he responded with simple disappointment where MayWat would have thrown a tantrum.