Card Apocalypse 1, Chapter 14 (Patreon)

[Also pretty rough, only worry about corrections in the cards or continuity. Additionally, I may switch stuff in regards to whether the elves and goblins come from the same world.]

Chapter Fourteen: The Battle of Beaver Bridge

            It took three days and two deaths to cross the Ashtae Forest to less than a mile from the Beaver Bridge. They had reached the river, and the path ran along it for a bit. A contingent of elves was waiting, that they would most likely have fight through.

            So everyone had gone back a couple miles, and they were eating, resting, and thinking about cards. Even with the lower card rates many of the monsters offered, the men that followed Noah were up to twenty cards. With a battle facing them, they had formed two groups, each with ten cards, and were about to roll off, with each getting the same chance to get a deck as the cards they contributed—since Trevor, despite looking like a bro, was apparently a closet nerd who had brought his lucky ten-sider with him.

Noah himself was up to ten cards, and had gotten a third Reclaimer Golem from Red’s ability to switch cards from dead monsters. He was carefully considering his deck, and any changes he might make.

            “You know, now that you have three, you can merge them,” Lika said, staring at the card.

            “What?” Noah asked.

            “You can merge the cards. So it increases in tier, making it better forever.”

            Noah stared at the card in his hand.

Reclaimer Golem

Uncommon Tier-1 Golem [Cyber, Scavenged]

1 Golem, 1 Any Power

Health: 10

Attack: 0

Magical Attack: 0

Defense: 5

Magical Defense: 3

Special: Every round this card is out, it may heal 2 damage to any golem, or double to any Cyber or Scavenged Golem

Special: May convert a single machine or metal material to do a full heal of any Golem, and +5 maximum Health and +1 to all stats to any scavenged Golem so healed.

Special: Apocalypse Scavenger 1: This card may process mortal ruins to create scrap tokens. Approximately a motorcycle worth of components and one hour is necessary to create one token. It may have a single scrap token tied to it.

“It’s not a Von Neuman machine, not yet, but we’re getting there.”—Crystal, High Priest of Mechos.

            “It’s decent, but it’s not the greatest card ever. I mean, my golems rarely last long enough to heal. Although it’s better than the Wasteland Scavenger card.”

            Red let out an electronic raspberry. “Well, if you would simply upgrade me, I could certainly benefit.”

            “Well, pull the others out of your deck and merge them. See how much better it gets.”

            “How do I do that?” Noah asked.

            “Just sub in some of other card, push the three cards together, and then the new better card back in. Or at least, that’s what our village witch-doctor always said. She seemed smart.”

            Noah did that, replacing his two Reclaimer Golems with a Rattletail Origin card and his Wasteland Scavenger. He took the three cards and pushed them together, willing them to combine. The three cards shimmered, then slid together. The card that emerged was nearly the same—but not quite. Noah noted a bit more survivability and some increased scrap holding capacity.

Reclaimer Golem

Uncommon Tier-2 Golem [Cyber, Scavenged]

1 Golem, 1 Any Power

Health: 12

Attack: 0

Magical Attack: 0

Defense: 5

Magical Defense: 4

Special: Every round this card is out, it may heal 3 damage to any golem, or double to any Cyber or Scavenged Golem

Special: May convert a single machine or metal material to do a full heal of any Golem, and +5 maximum Health and +1 to all stats to any scavenged Golem so healed.

Special: Apocalypse Scavenger 2: This card may process mortal ruins to create scrap tokens. Approximately a motorcycle worth of components and one hour is necessary to create one token. It may have a two scrap tokens tied to it.

“It’s not a Von Neuman machine, not yet, but we’re getting there.”—Crystal, High Priest of Mechos.

“Well, that was a bit underwhelming,” Noah responded.

Lika laughed at him and lightly hit him on the shoulder. “Don’t be silly. It’s a permanent increase in your power, like leveling. Your deck just got stronger, as it plays slightly better for the same power cost.”

Noah nodded to her words. He supposed it made sense, but giving up two card to get a small power increase hurt.

He looked at the Ashtae Forest around him—a forest he would forever think about as the Rattletail Forest. I suppose any Rattletail Deckbearer crazy and badass enough to brave this forest regularly could get a ridiculous number of merge cards, though. So I guess it’s a legit strategy. I wonder if there’s a place I can get a ton of cards for my deck.

Lika wasn’t done. “Besides, it’s crazy hard, but if you can get a card to Tier four, it supposedly gets a really strong ability, making it far more useful.”

            Noah did quick math in his head. “That’s twenty-seven copies!”

            She shrugged. “Hey—it can be worth it. Some deckbearers can become so strong they live for hundreds or thousands of years. On that time frame, it might be worth it.”

            “Or, I suppose, they could hunt this forest for a bit,” Noah said, voicing his thoughts from a few moments ago.

            She laughed, but her voice had an edge to it. “Yeah. Fuck this forest. Once we’re across the bridge, there’s almost no monsters. It’s just the heart portion, between the rivers, that’s really bad.”

            “And also where most of the cards can be gained?”

            Lika nodded.

            Noah heard a roar of happiness, and looked up to see that Trevor was hugging Matt and Emile. “I won! My lucky ten-sider came through for me! I got a deck!!”

            “Don’t get too excited,” Emily said, laughing. “It’s a rattletail Beast deck composed mostly of the same dumb two cards. You’ve got all the spiders and those stupid origin rabbits.”

            “Plus that tiger thing,” Trevor said.

            “Sure, whatever,” Emily responded with a roll of her eyes.

            Another shout showed that a man named James Washington was the owner of the next deck—also a low-rarity, low-tier rattletail Beast deck.

            Noah looked around. Everyone looked as rested as he thought they would be, without actually taking a nap near the enemy.

            “Well, shall we go see about getting another deck?” Noah asked. “With luck, the elves will have one.”

            Everyone nodded eagerly.

***

            A few minutes later, the remaining eighteen, plus Red, stood near the edge of the forest. Noah was set up with his bolt action rifle on a carefully placed log, looking at their target—A tiny palisade and tower that guarded the bridge, and by their best count, the ten elves guarded it.

            The river behind was almost as large as the one they had crossed days ago, but path from the edge of the forest to the fortification was a mere couple hundred feet. The elves were all lounging about, except for one bored—and hot—looking guy on top of the tower, but it was still a bit of luck that they’d been able to set up without being spotted.

            “How did they have time to build a palisade and tower?” Noah asked, glancing up from his scope. “It hasn’t even been four days since the apocalypse.”

            Lika blinked and then laughed quietly. “Oh, you. Those ass-barnacle elves’ palisade was there long before the apocalypse—on our world. You might as well ask how your people built those farms in a single day.”

            Noah blushed, feeling like an idiot. Of course.

            “Wait, you’re not from their world?” Noah asked.

            “Nope,” Lika answered. “No elves anywhere near where I’m from, but they’re our new neighbors, now.”

She made explosion motions with her hands. “Lucky us!”

The Lika shrugged. “Or, well, I don’t know. Maybe they’re from my world, but if so, we got stitched back strange. There was only one river near where I lived before this as well. It doesn’t matter—jobs the same.”—she pattered her vest, which still had a few vials.—“We need to kill these murdering, stuck-up pricks and claim Beaver Bridge.”

Noah nodded and returned his eyes to the sight.

A few moments later, he gently squeezed the trigger. A bang rang out across the river, and birds flew from the trees around him, as well as a few from the sparser trees on the other side.

The elf in the tower collapsed as Noah frantically reloaded.

The elves around the palisade climbed to their feet, wary but not freaking out like someone with experience with gunshots would. One of them, with bronze hair and a fancier tabard over his leathers, called out in a melodious language that Noah couldn’t understand—to the felled elf on the tower, Noah figured.

Noah didn’t give him the chance to get a reply, dropping bronze hair as well.

The sound pulled all gazes in their direction this time, and one of the elves pointed right at them and screamed something in the same tongue. The elves grabbed weapons and dropped behind the palisade—those that Noah could see at all.

“What now?” Lika asked.

“I don’t think they have any deckbearers,” Noah said, a tiny hint of disappointment in his voice.

He summoned a Scavenged Battle Bot.

“That means that we can just send monsters at them till they fall, or charge us,” Noah continued.

A flight of arrows rose from behind the palisade. “Or, perhaps they have a few options still,” Noah said, ducking behind his log.

Everyone else got behind trees, and the arrows fell into the forest around them. There were no screams or cussing, so Noah assumed everyone was untouched.

“But they don’t have many,” Noah continued. “As soon as the first Scavenged Battle Bot dies, I’ll have the mana to summon the Goliath Scrap Bot, which can probably tear down the walls if need be. Meanwhile, Lika, you can summon as well, right?”

She nodded from where she sat beside him, behind the log. “You’ve seen me do it.”

Noah glanced back over the log, bracing himself against his gun, waiting for someone to pop their head up, hopefully for a long look. “So, send some of your golems over, and blow them up again when they’re next to the wall—since it’s a burst of fire rather than an explosion per se, that might set the whole thing on fire.”

Lika nodded. “You fight well, Noah. But bloodlessly. It’s… disturbing.”

            “I fight to win.”