Later that night, Tristan sat in an open grove similar to the one he’d awoken in and opened up his [Perk Page]. A part of him was nervous it would appear as some physical manifestation in the real world, like the [Forge], but thankfully just a menu appeared.

A large, square screen filled his vision with two tabs. The tab he was on was labeled Main Deck, while the other was Forging. He decided to leave Forging alone for now, seeing as how he didn’t have the minimum 20 shards anyway.

On the Main Deck tab were the words Apprentice Perks at the top. Underneath were his accumulated [Apprentice Perkshards], 42, and beside that were his total unlocked Perks: 0/5.

At Apprentice, he could choose five Apprentice Perks; at Adept, he could choose five Adept Perks, and so on all the way up to Transcendent. Well, Divine now, he reminded himself, feeling a little shiver of anticipation at that.

At the heart of the screen were the eight elements represented by their symbol, arranged in order: Earth, Water, Air, Fire, Light, Dark, Order, and Chaos. He focused on Dark to begin with, and the screen zoomed in.

The Dark symbol—a crescent moon—dominated the top of the screen. Beneath that were the five card types: Attack, Support, Summon, Trap, and Field. At the moment, Trap and Field were locked out, seeing as how the former couldn’t be used until Adept, and the latter at Expert.

Tristan had already decided which Perks he was going to focus on for now: a 3/2 split between Dark and Earth.

He had enough shards to unlock two Perks. He decided to use them on a Dark Summon and Attack Perk, seeing as how he didn’t have great Earth Support cards yet.

He focused on the Summon type on the screen, and the screen shifted to reveal a list of available Perks, too many to count.

Instead of being overwhelmed by the list of options, Tristan searched and found the exact one he was looking for:

[Apprentice/Dark/Summon Perk] — Imbue Bleed: Your Dark Summon’s offensive skills now add [Bleed]. (CASTS: N/A)

He unlocked that one, blinked away the confirmation message, and navigated to the Attack section and searched for the Perk he wanted.

[Apprentice/Dark/Attack Perk] — Sanguniation: When this [Perk] is activated, your next Dark Attack consumes all [Bleed] stacks, dealing extra damage. Damage increases per stack of [Bleed] consumed. (CASTS: 3).

He blinked away that confirmation message as well, then opened up his [Status Page].

Bio:

Name: Tristan

Rank: Apprentice | Low

Forging: Apprentice | Low

Build: Dark / Earth

Age: 18

[New Game Plus]: Increase all drop rate by 2x: [Perkshards], [Forgeshards], [Item Cards], [Equipment Cards], and [Blueprints].

Main Deck (7/10):

* [Apprentice/Summon/Dark]: Shadow Wolf

* [Apprentice/Attack/Dark]: Bleeding Hamstring

* [Novice/Support/Dark]: Basic Nightvision

* [Apprentice/Support/Earth]: Healing Juice

* [Apprentice/Support/Earth]: Basic Rations

* [Novice/Attack/Basic]: Earth Bolt

* [Novice/Support/Basic]: Dash

Burst Deck (0/5):

* LOCKED UNTIL MASTER

Deck Perks:

* Apprentice: 2/5

* [Apprentice/Dark/Summon Perk] — Imbue Bleed

* [Apprentice/Dark/Attack Perk] — Drip by Drip

Forge Perks:

* Apprentice: 0/5

Satisfied, Tristan shut it down, then stood up and stretched.

For now, his tinkering with Perks had put the itch in him. He wanted to max them out, as well as gather some more materials to finish his Apprentice deck.

Once that was all done, he would go clear the Dungeon.

***

The next two days passed in a simple but satisfying routine. He hunted until he had enough requirements to forge two cards at a time, then took a break to make them before heading back out.

You have successfully forged 1x. [Apprentice/Dark/Support] — Shadow Step: Move in a rush of shadow in a target direction. (CASTS: 3).

You have successfully forged 1x. [Apprentice/Earth/Support] — Wooden Shell: Surround a target in a shell of wood, increasing their Armor by 40. (CASTS: 2 | DURATION: 1 MINUTE).

You have acquired 4x. [Apprentice Forgeshards].

Speaking of [Forgeshards]: a quick look at that menu had left him feeling like he had when he first started the game—utterly overwhelmed.

Similar to the Main Deck, the Forging menu was divided into the eight elemental types. But then, they were divided into the three card components: base, ink, and foci. In the real world, it seemed like people specialized in crafting specific types of cards within a specific type of element, like a parallel to deck builds.

The Perks were all related to improving the forger's ability to make the card successfully, such as [Apprentice/Earth/Ink Perk] — Green Hues, which enabled the forger to differentiate more easily the hues of green on Earth Support cards.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Not only that, when he’d summoned his [Forge] to make the first batch of cards, he’d discovered that he could now upgrade his [Forge]. Better furnace and bellows, a better inking station, and even something called a foci attuner, whatever that was.

He didn’t understand. Quite frankly, Tristan didn’t want to understand. It was quickly becoming apparent that forging was not just a throwaway mechanic in this world; it was an equally important skill that required time, effort, and resources.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have any of those to spare, not when his ultimate goal was to reach Divine. He decided to find a forger to recruit as soon as possible; if not that, then there should be services within Sol to forge him the cards he needed, not to mention on the Continent itself.

At least, he really hoped there would be. If not, he would have to divest time away from progressing to Divine to improve his forging.

Which would really suck.

***

You have successfully forged 1x. [Apprentice/Dark/Attack] — Shadow Spear: Shoot forth a spear of darkness that impales its target with force. [CASTS: 5].

You have successfully forged 1x. [Apprentice/Dark/Support] — Nightmark: Mark a target with a cross that bursts when struck by a Dark Attack card.

(CASTS: 10 | CONDITION: A TARGET CAN ONLY BE MARKED ONCE EVERY MINUTE | DURATION: 10 SECONDS)

You have acquired 4x. [Apprentice Forgeshards].

As his arsenal of cards increased, so did his efficiency in hunting. He fell into a good cycle of using Rommie to distract foes while he easily took them out with his powerful Attacks.

There was only one incident, when an [Leafsworn Archer] had landed a sneak attack on his arm; two casts of [Berry Juice] had cleared that up, though he had another scar to show for it.

He acquired a few more equipment drops, namely another [Hogskin Boots], which he could sell later on, and a [Darkstone Amulet] from a [Nightsworn Mage], which gave a body wide [Armor] boost of 3.

It also looked quite dashing. A dark onyx stone dangling from a thin black chain.

His number of [Perkshards] had also increased, to the point where he was able to unlock one more.

You have unlocked [Apprentice/Dark/Attack Perk] — Sticking Shadows: Every third Dark Attack done in succession splashes on impact, [Slowing] the target. (CASTS: N/A).

That finished off his Attack Perks and left him with two Support Perks left.

With those boosts, he was clearing mobs with ease. He slotted out [Earth Bolt], which was useless now, and kept in [Basic Nightvision]. Him and Rommie prowled through the night, venturing deeper and deeper into the forest, staking their claim on this forest as the apex predator.

His connection with the Summon deepened. It was strange; in the game, a Summon was simply another monster to control. But here in the real world, Rommie had a personality of her own. She pouted when he finished off a monster, wanting to do it herself, and if her duration ended before he could give her belly rubs, when he next summoned her she would give him a disgruntled yip and swish of her tail.

Tristan hadn’t realized how alone he’d been feeling until he unlocked her. When it came time to sleep, he summoned her, and the two cuddled together; when her presence disappeared due to the duration, he would awaken and summon her again.

Another part of him worried about when the time came for him to upgrade to the Adept Summons; no matter how close he got to Rommie, he would not weaken his deck by keeping around an Apprentice-rank monster. Especially since at Adept he would unlock the ability to have two Summons, which meant two Adept-rank monsters.

But still, the thought strangely hurt.

***

You have successfully forged [Apprentice/Dark/Attack] — Murky Spikes: Shoot out barbed spikes of dark energy that rip into a target, applying [Slow]. [CASTS: 3]

You have successfully forged [Apprentice/Earth/Support] — Stonehold: Encase a target with a layer of stone, locking them into place. [CASTS: 2 | DURATION: 0.5 SECONDS].

You have successfully forged [Apprentice/Dark/Support] — Nighteyes: Increase your ability to see in darkness. [CASTS: N/A | CONDITION: CAN ONLY BE USED IN DARK ENVIRONMENTS.]

You have acquired 6x. [Apprentice Forgeshards].

By the dawn of his eighth day, Tristan had finished his deck. He sat against one of the slate-gray trees, chewing on his [Basic Rations] and checking his work.

Main Deck (10/10):

* [Apprentice/Dark/Summon] — Shadow Wolf

* [Apprentice/Dark/Attack] — Dark Spear

* [Apprentice/Dark/Attack] — Bleeding Hamstring

* [Apprentice/Dark/Attack] — Murky Spike

* [Apprentice/Dark/Support] — Nightmark

* [Apprentice/Dark/Support] — Shadow Step

* [Apprentice/Earth/Support] — Wood Shell

* [Apprentice/Earth/Support] — Stonehold

* [Apprentice/Earth/Support] — Healing Juice

* [Apprentice/Earth/Support] — Basic Rations

Deck Perks:

* Apprentice: 4/5

* [Apprentice/Dark/Summon Perk] — Imbue Bleed

* [Apprentice/Dark/Attack Perk] — Sanguination

* [Apprentice/Dark/Attack Perk] — Sticking Shadows

* [Apprentice/Earth/Support Perk] — Second Layer

Forge Perks:

* Apprentice: 1/5

* * [Apprentice/Dark/Ink Perk] — Dark Shades

He’d managed to farm enough shards to unlock {Second Layer}, which added another layer of defence to his Earth Support cards that shielded him, equal to half the [Armor] of the Earth card he’d used.

He also unlocked the {Dark Shades Forgeperk} on a whim, as that was the part of forging those cards he struggled with the most. It helped him to differentiate the different shades of black on a card when he was forging a Dark [Blueprint].

Two more equipment drops had been added to his arsenal: first, a [Nightsworn Hood], which granted 15 [Armor]. That was equipped immediately, the midnight-black hood looking rather stylish. The other drop was [Earthen Gloves], a set of dirt-colored gloves which gave 10 [Armor] and was terribly ugly.

Tristan contemplated just farming all of the [Nightsworn] mobs to get all their equipment, He would look much cooler.

But he’d ultimately decided against it. He wanted to move on from this area as soon as possible. The plan was to head towards [Withering Roots]. The Dungeon entrance would be found at the base of the Great Oak, which loomed ever closer.

He figured it would take about a day of travel, by which point he would have farmed enough shards to finish off his Apprentice Perks. That meant, when the time came, he could unlock Adept.

Soon, he would leave this forest, and the world would know his name.