Unfortunately, the availability for the next hunting zone wouldn’t be for another couple days. Tristan left the Cardbearer’s Association, a little dejected, and spent some time just wandering around the city and relaxing. He didn’t really have a chance to do so on the Serenity, given all the pirates and murder, so he took this little moment to simply be. No fighting, no threats, just peace.

Of course, he did spend a little bit of time thinking about casting circles around that jerk line-cutter. What did his little sister call him? Oh, right. Hal.

By the time he returned to the inn, it was dark. He checked in on Eila’s room, but it seemed she was either not back yet or sound asleep as the door was locked and no one responded.

A quick meal and a wash ended the night for him.

The next morning, Tristan checked in on Eila again. The door was locked still, but when he pressed his ear up to the door, he could hear her snoring. He snorted and wrote a note for her explaining he’d be out all day, slid it under the door, and then got some breakfast.

Afterwards, he strolled over to the junction and teleported to the Master Ring. After asking for directions from some kindly seniors, the Stout and Cane was soon in sight.

When Rivingtol had told him the clubhouse was in the Master Ring back on the Justice Alight, Tristan didn’t really understand the significance of what that meant. Now, he did.

The Stout and Cane was larger than his inn. Way nicer, too. The main building looked like a winter chateau out of a painting, all warm wood and wide windows, pointed peaks and ornate trimming. But connected to that building was what appeared to be a museum.

A museum just for the Stout and Cane? Tristan thought with amusement, entering the main building.

The inside of the clubhouse—clubmanor?--looked just as Tristan expected it to. A wide, open foyer, stained glass windows everywhere, mahogany wood floors, red velvet chaise lounges, a blazing fireplace, decanters filled with brown liquor and crystal glasses. Busts of presumably prominent Stout and Cane members atop ornate plinths dotted the floor. At the very back of the room was a [Teleport Stone].

The left half of the foyer led to an open arena, and the right half to a long library filled top-to-bottom with books. Barring the entrance to the foyer itself was a receptionist with counters that blocked the way.

Tristan walked up to the young man, who had a rather disdainful look on his face as he looked primly down at Tristan.

“I apologize, but the Stout and Cane is only for members only,” the young man said with a tone that was not apologetic at all. He pointed to the side. “The museum is open for everyone, however.”

Tristan grinned at him, unperturbed. “Actually, I have an appointment with Rivingtol. He should be expecting me.”

The young man frowned. “Are you… Tristan Ford? The one who defeated that pirate captain on the Serenity?”

“Yup,” Tristan said happily. “That’s me.”

The young man gawked, looking Tristan up and down blatantly. “Sir, I’m going to have to see your [Status Page Card]...”

“Tristan!” called a familiar voice from the foyer. Tristan looked and saw Rivingtol stepping towards him in a clean new suit and holding a drink.

“You mind if I…?” Tristan asked, pointing to Rivingtol.

The receptionist gulped and hurried Tristan through. Tristan couldn’t hide the little smirk as he stepped down into the foyer.

“Rivingtol, good to see you,” Tristan said, clasping the man’s hand.

“You as well, my boy.” Rivingtol smiled down at him. “Still haven’t gotten that haircut yet, I see.”

Tristan shrugged and smiled back. “I’ve been busy. I’ll get to it at some point today.”

They exchanged a few more pleasantries and caught up before Rivingtol gestured towards the [Teleport Stone].

“Let me introduce you to the president,” Rivingtol said, placing an arm around Tristan’s shoulders. “He’s very excited to meet you.”

They walked over, and Rivingtol handed Tristan an access key already set to the fourth floor. They teleported, and Tristan walked out behind Rivingtol into a wide room. The floor was lushly carpeted, and a large desk formed of some strange, rippling blue material sat square in the middle. Behind it was a very old man in a resplendent suit, silvered and wrinkly, signing some papers with surprisingly deft hands. He looked up, revealing a kind, grandfatherly face and smiled.

“President Mavers,” Rivingtol said. “This is Tristan Ford, the young man whom Sir Barrihald and I met aboard the Serenity.”

Mavers stood up and walked around the desk, meeting Tristan halfway. He shook his hand, finding it still strong.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Tristan,” Mavers said, his voice raspy with old age. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard so much.”

“President,” Tristan said respectfully. “It’s great to meet you too.”

“Please, have a seat.” Mavers led him back to the desk, where Tristan and Rivingtol sat on two chairs facing Mavers.

“First, let us handle the matter of Sir Barrihald’s cards,” Mavers began. Beside Tristan, Rivingtol grew subdued.

Tristan summoned his [Binder], navigated to the tab with Barrihald’s cards, and pulled them all out onto the desk. A large pile formed, spilling over each other, and Mavers picked one up. He rubbed a thumb on it and smiled sadly before placing it back.

“Thank you,” Mavers said seriously. “I will have these returned to Barrihald’s family. I’m sure they will want to reward you for your kindness.”

“No reward is necessary,” Tristan said immediately. Then, he paused. “Well actually, there is something I was hoping I could get help with, but not from Sir Barrihald’s family.”

“Ah, yes. Rivingtol told me. You wish to participate in the Elemental Cup this year?”

Tristan nodded vigorously. “I do, President Mavers. I really do.”

Mavers exchanged a glance with Rivingtol, who nodded.

“Then allow me to formally extend an invitation of sponsorship on behalf of the Stout and Cane,” Mavers said with a smile. “We were lucky enough to get a slot this year, and I feel confident that you are the cardbearer to represent us in the Cup.”

Tristan grinned so wide he thought his cheeks would tear. A silent knot of tension loosened in his body, one he’d been carrying with him since he heard about the tournament.

He’d done it. He secured a way to participate. Once he won, he would get the [Perk Reset Card] and finally start working towards his true build.

“Thank you so much,” Tristan said, beaming at both Mavers and Rivingtol.

***

A few hours later, Tristan stepped outside with three new [Item Cards] in his [Binder] and a smile on his face. One of them was a sponsor pass, which verified him as a sponsored cardbearer eligible to participate in the Elemental Cup. The other two were a lifetime membership pass to the Stout and Cane along with a full access teleport key.

Tristan was practically skipping to the junction to teleport to his next stop. He learned that the finals of the Elemental Cup would be a Duel, but the other stages beforehand were not Duels. That was good to know for his future Perk consideration. Since he planned on resetting his Perks anyway, he could just focus on unlocking ones that would help him with the Elemental Cup. After he cleared this Dominion, he was going to head to Waves’ End to prepare for the tournament anyway.

He arrived at the junction and beelined to a bench, wanting to take care of those Perks now. He opened the [Perk Page] and scrolled through the available options with an eye for any that would help in a Dueling situation.

Two stood out to him, ones with both PvP and PvE uses.

{Adept/Dark/Attack Perk} — Splitting Shadows: Your Dark Attacks split when they successfully land on a target, creating a weaker after-attack that bounces on up to three different enemies, dealing reduced damage each bounce. (CASTS: 3 | CONDITION: THE AFTER-ATTACK DOES NOT APPLY STATUS EFFECTS).

{Adept/Earth/Trap Perk} — Fertile Soil: When your Earth Traps trigger, refresh one cast on an Earth Support card. (CASTS: N/A)

Both of these were beneficial for when he cleared the Dominion and then afterwards in the Cup. He unlocked them and blinked away the confirmation message before opening his [Binder]. He found the copy of the Unyielding Guild’s flyer and converted it, peering at the address written at the bottom.

Tristan stood and made his way to the [Teleport Stone]. A short wait in line—of course—later, he arrived at the Adept Ring. A good portion of this Ring was dedicated to housing the various Guilds that made Advance their home.

He knew he was in the right place the moment he arrived. The more residential houses on either side of the Ring gave way to larger unique guild halls of various styles and forms. Tristan passed by one that looked like a bubbling cauldron, complete with a giant ladle sticking out the top of the cauldron which functioned as a chimney judging by the smoke coming out. There was another a short way down in the shape of a drooping wizard’s hat.

Given the sheer size of these buildings, Tristan felt like he'd entered some giant’s dollhouse, and he was just another toy.

He smiled as he strolled through. This is so cool.

The Unyielding guildhall was, disappointingly, not so cool. It was more like a barracks: blocky stone and rectangular buildings. However, a quick and furtive [Shadow Step] up onto the roof of the first building showed they were all arranged in the shape of a kiteshield, so that was nice.

Tristan dropped back down, brushed himself off, and entered confidently through the first building—the tip of the “kiteshield.” Inside was a fairly basic administrative office, but interestingly on the wall behind the front desk was a whole assortment of [Main Deck Cards] hanging from rods.

“Hey,” Tristan said, walking up to the uniformed woman behind the front desk. “I’m here to try out for the mercenary position? Also, what are those cards hanging behind you for?”

She smiled at him. “The tryouts are in the arena, which is the third building on the left side of the shield. And these are rental cards, which members of the Guild are free to borrow.”

“Cool.” He smiled back at her. “Thanks for the info. Have a nice day.”

He exited and walked around the left side of the shield until he found the arena, which was marked with a symbol of two crossed cards above the doors.

Tristan pushed his way in and paused.

The entire arena was flooded with water up to the ceiling. There was a short passageway of air between the doors and a wall of suspended water at the end.

Beside the wall of water sitting on a chair was a young girl gnawing on some bread. She looked to be about eight or nine, with two floppy pigtails and wide, curious eyes. Her slippered feet dangled off the edge of the chair as she turned to face Tristan. She quickly chewed and swallowed, Tristan entering and closing the doors behind him.

“If you're here for the tryouts,” the girl said in a shockingly loud voice, “you gotta wait a bit. We don’t got any more [Aqua Affinity] gear. Unless you brought your own, mister.”

“No, I didn’t,” Tristan said, stepping up to inspect the water. [Aqua Affinity] was a line of Equipment Perks that granted you the different abilities to help move underwater. He had needed it for [Abyssal Depths], actually, which reminded him to double check on that Dungeon later.

“All right. Wait your turn, then.” The girl returned to gnawing on her bread.

Tristan looked through the still wall of water. It looked like a woman was fighting against some sort of large kraken Summon; she was gliding through the water with ease, pressing her arms flat against her sides to accelerate, spreading them out to stop. He assumed it was the helmet she wore that gave the Perk. It was a rather funny-looking spiral shell that clashed with the rest of her more knight’s armor set-up.

Behind and above the fight were three uniformed officials watching the fight closely with their decks out.

The one in the middle was a tall, thin woman with brown hair tied back in a severe bun, arms crossed. Her sharp face showed no emotion while her deep blue eyes flicked back-and-forth between the tryout and the Summon. She wore a blue jacket similar to Dennier’s—Tristan’s now—with trimmed cuffs and collar, some sort of bone chestmail and plateskirt combo underneath, blue heels with fins on the side, and a silver cape flung about her shoulders. She was Master, judging by the [Burst Deck] floating beside her hip. One of the cards in her [Main Deck] was in play, meaning she was the one summoned the monster.

To her left was a battle commander looking sort complete in full, rugged plate armor criss-crossed with veins of Earth energy. While Tristan knew the equipment they wore didn’t actually weigh anything, he still found himself wincing at the thought of doing evasive maneuvers in armor like that. A gruff, bald head poked out from the top of the chestplate blazoned with the shield symbol of Unyielding. He was Master as well, with his [Burst Deck] placed beside his right hand.

To the woman’s right was a tall, broad-shouldered young man. Maybe about Tristan’s age. His hair was dark and in curly ringlets framing a strong face scowling down at the ongoing tryout. He wore a white dress shirt tucked into formal pants and boots with a fiery-red half-cape on his left shoulder. He had twenty cards split into two rows in front of him, and no [Burst Deck], but a strange set of cardsleeves…

Tristan squinted.

His eyes widened. The line-cutter was here.