Tristan wasn’t sure who this newcomer was, but he disliked him immediately.

He had been waiting to board the boat that would ferry him and the other people who purchased [Hunting Passes] to the zones. There were about 20 of them in total—mostly older, wealthier men, Tristan noted.

As he was musing on the amount of time he’d spent in this new world strictly waiting in line, two newcomers showed.

One was a young woman, maybe about fifteen, wearing long, mage-like robes. A delicate lace shawl was wrapped around her shoulders, clipped in place by her Adept cardbearer pin. She was clearly from Waves with her tan skin, deep blue eyes, and curly brown hair. She had a look of timidness about her.

The one accompanying her was a man judging by his build. Tall, broad-shouldered. He wore plainclothes with a hooded black cloak; however, with his hood up, shadow clung to the face, making it impossible to make out his features. Some sort of Equipment Perk?

Tristan glanced at them and then returned to contemplating the banality of life when the newcomers walked straight to the front of the line. The captain—a grizzly, salt-and-pepper seadog—was about to say something when the hooded man handed over something covertly in his hand.

The captain looked at the thing, then stepped aside and let the newcomers onto the boat first.

Tristan added his grumbles along with some of the other people waiting in line. There were few things in this life he disliked more than a line-cutter.

But he put it out his head, and soon, it was their turn to board. Tristan climbed aboard the vessel and sat down at the end.

They took off, speeding across the waves. He peered down at the water and saw that the hull of the ship was encased in Air energy; it seemed like the energy was repelling the waves, making it easier to cut through.

Light conversation started amongst the gathered. Questions about why they were here, their ranks, and such. Standard small-talk, and Tristan joined in when he could. He was in a good mood, the salt spray refreshing on his face, the sunlight dappling across the ocean eye-catching.

Then, someone tried to include the two newcomers into the conversation. Tristan turned his head to see their response when the hooded man seated near the prow flicked his hand in a dismissive manner. He hadn’t even bothered to look away from where he was silently observing the approaching island.

That upset Tristan. Greatly.

The younger woman slapped the man on the arm, and though Tristan couldn’t see his face, he had the distinct impression the man was rolling his eyes.

Conversation died down after that. Tristan simmered but kept silent.

Adept Hunting Zone 3 rapidly approached. It was a small island with some palm trees dotting the sandy shores and a green interior. Watchposts dotted the island with distant figures atop them.

The boat pulled to a stop a little away from the shore, and Tristan disembarked with the others, the shallow water cool against his bare feet. The captain told them he’d be back in two hours before departing.

Tristan stepped onto the warm sand where a tall, Adept woman in uniform awaited them. She checked their [Hunting Passes], and then gave a quick run-over of the rules before telling them to head inward to find the monsters.

Tristan set off, summoning his deck. Groups peeled away, headed to different sections of the island. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the two newcomers walking off to the left of him.

Good riddance.

—🃁—

Tristan jumped atop the shell of the [Stunned] [Ironclaw Crab] and kicked off into the air, dodging the ball of concentrated Water energy the other crab sent at him. He activated {Sanguination}, removing the [Bleed] stacks from the third crab kept busy by Polter and Funguy, and cast [Monstrous Descent] down between all three.

The empowered Attack fell and exploded in a wave of Dark energy that slammed into the three crabs, shattering their shells. The three [Predator’s Marks] he cast on them earlier popped, spiking through their now exposed innards as he landed with a crouch.

You have defeated 3x. [Ironshell Crabs]

You have acquired 16x. [Ironshell Fragments], 10x [Ironshell Pincers], 8x [Salted Blood], 5x. [Water Source], 3x [Crustacean Soul], 1x [Water Claw Blueprint], 1x. [Iron Shell Blueprint].

You have acquired 9x. [Adept Perkshards].

Tristan stood up and collected the loot.

“Funguy, Polter,” he said to the two Summons. “Go find some more monsters. We probably only have time for more group before the time is up.”

They nodded and took off in different directions while Tristan checked his total accumulated [Perkshards].

In the close to two hours he’d been here, he gathered almost 200 shards, enough for two more Perks. He’d lost count of how many monsters he’d killed. Even for him, he was operating at a level far higher than he’d expected.

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He had changed after the Serenity. Being pushed to the brink, fighting for his life against other cardbearers… it was like his skills had sharpened under the whetstone of survival. He was faster, more accurate, more efficient in his casts.

The only thing holding him back were his actual cards. Though skill can help bridge the gap between ranks, there was an entire world of difference in the power levels of cards the higher one got. Especially once [Burst Decks] come into play, Tristan thought, closing his [Perk Page].

Tristan checked in on his Summons. Polter was off scouting to his right, having no luck, while Funguy was closing in on the sounds of monsters. Tristan focused his attention on the lancer, looking through its eyes. The vision was blurry, as Funguy was only Apprentice, but it was enough for Tristan to see a clearing in the trees ahead. There were two fuzzy figures here, though the details were hard to make out. One of them was engaged in battle with a [Ironshell Fisher], while the other was leaning against a tree. That one turned to Funguy as the Summon poked its head through to get a closer look.

Tristan’s link to the Summon abruptly vanished. He frowned, feeling Funguy disappear. The hell was that? Had that person just cast a card and killed Funguy? But he hadn’t even seen the card approach.

He decided to investigate, seeing as how Polter had yet to find a group of uncontested mobs and time was about to run out.

After a few minutes of walking, he heard the sounds of battle. He debated on sneaking, then decided to just push on. He was feeling a little reckless, admittedly.

He pushed through into the clearing Funguy had seen. There, he found the two newcomers from earlier on the boat. The young woman was in the process of finishing off the [Ironshell Fisher], the large, heron-like monster struggling to get back aloft with its broken wing. The line-cutter was back leaning against the tree, his shadowed face turning to Tristan, displeasure etched into the line of his body.

The young woman cast a Fire card, a [Fire Fist] by the look of it. The Attack struck the heron and burnt it to a crisp, ending the battle. She let loose a shaky breath and wiped the sweat from her brow before noticing Tristan standing there.

“Hello,” she said uncertainly. “Are you the owner of that Summon earlier?”

“I am,” Tristan said, remaining where he was. His eyes briefly flitted over to the young woman before returning to the line-cutter, who remained against the tree. “Sorry for the intrusion. I was just curious as to who killed it.”

“It was me,” the line-cutter drawled. His voice was deep and oozing with easy-going confidence. “Is there a problem?”

“Brother,” the young woman said, sounding annoyed.

“No, not at all,” Tristan said easily. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it was rather rude. I was sending Funguy out to scout for monsters; I wasn’t going to try to steal your kill.”

The line-cutter suddenly burst out laughing, cutting him off. The young woman glared daggers at her brother as Tristan reddened.

“Sorry,” the line-cutter said, sounding extremely amused. “You named your Summon ‘Funguy?’ Because it’s a mushroom? That’s a little on-the-nose, don’t you think.”

“My forger named him,” Tristan growled.

“Sure, sure. Anyway, while I appreciate the laugh, you’re interrupting our hunt.” He made a shooing motion with his hand. “You can go now.”

Tristan was about to blow a gasket.

“Hal,” the young woman snapped, turning to her brother. “We talked about this!”

“What?” the line-cutter said defensively. “I’m not—”

A flurry of motion in the nearby trees. A monster sprang forth, an [Island Ravager], the snake-like monster’s jaw unhinged wide as it targeted the young woman with her back to the beast.

The line-cutter immediately reached out to grab his sister.

In the same instant, Tristan chain-cast three cards in rapid succession, his hands moving in a blur.

[Predator’s Mark], [Midnight Javelin], and [Nightmare Cleave]. All three landed on the monster as it flew mid-air and eviscerated it. Cleave continued through the monster’s body and crashed into the tree beside the line-cutter, toppling it over.

The line-cutter didn’t flinch or make any movements despite the thud of the tree colliding on the floor. The young woman spun around, staring with shock at the dispersing body of the [Island Ravager].

Tristan looked at the man. He had summoned his deck. Twenty cards formed two rows of ten in front of his chest, so he was at least Expert, as Tristan didn’t see a [Burst Deck].

The strangest part were the card sleeves; the man only had sleeves on five of his cards, and they were rather crude and sloppy. They seemed to be made of some thin, flimsy transparent material with a childish symbol of Fire drawn on the back. The other fifteen cards were left blank.

“T-thank you!” exclaimed the young woman to Tristan, breaking the silence. “Wow, you cast those cards so quickly!”

Tristan didn’t reply. He didn’t take his eyes off the other man, who’d stood up straight. The young woman noticed the tension between the two and was about to say something when a loud voice blared in the air.

“Attention all members of Adept Hunting Zone 3. Your allotted time has now concluded. Please return to the beach for extraction.”

After a long moment, Tristan dismissed his deck. The line-cutter did too afterwards.

“Come on,” the man said, putting an arm around his confused and worried looking sister. “Let’s go home.”

“Oh, all right,” the young woman said, letting herself be dragged away. She looked over her shoulder and waved. “Thank you for your help!”

Tristan smiled and raised his hand back to be polite, though he didn’t feel it. Finally, he shook his head and returned to the beach.

Before they could board the ship, they had to return their [Hunting Passes] for disposal, as well as hand over all the item loot they’d acquired. Distracted as he was by what had happened with the line-cutter, Tristan just summoned his [Binder] and handed over everything he got.

The person claiming the loot—the same woman from earlier—made a strange choking noise. Tristan looked down and realized he had handed her a pile of [Item Cards], far more than everyone else.

“Are you sure… these are all from this trip?” the woman asked. The other members of the people were looking at Tristan with confusion and shock.

Shit, I did it again. He was careless with [New Game Plus] again.

He was about to say that he made a mistake when he caught the line-cutter hooded face pointed in his direction from the boat.

“Yeah, that’s all from this trip,” Tristan heard himself saying. He shrugged. “Slow day. I’ll do better next time.”

He walked onto the boat and plopped down on a seat, pointedly ignoring the line-cutter and the confused gawks from the others.