Genthru VS Tsezguerra's game of tug-of-war begins in the background, with Raphael and Goreinu supporting them from the shadows.
Goreinu watched the teen from the trees, observing how he was planning on proving he knew the best way to make money quick. The kid began his long trek into the enchanted forest. To say the teen was efficient would be an understatement. He slipped through the bushes with ease, targeting any creature in his path.
Goreinu barely had any space left for spell cards once he completed his first round.
Raphael caught one last pixie between his fingers, slotting the card into an empty slot without even looking at the book, "Head to Lumeiro, it's about a ten-minute jog east. Once you reach the main hub, you're going to want to follow the main streets towards the north. That's the route to the trade shop, you might want to memorise the layout of the streets because you'll be making quite a few trips back and forth."
"What are you going to do?"
"Hunt for the big boys, the Mini Drakes, Metal and Gold Slimes."
"And how much will these cards get?"
"Between fifty to two-fifty thousand, or the cards on you now? That's about three hundred thousand. My plan is to get you to fill your coffers to about ten mill, and have you focus on constantly trading with Tsezguerra."
"Ten mill? That's insane…" Why would any of them need that much money on them? They just needed to get as many Accompany and Return cards as possible, not ransack the card system, "The packs are only ten thousand for three cards. That'll buy me thousands of packs."
"Yeah, well, it's a luck base system. If you manage to land any Holy Water, split them between Tsezguerra and I. I also need a Clairvoyance card and Levy, at least five of those. A few Clone cards, about five, should do. Oh, and one Relegate."
"That's a tall order… On top of the cards I need to collect for Tsezguerra, I'll be wasting multiple slot spaces."
"Then try to be efficient. Sell the cards back to the card shop. Just keep cycling. You know the drill…"
"Yeah, yeah…" The man left out an irritated sigh, "I'll use Return to-"
"Remember to use the back of the book method. Select me, remove the card, then teleport. You'll save resources."
"I know…" As the man was about to leave, he stopped for a second, "Why am I running to Lumeiro when I can-"
"Because you need to remember the route through town. Lumeiro is the capital of Greed Island, and it's massive. If you teleport to town now, you'll lose your bearings very easily. Also, avoid pixies on the way back. They're nasty like creatures."
With that last comment, Raphael made his way deeper into the forest.
"~"
It took a couple of hours, but with Raphael now left to his own, he could focus on getting the card to protect Asta. He needs Aduzla, which requires some cards he's already gotten.
The Paladin's Necklace, Blue Planet and Eternal Hammer. He needs two more.
087, The Shield of Faith
085, Sacrifice Armour
He must offer them as gifts to the dragon, perform a series of fetch quests, mainly gems and coins for the dragon's hoard and then, he'll receive the card.
He'll also need to hunt Dullahan again, and clone a couple of those to use for extra defence. They might not be able to slow down Genthru given his abilities, but they should give him more than enough time to get out of there.
He'll start with the armour first, and then collect the shield next before making his way to the dragon's hoard. Although, he could ask Tsezguerra for a copy of those cards…
Nah, the boy thought about it. It's better that man focuses on Genthru, besides… with all his training, those cards will be easy to obtain. With that thought in mind, he left for the first card.
"~"
Gon collapsed to the floor, already feeling exhausted from Bisky's next level training for the Emitter category. It's about elevation, focusing one's aura out to propel them high into the air. She wanted him to at least hit five metres high.
He was barely pushing a few centimetres at this point. It was extremely difficult, given that it was only a level higher. No… he shouldn't be thinking about it that way. It's a challenge he needed to overcome.
Looking at his hand, he wondered how Raphael would tackle the situation…
What would he say in this situation?
What is he even doing now?
"I wonder what you are doing…?"
"Wasting time!" Bisky called out.
Gon stood up abruptly, once more getting into position. He didn't have time to think about what the others are doing. He needed to get stronger. Furthermore, he needed to be strong enough to beat Genthru.
"~"
It had been a week since Raphael started his quest, now making his way through deep caverns that seemed to go on for ages. The torch he held lit the dark caverns, but not enough to light the abyss when he peered over the side of the steps.
Falling off wasn't an option, since they looked to go on forever.
His book popped up abruptly, Goreinu's name showing up on the page, "What's up?"
"I have a couple of cards for you, where are we meeting?"
"Not yet. I'm deep underground, somewhere beneath Lumeiro at this point. Looks like I'll be here for a while. Keep them for now."
"Why are you there?"
"Oh, sightseeing. You know, a bit of dungeon crawling…" He remarked sarcastically, reaching a fork at the staircase. He pulled out his journal, looking for hints for the right way to go, "I'm trying to start the Aduzla side quest."
"Right…"
"Didn't think I'll be wasting so much time searching the endless caverns for a fifty-foot fucken dragon."
"Maybe you took a wrong turn?"
"The stairs shouldn't be this long!" The teen kicked a rock off the side, listening to it clatter against the rocks, falling so deep, he could no longer hear a sound, "There's only one way down, and that's to go deeper into the abyss. All roads seem to lead down so if I made a wrong turn somewhere, it was probably a scenic detour at best."
"How long will you be there for?"
"Why, you strapped for cash or space if I don't collect those cards or come back up?"
"I saw how and where you farmed, I can solo the area just fine." That probably wasn't the case given how he saw the kid handled the area. But he didn't want to come off sounding desperate. They shouldn't even need his assistance in the first place, especially seeing as the boy needed him to collect cards for him too, "It'll… It shouldn't take me that long to navigate around."
"Twenty-four hours. If I'm not out of the dungeon by then, I'll use a Return."
"Sounds good to me."
Ending the call, the teen continued to explore the dark caverns.
"~"
It took a bit of time, but he eventually made his way into a hidden cave. Multiple staircases led back out. Which means, he may have taken a detour or two at one point. At least he made it. The stone wall torches were lit, a long hallway leading further in. He found his way into a room filled with gold and jewels.
Coins scattering about as his shoes hit a pile of coins, alerting the beast within.
He smiled at the roar, making his way further in. There, lying on a pile of treasures was the fifty-foot dragon he was looking for. Their scales glinting under the light, like the ocean under the moonlight, twinkling with life.
The devs went all out piecing together this magnificent beast.
Its eyes peered at him, expecting something in return "What do you seek?"
"An audience with Adulza."
Letting out a puff of smoke, it continued to peer at the kid, "Offer what I seek…" The dragon turned to face a stone table, several empty weighted plates waiting for item, "and I shall listen."
The teen moved towards the plates, rubbing away at the dust and moss uncovering the names of the things it sought. He pulled out the cards, slotting them into their respective receptacles.
One by one, the item appeared with a puff of smoke.
The dragon was satisfied with the kid's gifts, a crooked smile gracing its lips "What is it that you want, kid?"
"Protection against all…" He looked up at the dragon, "I want your protection."
The dragon's eyes sparkled from the request, the creature contemplating the request. They wondered why a human would want its protection, rather than the treasures that surround them "If you wish for my help, I want something else in return."
Now began the second part of the fetch quest, "I wish for some things from you. One of my scales has been stolen from me and gotten lost beneath the shimmering sea. I want a coin as ancient as me. And the gem of a sightless eye. Find these, and I'll give you what you seek." Tapping against the gold, something moved from a distance, light shining from within the new doorway. "Use this passageway to reach me once you find what I sought."
With a nod, the teen escaped through the steps, finding himself somewhere in the forest near Lumeiro. When he checked his map, there was new marking for the secret entrance. That was surprising, considering he did have a map with all the landmarks unlocked.
Did that mean there were more secret locations he could find along the way?
He took several steps away from the entrance, looking around for the nearby city. However, after a couple of steps, the exit closed off. Closing his map, he used a Contact card, "Hey Goreinu. I'm free, where should we meet?"
"I'll come to you."
"~"
They made the exchange, Raphael once more returning to perform several rounds of farming for Goreinu. Not much to his surprise, the man had in fact struggled to gain several of the more difficult monsters that roamed the area, the ones that required more tact than just punching one or few spots like a game of Bop It.
"Can you slow down?"
"Slow down? It's not my fault I have to work double time to make up for the fact you cannot farm this area?"
Goreinu crossed his arms, pouting from the jab he received. He wasn't weak. He could defeat these enemies with ease, it's just he didn't know some of the more dangerous monsters had small windows of attacks "It's not my fault they have such small windows of attacks."
"Goreinu, they're not small windows, once you realise they're constant. Okay, think about those one-eyed drakes, big weakness, always defending their single eye right? Chest, shin then eye, boom easy-peasy. You look at the monster, watch their attack pattern, and you attack depending on how they defend themselves. It's not like the wastelands, where it's always the same few spots. Use your observation skills."
"How did you even defend yourself from Razor's attack anyway? He hits like he's throwing a cannonball…"
"Simple, I replicated what both Gon and Tsezguerra did. Although, I wouldn't have been able to pull it off, had I not trained with Bisky. I most likely would've been out cold like you."
"Right…" The man was unfazed. She proved that she wasn't weak when she dodged the man's attack without blinking. She could also pull off Razor's stunt throw with ease.
Not only that, but she was also the only one to walk away without suffering any physical damage. So her being their trainer made sense.
"After this round, you should be good for a couple of weeks. How's Tsezguerra's team doing?"
"They're hitting them whenever they can, aiming to make sure they never have time to relax or rest."
Raphael raised a curious eyebrow. Doesn't sound like they're doing much to keep Genthru distracted, "That's it?"
"They should go after them while they're actively trying to do something as well. Like when they're out farming or something? Make it spontaneous, like trying to steal cards with Levy or something."
"I'll let him know…"
"Either way, they're trying to get them to use their Breath of Archangel."
"Might I suggest a monster rampage then…"
"I doubt they would have any issues against a couple of monsters."
"Well, if you can exhaust them enough, a monster rampage should be able to hurt them. Do a bit of digging through the archives in town, there should be a couple of areas to spur the monsters on into attacking them. A screeching monster should work."
"Screeching monster?"
"The type of monster to let out a scream upon defeat. Although they are rare, and usually found underground. If you summon one of those in Genthru's location, and he kills it, let's just say he's screwed. They let out a rage inducing scream that causes nearby monsters to converge on their area, attacking anything in sight. However, Genthru could easily use Accompany or Return to avoid the event. So, you'll need to pair it with the Shield of Faith so they're forced to defend themselves while somehow remaining undetected from the monsters."
"I doubt they'll have time to find a rare monster while keeping him that busy." Goreinu thought about the solution a little longer. It's a good plan, but there's a problem. How will Tsezgerra's team remain hidden from both the enemy and monsters, without them suspecting someone was using the Shield of Faith, "That sounds like a difficult plan to pull off. Unless you get the card, it sounds unreasonable to expect them to get it…"
"Unfortunately, I can't. I need to find three nameless cards. But if I stumble across one, I'll make sure to capture it for them."
Goreinu paused for a moment, adding to the plan that sounded unreasonably dangerous for their team to pull off, "Still, it sounds incredibly dangerous. To have someone avoid being attacked from all sides. They'd have to be incredible at Zetsu, since they can't be discovered by the monsters, nor Genthru for that matter…"
"You'll need two people. The person who summons the monster has to be the one that runs away with Return, so that Genthru doesn't suspect a thing about the other card in effect."
Hearing this, Goreinu rubbed the back of his neck. He kind of expected that response, but hearing that doesn't change the fact that Raphael was expecting too much of them.
They hadn't heard about most of these cards until recently, but he came up with these plans just using a combination of mechanics. Genthru couldn't possibly know about these methods.
All that man has ever cared about were Restricted Card slots…
"I'll let Tsezguerra know. If he wants to go ahead with the plan after finding that card, I'll leave it to his discretion."
"~"
If there's one thing he hates more than bullshit mechanics, it's riddles. The shimmering sea could be referring to any body of water surrounding Greed Island. There may be a technicality, considering the only way to leave Greed Island is through the main exit via the port.
So it may have to be somewhere inward. Not like a lake, but a place where it's still connected to the sea while still being considered locked in the mainland. He could think of several spots.
To the far northwest, there were a series of islands which were still considered a part of Greed Island.
To the northeast, there was a large river that led out to the main sea. With a small area just connected to a mini island.
In the mid-southwest, there was that huge body of water, although given it was a massive area, it probably wasn't going to be found there.
And finally there was the area to the southeast, the one that connects to the mountain island. It also happened to be located slightly northwest of Lumeiro.
If he was going to take a stab at guessing, the two most likely spots the dragon scale could be found is in the far northwest, and southeast section of Greed Island.
Now for a coin as ancient as the dragon. As cryptic as that message was, he'll need to do two things.
First, dig into the history of the dragon.
Second, cross-reference for any ancient ruins that match that history.
Now for the gem of the sightless eye, he vaguely remembers hearing about something like that being mentioned in Antokiba. It's either a part of the many prizes, or a reference to something. He could try doing a bit of sleuthing in that town, to try and see if anything comes up.
He'll check out the library in Lumeiro and dig into archives for any information about the coin and scale, and see if he can find any clues. Otherwise, he could always go into each individual town to see if any rumours will show up about those artefacts.
"~"
Raphael walked through the library, taking in its regal appeal. Like Lumeiro, it was filled with ancient history, possibly even stories about the founding of Greed Island.
But as much as he'd love to dig through the archives for that kind of information, he was here for a more pressing matters.
His fingers inspected many books, focusing only on those with residual aura.
He half expected to collect some dust along the way, but the ledgers were being well maintained. There were all kinds of books, some about the history of towns, monsters, just to list a few.
He felt elated, buzzing with excitement as his eyes graced each journal. He even found a book about Aduzla. The teen pulled the ledger out without a second thought.
Flipping the pages to the middle of the book, he sort of half expected to find the solution to his questions.
Nothing of that sort happened. As he read through the details, he made his way to a nearby table, sinking into the lore of the dragon.
After hours, he found himself sifting through the details, trying to gauge how ancient this beast was. There were too many conflicting dates, giving him a range of years to work with.
He made his way back to the shelf, pulling a ledger on the details of Lumeiro out.
He flipped through those pages, cross-referencing dates between the two.
Book after book, he got lost in the lore, the sun setting failing to deter him from researching further.
Even as his eyes grew heavy, his determination kept him wide awake. He went through a list of names, marking down towns within the rage of those dates.
He crossed some of them off, marking new names down as he discovered them. By the time he was done, he had a messy page of notes, with only a few more towns to research.
He let out a long yawn, eyes peering out the window. The sky was dark, sometime in the late evening.
Raphael twisted his wrist to look at his watch.
8:53PM…
He reached over to grab another tome from the pile, flipping through the pages as he read. He couldn't waste another second.
Genthru was still out there, biding his time. If Tsezguerra fails to keep him on his toes, all this prep time would be for nought.
A/N: Leave a review, it helps inspire me.