Chapter 96: The Magician.
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◈ Skill: Card of Arcana
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Type: Active
Rank: E (Evolvable)
Description: A divine artifact embodying the Major Arcana cards that dictate fate itself. You may summon three cards at once and manipulate them freely within a limited domain around you.
◈ Effects:
✦ The Tower — You can hurl the cards outside of your domain or make them explode any time you wish, consuming mana to regenerate it again.
✦ The Emperor — Allows manipulation of a card’s form, density and size through mana. The stronger the will, the sharper the control.
✦ The Magician — Instantly teleport to any active card.
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I looked at the information about the skill, and my eyes widened...
Because it was definitely not what I had expected.
Yeah, it was way below expectations.
Don’t get me wrong, the skill itself looked great... too great.
But that damned Trickster and even the so-called Heavenly Principles, had hyped up the Card of Arcana so much during my Nexus Quest that I had been expecting... I don’t know—world-bending, reality-shattering, "rewrite existence with a smug grin" kind of power.
Something flashy and biblical.
Like a deck of fate cards where every draw vaporizes your enemies in poetic irony.
But no.
Of course not.
How could the world ever let me have it easy?
Not that I hated it, though.
I mean, I’m not a masochist or anything but I have never really liked the easy routes either.
They’re boring and predictable.
And honestly, where’s the fun in winning if the universe doesn’t try to kill you halfway through?
That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t whine, though.
Whining is free. It’s practically my nature.
And no matter which self-proclaimed cosmic asshole tells me to stop, I’ll give them my most polite response... a heartfelt, "Kindly go fuck yourself."
Even if they happen to be the creators of this world.
No one can stop me from whining and ranting because that’s how I show my love to this cosmically screwed-up world.
A toxic relationship, sure... but hey, at least I’m committed.
With my usual bullshit rant out of the way, I decided it was time to unbox my new skill slowly.
The description and effects were simple enough and straightforward with just the right amount of unnecessary poetic flair.
The skill was evolvable and for now, I could summon only three cards.
Three.
Which felt painfully limited until I noticed something else.
There were exactly three effects listed as well.
So maybe... just maybe, the number wasn’t random.
Would evolving the skill let me unlock more cards?
Or maybe will I gain the ability to summon a whole deck’s worth of insanity?
Now that was an idea worth suffering for.
But for now, I focused on the information in front of me.
The first effect was something I actually recognized...
It was almost identical to my old [Card Throw] skill, the effects lined up almost perfectly.
Aside from the "domain" and the name change, it was basically the same concept and mechanics, just with upgraded packaging.
The universe really loved recycling my old tricks and pretending they were new features.
The second effect was something that actually got me excited.
The Emperor.
It let me change the shape, size and even density of my cards.
And the best part?
There was no stated limit on how much I could increase them.
What if I boosted it a thousandfold?
Just imagining a tiny card carrying thousands of tons of weight and hurling it at an enemy... yeah, that sent a very satisfying shiver down my spine.
But I wasn’t stupid.
There was always a limit.
And that limit, like every other beautiful disappointment in my life, was mana.
I didn’t actually know how much mana it would consume to do that.
With a sigh, I moved on to the final effect.
The Magician.
It was easily one of the coolest things I had seen all day.
I could teleport between the cards.
Just like that.
Pure, beautiful mobility.
Now this was the kind of poetic bullshit I could get behind.
But the "active"
part gave me paranoia.What does active cards even mean?
I guess I will have to check it out myself.
I decided to test this skill and its effects immediately.
Because this wasn’t just another flashy ability to brag about. This one was going to be one of my main sources of offense.
And honestly, after everything I had gone through, the universe owed me at least one weapon worth the headache.
I closed my eyes.
I mean, you have to act like it’s some grand, mystical moment when you’re using a new skill for the first time.
If I didn’t add a little flair, would it even count as proper testing?
As soon as I activated it, mana began coursing through what I now called my mana heart—that strange, metaphysical core pulsing quietly beneath my real one.
I dug deeper into it, letting the current pull me inward.
And then... I felt it again.
The same sensation I had experienced during my evolution.
My awareness expanded, stretching and spiraling inward until it felt like I had grown hundreds of invisible eyes across my very soul.
I could feel everything, every pulse, every flicker of energy and every thread of mana moving through me.
Except this time, instead of my own body... I saw a void.
A vast and silent darkness, illuminated by a single, glowing, golden card suspended in the center of it all.
It floated there like a sun in the abyss.
I instinctively knew what this place was.
This vast, endless void... was my soul.
And that golden card floating at its center wasn’t just any construct.
It was the Divine Artifact.
The Card of Arcana.
The thing that had changed everything... and was now a part of me.
A small orb of golden energy detached itself from the card, drifting away from the void’s center before vanishing into the darkness.
And a moment later, I felt it.
Something hovering just above my hand in the real world.
I opened my eyes slowly as the overwhelming hyper-awareness faded.
A single card hovered lazily above my palm.
It looked grand but also... disappointingly plain.
No runes, dramatic sigils or divine fireworks.
Just a floating rectangle of light.
A crimson thread stretched from the card to my index finger.
Is that how I’m supposed to move them in my domain?
I nudged at it mentally.
The card floated in the air, following my intent with surprising precision.
It felt strange as if I had grown an extra finger.
The movement was smooth, almost effortless and aside from the initial summoning, the mana drain was barely noticeable.
So, naturally, I pushed it a little further.
I sent the card floating ahead to check how far I can take it without activating any effects.
The crimson thread began to thin rapidly.
By the time it passed fifteen meters or so, the card froze mid-air.
No matter how much I pushed, it refused to move.
The thread trembled, just one faint tug away from snapping.
So that was it.
My domain’s limit.
That’s how it worked.
The distance wasn’t about control or strength; it was about quality.
My current mana could only stretch so far before it lost my will.
The next experiment I tried was activating the first effect—The Tower.
With a single mental nudge, I triggered it.
Almost instantly, a pulse of mana surged from my mana heart, racing through the crimson thread that connected me to the card.
A split-second later, the card’s appearance changed. An image of a tower struck by lightning appeared across it before the power ignited.
Then it shot forward, propelled by a violent burst of force as the crimson thread stretched under the sudden surge of mana.
The movement was so fast it left a faint trail of light behind.
The card slammed into one of the withered trees, slicing clean through its trunk before embedding itself deep into a massive stone behind it.
The connection was still there faintly but dissolving fast.
I grinned, raising my hand slightly.
I knew exactly what to do.
"Explode."
The card obeyed.
A blinding burst of light erupted from the stone, the sound cracking through the silent forest.
For a moment, all I could do was grin.
The effect wasn’t much different from [Card Throw] but it was more potent and fast.
I took a deep breath... and summoned another card.
It appeared almost instantly this time as if the connection between us had settled in.
Without wasting a moment, I activated the second effect.
The Emperor.
I wanted to see what would happen this time, so I kept the card hovering a short distance above my hand.
Again, the familiar pulse stirred inside me.
Mana surged from my mana heart into the crimson thread but unlike before, it didn’t explode outward in a burst instead it flowed steadily.
The thread thickened as the card shifted ever so slightly.
The once-blank surface of the card shimmered and the faint outline of a shadowy figure seated on a throne appeared.
Then, the card started to grow.
I could feel the mana drain increasing with every inch it gained.
But before I could notice anything more... a chill ran down my spine.
That’s when I felt it.
Something was tugging at my soul.
Something I recognised.
I had felt it before.
"Fuck you, Universe," I cursed as my legs started moving before my mind even caught up.
"Why can’t you just leave me alone for five minutes?"
But of course, the universe never listened, especially when it was in the mood to ruin my day.