“Found ya. Thought you could trick my perception and escape.” The man’s voice was clear and purposeful.

  Elix noticed the man summoning a sword. Card magic, he thought.

  The man turned around and looked Elix up and down. There was surprise in his eyes and a mischievous glint.

  “Sorry, kid. Was this your fight? My bad. If you want to kill this thing, you're going to need something better than that card.” The man was referring to the small stone hammer Elix held in his right hand.

  Elix just looked at the man, not knowing if he was serious or not. It seemed that, for now, the stranger’s aura had suppressed the cow, and it was not attacking.

  “Here, kid.” The stranger threw a card at Elix, and it landed at his feet. He picked it up and looked at it using Unveil immediately:

  Steel spear

  A common spear, it is often used when hunting small animals or monsters.

  +5 strength, +5 agility.

  [Requirements]: Level 15

  “I can’t use this, my…” Elix was about to explain he was only at Level 5 when the man suddenly disappeared, just as fast as he had appeared, taking his suppressing aura with him.

  What an asshole. Comes in here acting the hero, then runs away. Great. Thanks, mate.

  By now, the zombie cow was moving again, and its disorienting aura had returned. Without thinking, Elix threw his stone hammer at the cow.

  What happened next was horrific and hilarious all at the same time, which left him on the verge of disgust and laughter. The hammer spun through the air, only to hit the cow in the side of the head.

  Instead of dealing damage and bouncing off the monster’s head, the hammer stuck into its rotten flesh. There now stood a zombie cow with a small hammer sticking out of its head, walking towards Elix.

  Damn it, is this really how I go? Eaten by a rotting cow zombie monster!

  The cow leaped into the air with more grace and poise than Elix could have anticipated. As the creature fell upon him, Elix had one thought:

  Fuck this.

  He held the card he had just picked up. Not expecting anything, he closed his eyes in anticipation of his impending death at the hooves of a brainless, rotting cow. There was a flash of silver and the sound of tearing flesh. He fell back from where he had been standing, only to look up and see a real-life miracle.

  The cow was pierced straight through its stomach with the spear. One end of the spear was stuck into the soft earth, and the other end had the cow on it like a giant meat stick. He had no idea how, but he had been able to activate the card the stranger had given him.

  The monster was dead.

  The M.i appeared:

  You have slain ‘Zombie Cow’ Level 13, X.P gained: 2000, 1-hit kill bonus X.P: 500, No damage taken bonus X.P: 500.

  Black, thick blood oozed out of the zombie cow and pooled onto the floor. Elix tried to piece together what had happened, but before his thoughts could gather, a new feeling overcame him. The darkness and the fog intensified, and an aura that was strong and sinister appeared, making him fall to his knees. The blood on the floor curdled and congealed, and a face appeared at its center. After a few moments, the blood morphed into a humanoid shape, and finally, a featureless body stood before Elix. It dripped tar-like black blood onto the floor and was the shape of a man, with nothing of detail to note. No face or distinguishing features, just a humanoid oozing shape.

  “Listen, blood guy, I don’t want any trouble. Your cow attacked me, and I don’t know how I killed it.” Elix was trying to figure a way to get out of his situation.

  The blood monster raised its hand and placed a dripping finger towards where its lips would have been to shush Elix. A sword materialized in its hand; it was made of the same thick black blood.

  There was a sound like thunder cracking in the distance and then a swirl of white and silver. A girl came running towards them. She had flowing white hair and pointy ears. She wore a green elven style dress and In her hand was a bow. It was ornate, with small etchings carved into it. Walking behind her was the same man who had appeared earlier—the one who had given Elix the spear card. He stopped walking as the girl rushed directly towards Elix. She held up her bow, took aim with a notched arrow, and let it fly. As she did, a light emanated from the tip of the arrow. As she got closer, the blood man began to shrink and drip down into a puddle, with the arrow floating in its center. When she arrived just a few feet away from both Elix and the now-black puddle, she smiled.

  “Who… Who are you?” Elix gasped in awe.

  “I’m Pon,” she smiled back. “Nice to meet you.” Studying her face, Elix noticed she had shining green eyes that were intensified by her pale skin. He saw a mark on the back of her hand—it was the same symbol that was on the back of every magic card he had ever seen.

  “Pon, get back here!” shouted the strange man.

  The words seemed to trigger something within Pon as her expression changed. She stopped smiling at Elix, turned on her heels, and walked back to the man who had called her. When she reached him, he held up a card, and she vanished in a flash of light swirling into the card. The man said nothing to Elix this time, and instead, he vanished.

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  With that, the fog faded away, leaving the corpse of the cow and a stain upon the grass where the pool of black blood had soaked into the earth. There was no aura anymore, meaning Elix’s senses returned to normal. The steel spear was still impaled in the cow. He walked over to pick up the spear, and as he did so, it began to glow, shimmering as it turned back into its card form. Elix had no idea why the spear returned to card form, as usually, an item would need to be willed to change back by the person bound to it. Maybe it was because it wasn't his card and he had just been given permission to use it, he didn’t know.

  The card lay on the floor in the grass next to the body of the zombie cow. Elix was just about to pick it up when he noticed a small white shape waddle towards it. It took him a few seconds to recognize the creature he had seen earlier that day, the one he had fed a cracker. The small, round creature with the spiky white fur looked up at him and then back at the card. Without pause, it took a large bite out of the card!

  “Hey, wait, that's not mine!” Elix panicked.

  Within moments, the card was gone, and the creature, cheeks bulging, looked back at him with its small, black beady eyes.

  “Don’t you dare swallow that card!”

  Gulp!

  The creature swallowed it. Elix stared at the creature as it stared back. He felt like the creature understood him, sensing that it had a look of remorse combined with an inability to help itself. A brief moment passed before the creature walked over to him and climbed up his leg, its short claws gripping the material of his trousers. It made its way up his front to a pocket on the front of his simple shirt. There, the small creature climbed into his pocket, curled up into a small ball shape, and appeared to fall asleep.

  Could today get any more messed up? Zombie cows, blood monster man thing, and to top it off, I'm now the host of a magic card-eating pest. Elix looked up at the night sky and let out a sigh, wondering what was going to happen next.

  Elix turned and began walking back to the farmhouse, eager to get inside where it was safe.

  After crossing the field, he came to the garden fence of the house. He stopped suddenly. There, in the garden, was a large mound of dead rotting cows. Not dead alive cows like the zombie cow he had just slain—no, these were dead zombie cows.

  As he looked at the mound, he could see the stranger who had given him the spear card earlier standing next to it with his back to Elix. A light came on in the house, and the front door opened. Standing in the light of the hallway was Elix’s father.

  “Hey there, farmer. I think these belong to you. They were turned into mindless flesh-eating monsters. I picked up a contract to hunt down the very person who did this. If I hadn’t turned up here when I did, they would have invaded your home and killed you,” explained the stranger. He casually stood with his hand behind his head, and his sword was pointing down at the floor by his side.

  “It’s a miracle. You have saved us. Please, how can we repay such a brave and noble act? We are poor farmers. We have very little, but I know you must be compensated for saving us.” Elix’s father had both hands clutched up to his chest and his head bowed.

  It was custom in Arcadion to reward adventurers for brave deeds and compensate them if they saved your life.

  “Why don’t you come inside, and we can discuss a suitable reward for your kindness and bravery?” Elix’s father beckoned the stranger into the house as he turned and walked inside.

  The door closed behind, leaving Elix looking on.

  Elix entered his home through the front door and immediately walked down the hallway. He put his hand on the door handle of the door that led to the kitchen. It was dark, as homes were usually powered by magic effects, but in poorer homes, candles and sunlight were mainly used. He took the handle, slowly opened the door, and walked inside. The room was lit by a single candle in the center of a rickety wooden table. Sitting at the table was the familiar face of his father, and opposite sat the stranger. Candlelight cast shadows on his face. He had a youthful but weathered face; he had stubble, and even in the candlelight, his blue eyes shone. He looked at Elix, and he could swear that the stranger, for a second, had a strange look in his eyes.

  “Hey kid, welcome home,” said the stranger.

  “Yeah, thanks to that girl. Who was she? Actually, who are you?” Elix stood in the doorway, looking the stranger in the eyes.

  “Charming… My name is Bastin, Ren Bastin. And I believe it was the card I gave you that saved your life. After I dealt with the rest of the herd, I circled back and saw that strange blood monster.” Ren took a sip of water from a cup in front of him.

  “If you had stayed long enough to listen to me, you would have heard me say that I am not at the right level to use the card, and so you left me defenseless,” replied Elix. By this point, he was slightly agitated. The strange man, who he now knew to be named Ren, was smiling at him, but his emotions and thoughts could not be perceived.

  “As for the girl, she was a card being. I summoned her and ordered her to slay the monster,” replied Ren.

  “A card being? I have no idea what that is. Look, I'm grateful that you showed up, helped me, and also saved our farm, but I have to ask—what do you want from us?” Elix, although grateful, felt suspicious.

  “Well then, let me explain. I see that you are Level 5, yes, but there is something that I found curious about you. At that moment when I released some of my aura to suppress the monster, the amount of my aura I released should have been more than enough to suppress and render anyone with a low level useless. You were unaffected—not even a flinch. I purposely threw you a card above your visible level to test out a theory. I made quick work of the other monsters at the house and came back to see the outcome of your fight,” explained Ren.

  “You got to the monsters at the house, slayed them, and returned to where I was in seconds? That… that is impossible. On top of that, you risked my life for a theory. I get the feeling I'm not going to like you,” Elix replied, half-joking.

  “Well yeah, ain’t you lucky, kid! You should be grateful our paths crossed. Those monsters were not here by chance—something attracted them here. You attracted them here, kid. I don’t know what it is, but to say you are not normal would be an understatement. In the brief moments I observed you, you managed to resist oppression from my aura, and the most intriguing thing is that you did something I have never seen before… you circumvented a level requirement for a card and somehow fooled the M.i.” Ren was serious and staring at Elix rather intensely.

  After a few moments, Elix’s father broke the silence.

  “Elix, this man single-handedly saved this farm and our lives. You should show some respect. I think you should leave us to talk. Go to bed and think about how lucky you are to have survived tonight.” Elix’s dad pointed to the hallway as he spoke. Elix decided to leave and go to bed. He felt tired and knew that it would be pointless to stay and argue regarding this stranger and his so-called heroism.

  Elix walked out of the room, pulling the door closed behind him. As he walked away, he could still hear his father and Ren talking but could not make out what was being said. He climbed his old, creaking staircase and entered his bedroom. The room was in darkness, with only moonlight giving shape to his bed. He slowly walked over and collapsed onto the bed. All of a sudden, he felt a strange sensation in his chest that startled him. As he lay on his bed, the round white spiky creature rolled out of his pocket and nuzzled its head under his pillow. Elix was too exhausted to object and fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.