Chương 104: Jokers

Evel looked at the two cards in his hands: the black joker and the red joker. Diana's advice was to experiment, so at the very least, they probably had effects that could be tested even without human targets. He channelled his Energy into the red Joker, then flicked it at a tree. Bam! It dug a little into the bark but didn't actually go too far. There was also no second impact or additional effect that he immediately saw. He waited a few minutes, but nothing happened. So something a bit more unique…

let's try the other win. He infused his energy into the next card, the black joker. Then, he flicked it at the tree right beside it. Just like the red one, it soared through the air before slamming into the tree. So it also doesn't do any— Just as Evel was about to consider other experimentation options, the black card began morphing. Or at least it looked like it was morphing? He wasn't actually sure what was happening. It was strange, but it slowly grew in size to the size of a human being.

After a few more seconds, the details morphed into something more solid. Interesting… Staring back at him was another copy of him standing sideways from the tree. Stange wasn't enough to describe it. Although it looked almost perfectly like him, it was completely still and poked out sideways from the tree. Its feet were where the card made contact with bark. The details were amazing, but the positioning made it feel… uncanny. It took about 15 seconds to fully morph… Will it last about as long?

If it lasted a short time, then its use cases would be extremely niche. He waited patiently. About fifteen minutes later, it began fizzling away. The overall structure held firm. Upon closer inspection, it was now obviously a fake. But from afar… or if he used a face value card of clubs to produce the white smoke, then even after fifteen minutes, it was still a great decoy. It took another five full minutes before the copy completely faded away, leaving just the black Joker sticking out from the tree.

The card was frankly amazing, and far more expensive than the range he was looking for. If he ever found himself in a sticky situation, he could put out a fake clone of himself and use smoke to confuse the opponent. Another great benefit was that the card didn't actually need to strike anyone to be useful. With that in mind, it would synergize perfectly with Eth. For him, the cards had always been a weapon more than anything, so he'd leaned towards aggressive options.

Even then, having a one-time bailout card in times of need was incredible. The main problem was that it took a ridiculous amount of energy. It certainly wasn't something you could use willy-nilly, and probably not something he'd use in most fights at all. Diana really got me something special. His energy reserves were almost fully depleted from just trying the few cards that he had. The jokers really did consume a lot of energy.

He had a bit of time before he could experiment further with the red card again and before his energy filled up, so he looked around. His body was still extremely exhausted from the morning training and earlier practice, and his Energy was fully drained. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Good thing Equis existed with their consumables. Reaching into his pocket, he quickly drank a Stem Pack.

Normally, he'd save his second one of the day for a later round of training at night, but it didn't hurt to move the timetable forward by a bit. He picked up all the cards scattered around him as he waited for the effects of the pack to hit, and returned them to the holster. The next few hours were spent in his training routine: practicing his card throws, his footwork, and training his physical strength by pushing himself to failure.

Obviously, he skipped training on compressing his aura since he was trying to recover his Energy, not spend it. If my affinity were higher, I'd be able to train everything so much more often… At least I'm not still stuck at sixty thanks to Monique. By the time his training was done, his energy had trickled up to a comfortable level, and he got back to testing the red card. During training, he brainstormed options. Since throwing the card did nothing, he guessed its effect only worked if he hit himself with it.

He saw a few of those as options back when he was creating his weapon, but the effects were usually too weak or cost too much for it to be worth it. If it's as expensive as the other card, then it might actually be a useful effect. He took off his coat and shirt, taking a deep breath. If this were supposed to be a devastating attack, then he'd be destroying his own body. Without a moment of hesitation, he slammed the card into his shoulder, piercing his skin.

He grunted from the impact, and a small trickle of blood rolled. The pain wasn't actually that bad. Compared to the vials or to getting his ability destroyed, it wasn't even worth talking about. He observed his shoulder. Nothing. The only thing strange was the sensation he had when stabbing his shoulder. He took out the 3 of spades, the extra sharp card, and stabbed the ground, while holding the card tightly. It's different. When you punch something, your fist generates a force upon the target.

But it didn't end there. According to the physics rules he'd self-studied after Rick's passing, the tree was supposed to generate an equal force back at the hand. In the same way, when he stabbed his card into his shoulder, he expected a force to push back against his hand. But there was no pushback at all. Interesting, a force absorption? He cleaned up the bloodied wound, as his mind went further into the implications. It was interesting, but was it strong?

It cost a large expenditure of Energy, but if he could come up with a good use case… He infused the card with Energy again. Instead of using it as a weapon, he held it still with his left and punched with his right. His fist fell upon the card, and he felt his hand shudder from the force. Curiously, his left hand, which was holding the card, didn't feel anything at all. My fist felt the force this time, so was it the card that didn't? Can one side absorb the force while taking in the force from the other?

If he threw it at someone, the lack of pushback would make the card hit a little bit harder, which was nice… but that just had the same effect as the numbered spades, with a far higher cost. But if he used it as a shield… Usually it wouldn't be worth blocking a punch at the cost of so much Energy, but what if it were an ability or weapon that was a sure kill? Could the card nullify the strike from a sword's swing?

In that case, the additional impact of the force wouldn't be sent back to him, and he'd remain completely unscathed. In a situation where he needed a bailout and couldn't avoid getting hit otherwise, it was perfect. The two cards were extremely different in everything but their purpose: They gave Evel a bailout when things got rough. They were expensive in terms of Energy, but if he could figure out good ways to use them… Albert might have ideas too.

Taking a deep breath, Evel walked around and cleaned up all the cards as he memorized the effects of each card. Spades focused on immediate damage, with the numbers being extra sharp and face cards extra heavy. Diamonds focused on persistent damage, with the numbers causing his opponent to bleed, and the face cards giving a lot of pain. Clubs focused on controlling his enemies' movements without harming them, with the numbers gluing them down and the face cards creating a smoke.

Hearts focused on adding some sort of 'ailment' to his opponents, with the numbers making their bodies heavier, and face cards spiking their adrenaline. And finally, the red Joker absorbed force, and the black Joker created a copy of himself. Keeping track of all the effects might be a challenge, and controlling when he got the right card even more so. With the original fifty-two cards, he had a solid and powerful wheelhouse with a lot of simple but effective options that would prove a boon in any fight.

Now, with Diana's help, he'd gotten two bailout options in niche situations. I could even use the Black card's clone effect before a fight to get a jump on someone… And there were probably even more applications he just hadn't thought of yet. Either way, he was deeply grateful to Diana and determined to pay her back. To do that, he first needed to get to the frontlines. He first needed to become a Weaver. And before any of that, he first needed to win this battle against Colton.