Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

"Are you sure this isn't a bootleg Roder Card? Why does it look so new?"

At the tavern table, Shard frowned as he held Mr. Daknis's special card. The tables designated for Roder Card players in the tavern were clean, but still bore the indelible stains of years of spilled drinks.

"I just had it replaced not long ago at the Prophet's Society; the old deck was getting quite worn."

Mr. Daknis shuffled Shard's deck with practiced ease, prompting a nod from Shard.

Since the release of Roder Cards centuries ago, special cards would inevitably suffer wear and tear after many years in circulation. Therefore, the Prophet's Society also offered a replacement service. For a fee based on the card's value, they would take back cards that were more than eighty percent intact and swap them for brand-new ones.

This measure also prevented the issue of mixed deck conditions where one could identify cards by the backs.

After they shuffled each other's decks, the game officially began. A young bartender dealt the cards to both players while a burly bartender kept score for them.

The first draw was a hole card, followed by two upcards. Shard's upcards were the Flower 3 and the Sun 7, while Mr. Daknis had the Sun 9 and the Moon 4.

"There's no reason to fold on the first hand."

Mr. Daknis said with a smile, seemingly very bored and quite enjoying the card game. His thick fingers flipped his cover card—Sun 3, 16 points. He raised an eyebrow, signaling for Shard to reveal his hand.

Shard was not the least bit nervous as he casually flipped his cover card. Sun 11, a perfect 21 points.

"Lucky break."

Shard said with a smile, then gestured to the bartender to score the points.

In the second round, Mr. Daknis's upcards were Moon 9 and Moon 7, and Shard's upcards were Star 3 and Star 13.

Both had upcard points totaling 16, which meant the risk of busting on the third card was similar under Roder Card rules.

"Considering folding?"

Shard made a gesturing motion.

"Certainly not, what about you?"

Mr. Daknis inquired, both seemingly smiling under the gaslight glow of the tavern.

Of course, Shard wasn't going to fold either, so he flipped his cover card. Sun 1, totaling seventeen points.

Mr. Daknis picked up his Moon 9 and with a slight flick, opened his cover card. Star 13—no need for calculations to know it was a bust.

"At least I'm down one 13."

He said with a hint of relief, stacking the three cards and tossing them to the side of the table before signaling the young bartender to continue dealing.

In the third round, Mr. Daknis had Flower 9, Moon 1 and he immediately revealed his cover card—Star 9, totaling 19 points.

He gave Shard a smug smile. Shard squinted at him, then glanced at his own upcards, Sun 1 and Star 11.

His finger hesitated over his cover card for a moment before:

"Fold."

Shard flipped his cover card, Sun 13.

His brow furrowed slightly, not because he had guessed he would certainly bust on this hand or lost confidence in his luck, but because just as he was about to reveal his hand, a voice inside his mind reminded him the man across was actually using Arcane Technique.

The traces of Arcane Technique were very faint, without any sound or light effects. If it weren't for Shard's extraordinarily keen perception, he might not have even noticed them. His moment of hesitation was in fact to give the voice in his head time to ascertain the effect of the Arcane Technique being used.

And as Shard's hand touched the target of the Arcane Technique, which was his own bottom card, it indeed gave him the answer:

"Your bottom card has been switched."

"Card switching? A space-class displacement ability?"

"Not spatial, I can't tell you exactly what it is."

Having played cards in this world for so long, Shard finally encountered someone who resorted to cheating during a card game. Losing two times in a row, Mr. Daknis began to think crookedly.

"How despicable!"

In truth, Shard's use of "Echo of Blood" while playing cards, or his earlier attempt to draw the Moon Dance Festival, could also be considered cheating. But he never expected there would be someone even more outrageous, directly swapping another player's bottom card.

Just like in the official Roder Card competition for ordinary people, the tavern's gaming rules prohibited cheating. Shard knew his opponent was cheating, but without evidence, he could not accuse him, as he had no proof of his claim.

Under normal circumstances, no cheating occurs in a game between two Circle Sorcerers. The effects of Arcane Technique or Sorcery are either immediately noticed by the onlookers, or undetectable by anyone other than the spellcaster themselves.

But this did not mean Shard was without recourse.

"After the next deal, I'll change the bottom card to 'Genesis: Balance.' If he dares to switch cards, let him experience the backlash of Arcane Technique."

Unlike "Southern Carsonrick Folklore: Moon Dance Festival," which must be in the deck to be useful, "Genesis: Balance" could appear wherever Shard wished it to be, whether or not it was in the deck.

Furthermore, although the Genesis Series cards had no Supernatural Nature and were subject to the effects of Arcane Technique and Sorcery like ordinary cards, "Genesis: Balance" was different.

This Roder Card seemed to have revealed its usage to Shard after the night of the Godfall, just as Luviya had said. Although it didn't grant Shard the powers of The Chosen One like Iluna possessed or display any powers related to the Ancient God, as a card, this extraordinary card did not respond to any Sorcery or Arcane Technique effects except those cast by Shard himself.

After changing to this card, Mr. Daknis would suffer the backlash of Arcane Technique. At that moment, Shard with his other hand hanging low, would change the card again, bringing 'Genesis: Balance' into his palm and restoring the original bottom card to normal, thus avoiding detection.

With these plans in mind, the fourth round already began. Shard's upcards were Moon 6 and Star 10. He rested his finger on the cover card, then looked at Mr. Daknis across from him. The latter was inspecting his two cards and had not yet used Arcane Technique.

"Do you want to switch the bottom card for 'Genesis: Balance'?"

She seemed very interested in this matter.

"Wait a bit longer, I want to surprise him when he least expects it."

In some ways, Shard was also quite petty.

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But this time, Mr. Daknis did not switch cards, the third round of card swapping was due to Shard winning the first two rounds, but his Arcane Technique probably couldn't be freely used, and with so many Circle Sorcerers watching, the risk of exposing frequent use of Arcane Technique was great.

Thus, they reached the 8th round, by which time both parties' decks were nearly halfway through, and in terms of score, Shard had taken an 8-point lead thanks to luck. Since the third round, Mr. Daknis hadn't changed his cards again, but when he saw that in the eighth round both had upcards totaling 17 points, Shard knew his opponent was about to cheat again.

"It's starting! It's starting!"

His eyes closely watched his opponent, finding it amusing to be so emotionally invested at this moment. But then, unexpectedly, a hand landed on Shard's shoulder from behind.

Turning his head to look back, it was Miss Prin who had placed her left hand on Shard's shoulder. Because she was wearing a mask, Shard couldn't see her expression, but he could see that she was slightly shaking her head:

"Mr. Watson, your luck has always been quite good."

As she spoke, she reached again for the Ruby Earrings on her right ear.

[The Ruby Relic has taken effect.]

She reminded herself quietly in her heart.

Shard sat upright, looking at the playing cards under the light, he had always liked the back design of the Roder Cards:

"What is the effect of the Relic?"

[Do not switch cards, and look at your hole card.]

Shard flipped over his hole card, the Sun 3, totaling 20 points. The middle-aged man with severely ectropion on the other side was surprised by the revealed card, clearly not expecting this outcome.

"You..."

Of course, he couldn't say "How come your hole card didn't get switched out."

"You are indeed quite lucky."

He snorted through his nose with his mouth closed, then revealed his hole card, totaling 23 points, busting.

Mr. Daknis pinched his lips with the fingernails of his right index and middle fingers, feeling the tension rise.

[We can only guess the effect of the Relic that Miss Prin possesses, it likely prohibits the effect of use of Arcane Technique.]

"Prohibit Arcane Technique effect? Miss Prin's earrings, is it that powerful a Relic?"

Shard frowned slightly, watching the dealer continue the game.

[This is only a guess, and of course it can't prohibit all Arcane Techniques. But according to my feeling, the Relic's Level might well be above Sage Level.]

"What? Those Ruby Earrings are... just who is Miss Prin, exactly? But since she's still helping me, there's probably no need for excessive suspicion."

Thinking this, he stacked the three dealt cards and tossed them aside, then turned again to look at the blonde girl standing behind him:

"Where are we headed after we leave here?"

"How about going to see the sea?"

Her voice came muffled from behind the mask.

After Mr. Daknis's cheating methods became ineffective, the outcome of the game was already determined. Even though drawing from an entire deck was more skill-testing than the normal playing method, Shard, relying on luck, won easily with a lead of 23 points.

The middle-aged man who cheated in the card game didn't make a fuss, took the 9 pounds Shard had prepaid from the bartender after the game ended, and sat back at a small circular table against the wall to continue reading the newspaper, without saying a word to Shard the whole time.

The onlookers also gradually dispersed. This incident would probably become gossip in the tavern for the next week or two.

After paying the Broker's fee, Shard also obtained the Poet-Level Relic [Universal Currency].

Under the gaslight, he inspected the coin closely, which was engraved with a very fine text around its edge. Translated, the meaning was [Equivalent exchange, equivalent luck].

"If I choose to use this coin, can The Twenty-Sided Die of Destiny rebound the misfortune it brings?"

[Of course.]

"Then who would be the target of the rebound? The coin itself? Me, the one using the coin? Or the existence that made the coin?"

[Do you want to try and see?]

She asked with a light laugh next to his ear.

"I'm just joking."

Shard quickly stuffed the coin into his pocket.

Of course, to prevent it from getting mixed up with other coins, he stored this coin separately.

"I have no other business here. Before we leave, would you like me to treat you to a drink?"

Feeling good after the game, Shard asked his companion. After this game, his fondness for Miss Prin had considerably grown.

"Would you like a drink as well?"

Miss Prin asked back. Shard considered for a moment:

"I think I'll just have a chilled fruit juice."

"I'll have a fruit juice as well."

She said, then gestured for Shard to choose a seat. Both were wearing masks, but they would have to lift them to drink, so it was best to choose a more secluded spot:

"Mr. Watson, you seem quite skilled at playing Roder Cards. Why not take this opportunity to tell me about your experiences with Roder Cards?"

She carefully picked a topic for conversation in the tavern, asking Shard in a casual tone.

The gas lamp's yellow light was slightly dimmed by the dirty lampshades, casting a warm, ambiguous glow. For Shard, the feeling of getting acquainted with a stranger in a matter of hours was quite extraordinary.

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