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Title: Originator leveled up to level 2!

Recipient now enjoys a 25% increase to mana growth.

Though permanent summonings have been accomplished before, none have used magically conjured land as a power source the way you have. You have received an extra 5% bonus to your mana growth due to this innovation potentially causing a revolution in the way goods are created, and distributed.

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Jaden shoved the status window out of the way as the trio crept up on the spiked cow. It hadn’t moved from where they had seen it last; still calmly taking bites out of the patch of bushes it had been working on before. Lois held up three fingers, and began counting down. On zero, the girls charged. Jaden, having recharged some of his mana, activated his battle grid. Cards flew into his hand as he watched the onslaught.

The lazy indifference of the cow creature upon seeing the assault was Jaden’s first clue that the battle wouldn’t be as easy as the trio had hoped. Turning its rear to the girls, the cow whipped its tail at them. The tail, three feet long, and covered in small needle-like spikes, raked across Lois’s face. She shouted in pain, faltering in her charge. Niko ran around Lois, dodging another swipe of the tail, and swung her sword into the cow’s flank.

The spikes fouled the angle of her swing, causing the cow to huff in annoyance, but failing to deal any real damage. Faster than should be possible for an animal its size, the cow turned; driving its spiked head into Niko. She screamed, recoiling from the animal with several small punctures in her abdomen. Luckily, her fortitude had proved high enough to prevent more significant damage.

At this point Jaden realized he was standing in place gawking at the battle. Hurriedly, he threw down his first card. “I play the land card wild jungle!” He pushed twenty mana into the spell, hoping it would be sufficient as a mana generator. A moment later, several large balls of moss rained down around him. Not waiting for the auto-draw function, Jaden manually drew a card from his deck. Scanning his cards, Jaden grabbed a monster card. “I summon mystical hunter!”

In front of him, a muscle-bound man dressed in a bear pelt materialized, gripping an obsidian-pointed spear. The man roared incoherently, charging into the fray. Jaden had spent twenty mana on the card. He could only hope it was enough in combination with the hunter’s special effect which caused it to deal double damage to beast monsters.

By this point, Lois had entered the fray, using her metal armor to grab hold of the cow’s tail. Lois held the tail in place with some effort as the cow struggled against her. Though she wanted to do more, having nearly impaled herself on an errant spike while attempting to punch the cow, she had quickly adjusted to a support role.

Niko, wielding her sword, was finding more success. After swinging ferociously for several seconds, she had chipped away multiple spikes; leaving bare patches that allowed her to cause real injuries. The cow bellowed in real pain for the first time as she left a gash in the exposed patch of flesh. The hunter reached the fight just as Niko was winding up for another slash. With a ferocious shout, he dug his spear deep into the gash she had made. The cow screamed an animalistic moo of agony.

With a popping sound, the spikes on its body erupted outward in a deadly hail. The hunter, hands still shoving the spear deeper into the frightened animal, acted as an unwitting human shield for Niko, who was still impaled twice, once in her right arm, and once in her right leg. Meanwhile, Lois fared far worse. Though her head was remarkably free of spikes, over a dozen punctured her armor at various locations across her body.

Lois, having redirected most of her mana into strength in order to hold the cow, fell to the ground, bleeding out quickly. The mystic hunter, for his part, simply vanished with a final grunt. For his part, Jaden took cover behind a tree, which proved thick enough to shield him from the blast. Exhausted by the attack, the cow fell on it’s side, body now devoid of spikes. Niko, grunting from the pain of using her injured arm, brought her sword down point-first into the open wound in the cow’s side. It screamed, but proved to be immobilized as she dug through the guts with her sword, seeking something vital. After almost a minute, whether she found what she was seeking, or the animal simply bled out, it expired. The eyes going glassy as a final strangled scream left its body. Niko fell to one knee, and dazedly looked in a circle, evaluating her surroundings.

Several feet away, Jaden was bent over Lois, frantically burning through his deck, in search of a specific card. Because the cow had still been alive, thus counting as still being in battle; he hadn’t been able to simply look through his deck to grab the card he needed. Instead, Jaden was furiously summoning spells and monsters with the minimum possible mana; desperately hoping he found the card he needed while he still had enough mana to use it.

“It’s dead. No more battle!” Niko cried, understanding what he was doing.

Jaden looked up at her with a grateful, joyless smile. Letting his battle grid vanish, Jaden pulled his deck from where it had rematerialized in the deck holder on his belt. It took him only a moment to locate the card he needed. “First Aid!” He cried out, aiming the spell at Lois. Concerned for his friend, Jaden poured all of his mana into the spell, including the mana he normally invested into intelligence.

All across Lois’s body, the spikes disappeared into nothingness while bandages materialized around her, stemming the flow of blood. Jaden could smell a scent like some kind of medicine wafting from her, and relaxed slightly as he decided she should hopefully be fine. A moment later, Lois’s armor disappeared, the damage too great to be repaired by the power of the land card that maintained its existence. Meanwhile, Niko made her way slowly over to him; using her sword as a crutch, and letting out a pained grunt as she collapsed next to him. With a soft sigh, she positioned her head on his lap. Absently, he petted her head as he examined her wounds.

Despite Niko’s exertions, the spikes remained buried in her wounds. Jaden sighed as he checked his mana. Only a single point had regenerated. He looked at his first aid card, and debated whether he should wait until he regenerated more mana before using it. It was at this point that he remembered the land card he had used at the start of the battle. Glancing backward, he confirmed that it was surprisingly still in place despite the battle grid having disappeared. Checking the mana, Jaden confirmed it was full. “First Aid!” Jaden announced, drawing the entire mana pool from the land card.

As before, the spikes vanished, while bandages appeared over Niko’s wounds; smelling of potent medicine. Niko left out a soft sigh, and closed her eyes in contentment, causing Jaden to smile affectionately. Lois remained unconscious nearby while Jaden basked in the moment of calm.

Suddenly, Niko’s eyes fluttered open, and she seemed to scan something for a moment before looking into Jaden’s eyes. With a wave of her good hand, a status screen became visible to him.

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Spoils of War Announcement

You have absorbed the soul of:

-1 Battle Steer

As a result, your maximum mana is increased by 10 points. Continue absorbing the souls of your foes, and reach ever greater heights. Note that 90% of every soul is taken as tribute by the local arbiter. We thank you for your contribution.

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Jaden sighed. “Another thing I wish Clip would have told us. Actually, I wonder why you didn’t get anything from the people that… never mind.”

Niko turned her head so that she was looking away from him, expression inscrutable. Jaden’s mind wouldn’t let the question go despite her display of discomfort. It only took him several seconds to come up with a plausible explanation. “I bet you have to be nearby. At least on the same shard probably. Wait, that means… that dick! Clip didn’t send us here to save us, or even to mess with us. He sent us here so he could claim the entire soul from those people, rather than ninety percent! That petty-”

Jaden was interrupted by Niko slapping him. Though she had held back on her enhanced strength; with no investment in fortitude, the blow left Jaden seeing stars. Niko was looking up at him intently now.

“No more. I don’t want. Clip can have. I’ll be strong without… eating people. No human souls.”

Jaden looked away from her sharp gaze. “Fair enough. Sorry, I was just trying to understand how things work.”

Niko nodded. “It’s ok. Sorry for hitting you.”

Jaden smiled down at her, and carressed her head once. “It’s fine. I’m the one who should be apologizing for reminding you of that.”

“Seriously, you guys know I can hear you right? I mean I’m right here.” Lois heckled, punctuating her statement with a gagging sound.

Jaden turned to look at Lois. She was watching them sharply, eyes clear of any pain or confusion.

“Are you feeling ok? You were nearly dead.” Jaden asked, voice tinged with concern.

Lois gave looked down at herself, giving herself a cursory examination. “I feel fine. Whatever you put on these bandages, they really did the trick.”

Jaden smiled, and waggled his fingers. “Just some of my magic juice.”

Lois rolled her eyes. “You know how wrong that sounds right?”

“Why do you think I said it?” Jaden asked, laughing.

Niko blushed when she realized what he had said. Surging up from her position on his lap, she pushed him down, and sat on his stomach. With Jaden and Lois both staring at her, she pointed at Jaden. “Mine.” She said simply, blushing while staring determinedly into Jaden’s eyes, then turning to stare at Lois.

Lois burst into such strong laughter she began choking. “He’s all yours. He’s not as much of an idiot as I used to think, but… let’s just say he’s not my type.” Lois winked at Niko, who flushed even more than she already had been.

Jaden snickered when he realized what Lois was saying, but decided to save heckling her for later. “What brought that on Niko?” He asked, as she pulled herself off him.

“I want to be bold and strong. Like you. I am barbarian.” She said, the blush returning as she flexed her arms meaningfully.

“Well, you were certainly bold, I won’t deny that.” Jaden said, chuckling, and shaking his head. “Next thing I know, you’ll be bonking me over the head, and having your way with me.” He laughed again as she blushed more strongly. Jaden turned to kneel over the corpse of the “battle steer.” Niko walked up behind him, and lightly bumped his head with her knuckle.

“Bonk.” She said shyly, and before he could react she turned; walking away. Jaden smiled widely as he began butchering the steer for meat.