Nora's Big Mistake Ch. 37

Chloe was smiling. "Battlegear," she said. "What is the battlegear?"

Star nodded. "Each creature in an Army is permitted to be equipped with one Battlegear Card," she said. "The exception to this rule is that players may equip their creatures with spectral viewers and one additional Battlegear. Battlegear are often depicted as weapons, equipment, or vehicles that the equipped creature can utilize. Each creature can only use their own Battlegear in a battle. When a creature is defeated, both it and the Battlegear card are sent to the discard pile. At the beginning of the game, Battlegear is set underneath a player's Creature Card, face-down. When the creature engages in battle, the Battlegear Card is flipped face-up and revealed, where its effects will activate." She then picked up a Battlegear Card. "This one is called a BlazeBlaster. It's kind of like a quad barrelled flamethrower. It grants the creature using it all Fire based attacks. If you sacrifice the BlazeBlaster, the Equipped creature gains Elemental Type Fire until the end of combat, allowing the creature to do all fire based attacks. Some locations are great for boosting your elemental attacks."

Naomi snuggled up against Nora. "Okay," the young DEO agent said. "What are Location cards?"

Star smiled. "Location cards are the cards that state different locations. Each player builds a 10-card location deck. At the beginning of the game, each player's location Deck is shuffled and placed face down on the table. At the beginning of a player's turn, that player flips over the top card of their location deck. Location cards are used to determine Initiative (who attacks first in battle), either by Tribe, Element, or Discipline. If both creatures in battle are from the same Tribe or have the same score for the Discipline in question, then the attacking player has the initiative. Location cards also have a second ability which will modify the game (usually during combat) in some other way. Here." She handed a Location card to Naomi. "That particular card is Soggy Swamp. The creature with the higher courage benefits from this location. Earth based attacks deal an additional 5 damage. Damage dealt by Fire based attacks is reduced by 5."

The other girls nodded. Kathy picked up a Potion Card. "Cool," she said. "This is amazing."

Star smiled. "Just like the Antidote, Spell/Magic/Mugic, Trap, or Spellbook cards," she said. "Potion cards can be used on your creatures or your opponent's. Most of the potions grant the targeted creature a special ability. This one, Ballad of the Blind, allows the target creature to gain "Invisibility" until the end of the turn."

Fiona nodded. "What do you need for the Spellbooks?" The young archer asked.

Star smiled. "The Spellbooks cards are the only cards that can be used by any creature of any tribe. A great example is the Accompaniment of Anger. When used, it deals 10 damage to a target creature. Until the end of the turn, another target creature gains 5 points of fire energy."

Nora nodded. "Hey," she said as she picked up a card. "What's this?"

Star smiled as she looked at the card Nora was holding. "That's a Mugic/Spell/Magic card," Star said. "Each player selects the same number of Mugic cards as creatures that they are using. Mugic cards are held in the player's hand with the three attack cards. Mugic cards will either be tribe associated (meaning only one tribe can use them), and have the tribe color in the caption boxes, or they can be generic (meaning any tribe can use them). Creatures must have Mugic counters greater than or equal to the required cost on the Mugic card in order to use it. Generic, Pyroxian, Hydrosian, Darkian, and Metallain mugic cards cost 3 or less mugic counters. The other tribes' mugic cards can cost up to 10 mugic counters. Sometimes mugic cards are affected by the location, for example, in Woodland Pillars, Pyroxian mugic costs 1 extra mugician. This particular Mugic is called the Song of Shield. When used, the targeted creature is dealt 0 damage from attacks or Mugic." Star then picked up another card. "The final card are what we call Trap Cards. They can either damage the opponent's creature or your own creatures. This one is called Course of Chaos. When used, it deals 20 damage to a target creature."

Nora nodded. "So," she said. "How does this work?"

"Each player lays out their creature cards in a triangular formation at the start of the game," Star said. "This is called their Army. Officially, Armies can have 1, 3, 6 or 10 creatures in them, though sizes of 15, 21, or even 28 or larger are possible if players have enough cards. The different sizes correspond to different degrees of difficulty: battling with 1 or 3 creatures is considered an 'easy to play' match, suitable for new players, with 6 and 10 being the 'standard' sizes and larger sizes being for more advanced matches. Players place their creatures face-up in the formation of an inverted triangle, with the bases of the two triangles placed against each other. Players also select one Battlegear per creature to equip to them. On a player's turn, they may move each of their creatures once per turn, but only one space on the playing mat each unless otherwise specified. A battle is initiated when a player moves their creature onto a space containing an opponent's creature on the playing mat. Each player may initiate one battle per turn. A 'burst' occurs when a player plays an attack card, mugic card, or a Creature or Battlegear's trigger abilities are activated. This is similar to the 'stack' from Magic: The Gathering. Once a burst has started, players alternate adding to the burst with their own abilities or effects. Once both players agree to stop adding to the burst, the effects are resolved starting from the last card effect or ability down to the card that started the burst. The first player to reduce the energy of the opponent's creature to zero is the winner of the battle. These battles continue until one player has defeated all of his or her opponent's creatures. At the end of each battle, if an engaged creature has gained elementals during battle it loses that/those elements. Let's upload our cards."

Nora nodded. The girls then proceeded to upload all of the cards that came with the scanner. Fiona smiled. "Okay," she said. "What now?"

Star smiled. She pressed the button on the top of the scanner. Star then vanished from sight.

"Star," Rena said. "What the heck happened?"

Nora shrugged her shoulders. The girls each pressed the button as well and vanished. Moments later, they were transported to a location that resembled a large city. Star found them. "Good thing I found you guys," she said. "Follow me."

45 minutes later....

As the girls followed Star, she explained the other functions of the scanners. There was the camera; which allowed players to capture images, video chat; which enabled players to video conference each other, proximity detector; which allowed players to detect incoming creatures, flashlight, and finally the scanner itself. "Every single scanner has different slots. There are creature slots, battlegear, Magic, Antidote, Spellbook, Trap, Potion, Location, and Attack. The scanners can only hold one scan of each type at a time before they need to be uploaded to the player's online deck. Scans can only be saved via wifi hotspots located in the Main Center inside Toras, the area we are in right now. They can't be overwritten once saved."

"Is this a location?" Nora asked.

Star smiled. "Toras is where you play the game -- for real -- in the BattleDrones where they build their BattleTeams and ultimately transform -- via the Codes -- into the actual battling Creatures. The origins of Toras are ambiguous, even to the Players. Many theories circulate among them; that Toras was invented by the CodeMasters, creating a world between Aldiaon and Earth; an inventor from Earth created the first scanner to explore other dimensions before discovering Aldiaon where she made a deal with the tribes to build the Port Court and Toras. Others have their own theories, I believe that some ultimate Toras Player who was so good at playing was responsible for making Toras real."

"Not likely," the girls heard. They turned around and saw Gia and Mia Sluter. Mia was the one who spoke. "My sister thinks that Toras was created by the tribes to allow the humans to help search for the mythical Cortex of Tribunal. The history of Toras's founding is still a mystery, but the world serves as a base for many Players seeking adventure and networking with their fellow players."

Star nodded. "Toras is a city-sized island that appears to be floating above a layer of clouds," she said. "It is separated into ten sections by ten rivers. Transit around Toras is assisted by moving walkways and a monorail that connects to BattleDrones. Come on."

Star led the young girls towards a large area. "Wow," Nora said. "It's like an enormous version of the library atrium at university."

Star nodded. "Outside the BattleDrones," she said. "Toras is a place where players interact with one another, hang out at the Toras "PortCourt" and watch the battles on big screens. When it's time to build up their decks, players need to scan Creatures, Locations, BattleGear, Mugic, etc.... and that means a trip to Aldiaon. Toras is administered by hundreds of service drones that handle maintenance. Toras may also exist in another dimension separated from Aldiaon."

Nora nodded. Suddenly, she received a message on her Scanner. She activated it. "XS," the message read. "You have been challenged by a player named Aeron. Prepare your deck and report to the Beta Drone for a 6 on 6 match in exactly 72 hours."

Nora turned to face Star. "Where's the Beta Drone?" The young speedster asked.

Star smiled. "Follow me," she said.

The girls headed to the Beta Drone. Nora had already loaded her scanner with all the scans she had been given in the package. "Just relax Nora," Naomi said. "Win or lose. You're still here."

"Wow," Nora said. "This place is amazing. I could stay here forever. Oh my god, my parents. If they realize I'm not home, they'll lose it."

Star smiled. "Don't worry," she said. "When you transport yourself to Toras, it generates a copy of yourself. When you return, by pressing the top button, your mental memories return to Earth. Have fun, we'll be watching your match."

"Great," Nora said. "But what creatures should I use, and what battlegear?"

Star smiled. "Follow me," she said. She led the team to a trading table. "Insert your scanner in the bottom slot. "Now Aeron is usually a fan of Hydrosians and Terrians. They'll probably blast away at you with water and earth attacks. I would suggest sticking your strongest creatures in the front lines."

"Let's see," Nora said. "If Aeron is going to use water and earth attacks, then I'll use locations that are not good for those elemental attacks, like The Scorching Pits. I would field Meldor, Srutevax, and Deminas on the front lines; Alota and HornCat backing them up; and Tulgar for cleanup."

Star nodded. "Good choice," she said. "Now pick your battlegear, one for each of your creatures."

Nora then proceeded to choose battlegear. "With the Cyclance," Nora said. "Meldor will have Air based attacks, plus her Fire and Earth attacks. The WindStrider will get Alota off the ground and make her faster. The Tortwing will increase Srutevax's Air based attacks. The BlazeBlaster will grant Deminas Fire attacks. I'll give HornCat a Terrus Shard, which will boost her Earth attacks, and for Tulgar, the Blade of Brotal. Great, now for the Mugic/Magic/Trap/Spellbook/Potion/Antidotes. The Song of Shield is pretty good. I'll use that for defense. Hymn of Restoration to restore energy, and for offense, the Ballad of the Blind. And 10 locations. If I'm the attacker, they help my creatures. I better use locations that can help my creatures."

Star smiled. "Ready," she said. "Then let's go."

Nora nodded. She entered the Drone. She walked over to the middle of the room. Suddenly a robotic entity entered the room. "Present your Scanner," it said. Nora presented her Scanner. The robot scanned it. "Scan accepted. Nora Snow-West. Codename, XS. Confirmation number is 26548791. Please enter code into Scanner and place it in the holder." Nora followed the instructions. She then watched as her opponent entered the room.

"Gia," Nora said. "You challenged me?"

Gia smiled. "I just wanted to test your skills," she said. "Now listen. I said this was going to be a 1 on 1 match, but let's make it a 6 on 6 match. That means we each get 6 creatures, 6 battlegear, and 6 magic, antidotes spellbook, trap or potion. We then each choose 10 locations. The blue selector is for creatures, the grey selector is for battlegear, the purple selector is for magic, spellbook, trap, or potion, and the green selector is for locations. Once you're done, tap the top button to lock your deck. The black and white selector is the location randomizer. Have fun." Nora nodded.

Nora thought to herself.Let's see, the young speedster thought.I'll field my strongest creatures in the front lines, middle lines will contain my strongest elementalists, and my weakest creature to battle clean up. That should be able to win the battles and the match. Nora nodded.I'll field Meldor, Srutevax, and Deminas on the front lines. Alota and HornCat backing them up, and Tulgar for clean up. The young speedster then proceeded to choose battlegear.With the Cyclance, Meldor will have Air based attacks, plus her Fire and Earth attacks. The WindStrider will get Alota off the ground and make her faster. The Tortwing will increase Srutevax's Air based attacks. The BlazeBlaster will grant Deminas Fire attacks. I'll give HornCat a Terrus Shard, which will boost her Earth attacks, and for Tulgar, the Blade of Brotal. Great, now for the Mugic/Magic/Trap/Spellbook/Potion/Antidotes. The Song of Shield is pretty good. I'll use that for defense. Hymn of Restoration to restore energy, and for offense, the Ballad of the Blind. And 10 locations. If I'm the attacker, they help my creatures.

Gia began fielding her creature.I'll field Omja, Skur, and Hork on the front lines. Dertar and Alta backing them up, and Bootlar for clean up, Gia thought to herself. The young metahuman then proceeded to choose battlegear.With the Chestplate of Terra, Omja will have Earth and Fire based attacks. The Droskin will get Skur to block the attacks. The Plasma Pounder will increase Hork's Earth based attacks. The Dragon Pulse will grant Dertar Fire attacks. I'll give Alta a Skeletal Steed, which will boost her speed and range, and for Bootlar, the Whepcrack will fire me up. Great, now for the Mugic/Magic/Trap/Spellbook/Potion/Antidotes. The Hymn of Hypnosis is pretty good. I'll use that for defense. Rune of Returning to restore fallen heroes, and for offense, the Song of GeoNova. And 10 locations. If I'm the attacker, they help my creatures.

Nora smiled at Gia. "I'm ready," the young speedster said.

Gia nodded. "Me too," she said. They locked their decks. Gia had 6 creatures that Nora had never seen before.

"I've never seen those creatures before," Nora said.

Gia smiled. "Well then," she said. "Let me explain. Up front, there's Omja, Skur, and Hork. Behind them, there's Dertar and Alta. And bringing up the rear is Bootlar."

The robotic entity entered the Drone again. "This is a player challenge match," the robotic entity said. "Gia Sluter, Codename Aeron, has challenged Nora Snow-West, Codename XS. XS attacks the first round. Activate the Location Randomizer." She spun the location randomizer. "The first battle will take place in the Tomborian Plains, an old and treacherous location. Please select your selected and target creature."

Nora nodded. "Meldor attacks Omja."

"Very well," the robotic entity said. "Touch your Meldor card."

As soon as she touched the creature, she became the creature. Meldor was a tall and strong green-skinned humanoid creature, with strange purple markings across her body. She has black hair with unexplained white highlights and wore a red sort of tabard/tunic, secured by a gem affixed belt. Meldor had Earth and Fire based attacks. Her stats for her skills were as follows:

Courage: 100

Power: 65

Wisdom: 80

Speed: 50

Energy: 60

Meldor also had 2 Magic/Trap/Potion Counters.

Gia nodded as she selected Omja. Omja was a female with red bat-like wings who wore an armored breastplate and knee guards. She had yellow skin with dark red markings on her hands, legs, and neck. She possessed air based attacks. Her stats were as follows; Courage: 50, Power: 90, Wisdom: 40, Speed: 70, Energy: 65.

She also had 1 magic, trap or potion counter.

"XS as Meldor," the robotic entity said. "v.s. Aeron as Omja in Tomborian Plains. Let the battle begin."

The battle began. Meldor looked around.Great, Nora thought.I'm battling against a creature I've never seen in a location I've never seen. But that's no reason to panic.

Suddenly, Meldor felt her body was being controlled by something. Omja laughed as she appeared. "Guess you didn't hear my Hymn of Hypnosis. Your mind is mine to use now."

Meldor shook her head. "Not quite yet," she said. "Flame Burst." Meldor shot a fireball out of her hand. The fire blast struck Omja, dealing 10 damage. Omja then smiled. Omja now had 55 energy.

"That's a great try," Omja said. "But I've equipped Omja with this." Omja had a blue and green armor plate on. "The Chestplate of Terra gives Omja Earth and Fire based attacks. Like this. Vine Crush." Vines entrapped Meldor, and began crushing the creature, until it exploded into binary codes of 1s and 0s.

Nora smiled as she watched Omja laugh and become Gia again. "Wow," Nora said. "That was amazing. Let go again." The girls continued the battle.

Gia smiled. She spun the location randomizer. "The Pyroxian Pits," she said. "This is going to be a fun battle."

Let's see, Gia thought to herself.With Meldor gone, Nora's only got five creatures left. She still hasn't used her mugic or battlegear yet. Pyroxian Pits is great for Fire based attacks. HornCat will be easy.

The two girls battled. However, both players were evenly matched. Nora defeated all but one of Gia's creatures. Using the Rune of Returning, Gia revived Omja. This location, Tomborian Plains, was chosen again.

Nora was not sure what to do. Suddenly, she was ensnared by vines. Omja laughed. "Guess you didn't know," she said. "Tomborian Plains is an Elemental goldmine. At the beginning of combat, all creatures gain all element based attacks. Too bad you won't have time to learn to harness it. Granite Slam."

When the Granite Slam attack is made, large balls of iron shoot out of Omja's glowing eyes. The Granite pieces spread throughout the battlefield, coding Nora's creature and causing her to lose the battle and the match.

"Where'd you get that?" Nora asked. Gia smiled. She explained to Nora.

Gia smiled. "I battled against one of the Codemasters," she said. "They gave me the scan."

"I'll trade you a scan of Song of Shield for the location of Tomborian Plains," Nora said.

"Sure thing," Gia said. The two girls traded cards.

Nora then met with her friends and future daughters. "Check it out," she said.

Star gasped. "You got a Tomborian Plains location scan," she said. "Holy crap. You can access the location via the Telepad."

Nora then headed to the Telepad, armed with the Tomborian Plains location scan. She teleported away.

Tomborian Plains....

Nora arrived in the location. She looked around and saw that she was in another dimension. Tomborian Plains was a large rock valley. The location was incredibly dangerous as one small misstep and a person or creature could potentially plummet into the depths.