Does Anyone Know How to Fight with Cards?
The walls were made of rough, bark-covered planks mixed with irregular stones, and the crevices were filled with dark green moss and luminous fungi.
The ground was uneven, scattered with gravel and unidentified skeletons. Even more strangely, the tower walls were not intact, with huge cracks and even holes in many places, allowing a direct view of the eternal gray sky and empty ground outside the tower.
It's hard to imagine how such a poorly constructed structure could support the towering, cloud-piercing structure above.
Oh, it was Dreamscape. Never mind then.
Just then, the Iron Guard walking in front suddenly stopped, his body instantly assuming a fighting stance. He took the huge serrated blade off his shoulder, gripped it with both hands, held it horizontally in front of him, stood with his feet apart, and lowered his center of gravity.
"The rules of combat inside the Tower are different from those outside." Iron Guard's voice returned to its usual flat, emotionless tone. "It's 'turn-based.' As 'tower climbers,' we have the first move."
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, a strange figure "jumped" out from the corner of the dimly lit corridor ahead—it was described as "jumped" because its movements were frame by frame, like an old, choppy animation.
It was a humanoid monster with pale, slender limbs that seemed unnatural, dressed in a haphazardly sewn "clothes" made of coarse linen and a large amount of cheap blue bird feathers.
It has two crooked blue ornaments tied to its back, symbolizing wings, and its head is a toy-like bird head model painted blue with a cracked beak.
It shook the branches with both hands, then its whole body seemed to freeze in animation, watching Su Luo and Iron Guard talk, without making any other movements.
Su Luo immediately felt a weight in his hand. Looking down, he saw five semi-transparent cards with shimmering edges appear out of thin air between his fingers.
At the same time, a stream of information flooded into my consciousness:
He has 3 "energy" points, which are used to play cards. The energy cost is displayed in the upper right corner of the card.
With a thought, his current "card deck" list naturally appeared in his field of vision:
[Strike] x4 (Costs 1 Energy, Deals 6 Damage)
[Defense] x4 (Consumes 1 Energy, Gains 5 Block Points)
[Fireball] x1 (Costs 2 Energy, deals 9 damage, and inflicts 2 stacks of 'Vulnerable' on the target. This card's base damage increases by 5 for each time it is played this battle.)
[Subconscious Reasoning] x1 (Consumes 1 energy, randomly grants one of the following effects: Strength +2 / Agility +2 / Health Points +4.)
[Ascender's Bane] x1 (Ethereal card. Cannot be played. If still in hand at the end of the turn, it is consumed.)
At this moment, the five cards he drew were: [Fireball], [Ascender's Bane], [Subconscious Reasoning], [Strike], and [Defense].
"The standardized card battles... map some of my abilities to fixed cards. [Fireball] corresponds to the fire magic I master, [Subconscious Reasoning] corresponds to my calculation and deduction abilities... [Ascender's Bane] is Curse." Su Luo quickly understood the rules.
"This game is pretty fun."
Su Luo raised her head and looked at the strange man. Something new appeared in her vision, bestowed by the rules of the Dreamscape.
[Cultists ]
[Health Points: 168/168 (affected by Blight Shield)]
"Climbing the tower together as a duo would already double the monsters' health, and you're also inexplicably afflicted with the Desolation Plague... This makes the start of the battle difficult, as the enemies on the first floor usually don't have this much health."
Iron Guard glanced at Su Luo, his gaze behind the mask seeming somewhat complicated.
What is the Desolation Plague?
Su Luo has always adhered to the learning attitude of "asking questions when you don't understand".
Iron Guard paused for a moment, thought for a second, and then gave an excellent answer.
"I don't know... I don't remember, but it feels strangely familiar."
At this moment, the Iron Guards had already taken action.
He played two cards: one was [Bash Strike], depicting a heavy hammer blow, which cost 2 energy, dealt 10 damage, and inflicted 2 stacks of Vulnerable; the other was a simple [Strike].
Two illusory attack trajectories swept past, the Cultist's body swayed, a damage number "15" floated above his head, and two rotating shattered heart icons appeared on his body - [Vulnerable] status.
"I applied two layers of Vulnerable to him, increasing all damage he takes by 50% from now on."
Iron Guard explained, "Vulnerable can stack, but it will naturally decrease by one stack at the end of each round. If you have Vulnerable on you, it's best to prioritize using the corresponding methods to remove it."
"Then we don't need to stack armor?" Su Luo asked thoughtfully.
"He'll strengthen himself next turn and won't attack us... Can't you see the monster's [intention]? It's a hint of what it's planning to do next turn."
Su Luo shook her head, looked down at the cards, and began to familiarize herself with the game.
[Subconscious Reasoning] is used, and after a random event, two points of strength are gained.
[Fireball] is cast, applying two more stacks of [Vulnerable] to [Cultist] and dealing 16 damage.
"Damage calculation is: card base value + strength bonus + any other possible buffs, then multiplied by Vulnerable coefficient... The rules are simple, but the combination possibilities are considerable."
Su Luo confirmed the damage formula and ended her turn.
The moment his turn ended, the [Ascender's Bane] card in his hand silently burst into flames, turning into wisps of black smoke and vanishing, and the battle ceased.
It seems the effect of [Ethereal] is "If this card is still in your hand at the end of the turn, it will be consumed."
After Iron Guard and Su Luo finished their turns, it's now the Cultists ' turn.
It stiffly raised its two branches high, its beak opening and closing, emitting a sharp, eerie "Crack—Crack!"
A dark red light rose from its feet and quickly enveloped its entire body. After the light dissipated, a new icon appeared in its status bar: a strange feather pattern.
[Ritual]: Gain 5 Strength at the end of each round.
"It's an enhancement skill that increases attack power over time. It's a typical slow-burning enemy, but combined with the high HP of the Desolation Plague, it will prolong the battle, allowing it to build up considerable attack power. It should attack next round." Su Luo glanced at the Iron Guard, but the guy didn't react at all.
The first round is completely over.
At the start of the second round, Su Luo drew cards: three [Attack] cards and two [Defense] cards.
"Its [intention] this round is to attack, dealing 12 damage."
Iron Guard knew that Su Luo couldn't see the enemy's [intentions], so he began to report information to him.
Su Luo consumed two points of Source Essence, converting them into "three armor points per turn," and then played two [Attack] cards and one [Defense] card.
As the round ended, Su Luo saw the strange man move. He swung the branches with both hands, and this time the movement brought a clear sound of wind breaking. Two pale arcs of light slashed towards Iron Guard and Su Luo respectively.