Fate Cards

White Horse City.

This city was far more prosperous than Amber City. Though it lacked convenient transportation, the weight of history it had accumulated was among the greatest in the entire south. There was no need to mention its many past feats. At the very heart of the city, the skull of a Red Dragon still hung there, though only bones remained. The Adventurers who had founded White Horse City had slain an evil Red Dragon here. The Dragon's wealth had supported the expansion of White Horse City's influence, eventually making it the center of southwestern Trade.

North of City Hall stood a luxurious old mansion.

Its former owner was said to have been a Baron. Unfortunately, he later contracted a strange illness and soon died from it.

The old mansion changed hands several times before welcoming its new owner.

She was said to be a widowed noblewoman who had caused quite a stir in White Horse City, both because of her beauty and her wealth. Unfortunately, the widow kept to herself. Not only did she show no interest in any aristocratic banquets, she rarely interacted with other members of the nobility. Gradually, she was excluded from noble circles. Only every so often could people see her servants driving her by carriage to an estate outside the city.

This widowed noblewoman was filthy rich!

She had not only bought several of White Horse City's busiest shops, but also owned a vast estate outside the city.

Of course.

Her backing was said to be formidable as well. Otherwise, a widow could never have held on to such immense wealth.

The mysterious mistress of the merchant caravan arrived here.

The servants who had been waiting respectfully welcomed her. A maid removed her shawl, then led her into a large room.

The floor was covered with soft eiderdown carpeting. This fine Alchemy textile, coveted by many lesser nobles, now blanketed the entire room like cheap cloth. A bewitchingly beautiful woman reclined in a broad ebony rocking chair, reading a book. Her long black hair hung loosely behind her, and she wore a pure white nightgown. Its collar was slightly open, revealing a full, ample expanse of her chest.

"Mother."

The mistress of the merchant caravan dipped slightly and said slowly, "I have brought what you wanted."

"I don't understand."

"Why did I need to personally deliver a mere Deck of Many Things? You should know that I'm conducting some very important research."

The bewitching woman rose casually.

Her nightgown slipped down a little further, but she had no interest in adjusting it. She seemed unconcerned about displaying her lovely figure before her daughter. Instead, she gave a soft laugh and said teasingly, "Goria."

"After all this time, haven't you noticed what is special about it?"

"It isn't a Deck of Many Things."

"It is the highest achievement of Alchemy from a certain era—the Fate Cards!"

She was a Northern Witch.

A Witch's age could not be judged by appearance. She walked up to the mistress of the merchant caravan, took a black metal box from her, and said slowly, "Those idiots in the Witches' Council possessed it for so long, yet they still discovered nothing."

"It should have been given to me long ago."

Pale fingers opened the box. The bewitching woman gently stroked the mysterious card inside, and a strange gleam burst from her eyes.

"Fate Cards."

"The key said to make one a Chosen of Destiny!"

The card in the bewitching woman's hand vanished into thin air. It was a storage spell commonly used by high-level Wizards, a small Otherworldly Dimensional Space created by a spell.

"My dear daughter."

The bewitching woman lazily reclined on the soft bed, idly playing with her hair as she asked, "Did anything interesting happen during your journey?"

"Ever since I was imprisoned in this cage, it has been a long time since I encountered anything that interested me."

"I truly want to leave just like this."

The mistress of the merchant caravan furrowed her delicate brows. She gave the woman before her a serious look and said slowly, "Mother."

"Please do not forget that you are still serving the council's sentence of Banishment."

"Because of the forbidden experiment you conducted at Root of Withered Wood, everything within fifty kilometers has become a Land of Death!"

"If the council had not paid a price to make concessions."

"The Northern Druid Order would have begun hunting you long ago. All that would await you would be nature's judgment."

The bewitching woman giggled like a mischievous young girl and shrugged. Yet her expression carried a sinister charm as she said, "Goria."

"It was only a little accident during an interesting experiment."

"Those stubborn Druids are utterly inflexible!"

The mistress of the merchant caravan grew solemn and said seriously, "Mother."

"The runaway Elemental Energy at Root of Withered Wood caused terrifying destruction. The geological structure there has been completely altered, the intensity of the energy radiation has reached Class A, and energy from the Elemental Plane has seeped through severely. Nothing will likely grow there for the next five hundred years!"

"Is that merely the little accident you speak of?"

"If the Eye of the North had not personally gone to apologize, that Legendary Shapeshifter living in seclusion within the Snow Mountains might have acted against you herself!"

The smile on the bewitching woman's face abruptly froze. Her expression became strained as she said, "She is only someone who can turn into a Dragon but cannot use Dragon Breath."

"I'm not afraid... afraid of her!..."

A faint smile appeared on the mistress of the merchant caravan's face, a rare sight. She seemed to enjoy seeing her mother at a loss as she said slowly, "Mother."

"A fifty-year sentence of Banishment is not severe."

"Besides, you have not truly been imprisoned. The Eye of the North still favors your talent! But if the Druids learn that you have left without permission, they have the right to subject you to nature's judgment!"

"Even the Eye of the North will not be able to save you then."

"The Druid Order is still struggling to balance the energy at Root of Withered Wood. The Witches' Council has even sent twelve high-level Witches to assist. Their anger has been building for a long time."

"The council itself has also developed great resentment over cleaning up the mess you left behind!"

The bewitching woman could no longer keep up appearances. Her long brows drew together as she said stiffly, "Enough."

"Those old-fashioned fools have no idea how significant my experiment is."

"If it succeeds!"

"I can usher in a new era."

The mistress of the merchant caravan looked at her without backing down, meeting her head-on. "Mother."

"But your experiment failed."

"So you must bear the consequences."

It was like a powder keg exploding.

The bewitching woman was so enraged that her brows stood on end. She threw the book in her hand to the floor and snapped, "Enough!"

"Is that how you speak to your mother?"

The mistress of the merchant caravan's expression finally softened somewhat. She bent down to pick up the book and said quietly, "Mother."

"I respect you, and I love you."

"But that cannot change my position as a Witch!"

"You once told me."

"When our power cannot solve a problem, conviction is our final trump card."

The bewitching woman gave a soft sigh and waved her hand tiredly. "Go out."

The mistress of the merchant caravan hesitated, then said slowly, "On the way here, I did encounter some interesting things."

"If you want to hear about them, I can tell you."

The bewitching woman glanced at her, then assumed an attentive expression.

Though she was nominally only restricted to the vicinity of White Horse City, people had always been secretly watching her. The only places she could move about freely were her residence and the estate outside the city. She only went to the estate when handling tasks for the Witches' Council. Any unusual action on her part would bring irritating warnings and might lead to more severe Banishment. The Northern Druid Order had classified her as an extremely dangerous target, and nearly every Druid organization in the world knew her name. Since the day she had been banished to White Horse City, several Elf Druids had been secretly monitoring her every move.

The mistress of the merchant caravan gathered her thoughts and said slowly, "On my way here, I met two interesting people."

"A man and a little girl."

"They were brother and sister."

"The man was actually quite ordinary, merely a rather skilled Rogue."

"But I later discovered that he was somewhat unusual as well, because his soul was actually weaker than an ordinary person's. If he had not made a deal with a Demon, then he must once have suffered a very severe soul injury."

"If it was the former, he should carry the aura of the Abyss. If it was the latter, he should have found it very difficult to survive."

The bewitching woman showed an interested expression and suddenly interrupted, "My dear daughter."

"Then why did you not kill him?"

"As long as you used Soul Binding on his soul, you should have been able to figure it out."

The mistress of the merchant caravan's expression turned unpleasant. She took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Mother. This is only a little curiosity. We should not take someone's life over it."

The bewitching woman curled her lips indifferently. "Perhaps that person's soul is very valuable?"

"All right."

"Continue."

The mistress of the merchant caravan sighed inwardly, seemingly helpless about her mother, and continued, "What truly surprised me was the little girl."

"She was very special."

"Though I find it difficult to explain exactly what was special about her, her talent truly was astonishing. If she had not possessed not even a trace of Divinity, I might even have thought she was one of the legendary children of the gods."

"Unfortunately, they were full of caution."

"They seemed wary of everyone, so it was difficult for me to learn more from them!"

The bewitching woman looked unconcerned. Her eyes flickered as she said meaningfully, "How pedantic."

"In such circumstances, a Charm Person spell would solve the problem. If the target's will is strong, you could consider casting Rage and Charm."

"Why make things so troublesome?"

The mistress of the merchant caravan frowned again and said slowly, "The power of spells should not be abused."

"Besides, they are not Evil people."

"I could feel that their feelings for each other were very deep. Sometimes, I was even quite envious."

"Only by remembering one's own limits can one avoid losing direction on the path of pursuing power."

The bewitching woman curled her lips, reached out to pull up her slipping nightgown and cover her exposed fullness, then said teasingly, "My dear daughter."

"Your position seems to have strayed from the principles followed by Witches. If I did not know better, I would think you were one of those stubborn Paladins!"

The mistress of the merchant caravan seemed to have lost interest in continuing. As she turned to leave, she said, "Mother."

"I merely remember my own limits."

"On the contrary, you should reflect on yourself. You are far too willful in many matters."