"Heh, this card here, as you can see, is a Trap Card—and this symbol right here means it's a Counter Trap card," Alucard said, pointing to the icon on the card in his hand.
Solemn Judgement
Counter Trap Card
When a monster(s) would be Summoned, OR a Spell/Trap Card is activated: Pay half your LP; negate the Summon or activation, and if you do, destroy that card.
"As you know, Trap Cards must be set during your own turn before they can be activated. You can't just use them straight from your hand during your turn like Spells, at least not these trap cards, yet. But once they're set, they can be triggered during your opponent's turn. Trap Cards do all sorts of things: they can block a move, destroy something on the field, or even counter other Trap Cards."
Alucard demonstrated by putting Solemn Judgement in front of the crowd, "I set this card. Now it's ready to be activated whenever the conditions are met. You don't have to say you're setting a card since you can just put that thought, you just have to do a setting motion with your card in hand. Think of it as a talisman or charm of some sort where you do a prayer."
"It's similar to the water shield charms that the Ocean Heart guild makes." Trell commented.
"hmm... we chant runic symbols to make the charms have a desired effect." the mage apprentice murmured in a quiet voice.
Alucard gave the group a look before continuing. "Now, activating them in the real world is a little different. You spend the mana or ki to set them up beforehand. Then, when the conditions are met, you can activate them instantly without any further cost. Though, some traps still have additional requirements though, like paying with life force like with this Solemn Judgement or fulfilling certain conditions."
"Neon, Try to cast a spell on me, any spell will do. You know what? In fact, let's go outside and you try casting your strongest spell on me." the young store owner with crossed arms said with confidence.
The crowd went silent, "Are you sure about that kid? Are you really confident that you can defend yourself from her spell? She may be a mage apprentice right now but this lass is one of the most talented seedlings the Ocean Heart guild's history." Trell scolded as he wanted Alucard to really think about his proposal.
With a smug grin, Alucard shrugged. "Relax, I know what I'm doing. This is also to showcase how reliable my cards are." 'Hopefully solemn judgement does work, or else I'd have to use the stuff Alastor gave me', he thought.
``
The sun was already setting as the crowd went outside the store. Under the red skies, Neon and Alucard went into their respective positions, like a high noon duel, they faced each other and had a good distance in between them. Trell casted some protective measures whilst James, Elaine, and Sal all casted defensive buffs.
"Ok! Since this is a demonstration of how a trap card, specifically how Solemn Judgement works, Neon will have to cast the spell and the store owner will be the one taking it. I suggest you cast some defensive spells as well Neon, as the owner isn't also sure how the trap card will stop it, it might deflect it back to you so be prepared!" James shouted at the two.
"mhm... Owner, I will use my strongest spell, Meja Pluvia to test the trap card..." Neon said in a barely perceptible voice as she casted some defensive spells and offensive buffs with a light wave of her hand. She then took out a large wooden staff with a spiral knob at the top, Neon slammed the end of the staff on the ground and a cyan mana aura appeared on her, and a light gust swept the empty outskirts in front of the store.
Neon opened her eyes, which shown an intense cyan hue. She casted the spell with an ethereal voice.
"Colte, Sprius da Aguai, en obtem impel meo, pluve a supre micos vaas en mund hanc yterram!"
The surrounding area suddenly felt damp and cool while a large amount of cyan tinted mana swirled atop of the young mage apprentice. It then condensed into multiple spears of swirling water.
"Are you ready store owner?" Neon's temperament changed as she asked with a powerful tone.
Damn! I forgot that I'm just a talentless hack, seeing others do this magic crap is so frustrating and makes me so jealous!, Alucard thought as he was reminded of the time he was desperate and worked really hard to use magic, warrior ki, and even unlock his family's bloodline potential all for naught.
"Sure, give me your best shot!" he said as he steadied himself in preparation.
Neon nodded and held her staff upward towards Alucard, with sweat dripping down her forward she yelled, "MEJA PLUVIA!". The spears of swirling water all launched towards the seemingly defenseless store owner.
With a smirk, Alucard yelled "I activate Solemn Judgement!" a dignified bearded old man appeared behind Alucard as a projection, he raised his right arm and a bright light flashed, enveloping the outskirts for a split second.
Alucard suddenly became pale but the spears of swirling water also suddenly stopped before fragmenting and breaking like broken glass, then disappearing into the wind.
"Haah... haah... haah... I-it worked!" Alucard panted with a joyous expression before steadying himself. "Ahem... Of course it worked! I know that would happen!" He reassured with a twitching smile towards the dumbfounded audience.
Neon stared in front of her slack-jawed. Never has she saw a spell get countered like that, much less the signature spell of the esteemed Meja Gola. The spell and mana just dispersed instantly, She used almost all of her mana and thought that Alucard's activation of the trap card would at most block the spell, maybe even fail against her spell.
"Captain, you saw that r-right?!" Sal exclaimed, still in disbelief that a spell that powerful just disappeared like that.
"Yeah..." Trell nodded, he then glanced at Alucard who was panting, But... the cost was really steep...
"That would mean our children can stop deadly attacks with this trap card. But, look at the kid... he's so pale now!" Elaine said with worry as she watched Alucard sit on the ground suddenly.
James went up to Alucard, knelt and patted the gasping young man's back, "You ok brat? That was amazing but you have to consider your own situation!"
With shaking hands, Alucard drew three spell cards from his deck. "Haa-Haactivate all of these Goblin's Secret Remedies!" A projected image of three pairs of leaves with blue beads appeared above him, a green aura appeared all over Alucard for a second. His life force suddenly recovered almost to full as he stood up energetically.
Goblin's Secret Remedy
Normal Spell Card
Increase your Life Points by 600 points.
"Actually, I could've negated your spell whenever I wanted, even before you were able to full cast it. But, I activated Solemn Judgement at the last possible second for dramatic effect." He grinned at Neon, to which the young mage apprentice pouted.
"Let's go ahead inside before I continue my explanation(collapse from exhaustion)." Alucard gestured for the crowd to enter the store once again.
``
"It seems that some costs are heavier than others..." Shadowstrike Robin muttered as he closed the door.
When did this guy come in? The sudden appearance of Elaine's husband startled Alucard. "Right, but being able to stop almost anything makes the cost worth it, that's the most effective way of using Solemn Judgement. To stop a deadly attack or survive a sure death situation makes it one of the most powerful cards, regardless of its cost. Also, you can just prepare a bunch recovery items like potions to help you recover, or you can also use spell cards like Goblin's Secret Remedy to recover your life force like I did." he suggested.
"Hmm... you're right, with that in mind it does make it a great overall life saving card." the ninja nodded.
James raised a hand, brow furrowed. "Wait, let's go back a bit. So... you would have to remember what kind of trap cards you set? That might be a bit annoying when you're in an actual dangerous scenario, not to mention the children who would be panicking during one."
"Great question," Alucard replied, grinning. "It's not really going to be a problem for now since there's only a few trap cards compared to others. But yeah, memory's part of the skill, which shouldn't be a problem as long as you carefully study your deck. Afterall, you also need to know your monsters and spell cards to summon or activate them right? As long you keep playing duels, you'll probably know your deck by heart and even predict an opponents deck too, provided you're fighting with a fellow duelist." Alucard explained while he stretched his arms.
"Fair enough, I guess I'll keep playing. I'll also bring some soldiers to familiarize with cards and duelling. This is such a useful brand new power that the city guards need to get ahead of everyone else! especially those thugs!" James said with a righteous and firm voice.
Oops... They already got ahead of you, Alucard thought. "Anyway, just like in the real world, you've got to stay aware of your battlefield. But eventually..." He leaned forward, with determined look. "I'll be selling something new in the future. A tool that'll let you track your set cards more easily in real time."
He thought to himself, Remembering stuff like that in a battle might be a bit cumbersome, gotta work hard to be able to unlock and sell duel disks as soon as possible...
"Does that mean that you'll be selling more stuff that are related to these cards and how to use them in the real world?" Sal asked.
"Yes. Actually, starting tomorrow I'll have things like deck boxes to store your cards and play mats so people can duel more easily outside the shop. These cards are intended for playing the game, however due to the materials that they are made in, you can use them in the real world and experience various effects. You would have to experiment yourselves to know which cards do what. That's part of the fun, I guess." Alucard replied with a wry smile.
"Hmmm, only few trap cards..." Neon muttered, while she went through her deck and found a few traps like Magic Jammer and Mirror force. She decided to add get more funds and buy a box or two tomorrow to improve her arsenal.
"Yeah, at this point, trap cards are relatively weaker than spell cards. But in the future, more powerful trap cards will appear, in fact you may even build a deck that solely focuses on trap cards!" Alucard explained.
"How many cards are even there?" Elaine asked.
Alucard put his hand on his chin, trying to remember the amount of cards. "Right now, with these 3 sets, there should be 374 cards. The current number of cards is roughly sixteen thousand. There will be a lot more powerful and useful cards in the future, this will make it so that anyone can truly build a deck of their own!" he said with a wide grin and gleaming eyes.
"WHAAAAT!!" The crowd exclaimed. James mind raced and imagined all of the 'monsters' he could summon. Trell and Sal imagined all sorts of 'artifacts' they can get. Neon was in a daze, thinking of all the spells and traps she can study. While the couple worried about all the monsters their daughter might get addicted to.
After a few words and excusing himself from the crowd that interrogated him, Alucard closed up shop. He was looking forward tomorrow, but so were the adults who knew what the cards are actually capable of and all their kids and the other customers who were just eager to play the fun game that made life a bit more colorful in their world that hardly has any worthwhile entertainment.
~~
Near the Central Keep of the city, the setting sun casted tall shadows on Kalamar's largest mansion Castle Vermond, where the LeFlamme Ducal family resided. In one of its large halls a hooded woman struggled to walk as they were carrying 9 boxes of booster boxes, 3 each from Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon, Metal Raiders, and Spell Ruler.
A few worried maids stood behind the struggling person, "I-its fine! I c-can carry these, the guard carried them for me on the way here so I'm not tired. Y-you lot are ex chused." the hooded woman said, trying to sound dignified, but her bubbly voice and stutter made her just sound adorable.
Before the maids could respond a cool voice called out to them. "Leave her be and go along with your other duties." The maids glanced at the direction of the voice and saw a dashing figure wearing a formal military attire. He wore three slightly different colored clam-shaped pearl medals adorned his attire's left chest and on the right sleeve was an embroidered golden pearl that signified his rank of captain.
Derrick LeFlamme, the duke's eldest and heir to the LeFlamme Ducal Family slowly went down the flight of stairs with a lazy yet confident and steady bearing.
The maids blushed at the sight of his messy black hair, fair yet chiseled face, and captivating purple eyes. They bowed at him courteously and gracefully left the man and the hooded woman alone.
He walked towards the hooded woman and gestured towards the booster boxes, "My dear Divian, what sort of curiosity have your brought home this time? May I?" Derrick offered to carry the boxes.
"Thank you big brother! These boxes almost broke my back!" Divian removed her hood and handed the boxes towards her brother. "Brother! you won't believe it! I've found a much more interesting game than the ones we played with those stuck-up snotty brats from other families!" She excitedly gazed at the dumbfounded man.
Derrick blinked a few times while staring at his sister's gleaming eyes, "Uhh... you aren't normally this restless. What is it then? Much more fun than those parlor games you play with the other gals?" he asked.
"Hehe... MUCH more fun! In fact, I think you'd like it as well! It's not those boring and antiquated games, It's called dueling! You fight with monsters and use spells and traps to defeat your opponent!" Divian exclaimed as she mimicked the movement of the projected monsters and spell/trap activations she saw while playing on the dueling tables back in Alucard's shop.
"D-dueling!? You aren't doing anything dangerous are you? Sister?" The languid man said with a shocked and worried expression.
"Hmph! I'm not that reckless you know! I can protect myself as well!" Divian pouted in displeasure. "But, no brother, it's called a card game."
She then opened one of the boxes Derrick was carrying and took out a Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon pack. "These exquisite boxes here have packs that you open up. They have these things called cards that you use to play! They sometimes look really cool, pretty, and some are scary indeed! But they look so much better than papa's weird fruit paintings!"
"I-is that so? So how do you play them?" Derrick replied in relief, the last thing he wants to hear is his sister being involved in shady situations.
"Come with me to the study! I'll show you how!" Divian said as she ran excitedly up the stairs.
"Be careful! Also, I can't right now. I have a meeting to attend to with the high command." Derrick sighed exasperatedly.
Divian stopped and winced, " Aww... can't you play hooky this time?" she said with a pleading voice.
"I can't, seems to be some important matter... But, how about tomorrow? Let's open some packs and you teach me how to play the game?" appeased Derrick.
"Okay! But we're going to the store early in the morning, the tables there make the monsters appear and they're so cool!" Divian said with high expectations.
The store that the Fiends were in contact huh? Derrick thought. "Okay, that's a promise."
"Yaay!! No backsies!" Divian screamed with joy as she rushed upstairs, leaving Derrick smiling wrily.