CH 5: Golden Cards

Jason awoke several hours later feeling a pain in his head. As he got up, he felt a sticky substance on the side of his face. For a moment, he forgot about passing out and the headache he was having.

'Stupid cat. I should have never brought you home.'

-- 13 months prior--

Jason had picked up Smelly a bit over a year prior in an alley on his way home. The poor little cat smelled terrible and was starving. Jason brought it home and hid it from the rest of the family for over a month before he finally got caught giving it some milk late one night.

When his mother called a family meeting to discuss the fate of the cat, everyone was surprised to hear that Jason, the laziest and rudest, of the sibling took the initiative to take care of the cat.

After talking with her other sons, Jason's mother asked him only one question, "what is his name?"

Jason smiled at the time thinking about how great it was to keep his new friend. Jason told them that the cat was named Smelly. Over the next year, the cat would become a new member of the family who everyone loved as well as a kissass who would cuddle up with Hyun-Hwa when it found out she determined how much and how good of food it got.

--Present--

Jason used his sleeve to wipe the saliva off of his face before trying to remember what happened before.

'I walked into my room, I felt a burning and painful feeling in my head, and I passed out. All in about 15 seconds. So I probably have some sort of disease or I have superpowers.'

Jason tried to activate his powers. He tried to shoot lasers out of his face. He tried to liftSmelly with his mind. He tried to transform into a monster. He tried to summon the spirits of the damned to drag some souls down to hell. He even started talking to Smelly to see if he gained the power.

Just when Jason was about to give up, he saw a red circle on the back of his right hand. Jason looked at it closely. It seemed to have many strange drawings and runes or magic symbol looking things.

'I think it will be safe to go with the superpower theory. And it looks kinda demonic. Maybe I can summon demons. Or even Satan himself.'

Jason focused on the circle and it began to slightly burn. After the burn, came 10 cards that appeared to be floating around his hand. Jason grabbed all of them with his left hand before leafing through them. Each had a different image on them. Jason instinctively felt that each belonged in one of three groups.

The first group had 3 cards. One had a knight wearing full armor holding a blade. It felt as if a sharp blade was being pointed at Jason when he focused on that one.

The second was a woman with a bow within her hand. She did not seem beautiful but was instead a warrior who looked like she would shoot down any who came into her line of sights.

The third was a man wearing a hat with a feather in it and holding a large spear that did not even fit on the card. This card did not give off the sharp feeling like the first, or the deadly feeling like the second, but still felt just as dangerous as the other two.

The second group had 4 cards. The first had an old man who was obviously a wizard with a long beard and a staff. All the other cards felt warm but this one felt slightly cool to the touch.

The second was a shirtless man who wore a mask and was wielding daggers who was obviously a killer or assassin. This card gave off a strong yet subtle feeling of bloodthirsty. As if Jason's death was certain but only a small matter to the card at the same time.

The third was an armored figure riding on a chariot and wielding a lance in their right hand. This was the most unique card up to that point. Not because of the feeling it gave off but the sounds. Jason held it and felt as if he heard the sounds of horse hooves on gravel or wheels over grass when he held it.

The last of the group was a large man holding an even larger blade but instead of a human head, had the head of a beast. This gave a bloodthirsty feeling like the second card of the group but this one was not subtle and felt as if the card wanted to kill not only Jason but anyone near him as well.

The third group had 3 cards like the first. The first card a person with long hair who looked chained from several different spots as if the creator of the card was afraid they would escape from it.

The second card featured two Harlequin, one that was bright and colorful while the other was dark while being upside down and facing the opposite direction.

The last card was the weirdest. It seemed like a perfectly round object. It could have been a shield, a planet, or a circle. It had no other design on it. But the circle also felt as if it was coming out of the card already.

After going through the cards, Jason began playing with them and trying to get them to do something or activate. He tried throwing them into the wall but they just bounced off without leaving a mark.

'So not weapons.'

He then tried shuffling them and slamming one down on the ground.

"Come out, Obelisk The Tormentor!!!"

But his shout did not reveal anything. Jason then tried to rip a card but found himself unable to. He then tried to crush the card and it magically broke apart into thousands of pieces before they turned into light that turned into a magic circle. The circle began to glow brighter before exploding in a giant ball of light.

This took so long to explain but occurred all in under a second. When the light receded, Jason saw a person standing before him.

The figure kneeled before saying, "I ask you, are you my master?"