Plants Vs Zombies Part 1

Ahri moved toward the middle of the horde as cards flew into his hand. Five cards as an opening hand with four of them could be used as a mana source. Among the four, one of them is one of the new wood cards named Written in the Woods, a spell to draw more cards to his hand.

WRITTEN IN THE WOODS

2+Wood Mana

[Magic Spell]

Draw a card.

Draw 3 cards instead if your 3 woods spells are in effect.

It comes with quite a downside, however, as at that point Ahli had only 9 wood-type cards. This meant, that the possibility of him getting the bonus effect, the 3 card draw, was very low, and it might not be happening in this battle. With that, he decided to make it into a mana source.

It would be quite some time until turn 2 started, and for now, he needed to dodge every ghoul that was paying attention to him. The closest one to him was coming at his left, and he caught a glimpse of another one following from his right. Even though he was able to dodge the one on the left, he surely would bump into the one on the right.

[Oh, why not?]

Ahli quickly dodged the ones coming from the left with a dash toward the left. With it, he thrust his short sword from below toward the neck of the ghoul. It plunged clean, piercing the top of its head, making it not move anymore.

"ON YOUR LEFT!"

Sharon's shout made Ahli aware of another one coming from behind the one he just killed, and thanks to Sharon, he was able to act as soon as possible. Ahli kicked the moveless body of the ghoul while pulling his short sword from it. It fell onto the one behind it, hindering its movement for a moment, which was used by Ahli to move away.

With the notification coming, so did a new card came into his hand. He saw Hasten at the turn before and was thinking of using it to help Sharon, but another card caught his attention, which was Dragon's Fire.

DRAGON'S FIRE

3+Fire Mana+Fire Mana+Fire Mana

[Magic Spell]

Deal 3 damage to any target.

Look at the top 3 cards of your deck. You may reveal a fire card from among them and cast it without paying its cost. Put the rest at the bottom of your deck at random.

It is costly and there is luck involved. However, if he was able to pull it off, he might combo this spell with Dispute in the Pack, the only card that could clear his way. Dragon's Fire can also be used as a mana source, but the benefit itself is surely a sink or swim situation.

After thinking for a while, Ahli decided on making Hasten into a mana source. He then pulled another card from his hand and threw it onto a ghoul that was blocking his way moving forward.

"Paying one fire mana. I cast Sparks of Change!"

SPARKS OF CHANGE

Fire Mana

[Magic Spell]

Deal 1 damage to any target.

Look at the top card of your deck. You may put it at the bottom of your deck.

As it transformed into red light, it flew toward the ghoul's face where the card disintegrated. What came following was sparks explosion in front of its eyes, making the ghoul's vision hindered, while at the same time, burning a part of its face.

Ahli saw that every ghoul's stats were a 2/2 and therefore, the 1 damage from Sparks of Change was not able to kill it, yet, it gave him a chance to pass through.

At the same time, the second ability of Sparks of Change activated, showing him the card Spellblade that was on the top. Unfortunately, it does not have a mana symbol at the bottom of the card, which means that it is not able to be used as mana source.

SPELLBLADE

4+Fire Mana

{Quickening Spell]

Target unit gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is the number of cards in your hand.

Once more, at that time he thought, that even though the card is good to combine with Sharon, he needed something that can make Dragon's Fire accessible as soon as possible. And so, Ahli decided to put Spellblade at the bottom of his deck, hoping that the card he draw on turn 3 would be able to be used as a mana source.

Seeing the movement of the ghoul that seemed to tighten their formation, Ahli realized that more and more ghouls were coming at him. They were keener on chasing him compared to before. As he was avoiding them, he made a quick scan, which not just to find an escape route, but also to find what caused the ghouls suddenly to become so interested in him.

At the end of the horde, by the edge of the forest, there he found it. Purple light in the depth of the night that sparked occassionally, and from the way it radiated, it sure did look magical. Knowing from his experiences of playing fantasy games, he was 100% sure the purple light he saw had a connection with some necromancy. And so, with that knowledge, Ahli aimed there.

Why not black you say? Well, most games used purple as it conveys much better in a dark environment. Also, it sometimes gives a grim color and even though it is usually associated with royal lineage, wealth, and fame, it is also associated with death in some parts of Europe plus Thailand. So, the god of this world seemed to have the same thinking as people living in Europe.

Back at Ahli, as he navigated himself through the many holes that he found in the ghouls' formation, he checked on the newest card in his hand. When he saw that it was a buff spell named Solitary Blaze, he looked around the battlefield to check where was Sharon's position. He found her way far at the back, and between them was a 50-meter sea of ghouls. If Ahli decided on using Solitary Blaze on her, he just knew that it would not reach her because of their current distance.

SOLITARY BLAZE

1+Fire Mana

[Magic Spell]

If target unit attacks alone this turn, it gets +3/+3 until end of turn.

Because of that reason, he quickly set it for mana source. With that, 3 more cards remained in his hand. Aside from Dragon's Fire, they were Burning Hands and Flame Blast. Among those three, Flame Blast and Dragon's Fire were the only ones that can be used as mana sources, but his aim of using Dragon's Fire means that if no other cards can be used as mana sources appear on the next turn, Flame Blast must be used as a mana source. It would be a last resort, as he prefered no to do so, with Flame Blast a powerful attack spell.

BURNING HANDS

1+Fire Mana

[Quickening Spell]

Burning Hands deal 2 damage to target unit. If the unit alignment is wood, it deals 6 damage instead.

Ahli was able to find the fastest path toward the necromancer, and by passing two ghouls that left a hole in their formation, Ahli felt he was just a couple of steps left until he reached the necromancer. Unfortunately, he found then he was mistaken as he looked to his front. He quickly halted his body from running any further. Six ghouls had blocked his run path. Front, left, and right had been blocked, leaving only back as his only option. He quickly turned, yet, another two had come from that direction as well. The ghouls gradually came at him, closing all escape holes.

Ahli was trapped.