Kairo then followed after Magnus through the building, already familiar with the corners of this place. Kairo quickly noticed they were heading for the training gymnasium.
'Time for some power-up,' he thought inwardly, a grin on his face. The prospect of getting a new card was exciting, as Kairo always learned something more.
The day had started pretty well, with him learning the truth about most of the mysteries of his life. And now it was about to get even better. This was because Kairo was going to awaken a new card thanks to his contribution in the mission.
"Will you like to make the ceremony public or private, Kairo? It's a unique chance and a one-time event," Magnus asked once they were in the gymnasium.
Kairo paused a second to think. Normally, getting a new star was a private event in that most officers didn't have time to celebrate and would soon be off for some new dangers. However, the three-star mark was slightly different—it was considered a threshold or bridge that the officer crossed. Thus, there was this tradition to celebrate it as it was due. However, thinking of their current situation, Kairo didn't favour the idea.
"The Seruth monster attracts too much attention, and that's not without reason. The gold rush for the card Chosen Destiny is intensifying, and we are deep in the conflict. I don't think we have time to celebrate. We should be getting ready," Kairo said. No matter how he thought of it, the Card Mage Police could not evade the conflict—they had to be part of it. And they would need as much power as they could muster.
Magnus nodded, a satisfied smile on his face—visibly, Kairo had answered the way he wanted him to. It wasn't his son without reason.
"Good. Selis Variant has leaked the information about the Cards of Origin and the Seruth monster's abilities to the media. Her intentions are clear," Magnus added.
"I don't get it. Wouldn't it have been smarter to keep it under the deck and once she got the location, go for it in secret?" Kairo asked. At least, this was what he would have done. Calling the world's eyes on something like that was attracting unnecessary competition. Kairo felt—
"Selis doesn't act on impulse but on calculated moves. She is like a chess player. If I were her, I would have done the exact same thing," Magnus said, causing Kairo to slow down an instant. "What do you think happens in a gold rush, Kairo? It's never the first to arrive who collects the gold. Most of the time, the only thing we remember about those pioneers is their bones."
"She wants cannon fodder," Kairo said with a gasp. From a cautionary point of view, it made all the sense. Knowing Donatello created something as powerful as the Deck of Origin, it was safe to assume the card was protected by someone or something. And before that thing or someone was known, the first to face it would certainly dig their own grave.
"Now you understand what is at stake in all of this. Take this holder and make your deck shine once more," Magnus said, taking a new holder from the familiar box. The holder was empty and bland, like a faceless piece of paper in Kairo's hands. But Kairo smiled—this was the card holder before he infused it with his magic. Once he did that, it would be completely different. Donatello must have been a very creative person, Kairo thought.
"Don't forget, card awakening is related to your inner self's state, and depending on what it holds, it will shape the type of card you get," Magnus reminded him on the side, standing tall and proud, playing his mentor role.
"I know about that," Kairo smiled. This wasn't anything new. With Nyx, they had pieced these details together quite early in their days here. But before Kairo injected his aura into the card, he slowed down. The last time he did this, he created a double-faced card. That was because his mind was affected by what the Surgeon had done. But if this time he was intentional about the state of his inner self—could he really dictate the type of card he would get?
Kairo took a deep breath, realigning all unnecessary thoughts out of his mind. His body felt light and at ease, like the calm waves of the ocean. Keeping the holder in hand, Kairo focused all his mental energy on one image—that of Nyx.
Back at the submarine, Kairo had felt so powerless in front of Draco that his mind was stuck in that moment unconsciously. He hated that feeling he had felt and wanted it to disappear. But far more important than that, Kairo regretted all the lives that had been lost. A burning desire to keep those he wanted safe rose in his heart, burning like flames in a furnace.
The holder shivered lightly, assaulted by a vibrant halo of colors. The circuitry of the void responded to his call and began forming white silk-like lines that rotated around Kairo's body. One after another, the silk lines connected with the holder, drawn on it with masterful precision. Like lasers, they printed on the card what Kairo felt at that moment.
There was no explosion, no wave. Just pure stillness once the aura vanished. Holding the card in hand, Kairo smiled. He had just added a new card to his arsenal. And exactly like he had predicted, this one was called The Protector.
On the card was drawn a humanoid armor wielding two swords in both hands, painted in a blue that reminded Kairo of the sky. "As expected, the state in which I found myself really did influence the card I got," Kairo said, although he couldn't get why The Protector wore two swords.
The description was pretty clear though:
' A warrior born from the zeal to help others. The Protector can take increasingly powerful damage and absorb it in its armor. But there must be at least two people around the Protector.'
"Well done, Kairo. If I'm not mistaken, you have just created another miracle. This is a switch card. That's why the Protector wears two swords instead of a shield," Magnus said with a delighted smile.
"A switch what?" Kairo was startled. He too had been curious as to why a protector didn't have a shield but instead two swords. But it was the first time he heard about switch cards.
"I have only vaguely heard of them in the count and legend of the Arch Mage Donatello. The books talk of cards able to change form mid-activation. This simply means that one card stores more than one effect in it. And in combat, the mage can alter the effect of the card—hence the name Switch Card," Magnus explained.
Kairo, on his part, was surprised. Fascinating. It reminds me of double-face cards, Kairo thought. But the difference was inherent in how both functioned. Double-face cards were one card with two effects, but the effects were drawn on both faces of the card, where one could not be used before the other—like Wind Breaker being summoned before Wind Layer.
While Switch Cards were a single card that had two effects, and one could switch between them mid-combat.
"At this rate, I might really start to believe you're one of those genuine mages that will transcend all of us to become an Arch Mage. Ever since card magic became known to the world—over seven thousand years ago—there has never been an Arch Mage other than Donatello. Those said to possess the powerful Mage Awakening," Magnus said.
"I thought that was what happened at the Awakening Ceremony, isn't it?" Kairo was even more confused. A year earlier, they had all made their initiation into card magic during the very first Awakening Ceremony. That one had been crucial because it was their first exposure to the system. But Kairo was surprised his father spoke of the same thing now.
"No, Kairo. I don't mean awakening as an event, but awakening as a state of being—the Mage Awakening. This state is achieved only when a card mage reaches the level of Arch Mage. Well, don't think too much of it. It was just a parenthesis. You should get used to your new card, The Protector, and get a better understanding of how Switch Cards function. You can see that with Fabian," Magnus concluded.
Kairo nodded and kept observing his new card as his father left for other activities. He had already given quite some items to Kairo, and Kairo was not going to be greedy. Growing up, he got used to his father appearing and disappearing like a ghost.
Kairo didn't ask about Mirelle since they were going to have a talk soon. He would be getting all the rest of the story from her own mouth. He felt butterflies in his stomach.
What a day, he said to himself. He had learned so much he needed time to digest all of it.