Dawn of a new era

Once the hooded figure entered the store, they felt a cool breeze. The store was bright, but the light wasn't harsh on the eyes. They glanced around the store and saw all the promo material, the tables full of people talking and playing the cards they just bought, and the clear glass counter tops filled with rare cards that Alucard showcased for sale.

Some of the people left immediately after showing shocked expressions the moment they arrived at the counter. Some people still on the line asked their friends that left and upon learning that the store sells luxury goods called cards for 12 gold coins a 'pack', they left the line as well. This made the line shorter, and the people who were interested and able to afford them got to the products faster.

Wow... This place looks prettier than Hall Magnifique! I wonder if they only sell those 'card' things here? What even are they? The hooded figure thought. 

There were a bit more people before their turn in the line, but with the bustle of people playing cards on what seemed to be magical tables, they couldn't help but anticipate what magical items this store provides.

There was a commotion in front of the line. An old merchant who introduced himself as Gronk was arguing with the owner about the product this store was selling. The people couldn't help but notice that the owner was just a young man, but his red eyes made some of the people with ulterior motives remove the thought from their minds, as they were afraid of retaliation from nobility.

"Why can't I be a partner of yours, huh? Your spot on the outskirts would barely be able to do business. Today was just a lucky day for you!" The old merchant asked in a questioning tone.

"I'm fine with less business, as I've said, this is a hobby shop. I want customers to come here directly and interact with one another." Alucard answered back.

The old merchant pointed towards the tables in the shop and said, "I admit that you have a good number of these magical tables, but you barely have space for a hundred people! How about you and I start a partnership? I give you the money to build more of these tables and then set some on my shop on Central street, that would be better business, and my store will act as an advertisement for you!"

"No way old man, not right now at least. I need to build up a more sizeable crowd, and I prefer doing things on my own. Also, I have plans for expansion, so don't even mention it." 

"I'm telling you, it's going to be your loss!"

While they were arguing, the people behind the old man started complaining.

"Hey Old Gronk! Stop arguing and just buy if you want to! Don't waste our time!" an old woman who also seemed to be a merchant yelled from the back of the line.

"Yeah, speed it up, you old man!" the other people added.

"Shut up, you hag! You'll never bag a better deal than me anyway!" Gronk yelled back to the old woman. He then turned back to Alucard and pointed towards the bundles. "Alright, just give me those booster bundles, one of each. Kid, I'll be back, so you better think about my proposal." The old man took his bundles and stood behind the customers at the table who were now playing with their newly purchased cards with awe and enthusiasm.

Alucard just chuckled as he took the money and handed out the bundles. He's right, though... It's a good thing I already finished the mission, right? System? He asked the system in his mind.

You can't keep doing this! Host, at least resolve some conflict or overcome a trial! The system complained.

I resolved the conflict that the thugs made in my store, and I overcame your mission, which you provided after I completed a previous mission, which made you a bit bitter. Alucard rebuked back.

"The system was unable to make a comeback.

Ding! Congratulations to the ho-

Do that later, we have customers waiting in line here, Alucard interrupted the system's notification and turned his attention towards the next customer.

"W-why you!! *&^%!" the system cursed a bunch of undecipherable electronic noises, which Alucard ignored. 

"Excuse me, sir, but can you tell me more about these things called cards that you're selling?" The customer in front of him, the hooded figure, asked. 

Alucard took note of the hooded figure's bright and inquisitive voice and assumed it was a young woman, "No worries, ma'am. The cards are called Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Cards are usually for entertainment as you can play various types of games with them. These cards, however, are played for dueling. If you want to know more about the game then you can use the tables and play a duel game, either with someone else or using the tutorial mode."

"T-tutorial mode? But as you can see, sir, even if I wanted to play, I would have to wait for the other players to end their game. I wouldn't want to make them anxious by staring daggers at them so that they would hurry up, just like what the old man is doing right now." The hooded woman responded as she pointed to Gronk.

"Hey! Old man, don't make trouble here! or I'll kick you out!" Alucard's warning seemed to work as the old man retreated two steps, and the players he was bothering sighed in relief. "I understand, ma'am, but right now you can only wait for your turn. Or you can come tomorrow, I'll have thirty more tables, meaning more than a hundred players could play on them tomorrow." He answered back with a slight grin.

"R-really? Then I would like to purchase these beautiful boxes! Three of each, please!" The hooded woman clapped her hands excitedly.

This chick is loaded! thought Alucard, as he maintained a composed smile, "Okay, each box is thirty magicoins or 300 gold coins. Nine boxes would be two hundred seventy magicoins or two thousand and seven hundred gold coins, but can you carry all of them?" he asked as he stacked the booster boxes.

The hooded woman handed over a small pouch that contained the magicoins, which Alucard counted carefully.

"Why thank you for worrying, kind sir, but I have someone who'll carry them for me!" she pointed at a soldier who bore the LeFlamme insignia in the line. The soldier was surprised and hurriedly saluted the hooded woman. He also pleaded for her to come back to the castle and not suddenly run away again.

As she exited the store while the soldier carried the booster boxes, she waved at the owner and promised to come back tomorrow.

"Young man, is it true? You'll have more of these magic tables for us to play with tomorrow? How about you sell me just one, huh? I'm Jessa, I own a travelling company and am most certainly a more trusted merchant than that geezer!" The old woman introduced herself.

"Haaahh... Again, I'm not selling the tables. I'll be selling accessories that will allow you to play these cards anywhere in the near future, so please be patient." Alucard sighed.

The old woman smiled and said the same thing as the other old merchant did, then waited alongside Gronk and talked to him about various matters.

Business went as usual. Some customers asked about the cards that were showcased in the glass counters. Alucard explained that it would be better for them to buy packs first before going here and buying the cards that they didn't get. The customers were convinced, and they praised his character.

He's just digging a pit for you all to fall, you likely won't get the cards that you wanted to have with the packs that you buy. You buy the cards you want from him, but they're all marked up. He wants the world to feel his pain... the system dreadfully thought.

~~

Ocean Heart is a mage guild founded by the water mage Meja Gola, who was known to be the most powerful water mage to ever live in the Pacific kingdom. She was a Tier B+ mage who pioneered many water based and related spells and was especially known for her defensive arts. She had such fondness for the sea and the life that came out of it that she gathered like minded individuals and established the Ocean Heart's magic tower in her hometown of Kalamar.

Other than researching low- and high-grade water-based spells, she focused her efforts on the study and preservation of sea life, making various products and byproducts from the harvest that they get from the sea, and making sure that these knowledges were shared and continuously innovated here in Kalamar. A large statue of her in her prime, made from turquoise jade, has been erected in front of the magic tower as a symbol of the respect and appreciation that the people of Kalamar have for her. It was a magnum opus made by a famous sculptor whose life she had saved from a catastrophe at sea.

To this day, the statue stands proudly and basks in the coastal sun of Kalamar.

Neon was walking along the way towards the entrance, she had a light step and was humming a tune. She stopped by the statue and bowed her head respectfully. She stared at it, then at a card in her hand.

Umi: Field Spell card

All Fish, Sea Serpent, Thunder, and Aqua monsters on the field gain 200 ATK/DEF, also all Machine and Pyro monsters on the field lose 200 ATK/DEF.

The card depicted the vast expanse of the sea under a clear blue sky with a few scattered clouds, it stretched beyond the distance and had gentle waves that indicated a light breeze. This is probably what captivated the founder, she thought.

She entered the magic tower and was headed towards an office situated in the upper floors. She greeted a few people along the way until she reached the office. She knocked on the door before entering, what greeted her was more of a laboratory with various containers filled with different types of water and sea creatures. 

An old woman who had a head of light blue hair was sitting on what seemed to be a sphere of water, reading a book. She turned at the sound of the door opening. "Why hello Neon, what brings you so early today?" The old woman smiled gently and held her right hand towards Neon.

Neon stepped forward and took the old woman's hand. She bowed lightly and placed her forehead on the old woman's hand, this was a traditional greeting custom that mages do to show respect for their masters.

"Want to try experiments, need to be in my lab longer..." Neon, as usual, answered as shortly as she could.

The old woman chuckled and handed Neon a stack of documents, "I have a task for you. A few days ago, we've observed some unusual behaviors from some species of aquatic monsters and sea life. Particularly, schools of jackerels have recently reduced their feeding activities, leading to a recent population boom of frilly shrimps and candid crabs."

The old woman paused and put down the book she was reading. Her face became serious as she then took a smoking pipe and took a hit. She puffed out a light green smoke, which made the room smell like floral incense. Neon didn't seem to mind as the scent filled the room.

"Normally this would be a good thing since those two species are our city's most famous and valued produce, but jackerels not eating for even a short period of time has raised suspicion that there have been some drastic changes in the sea's conditions in such a short time. You'll be joining mage Osmond Gola in doing an expedition survey out in Cradler's Reef, and you'll be acting as one of his team leaders and leading a team of four junior apprentice mages." As the old woman spoke, Neon listened to her while she also read the documents.

"You have three days to prepare." the old woman sighed as she puffed out another cloud of smoke. "Haaa... I know you have tons of experiments to do, but I promise that you'll have plenty of time once you come back from this expedition."

"I'll do my best, Master." Neon promised her, The old woman then excused her. Neon went straight to her lab and further read the information inside the documents handed to her. She furrowed her brows in annoyance, then sighed helplessly. She put down the documents on a table and laid her head down on it.

She really wanted to just spend the day doing her spell experiments and testing out the cards she and her sister bought. After a minute or two of ranting in her mind, she pulled out the deck cards she had created with the help of her sister and laid them out on the table.

The deck she built had 60 cards and was a combination of ritual monsters like Relinquish, which she really wanted, and a bunch of water-type normal and effect monsters. Some were monster cards needed for the water-type fusion monsters. She also had spell cards like Giant Trunade which returned all spell and trap cards on the field back to the hand, and the ritual spell cards required for Relinquish and Crab Turtle.

She chuckled and smiled gently as she recalled the fun she had with her sister building out this deck. She couldn't wait to go to Milky's later to play with her sister. She decided to postpone her experiments on recreating the spell and trap cards' effects. She stopped shuffling the cards as she got to the card Umi and decided to do some light testing on it.

Hmmm... They're made out of some material that feels like very rigid and sturdy paper, it's very smooth as well. I wonder if it would float if I tried to control it with mana, just like ordinary objects.

As she applied mana to her hand and made it flow to the surface of the card, the card shook and abruptly absorbed the mana. Suddenly, a burst of sea water blasted out of the card. Neon was shocked as she felt the mana drain out of her and into the card. She stopped the mana flow from her hand, but it was too late.

The water blasted her door open and spewed outside of her lab.