"My muscles can't anymore. I give up," Kairo said.
"This is just the routine among the captains. If you want to be part of the elite, you will have to work at least twice as much as normal people," Fabian reminded him.
Kairo stretched his body. Now covered in sweat, he gathered his training gear to leave. He wasn't a captain yet and he didn't have their resilience.
"In two days' time we will meet at the HQ. Don't be late," Mirelle reminded him.
"Thank you all for your help," Kairo said, his voice full of respect. Without their sincere advice, he wouldn't have grown so fast in such a short period of time. His understanding of card magic had grown and he was on his way to discover even more. Kairo felt a bubble in his stomach, eager for those two days to end.
"You can leave now," Ortega dismissed him without much thought and continued training with the others.
Kairo nodded and left the training gym, regrouping with the main four one. Here most of the four-star officers had long left. Their training session completed. However a few hardworking people had not given up yet and were still trying their best to improve.
"No wonder there are so few captains. The competition is rude up here," Kairo said. Among the elites it wasn't just about how rare or powerful cards were, but about how well the mages could bring forth the card advantages.
Kairo checked in for a few minutes before finding his target. On the corner, Nyx waved at him.
"Thought you would never finish. Almost everyone has abandoned by now," she said.
Kairo noticed Nyx was not only covered in sweat but also had a few marks on her skin, clearly from their very intense training. "I will bet my last card the assessment was a success," he said. Ortega had been clear to Kairo. No one would be allowed on that island without sufficient training.
"Indeed, and I almost failed, Kairo. Could you believe it? I'm terrible." Nyx slapped her face in frustration. The smile on her face nothing more than a facade to hide how she really was feeling.
"Don't be too harsh on yourself. The essential is you're part of the fun, isn't it?" Kairo said. But his attempt fell lame. Nyx sighed even more. "Fifteen out of the thirty four-star officers were retained. Kairo, I was second on the list," Nyx said, feigning tears.
"She makes it look like a joke but she cares deeply about her performance. With Mirelle as model, second place was clearly not good enough." Kairo didn't know what exactly to say. All his life his father had trained him to excel. It was his father's job to give blood-pumping speeches; Kairo's role was just to put them into practice.
After a few seconds in his mind, he glanced in her direction, using his palm to gently tap on her head. "I believe you will perform extraordinarily well on the island."
"You must have learned quite a lot about card magic. Can I learn too?" Nyx's eyes turned almost baby-like as she asked.
Kairo shook his head in surprise. He simply couldn't resist them. Their passion for card magic took over his logic and Kairo started talking.
"That's how card resonance functions. I was as surprised as you are when I learned it is possible for cards to grow," Kairo concluded.
Nyx listened on the side, taking some time to digest the information. The lost expression on her face added to her natural charm, making Kairo unwilling to interrupt her thoughts.
"They didn't exactly call it evolution, but I guess it goes in the same card side. Now the question lies in whether all cards can evolve or grow. Might be it is limited to summons only, or might be the entire card system as a whole. This is incredible, Kairo," Nyx finally said.
"I know," Kairo nodded. Then a thought was born in his mind. Without further ado, Kairo slipped his hand in his pocket and picked up a card he had been dragging with himself since his adventure had started.
"I got it on the surgeon's body that day at the cathedra," Kairo said, raising the card to his face for both of them to see it.
Nyx's face twitched slightly but it was brief. "Promised Result," she said.
"I can't help but imagine. Promised Result can see the future of what it modifies before the operation even happens. Does that mean if I could use Promised Result, I can safely make my cards evolve with it? Let's say the sand paladin?" Kairo said. His voice low not out of strain but out of self-doubt.
"Hmm, I have no idea," Nyx shrugged her shoulders. The fire of curiosity born in her eyes, she added, "Even if you wanted to test the idea, Promised Result is still locked with the surgeon's aura. Unless you make a pact, you will never be able to use it."
Kairo nodded and kept the card back in his pocket. This was another variable in card magic that needed to be considered. "Relion and the others did create pacts to obtain their magic. But the last time, Relion was unable to even use the four corner divination before the fountain. This simply means cards forced with a pact are as difficult to control as resonant cards. I can't count on that for now," Kairo dismissed the idea. For the moment.
"No matter the case, I'm taking Promised Result with me on the island of card fossils," Kairo said inwardly. He didn't know how it could be useful but he felt some sort of emotional attachment to this unusable card.
The duo went back to the villa. The next two days were spent in the calm. Preparing both physically and mentally for what awaited them. Kairo and Nyx didn't leave each other's side. The final evening rang the bell faster than they thought. That night Kairo heard Nyx utter a few words in her sleep. It was almost inaudible but it was real. She made the promise of fully committing to them no matter what would happen in the future.
Touched, Kairo battled the urge to move, signaling he wasn't yet asleep, but then said nothing. The courage to say such words must have been hard to gather for someone who had grown with a mental barrier to pain. Thus he just lay silently and etched them into his heart. Sleeping next to each other, the night was long but Kairo hoped for it to last even longer.
...
"Welcome to all. You have been selected for one of the most important missions you will ever carry out. For this mission there are a few tactical changes. On your belt you have a short rifle. Make sure to keep it close to you; it will be our way of communicating," Ortega explained. In his hand there was a rifle with a very short barrel, with three bobbins at the top. Using the mechanism on the side, he switched between the active bobbins one after another.
"Green for safe, yellow for warning, and red for danger." Kairo picked up in his mind. This wasn't the first time he saw this type of equipment. But he had a question in mind. "Why not continue relying on the General's Eye of Fabian?"
"The island's environment is a little peculiar. Any form of tracking card magic will not work. For this reason, the engineers have designed this. It might be archaic but it's the only way we have of communicating. Make sure to always keep them close. It might save your life," Ortega added and locked the rifle on his belt pockets with the other potions. "The details about the objective, dangers, and team composition will be detailed after we go through the portal but before we touch the island. This is all for now. Get ready, tighten your belts, get card launchers ready, and on board." Ortega's voice was loud and powerful, reverberating through the perfectly lined card mages.
"Yes, Captain!" They all replied.
The card mage police portals were a one-way trip to all the most important locations known. Thus Kairo wasn't surprised their journey started here. All around him were perfectly lined card mage officers, most of which were four-star officers.
"Let's go, Kairo," Nyx said.
Kairo instinctively checked his own signal gun. After confirming it was really at the level of his belt with his boosters, he smiled, his eyes fixated on the portal. One after the others, the card mage officers followed after the captains. Taking a deep breath, Kairo lifted his foot towards the rippling black portal. Despite no sign of danger, Kairo's heart was beating a tad faster, signaling him it was about to start.
Kairo stepped into the portal. Within barely a second, he was transported to a whole new world. Something which he had never seen before.