Kairo returned to his room. A king-size bedroom aking to the royal suits of a lord. The job of Card Mage Officer was a very lucrative one in their time, so much so that Kairo had no need to work if he wanted—just relying on his father's fortune would be enough.
But like most boys his age, Kairo was eager to discover, to find out the secrets behind the mysterious card magic. Sitting back to enjoy luxury wasn't very interesting in his perspective.
The room was neatly arranged. A library-like shelf stood proudly to the side, taking almost half of the room. Most of the books were about card magic and their origins. Picking up the last book he read on his table, Kairo smiled. "I guess it's the third time I read this one... Hmm, the different types of cards that exist. Looks like the knowledge from this book will be useful right now," he said.
Although everything had started with his father's intense training, Kairo came to love the cards to the point of devouring every piece of information he could find about them.
Seated at his desk, Kairo pulled out the three cards he had obtained from the ceremony. His hands slightly trembling, he observed the details, comparing them to the ones in his book.
"There exist exactly four types of cards... This one seems to fall in the special cards category... Strange, what could be their use?" Kairo wondered. In his mind, Kairo thought of what he had learned in the past.
Cards had four main categories. Some were classified as Offensive for their wielded and untamed power, others as Defensive for their robustness. Then there were Tactical cards—these fell into a whole new category; they were neither offensive nor defensive but could prove to be immensely useful or useless in certain situations. "Those ones are easy to figure out. The last category is a little more complex. This is where my three cards fall, I guess. These ones are called Special cards."
Observing his three cards in hand, Kairo drank in the details. The first one was about 24 inches on both sides. An imposing guy in armor seemed to almost seep out of the card, wielding a golden lance, his eyes flickering like his body was made entirely of sand. Prominently written on the card was its name. "Sand Paladin... It's a special card," Kairo said.
The next one looked even more peculiar—it had a gigantic figure placing miniature versions of itself on some sort of board, like a god playing chess pieces with its pawns. "Tactical Brilliance... a tactical card," Kairo was delighted. Although he had no clue what they were used for right now.
Finally, the last card in his hand seemed way too simple to his taste. "Why is this one like this?... It's called the Eyes of Truth. Hmm, it has no special engraving like the others. Reminds me of the rumors about the legendary Deck of Origins," Kairo thought.
Holding the little cards in hand, Kairo lifted them to the sky. "It's fascinating when we think of it. The first Archmage Donatello was said to have created the very first cards and constructed the legendary Deck of Origin. Within this tiny thing is actually what people referred to in the past as spells..."
Cards were none other than holders of a user's aura. In the past, people able to wield the aura were called mages, but their energy was more raw and brutal. Nowadays, magic was stored into these tiny holders. Within those cards were stored actual spells! Hence, the name Card Mages was born.
"There is so much to learn about card magic... that I..." As Kairo held his card in his hands, the Eyes of Truth began shaking like a storm awakening from a deep sleep. Within his trembling hands, the card flickered in the sky, and from within its depth, Kairo could see himself. Startled, he staggered backward, almost falling off his chair.
"Looks like the hall during the ceremony... Am I in a dream?" Kairo was speechless. He was literally observing the scene like in a movie. Every flicker of the eyes, every rise and fall of their breathing—not a single detail could escape his eyes.
From within the scene, Kairo noticed Rellion trying to inject his aura into his three cards—the exact same scene from during the day.
"What is this?… Jed, what did you do?" Kairo gasped in awe, falling onto the ground. A knife-like pain assaulted his muscles, like they were being sliced from within. The painful shriek escaped his mouth as Kairo tried to regain his breath.
"Is this the power of the Eye of Truth?…" Kairo frowned. On each card was a careful description that gave everything to know about its powers. On the Eye of Truth, there was just a single phrase: "He who sees the time must decide on what not to erase."
"The description of the card has absolutely no connection with what I just saw. It was more like some foresight or future revelation ability. What kind of special card is this?" Taking a deep breath, Kairo settled the card back on the table. Almost falling off, his vision turned into triples, moving back and forth and swaying like waves.
Unbeknownst to Kairo, his body moved to his bed and he fell off immediately, darting into a long and profound sleep.
The next day, Kairo prepared his breakfast early on. Living alone with his father, he had to learn how to cook not to starve in this huge manor. From upstairs, his father descended in his neat uniform, ready to leave for work.
"I will be going to meet Rellion today. According to the message he left yesterday, he is leaving the town," said Kairo. Although he didn't catch up with his friend the day before, the message Rellion left was pretty clear. Kairo had no intention of stopping him—once he had something in mind, he wouldn't stop until he went through.
"You can't get him to change his mind. Rellion is still too young to understand certain things. You, on the other hand, are smarter, Kairo. I can't be certain of what he said, but something definitely happened. But does that mean we have to blame the system? No, I doubt it. His mind is too aggressive—he might turn into a rogue card master."
"A rogue card master?" Kairo blinked in surprise. "Those are criminals from the underground world, Father. We can't compare Rellion to them. Those people have no morals or whatsoever. Rellion is like me—we wanted to be their nemesis, beat them up, and send them to prison." Kairo had read a few things about those people. He didn't like the idea of comparing his best friend to them. He wanted to tell his father about what the Eye of Truth showed him, but for some unknown reason, he held his mouth shut.
Magnus took a last glance at him but said no more.
"One last thing. Avoid keeping your cards in contact with any part of your body until you receive your equipment from the police department. They drain the aura continuously. If you were to ever keep them too long, exhaustion wouldn't be your only problem. Now I need to leave. Kairo, take care."
After saying his part, Magnus left immediately.
"No wonder I feel so tired," Kairo smiled. The knowledge he had about cards was limited to his books, and they hardly contained everything. In this world, card magic was strictly controlled—no one other than those with a special license could use or even access them.
After his preparation, Kairo left his cards at home and set off for the train station. The roaring of engines and the sounds of machines filled the air. Moving back and forth were the people leaving or entering the town.
After some effort, Kairo managed to find Rellion holding his backpack. He waved at Kairo from a distance, his usual disarming smile on his face.
"Kairo, I'm glad you came. Almost thought your father would have forbidden you from coming," Rellion teased.
"Shut up, we both know he doesn't hate you. You know how he is." Kairo scratched his head. "So where are you going? What's the plan?" Kairo had so many questions but had to be fast—the train was already urging its passengers.
"I thought of what he said…" Rellion said with a little sigh. Kairo remembered his father had been really harsh with his words. He could only sympathize with his friend.
"I don't agree with his view. We should have the ability to choose what path we take, and not let anyone dictate our way. Kairo, I found a woman—she said she's willing to help me," Rellion spoke energetically.
"A woman? I thought you didn't like women. You said they distracted you from your goals. What's wrong with you, Rellion?" Kairo stared blankly.
"I will be leaving now, Kairo. Don't try to contact me after this. I'll be changing my address and everything. We might not meet for a long time," Rellion said, arranging his bag, eagerly glancing at the dazzling woman in black.
Despite the distance, Kairo could faintly see who she was. Long jet-golden hair, a black coat probably worth thousands. Appearing to be slightly older than them—perhaps even more—Kairo couldn't tell. She had that imposing aura around her that reminded Kairo of his father, but much more feminine. The type of person who summoned respect out of nothing.
"Help you? But help you with what?" Kairo wanted to ask. But Rellion turned to the woman, who smiled at him and then at Kairo.
"She is beautiful… but Rellion, think of it. I'm your best friend, you can't just go like this… damn it, Rellion… ah!" Kairo screamed. "Stay safe, my friend."
Rellion waved at him from the train. Their paths separated on this particular day. Rellion left with the mysterious woman, and Kairo left for his training, which would last exactly a year before entering the Card Mage Police.
A year later…
"Back in town. Things don't seem to have changed here," he murmured, picking up his bag. Kairo embarked on the train to work. His first day as a Card Mage Police officer had started.