After a lot of experimenting, Sami was able to learn all he could about the nature of the powers the Archetypes granted to players.
The cards were like base templates that assigned a player a progression path and defined the upper limits of what they could achieve. Each and every card had a base skill or skills they offered to a player. The higher the rank of the card, the stronger those base skills were, or the more additional skills they provided.
Furthermore, the cards were graded in groups of three, and each set of three offered a different class. Numbers 2 to 4 were the low-tier cards, 5 to 7 were the mid-tier cards, and 8 to 10 were the high-tier cards. Jacks, Queens, and Kings represented the S-rank players, while the Aces, standing alone at the apex, were the SS-rank players.
As for the jokers, well, they didn’t have any standard classification and sat completely outside the grading system.
But the ranks aside, even when two players possessed the exact same base skills from identical cards, no two people were the same. What truly made everyone different was their Talent.
Each Talent was unique to the player, yet somehow custom-tailored to synergize with their assigned card. That was why two people holding a 5 of Diamonds, for instance, could fight entirely differently. Depending on their Talent, one 5 of Diamonds player could be far more dangerous or versatile than the other, or possess a massive situational advantage.
It was just as Kenji had said. It wasn’t just about the card, but the player holding it.
After all, one’s talent was what truly defined how a hand was played.
As for his unique Talent, Charlatan, which let Sami bluff about his class card, he had uncovered a lot about how the ability actually worked.
The most important detail he discovered was that while he could move freely up and down a single Archetype Tree, he could not immediately jump to a completely different Tree. For example, he could start as a 2 of Spades and immediately bluff the next second that he held a 10 of Spades.
However, he could not switch from being a Rogue to being a Mage in the very next breath.
After giving it some thought, he suspected that there was some kind of powerful entity overseeing each Archetype Tree.
He had noticed that whenever he assumed an archetype, it was as if that entity’s gaze fell directly onto him, offering a strange kind of protection or oversight. It was almost as if these powers were being lent out by whatever beings ruled those suits.
Because of that, Sami figured he needed to wait for that gaze to completely fade before he could switch to a different Archetype and place himself under the authority of a new entity.
From his testing so far, the minimum cooldown time to switch suits was almost a day. He couldn’t hold a Hearts card and a Diamonds card on the same day.
Whenever he tried to switch archetypes on the same day, it didn’t work. Instead, he’d feel the power of the card he held wane slightly. It was almost as if whatever beings ruled the archetypes were offended by him trying to switch allegiances so quickly.
That was strange, but it filled him with a lot of questions. He couldn’t help but wonder who these beings were and what the Trees actually represented.
Aside from these, there was something else he discovered from the forums and from personal observation, which was that starting from the high-numbered cards, each Tree branched into two different Paths.
For instance, the 8 to 10 of the Spades typically gave one the Assassin Class. However, there were some people who held this card that were not Assassins, but Rangers, which was the second Path on the Rogue Tree.
Another example was the Diamonds suit. While high-numbered Diamonds turned some players into Sorcerers, it turned others, like Momoka, into Druids.
This caused Sami to wonder why this was so, and what actually determined whether a high-card player branched onto the first or second path of a Tree.
When he couldn’t figure it out, he shoved the thought aside for now, along with all the other unanswered questions piling up.
The next Main Quest was coming.
Unlike before when they would as least be a name and difficulty level for the quest, there was nothing this time. This uncertainty was making Sami very anxious.
He didn’t know what to expect, but for some reason, he was having a bad feeling about this coming quest. So, he decided to prepare at least.
Having a few personal weapons and armor in his inventory sounded like a nice idea. So on the sixth day, he headed to the Stall for a Weapon Quest.
He was going to get himself a personal weapon.
***
[What Class of Weapon?]
Standing in front of a massive obelisk, Sami stared at the screen before him.
From what he had learned, Weapon Quests had two modes, which were Solo and Party.
The difference between the two was that if people went as a party, the weapons they would gain would be random, as they would not have a choice beforehand. The solo quests, however, let one choose the weapon they wanted before they actually embarked on the quest.
For this reason, Sami decided that for these quests, he would play Solo.
’I’ll carefully do different quests, gathering weapons for their respective classes. In the meantime, I’ll begin with...’ he thought, before finally saying out loud, "Rogue."
[Transporting Player to the Weapon’s Stall]
A few seconds later, Sami found himself in a milky white space, surrounded by the few weapons available today. After taking a look around, Sami took a liking to a particular, beautiful set of short swords.
Both blades were forged from darkened steel, and there were almost as wide as normal swords, except they maintained the sleek, deadly taper of traditional daggers near the tips. They gave off a feeling of death and shadows.
[Name: Michelin’s Priced Possessions]
[Tier & Grade: 1(A)]
[Properties: Aid from the Dead & Mortui Soul Harvest.]
[Slaying targets absorbs a fraction of their residual soul energy. Thanks to that, this weapon can briefly pin a target to a spot, when thrown on their shadow.]
[The residual soul energy allows the wielder to be able to deal necrotic damage to others. It can also inflict the fear of meeting ’Death’ upon those that have been wounded by it.]
’This looks great...’
Sami nodded to himself, feeling a bit of excitement and anticipation.
Since he had chosen to purchase the short swords, the notification for the quest appeared.
[These weapons belong to an Assassin named Michelin Hayes. They are a prized possession of hers, granted to her by her late father who was a follower of ’Death.’ She will not part with them willingly.]
[Mission: Find Michelin and figure out a way to retrieve the blades alive.]
"Huh?"
[There is no time limit for this Quest. At the same time, it shall not exceed twenty four hours.]
[The Player shall now be transported outside their District]
"...?"
Sami had barely finished reading the words when his world went dark.