The sun had almost disappeared beyond the dry horizon of the Barrens.
The winds outside Vilge Out-1 carried dust and the faint smell of dry soil. Evening was usually quiet here. Farmers returned home, lights appeared in windows, and the vilge slowly settled into silence.
But Affin was still sitting on the stone near the edge of the vilge.
His Card Collection Book rested open in his hands.
The strange new card still glowed faintly on the page.
Elemental Merge
Affin stared at it again.
The artwork showed several elements twisting together in a powerful vortex.
Fire.
Water.
Lightning.
Wind.
All blending together.
"I've never seen anything like this…" he whispered.
Even though he had grown up poor, Affin still knew basic things about Arcana Cards.
Multi-element cards were supposed to be impossible.
Every mage could only control one affinity.
Trying to use two elements at once normally caused mana colpse.
But his Neutral affinity was different.
It didn't belong to any element.
Which meant…
It might be able to connect with all of them.
Affin slowly turned the page back and forth.
Three weak starter cards.
And one strange, mysterious card.
He pced a finger on the Elemental Merge card.
"I wonder what you actually do."
Before he could think further—
A loud crash echoed from the nearby fields.
Affin looked up immediately.
Another crash followed.
Then a terrified scream.
"HELP!!"
Affin stood up instantly.
That voice came from the farm road leading toward the Barrens.
Another shout rang out.
"MONSTER!!"
Affin's eyes widened.
The Barrens sometimes produced strange creatures.
Mana storms in that wastend twisted animals into dangerous monsters.
Normally vilge hunters handled them.
But tonight…
Something sounded wrong.
Affin grabbed his Card Collection Book and ran.
As he reached the farming road, chaos unfolded before him.
A massive creature stood in the middle of the field.
It looked like a wolf—but much rger.
Dark purple veins glowed across its body.
Mana energy crackled around its cws.
A Barrens Beast.
Two farmers had fallen near a broken fence.
One of them tried desperately to crawl away.
The monster snarled loudly.
Its glowing eyes locked onto the helpless man.
Affin's heart pounded.
"No…!"
Without thinking, he ran forward.
"HEY!"
The monster turned.
Its glowing eyes shifted toward him.
For a brief moment, the beast studied him.
Then it growled.
Affin opened his Card Collection Book quickly.
His hands trembled slightly.
"I've never used these before…"
But there was no time to hesitate.
He focused his mana.
"Arcana summon!"
The page glowed.
The first card lifted from the book.
Neutral Pulse
The card dissolved into energy.
A small sphere of white magic formed in Affin's hand.
The monster lunged.
"Go!"
Affin threw the energy forward.
The sphere shot through the air and struck the beast.
BOOM!
The impact pushed the creature back a few steps.
But the damage was small.
The monster shook its head and growled even louder.
Affin swallowed.
"Yeah… that card really is weak."
The beast charged.
Fast.
Too fast.
Affin quickly flipped another page.
"Neutral Step!"
The card activated instantly.
Energy surged into his legs.
Affin leaped sideways just as the creature smmed into the ground where he had been standing.
Dust exploded into the air.
The beast turned again, furious now.
Its cws dug into the earth.
Affin steadied himself.
"Okay… one more card."
He flipped to the next page.
Neutral Guard
A glowing shield appeared around his arm.
The monster lunged again.
This time Affin raised his arm.
The beast's cws smmed into the shield.
CRACK!
The impact pushed Affin backward several steps.
But the shield held.
The monster snarled angrily.
Affin breathed heavily.
"These cards won't beat it…"
They were too weak.
The beast was stronger.
Much stronger.
If he kept fighting like this…
He would lose.
His eyes slowly shifted toward the st card.
The strange one.
Elemental Merge
The card pulsed quietly.
As if it were waiting.
Affin hesitated.
"I don't even know what you do…"
The monster roared again and charged.
Affin clenched his teeth.
"Guess I'll find out!"
He activated the card.
"Elemental Merge!"
The card burst into brilliant light.
Mana surged violently through the air.
Affin felt energy rush into his body.
Then something incredible happened.
Four glowing symbols appeared around him.
FireWater Lightning Wind
All spinning together in a circle.
Affin's eyes widened.
"I can feel them…"
The elements were responding to him.
Not separately.
Together.
The beast leaped.
Affin raised his hand.
The swirling elements combined instantly.
A bst of mixed elemental energy erupted forward.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The explosion lit up the entire field.
Dust and light filled the air.
The ground trembled.
The monster was thrown backward across the field.
It smmed into the broken fence and colpsed.
Silence returned.
The glowing energy slowly faded.
Affin stood frozen.
His heart raced.
"What… was that?"
The farmers stared in shock.
One of them whispered,
"Did that boy just use… multiple elements?"
The other man shook his head.
"That's impossible."
Affin looked down at his book.
The Elemental Merge card had returned to the page.
But the card now looked slightly different.
A new symbol had appeared on its corner.
As if it had grown stronger.
Affin slowly smiled.
"So… that's what you do."
But far away…
In a dark fortress hidden within the Barrens…
A tall figure stood before a glowing magical map.
Red mana lines stretched across the nd.
Suddenly—
One of the lines fred violently.
The figure turned.
The skull mask reflected the red light.
Skull Blood Dawn.
His crimson eyes narrowed.
"Multiple elements…"
He raised one pale hand.
A group of cloaked figures knelt before him.
"Someone in the outer vilges has awakened something unusual."
His voice echoed coldly.
"Send scouts."
The cloaked warriors bowed.
"Yes, master."
Skull Blood Dawn stared toward the distant nds beyond the Barrens.
"Find that mage."
His crimson aura fred.
"And bring him to me."
Meanwhile, in Vilge Out-1, Affin had no idea that powerful enemies had just taken interest in him.
He simply looked down at his glowing card and smiled quietly.
Tonight…
Something incredible had begun.
