"A sort of convincing construct then. Fascinating. I believe that is a hobbit from Tolkien's works correct?" he asked as he no doubt scanned the thing to oblivion and back.
"It is. I have a few of the more important characters from those works as well in card form though not summoned yet." I said with a nod as I put the hobbit away in my inventory.
"Would it be possible the summon one of the more powerful entities from those works? One of the Valar perhaps?" he asked curiously.
"I mean, probably? If a card of it exists and I can afford it yeah that should be possible. Not that I would though. You understand that beings of such power could directly shift the geography of the planet when fully unleashed after all. I kinda live here so I think it best to avoid that particular outcome." I say with a chuckle.
"We are in agreement on that at least. Gods walking the land would complicate matters considerably." He said seriously.
"Eh, depends on the god. Not all of them are made the same. Not that I even have any at this particular moment but the point stands. Anyways but to our actual business, the next step to the plan?" I asked calmly.
"As I was saying you and your courier companion will be going to fortification hill to upgrade the stash of securitrons that wait below it. After that it's merely a matter of securing the region against the other factions within it's borders and allowing the second battle for Hoover dam to commence. I will give you the information on the factions as it becomes relevant." he said calmly.
"And while we are doing that you will be seeing about getting your body restored so you can live like an actual human again." I say.
"Agreed and do try not to further agitate the situation, reshuffling plans last minute tends to lead to messy outcomes." he said before the face on the screen winked out of existence.
"I do believe he just hung up on me without saying goodbye, how rude." I say with a chuckle.
"He seems the sort to advocate efficiency above all else." Adam pointed out.
"That he does. Now that I have a free moment and no witnesses worth caring for I just unlocked a new set and I'm really curious to see what it is." I said as I eagerly pull up the system that had the notification telling me I had completed the first quest in this chain of them.
This unlocked a new set and I wasted no time at all telling the system to spin that sweet sweet wheel.
It did too.
The rainbow colored wheel spun faster and faster for about a minute before slowing down to land on Ice age(ICE). I completely blanked out here as I had no clue what this set was about.
I decided to bite the bullet and rip a pack for it to get some sort of clue. The image on the pack was an ice blue background with a sort of jester in dark blue that I tilted my head at funnily before mentally willing it open to see what I got.
'Ugh, that first one's so damned wordy' I thought once the fifteen cards were laid out before me.
Necropotence-enchantment, Nature's lore-Sorcery, Wild growth-enchantment, Tinder wall-creature, Wind spirit- Creature, Disenchant-instant, Wooly mammoths-creature, Cooperation-enchantment, Fumarole-sorcery, Arctic foxes-creature, Hoar shade-creature, Rally-instant, Essence flare-enchantment, Tor giant-creature, Dire wolves-creature
'Not a single land. Between this and Scourge I don't think I like the system all that much right now.' I thought with a sigh as I put the cards away in my collection.
"Not impressed I take it?" Adam asked.
"No. Maybe I just got a bad pull this time but none of the stuff from this first pack were all that great and there wasn't a single land amongst the lot." I said honestly.
"Surely there must have been something worthwhile right?" Adam asked curiously.
"I mean there are three things that might see use but that's about it. Everything else is either cannon fodder or dependent on a mechanic I can't even use in most cases." I said with a shake of my head.
"Well what about the things you say might be useful?" Adam asked.
"Natures lore, wild growth and Hoar shade. The first two give me extra mana for as long as they last and the last has a self buffing mechanic that is effectively infinite so long as I have enough black mana. It's that little caveat that makes it okay rather than amazing. If my lands didn't go poof after being tapped it would be a great card. But until I manage to either get an infinite combo going or a way to reliably source mana without lands in vast amounts it's just okay." I said helplessly.
"Well if nothing else you have the option at least." Adam said trying to look on the bright side.
"I can not deny that. Well I suppose it's time to face the music as it were and go see a likely VERY unhappy courier." I said with a sigh.
"Maybe if you weren't obviously holding information from her she wouldn't be so upset." Adam pointed out as I moved to enter the elevator.
"Yeah I know, that's kinda the whole problem. I share my information on a need to know basis and she didn't need to know. Honestly it's better that way. At least then all her actions are organic and not just her following a script I already know line for line." I say with a helpless shrug.
"I can see the problem revealing that might cause. It brings free will into question." Adam said sounding just as troubled by this.
"Yep, I obviously have to give her something but telling her everything might just break her a little. Hell it might break all of them to know that they were all just possibilities that I've seen before." I said with a sigh.
"So you need an edited response that both satisfies her and equally doesn't fully expose the depth of your knowledge. Perhaps you can play it off of your magic again? It's related isn't it?" Adam suggested as we rode down the elevator.
"I mean I could try but I'd have to present some proof and I REALLY don't enjoy being forced to. I can tell she's getting tired of hearing about magic but not seeing it in any way she believes." I say feeling a headache coming on.