"Lexie?" Urmas spoke up, "You were saying something?"

"Oh yeah, sorry." Lexie exited out of her system screen to address Urmas. "Where was I? Oh yeah. Like I said, I think I can enhance the card I gave you and add a feature that might ease activation, or make it such that you don't have to activate it every time you want to use it. But again, it's very experimental, and since your match is today, I don't know if today is the day you want to be testing it out."

"That's a good point," Conrad said. "We should probably leave it, try it later."

Urmas looked uncertain about accepting that. "Let me know what it is first."

"It's part of a new concept I'm working on called a body card," she said. "Essentially, I would be attaching the card to a part of your body, and after you activate it once, it would automatically reactivate once that body part needs it, with no input from you."

Conrad and Urmas were silently stunned for a few seconds, and Conrad shook his head. "I swear it's like every day you surprise me with something new. At this point, I should stop being shocked at the things your mind comes up with."

Lexie grinned. "I've never done it before, but I know it's possible, and I have a trial pathway in mind for it." It had actually come to her after the fire incident when the flame had attached to the pathway in her arm and refused to let go. Once the panic had died down and she'd checked on her cards, she'd noticed then that there was a new shift in one of the activation pathways that she hadn't intended, probably triggered by the near-sentient nature of the living flame.

The shift created a structure similar to the link and signature she'd seen in the soul card, with a few notable differences. From that, Lexie figured that the shift was due to the link that the fire had with her mana.

She'd already unintentionally created a body card.

By the next morning, it had shifted back in place, probably indicating the card was no longer primed to be continuously fed with her mana pathways.

That was when Lexie had begun to think about it.

She'd never experienced anything like it, such an obvious shift. Lexie didn't know if this was something that happened simply because the card was still connected to its Eldritch source, and if it would wear off once she integrated it into the human system. It seemed unlikely, but even if that was the case, she could use what she'd learned from that to help with her body cards pathway.

The problem was that all the linking pathways seemed very individual, and she didn't know what Urmas' signature was yet.

Luckily, there was a way to find out.

All she had to do was investigate the card pathway while Urmas was connected to his balance card, to see how it shifted when he activated it, and then retrace that pathway on the card, and add a signature lock at the end.

It was such a simple solution, Lexie was kind of shocked that she hadn't thought about it before. Maybe she had been overthinking things, or maybe it was her new perception at work.

Or maybe it was just that there were so many things vying for her attention at Victoire that she hadn't been able to think straight until now.

Whatever the case may be, she had a good feeling this might work.

Urmas was still contemplative, and Conrad still looked disapproving.

"That sounds great and all, but I'm still not sure we should try it today," Conrad murmured, and his eyes flickered over her head for a second before Lexie was lifted in the air and spun so hard that she squealed and her hoodie fell.

"Look who it is!" Boris' voice boomed out. "My favorite tiny dancer!"

"Put me down, Boris!" Lexie kicked, but then laughed as he spun her around even faster.

After he finally did put her down, she was dizzy. She still had enough presence of mind to put her hoodie back on, but it was too late. She saw people glancing at her and whispering. Oh well. She should be used to it by now anyway.

She mock-scowled up at Boris. "That was unnecessary."

"Of course it was. But we missed you! Cara has been excited all morning. She's going to freak out whenever she gets back from wherever she's gone with Lane."

"I missed all of you, too," Lexie said, fist-bumping the bigger guy on his chiseled abs. "Sorry, I haven't been able to talk much on the phone."

"Nah, it's alright. Conrad told us how stressful it is at the Academy. We figured you were probably buried in all types of trouble."

"You don't know the half of it." Lexie sighed, and then she caught sight of Lane and Cara entering through the doors and cutting through the crowd of people. They were so focused on their conversation that Lexie had to wave several times to get Cara's attention.

When Cara's eyes finally flashed to her, her expression brightened, and she squealed and ran toward Lexie, throwing her arms around her.

"Oh my gosh, you're here!"

"I am," Lexie said.

"Awesome! Lane and I were just scoping the place and trying to get into the Hero's section to see what's going on there. Maybe you can help us?"

Lexie shook her head. "I don't think I can. I didn't sign up for the AFC extracurriculars, and don't even know who's going to be competing today." Well, apart from Zakhar Shadowbane's cousin, who she assumed was a [Hero]. "Maybe if Torin were here, I could have tried, but…"

"Why Torin?" Cara asked, pulling back.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. He's my mentor now."

Cara gaped. "Shut up, seriously?"

"Seriously. Hi Lane." Lane had reached them, and he gave her a quiet smile.

"Hi, Lexie."

Cara finally noticed Tamsin, who was now riding Conrad's shoulders. "Oh, hey, Tamsin. What's she doing in here?"

"She came with me," Lexie admitted,

Cara's forehead wrinkled. "Why? Wait, are you friends with the Firebringers again? Because last I heard, your parents didn't get along."

"Long story, but they decided to put their differences behind them. I'm even staying with the Firebringers over the winter break."

"Holy crap. I can't believe Kai didn't tell me that. Are you going to be there for Ansing? We might be coming to your Ansing dinner. Also, Kai didn't tell me Torin was your mentor, too. How bad is that? I bet he's like a slave driver."

"Yeah, he can be pretty awful." Although Lexie was now in the best athletic shape she'd ever been in, she still thought Torin's methods were excessive. "But he's not so bad once you get to know him."

Conrad snorted and opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted

"Conrad."

The voice was familiar, that careful tone of laidback superiority that could only belong to one person in the league. His cologne hit everyone there from a mile away, and the buzz of the various gadgets he had around his body could be heard, too.

Kane the Mundane arrived, wearing his black turtleneck and leggings, mech bands covering both wrists, ankles, elbows, and neck. He had his manager in tow and a small entourage of six people behind him.

People parted way as he walked toward them, and Tamsin whispered, "It's Kane."

Kane must have had really good hearing because he heard her and winked. "It's me, cutie."

Tamsin blushed.

Kane did have a charming appearance. He wasn't too tall, but he was striking, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a devil-may-care smile. Lexie could see why he had fans who swooned over him. Perhaps if she hadn't known about all the crap he'd pulled over the years, she would have been moved by his smile, too.

But as it were, she was unfazed, only mildly annoyed because his presence made Urmas stiffen up.

"Are you going to introduce me to your friends, Conrad?" Kane asked, his eyes flashing to Lexie first, then Boris, then finally Urmas. "Especially since I'm going to be fighting one of them."

"You'll get introduced soon enough in the arena," Conrad responded smoothly. "No need for you to rush it."

"Hmm." Kane pinned Lexie with a look. "You're Lexie Sparrowfoot, right?"

Lexie felt put on the spot. "Right."

"Someone said you weren't fighting anymore."

"I'm not. I'm just here to support my friends."

"Oh." He chuckled. "That's funny because in my opinion it should be the other way round. They should be supporting you. You were amazing in all your matches."

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Lexie almost said 'thank you' automatically, but then she realized that in complimenting her, Kane had subtly shaded her friends, too. Sneaky.

"So many Fighters underestimated you at the start, though," he continued. 'I remember having many arguments with my friend, Nick," he pointed to a dark-haired member of his entourage, "I told him 'that girl has what it takes. She reminds me of myself–resourceful, entertaining, willing to do anything to win.' Then, during the Diana match, you proved me right, and I was cheering like crazy."

Lexie simply nodded again, awkwardness radiating from every fiber of her being. She didn't know how to respond. Technically, everything he was saying sounded like compliments, but there was an undertone she didn't quite appreciate. She also didn't like remembering the Diana match at all.

"I was super disappointed when I heard you weren't continuing. Hoped it was a bad joke. I would have loved to have you on my squad, or even for us to just team up for doubles and triples."

Lexie shrugged. "I didn't want to fight anymore."

He tucked his hands in his pockets. "You sure? Because if there's even a part of you that wants to fight again, you should seriously think about it. I mean, if I'm being honest, you fighting…it wasn't just about you." He glanced at Tamsin. "It was also about all the young boys and girls who saw themselves in you, who got inspired by you. They'd probably been told all their lives how card users were nothing except party acts, and they've been looked down on as a result. You've shown them there's more to card magic than just that. That may not have meant much to you, but it meant a lot to them."

Lexie's eyes widened.

She'd never thought of it that way. She'd never thought about how her decision had affected anyone else but her.

"Okay, Kane," Conrad finally interrupted. "Is there anything you wanted? Because we need to have a private team talk right now."

Kane shrugged. "Sure, sure. I'll get out of your hair. Just wanted to meet Lexie and tell her I'm her biggest fan. And if she ever decides to come back to the AFC, I would love to have her on my team. I think we underdogs should stick together."

Lexie once again said nothing.

Kane's confident smile began to slip in the wake of Lexie's lack of response, so she sought something good to say.

"It was nice meeting you," she finally managed.

His smile was back to its normal wattage. "Nice to meet you, too. I hope your leg's doing better." He tossed that last part at Urmas and gave him just a hint of a smile as he began walking away.

That made Lexie regret telling him that it was nice to meet him.

Once he was gone, Cara said, "Well, I hate the messenger, but he's not wrong. Your fighting in the AFC gave a lot of low mana rankers hope. They even said cards got a slight uptick in sales."

"That could be circumstantial."

"It's not," Lane said. "A lot of people in Old Moulding were talking about you. Some of them only have a C mana ranking, and didn't think it would amount to much. Now, they look up to you."

"Oh." Lexie swallowed. Rather than pleased, she felt pressured by the knowledge of everything she was finding out. She also felt oddly guilty.

Conrad noticed and said, "Alright. I think the show's about to start, let's not guilt-trip her."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lane said instantly. "I wasn't trying to guilt-trip you. I was just saying…you did a great job, and you're still brought up in the forums a lot."

"That's nice," she said. "Thank you. I appreciate the kind words, guys. Really."

"The first match will be starting soon," Conrad told her. "You might want to go get seated."

"Wait."

Urmas's word had them pausing.

"Do you think you can make that card for me within the next hour or so?" he asked.

Lexie blinked. "Probably?" It would likely take her about fifteen to thirty minutes since she was just adding onto a card she'd already made.

"Then I want to try."

"Urmas–" Conrad sighed.

"No, Conrad. I think this is important. I'm not going to win against Kane with my leg glitching, not even if it only happens once. I can't afford to make a mistake. I feel like if I go out there like this, I'm going to lose like a punk." Urmas shook his head. "No. I want to do everything I can to win, so if I do lose, I know I tried it all."

Conrad's face hardened while Cara asked, "What on earth are you two talking about?"

Lexie briefly explained to Cara, Lane, and Boris what she wanted to make for Urmas. They, like Conrad, were stunned but more so excited to see if she could do it.

"Oh, she definitely can," Cara said. "If there's one thing I'll never do, it's bet against this girl to not make something."

Lexie smiled, pleased. "This is why you're my favorite, Cara."

"Hey," Conrad, Boris, and Lane protested at once, much to Lexie's amusement.

Lexie then texted Aoife–who had been chilling invisibly by the wall with Nathan–to take Tamsin and head back to the stands. The opening preliminary match was Bunny versus Code Zero, and she didn't want Tamsin to miss it.

Aoife's materialization spooked a bunch of people and made Boris jump half a foot in the air and swear.

Aoife simply winked at him, took Tamsin, and walked off without another word.

"What the heck was that?" Boris asked.

"That was Aiofe, my bodyguard," Lexie responded. She didn't mention that while Aoife and Nathan had left with Tamsin, Mide and Ralph were still there, invisible in empty parts of the room. Lexie didn't know how they made such a little sound and took up such little space. It was incredible.

As Conrad, Cara, and Lane continued their discussions, Lexie and Urmas found a quiet corner to work. Lexie told him to activate the card, and after he did, she meditated and took a look at his pathways and the pathways inside the cards, how they shifted to form the bond with his leg.

She wasn't simply analyzing the card pathways. It was like her awareness was moving through his body to his hand and then to the card. She noted when the card activation pathway twisted and snapped into a new shape, and the more she looked, the more she saw the microtwists and the tiny changes that made up the signature.

Lexie was amazed that she had gotten this good at pathway mapping. It no longer even gave her a headache anymore. It was incredible that it used to take her hours to do this, and now it only took her minutes.

Her increased perception probably made that easier, too.

Then she got to crafting. Luckily, she'd brought her crafting pen and a blank card in anticipation of running into a Shadowbane. She didn't need the blank card for Urmas, though. She could work with the card she'd already made for him, as she'd left a bunch of the nodes open for additions.

After Urmas handed her the card, Lexie began to carve a new pathway. At the activation node, she added another set of nodes that would trigger the signature and the change, as well as a locking mechanism to lock it in, and a feedback loop to trigger automatic reactivation after the first one.

As the sound of the announcers echoed around them and the first fighters got called, Lexie also texted Xena and Dewie that she would most likely miss the first match to make the card. Xena sent her a frowny face, and Lexie promised she would watch the rest of the match with them when she was done.

The crowd roared outside, and Lexie was aware that things were happening and people were cheering. But she drowned everything else out as she worked, while Urmas sat opposite her watching.

"What is she doing?" she heard someone ask, but she ignored them, and they were hushed.

"Do you have any other problems with the card?" Lexie asked mildly as she worked.

"No," Urmas said. "I wish it made me more dexterous, but that's probably impossible at this stage, huh?"

"Not impossible," Lexie thought as a shallow intent drifted across her mind.

Feet fight faster.

It wasn't as strong as the intents Lexie usually received, but it was pretty straightforward. She knew instantly that she could add a little speed to the card, and she decided to increase the balance of the card and the lightness on his feet when the card was active, turning his weakness into a strength.

Lexie was also elated to know that her increased perception didn't just help with general intent. It also helped with those strange mini intents, too, in knowing how to improve a card. Neat.

She was glad she'd put almost all her points there now. When she leveled up, she would put even more points into perception.

"Done," Lexie said about thirty minutes later. "Alright, try it out now. "

Urmas took it and activated it, and he blinked as the card vanished in his hand.

"It's in my inventory," he said. "And it looks like it was activated, but it's inactive now."

"That's because your pathways aren't under stress. Once they are, it should activate its own. If that doesn't work, then you'll just have to activate it the old-fashioned way."

"Will that still work?"

"It should." Although Lexie wasn't really sure. She put two fingers up in the air. "Two things to note. If it does work, the card is now attached to you, and no one else can use it. Also, the active time remains the same, which means you can only use it for five minutes at a time. The good news is that, during that time, you will also get a slight speed and dexterity boost. Keep in mind, it's not gonna be much because it's using the free mana we're taking from your body (which is already not a lot) and stored in the card. So you might not even feel it much. But the longer you use it, the more mana is stored, and so the more of a speed boost you get."

"Wow." Urmas grinned. "You did all that in thirty minutes?"

"Yup. Do you want to try it out now? Maybe do some sparring with Conrad?"

He shook his head. "No, that will just tire me out before the game, and I don't need that. Besides, I trust you."

"Are you sure?" Lexie would prefer to test it out first before going on a large stage. What if it didn't work out as she wanted it to?

She was nervous, but Urmas didn't look like he was.

He nodded firmly, "Yeah."

Lexie could hear the shouts of the crowd and the announcer letting her know the first match was over. It was a quick and overwhelming Bunny victory.

"Thanks, Lexie," Urmas told her as she straightened.

"No problem," she grinned. "I'll be back after your match to see how you're holding up."

"Hopefully, I'm in one piece by then."

"Ha. I know you will be."

Conrad, Cara, Boris, and Lane weren't around when Lexie left because they were probably on the upstairs balcony watching the game live. She told herself she would see them once they were done.

She was walking out of the tunnel, just as Bunny was walking in.

Bunny smiled and waved at Lexie, and Lexie admittedly did fangirl internally as she waved back.

"I love you!" Bunny called out.

"Love you too!" Lexie said, more than a little giddy on the inside. She couldn't believe the Dust Bunny knew who she was!

She would bring Tamsin later to meet Bunny. She'd been in a separate room from where Conrad and his team had been, but Lexie could probably get Conrad to introduce them.

After she got out of the Fighter's section, she called Tate, and he answered instantly.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"Outside." His voice sounded strained.

"You're not watching the match?"

"Couldn't afford a ticket."

"If that's supposed to make me feel bad for you, it's not gonna work."

"I didn't think it would."

She sighed and glanced toward the entrance. It was teeming with people pressed against the force field. Even though they weren't allowed to enter, they wanted to watch as much as they could.

She searched amongst them for Tate but couldn't find anyone, and suddenly heard, "To the left."

She followed the instructions and saw a small figure wearing a big black hoodie that covered his whole face. Lexie almost walked toward him, but she hesitated. She'd made Xena a promise after all.

"Is this going to take a while?" she said. "Because I have to get back to my friends. I promised them I would watch the game with them."

"It's okay then. I'll wait."

"Can't you just tell me what you want over this call?"

"No. I'll wait."

Lexie was uneasy with that. She didn't like the idea of someone standing there waiting for her in the cold. It would have been different if Tate were here watching the AFC match, but he probably didn't even want to be here. It must have been even more painful for him to be here, knowing he couldn't participate.

Lexie's heart twisted in pity, as much as she didn't want it to.

Still, this might just be another plot of his. She couldn't trust it.

"Suit yourself," she said, turned around, and went back to her friends.

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