A week later, Lexie stared down at the cards spread before her.

She blinked and wondered if she had truly done it, if she'd really made the Lexie defense deck.

It truly seemed like she had. It wasn't done, but so far, it had everything she wanted. The malleability, the defense, and attack capabilities. They were tried and tested, too. Just a few days ago, she'd won a fight against Jan and had only just lost to Boris. Her training group was a little in awe of her skills now, and some of them were claiming that she would probably make the top four.

Lexie wasn't so sure about that. She wasn't done with her deck after all, and still had a few blank cards from the crystals Tate had helped her crush. She'd also bought a couple herself after selling off some gold.

So now, she was wealthy, and her deck was pretty much complete.

And now it was time to affix a starter deck. She took a deep breath and read through the cards and their descriptions. They were as follows:

Card Type: Effect Card.

Power: 9

Description:

A card that sucks the wind from the target into a vortex and holds it there for 30 seconds. Variable potency.

Activation Prerequisites:

Complete Activation Protocol

A minimum mana output of 120-200.

User must be strong enough to overpower target pathways.

No further prerequisites.

Card Type: Ability Card.

Power: 8

Description:

The shield pops up whenever and wherever you need it. Stays Active for 30 seconds.

Activation Prerequisites:

Complete Activation Protocol

A minimum mana output of 90.

No further prerequisites.

Card Type: Ability Card.

Power: 8

Description:

Reduces pain for 30 seconds and gives a mild strength boost and speed boost.

Activation Prerequisites:

Complete Activation Protocol

A minimum mana output of 100.

No further prerequisites.

Card Type: Ability Card.

Power: 5

Description:

Keeps you away from the target for twenty seconds. Variable distance.

Activation Prerequisites:

Complete Activation Protocol

A minimum mana output of 60.

No further prerequisites.

Card Type: Ability Card.

Power: 8

Description:

Stores and/or returns an attack that has been sent to you. Activate the switch to either return the attack immediately or store it and return on second activation.

Activation Prerequisites:

Complete Activation Protocol

A minimum mana output of 90-40.

No further prerequisites.

Card Type: Creature Card.

Power: 8

Description:

A messenger toad that can follow your target discreetly. Turn on the checkpoint effect to have the card record details while inactive, giving frequent updates about your target. Also does backflips.

Activation Prerequisites:

Complete Activation Protocol

A minimum mana output of 100-140.

No further prerequisites.

Since Lexie didn't plan on commercializing the deck and only wanted it for personal use, she didn't bother with lengthy and catchy descriptions. She was the only one who was going to read it anyway.

Of course, she wasn't done with the whole deck. She was still missing a few cards, like a card that could help her choreography or one that could levy a simple attack. She also wanted to consolidate the checkpoint/teleportation effect into a single card. But she hadn't worked out the intent for those yet, so she was waiting. Nevertheless, this was a good base for her defense deck.

Now, she would have to form a deck with them probably at her next dungeon session with Tate. She doubted that she could do it outside of the dungeon because the cards were simply too overpowered, and the system would probably reject her having so many high-powered cards in a single deck.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

So she would need a dungeon and the ambassador's key for approval.

Once she was done, would she make it her starter deck? She wasn't sure. Assigning these cards as her starter deck might confine them to Earth rules, and it was also a little risky using an incomplete deck as her starter deck. On the other hand, she didn't want to use another deck right now, and additionally, she wanted all the benefits of assigning a starter deck, so she could finally start leveling up.

There was the option of her using the Party Planner Deck as her starter deck and keeping the Defense deck as her backup deck.

That would mean she would need to keep using the Party Planner Deck regularly for over a year, and she felt like she had pretty much outgrown that deck. Everything useful about that deck, she could recreate better with her current deck, so it simply didn't seem as attractive an option anymore.

But her current deck had so many high-powered cards, she would only be able to use a few of them at a time. That would make them tough to use all the time, unless she succeeded in making her private mana well, in which case she wouldn't have to worry about that.

Nevertheless, Lexie decided to take some time to think about it. She also thought about what other cards she should make next. She wished she could talk to someone about this, but Xena was still MIA, and Dewie was busy with his extra classes.

He'd told her just how much homework he'd gotten yesterday, and it nearly matched what Lexie would have regularly at her scholar program, and Dewie hadn't even started practicals yet.

On the bright side, he and his new roommate were getting along really well, and while Lexie was happy that Dewie was making new friends, she was feeling a little sad that he might like his new friend more than he liked her and Xena.

It was a stupid, childish thought, but it persisted. Lexie didn't think Dewie had ever had a male friend before, and he was clearly excited about it because he brought him up in every conversation. Especially at Dewie's age, having a friendship with another boy was just different from having one with her.

He'd been friends with her and Xena for a year already, but Lexie was sure that sometimes he'd felt like the odd one out, not because they intended it to be that way, but because it just happened. For one thing, he wasn't into the AFC like they were. Also, he lived too far away and didn't see them as often as Lexie and Xena saw each other. A couple of times, they'd unintentionally had sleepovers without him because Lexie's house was walking distance from Xena's, and sometimes Xena would come over, or she would go over there and end up sleeping there. Due to all those factors, Lexie and Xena often had inside jokes that Dewie didn't get.

It was never intentional, and they tried their best to include him in everything, but some things just didn't work out that way. Dewie, the sweet soul, never once complained.

So it was a good thing that Dewie had a new friend that he could share boy stuff with. At least, Lexie knew he wasn't intentionally ignoring her, and he'd even told her that he'd come and watch one of her games. Lexie would also be going there to visit him on a weekend when Aiden or Max wasn't so busy.

Nevertheless, she felt the distance growing between them and all the changes that were occurring under it all.

It was part of growing up. People grew apart, as painful as it was, especially when they weren't in the same place and even more especially when they were on different paths in life.

She was growing apart from him, too, making new friends at Conrad's dojo.

Her dojo-bros (as Conrad termed them) weren't friends like Dewie was. Lexie still felt much closer to Dewie and Xena, but they couldn't be together right now, and that was just life.

How did I get on this depressing thought train again?

Lexie shook it off. She decided that now that she was done with her deck, she would move on to start on Dewie's deck. Lexie was still not sure how to do that. Dewie's powers were still confusing to her, but maybe when she visited him, she would try to get a feel for his mana and go from there.

Dewie could see the future, whether he knew it or not, and with her help, he would soon be able to understand and translate exactly what he was seeing.

She sighed and sent the cards back into her inventory. She still hadn't told her father about it, of course, and she didn't plan on it until he confronted her.

Lexie heard a thump downstairs followed by uproarious laughter. There were people over at her house. Last she'd checked, her dad was trying to teach Terry how to bake stuff that Glinda wouldn't find disgusting. The two wanted to try their hands at running the bakery in town now that the owner was looking to sell. Terry wanted it to be a vegan bakery, and Glinda would only agree if she could make the vegan food edible by Glinda's standards.

That was the mission Terry and Aiden were on this evening.

At some point, Emma and a few of the other nurses had come over to check in and also nibble on other stuff Aiden had made. It appeared that since Aiden hadn't been visiting the Healing House as much, his goods were sorely missed, so they were raiding his fridge like gnomes and taking whatever they could find.

Lexie was hiding upstairs. Not for any particular reason, just because she didn't want to be in front of the company right now.

Maybe company was exactly what she needed, though. Opening her system screen every five seconds to see if Xena had responded to any of her messages was probably not great for her mental health.

With that in mind, Lexie trudged down the stairs, hearing a break of laughter. Her father was in the kitchen with Terry and Glinda, while Emma, Carissa, and Ashley lounged on the couch, a demolished tray of bread rolls and near-empty wine glasses in front of them.

"Hey, bumblebee," Aiden said as she approached. She smiled, but it felt stiff. She hadn't smiled genuinely ever since she'd discovered that her father was planning on committing a crime, and the worst part was that she had no way of stopping him. She'd searched through his whole room and found no evidence to support her suspicion. The best thing she could do was just ask him at this point, but he would probably just cover it up with another lie.

This time, Lexie knew that her feelings of mistrust were not the machination of the Eldritch nor were they mere suspicion. They were the truth. She didn't trust Aiden.

Instead of looking at him, she shifted her gaze to one of the quieter people on the couch. Her eyes met Emma's, and though the woman smiled, Lexie could feel the strain as she attempted to cover up her dour mood.

"Hey Lexie," she said.

"Hey, Emma."

"Your father tells me you've been away from home," Carissa mentioned.

"With that young man she brought over last time, probably," Ashley quipped, and they started chortling tipsily, making Lexie roll her eyes.

"If you guys are going to continue with that, I'm going back upstairs," she told them and turned to do just that when they laughingly caught her wrist and dragged her down to sit.

Still, she crossed her arms over her chest in protest, and they continued to tease her as her face grew redder and her annoyance spiked.

"Lex," Her dad called out. "Wanna come help me shape these cookies?"

Lexie nodded and took it as a chance to escape. When she got there, he gave her a knowing look and handed her a rolling pin and a cookie cutter. Lexie began rolling the dough, but almost immediately, Aiden stopped her.

"Not like that," he said, taking the rolling pin from her hands and rolling a ball of dough himself. "Do it like this."

"That's exactly how I did it."

His lip quivered, and he shook his head. "I fear I've failed to imbue you with my skills in this regard. When it comes to cooking, you're just like your mother."

"I'm nothing like her." The words came out a tad sharp, and it killed the jovial mood in the atmosphere. Lexie realized immediately she'd made a mistake. She'd taken the anger at the situation with Aiden and directed it to the memory of Lara, lashing out at her instead. She was the safer one to villainize here, because Lexie had no memory of her and no attachment to her. It was almost like she blamed Lara for Aiden loving her so much, enough to commit crimes for her.

Lexie knew that was the wrong way to think, but it was tough to fight how she felt.

"I mean, I don't think I'm that much like her," Lexie finally completed, brushing her hands through her hair.

"You definitely have her temper," Carissa stage-whispered, giggling, while Terry and Glinda gave Lexie odd looks. Lexie suddenly felt very self-conscious.

Terry seemed to notice and said, "Well, Lexie is different from Lara in certain ways, but they both have that core of strength."

"And stubbornness, too," Glinda mentioned. "Plus, she was kind of a know-it-all."

Terry raised an eyebrow. "No, she wasn't. You just think she was because of that one time she went hiking with your group and you couldn't bully her the way you bully me."

Lexie knew they were trying to cover the awkwardness and make her feel better, but she wasn't sure how further conversation about her mother was going to do that. As the conversations continued, Lexie began to feel even more melancholic, and she could feel her father's eyes boring into the side of her face until she couldn't take it anymore.

Without another word, she walked away, heading upstairs to blow off some steam. When she got to her room, she lay in bed and pulled the covers over her head.

A few seconds later, the door opened, and Lexie blew out her breath in frustration. Damn it, she'd forgotten to lock it.

"Lexie." She heard the worry in her father's voice. "Are you okay?"

"Uh-huh," she responded automatically, then took a page from his book, covering up a truth with another truth. "Just really worried about Xena, I guess."

"Yes, Emma told me."

"Do you know where she is? Or what kind of training she's undergoing?"

He shook his head. "I've actually never met a Lightlark, so I'm not sure what kind of training they're offering. If you like, I can have Naem look into it and ask the ambassador."

Lexie thought about it. She didn't want Xena on Naem's radar. Then again, if Naem was truly following Lexie around, she might be on his radar anyway.

"How about I set up a meeting so you can ask Naem the questions you want yourself?"

"You would do that?" Lexie asked, surprised by the offer.

"Yes," Aiden said.

Lexie thought about it, then nodded with her back still turned to him. "That would be great, thanks."

Aiden hesitated a few more seconds before brushing a kiss on her head. After that, he left.

Lexie closed her eyes, trying to will herself to sleep, when she got a ding in the corner of her vision. She was tempted to ignore it, but she opened it up.

And her heart rate shot straight to the moon.

It was a response from Xena.

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