The Master of Cards Chapter 89: Stairway to Heaven

[Author Note: Suggested Reading Music - https://youtu.be/p-UE6Cr5R5c]

The desert had slowly begun to change from a sandy world to a rocky one. A young man with a doll perched on his right shoulder were walking along the deserted landscape. The young man was none other than Alex.

The rocky desert spread for miles upon miles and Alex was starting to doubt whether following this sand was a good idea. He dismissed the white sand's energy fluctuations to turn the arrow into disorganized sand and then tried again and it seemed to point towards the same direction.

Alex quietly sighed, grumbling inside but he continued walking. Days passed in this way until a surprising visual appeared in Alex's line of sight.

"Is that... a stairway leading to the sky?" Alex wondered in shock.

He quickened his pace to see a number of beasts clamoring around the stairway, observing at it with eagerness of seeing a powerful wilf fruit that would let them become stronger. However, the moment their eyes landed on Alex's appearing visage, their eyes turned sharp and they began to growl.

Alex was also partially excited. He saw hundreds of monsters that appeared to be strong Rank 2 Desolate Beasts, reminding him of the lion which was made of earth that he had once encountered in his first trip to the card dimension. However, this time he was stronger than before and he also had a new toy he wanted to try out.

Alex took out a small wooden flute, not much larger than a harmonica and put it to his mouth. The desolate beasts which were collections of various packs that were lusting to enter the stairway immediately began attacking Alex.

Alex in turn began blowing his flute as a delightful but heroic melody suddenly emerged, spreading radiantly from Alex. He instantly turned into the center of the universe as the music gently penetrated the sharp hearing of the desolate beasts, calming them down and turning them numb.

Alex nodded. This method was really handy as a crowd control method when he was overwhelmed by numbers. Suddenly, his body shone light and spikes made of the Light Element emerged from Alex's body piercing the necks of the dazed desolate beasts.

Alex smiled as he heard the voice of the world announcing his feat as well as the five rank 2 fragments that appeared in his inner world, ready to be absorbed by the vortex card.

After the beasts were all dead, Alex noticed that the cactus was pulling his shirt. When he looked at it, he saw it pointing towards the stairway, urging him to go ahead. Alex nodded, since the arrow was pointing at the mysterious structure standing in the rocky desert, his goal was the stairway as well.

Alex sighed and walked towards the stairway in slow and careful steps. He was wary of traps, because he had observed that the beats wanted to desperately climb the stairway but did not dare to do so.

As Alex approached the first step, the white sand in his hand suddenly flew into the air amd began acting on its own. The sand began forming the boundaries of a circle in the air, a circle large enough for Alex to step into.

Alex wasn't sure why the sand was behaving in the way that it was, so he tried to look at it with his Energy Affinity in active mode, and to his shock, he discovered that the stairway was actually covered by a layer of pure energy attribute that he couldn't otherwise sense, because it was extraordinarily thin.

However, that wasn't the shocking part. The thin film of almost undetectable pure attribute energy filter was embedded with millions upon millions of extremely sharp and and terrifying looking nails and spikes. He then saw that the white sand had actually created a hole within the film, allowing him to enter the protected area of the stairway, which made him even more curious.

Just what in the world was the stairway? Why was the white sand able to open up the barrier? Thousands of questions floated within his mind, but for now he jumped onto the first step of the stairway with the cactus on his shoulder, through the circle formed by the white sand.

The moment he stepped on the first stairway, the sand once again returned to his palm and alex could see the thin film with dangerous spikes once again cover up behind him.

Alex fixed his eyes with determination and a slight excitement as he took a step. He half expected the stairway to be some sort of trial, however, after 10 steps he didn't feel anything, even while actively observing using Energy Affinity.

However, the moment he stepped on the eleventh step, he saw a thin film of pure attribute energy form a barrier in front of him. Within the thin film, he could see signs of a particular fluctuation method.

Alex raised an eye. "Is this a test? If I manipulate the energy of the film using Energy Affinity according to the circulation path... I wonder what will happen?"

Alex did as he thought, slowly maneuvering the energy along the pathway he had seen and as a result, when he completed one circulation within his body, he felt a connection to the thin film of pure attribute energy. Alex felt an urge to touch it and he did, immediately the film was sucked into his body and absorbed by the transparent base card.

Absorbing the film didn't give Alex any energy. But it gave him a sort of memory and instinct to manipulate the flow of energy in a particular way.

Alex nodded. So it really was a test. He continued taking further steps and with each step he found a film with a series of fluctuations hidden deep within. Once again Alex repeated the process and absorbed the film as before. This continued on until the 20th step, when Alex realized that it was getting harder and harder the manipulate the energy within his body in the path he saw.

He spent an hour or so practicing until he managed to complete a single circulation and formed a connection with the film in front of him. He absorbed the film and sighed.

This stairway was really mysterious. From the hints of knowledge and intuition he was growing because of this stairway, he suspected that it was some kind of inheritance trial.

Chapter end