At the crack of dawn, when the sun peered ahead once more, the boys would be awoken from their knocked out slumber. They'd stumble a bit as they'd try to get their proper bearings. A campfire smoldered out, left attended overnight beside them. To their other side, Koina would be seen cooking up some fish, the rough aroma blessing their senses. "Oh! You're up! Took you long enough." A snide comment, but one that's let slid once she served them such meals, letting the boys chow down, with Harvard struggling to get up properly due to his usage of multiple Fusions in his body. Zazel was the first to provide the boy his breakfast, a smile on the demon's face, a way of thanks for helping him back against the Debt Collector.
As they ate, they'd notice where such fish came from; A riverside that Adel was trying to catch, utilizing one of Harvard's monsters and spells to aid them. A quick mutation made on his arms in order to avoid poisoning the kids, with the monster in question being Fibonacci, turning them into curved spirals that both act as a fishing hook and a hypnosis maneuver to lead the fish onward to said hooks. "Envy had to do a liiiiittle bit of liberty in some dissection. Sorry bout that, kid."
"EH!?" Harvard checked immediately for any wounds, but nothing came out. Koina's laughter acted as a giveaway that she was joking, most likely with the Nuckelavee opening up in order to provide them the spell and monster necessary to fish. The boy would be somewhat surprised at how it was starting to be just as human as he was, a ponder in his mind. "Huh... He's not joking." He'd mumble to himself.
"Who is?" Zazel asked.
"Probably the Monster Magic stuff. Speaking of Magic, you mind trying to prepare some new cards?" Solomon requested, prompting the Card Magician to nod and make some duplicates, catching Koina's attention once she finished with her own meal.
"New cards? He can do that?" Her question was responded with a thumbs up, letting her see Harvard take a few new spells and monsters from what he saw: Seals that allows Harvard to limit the battlefield. One for Physical, the other for Magic, a third for his hand, a fourth for the Spirit, a fifth for his monsters in the form of Wisdom Seal, binding their energy in exchange for stronger physical might. Alongside it, as well as a few more spells of Replay, a spell to repeat one's actions, Swarm, a flurry of insects to invade, and Attack Armor, a solid set of armor to redirect whatever would harm him, he adds a few more monsters: Orchestra, Balan, Saturn, Babylon, Shogi, Apollyon and Yggdras. "Woooooah... So this is the fabled Codex Machina."
"You heard of it?" Harvard asked, caught off guard by how she knew of the deck.
"One of the reports I was given when it came to the newcomers was of a deck of cards that acts as an encyclopedia of every Magic Style available. I never thought it'd take the form of monsters from other worlds."
"Well, that's just one of them, really! When Solomon held them, it turned to a bunch of holy stuff! I'm pretty sure if I gave it to you, it'd probably adapt to what you know of best."
"I see... Though, weird question to ask, why didn't you just summon a big monster to destroy the whole shop? We could've had less hassle if we wanted to clean them out, couldn't we?"
"HMMMMMMMM!!! That's a VERY GOOD QUESTION, Harvard! I wonder WHY!!??" Solomon would stare directly at the child, nearly inches away from clubbing him upside the head, a groan escaping from Harvard's voice.
"I've been over this already, it's BORING if I do that-" Before another word was uttered, Solomon grabbed the boy by his suit collar and shook him like a doll.
"AND YET IT WOULD'VE GIVEN YOU THE ABILITY TO WALK STILL, YOU IDIOT!! WE LITERALLY HAVE OVER LIKE... I COUNTED 50 MONSTERS OUT OF YOUR DECK AT THIS POINT, THAT COULD'VE EASILY REMEDIED THIS!!"
"And then what?? Walk to the next big bad guy and do it again? We LITERALLY talked about this!"
"AND YOU'RE STILL AN IDIOT FOR NOT LISTENING!!!"
"Do they usually...?" Koina would ask, prompting a hand wave from Zazel to let her ignore the two's squabbles.
"Though to be fair... when I was facing Brunono, his magic style would most likely just take the monster and used it against us. Had we summoned one willy nilly, he'd just swipe it and used it like how the Beldam would. That's not mentioning the whole merge stuff they had later on." Zazel would vouch, being a key witness regarding the Collector's schemes.
"...He had that??" Solomon would let go as he'd process what the demon said, a nod affirming his question.
"That's what Puppet Magic is, last time I checked. If Harvard summoned Osiris, for example, we'd be dead by now. Sure, he's a bit rough when it comes to using the cards, but if we were holding the deck, we'd also try to play it safe when it comes to Casters that can just... take what we have and use it against us."
"Great, he's got a reason to hold back...."
"Well, that and you're being a wee bit rough too." Stolas would add, as he'd finish his fish. "Think about it, what WOULD happen if we'd have the cards? Sure, we'd be just as strong, but to be honest, we're not nearly AS SMART, y'now? At any point, anyone can just... take them. Harvard's the only one out of all of us that prepared for that, macabre as it is. None of us would've really had an answer in the form of sticking those cards into our own body to act as a personal box. Sure, we'd probably pull off the same way, but we wouldn't know that would be a potential option. We'd be blindsided by the power the cards give."
"Are you saying we'd be stupid in comparison to HIM!?"
"All I'm saying is, He knows more about the deck than we do. We'd probably walk into those traps by complete accident had we not been given the hindsight of a God. Respect the plays, Sol! He's got it!"
Solomon would sigh as he'd lay down on the ground, facepalming himself. "You know what I really hate? The fact that you guys actually raised good points and I look dumber as a result."
"It happens, don't worry." Stolas would look up to Koina to see if there was any more fish, with the woman being quick to toss one, the Stellar Sorcerer quickly catching it by one bite. "Fank yuu! Wherr whe goihn nexh?" He'd ask, his mouth muffled.
"Calibren. Massive castle above the skies. Can't miss it." She'd be quick on signaling for Adel to quit his fishing, seeing him be a bit sad as he'd drop the mutation and get himself ready. "You kids can carry Harvard, right?"
A quick thumbs up from Zazel as he and Stolas would carry his friend over.