SHUFFLE OF FATE: A Deckbuilding LitRPG
CHAPTER 12: THE F-RANK EXAM
The interior of the Mercenary Guild smelled worse than the sewers: a potent mix of stale ale, unwashed leather, and testosterone.
Kai squeezed through the crowd of shouting adventurers to reach the registration desk. A bored-looking woman with heavy makeup was filing her nails, ignoring the line.
"Next," she droned, not looking up.
Kai stepped forward. "I want to register as a mercenary."
The receptionist glanced at his clothes—stained with cave dirt and smelling faintly of spider guts. She sneered. "Cleaning staff applications are around the back."
"Mercenary," Kai repeated, placing 50 coins on the counter—half of his entire fortune. "I'm taking the Combat Exam."
The woman stopped filing. She swept the coins into a drawer with practiced speed. "Name?"
"Kai."
"Class?"
"Card User," Kai said. He didn't specify *Deckbuilder* or *Wildcard*. It was safer to be generic.
She handed him a wooden token with the number **42** painted on it. "Training Hall B. Try not to bleed on the floor. The janitor is on strike."
Kai took the token and walked through the double doors.
The Training Hall was a large open space lined with weapon racks and magic barriers. In the center, a group of hopeful recruits was being yelled at by a massive man with a scar running from his forehead to his jaw.
Instructor Borin. Level 15 [Vanguard].
"Pathetic!" Borin shouted, kicking a recruit who had fallen over. "A slime has better footwork than you! Get out of my sight!"
The recruit scrambled away in shame.
Borin turned his glare to the line of candidates. "Next! Number 42!"
Kai stepped into the ring.
Borin looked him up and down. He saw no armor. No sword at his hip. Just a thin young man in rags.
"You must be lost, boy," Borin grunted. "The orphanage is two blocks down."
"I'm here for the test," Kai said calmly.
Borin crossed his massive arms. "Fine. The test is simple. You have 60 seconds."
He pointed to a wooden mannequin standing in the center of the arena. It wasn't normal wood; it was dark, reinforced Iron-Wood, enchanted to resist damage.
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[Target: Enchanted Training Dummy]
[Defense: 20]
[HP: 500/500]
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"Deal 500 damage or destroy the core," Borin explained, bored. "If you can't do that, you're useless in the field."
Kai stared at the dummy.
500 Damage.
His **[Rusted Dagger]** was destroyed. His **[Flashbang]** did zero damage. His **[Scavenger Rat]** dealt maybe 2 damage per bite. He would need hours to destroy that thing with a rat.
"Where is your weapon?" Borin barked. "Did you forget it?"
"I don't use weapons," Kai lied. "I use... technique."
The other recruits snickered. Borin rolled his eyes. "Clock starts now. 60... 59..."
Kai took a deep breath. He couldn't use the Wildcard. Too flashy, too unpredictable. If it summoned a demon, he'd be arrested. If it summoned a spoon, he'd be a laughing stock.
He had to use the **[Silk Binding]**.
But *Silk Binding* was a utility card. It was meant to tie people up, not kill them.
"Think," Kai told himself. "Physics."
He raised his hand. "Summon: Silk Binding!"
The silver card dissolved. A stream of thick, white silk shot from Kai's fingertips.
It wrapped around the torso of the wooden dummy.
"Webs?" Borin laughed. "You going to knit it a sweater? That deals no damage!"
Kai ignored him. He didn't stop the stream. He kept circling the dummy, wrapping layer after layer of silk around the wood. Five layers. Ten layers.
"30 seconds!" Borin yelled. "You're wasting my time!"
Kai clenched his fist. "Contract."
The [Silk Binding] skill had a secondary property he had read in the description: *To bind a target.* Binding required pressure.
Kai poured his remaining Aether into the silk strands.
"Squeeze," Kai whispered.
The white cocoon around the dummy began to tighten. The silk strands, stronger than steel wire, bit into the wood.
*Creaaaaak.*
The laughter in the room stopped.
The Iron-Wood groaned. The pressure was immense. It wasn't a slash or a blunt hit; it was pure, constricting force applied to every square inch of the object.
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[Continuous Damage Applied: Constriction]
[-10 HP]
[-15 HP]
[-20 HP]
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"More," Kai gritted his teeth. **[Aether: 10/25]**.
The wood began to splinter. The enchanted runes on the dummy flickered, trying to resist the crushing force.
*SNAP.*
A loud crack echoed through the hall. The dummy's waist was being compressed so hard it looked like an hourglass.
"10 seconds!" Borin shouted, though he looked unsettled now.
Kai dumped the rest of his mana. "BREAK!"
*CRUNCH-BOOM!*
The Iron-Wood dummy couldn't take the structural stress. It exploded inward. Splinters of magical wood flew across the arena. The upper half of the dummy fell to the floor, completely severed from the legs by the wire-tight silk.
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[Target Destroyed.]
[Damage Dealt: Fatal.]
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Dust settled. Kai stood panting, his mana almost empty