I hadn't really noticed the packaging before because I had lived lives where this type of packaging was normal, so I just took them for granted. I took the one Eliza had taken off and examined it. It looks to be made out of some type of thin Aquashell on the outside. It was gold that shone through, but there was a layer of black paint on the inside. That would keep people from peeking into the packs, and it would make them very easy to seal with a heat press.
"What is this?!" Gwenth exclaimed, dropping all the other cards to hold on in her hand like it was made of pure gold, but that was only partially right.
"Oh, that must be one of the legendary ranked cards. Don't tell me, if you move the card, my clothing falls off?" I asked casually, and all the girls shot up to go over and look, including Eliza.
"Oh, my Goddess! Gold really outdid herself with time!" Gwenth laughed and then reached into her front pocket to pull out a card sleeve to put the special card in.
"As if you just happen to have card sleeves on you!" I laughed, but then both Dwarves pulled out decks from their side pockets.
"We like to play, but there are not that many people that do, or if there are, they don't talk about it on the vine. Not like there are many Dwarves around here in the first place," Wispy said, but Gwenth laughed.
"If this is one of the cards, I think we're going to see a dramatic increase in players or at least collectors! This is going to make the prices of cards like this "Astral God Form," Legendary Imbued Enchantment go up real fast!" Gwenth laughed as she shifted the card back and forth in front of her.
"Do you think that I could have one of those packs?" Penny asked, and Seraphina nodded.
"I'll take one too! I had no idea that they had the art of you! this changes things!" Seraphina said with excitement and I groaned but opened a portal to grab another two packs as Eliza hopped back into my lap.
I passed the girls the packs and leaned back as everyone went through their cards. While the card idea had seemed strange at first, I was glad to know that all the girls liked it.
Once everyone was done, Trina went and brought back tea and some snacks. We sat until it got late talking about ideas for the Goddess Festival and ideas for the boat that Melrose was still working on. Last I heard from Tallia, the massive boat was being built further north up the coast, but I wasn't allowed to go see it yet. Tallia told me not to worry about it and that she was working with Melrose and a few others to make sure that it was perfect for what I needed.
"I think we should have a place for fun! When Chili comes back, we are going to get bored out on the water, so we should have lots of things to do!" Eliza suggested, and I laughed.
"What do you suggest then?" I asked, and Eliza leaned back into me, tapping her chin.
"Well, we should have a huge pool and a spa area! Maybe a net to play some ball sports as well!" Eliza laughed, and Gwenth smiled.
"We could put in some gambling tables, too. I know enough people who like to play cards; it would be strange not to include that." Gwenth suggested, and Wispy nodded.
"Plus, there are plenty of places on the boat where we can make little secret hideaways for just us girls to go get away from everyone else," Wispy said with a devious smile. The other girls laughed, but this was something that I was looking forward to.
Finally, after a few hours, we all started to get tired. Eliza gave me a kiss, and then I hugged the other girls before heading out the front door of the Manor with Penny following along beside me. she was still holding the cards that she had gotten from her pack, and she had them pressed into her chest.
"That was really fun! I am so glad you thought of it," Penny said as we walked back towards the city.
"It was no problem; I think that they all enjoyed it. Plus, it is a good way to keep them entertained while I am away," I replied, and the two of us just smiled.
"My place is over by Gwenth's shop, but do you think that we could go for a walk on the top of the south wall? I just want to see what the place looks like now," Penny suggested, and I nodded, opening a portal, and making Penny smile. "You can really just go anywhere that you like, can't you?"
"Perks of the job. I would have been a lot further along if I had had all my memories from the start and powers, but things are starting to smooth out," I said as we both stepped through, and the portal closed behind us.
The wall still had the long-range cannons that I had built for the fight, but they were now destined to become relics. Back then, I was bouncing from one idea to the next, trying to figure out what would work best while guessing to see what I really knew.
"It's hard to believe that this is even the same place," Penny said as she walked over to the southern face of the wall to look down at the land that was covered in dense forest.
I could see some lights coming from the monster girls' village as well as I walked over, but the far-off school and wall were dark, so there was no way for Penny to see that. The last time that she would see this place, the entire thing would have looked like a ruined and barren wasteland.
"It's a lot better now," I said, and then Penny turned to look at me.