Pumpkin-head better not run away.
Shouren kicked a rock on his path as he walked on the street. After seeing the ‘B’ rating on the dungeon clearing, Shouren really wanted to know how the rewards differed from a party run to a solo run.
He had initially wanted to delve into the dungeon with a party, but after discovering the contribution system, the boy felt an aversion to that idea. It felt like a dangerous gamble, surrendering so much of his fate to the whims of others.
“Eh?”
Shouren felt something prickling his lower back when he kicked the rock. Placing his hand back there, the boy’s fingers traced a small flattened roll of parchment. His brows locked in curiosity, Shouren unfurled the rough piece of paper.
Hi there, little goblin! It’s the most handsome person in the world writing here. Thank you for the shards! (I thought you would gift me any remaining shards, but if you didn’t, then I take back my ‘Thank you’, you cold-hearted brat) I had to write this part down because if I said it to you in person, you would throw another tantrum.
Shouren rolled his eyes. He instantly knew who the owner of this garbage handwriting was. Rubin had most likely written this letter a few hours before when Shouren had multiple shards rather than a single one left. The boy grinned and then squinted his eyes, continuing to read. Rubin had tried to fit as much of the words as he could on the tiny parchment.
I’ll write the ‘tantrum-throwing’ part at the end, so you will read everything before that. Here we go. First, don’t forget about the contract you signed with Isola. Make sure you forge the cards and deliver it inside the shop.
It will be empty by the time you read this, so when you go there, find the main table in the back and pull out the drawer below it. Place your crafted cards there and then close it. There should be a flash of light, and when you re-open it, your class cards will be inside. In case it doesn’t work the first time, come back the next day.
Shouren etched this into his memory. He was grateful for Rubin’s reminder, as he had did indeed forgotten about that contract earlier. Shouren took a turn to the right. One more street and he would be back home. The boy frowned at the mention of the ‘tantrum’, but he read on.
Ogre’s foot! I’m running out of space. Okay, I’ll skip the other part and write the main thing I wanted to tell you. It’s about the traits, kid. I apologize if you asked about them before we parted and I tried to run away. But if you forgot to ask about them, then it’s all on you, hahaha.
Shouren’s fingers squeezed the parchment. He did forget about the traits!
I was so fixed on figuring out the shards that I lost track of why I came into the dungeon in the first place.
“Damned pumpkin-head, he tricked me again!”
Shouren almost crumpled the parchment into a ball, but he held himself back. His hazel eyes angrily read the letter.
Please don’t throw a tantrum, kid. I had a very good reason for it. I actually gave you all the information you needed at the beginning. One key to unlocking a trait is doing an action without the system’s assistance. I know you wanted to know about how I unlocked my movement trait, but it wouldn’t work with you. After the awakening, the class cards don’t simply give us different abilities, but their lumen transforms our bodies as well. I can’t go into detail here, but…
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Shouren strained his eyes to read the last part. Rubin had run out of space on the parchment. The sentence abruptly stopped there. Shouren had an idea and turned around the paper.
I forgot about the back. Ugh, my hands hurt, kid. I don’t feel like writing anymore. Now that you know the first step to unlock traits, just use that to discover the traits best suited for you. Don’t hit me when we meet again, and remember— walk your own path, little goblin.
Shouren sighed and placed the letter inside his vault. He couldn’t be mad at Rubin. The older teen had helped him more than anyone else. Shouren smiled with affection at the last sentence.
The boy had an inkling as to why Rubin didn’t tell him the exact steps to unlock traits.
When I unlocked “Veinreader”, it was a trait most suited to my Cardsmith class card. And I gained it by altering the way I used my class abilities. Is that how Rubin unlocked his traits as well? Is that why he was sure I wouldn’t be able to imitate his process?
Shouren pondered over the contents of the letter. The older teen had a Healer class card, and although Shouren didn’t know what other class abilities Rubin had besides ‘Heal’, one of them should be the basis of his trait.
Wait, I remember that pumpkin-head once said that he needed shards to unlock his third trait. Was he talking about that mental maze of insights?
Shouren mused, deep in thought. Rubin had probably left all these clues on purpose. Now that Shouren thought about it, the older teen had seemed to guide him to something without expressly saying it in words. There must be a reason why Rubin couldn’t say it.
Shouren was standing outside his home. The damaged door rattled against the whistling wind. He could hear Rhea’s shuffled movements inside.
Walk your own path, little goblin.
Shouren closed his eyes in a trance. He could sense Rubin standing beside him, encouraging him. The older teen was trying to tell him something.
Rubin was a Healer, and Shouren was a Cardsmith.
Rubin’s abilities centered on a body’s anatomy, while Shouren’s abilities were rooted in forging cards. He could feel Rubin’s ghost nodding in approval.
I never needed a trait to move like Rubin. I don’t need a trait to move faster.
Shouren took in a deep breath.
I only need a trait that lets me forge a card that can do all of that.
A calm enlightenment blossomed within Shouren, his class card softly vibrating with affirmation.
This was what Rubin had been trying to tell him from the start. Shouren wasn’t Rubin. He was a Cardsmith, and could do things only a Cardsmith could.
Forge new cards. That was his path.
[Synchronization: 41%]
However, Rubin’s ghost didn’t dissipate yet. Shouren could sense the ghost prodding him on. He was already on the cusp of it. It was there in his subconsciousness. It was a flickering ember.
The boy kept his eyes shut. His E ranked Intelligence dashed among his fragments of memory, scouring for the source of that inexplicable feeling. He was standing on the edge of uncovering something.
Walk your own path, little goblin.
Shouren’s heart raced, his blood and lumen crashed like waves inside him. And then a burning heat exuded from his chest.
[‘j;h|lpk3/]
The fiendish chains shot inside his mind, forcefully seizing a fragment of memory evading Shouren. The scorching crimson chains imprisoned the fragment and shoved it before Shouren’s consciousness.
It was the memory where Shouren gained his insight on lumen threads. Was the corruption trying to tell him something? Without waiting for the boy, the enflamed chains growled in displeasure before drilling back inside his chest.
[wt:!1b5/ha]
Shouren shivered at the demonic chains’ presence, but it quickly left like it was aware of the boy’s fear. However, he could tell something was different about the chains this time around. Rather than rage, it seemed… more irritated?
It’s trying to tell me something. I got that insight after absorbing the shards. And Rubin told me he needed shards to unlock his third trait, but then he changed it to saying he needed the shards for his Tier 1 evolution. The last one cannot be a lie, so that means that both of them were the truth.
Shouren’s eyes flashed open, his hazel irises glowing with lumen. The pieces of the ethereal puzzle moved into their positions. Rubin had given him the answer long ago. Shouren raised his arm and coalesced the lumen in front of him.
The amber energy orbited his arm like a writhing snake.
The boy willed his command, and the snake split apart in the center, birthing two smaller snakes.
No, I was doing it wrong from the beginning. It was never one thread becoming two threads. It needs to be two threads from the start.
Shouren crushed the lumen snakes and focused inside his class card. He was sending the command to the wrong thing. The command had to be sent to the original source.
“Split.”
Shouren ordered, and two trails of lumen emerged straight from the class card in his chest. The gray card thrummed with joy. Its owner finally recognized it.
[Unlocking new Trait in progress… 3… 2… 1]
We cleared another milestone just a few minutes before this chapter went live. I'll try to upload a bonus chapter tonight, but if I can't then tomorrow will be a double release ^^
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