Chapter 32

  Shouren folded his arms over his chest and waited.

  “I needed to find a reason to scare you into staying with me in the dungeon. You don’t seem like the type to listen with no incentives, so I sprinkled in a bit of a threat for some flair. Hey, don’t look at me like that, kid! I already knew you were curious about who we were, so this hit two birds with one stone.”

  Rubin raised his arms in protest after seeing the repulsed look on the boy’s face.

  “Isola told you to reveal your guild to me, right?”

  Shouren tilted his head, musing over his encounter with the bubbly woman. Rubin didn’t seem like someone who planned moves to this extent. This fits more with Isola’s style.

  “Yeah, she told me to slip it into a conversation and pretend it was an accident. I think I did a great job with that, eh? I fooled you for a long time.”

  Rubin beamed with pride, patting himself on the cheek.

  “It worked for a while, but it was mostly because I was afraid of Isola and Thalin. I think Isola expected you won’t be able to fool me for so long. What did she say to tell me when I found out the truth?”

  Shouren’s hazel eyes bore into Rubin. The smaller, younger boy was intimidating the older teen with ease, putting Rubin on the backpedal.

  “No wonder that bunny-hopper likes you so much. You’re just like her! If not for your dark hair and green eyes, I would think you were her long-lost son or something. You’re correct, little goblin. Isola instructed me to take you into the dungeon and then disclose our identities. I had to do it in the dungeon, because no one else would be able to hear us and, in case you talked to someone else, we would have already completed our mission by then.”

  Rubin shrugged and rolled his shoulders. They had been aching after carrying the boy through the river. Since he had decided to come clean to Shouren, there was no longer any point in subterfuge.

  “But why tell me you guys were from Starhaven guild and dangle the information about traits?”

  Shouren couldn’t figure out why they had to go through these many loops. It was too long-winded of an approach.

  “Well…”

  Rubin hesitated here for a moment.

  “I requested Isola to give me permission to teach you about traits. There’s a reason why you and others in the small villages don’t have the knowledge about traits in general. It’s kept hidden from the common people. If this information was widespread, people with [Common] class cards would do anything in desperation to unlock their second trait before the evolution.”

  Rubin reached out and took his share of the shards from the ground. Then continued talking.

  “Only certain guilds have the information about traits and even then, they only disclose it to people with [Rare] class cards and above. At first, I wanted to ask Isola to recruit you into the guild, but with your [Common] class card, it would be instantly rejected. So, I wanted to at least give you a higher chance of getting a [Uncommon] class card evolution when you enter the Chamber of Ascendance.”

  Pumpkin-head did this all for me? He’s counting on that impossible chance I would be able to evolve my [Common] class card during the Tier 1 evolution. Rubin doesn’t know that I can upgrade my class card even before that.

  Shouren’s heart warmed. The only shot Cardists with [Common] class cards had was to bet everything on their evolution. If they succeeded, they could become Tier 1. And, if they hit the lottery, their class card could also evolve along with their Tier. However, the odds of that happening were absurdly low. Shouren had only heard of a few hundred people out of millions ever evolving their [Common] class card.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  It’s why he was so shocked when he found out that his corrupted abilities allowed him to do precisely that and with a 100% success rate.

  “Do you really think I’ll be able to evolve to Tier 1 and continue on that path?”

  Shouren clenched his fist, his emotions surging. No one except for his grandma had believed in him. Shouren had never met his parents, and Rhea refused to talk about them, saying he wasn’t old enough. But Rubin believed in him.

  “Not just me, kid. Isola and Thalin believe you can as well. That’s why they took the risk and told me to reveal our identities to you. If, in the future, you reach Tier 1 and evolve your class card, you know where to find us. Your current synchronization should be below 5%, so you have plenty of years until you even attempt the evolution.”

  Rubin placed his hands over his back and took a sniff of his pits. The teen nodded with a pleased expression. He didn’t need to take a bath for a few more days after his dip in the river.

  “Why…”

  Shouren’s eyes moistened, and his hands trembling slightly. The boy wanted to ask why believe in him to this extent? Why give him the opportunity to join them? Why give him knowledge about the traits? Why give him hope?

  Why?

  A long silence spread around the pair of boys. The river water splashed against the bank, while the branches on trees swayed with the gentle breeze.

  “Because I can, Shouren.”

  Rubin’s voice pierced the boy’s thoughts. This was the first time Rubin had addressed him as Shouren.

  “I don’t need anything from you, kid. And neither can you give me what I want in life. That’s my path to take. I simply help, because I have the power to do so. That’s it. I don’t like thinking too much, and just do what I want. Life is much simpler that way.”

  Rubin smiled at Shouren, but his face then morphed abruptly.

  “Bad luck, little goblin. Save the discussion for another time.”

  Rubin got up, slowly removing his dagger from his back.

  Shouren understood the signal and crouched on his feet, ready to bolt.

  A single flaming baboon monster was rushing at them, swinging from one tree to another. Its smoldering fur turning the passing leaves into ash on contact. The monster’s bloodshot eyes riveted towards the two humans. It shrieked in pleasure before pouncing on Shouren.

  It wanted to finish the smaller one first.

  “That’s kind of rude, you melting marshmallow. I’m much better looking than that kid.”

  Rubin dashed ahead, placing his body before Shouren, and his dagger calmly pointed at the incoming monster.

  “This fellow is blind, little goblin. You agree that I’m more handsome than you, right?”

  Rubin flashed a grin at his younger party member. The baboon’s snarling fangs were almost about to land on the blonde teen.

  Shouren shook his head vehemently, laughing on the outside.

  Rubin’s glowing dagger danced in the air.

  You really are the coolest, pumpkin-head!

  It was late in the night.

  Shouren peeked through his half-opened eyelid at the sleeping figure beside him. Rubin lay on his back, his limbs spread wide, and his chest rising with deep breaths. After killing the flaming baboon monster, the pair had hunted a few more monsters before making camp for the night.

  Shouren had amassed another [Common] class card and added 6 more normal shards to his previous collection. He finally had enough to trade a [Uncommon] class card with Rubin, but he held back.

  There was something Shouren had to test today.

  Without shifting from his prone position, Shouren summoned a normal shard from his vault and into his palm. He was going to absorb the shard. It was his first time doing so, but he was familiar with the process. He had seen Rhea do it many times.

  Shouren sent a trickle of lumen into the shard and watched it immediately sink into his skin. A wispy string of energy seemed to pass into his chest, where his class card resided.

  But nothing happened.

  The boy checked his status. It displayed the same 19% synchronization he had started with a few minutes ago.

  This is why I don’t like sharding.

  Shouren complained as he took out another normal shard. The boy’s frugal mind resisted splurging the shards on himself. Absorbing one didn’t even have any effect. How many would he need to raise his synchronization by 1%?

  The second normal-sized shard dissolved into his hand as well, the wispy string of unknown energy slithering towards his class card.

  Once again, no change occurred.

  My chronas… This is the last one, and then I’m done.

  Shouren sniffed, his hand shaking as he took out yet another shard, repeating the process.

  However, this time, the wispy string thrummed slightly, resonating with something inside the class card. Shouren saw a flash of images in his mind, but it vanished too quickly.

  [Synchronization: 20%]

  Finally, my synchronization moved!

  Shouren frowned. If it took 3 normal shards for his synchronization to move from 19% to 20%, how many would it take in the later stages? The boy knew from Rhea that it gradually took more and more shards to increase each % at the higher levels.

  After confirming the normal shards, Shouren took out one of the smallest shards from the 8-piece collection. He wanted to see what the difference would be. The boy injected a part of his lumen into the small shard.

  The shard shimmered for a second before it shot into his palm. Shouren’s body rocked with alarm. A plethora of wisps swirled towards his chest. The class card rejected most of the wisps, but whenever it saw a certain wisp, it greedily absorbed the translucent string.

  [Synchronization: 21%]

  [Synchronization: 22%]

  His synchronization continued to climb at every wisp’s absorption.

  A series of images flashed behind Shouren’s irises, his insights into the Cardsmith class deepening every second.

  We're only 1 review away from completing another milestone and unlocking another bonus chapter :P

  Bonus Chapter Milestones [Every milestone will unlock a Bonus Chapter each]:

  1000 Followers [659/1000]

  200 Favorites [131/200]

  10 Reviews [9/10]