Chapter 28

  “I feel like you cheated somehow, little goblin.”

  Rubin took out the two [Common] class cards from his pocket and handed them to the grinning boy beside him.

  “What can I say? I’ve always been lucky.”

  Shouren snickered while he grabbed the cards and shoved them inside his vault before Rubin could change his mind. The boy had conveniently forgotten all the times he’d previously cursed his bad luck.

  I can’t believe that I have 30 [Common] class cards in my vault now. I’m almost halfway to 100.

  Shouren couldn’t stop the corner of his mouth from twitching. At first, a 100 [Common] class cards had seemed like an impossible dream, but it was gradually becoming a reality.

  “Hey Rubin, what are you going to do with that [Uncommon] class card? I can shard it for you.”

  The boy sneakily picked up the chrona from the ground and slid it into his vault without Rubin noticing. That single chrona originally belonged to the older teen. Shouren was glad that the older teen’s trait was related to movement and not perception, otherwise it would have foiled his deception.

  “No way, kid! Only a [Uncommon] Cardsmith can properly shard this card, and I will not let you ruin it for practice. Forget about that card, and let’s hurry. It’s getting late, and I’m famished.”

  Rubin shoved the dark-haired boy away when Shouren poked his head towards the back of his pocket where the green card lay.

  “Fine, have it your way, pumpkin-head. Also, why don’t we eat the foxes? They look… tender.”

  Shouren made a disapproving noise at Rubin’s refusal to let him shard the [Uncommon] card, before he turned to look at the five dead foxes. The boy had wanted to experiment with the [Uncommon] card and see how durable the card’s frame and channels were. Of course, he wouldn’t use his own green cards. He’d rather use Rubin’s cards since they were ‘free’.

  “Stop drooling over those stringy beasts. Nah, I have something better in mind for our dinner tonight, kid. He’s a bit of an angry fellow and kicks a lot, but he’s also very flavorful.”

  Rubin gestured for Shouren to follow, and then bolted east of the forest. Shouren quickly dashed to the closest fox and tore off one of its legs, before he sprinted towards the blonde teen. His lumen was running very low, and he needed to replenish his reserves for what he had in his mind soon.

  He didn’t store the entire monster’s corpse inside his vault to not let Rubin figure out how big his storage actually was.

  “That’s kind of barbaric, kid.”

  Rubin raised his brow, giving his young companion a sidelong glance. Tier 0 monster meat was relatively safe to consume raw, but most people rarely ever did. But Shouren had no qualms with the dripping blood. The boy was casually feasting on the bloody flesh with relish. Clearly, it was not his first time.

  Once again, the strange boy perplexed Rubin.

  If only the brat didn’t have a [Common] class card, he’d have begged both Isola and Thalin to allow Shouren to join their guild’s recruitment program. Just the boy’s tenacity was enough to put him on a par with the elite luminaries.

  “I’m starving, and who knows how long it’ll take you to kill the ‘flavorful’ fellow.”

  Shouren gnawed on the bone, feeling the lumen surge inside his chest as the meat traveled to his stomach.

  Lumen: 7/20 (-5)

  The boy was trying to glean some information out from Rubin. Shouren needed to calculate if it would be enough time for him to experiment with the Sharding ability.

  “I only saw it from far away, but it’s a pretty enormous monster. It’s by itself, so it should take me around 5 minutes to finish it off. Even if it becomes a battle of attrition, that fellow isn’t winning after I heal myself a couple of times.”

  Rubin gloated, flashing the younger boy a charming smile.

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  “Don’t rush at the monster if it’s dangerous. Take your time, pumpkin-head, and try to kill it slowly and safely.”

  Shouren continued to munch on the fox’s leg. He had almost fully restored his lumen by now.

  Rubin’s sapphire eyes softened as he looked at the annoying brat, thinking that Shouren was worried about his safety.

  The boy wasn’t.

  “Stop here, little goblin. This is as far as you go. Leave the rest to me.”

  Rubin stopped running, holding out his arm to signal Shouren to stop as well.

  In front of the pair was an expansive meadow, and a glistening pool of water in the center. It was a small pond. However, what drew the pair of boys’ attention was the colossal figure slouched near the body of water.

  It was a gigantic black boar.

  Patches of thick bone plates covered the massive monster, its ivory color a stark contrast to its obsidian body. Two looming tusks curled outwards near its snout, exuding a ferocious and intimidating atmosphere.

  Shouren audibly gulped. It reminded him of the savage bear he’d encountered on his first dungeon run. Thankfully, he didn’t have to deal with this monster this time around.

  The boy peeked at his party member and exhaled in relief at the unperturbed expression on Rubin’s face. He needed time to experiment with his abilities, but not at the cost of Rubin’s life. Shouren liked the gullible pumpkin-head.

  “Be careful, Rubin.”

  Shouren gave the older teen an encouraging thumbs-up and retreated a few steps back. He wanted to put a bit of distance between the fight and him.

  “Watch me, kid.”

  Rubin’s sapphire eyes blazed with excitement as he ran his hand through his silky hair. The teen then silently leaped at the boar with his dagger glowing behind his shadow.

  Nope, don’t have time.

  Once he heard the boar howl in rage, and sounds of fighting erupted in the area, Shouren swiftly turned his head around and sat down on the ground, ignoring the clash.

  The boy’s hazel eyes flared with anticipation, and the air crackled with jittery energy.

  I don’t have much time. I need to finish this before Rubin comes back.

  Shouren took out one of his [Common] Spectral Threads spell cards and promptly activated the Sharding ability. With his other hand, he took a small bite of the half-chewed fox leg.

  Slow it down, and change its direction into the channel network.

  Shouren’s hand trembled as he held back the initial rush of lumen and forced it towards the card’s channels. The seal shattered quickly upon contact with the lumen, and the remaining lumen hesitantly turned in the direction of the card’s channels. It flickered between the card’s channels and the frame.

  Go to the channels.

  Shouren mentally instructed the lumen, his will flowing through the lumen from his arms and into the card.

  The lumen shifted in place and slowly trickled into the channel walls.

  Yes, it’s working!

  The boy exclaimed with elation, pumping more lumen to ram the channels and erode its strength. Shouren felt the card quivering under the assault. He continued to pour more lumen.

  Almost there.

  Shouren could sense the channel was about to collapse. The card was now throbbing with distress.

  “Oh, no.”

  The boy barely had a second before he felt all the lumen inside the card detonate. Just as the imminent explosion was about to occur, Shouren immediately tossed out everything inside his Dimensional Vault, and shoved the volatile card inside the storage.

  He felt a pang inside his chest once the card exploded inside the vault.

  Drip.

  A drop of crimson blood leaked out from his nose.

  I forgot to keep the card’s frame stable with lumen.

  Shouren groaned in pain, clutching his head. It felt like someone had smashed a building into his skull. He was so focused on the card’s channels that he diverted all the lumen there, neglecting to keep some around the card’s frame to stabilize the card until he finished his attack on the channels.

  The instability caused the lumen inside the card to set off a chain reaction.

  Shouren hastily placed all his items back inside the vault. Fortunately, the alabaster room was intact. He had to remove all the items in case the explosion affected his valuables. He had learned from his previous trials that there were certain rules regarding his Dimensional Vault.

  Ignoring the tinge of a metallic taste in his mouth, Shouren quickly pivoted his head to see if Rubin had seen him. No, the blonde teen was still busy with the monstrous boar. The creature had several deep gashes on the areas not covered by the bone armor. Yet its robust vitality kept it fighting.

  On the other hand, Rubin appeared to breathe calmly and looked uninjured.

  Shouren saw that part of the older teen’s clothes were torn, so perhaps the older teen had already healed himself once. He could tell the battle was drawing to a close, with Rubin waiting for the monster to bleed to death.

  My chronas…

  Shouren cried inside his mind as he took out another [Common] Spectral Threads card. It was his last one and if it failed, then he’d have to use his other cards. His only solace was that he could forge more of the Spectral Threads spell card once he was done.

  I need to set aside some lumen to hold the card’s frame together as well.

  He wouldn’t make the same mistake again. Shouren’s E ranked Intelligence whirred in action, taking him into a trance.

  Shouren shattered the seal once again, and this time, split the lumen into two uneven threads. The thinner thread slithered to the card’s frame, temporarily binding the borders together until he destroyed the channels.

  The larger and thicker thread of lumen rushed once again at the channel walls.

  Huh? This part is weaker.

  Shouren sensed something strange. The channel he was randomly attacking now was more brittle than the other location. He could already feel the channel weakening at the first strike.

  The channels should have their own individual weak points as well.

  Shouren’s eyes lit up in realization. He gently probed the neighboring channels, and eventually he found another weak point.

  A mourning growl echoed in the distance until the sound waves fell completely silent.

  Donkey’s balls, I’m out of time.

  Shouren’s body tensed and he quickly sent the lumen bursting into the two weak points he’d found, collapsing the two channels and then had the lumen reunite with the smaller thread, breaking the card’s frame as well.

  He could hear some shuffling noises in the distance. It was Rubin, probably collecting the dropped cards. Shouren only had a few seconds before the teen would walk over.

  Now.

  Shouren located the four usual weak points of the card’s frame and immediately ruptured it. The Sharding was complete, and the boy closed his eyes in relief.

  But right then, a gong rang inside his mind, jarring his thoughts.

  [Congratulations. Non-system Sharding successful. Achievement being registered]

  Shouren’s eyes widened in shock. His theory was right. He glanced down at his hand, and sitting on his palm were six pieces of shards.

  However, that wasn’t the biggest shock of today.

  [Unlocking new Trait in progress… 3… 2… 1]

  Oh look at that, we're close to hitting multiple milestones! If we hit them by tomorrow, there will be 1 or more bonus chapters on the way ^^

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