Xavier was not sure how much time had passed but he finally escaped his mother’s wrath. At last, he reached the warehouse.
The warehouse was around 4 meters tall and over 300 square meters of space inside it was used to store goods. It used to belong to an old, friendly couple that died shortly after the apocalypse hit the planet. Xavier could still remember their kind faces and it felt it had been just yesterday that he had seen the old bloke painting the walls with a brush.
The once bright red paint was now muted to a dull tone with layers of mud and grime covering most of it. It had lost quite a few chunks of the steel plates that formed the walls. Xavier and the others had salvaged whatever they could from the ruins and filled the holes, resulting in a patchwork of steel, concrete, and whatever else they could find to keep it sturdy.
The main door was reinforced with metal sheets, a chain-link fence, and blocks of wood to keep it standing should an uninvited person decide to barge into the warehouse. After all, the goods stored inside were valuable and could be redeemed in exchange for items of the same value or Merit points.
Internally, the warehouse had been divided into neat sections. There were rows upon rows of items stacked upon the racks, stored in different sections like supplies, tools, weapons, dried herbs, and other miscellaneous items.
As he passed through the racks, his gaze fell on the table placed in one of the corners and several bottles of glass filled with various colored liquids. Dried herbs and matchsticks alongwith stains of oil and chemicals were splattered on the table and the wall behind.
Xavier let out a sigh at that. A few survivors had chosen the Alchemy Class Path and often used to spend their time trying to craft potions with the limited resources they had. So far, nobody had achieved any major breakthrough.
However, the treasure trove of the warehouse was situated in the racks further behind. Huge trays and boxes filled with Card shards and Cards were stacked upon the racks, segregated on the basis of their level.
In the past few weeks, most of the survivors had collected Cards and Card shards but not everybody could make use of them immediately either because they lacked Soul Essences or they hoped to find a better Card. Such items found their way in the warehouse and most survivors would try to check recent additions and trade their Merit points with an item of their choice. Common Cards with a white metallic sheen were the highest in stock followed by Uncommon Cards that were easily identifiable due to their bronze sheen.
But the number of Rare Cards was quite low. So far, they had collected only 2-3 Rare Cards, all of whom had a shiny silver outer frame.
There were numerous Cards that could be used for various purposes.
“Are you finally here to take something?” A middle-aged woman asked with an amiable smile.
Her name was Melissa and she was in charge of the warehouse. She was in-charge of the goods in the warehouse and diligently maintained the inventory list, noting down whenever someone added or removed something. Melissa had an updated list of all names with a particular merit system that allowed people to take things only if they contributed as well.
Merits were Haven’s currency system and the stocks preserved in the warehouse. It wasn’t a perfect system but it allowed everyone to regain a part of their mundane life before the apocalypse. They had to work and earn if they wanted to procure something from the warehouse.
Xavier’s mother was currently working on creating a better and more efficient system to turn Haven into a properly working and functional society in the chaotic new world. Silvia wanted to create a basic welfare system to give everyone who couldn’t work a small place with a roof on top of their head and enough food to survive. Everyone was given enough to survive in Haven.
However, only those who worked hard were given more benefits. Card Holders who were brave enough to fight the ferocious monsters outside Haven received additional perks and extra benefits, which included Merits.
But even these benefits were usually not that special. Haven was not a rich settlement. They had enough means to survive and protect themselves, but they didn’t have electricity yet and their stock of medicines was dwindling rapidly as well.
Their Card Holders sustained various injuries while fighting monsters daily, yet they didn’t have the means to tend to everyone. Most attempts to concoct potions failed, and only a few successful attempts created potions without detrimental effects. Potent potions without any side effects were still a rarity and it was incredibly difficult to find the necessary herbs and plants to concoct them.
Everything about the changes on Earth was like a new world to them, thus, the name Haven.
Luckily, it was not just monsters that were evolving. The plants and trees had a growth spurt too and vegetation became denser over the past few weeks. The plant leaves were thick and lush green while their barks were stronger and wider. Xavier also noticed a few plants he had not seen earlier, some of them already at the flowering stage and tiny bulbs forming in a few branches. Though he was not sure if they were safe to consume so he let them be.
All in all, the apocalypse had turned their lives upside down but not all changes were necessarily bad. With stronger monsters and a constant threat to survival, their need for nutrition and increased stamina skyrocketed. The system took care of this aspect by infusing the soil with energy to provide nutrition to the evolved beasts that roamed the planet to establish dominion. Surprisingly, one of the few Scouts they'd sent out in the past reported the appearance of a new landscape beyond the forest. It was almost as if new lands had been integrated into Earth.
“I will pick up a few Cards. Since I’ve advanced to Stage-1, it’s about time that I procure some Cards,” Xavier responded to Melissa.
She smiled back and made a short note on a small piece of paper, “Pick whatever you want. Most of these Cards were stored by you either way. You have yet to use your merits. There is no need for you to hold back!”
Melissa encouraged him, but Xavier could only shake his head. Melissa was a weird woman. She put prices on everything in the warehouse and was known as the most frustrating woman in Haven because she was quite inflexible and stubborn. If someone had only 9 Merits and the Card cost 10 Merits, Melissa would be the first to throw them out of the warehouse without letting them bargain.
She wouldn’t even think about loaning the missing merit.
Yet, this same inflexible woman was allowing him to pick whatever he wanted? Xavier doubted it would be so easy. But then a thought popped into his head.
I guess my merits are high enough to buy almost everything in the warehouse. There is no way she would behave like that otherwise!
Xavier shrugged and walked towards the Card shelves and checked his Card Deck’s information before he moved on.
Unique Class Deck
Tamer’s Desire
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Stage-1 Card Holder
Connected Cards: 14
Total Card Slots: 35
General Cards: 25
Class Cards: 10
Innate Ability: Soul World
Stored Soul Essences: 24
I have a total of 21 Card Slots left with five of them being Class Card Slots. Is there any Card that suits the requirements to become a Class Card for Tamer’s Desire? Doesn’t look like it. That leaves 16 slots for General Cards. I should link as many as possible.
Since it was possible to remove low-leveled Cards rather easily without any major setbacks, Xavier considered getting as many Cards as possible. Even removing slightly higher-leveled Cards from his Card Deck at a later point would be fine.
Xavier would probably face a minor backlash, which would leave the Card Slots temporarily inaccessible, but that was hardly an issue. He would feel a bit sore around the chest, and the sensation would be worse if he sustained more minor backlashes, however, the soreness and inaccessibility of some Card Slots was temporary.
I can link far more Cards than the others. It would be stupid to not fill my Card Deck. But using too many Cards means that it will take longer before their level increases. It might be confusing to use more than 20 Cards in combat as well. What am I supposed to do?
Xavier fell deep in thoughts as his gaze traveled across the Card shelves. He had a great advantage with his high number of empty Card Slots, but if he messed up with the creation of a proper Card Deck, his mistakes would come back to bite him when he needed his Cards the most.
Building a proper Card Deck hadn’t been easy for Leyla, his parents, and everyone else either. However, Xavier had a few more Card Slots to use. If he did everything right, it would be easy to obliterate enemies with a stronger Foundation than him with ease. At least, that was what Xavier was hoping to achieve.
Allrounder…or focus on one thing? Do I want to be the jack of all trades, or do I want to be a master of one specific thing? A one-man army…
Given that Xavier could tame more monsters and gain a portion of their power, Xavier could create his Card Deck around them. He could even borrow his Soulbond’s power.
Whatever! I can change the Cards later, either way. I will take whatever I can use for now and switch later!!
Xavier was tired of hesitating. Overthinking wouldn’t take him far right now. It wasn’t like the Card Shelves were filled with hundreds of overwhelmingly powerful Cards. The Rare Cards weren’t that useful for him and most Common Cards had limited effects, either way.
Thus, Xavier picked whatever he deemed useful to increase his combat prowess as much as possible in order to survive outside Haven and procure more – better – Cards. He could build the perfect Card Deck over time. There was no use rushing it.
Xavier spent a few minutes picking out a bunch of Cards. He inspected them one by one after he was done with the first haul.
Camouflage
Uncommon - 1(0%)
Spell
Active
Requires Energy to be used
Effect – One of the simplest Spell Cards to camouflage the Card Holder’s presence.
The Card Holder is not invisible. It is merely harder to detect the Card Holder while Camouflage is active!
—
Effect grows stronger with Card Level
Duration of effect increases with Card Level
Energy consumption decreases with Card Level
—
Shadow Blade
Uncommon - 1(0%)
Weapon Enhancement
Active
Requires Energy to be used
Effect – Coats the Card Holder’s blade in shadows.
Decreases the blade’s visibility and increases sharpness.
The Card Holder can manifest a Shadow Blade without a blade as well.
—
Effect grows stronger with Card Level
Duration of effect increases with Card Level
Energy consumption decreases with Card Level
—
Thunder Step
Uncommon - 1(0%)
Movement/Spell
Active
Requires Energy and Stamina to be used
Effect – Amplifies the Card Holder’s Agility by infusing thunder into his/her lower body
Prolonged use of Thunder Step may result in severe injuries.
Remark – Don’t try to be silent. It won’t work.
—
Agility Amplification increases with Card Level.
Energy Blade
Uncommon - 1(0%)
Weapon Enhancement
Active
Requires Energy to be used.
Effect – Conjures an Energy Blade from energy.
Razor-sharp and highly durable.
Energy Blade can be controlled and reformed at will.
Purity of the energy used to use the Card determines the Energy Blade’s quality
—
Energy consumption decreases with Card Level
Energy Blade’s capacity increases with Card Level.
Effect duration extends with Card Level
—
“Energy Blade and Shadow Blade should work together quite well,” Xavier mumbled, wondering how potent these Cards would be. His World Energy would give them a slight advantage, which should be more than enough to turn Energy Blade and Shadow Blade into deadly amplifications.
His eyes darted to Thunder Step and he shook his head after a moment of consideration.
“That won’t do.”
Thunder Step might be an Uncommon Card that could replace Dash easily, but the description of the Card’s effect didn’t suit Xavier’s needs. He didn’t want the Card that enhanced his movement speed at the cost of being loud. It would attract the surrounding monster’s attention. At first, Xavier decided that he would rather continue using Dash to move around silently.
But who said that I can only have one Card that enhances my Agility? I can keep Dash moving swiftly and silently through the wilderness and add Thunder Step when I’m already in the middle of a battle. My enemies won’t care if my movement Card is loud or not once we’re in a battle.
After some deliberation, Xavier kept Thunder Step and continued searching for useful Cards.