The Cards he found were pretty good, but he was looking for more…a lot more.
He rummaged through the warehouse and inspected all Cards thoroughly until he found a few treasures that suited his taste.
Armor Break
Common – 1(0%)
Weapon Enhancement
Active
Requires Energy to be used.
Effect – Inflicts physical damage on the target.
Highly destructive.
–
Card’s destructive property increases with Card Level.
–
Pierce Armor
Common – 1(0%)
Type of Card
Active
Requires Energy to be used.
Effect – Pierces through the target’s armor with high probability.
Inflicts great physical damage to the target.
–
The Card’s piercing property increases with Card Level.
–
Lesser Danger Sense
Common – 1(0%)
Body Enhancement
Passive
No Requirement
Effect – Grants the Card Holder the ‘Lesser Danger Sense’
–
Danger Sense grows more sensitive with Card Level
–
Minor Physical Resistance
Common – 1(0%)
Body Enhancement
Passive
No Requirement
Effect – Alters the Card Holder’s physical body.
Enhances the Card Holder’s physical resistance.
–
Card’s properties increase with Card Level.
Probability of triggering ‘Damage Absorption’ increases with Card Level.
Stun
Common – 1(0%)
Spell
Active
Requires Energy to be used.
Effect – Paralyzes the target for a short duration.
If the target’s Wisdom Star is stronger than the User’s, Stun’s effect will deteriorate.
–
Stun duration extends with Card Level.
Energy consumption decreases with Card Level.
—
Armor Break is perfect against Mutants with special abilities and…even humans with Shield Cards. Pierce Armor will be great against monsters like the Gluttonous Lizard. Lesser Danger Sense increases my survivability in the wilderness, just like Minor Physical Resistance. Stun should also be extremely helpful when I go out hunting.
Xavier was quite surprised that he found some of these Cards in the warehouse. They were quite powerful and would certainly be helpful in the wilderness. He was surprised that nobody had picked them yet. Not that he had an issue with it.
“Ah right…Most Uncommon Class Paths expand the Card Deck by 4 to 5 Class Card Slots and only three General Card Slots.”
Even if other Card Holders wanted to use the Cards stored in the warehouse, they wouldn’t have much use for them. Everyone tried to create a Card Deck that enhanced their prowess and utility as much as possible. That was quite difficult with limited Card Slots. Xavier had more freedom to pick Cards with similar effects, stack them, and create effects similar to higher-ranked Cards.
Armor Pierce and Armor Break were similar, but as long as Xavier used them properly, he was certain that he could unleash more than 100% of their prowess.
If I include World Energy as a passive Card, I’ve got a total of six Cards with Passive effects. Out of the remaining Cards, five are not useful in combat. I’m definitely the only one who’s willing to link so many Passive and non-combat Cards as a fighter at the frontlines.
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Xavier ran a hand through his hair, feeling a bit annoyed. He managed to pick nine Cards, but that left seven Slots unused. However, filling the remaining spots was rather hard.
What else did he need?
A shield would be great. But there are no useful Shield Cards without restri–...oh wait!
Xavier skipped a few Cards earlier because they had restrictions so their usability was limited. But that was a lot more interesting now that he thought about it a little bit longer.
Elemental Aegis
Common – 1(0%)
Spell/Structure
Active
Requires Energy to be used.
Requires an Elemental Affinity to be used
Effect – Conjures an Aegis Shield using the Card Holder’s Elemental Affinity and Energy.
–
The Aegis’ properties depend on the Elemental Affinity used to conjure it.
Aegis’ durability increases with Card Level.
Number of Aegis that can be summoned at a time increases with Card Level.
—
Elemental Aegis looked like a strong Card for a Common one, but the requirement put Xavier off at first. He didn’t recall having an Elemental Affinity, until he recalled that Soulshare provided him a tiny portion of Glut’s power. That included the Ember Sparrow’s fire affinity.
Xavier’s fire affinity was certainly not strong, but it was enough to meet Elemental Aegis’ requirement.
But how strong are you? Will you be weak and brittle because my Elemental Affinity is extremely low, or does that not matter? How will the fire affinity alter your properties? Will you be useless for defense because I have a Fire Affinity? Maybe, I can use you well to attack instead.
Various questions flashed through Xavier’s mind, but he didn’t have any answers. It was obvious that he would have to link Elemental Aegis and experiment with the Common Card. If the results of his experiments were disappointing, Xavier could always remove the Card. That wasn’t an issue.
10 new Cards…6 empty spots for General Cards.
Xavier would have loved to find a Healing Card but it was quite obvious that all Cards with healing effects were already taken up by other Card Holders. They had so many injuries in Haven and routine encounters with monsters that they had to use all Healing Cards to tend to their wounds.
His mind took a trip down the memory lane as he recalled one such incident where he had been gravely injured. Xavier had managed to fight against a Mutated Kobold whose power was leagues above him, but had his chest almost reduced to ribbons by the beast’s sharp claws. He could still clearly recall how blood kept gushing out of the open wounds like several small waterfalls, pooling down on the ground around him in a puddle.
His vision was getting blurry rapidly and not one but a total of 6 Card holders with Healing Class Paths had to tend to his wounds day and night. They had Healing Class Paths with additional perks for Healing Cards, yet they spent almost 24 hours tending to Xavier and working hard to stop the flow and keep him alive. He was lucky that they managed to save him that day.
Xavier shuddered at the memory and shook his head to get rid of the unpleasant thoughts. He moved forward, seeking distraction and trying to focus on the task at hand.
Other than a Healing Cards, Xavier was well equipped now.
Too many Cards require Energy to be used. It would be good to find a Card that expands my energy storage. A Card that reduces the energy consumption would also be great. Or maybe both. More passive Cards seem useful as well. Maybe something like Elemental Resistance, Mind Control Resistance, and Cards that enhance my strength passively.’
It would be best if he could find Cards that had both passive and active effects. Stone Skin of the Earthen Squire was something like that. It passively enhanced the Earthen Squire’s skin – increasing the resistance against and shock absorption of physical attacks –, while creating layers of hard stone when used actively.
What Xavier needed the most now was a Healing Card, more Cards with passive effects, a Card that expanded his energy storage, and a bunch of Class Cards.
A Card that enhances my other Cards would also be great now that I think about it.
There were countless possibilities to improve his Card Deck, but it was not like Xavier had millions of Cards to pick from.
“And I was thinking of creating a perfect Card Deck with…this…” He stared at the Card shelves and sighed heavily.
There were definitely too few Cards in the warehouse. He couldn’t even find a handful of somewhat useful Cards to fill the remaining empty Slots. Well, of course, he could just add anything, but if he wouldn’t use them…why should he link them, in the first place?
“We really need good Cards in the warehouse.”
“Of course, dummy,” Melissa lectured Xavier, “Everyone buys the good ones the moment you hand them over. Even Shadow Blade, Camouflage, Thunder Steps, and Energy Blade can be considered low-quality Cards among the Uncommon quality.”
“Energy Blade requires purified energy to be used properly. Thunder Steps is WAY too loud to have any use in most cases. Camouflage is incomparably weaker than Stealth, and Shadow Blade…well Shadow Blade is quite useful if combined with Camouflage. As long as you can control Shadow Blade properly, it should be fine. But that is easier said than done. You require great concentration, patience and extraordinary control to use Shadow Blade properly. Unleashing Shadow Blade combined with other Cards will be a challenge, but if it’s you attempting to do that…it should be fine!”
Xavier was not sure whether he wanted to cry or not as he listened to Melissa. It looked like he picked up someone else’s trash.
I can always replace them once I find something better. Xavier shrugged. The Cards were not bad. It was just that his expectations had been too high after obtaining four Rare Cards, World Energy and the Innate Ability, Soul World.
He was spoiled rotten.
He slapped his cheeks and forced himself to look through the Card shelves once more. He had six slots left. There was no way that none of the dozens of Cards left in the warehouse were useless. There had to be a few more Cards that might be useful in certain situations. He just had to look through carefully.
Glide
Common – 1(0%)
Spell
Active
Requires Energy to be used.
Effect – Allows the Card Holder to glide mid-air for a short duration.
Card Holder’s weight influences the effect’s duration.
–
Xavier never expected to pick a Card like this, but it didn’t seem too bad. Of course, he wouldn’t pick it if he didn’t have so many empty Card Slots, but it might come in handy in the future…maybe…
Breathe
Common – 1(0%)
Body Enhancement
Passive
No Requirements
Effect – Allows the Card Holder to hold his breath for 10 minutes.
–
He chuckled at first while staring at the white Common Card and ignored Melissa’s stare. Xavier picked up another Card a second later.
Climb
Common – 1(0%)
Skill Enhancement
Passive
No Requirements
Effect – Grants the Card Holder minor proficiency in climbing.
Climbing proficiency improves rapidly
–
Nobody would use their precious Card Slots to link Cards like this.
However, that was exactly what Xavier was willing to do. He had enough open Card Slots and he didn’t have a use for them right now.
Why not?
‘Maybe they’ll save my life in the future. Who knows?’