Where did they get these treasures from? Are the earrings and the wooden wand from the other side of the Monster Gate, or are there Kobolds capable of crafting them?

It was also possible that the Kobold Shaman found the earrings and the wooden wand, or that they killed someone who’d produced these little treasures. However, the earrings and the wooden wand were highly compatible with the Kobold Shaman’s abilities. The little treasures were almost ‘too’ compatible with the Kobold Shaman to consider it a coincidence.

If only I could find stuff like that as well.

He shook his head and touched the earrings that hung down his earlobes. They didn’t suit his usual fashion sense, but that hardly mattered. Xavier didn’t want to look like a fashionista with the earrings. He wore them because they enhanced his Star of Wisdom!

Thinking about his Foundation Stars, Xavier glanced at his Class Deck’s information.

Unique Class Deck

Tamer’s Desire

Stage-1 Card Holder

Connected Cards: 27

Total Card Slots: 35

General Cards 25

Class Cards 10

Innate Ability: Soul World

Stored Soul Essences: 30

“30 Essences.”

Xavier was still a bit tired, his wounds were healing slowly, and meditation didn’t replenish his used-up energy in one go either. He increased the distance to the battlefield with the six Kobold corpses, utilized Camouflage, and stayed vigilant while he strengthened his Foundation.

15 Soul Essences have been integrated into the Star of Energy.

10 Soul Essences have been integrated into the Star of Agility.

5 Soul Essences have been integrated into the Star of Perception.

A flood of cold energy swept through his entire body alongside warmth. The contrast between the cooling energy and the warmth that filled his entire body was weird, but Xavier didn’t pay it much attention.

He felt the way his muscles pumped up as his Agility Foundation increased. The increase in Perception allowed him to sense a lot more about his surroundings as well as the changes within his body. His understanding of the Soul World seemed to increase as the ever-expanding plains within him revealed more details of its beauty.

It was much easier for Xavier to perceive the Soul World and everything that happened within.

Foundation Orb

[Star of Vitality – Novice 50/100]

[Star of Strength–Novice 40/100]

[Star of Agility – Novice 50/100]

[Star of Dexterity – Novice 25/100]

[Star of Perception – Novice 30/100]

[Star of Energy – Novice 99/100]

[Star of Wisdom– Novice 60/100] – [+5] [+2%]

The distribution of my stars in the Foundation is a mess. What am I doing…like really? Am I trying to be a Mage and a Tamer at the same time, or am I trying to turn into a Melee-fighting Tamer?

Xavier had a lot of Foundation Stars to enhance, but both the Star of Strength and the Star of Wisdom were already at a decent level. The Star of Strength was crucial for most combatants to overwhelm their enemies and inflict various injuries to their bodies using their raw strength alongside their weapon’s power, but Xavier didn’t need more strength to cut through his enemies at this point.

Armor Break, Pierce Armor, Coat of Fire, Shadow Blade, and Energy Blade were strong enough when used in combination to turn a fragile stick into a deadly weapon. Using these Cards on the ruby katana solved most issues with highly resilient and powerful enemies. As long as he reached his enemies and managed to land a blow, it would be fine. For a while, at least.

At least, that was what Xavier had been hoping for when he continued to stalk through the forest. He was on his way to Logwood and encountered more Kobolds – unexpectedly.

The closer he got to the little village, the more Kobolds he found. Xavier avoided some highly evolved Kobolds, but his curiosity about the Kobold’s unique armaments pushed him closer than necessary to some groups of Kobolds that were oblivious to his presence.

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He ended up attacking another group of Kobolds – once his wounds didn’t restrict his movements anymore – and killed them all.

3x Greater Kobold Archer has been slain. +7 Soul Essences, +3 Common Card Shards.

2x Kobold Warrior has been slain. +2 Soul Essences

1x Kobold Champion has been slain.+6 Soul Essences, +2 Uncommon Card Shards.

1x Kobold Swordmaster has been slain. +10 Soul Essences, +1 Rare Card Shard

Despite having a higher foundation than most of the Kobolds he fought in that battle, Xavier was able to loot a decent number of Soul Essences. That was the best thing about evolved monsters. Most evolved monsters would reward you with one or more Soul Essences even if their Foundation were lower than yours.

Of course, that didn’t mean Xavier would be able to amass a huge haul of Soul Essences from killing hundreds of enemies with a 200-unit Foundation. The system paid attention to the difference in their Foundation and how difficult it had been to kill your enemies when your loot was determined.

But that was of no importance right now. Of course, the Soul Essences and the Card Shards were great gains, but Xavier was interested in something else.

The Kobold Swordmaster, precisely the sword it wielded, was the reason Xavier ended up fighting the group of monsters.

In the battle against the Kobold Swordmaster, the ruby katana finally broke into a dozen pieces. It couldn’t withstand the power of the Cards that had been channeled through it this time. Xavier had sensed that the ruby katana wouldn’t survive for long after his previous fight with the Kobold Shaman. He had been using the ruby katana since the world turned upside down, yet it never failed him. Even today, the ruby katana broke only after blocking a few blows from the Kobold Swordmaster.

The Kobold Swordmaster had an extremely high Star of Strength, Agility, and Dexterity, granting it the best distribution of Soul Essences as a melee-fighting Swordmaster. But despite facing a powerful Swordmaster, Xavier managed to block some attacks while creating enhanced Air Bullets all around his enemy.

The Air Bullets had been conjured with World Energy and enhanced with Pierce Armor, Armor Break, and Coat of Fire, forcing the Kobold Swordmaster to focus on evading them rather than attacking its opponent. However, there were too many enhanced Air Bullets to evade. It tried to overwhelm Xavier, but he managed to get away by using Dash, Thunder Step, and Elemental Aegis several times in succession.

At the end of the battle, Xavier overwhelmed the Kobold Swordmaster with a stroke of luck. The Kobold Swordmaster missed one of the enhanced Air Bullets by a hair’s breadth. The Air Bullet bypassed the Kobold Swordmaster’s defense and impacted heavily, crushing the monster’s throat. Pierce Armor and Break Armor’s combined effect was at full use, turning the Kobold Swordmaster’s defense useless right before the flames coating the Air Bullet erupted. The flames exploded, further increasing the damage caused to the Kobold Swordmaster.

From one moment to the next, the Kobold Swordmaster turned into a pitiful existence. Before crumbling to pieces, the ruby katana did its last duty to its owner and cut through the vital organs of the Kobold Swordmaster. Xavier barely sustained a few scratches but the Kobold Swordmaster was reduced to a sack of bones and meat. Blood was gushing out of every single wound Xavier had inflicted, particularly its throat which had turned into ribbons. The Kobold Swordmaster clutched at its throat, or what was left of it as the oxygen supply to its brain was cut off. It slumped to the ground and twitched violently a few times before going deathly still.

Now that the fight was over, Xavier approached the Kobold Swordmaster’s weapon. He would have been curious about the Kobold Warriors’ weapons as well even if he hadn’t encountered the Kobold Swordmaster. The ruby katana broke and he was in dire need of a new weapon. The Kobold Warriors’ steel swords would have done the deed, but the pitch-black blade wielded by the Kobold Swordmaster was sharper and highly resistant.

Xavier sensed that the Kobold Swordmaster had been inserting its energy into the black sword during the battle to increase the blade’s sharpness and durability. That was also why there was no scratch on the black blade while Xavier’s ruby katana shattered so easily.

Using my Cards on the Onyx Blade should be fine. It won’t break that easily. Though, if I continue like this it might not stay undamaged for long.

Since the longsword’s blade was pitch-black, Xavier decided to call it the Onyx Blade. The more he looked at it, the more he began to thank his luck for giving him such an amazing weapon. The blade was inky black and razor-sharp, designed to cut through most of its target, be it living or inanimate. Xavier had never seen such a blade so he held it in various angles and brandished it through the air, trying to get a feel of its strength. The hilt had a perfect grip despite being crafted for a Kobold Shaman who was shorter than him in size. The blade had a matt finish and looked as if it absorbed all the light around itself. But when he inserted bits of energy in it, the blade began to shimmer like the night sky.

He felt that the name suited the longsword perfectly.

No Foundation Amplification? I might have been expecting too much.

Xavier shrugged lightly when he noticed that the Onyx Blade didn’t provide any boost to his Foundation. He had been certain that the Onyx Blade was of better quality than the earrings, but that didn’t necessarily mean that it had to grant him any Foundation Amplifications.

Xavier swung the Onyx Blade through the air and smiled lightly. He used Energy Blade, Shadow Blade, Pierce Armor, Armor Break, and Coat of Fire simultaneously and felt a synergy between the Onyx Blade and the Cards’ powers. While the ruby katana had repelled the power of the Cards, resulting in a greater amount of wear and tear, the Onyx Blade seemed to embrace and enhance the effects.

These treasures are wasted on the Kobolds…

Xavier had been extremely lucky to procure the Onyx Blade, but he was still curious about where the Kobolds procured their weapons from. Even the Kobold Warriors’ steel weapons weren’t that bad. They might not be as excellent as the ruby katana, but Xavier wouldn’t feel too bad about using them either.

“Weird,” He mumbled, only to be interrupted by some incoming earth spikes and arrows.

Xavier dived to the side, rolled over the ground, and jumped up smoothly. His head flicked left where he found a group of more than 10 Kobolds.

“More walking treasures? Welcome, I’ve been waiting for y’all!”

25 Soul Essences have been integrated into the Star of Agility.