Xavier’s gaze lingered on the ground, his body flinching the moment his mother smashed a noteboard onto the table in front of him.
“Was it really necessary for you to fight the Greater Kobold Champion on your own? Why would you do that knowing that your Foundation is much lower than that of a Kobold Champion, let alone a Greater Kobold Champion?!” Silvia shouted at his son, “And that’s not even all. You got injured by experimenting with Air Bullet again. Was that also ‘necessary’??”
Xavier pressed his lips together and remained silent. His mother was already busy managing the administrative affairs of the village. She ensured that all facilities would be well-maintained and that the village could survive with whatever goods they managed to find. They had become a small and independent state, capable of surviving the apocalypse even if the monster waves surrounding them had isolated them from the rest of the world.
But the responsibility was huge for a woman like Silvia Vador who had only managed her household until a little over two months ago. Now, she had dark circles under her eyes. She always looked dead-tired, but energy or rather, annoyance, filled her entire being the moment she heard that her son had been injured…again. Rage fueled her body with enough energy to lecture him for the next ten minutes. When she could not continue any further, Silvia excused him and sank deep into her chair. Her breathing grew labored and rough from lecturing Xavier for too long. She was exhausted easily.
Xavier left his mother’s office without a word and made a short stop at the infirmary to get his hand checked. That was not necessary because he had the Minor Regeneration Card, which amplified his natural regeneration passively. However, his mother ordered him to visit the infirmary. Thus, that was exactly what he did.
No matter how strong he was, his mother was still stronger, even if not physically.
Xavier took a quick bath before he retreated into his room. He alongside the other Combat Card Holders of the village were given entire houses for themselves. It was one of the many benefits Combat Card Holders received for putting their lives on the line to keep those who could not protect themselves or keep others safe and sound.
However, Xavier chose to stay with his family. He was more comfortable with his family around as it enabled him to keep tabs on them. Xavier was not often at home, either way, and the scarcity of residences near the village center caused some ruckus in the last few weeks. There was no need for Xavier to take away the sleeping places of others if he could stay with his family comfortably.
He slowly climbed the small flight of stairs leading to his new home. All the survivors had shifted near the village center, taking up residence in the already present houses or the few newly constructed structures. Walking through the living room of the simple house, he entered his room.
The room barely had the basic necessities, a wardrobe along the wall on his left, and a bed a few feet away from it. Xavier only piled up his small stack of clothes into the wardrobe and did not change much about the house.
He did, however, put a small feeding bowl by the window for Glut and a smaller bowl of water that he refilled. Then he took off the weapons strapped across his body and placed them on the side table. No sooner had he done that, than a gust of wind and the sound of flapping wings made him look up.
Glut came flying in through the window and immediately started hovering around Xavier, chirping excitedly.
“Yes, yes. Calm down, little one,” Xavier caressed Glut as the little fella landed on his chest, “I will pick the Class Path. No rush.”
Xavier was dead-tired but he was also excited about his Class Path. At last, he had accumulated enough Soul Essences to pick his Unique Class Path.
Thinking back to the events and incidents of the last 10 weeks, Xaiver touched his chest subconsciously and raised the hem of his shirt up.
His fingers traced the outline of a huge scar under his shirt. It had scabbed completely, a faint pinkish, delicate skin covering the scarred tissues, but it was still horrifying to see. The scar ran upward from the left side of his abdomen to the right side of his chest, stopping a few inches below his shoulders.
It was a reminder of one of the many dangerous fights he had gotten into- a powerful Mutant that had slashed at him with its massive claws, almost shredding his chest to pieces. Thankfully, his natural regeneration and the Minor Regeneration Card jumped into action before the injury could turn into a lethal one.
He had been so close to death but managed to evade it. Shaking his head, he let go of the shirt that fell down to cover the gruesome scar.
Putting up a brave fight against mighty monsters allowed him to grow stronger in terms of combat experience. He gained various new Cards, many of them being quite rare in nature, and his Cards’ Levels increased exponentially as well. Comparing his Cards’ Levels with that of other survivors was not necessary to determine that he was way above them.
But then again, his Foundation held him back quite a lot. He picked one of the most difficult Class Paths, forcing him to increase his Foundation to 300 before he could even start integrating Soul Essences into the Class Path.
At some point, integrating Soul Essences into his Foundation Orb had become painful. The higher his Foundation grew without a Class Path, the more painful the integration process was. Once he reached a Foundation of 300, Xavier couldn’t move for several days. He felt like his body would crumble and tear apart the moment he moved.
That was also why Xavier stopped integrating more Soul Essences into his Foundation after reaching the threshold required to pick his Unique Class Path.
The following weeks had been incredibly painful as every movement and strain resulted in injuries. At last, Xavier learned how to control his body and overflowing Foundation without going for the simplest solution – to pick a cheaper Class Path. Xavier was not willing to do so. All his efforts would go to waste.
Instead of sacrificing his efforts, Xavier would much rather endure the pain a little bit longer to make the most gains in the long run.
Despite all the negative side effects to his decision, there was also something positive. Xavier received various Cards and Card Shards, far more than the others. That was somehow related to possessing a Classless Deck and a Lower Foundation while still managing to deal with powerful enemies.
He fought enemies several leagues above him and managed to kill them. The drop rate thus soared to incredible heights.
He also managed to combine 25 Rare Card Shards and procure his first Rare Card, called Judgment.
Judgment
Rare - Level 3(6%)
Spell/Utility
Passive/Active
Requires Energy to be used.
Effect – The User can gauge the danger level posed by allies and foes.
Precisely determines the Foundation Level and Combat Prowess of the Target.
–
Effect’s accuracy increases with Card Level.
Energy Consumption decreases with Card Level.
A new Function may be unlocked as the Card Level increases.
The Card’s effects were simple. Xavier could determine the strength of his enemies once they entered his sight, and he could precisely determine their Foundation Level. The precise determination of their Combat Prowess and Foundation Level depended on how strong they were. If their foundation was more than 50 Units higher than his, it would grow increasingly more difficult to give a precise answer.
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Every Level gained in Judgment increased the precision by 10 Units.
However, the most important aspect was the passive effect to sense the danger level of his foes. A faint hue shrouded all entities in Xavier’s sight. A green hue meant that Xavier could defeat them easily. Yellow indicated a medium threat, whereas red defined extremely dangerous threats. Usually, red threats were the foes who were several times stronger than Xavier.
Fortunately, Xavier managed to take advantage of the danger remark using the high-level Cards he’d procured and advanced in the last few weeks. Even yellow threats weren’t dangerous to Xavier anymore. Only red threats were a bit tricky.
However, Judgment was not the only cool Card he procured. He managed to get hold of various extraordinary Cards, even if they weren’t Rare Cards!
Dash
Common - Level 10(53%)
Utility
Active
Requires Stamina to be used.
Effect – Increases the User’s Agility for a short moment.
–
Stamina consumption decreases according to Card Level.
Agility increases according to Card Level.
Duration extends according to Card Level.
Meditation
Common - Level 11(32%)
Utility/Spell
Active
No Requirements
Effect – Find inner peace.
Accelerates Energy and Stamina replenishment.
Remark – Meditation may expand your energy storage/purify your energy.
–
The Card’s effects increase with an increase in Card Level.
—
Air Bullet
Common - Level 20(MAX)
(Upgrade Requirements have been met) (2/3)
Elemental Spell
Active
Requires Energy to be used.
Effect- – Conjures a bullet made of air.
–
Energy consumption decreases according to Card Level.
Effective range expands according to Card Level.
The power of Air Bullet increases with Card Level.
—
Minor Regeneration
Common - Level 12(24%)
Body Enhancement
Passive
No Requirements
Effect – Enhances natural regeneration, stamina regeneration, and energy absorption.
–
The Card effect increases with Card Level.
Foundation Stars of Vitality, Energy, and Wisdom influence the Card’s potency.
—
Whispering Energy
Uncommon - Level 6(94%)
Spell
Active
Requires Energy to be used/maintained.
Effect – Infuse Energy with your voice to communicate with faraway entities.
Remark – High Energy Control/Comprehension required to master.
–
Energy consumption decreases according to Card Level.
The range of communication expands according to Card Level.
—-
Nightvision
Uncommon - Level 8(52%)
Body Enhancement/Spell
Passive/Active
Requires Energy to be used.
Effect – Passive: Enhances eyesight and allows the user to see clearly at night – small range.
Active: Consumes Energy to enhance the User’s eyesight at day and night.
–
Energy consumption decreases according to Card Level.
Effects increase according to Card Level.
Active effect duration extends according to Card Level.
—
Coat of Fire
Uncommon - Level 7(51%)
Spell/Utility
Active
Requires Energy to be used.
Effect – Coats the desired object in flames.
Grants the Card Holder minor fire resistance.
–
Effects increase according to Card Level.
—
Spell Mastery
Uncommon - Level 12(51%)
Utility
Passive
No Requirements
Effect –Improves the User’s understanding of Spells.
Allows the User to easily improve the proficiency of Common and Uncommon Spell Cards.
–
Effects increase according to Card Level
—
Xavier made a lot of changes in his Heart Deck. First of all, he removed Sharpness, Taunt, and the Communication Charm Cards from his Deck. He replaced Communication Charm with the Uncommon Card, Whispering Energy, and Sharpness with Coat of Fire.
The reason he made those changes was quite simple. The majority of his Cards were now Spells, and Coat of Fire could be combined with Air Bullet. He didn’t use Coat of Fire against the Kobold Mutant because he was experimenting, but Coat of Fire was a great Spell Card, and it was incredibly easy to increase its Card Level thanks to Spell Mastery.
Spell Mastery was also the reason Xavier bound so many Spell Cards to his Card Deck. Since he couldn’t improve his Foundation for several weeks, Xavier had to focus on the things he could improve. Replacing Common Cards with more useful Uncommon Cards was one thing. Another thing was to replace most of his Cards with Spell Cards to increase their level and Xavier’s understanding of them drastically.
Fortunately, his overflowing Foundation won’t be a problem anymore starting from tomorrow.
His eyes flickered to the Path of Ascension and a screen opened up in front of him.
Integrate 20 Soul Essence into the Class Path Tamer’s Desire(Unique)?
The corner of his lips curled up.
“Do it!”