Dealing with the Goblin Warrior and the two Insightful Infected drained Xavier a lot. His breathing was ragged and his eyes hazy. If Xavier didn’t know better, he would probably crash into the nearest bed and sleep for the next few hours. Unfortunately, he cared too much about his life and the lives of his family. He couldn’t leave them hanging now that he was already out in the ‘wild’ to deal with the Monster Gate.
It would be much easier if our phones worked. At least, I would have been able to inform everyone about the stronger Goblins and Infected.
Xavier was still not sure if the Insightful Infected was a rare mutation, or if they evolved from eliminating and devouring their enemies. As for the Goblin Warrior, it was pretty similar. The only additional possibility was that the Goblin Warrior could have emerged from the Monster Gate as well.
Trying to ignore the haziness that shrouded his eyes and the soreness that spread through his muscles and bones, Xavier moved through the battlefield to pick up the Common Card Shards. He pocketed them before moving to the Uncommon Card Shard. Xavier picked it up and inspected it a bit more thoroughly, holding it in between his thumb and forefinger.
Uncommon Card Shard 1/10
I only need 10 Uncommon Card Shards to form an Uncommon Card? That’s good. They’re pretty rare, either way.
Xavier had been lucky to procure one Uncommon Card Shard from the Goblin Warrior – thanks to the Goblin Hunter Privilege.
Ignoring the weapons lying on the ground, Xavier decided to break into a nearby house. The closest house was located right next to the remnants of the bloody battlefield. It was a two-story building that didn’t collapse when the natural disasters struck the little town. Xavier entered and called out for survivors quietly. He went through every room just to make sure that he was alone with Glut.
After ensuring that the house was void of cruel monsters, Xavier tested if the water system was still functioning. Fortunately, it was. He opened the water tap, washed his blood-drenched hands and retrieved a glass to fill it with water. After downing the first glass of water, Xavier filled it again. He gulped down what felt like a gallon of water until his thirst was fully quenched.
What am I going to do now? I cannot find a batch of Goblin Warriors and Insightful Infected in my current state. My body feels like it would break apart, and my skin ruptures with every sudden movement. I should improve the Star of Vitality a little bit, and my Dexterity as well. My movements were too sluggish.
Xavier’s mind kept churning as he walked into the empty bedroom of the unknown house owners, who were either dead, or infected – not that it made a big difference, either way.
He picked out some clothes and threw them into the bathroom before glancing out of the window on the second floor. From his position, he could see the bloody battlefield and the dozens of Infected and Goblin corpses perfectly. Xavier removed Glut from his shirt’s chest pocket and gently placed him down on the windowsill.
“Can you observe the situation outside and chirp as a warning when you see some Infected, or Goblins approaching us? I will take a quick shower,” He said, only to hear Glut chirping loudly a few times. He opened his wings as wide as possible and turned around his own axis to show Xavier the dried blood and dirt clinging onto his body.
“Okay, okay. I will clean you first. Then you will watch the battlefield while I shower. That sounds fair, doesn’t it?” Xavier picked up Glut and caressed the Ember Sparrow gently.
Glut chirped loudly in agreement. Xavier carried the little Ember Sparrow to the bathroom sink, put the plug in the drainpipe and filled the sink with some water. He found a brush lying around in the bathroom and used it to brush Glut’s plumage once most of the dirt and dried blood had been removed.
Glut chirped happily once his radiant plumage was deprived of all the disgusting blood and dirt. He looked in the mirror and spread his wings widely, while shaking his little body to dry himself. If Glut was just a little bit bigger, he would look majestic and graceful doing this. However, all Xavier could think about as he watched Glut acting like this was how cute the Ember Sparrow was.
He watched the Ember Sparrow with a smile as the little fellow flapped his wings to dry its plumage faster. Xavier rubbed the Sparrow dry with a towel afterward and wrapped the towel around him before picking up the mess of towel and chirping Sparrow. He placed Glut on the windowsill again and entered the bathroom to shower.
Xavier took his shirt off and also unbuckled his belt and put it aside without removing the scabbards of the emerald daggers and ruby katana. He cleaned the belt and the scabbards before moving onto cleaning the weapons’ hilts.
Dad made a good purchase with those beauties. I doubt that a normal iron sword would have been sharp enough to cut through the Insightful Infected and the Goblin Warrior. I should thank him later.
Once he was done cleaning his weapons, Xavier decided to retrieve the Card Shards from his pockets. However, he noticed quickly that there were only three Common Card Shards and one Uncommon Card Shard. Only now did he realize that two Common Cards formed in his pockets while he had been busy fighting.
“Isn’t there usually a message asking me for permission to combine the Shards into a Card? Did I miss the message, or did it just do something it was not supposed to?” Xavier mumbled, putting the two Cards and the Shards aside. Instead of spending the next ten minutes inspecting the new cards, Xavier took off his remaining clothes along with the weapons and jumped into the shower. He turned on the shower and closed his eyes as the hot water removed the dried blood, grime and muck sticking all over his body.
If it had been two days ago, Xavier would quickly want to step out of the shower and run to his room to read or play games, but now all he desired was for the shower to never end.
For a few blissful minutes, his mind was void of thoughts as his senses focused on the hot water trickling down his body. Unfortunately, that state didn’t last long. His mind drifted to the events of the last hour and the changes that enveloped the world.
I wonder what triggered the Infected’s evolution. Is it the nutrition they consume, or the Soul Essences they procure by killing others? Maybe, it’s both? Is that possible? Or…what if they naturally grow stronger as time passes?
While each option could be considered pretty bad, the latter was probably the worst. If all monsters could naturally grow stronger as time passed, every human would be faced with a drastic disadvantage. They only grew stronger by killing monsters since they provided both Cards and Soul Essences.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Once the disastrous thoughts began to torment Xavier’s mind, he finished showering quickly. He began to feel unguarded, showering in the middle of nowhere without a weapon in his hands. Glut was present to warn him, and his weapons weren’t far from him, but the discomfort in his heart continued to increase. Therefore, the pleasant shower ended much faster than he anticipated.
Xavier stepped out of the shower, dried his body with one of the soft towels hanging to his right and picked up the clothes he had retrieved from the house owner’s wardrobe. They wouldn’t need their clothes anymore, either way.
The clothes fitted him much better than the old set he’d picked from the stash at his grandmother’s place that was two sizes big. It was much easier to move around with the new clothes and they looked more aesthetically pleasing with the cleaned-up belt and scabbards returning to his waist. He buckled the belt and was ready to leave the house.
Thinking about it, I didn’t really feel uncomfortable removing the Classless Deck from my body. It was only a few meters away from me but I didn’t feel the distance to it. It felt like the Deck was right next to me. Weird Xavier thought, looking at the Classless Deck. He’d cleaned it thoroughly, so it looked as ordinary as before – just less bloody.
Xavier stared at the Classless Deck and detached it from his belt as he walked out of the bathroom. Glut chirped upon seeing Xavier return. Xavier caressed Glut’s head gently, put down the Classless Deck and stepped away. He didn’t even look at the Classless Deck but knew exactly where it was located. Xavier climbed down the stairs to the first floor and walked further away. After the distance between him and the Classless Deck exceeded ten meters, he noticed something. He was still fully aware where the Classless Deck was located, but now he felt a faint force pulling him closer to it.
“So it’s like that. I am drawn to the Deck and can always find it no matter where it is. That’s pretty neat,” Xavier mumbled before using Air Bullet to test if he had to be close to the Classless Deck to use the Cards stored inside it. The air around him swirled in his palm and compressed into an invisible bullet. Xavier released the bullet and shot it straight into the nearest wall.
“Same power, and the energy consumption is not higher either. Good to know.”
He returned to Glut and fastened the Classless Deck back to his belt. After that he followed Glut’s gaze outside the window. A handful of Infected arrived at the bloody battlefield. They gnawed on the bodies of the Goblins and feasted on their flesh. All he could hear was the flesh tearing apart and growling of the Infected that went on all fours to finish off the corpses like hungry vultures. Their faces and hands were smeared in blood and innards of the corpses, a disgusting sight that did not make Xavier puke instantly. By now, he had gotten used to such heinous scenes.
Interestingly enough, they were still Inferior Infected.
Now that Inferior Infected and Goblins could evolve with enough nutrition and Soul Essences – that was Xavier’s theory – he had to find out the truth. It was necessary to understand his enemies and how the enemy grew stronger to obliterate them properly.
Therefore, Xavier decided to wait patiently. He had more than enough other things to do such as resting and replenishing his drained Stamina and Energy reserves.
Xavier searched for the kitchen and emptied the fridge. There was not much inside, but it was more than enough for the time being. That should be enough for a small snack and to replenish some Stamina.
He then returned to Glut, who jumped away from the window to sit on Xavier’s shoulder, rubbing his little head against his neck. Glut was also tired. Thus, Xavier allowed Glut to rest. The Ember Sparrow had been on the brink of death more than once today, and he was still recuperating. His little friend needed rest more than anyone.
At last, he threw a glance at the two Common Cards he obtained from combining Card Shards.
Topographic Awareness
Common - Level 1(0%)
Utility
Passive
No Requirements
Effect – Enhances the User’s awareness of the surrounding topography
–
Effect is reinforced according to Card Level.
Exploring unknown regions improves proficiency
---
Communication Charm
Common - Level 1(0%)
Summon
Active
Requires Energy to be summoned/maintained.
Effect – Summons a Charm that allows long-distance communication
– Requires a second Communication Charm to link-
–
Energy consumption decreases according to Card Level.
Range of communication expands according to Card Level
Duration extends according to Card Level
–
“Oof…I don’t like either of them…” Xavier grumbled. Topographic Awareness might be a good card if used properly, but Xavier didn’t think that it could help him in the battle against the Goblin Community. Probably, it could somehow aid him in defeating some enemies in the future. The problem was just that Xavier was already well versed with the topography of his village and the surrounding villages and knew the area like the back of his hand. He was not the representative of the village community’s bike club for no reason.
Xavier had been studying his village’s topography – including the surrounding villages’ topography – to create various downhill trails and small forest trails for mountain bikers. It had been one of his many hobbies when he was focused on losing weight until recently. The thought of eating had been unbearable, which was why Xavier had distracted himself with stuff like mountain bike trails and studies of things almost no one cared about.
One way or another, Topographic Awareness didn’t suit him well. That left only Communication Charm. It was a good Card if not for the fact that he required two to use them, in the first place. Xavier could link Communication Charm to his Deck, but he didn’t know when they would be able to procure a second one.
Unfortunately, he had only 10 Card Slots, with two of them already being used by Dash and Air Bullet. Xavier couldn’t afford to link useless Cards to his Deck – not for now, at least.
Xavier would rather keep the slots open for more suitable Cards than being forced to remove some Cards later when he had better Cards to replace them. He was not willing to face the low probability of his Soul getting damaged.
Instead, Xavier was more interested in using the Soul Essences he’d procured from the Goblin Warrior and the Insightful Infected.
He had 14 Soul Essences left to use and various Foundation Stars to nurture.
Thus, Xavier opened the Foundation Orbit and began to think of the most suitable build to face more Goblin Warriors and Insightful Infected.
‘Hmmmmm…’