Chapter 38

  “So, you signed a system contract with these people from the Starhaven Guild, and then went into the dungeon with one of them? Little potato, you should have told me this before.”

  Rhea glared at her grandson, her thin arms crossed over her chest.

  For the past 20 minutes, Shouren had been recounting his meeting with Isola, Thalin and Rubin. He told Rhea about the contract he made with Isola, and everything that fared within the dungeon with Rubin.

  The boy pointedly included nothing related to the demonic chains. As far as Shouren knew, no one else could see them. However, he wasn’t sure if the crimson chains could attack others of its own volition. If he took the risk and told Rhea about its presence, Shouren wouldn’t be able to stop the hellish chains from lunging at his grandmother.

  There was simply too much he didn’t know about the dark red chains.

  “Grandma, I told you to trust me and you agreed to it.”

  Shouren matched Rhea’s hazel eyes with his own. Previously, the circumstances didn’t allow him to endanger his grandmother. The boy was worried Isola or Thalin might target his grandmother if they became aware that he leaked their information. However, Shouren now knew that it didn’t matter anymore. According to Rubin, it wasn’t much of a secret. Isola was well-known as Starhaven Guild’s recruiter.

  “I know, potato. I’m just worried that people will take advantage of you.”

  Rhea said softly, her gaze weakening. If only she knew about the number of times her ‘innocent’ grandson had scammed others.

  “Don’t worry about me, grandma, I’m always careful.”

  Shouren confidently patted his chest. The boy wasn’t always careful.

  “Alright, forgot about that. Now, tell me about the contract you signed with this Isola. Did she ask you where you found your card recipe?”

  Rhea gestured for the boy to sit down. The elderly lady went to the back of the room and returned with two glasses of water for each of them. Shouren had given her a brief overview of his encounter with the Starhaven Guild, but Rhea wanted to delve further into the boy’s interaction. Out of the three strangers, the description of Isola worried her the most.

  Shouren might not be aware, but the title of a recruiter for the Starhaven Guild was no ordinary role. If Rhea’s hunch was correct, Isola wasn’t just a Tier 2 Cardist.

  “I don’t think she really cared about the card recipe in general. Hmm, now that I think of it, Isola quickly lost her interest once she saw my [Common] class card.”

  Shouren replayed the memory in his mind. Isola had started off being very inquisitive about Shouren, but her interest waned considerably the moment he revealed his [Common] class card, a palpable shift in her demeanor.

  “Good. Potato, if you can avoid it, never meet that woman again. Especially if you ever upgrade your class card in the future.”

  A strand of Rhea’s white hair fell across her serious face. She didn’t need to explain to the boy what she meant by her words. Indeed, the elderly woman was correct. Shouren slowly nodded in understanding.

  He trusted Rubin the most. The older teen was the only one willing to help him despite his lowly class card. To Isola, Shouren was currently just an afterthought. Not worthy of her full attention. He only had one card recipe, and it was a Tier 0 [Common] spell card. A card at the bottom of the power hierarchy.

  It was unusual for a young boy like Shouren to possess a card recipe, but it wasn’t unique enough in the grand scheme of the world.

  “Should I stop forging cards for her?”

  Shouren asked his grandma, his brows furrowed. There was no clause in the contract he signed with Isola that stated he had to continue to forge the Spectral Threads cards for her indefinitely. The agreement only stated that for every 10 spell cards, Isola would trade 8 [Common] class cards, or an equivalent amount of chronas if she couldn't obtain them.

  Meaning, as long as Shouren didn’t offer the cards to her, the contract would be dormant. Except for the first 10 spell cards, since Shouren had already accepted class cards from Isola as pre-payment. However, after that, Shouren didn’t necessarily have to trade with the auburn-haired woman if he didn’t want to.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “No, little one. If you suddenly stop, it will make that woman curious. Besides, you need the [Common] class cards for now. It’s not like you can buy the cards en mass at the market. That would draw too much attention from the merchants. No, keep forging the cards for her until you have the 100 class cards you need. After that, you can stop.”

  Rhea took a small sip of the water, her eyes crinkling with pride at her grandson. The Shouren of the past would have impulsively dived into danger without thinking. The elderly woman was aware of her grandson’s old desire to have a combat class card.

  However, the present Shouren could reconsider his strategy if there was an alternate. The boy was still impulsively reckless sometimes, but Shouren was beginning to channel his thoughts more into his decisions. A characteristic all Cardsmiths needed. Rhea wondered who Shouren would become in a few years.

  Shouren didn’t know the thoughts surfacing within his grandma’s mind, and broke the silence with his following words.

  “Are you ready for your birthday present, grandma?”

  The boy smiled impishly.

  Rhea snorted mirthfully and raised her eyes at the cheeky boy. What mischievousness was he up to now?

  “If you don’t want it, then let’s forget about it. I thought you would want to unlock a trait as well. But I guess I was wrong. I’ll just go to sleep then.”

  Shouren sighed teasingly and pretended to get up.

  Rhea yelped in astonishment. Her grandson would help her unlock a trait?

  Shouren had narrated what had happened inside the dungeon with Rubin, but the boy had purposefully held back on sharing the details of his two new traits and how he unlocked them. It was a surprise he wanted to give Rhea.

  Oh, I forgot to check the new trait.

  Shouren once again forgot to check for his latest trait. It was becoming a habit at this point. He quickly opened his status and went straight to the ‘Traits’ section.

  It’s different from the Veinreader. It’s actually letting me know what I need to do in order to upgrade the trait. Is it because it’s a [Common] rarity?

  Shouren didn’t care that it was only a [Common] trait. As long as it helped him forge better cards. The boy figured the “2/10” was the current number of threads he could summon at present. If he raised it to 10 in the future, the trait was likely to upgrade then.

  “If you don’t want to be turned into crispy potato chips, sit down and tell me!”

  Rhea laughed as she pulled her grandson’s small arm, her pleasant laughter causing Shouren to burst into a fit of giggles as well.

  After an intense session of tickling, Shouren finally relented and told Rhea about his first trait, Veinreader. The boy quickly wriggled out of Rhea’s clutches the moment the elderly woman froze at the trait’s description.

  Shouren continued to describe to his grandmother how he unlocked the trait amidst his sharding process. He then excitedly relayed to her the differences between the shards once he used his trait on them.

  Rhea silently listened to her grandson. One sentence after another. How Shouren discovered the different aspects of a card, its frame, veins, and the wisps. The old woman’s hand quivered slightly the more she heard the boy tell the story, cheerfully animated.

  “Little potato, what’s your current synchronization?”

  Rhea’s muted voice shook Shouren out of his telling of the events.

  “Eh? I think it’s at 41% now, grandma.”

  Shouren just looked at his status a few minutes ago, so he already knew the number.

  It’s too fast! Even with the shards, his synchronization shouldn’t be rising this much.

  Rhea paled at her grandson’s alarming synchronization rate. It had only been a few days since the boy’s awakening, and he was already halfway to Tier 1. It didn’t make any sense. There was nothing in the corrupted abilities that indicated it could affect the synchronization.

  What was fueling the synchronization then?

  An abrupt thought sparked inside Rhea.

  “Potato, have you felt someone’s presence around you recently?”

  What was his grandma talking about? Did she believe the house was haunted? Well, the house could use some fresh paint… and a new door.

  “No, I don’t think so?”

  Shouren scratched his head in confusion.

  Rhea sighed in relief. She was just being paranoid. Her mother, Shouren’s great-grandmother, had forced her to remember all the ancient stories of the past. Just like her mother before her. The history of the family’s legacy was always passed down to the first daughter of the generation, while the sons inherited the skills and techniques of their clan.

  The last male inheritor of their clan had vanished centuries ago, taking with him the last vestiges of the clan’s legacy. Only the daughters remained, the last remnants of their clan’s history. After the heir’s disappearance, the clan instilled a single rule: all members of their bloodline had to become Cardsmiths.

  Rhea recalled a certain ancient history, but dispelled it once the boy confirmed nothing was unusual.

  It’s most likely related to his E ranked Intelligence. Little potato was always an exceptionally smart kid even before his attributes.

  Rhea shook her thoughts and engaged back in the discussion.

  “Alright, little one, show me how the Veinreader trait works.”

  The elderly woman smiled, ignoring the flicker of a dark shadow behind her eyes.

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