As our magic show came to an end, our group broke up. Christina took Trystan inside, but Alice and I stayed here after Alice asked me to. She took me over to the blanket and we sat down. After giving Alice a bit of time to start a conversation and her just staying silent, I decided to take the initiative.
“So how are you feeling?” I asked her.
“I don’t know.” She answered. “I feel like all I’ve done is not a waste, but I also feel like I couldn’t have done it without you. I don’t know if I should feel great about it or just … think of myself as a failure.”
“You know you are not a failure.” I told her. “You can now cast spells. And hit targets with them. How could that be considered a failure? And if that is, what would you consider a success?”
“But I couldn’t do it on my own.” She said.
“No one can do everything on their own.”
“Not that. I had to rely on the power of an angel to do it.” She said in a slightly angry tone.
“Angel?” What angel? I’ve seen no angel. I haven’t summoned Shining Angel. Or any other angel.
“You, you are an angel, aren’t you?” She really seems to be mad that I’m denying her ideas.
“Why would you think I’m an angel?” I asked her.
“Only an angel could do something like grant an attribute.” She said to me.
“Well, it’s a good thing that I didn’t grant you an attribute then.”
“What do you mean you didn’t? You saw it. I can cast spells now, where I couldn’t before. Of course you granted me one.”
“Technically I didn’t.” I told her.
“What do you mean ‘technically didn’t’?”
“In reality, I boosted your affinity with the dark attribute, while lowering your affinity with light. For you the lowering didn’t really matter, because you already had very low affinities with all attributes.” I told her.
“... What do you mean raise and lower affinity? Don’t you just have an attribute? Or in my case I didn’t have one?”
“It’s not that simple, but I don’t really know how it works either.”
“So, I had an attribute, but I couldn’t use it?” Alice asked me to confirm her theory.
“Yeah, that’s what I think was the case. Laura called it ‘sufficient attribute’. I think your strongest attributes naturally would be wind and earth. They are the ones held by your parents, after all. But wind and earth are opposites, so they might be preventing you from using them.” I told her my theory.
“So, was all my training I did before you came useless?” Alice asked.
“What do you think?” I shoot back.
“I … I don’t know. Without you I would have never succeeded so it feels like a waste.”
“But if you hadn’t worked so hard, I would have never offered you the attribute.” I told her. “I went along with it, because I know you have been working hard. When I do the attribute modification, I don’t want to do it to someone who doesn’t deserve it. If you were just a spoiled brat that was asking, I would never have given it to you. But you work hard, in spite of the world. The world said you can’t cast magic, but you didn’t give in. You kept going and built up your skills. That is why you can now use magic. That’s also why you can have someone like Mana as your second teacher.”
“Does my effort have anything to do with Mana?” Alice asked.
“In a way, yes.” I answered. “It comes down to me having system support, and the system sending me something called missions. One of them is to boost the attributes of deserving people, who lack a sufficient attribute. As a reward I get special monsters that I can summon. In your case it was Dark Magician Girl and Dark Magician. If you had not worked so hard before, I would have gained lesser monsters as a reward.”
“So… Mana is here because of me?” Alice asked.
“Yes, she is here thanks to your effort.”
“Thank you, Brian.” She said quietly.
“Don’t thank me. It’s the will of the system that I’m here.” I’ve really devolved into a preacher for the system. Or would that actually be an evolution? I’m not sure.
“Miss Alice, Lord Brian, it’s time for lunch.” Jenna came to get us. She works too hard. I hope she has time to rest.
—
Lunch was, to put it bluntly, awkward. Alice was hounded by her father, until Christina shut him up, and after that we all just ate in silence. After lunch I went to my room, to have a quick nap, before the summoning lessons of the afternoon. I didn’t think I was as tired as I really am.
—
I felt myself being shaken up from my nap.
“Lord Brian” the female voice said as she was shaking. “Please wake up.”
“Fine… I’m up.” I said back as I opened my eyes. Nicole was there to get me up from my nap. I was napping in my t-shirt and boxers, so she averted her eyes as she noticed.
“Please get dressed and follow me. The baron sent me to get you.” Nicole said.
“Yaaawn.” I let out a loud yawn. “Is it that time already? Fine.”
I got up from the bed and quickly got dressed. Then I followed Nicole to the backyard of the estate.
Most of the people with ‘Card summoner’ were there waiting for me. The two knights, Brandon, Alice and Henry, as well as Lucia and Alex of ‘Prime Rib’. Zayaan and Rico are absent.
Christina and Trystan were also present even though they don’t have the ‘Card summoner’ skill.
“Hello everyone. Sorry to keep you waiting.” I greeted them.
“Don’t worry about it Brian.” Christina said to me. “We also just got here.”
“Hello Brian.” Lucia greeted me.
“Hi, where are Zay and Rico?” I asked her and Alex.
“At the guild.” Alex answered. “The guild master has not come in yesterday or today, so the guild is a massive mess. Zayaan is trying to do some damage control. And he forced Rico to go to the fields to keep a look on the newer adventurers.”
“So he took it that badly.” Christina said after hearing what Alex said. “You should have sent Brandon a report earlier.”
“I apologize, Madam Watchman.” Alex answered.
“Well at least you told us now.” Christina said to Alex and made her way to Brandon. “And you are going to head to the guild.” She ordered her husband.
“Why would I do that? This is more important.” He argued.
“It’s your job to help the adventurers guild when an emergency comes up. So head there and find out what is going on.” Christina said in a commanding tone. “And Henry, you’ll head to the guild master’s house to check up on him. If he is unwilling to return to his job as the guild master, head to the guild and have Brandon name a new guild master.” Christina ordered. She is really taking command of them.
“But this is more imp…” Brandon was cut off by Christina.
“NO IT IS NOT!” She yelled out. “YOU WILL go to the GUILD. Or I’ll make Sure that Brian Will Never give you a Creature to Summon.” She was putting emphasis on some of her words nicely.
“... but … “ Brandon tried to come up with an argument, but he was failing at it.’
“No Buts.” Christina shot back. “Do you even realize that your treatment of our daughter almost caused Brian to turn his back on us. You will head to the guild, and act as the Lord of this town, like you are supposed to do.”
Christina, calm down a bit. You’ll give him PTSD or something. Anxiety? I don’t know. I’m not a doctor. Or a psychiatrist.
“... Fine.” Brandon gave up. He and Henry quickly took off.
“Now Brian, if you would.” Christina turned back to me.
“Sure,” I began. “We have all gathered here to learn about the wonders of card summoning.” I said in a joking tone. “But in truth, I have no idea where to begin.” I admitted.
“Then why not just show us how you do it?” Christina asked.
“Everyone but you has already seen it. And you saw how I unsummoned Mana earlier.” I answered. Well I guess Trystan has not seen it yet, but he’s an extra anyway.
“Brian, why don’t you show them a ‘pack opening’? That could give them some idea on how your skill works.” Alice said to me. That might be the best idea.
“Good point Alice. That way everyone understands where the cards come from.” I said. I hope I can make the screen big enough for everyone to see.
(I’ll make it bigger for you, Master.) Laura told me. You really can do so much.
“Pack opener, Open.” I said and up came the already familiar menu. But it was a lot larger this time and floating a little farther away from me than usual. “Can everyone see it?” I asked and got a mix of yes and fine as answers.
“Well then. Let’s open some packs.”
| Pack Opener |
| Collection |
| Sleeve maker |
| Instructions |
| Daily Pack tokens: 5 |
| Current Pack tokens: 2 |
| Available packs : |
| Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon |
| Metal Raiders |
| Magic Ruler |
| Pharaoh’s Servant |
| Labyrinth of Nightmare |
| Legacy of Darkness |
nro_8 I decided to change the release time of the chapters from 5pm GMT to 4pm GMT. Hopefully no one minds too much.
As our magic show came to an end, our group broke up. Christina took Trystan inside, but Alice and I stayed here after Alice asked me to. She took me over to the blanket and we sat down. After giving Alice a bit of time to start a conversation and her just staying silent, I decided to take the initiative.
“So how are you feeling?” I asked her.
“I don’t know.” She answered. “I feel like all I’ve done is not a waste, but I also feel like I couldn’t have done it without you. I don’t know if I should feel great about it or just … think of myself as a failure.”
“You know you are not a failure.” I told her. “You can now cast spells. And hit targets with them. How could that be considered a failure? And if that is, what would you consider a success?”
“But I couldn’t do it on my own.” She said.
“No one can do everything on their own.”
“Not that. I had to rely on the power of an angel to do it.” She said in a slightly angry tone.
“Angel?” What angel? I’ve seen no angel. I haven’t summoned Shining Angel. Or any other angel.
“You, you are an angel, aren’t you?” She really seems to be mad that I’m denying her ideas.
“Why would you think I’m an angel?” I asked her.
“Only an angel could do something like grant an attribute.” She said to me.
“Well, it’s a good thing that I didn’t grant you an attribute then.”
“What do you mean you didn’t? You saw it. I can cast spells now, where I couldn’t before. Of course you granted me one.”
“Technically I didn’t.” I told her.
“What do you mean ‘technically didn’t’?”
“In reality, I boosted your affinity with the dark attribute, while lowering your affinity with light. For you the lowering didn’t really matter, because you already had very low affinities with all attributes.” I told her.
“... What do you mean raise and lower affinity? Don’t you just have an attribute? Or in my case I didn’t have one?”
“It’s not that simple, but I don’t really know how it works either.”
“So, I had an attribute, but I couldn’t use it?” Alice asked me to confirm her theory.
“Yeah, that’s what I think was the case. Laura called it ‘sufficient attribute’. I think your strongest attributes naturally would be wind and earth. They are the ones held by your parents, after all. But wind and earth are opposites, so they might be preventing you from using them.” I told her my theory.
“So, was all my training I did before you came useless?” Alice asked.
“What do you think?” I shoot back.
“I … I don’t know. Without you I would have never succeeded so it feels like a waste.”
“But if you hadn’t worked so hard, I would have never offered you the attribute.” I told her. “I went along with it, because I know you have been working hard. When I do the attribute modification, I don’t want to do it to someone who doesn’t deserve it. If you were just a spoiled brat that was asking, I would never have given it to you. But you work hard, in spite of the world. The world said you can’t cast magic, but you didn’t give in. You kept going and built up your skills. That is why you can now use magic. That’s also why you can have someone like Mana as your second teacher.”
“Does my effort have anything to do with Mana?” Alice asked.
“In a way, yes.” I answered. “It comes down to me having system support, and the system sending me something called missions. One of them is to boost the attributes of deserving people, who lack a sufficient attribute. As a reward I get special monsters that I can summon. In your case it was Dark Magician Girl and Dark Magician. If you had not worked so hard before, I would have gained lesser monsters as a reward.”
“So… Mana is here because of me?” Alice asked.
“Yes, she is here thanks to your effort.”
“Thank you, Brian.” She said quietly.
“Don’t thank me. It’s the will of the system that I’m here.” I’ve really devolved into a preacher for the system. Or would that actually be an evolution? I’m not sure.
“Miss Alice, Lord Brian, it’s time for lunch.” Jenna came to get us. She works too hard. I hope she has time to rest.
—
Lunch was, to put it bluntly, awkward. Alice was hounded by her father, until Christina shut him up, and after that we all just ate in silence. After lunch I went to my room, to have a quick nap, before the summoning lessons of the afternoon. I didn’t think I was as tired as I really am.
—
I felt myself being shaken up from my nap.
“Lord Brian” the female voice said as she was shaking. “Please wake up.”
“Fine… I’m up.” I said back as I opened my eyes. Nicole was there to get me up from my nap. I was napping in my t-shirt and boxers, so she averted her eyes as she noticed.
“Please get dressed and follow me. The baron sent me to get you.” Nicole said.
“Yaaawn.” I let out a loud yawn. “Is it that time already? Fine.”
I got up from the bed and quickly got dressed. Then I followed Nicole to the backyard of the estate.
Most of the people with ‘Card summoner’ were there waiting for me. The two knights, Brandon, Alice and Henry, as well as Lucia and Alex of ‘Prime Rib’. Zayaan and Rico are absent.
Christina and Trystan were also present even though they don’t have the ‘Card summoner’ skill.
“Hello everyone. Sorry to keep you waiting.” I greeted them.
“Don’t worry about it Brian.” Christina said to me. “We also just got here.”
“Hello Brian.” Lucia greeted me.
“Hi, where are Zay and Rico?” I asked her and Alex.
“At the guild.” Alex answered. “The guild master has not come in yesterday or today, so the guild is a massive mess. Zayaan is trying to do some damage control. And he forced Rico to go to the fields to keep a look on the newer adventurers.”
“So he took it that badly.” Christina said after hearing what Alex said. “You should have sent Brandon a report earlier.”
“I apologize, Madam Watchman.” Alex answered.
“Well at least you told us now.” Christina said to Alex and made her way to Brandon. “And you are going to head to the guild.” She ordered her husband.
“Why would I do that? This is more important.” He argued.
“It’s your job to help the adventurers guild when an emergency comes up. So head there and find out what is going on.” Christina said in a commanding tone. “And Henry, you’ll head to the guild master’s house to check up on him. If he is unwilling to return to his job as the guild master, head to the guild and have Brandon name a new guild master.” Christina ordered. She is really taking command of them.
“But this is more imp…” Brandon was cut off by Christina.
“NO IT IS NOT!” She yelled out. “YOU WILL go to the GUILD. Or I’ll make Sure that Brian Will Never give you a Creature to Summon.” She was putting emphasis on some of her words nicely.
“... but … “ Brandon tried to come up with an argument, but he was failing at it.’
“No Buts.” Christina shot back. “Do you even realize that your treatment of our daughter almost caused Brian to turn his back on us. You will head to the guild, and act as the Lord of this town, like you are supposed to do.”
Christina, calm down a bit. You’ll give him PTSD or something. Anxiety? I don’t know. I’m not a doctor. Or a psychiatrist.
“... Fine.” Brandon gave up. He and Henry quickly took off.
“Now Brian, if you would.” Christina turned back to me.
“Sure,” I began. “We have all gathered here to learn about the wonders of card summoning.” I said in a joking tone. “But in truth, I have no idea where to begin.” I admitted.
“Then why not just show us how you do it?” Christina asked.
“Everyone but you has already seen it. And you saw how I unsummoned Mana earlier.” I answered. Well I guess Trystan has not seen it yet, but he’s an extra anyway.
“Brian, why don’t you show them a ‘pack opening’? That could give them some idea on how your skill works.” Alice said to me. That might be the best idea.
“Good point Alice. That way everyone understands where the cards come from.” I said. I hope I can make the screen big enough for everyone to see.
(I’ll make it bigger for you, Master.) Laura told me. You really can do so much.
“Pack opener, Open.” I said and up came the already familiar menu. But it was a lot larger this time and floating a little farther away from me than usual. “Can everyone see it?” I asked and got a mix of yes and fine as answers.
“Well then. Let’s open some packs.”
| Pack Opener |
| Collection |
| Sleeve maker |
| Instructions |
| Daily Pack tokens: 5 |
| Current Pack tokens: 2 |
| Available packs : |
| Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon |
| Metal Raiders |
| Magic Ruler |
| Pharaoh’s Servant |
| Labyrinth of Nightmare |
| Legacy of Darkness |
nro_8 I decided to change the release time of the chapters from 5pm GMT to 4pm GMT. Hopefully no one minds too much.
