Hmm. Is it morning?
As I woke up, I was going to stretch, but noticed that I was sandwiched between two beautiful women. Why am I sleeping between Alice and Lua?
(Laura, what the hell happened?) I asked my most reliable information source.
(Good morning, Master. Do you remember what happened yesterday?) Laura asked.
(Doesn’t answer why I’m sleeping between Alice and Lua.) I commented.
(Just think back.) Laura said.
Hmm… so we were escorting the carriages, we fought an orc, we made our camp, then the other adventurers came, then there was a duel… Oh yeah. The duel. I took that attack to the face.
(Good. At least your memory still works.) Laura said.
(... So, what happened after I was hit by the beam?) I asked.
(You ordered Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon to attack. It took down the spirit tiger and then you collapsed. Then Miss Lucia worked hard to heal you so you wouldn’t die. Then…)
(WHAT? Die? I almost died? I mean, I thought I might, but still.)
(Without immediate medical attention from Miss Lucia, you would have died.) Laura said. (You have to thank her for saving your life.)
(Yes. I will.) I said. (So, how did I end up sleeping between these two?)
(After you were healed, Miss Alice said she doesn’t trust the adventurers and wanted to sleep with you to make sure you are safe. And Miss Lucia is sleeping with you in case your health begins to decline over the night.) Laura said.
(... but she is sleeping, right? How would she know if I just passed away in my sleep?) I asked.
(That’s because I would wake her up.) I heard a new voice in my head. The voice was clearly feminine.
(... and who are you? Why are more voices living rent-free in my head?) I asked.
(Are you saying I don’t pull my weight? That’s insulting.) Laura complained.
(No, I didn’t mean it like that. Just… who are you, Lady Mystery Voice?) I asked. I called her a lady instead of miss, as her voice sounded more lady-like.
(I apologize, but I do not have a name. I am the System Support of Mistress Lucia.) The lady-voice said.
…
…
Excuse me, but WHAT? System Support? As in, like Laura?
(Not like me. Miss Lucia’s System Support is still basic level and I am standard.) Laura said.
(So, like what you used to be. When did she get that? Or did she have it and I just didn’t know about it?) I asked.
(She got it for saving your life, so that would be yesterday.) Laura said.
(... so, saving someone’s life is enough to get System Support?) I asked.
(No. It happened because I requested a reward for Miss Lucia for saving your life.) Laura said. (At first it was going to be curing her Blood curse, but as you already took care of it, a different reward was necessary. So I asked if she could get the System Support and my request was approved.)
(... How does this System Support thing even work? Can you just ask to get it for people?) I asked.
(I can, but it will never get approved without a good reason. And if I ask too many times without a reason, I might get demoted to basic, or even destroyed.) Laura said.
(Then better not to do that. I’m not sure I could live without you. But who approves these things?) I asked.
(I’m sorry, Master. But that is level 4 classified information.) Laura said.
(And, what does this level 4 mean?) I asked.
(Only perfect level System Supports can tell their owner that information.) Lua’s System Support said.
(Oh. So you were still here. By the way, if you are Lua’s System Support, how are you talking to me?) I asked.
(I made a connection with her and established a link between us.) Laura said. (I thought Master would like to have it.)
I guess it is nice.
(Does that mean I can talk to Lua in my mind like I can with you two?) I asked.
(With some minor training, Yes.) Laura answered. (And with no distance problems or transmission times, like telepathy has.)
(... so telepathy is a thing. Well, I guess telekinesis is, so I guess telepathy isn’t that strange.)
(Well, our communication is not telepathy. We don’t use mana to transfer our messages, but the System itself.) Lua’s System Support said.
(Okay. I can see how that would be better. … but then wait a second. Laura. How do you command my monsters if you don’t use telepathy?) I asked.
(It’s a hidden feature of your cards. By sending mana to a card in a specific way, I can transmit commands to your monsters.) Laura said.
(Oh. And why didn’t you tell me?) I asked.
(Because your mana control is not at the level where you can do it.) Laura said. (Verbal commands are much more efficient for you.)
(Oh. Ok.) I accept that. And if I want to do non-verbal commands, I’ll just ask Laura.
(Of course you do.) Laura said smugly. (And just in case you were worried, Miss Lucia is holding onto your cards.)
Well, I didn’t actually think about that part, but it’s good to know.
I was thinking of just getting up, but with two System Supports demanding that I wait until Lua can check me out, I just laid there. I also thought about opening my daily packs, but Laura banned that as well.
And it might have been a good idea. I didn’t really realize how hurt my body was, until I focused on it.
While my head, torso and legs weren’t too bad, my arms, especially forearms, hurt. A lot. I guess I did use them to protect my head, so… Better having them hurt than having my head hurt.
But it’s not like I did nothing with my time. Even if Laura banned opening packs, I could still go through my collection. She even allowed it when I asked.
And I have a very simple reason for doing it. My loss proved one thing, I’ve been using my cards wrong.
Or perhaps I should say, I’ve been afraid of using them in their most powerful form. Install.
Installed cards can have a variety of effects, but the most powerful one of them might just be giving skills. Because skills give status points. And status points make you stronger.
Had Alice taken on an attack like that, she’d be dead. I’m not sure about Lua or Alex, but Lua would most likely die as well. Alex is a shield-guy, so he might survive. And that is the problem. Might. I want it to be guaranteed. And if I can do that with a few installs, that will be cheaper than cheap.
I ended up with a list of fourteen cards I wanted to try installing. Some of them would only work on specific people, like Violet Crystal for Lua, but some could be good for any of us. (or all of us.)
Something like Legendary Sword should be good for me or Alex. Same goes for Lightning Blade and Block Attack.
And for the two mages, Book of Secret Arts should be good. Even Hinotama, or any of the other burn cards, could be interesting. And Gravity Bind might grant gravity magic.
So many things to test, but let’s at least wait until we are done with this quest.
“Brian, are you awake?” I heard someone ask.
I opened my eyes and saw Lua and Alice both looking at me. I felt a bit groggy, so I might have fallen back to sleep.
“... good morning.” I said to the two.
“How are you feeling? Do you remember what happened?” Lua asked.
“Yeah, I remember. I went through it with Laura already. Thank you. You saved my life.” I said to Lua.
“... I … I was just … repaying you. You know, for curing me.” Lua said.
“No. This is more than that. You saved me. I would have died without you.” I said.
“Would you have? Would you really?” Lua asked, showing me the Monster Reborn I got out of collection just before the attack hit. I’m glad that the card didn’t break.
“I still wouldn’t be able to use it on myself if I was dead.” I said.
“Yes. I suppose you wouldn’t.” Lua said. “But let’s get back on track. How are you feeling?”
“Not too bad. My forearms are the only place that really hurts.” I answered honestly.
“I see. Please let me have a look.” She said as she took my right arm and bit into it.
I still find it interesting that her bite doesn’t hurt. It’s not comfortable, but it doesn’t hurt.
Well, at the moment my pain receptors could just be off.
“It feels like they are after effects of the healing. The skin on your arms was the most damaged and a lot of it had to be regrown, so I think it might just be your brain getting used to the feeling of the new skin.” Lua said. “It will pass in a day or two.”
“Oh. Was I that bad?” I asked.
“... yes. While most of your body had only the top layer of your skin burn off, on your arms it had completely burned away.” Lua said. “As in, I could literally see your muscle tissue.”
“... yeah. Thank you, again.” I said. I really don’t know what else to say at this point.
“Don’t worry about it. As I said, I was paying you back.” Lua said.
“But I’ll still thank you. Over and over again.” I said. “But if nothing is wrong, am I good to go?”
“Yes. Let’s go get some breakfast.” Lua said.
“Where’s my hoodie?” I asked Lua.
“... it didn’t make it.” She answered, before showing me a half-burned hoodie. The entire front-side of it was gone. “The same happened with the rest of your clothes. Well, your underwear, socks and shoes did survive.”
“... oh.” Well, that sucks. My permanently clean super clothes are gone. I should have installed some cards into them, so they would have survived.
“We did find some clothes in your magic bag and put them on you, but your previous ones are gone.” Lua said.
“I see. Thanks.”
And suddenly I’m super thankful that I had the foresight to get some extra clothes from the dungeon before we left, because otherwise I’d have to be naked. Or borrow someone else’s clothes.
I got out my spare hoodie and put it on. The girls had apparently already found an extra t-shirt and jeans yesterday.
Lua also gave me back the Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon and Toon World. Toon Dragon’s sleeve and toploader had taken on an orange hue. That is the sign that the card has been properly summoned and I can now just summon it without any problems. No tributes needed in the future. 1Similar to how a fusion has to be fusion summoned only the first time. And rituals as well.
“I’m sorry!” As soon as I got out of the tent, Tye rushed over to me, before prostrating before me. “I’ll do anything! Just leave my team out of this!” He begged.
… okay. I was not expecting that. He was so almighty yesterday. I’m actually a bit surprised that he didn’t just run away on his tiger.
(He couldn’t. Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon killed the tiger, remember?) Laura said.
(I know you said that, but it’s a summoned beast, right? Can’t he just resummon it?)
(Not that quickly.) Laura said. (It will take at least a week for that tiger to recover.)
(Oh. I see.)
(Well, you could most likely do it instantly with Monster Reborn.) Laura added.
(Not a bad idea. But at the same time, I don’t feel like it. At least not now.) I decided.
“So… you’ll take all the blame in return for your team getting off scot-free?” I confirmed his intentions.
“Yes.” Tye responded.
“I see. Then I’ll accept your offer. I’ll come up with your punishment later, but your team shall go without anything.” I said.
“Really? Thank you. Thank you so much!” Tye said, looking like he wanted to lick my boots. Actually, these aren’t boots, but just regular shoes.
I spoke about the punishment with Timothy, and he said he had already declared that Tye’s team would escort us to Sawyer city. As it was basically just a one day trip from here (two days if they went there and back), I thought it was fine. I could even give them some money for stealing some of their time and food.
I was basically in … well, I could still fight as I just summon monsters to do that for me, so let’s just say not in perfect shape, so having a few more people probably won’t hurt.
I was also shown the damage left by my Toon Dragon’s attack. The channel left in the ground wasn’t that deep, only about 30cm, but still just shows the power of that little dragon. Some members of Tye’s party had fixed some of the damage with earth magic, mainly the road, but there were still clear signs of a battle.
“I’m still surprised that you were able to take that hit.” The sword and shield guy of Tye’s team said. “Do you mind me asking how high your defense stat is?”
Name: Brian Wood |
Race: Human ! |
Level: 38 |
HP: 870 |
Mana: 910 |
Strength: 235 |
Defense: 515 |
Magic: 295 |
Skills: |
Pack Opener LV.4 (unique) |
Telekinesis LV.1 (extra) |
Summoner’s Protection LV.2 (extra) |
Dungeon Founder (extra) |
Summon Water Spirit (extra) |
Health Conscious (extra) |
Mana Control LV.1 |
Shining Taunt LV.1 |
Water Spirit’s Blessing (Greater) |
Language Comprehension (humanoid) |
I checked my status. Summoner’s Protection had leveled up. Nothing else changed.
Well, I guess because the skill got a level, I got some more HP and defense.
(Laura, what was my defense before the skill level-up) I asked.
(485.) Laura answered.
“My defense is 485.” I answered. I know it’s not outdated, but it was correct when I took that hit.
“He should have died.” The bow lady said.
“Totally.” The guy with a greatsword added.
“No way you can survive that attack with just 500 defense.” The shield guy said.
… is that attack really that dangerous? Then, how much defense would be necessary to not take any damage from it?
Actually, if all three of them say I should have died, how did I survive?
(Because of Summoner’s Protection.) Laura said.
(Yeah. Of course that skill was also active. I did have Toon Dragon out.)
(Your clothing also took some of the damage.) Laura added.
(Oh. I guess I should be thankful for my OP hoodie.)
“I have a skill that saved me.” I said. They don’t need to know the skill name.
“I see. Magic resistance, perhaps? Or defense boost? No. Defense boost wouldn’t do it, so probably magic resistance.” The shield guy theorized.
(Laura, write that down. Those skills sound useful.)
(Sure. But it’s better to never take a hit in the first place.) Laura said.
(Sorry, but playing an evasion tank is too difficult. And an evasion tank can’t really protect others from AoE attacks.)
“Yeah. Something like that.” I responded.
After breakfast, we got on the carriages and got on the road.
Since our group had grown by four, we had to have two adventurers per carriage. And because of medical reasons, Lua was with me and Timothy. Alex was on the carriage with the female coach with Alice, because Alice refused to sit with any of “them”.
The carriage order was also a little different, as my carriage was no longer in the lead, but instead the third in line. Alice and Alex were in the second one. This was to have our adventurer friends take the most important spots.
And so, our third day of traveling began.
Well Brian has been caught up and now plans on installing cards on himself and his ally’s. He’ll also probably give out more cards with healing effects and make some of them top loaders and sleeves, I forgot if he has that set up for a red medicine or rain of mercy.
Also I’m glad to see that little incident had a positive effect on him too by giving Summoner’s Protection a level up.
@Pokemonking0924 he should experiment and see if he can grind that. Bette to take some pain now then sudden death later.
So he will install United we Stand
That's a very good suggestion.
@Ruiso I actually thought that Brian doesn't have United, but I checked and he totally got it in CH.119. Just forgot about that. It will be installed soon.
Glad to hear Brian's going to use installing more. Likely on his cards, as well as people, I assume?
Maybe we can see some crazy combinations that people suggested, like a Frozen Hinotama Soul (Frozen Soul installed on Hinotama Soul)
(Wait, he doesn't have a pack with Frozen Soul in it yet, right? Damn it!)
Frozen soul is in Dark Crisis and Dark Revelation 1, so Brian does have access to it. He actually has two copies of it already.
@nro_8 Oh. I didn't think he had Dark Crisis yet for some reason, and missed the fact that it's in Dark Revelation 1. Oops.
Im just going to blame my messed up sleeping schedule
Either way, looking forward to future chapters!
Meatbun Delivery~
Thank you for the chapter ( ●w●)
Free errand boy~
I wonder if brian can learn how to normal "summon" a monster
Probably. He can't learn 'normal' magic, but unique forms of magic are fair game. Racial magics are banned though. (For obvious reasons.) (Yes, there are other racial magics than just blood magic.)
Ah, hearing new voices in your head is always a fun experience. I don't have a lick of Yu-Gi-Oh knowledge so I'm hyped to see what's the fuss with installing cards. Thanks for the chapter!
Well, installing has basically nothing to do with actual Yugioh, as it is just a BS way of using the cards that I came up with for this series. But glad to see that someone that doesn't really know about Yugioh is enjoying the series.
If you didn't know about it already "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Falsebound Kingdom" is a game sorta like this story. It has monster fighting each other not in card form but 3'd , and you roam the wilderness attacking other duelist/monster groups to take over their castle's. It's an old game but very cool I suggest you guys check it out. ( it can also serve as a good reference point for how attack's look)
I knew one existed, but didn't know the name. Its seems to be a basic RPG, but with yugioh monsters. And while the attack animations are nice, they are basic AF. A dragon attacks with fire. Summoned Skull attacks with lightning. Harpie Lady attacks with its claws. Good to have as a reference, but I can basically tell that much from the card artwork.
thanks for the chapter. So if telepathy exist, that means that some type of mind control is posible either by spell, skills or some type of item, he better install on himself , alice and lucia the Remove Brainwashing trap card to gain some mental resistance skills, i think he got one or two before.
correct their are also multiple Yu-Gi-Oh cards that can brainwash. An example would be enemy-controller, Mind control, and Brain control. Also remove brain washing wouldn't build a resistance it's like an antidote to poison you would have to drink the poison in small dosages repeatedly to build up resistances if that would even work because they are also different from a mind control skill since they are cards.
@Levail While you are correct, you are also wrong. At least in my opinion. Owner's Seal is much more of the antidote to mind control effects. One time use, all mind control gone.
Remove Brainwashing is a continuous trap, so it should have a longer lasting effect. Especially if installed, resulting in a skill to resist mind control. Sure, you can overpower it if the skill is just level 1, but that is when Brian can use Owner's Seal as a quick fix.
Where as an installed Owner's Seal should result in a mana activated skill that removes brain control effects around the user. And again, if the level of mind control is higher, it won't work.
@nro_8 I'm saying if you want to build up a resistance you need to experience and overcome that effect ( like being burned with fire then getting fire resistance after awhile). while using owner's seal is like taking a healing potion to heal yourself after a burn.
But I see my mistake that by installing the card you just get a permanent mind control protection like a resistance.
@Levail Yes. That is perfectly correct.
Installing a card is basically just a jumpstart to training a skill. Just because you have the skill in your status, that doesn't mean you can use it. An example of this would be telekinesis for Brian. If he did not have Laura to do mana control things, he could not use telekinesis even though it is in status.