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Forgotten Lands - Chapter 39 (Book 2)
🕑 Added 2024-06-03 10:00:06 +0000 UTCZayn was not sure how long it took, but they cleared the Goblin Lair. He didn’t pay much attention to the remaining Magma Goblins after defeating the Goblin Shaman. His attention was pulled to the Magma Goblin Shaman, which he resurrected as a Spirit Soul.
After the Shaman Spirit was born, Zayn stored it in one of the Spirit Cards, which remained untouched for a while. Zayn, on the other hand, didn’t stay idle. He followed the other Spirit Souls to collect as many Spirit Wisps as possible. The Lord Rune was nourished up to 50%, much faster than expected, whereas Rune Engraving was filled to the brim.
Zayn managed to create another Spirit Card, bringing his total to five! He could bring five Spirit Souls outside the underground cave system. That augmented his power to an even higher level.
‘That is perfect. If I continue strengthening the Star of Spirit, I should be able to control five Raid Bosses simultaneously. By then…’ The corner of his lips curled into a devious smile.’
His Spirit Foundation was already strong, but the Shaman Spirit consumed a lot of space. It was currently only a Tier-1 Raid Boss as well.
‘Once the Shaman reaches Tier-2, it will occupy more space. I should adjust my tactic to focus my combat power on the Star of Spirit. But my Heart Deck is already focused on that. The Nature Card Set relies on my Energy and Wisdom. Origin Lifeforce and Poison Augment are not enhanced by the Spirit Foundation, but that doesn’t mean they’re useless. Not all enemies can be defeated with Nature’s Little Wrath and my Spirit Souls. Relying on my Spirit Souls doesn’t suit me well, either. Switching my Cards won’t do me any good at this point.’
Zayn shook his head slowly and retrieved the small piles of Card Shards he had collected since entering the underground cavern system. It was time to combine the Common, Uncommon, and Rare Card Shards.
As the Card Shards were pulled to each other to combine into proper Cards, Zayn glanced at the information of his Heart Deck.
Heart Deck – Soul Lord
Tier-2
Connected Cards: 17
Card Limit: 28
Card Slots: 20
Class Card Slots: 3
Spirit Card Slots: 5
Stored Soul Essences: 257
“Alright,” He murmured as he studied the information intently, “I have one Class Card Slot and ten ordinary Card Slots left to fill. That…should be enough to create a proper deck. I don’t have to rely on the Spirit Souls but can become a more flexible combatant. My melee combat with the combo of Lifeforce Conversion, Origin Lifeforce, Poison Augment, Draining Touch, and Double Impact isn’t that bad, either. Inflicting minor wounds to spread highly potent poison while restraining my enemies with the Spirit Souls, and the Nature’s Wrath–Florakinesis–Aegis Natura combi isn’t too bad.”
Zayn nodded, totally ignoring that he was talking to himself like someone else was there to listen to him, “If I could find a way to augment my physical strength even more or some poison-attributed Cards that grow in strength with the amount of energy infused, I would be able to grow even stronger. Or a way to boost Florakinesis and Nature’s Little Wrath to restrain my enemies easily.”
As Zayn fell deeper and deeper into the myriad of ideas flashing through his mind, he nearly missed a crucial change in his Heart Deck.
His eyes kept flicking back to the information of his Heart Deck until they locked onto a particular line.
Tier-2
“...Huh?”
Zayn’s mind went blank. The ideas, which had been flooding his mind, disappeared.
His Heart Deck advanced to Tier-2.
‘How is that possible? I haven’t completed my advancement mission yet. I…wasn’t even given one in the first place…’
Under normal circumstances, upgrading the Heart Deck to the next Tier was far from easy. It required him to complete a mission related to his Class Path to advance to the next Tier. Usually, those missions would take several weeks or days if one was extremely lucky because they required extensive research about the chosen Class Path.
But that was not all.
Knowing much about your Class Path wasn’t enough to advance to the next Tier. It was also necessary to upgrade your Class Cards to a specific level and gain a certain understanding and mastery of your Class Path’s heritage. Some even say that becoming more attuned to your Class Path was necessary to advance your Tier. For most people, that part wouldn’t be an issue because they chose the Class Path that best suited their fighting style and personality. It would only become an issue upon reaching a higher Tier. At least for those who didn’t suit their Class Path perfectly.
“The Primal Soul Lord’s knowledge and memories!” Zayn blurted aloud, his eyes widening.
In the first place, Zayn spent weeks researching the Soul Lord’s Class Path using the books and tomes from the Tower of Nature. And that was long before he integrated the Class Path into his Heart Deck, procuring the extensive knowledge and memories of the Primal Soul Lord. It was a reward for integrating the Class Path, but Zayn noticed only now that it was far more valuable than he’d initially thought.
He thought that leveling Soul Sense and Soul Link to Level 50 and attaining a fairly high mastery of using the Class Cards would be the main gains acquired through the Primal Soul Lord’s knowledge, in addition to the information about the Primordial Pantheon. But that couldn’t be more wrong.
Zayn burst into a loud laughter.
It was only obvious that he knew enough about the Soul Lord’s Class Path to advance to Tier-2 without any additional studying. The creator of the Class Path’s knowledge had been implanted in his mind!
“This is much better than anything I could have hoped for!” Zayn exclaimed before continuing to laugh. If he’d been stuck at the Peak of Tier-1, that is. He would have to spend much time upgrading his Tier, just like everyone else. But time was something Zayn didn’t have right now. His plans pushed him to move forward, not to spend several weeks stuck to reading…again.
The separation of Tiers was usually considered an indicator of power, but for most humans, it was a measurement that determined their Foundation Orbit’s limit. Every Class Path had a different Foundation Limit, and only by completing the Class Advancement missions and learning more about their Class Path would it be possible to reach the next level. It was similar to the evolution of monsters.
Monsters could only enhance their strength to a certain level before their Foundation couldn’t be improved. They would have to evolve and break their limits to attain more power.
That being said, Zayn didn’t know the Foundation Limit of his Class Path. He could only guess that it was quite high and that he must have surpassed it by accident. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have reached Tier-2. His Foundation Orbit would feel full and stuffy, and he would have reached his limit instead of breaking through it.
A bubble overflowing with excitement burst inside him and spread through Zayn’s entire being. He was happy and didn’t feel stressed for once. It felt great that something that ought to be annoying went his way rather than obstructing his path.
Filled with the rare sensation of happiness, Zayn invested the remaining Soul Essences into his Foundation.
Integrate 57 Soul Essences into the Star of Spirit.
1143/10,000 → 1200/10,000
Integrate 60 Soul Essences into the Star of Vitality.
140/1000 → 200/1000
Integrate 60 Soul Essences into the Star of Strength.
138/1000 → 198/1000
Integrate 60 Soul Essences into the Star of Agility.
240/1000 → 300/1000
Integrate 20 Soul Essences into the Star of Dexterity.
125/1000 → 140/1000
Power surged through his entire being. He was filled with warmth and smiled at the information of his Foundation Orbit once he called it up to check if anything was amiss.
[Foundation Orbit]
[Star of Vitality – Basic 200/1000] [+10%]
[Star of Strength– Basic 198/1000] [+10%]
[Star of Agility – Basic 300/1000] [+10%]
[Star of Dexterity – Basic 145/1000] [+10%]
[Star of Spirit– Basic 1200/10,000] [+10%]
“My Foundation surpasses 2,000 Units already,” Zayn murmured.
‘I am several weeks ahead of schedule. Maybe I can finish the Dukedom conquest quest as well? No. One step at a time. Calm down!’
Everything was going his way. For now. Zayn had dozens of instances when he believed that something was going his way, but it turned out to be the other way around.
It was just the calm before the storm.
His happiness dispersed as memories resurfaced. He didn’t want anything like that to happen again.
‘I can be happy once all of this is over. If I lower my guard now, something bad will happen!’ Zayn shouted in his mind, almost certain his joy and happiness jinxed the worst events.
He took a deep breath, trying to dispel the bad thoughts and resurfacing memories tormenting his mind.
“As long as I move forward, everything will be fine. Just don’t stop,” Zayn murmured, his hands reaching out for the pile of Cards.
‘Give me something useful.’
