Move Forward Part II

“You mean this?” Tanthai sneered at his friend who was shocked by what he saw as he took it away to take a closer look.

“Am I dreaming? Does our party have a 6-star card?” Blanche murmured. “But that means I’m your burden now.”

Tan narrowed his eyes and looked at Blanche. “You said we’re friends. No need to mention it.” He said with a solemn voice.

“I thought that…”

“That I’m weak so you’ve got to help me?” Tan said as he looked at his friend. “Then you have to allow me to help you as well.”

Blanche laughed and shook his head. “I was fooled since the moment you asked, right?” He asked.

“Yeah,” Tan replied and patted his shoulder. Blanche was his very first friend in this game.

After the party was formed, the duo left the town and headed south to the area of the Black Forest, which housed level 12-15 monsters, the target of Tan and Blanche. Though Tan sat at level 25, his cards were of the starter level, except the Shining Bird card which was unlikely to be drawn as there was a low possibility.

“The area is mostly filled with wild animals, plus there are many of them more than the place you have gone to. Be prepared for a long and tough fight.”

“What about their stars,” asked Tan.

“Mostly 3-star. The big ones are 4-star, but if you meet a 5-star…then just run—it’s a boss.”

“What about its level?” He continued to ask.

“Forest Force, a wild-elephant-type monster, level 35.”

Tan nodded after hearing the details. His calm manner made Blanche grow worried. “What’s your job?” He asked.

“Gambler.”

“Gambler?” He repeated the word.

Tan nodded. “Class Vagabond,” He added. “Now promoted to a Wanderer.”

Surprised, Blanche paused in track and looked at Tan. “Why did you choose such a Job and Class?” He voiced his question.

Tan smiled and answered, “I went for the random option.”

“Random?” Blanche shook his head and rubbed his forehead. “So far, you’re the only person I know to go for the random option. I salute you.”

“I don’t know why I did that as well. What about you? What’s your Job and Class?”

Blanche smiled and started walking. “Knight, Class Nurse.”

Hearing that, Tan turned his gaze to his friend. “That does absolutely not go together. Do you know what popped up in my mind?” He asked.

Blanche shook his head before Tan continued, “You, wearing a nurse uniform with a big sword in one hand.” He said as he giggled.

Thinking of what his friend had said, Blanche frowned. The thought of himself wearing a nurse's uniform and holding a big sword made him feel sick. “That’s horrible. How dare you come up with something like that.” He muttered. “Nurse class offers me basic health recovery skills. It’s useful when you don’t have any supporters in your party.”

“Supporters?” Tan was confused.

“Players who can use magic to recover health and stuff. There’s a lot of them, but most are occupied,” explained Blanche.

“Let’s find one if we have time,” said Tan. Looking around, they found themselves in the area of the Black Forest.

“Ready?” Blanche asked. Tan nodded in reply. He prepared his deck for him to deal with the monster himself. He went to a Card Shop as Blanche had advised. There were up to 3-star Equip Cards available, but with his money, he could only buy 2-star Equip Cards and second-level health potions. Tan got himself 20 cards in total.

The duo planned to grind their level at the area between the forest and the plain to prevent monsters from grouping up. Finally, the battle began as the two encountered three Black Wolfs.

Enemies, level 15, 3-star Black Wolfs have appeared…

After the system voice faded away, black fur wolves whose bodies were bigger than regular wolves appeared. They showed their long white fangs and stared at the invaders. As they growled, the duo wasted no time and activated their cards.

“Equip! Equip! Equip! Equip!”

Tan activated his cards which were mostly Equip Cards. Suddenly, he was equipped with a 2-star long sword, a 2-star dagger, 2-star leather armor, and a 2-star helmet.

At the same time, Blanche summoned his monsters.

“Summon! Summon!”

Two armor-like monsters appeared at his side. They were plain armor equipped by nobody, Spirit Armor, a 2-star monster whose body resembled old armor and could move on its own.

“Equip! Equip!”

Blanche activated his Equip Cards. A big sword appeared in one hand, followed by silver armor. They were a 2-star iron sword and 2-star iron armor.

He did not stop there and activated his skill which belonged to his Nurse class.

“Regen!” This skill had an effect in which the HP of the user will gradually regenerate every ten minutes. It costs 2 SP which is a big amount for a Knight whose physical body and power are above average but has a low amount of MP and SP.

“470!”

“342!”

Tan slashed one of the wolves with his sword and dagger in both hands.

“42!”

“39!”

The Black Wolf attacked back but could deal only small damage to his over 2000 HP. “Having a higher level makes your life easier,” said Tan with a big smile.

“240!”

Blanche slashed his sword at another wolf while his two Summons were kept busy dealing with the other one. It looked like the two monsters could take down the Black Wolf with no difficulty.

Soon, the battle ended. Three wolves were taken care of easily. Tan and Blanche only took little to no damage.

“Player Tanthai and Player Blanche have received 1,800 EXP, a 3-star Black Wolf card, and 500 Gil.”

The system voice sounded. The wolf card was randomly distributed to Tan. “Do you want it?” He asked.

Blanche smiled and shook his head. “There’s no need to share such a thing,” he said. “If it’s an Area Card, then we share,” Blanche added while giggling.

“Area Card?” Tan seemed lost. He raised his eyebrows as he recalled something he had read. “Is it the one that you can put in the extra deck which has ten slots?”

“Yes,” Blanche nodded.

“How to get our hands on that?” Tan asked. He had been curious about it since he first saw it in the manual, but he had no clue. If he were to ask NPC, he would have to spend a good fortune for that.

“Each Area Card has a unique condition to unlock. Each land has 172,430 Area Cards. This Black Forest also has its own Area Card, but nobody has yet to discover,” Blanche explained as he waited for his stats to recover.

Tan leaned against a tree and continued to ask, “What if someone has discovered it?”

Blanche smiled. “Then it’s gone, no dupe. If you want an Area Card that is owned by someone, you have to challenge them. The winner can choose a card from the loser, but that is only if they accept your challenge,” said Blanche.

“That would be a tough challenge. Those who have one of these cards are no ordinary,” Tan spoke as he looked around.

“Without a doubt.” Blanche laughed. “In the next three days, there will be a tournament in the Capital of Caldia. The winner wins an Area Card, Caldia Castle.”

Tan sat up straight. “Let’s go for it!” He said with a loud voice.

Blanche shook his head. “Players are required to be between level 20-30. I’m not sure if I can get to that point in time,” said Blanche dispiritedly.

Tan immediately stood to his feet. He put the Black Wolf card he got in his deck and removed a dagger.

“Let's waste no time and go hunt!” Looking at Blanche, he exclaimed.

The other stood up and prepared himself. The duo fought monsters around the area for almost three hours, and the result was…

Player Tanthai…has risen to level 26, and received seven 3-star Black Wolf cards, six 3-star Wild Boar cards, and a 4-star Fire Cat card.

Player Blanche…has risen to level 14, and received six 3-star Black Wolf cards, five 3-star Wild Boar cards, and two 4-star Fire Cat cards.

“With your help, I leveled up a lot faster,” Blanche talked to Tan as he checked his level. “But…your deck is a little weird.”