The Strongest Card Master

'I am never getting this drunk ever again.'

Art vowed to himself, as he woke up with a splitting headache. He groaned and massaged his temples to relieve the pounding in his head. However, his shut eyes suddenly opened wide realizing he was lying on a foam mat in a dimly lit room. Half of the room doubled as a living/bedroom while the other half had a shower, a toilet, and a range with a built-in sink all crammed together.

Art immediately sat up, his pupils dilated noticing he was not in his dorm. His mind raced to make sense of the unfamiliar surroundings and how he got there. However, his memories of the previous night were hazy so he focused on recollecting them.

'Transmigration'

'Watford Institute of Card Arts'

'Upgrading Artificial Intelligence (AI) card'

Art found a second set of memories in his consciousness, and assimilating it, he realized that his soul had transmigrated into the body of an 18-year-old university freshman named Art Albright.

Late Art's world could be a parallel Earth considering its resemblance to modern Earth. However, it was technologically more advanced than Earth despite its over-reliance on mystical Card Arts, and unlike peaceful Earth, this world was being invaded by the Otherworlds.

Late Art was a freshman in Card Engineering major at Watford University, in preparation for his second-semester exams, due tomorrow, he wanted to upgrade the AI card that he created for his first-semester exams to a next-gen AI recently made available by the University.

But the next-gen AI proved to be more sophisticated than the AI card the late Art had created. Still, he tried to forcefully upgrade the AI card because, without the next-gen AI, he would be at a disadvantage in the second-semester exams competing against students being assisted by next-gen AI.

Late Art had created the AI card for his first-semester exam by copying a random free AI architecture off the university forum. Though he managed to pass the exam and advanced to the second semester, his knowledge of the AI card remained rudimentary.

Due to ignorance that came with his limited knowledge late Art forcefully upgraded his subpar AI card to the next-gen AI despite the repeated warning notifications. In the end, Art's stubbornness cost him his life. Allowing Art's transmigrating soul to occupy his body.

The mysterious transmigration was beyond Art's understanding and power so instead of worrying about something he had no control over he decided to find some solace by exploring the Aura and Card Arts of this world.

Aura can be described as the life energy produced by all living bodies of this world. It was the source of 'Card Arts' created by the humans of this world to defend against the racial aura abilities of otherworld entities.

Using late Art's memories as a guide, Art focused his mind to find three golden cards floating in his soul space. One of the cards was his Status card, the other was the Artificial Intelligence (AI) card, and the last one was the Aura Tank card. Art excited his aura to summon his status card,

[Card Name: Art Albright

Card Type: Status Card

Card Rank: 1-Star

Card Aura: (72/72) units (Healthy)

Card Effect: Protects and nourishes Card Master's soul.

Addition Effect: Card Mitosis, ID Key, Compass

Note: Mortals use aura to forge their soul into their status card to become Card masters. Card effects are limited to the Card Master's Rank.]

[Card Mitosis: The process of creating new cards using Card Master soul and aura.]

[ID Key: Allows Card Master to Enter and Exit the Otherworlds.]

[Compass: Allows Card Master to navigate their way to their world in the Otherworlds.]

As Art was going through his status card info, a translucent window abruptly popped up in the field of his vision. It was an upgrade notification from his AI card.

[Report: 1-star Artificial Intelligence (AI) card upgraded to Innate Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) card.]

Bewildered Art retrieved the Status card into his soul space and used his aura to summon the Artificial Intelligence (AI) card,

[Card Name: Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)

Card Type: Innate Card

Card Rank: -/-

Card Durability: -/-

Card Effect: AGI is a superior artificial intelligence dedicated to serving the interests of the Card Master.

Addition Effect: Electronic Communication, Soul Interface, Innate Loyalty

Note: Under the influence of a mysterious energy Artificial intelligence manifested by aura integrated with soul fragments scattered in the soul space to evolve into Artificial General intelligence. Card effects are limited to the Card Master's Rank.]

[Electronic Communication: AGI can intercept, generate, and interpret electronic, digital, and radio transmissions.]

[Soul Interface: AGI is interfaced with Card Master's soul. Allowing AGI and Card Master to directly interact with each other at the soul level.]

[Innate Loyalty: AGI can never betray or harm the interest of the Card Master. As the purpose of its existence is to serve the Card Master.]

Reading the AGI card info, Art understood that the 1-star AI card had upgraded into an innate AGI card because of his transmigration and he finally knew what happened to the late Art's soul.

After the AI card was upgraded to the AGI card, the AI card's brain interface evolved into the Soul interface of the AGI card. Prompting Art to wonder what advantages the soul interface had over the brain interface. But he did not dwell on it, returning the AGI card to his soul space Art then summoned the Aura Tank card,

[Card Name: Aura Tank

Card Type: Skill Card

Card Rank: 1-Star

Card Durability: [81/100]

Card Effect: Allows Card Master to store their aura in Aura Tank for 8 months. Card Master can use the stored aura to cultivate their aura or to create new cards.

Aura Stored: 9190 units

Additional Effect: Aura Filter, Aura Transfer, Aura Log

Note: Aura storage duration increase with card rank and card durability.]

[Aura Filter: Allow's Card Master to refine foreign aura into their aura. The effect is limited to card rank and durability.]

[Aura Transfer: Allow's Card Master to transfer to the Aura Tank cards of other Card Master.]

[Aura Log: Allow's Card Master to keep records of the time and amount of aura deposited and withdrawn from the Aura Tank card.]

[AGI Report: Card repair of Aura Tank card is possible using 190 units of Aura. Do you want to proceed with the card repair? (Agree/Cancel)]

'I agree.'