Chapter 57: Return
"Brother, you're finally home!" Xin Er squealed.
At No.7D101, as Lin Huang pushed against the door of his house, a pink figure ran into him.
It was 11 o'clock at night and Lin Huang thought that Lin Xin would have fallen asleep at that hour. He never expected to see her as soon as he opened the door.
She was wearing pink pajamas with pictures of cartoon puppies printed all over it.
"Why haven't you slept yet? It's getting late." Lin Huang asked with a stern face, pinching her cheeks.
"You told me through the communication device that you're coming back late at night. I wanted to sleep and check if you're back when I'm awake but I was too excited to sleep..." Lin Xin said as she hugged Lin Huang tightly, afraid that he would leave her again. "Did you know that you scared me to death when I heard the news of the monster horde? I used the Emperor's Heart ring to call you but I couldn't reach you," she scolded, pouting as she did.
"The signal might have been interrupted due to the monsters," Lin Huang shook his head and smiled. He switched the topic and asked, "Oh right, I got you a gift," he said. He then took out a video stone from the storage space and passed it to Lin Xin.
"What's this?" Lin Xin asked curiously.
"Yi Zheng recorded it for me. There's his signature behind it," Lin Huang said as he turned over the video stone. Yi Zheng's name was written on it as well as a date.
"Yi Zheng, the guy who is on the Gold Hunter Board?" Lin Xin's eyes brightened as she heard his name.
"Yes, you're right," Lin Huang replied and nodded his head.
Lin Xin immediately grabbed the video stone from Lin Huang and ran towards the stairs.
"Sleep early after you've finished watching it. You have school tomorrow!" Lin Huang immediately shouted after her.
"Yes, I know!" she answered.
"This girl..." he mumbled under his breath.
Lin Huang shook his head and smiled. He knew the girls who were still studying in the Hunter Reserve College admired the young and good-looking guys who were listed on the boards. It was the same as girls who admired handsome actors and singers on Earth.
Yi Zheng was a Gold Hunter in Division7 who ranked at the eleventh position on the board. He was handsome and very protective of his sister. Many girls admired him and he was even proclaimed as The Nation's Brother. This was why Lin Huang requested a signature and the video stone for Lin Xin.
It had been one day since the incident of the monster attack at the Snowy Mountain Town. Due to the fact that Yi Yeyu's green wooden door was destroyed, Lin Huang took half a day to arrive at the No.7C87 foothold by means of an eagle. As soon as he arrived, it took him quite a long time to settle his registration the Hunter Association. After he was done with work, the sky was dark. Yi Yeyu and Yi Zheng then treated the young people to dinner.
Yi Yeyu's memory regarding the damaged green wooden door had been altered. According to her, it turned out that the green wooden door was destroyed by the combat power of the two transcendents. It then left her body on its own into the air.
After having dinner, Lin Huang did not stay any longer at the foothold and straight away headed back home on an eagle.
After Lin Xin left, Lin Huang then took a shower and went back to his room.
He could not fall asleep. He just stared at the ceiling as he lay in bed. It was as if he had something to do but just could not remember what it was.
"Xiao Hei, please rearrange the card pieces I have and combine those that can be integrated," he instructed the card.
"You have 3657 card pieces. They will now be rearranged and integrated," it replied.
"Integration of card pieces is complete," it responded after a mere few seconds.
"You obtained a Monster Card - Lion-Headed Troll (Normal) x3"
"You obtained a Monster Card - Ox Devil (Normal) x3"
"600 card pieces deducted from your collection. The remaining card pieces are insufficient to integrate into a complete Monster Card," it said after completing the processes.
"Duplicate cards are found. Do you want to perform Card Engulfs to get a skill upgrade?" Xiao Hei inquired.
"Engulf them," he ordered.
Lin Huang decided without hesitation. Skills could not be extracted repeatedly from duplicate cards and he could only summon one monster at a time due to his summoning authority. Therefore, it was not important to keep duplicate cards. He chose to carry out the Card Engulf process to get a skill upgrade. Therefore, skills that he extracted would be skills that had been previously upgraded.
"Card Engulf completed. Lion-Headed Troll obtained a skill upgrade. Ox Devil obtained a skill upgrade," Xiao Hei said.
Lin Huang launched both cards. Both of the cards were a white-crystal color with the photo of the monster on the front. He turned the card around and checked the card's information.
"Monster Card"
"Rarity: Normal"
"Name of Monster: Lion-Headed Troll"
"Type of Monster: Demon"
"Combat Level: Iron-level 3-star"
"Skill 1: Magic Eye Deterrence (Intermediate)"
"Skill 2: Horizontal Slash (Level-3)"
"Summon Authority: Activated"
"Card Remarks: Useless"
...
"Monster Card"
"Rarity: Normal"
"Name of Monster: Ox Devil"
"Type of Monster: Mutant"
"Combat Level: Iron-level 3-star"
"Skill 1: Champion Strength (Intermediate)"
"Skill 2: Brutal Dash (Level-3)"
"Summon Authority: Activated"
"Card Remarks: Useless"
...
"Xiao Hei, I would like to extract a skill," Lin Huang gave a new order after reading the stats.
"Skill extraction completed. You have gained two new skills, "Magic Eye Deterrence (Intermediate)" and "Champion Strength (Intermediate)," Xiao Hei replied.
"You have one more Monster Card (Sand Monster) to be engulfed. Would you like to carry out a Card Engulf sequence?" Xiao Hei continued.
"Engulf it," Lin Huang said and nodded his head. He only kept the Sand Monster in the first place as he needed him to watch the night. Since he had other Monster Cards now, it would be useless to keep a monster of the same type as Tyrant.
"Card Engulf is completed. Sand Monster (Tyrant) obtained a skill upgrade," Xiao Hei said.
Lin Huang looked at the message describing the Sand Monster. Immense Strength had been upgraded from a beginner level to an intermediate level.
After the integration of cards and the card engulfment processes, he launched his Exclusive Card to check on his personal status.
"Host: Lin Huang"
"Gender: Male"
"Age: 15"
"Combat Strength: None (Exceeded assessment limit)"
"Skill 1: Blood Power (Level-2)"
"Skill 2: Great Sword Scriptures (Sword skill)
"Skill 3: Robust (Intermediate)"
"Skill 4: Spectral Snowsteps(Body Movement Skill)"
"Skill 5: Magic Eye Deterrence (Intermediate)"
"Skill 6: Immense Strength (Intermediate)"
"Summon authority: Activated"
"Available Number of Summons: 1"
"Remark: No matter how many skills you have, it could not change the fact that you're weak."
He ignored Xiao Hei's last remark and looked at the two additional skills.
"Magic Eye Deterrence (Intermediate): The pupil of its eye exudes a threatening vibe. It has a probability of 80% that it would deter the target when exchanging gazes with each other, causing the target to go into a trance. (Such an effect would be rendered useless if it were applied to creatures that were two levels above or are stronger than the user."
"Immense Strength (Beginner): Passive skill. Strength gain increased four times."
These two skills were the new skills extracted from the Lion-Headed Troll Card and Ox Devil Card.
On the other hand, Lin Huang discovered that his passive skill 'Robust' had been upgraded to an intermediate level. He asked, "Xiao Hei, could getting a skill upgrade for the Monster Card lead to an upgrade of personal skills?"
"Yes, once the Monster Card is upgraded, the host's skill extracted from the Monster Card will be upgraded as well. If the Monster Card disappears, the extracted skills would disappear as well."
"The Monster Card would disappear?!" Lin Huang was stunned.
"Yes, if the monster died, the Monster Card would disappear and the skills extracted from the Monster Card will be removed," Xiao Hei explained.
This was not what Lin Huang expected. He thought that it was just a card game. If the summoned monster died in a battle, it would be recalled back to its card and he would be unable to summon it for a short period of time. He had never thought that the Monster Card and the extracted skill would disappear if the monster died. He realized that he was not playing a card game and he was in the real world instead. Just like what happened on Earth, you would be forgotten as soon as you were dead...
"Check the remaining Function Cards," Lin Huang inquired of Xiao Hei, as he remembered the other the nine cards he was rewarded for the rank-crossing kill. He had been rewarded a Flawless Card upon the completion of his mission to become a Reserve Hunter.
"You have Advance Card x1, Double Card x3, Provisional Transformation Card x3, Mission Card x1, Treasure Card x1, Flawless Card x1."
Lin Huang ignored the Mission Card and launched the two unfamiliar cards.
"Treasure Card: After using this card, it would lead the user to the nearest location of a piece of treasure. It includes mineral ores, burial grounds, virtual caves and more. It is only valid for one month after activation of the card."
"Flawless Card: Using this card could replenish his body for once. All of the hidden problems in his body could be healed, including Life Columns, Life Wheel, and blood vessels. "
"There is a time limit for the Treasure Card. I'm quite busy now so I should just put it on hold first. The Flawless Card is a very useful card. My Life Wheel has been repaired and there shouldn't be any problems with my body. However, there's something wrong with Bai's blood vessels. He is easily affected by the septic divisor. If Bai used it, he would not be easily affected by the septic divisor anymore," Lin Huang thought and summoned Bai.
Bai sat quietly at the edge of the bed, looking at Lin Huang. Lin Huang got up and took out the Flawless Card. He crushed the card and a layer of golden pieces surrounded his fingertips. He tapped his finger in between Bai's eyebrows.
Bai's body was then shrouded in a golden aura as if he was being wrapped in a golden cocoon.
After a while, the glow faded. Bai's wings extended automatically, turning a copper color. Lin Huang checked the messages, and it showed no changes. However, he knew that Bai's Blood Power could have healed. Otherwise, the color of the Blood-powered Wings would not have changed.
"We should try it with septic divisor when we are free," Lin Huang said to Bai.
Lin Huang then recalled Bai and he jumped back in bed.
He started to feel sleepy after a short while and could finally satisfy the tiredness and fatigue he felt. He fell asleep almost immediately.