Return and the Promise

Early morning, the mist over Cavern Valley had yet to fully disperse. The mountain breeze carried moisture and a chill. Ryan stood at the mouth of the valley with his back to the combat camp where he had trained for a month. He looked up at the sky as the morning sun broke through, golden light spilling through the clouds onto the cliffs and stretching his shadow long. His Book floated before him. With a light touch of his finger on the card pages, three designated cards shining with silver light appeared with a soft swish.

The numbers and names of these three cards were:

No. 015, "Nen Ability Removal": obtained from the mission to eliminate the "Split-tailed Ape Group" outside Andom Town. It had originally been a non-designated card reward, but Ryan had been lucky enough to trigger the chance for a designated card drop.

No. 045, "Communication Badge": obtained during a mission escorting a flying messenger between Andom Town and Northern Mountain Road. During the mission, he had driven off an attacking player, earning the client's favor and successfully completing the side objective.

No. 086, "Transparent Wall": obtained after defeating a Nen beast capable of disrupting perception in a cave hidden among the hills. Tockino had heard of the incident and had casually mentioned it during one of their conversations.

After putting away the three cards, Ryan took out a teleportation card.

A flash of white light, and Ryan appeared in the plaza.

Magic City was always brightly lit, especially in the eastern district packed with players. At the edge of the small plaza before a stone pavilion, Tockino sat on a square stone bench, looking down as he checked the data in his card binder.

"You're here." Tockino put down the binder, his expression barely changing.

Ryan