Beast Taming Card

The Lin family's shop stood in the heart of Stone Iron City, just two streets away from the Furnace Church.

All the way there, Lin Qi followed silently behind Lin Feng, his head bowed and the bone card clutched tightly in his hand.

The bustle of the streets seemed cut off from him. The mocking laughter from the church still echoed in his ears, each peal stabbing at his heart like a needle.

Only when a wooden sign bearing the words "Wonderful Tales Shop" appeared ahead did he stop.

"Son, it doesn't matter if you don't have the talent to be a Card Master."

Lin Feng slowed his pace and patted Lin Qi on the shoulder.

"Didn't you say you wanted to become the richest man in the Furnace Kingdom when you were little? We'll expand the shop. That's much better than being one of those people who can only throw their weight around with cards!"

But before he could finish, Lin Qi had already pushed open the shop's wooden door and headed upstairs without looking back, leaving only his somewhat slender figure behind.

"Ah, that boy..."

Lin Feng looked toward the stairs and sighed helplessly.

He knew Lin Qi too well. The boy seemed carefree and unconcerned about anything, but he was more determined to excel than anyone.

Ever since he was little, Lin Qi had insisted on being the best at everything he did. After suffering such a grievance at the awakening ceremony, he was bound to have pent-up feelings.

Lin Qi's room was on the second floor of the Wonderful Tales Shop.

The room was small. A desk, a bed, and a cabinet piled high with all manner of odds and ends were all it contained.

As soon as Lin Qi entered, he sat down at the desk, laid the bone card on it, and stared at it in a daze.

"A bone..."

"How could it be a bone..."

"Heavens, just because I went to save a dog doesn't mean you had to give me a bone! You could have at least given me a Beast Taming Card. Even a Beast Taming Card for an ordinary yellow dog would be better than a bone..."

Lin Qi was close to breaking down. The Natal Card he had longed for had actually turned out to be this thing.

"Maybe it's a different kind of bone?"

Unwilling to give up, Lin Qi poured his meager source power into the card.

There was no light or movement. A bone as long as a forearm simply appeared, lying quietly on the desk.

"This bone..."

Lin Qi picked it up, turned it over for a look, and swung it a couple of times, his tone tinged with self-mockery.

"The length's decent, but it's not thick enough. If it were a leg bone, maybe I could use it to hit people..."

Even if his Natal Card was a bone, Lin Qi was still unwilling to give up and let himself go.

This was another world, after all. Maybe the bone could become a powerful weapon.

"But what's a bone's advancement path?"

Lin Qi thought for a moment, then summoned the other card in his mind.

The card was black all over, but it gave off no light. On the Source Card Continent, any card without a glow was a trash card.

A pattern resembling an energy core was engraved on its face. It was pitch-black, with nothing visibly special about it.

He had tried taking out whatever was inside the card before, but the moment he summoned it, his source power and mental strength had been drained in an instant. He had fallen unconscious for a full day and night, and when he woke, his whole body ached. He had never dared try it again.

He infused the bone with source power again, and it turned back into a card.

Lin Qi held the core card in his left hand and the bone card in his right.

He looked left, then right. Finally, he brought his hands together, slapped the two cards against each other, and shouted:

"Fusion evolution!!"

Lin Qi's voice echoed through the room, but nothing happened to either card.

"Heh, heh..."

Lin Qi was so angry he laughed. He grabbed his Natal Card and started tearing at it.

"Bone, rotten bone!"

"And you, you lousy stone card! You're both trash cards!"

Just then, footsteps thudded up from downstairs, followed by Lin Feng's voice.

"Son, look what your dad bought you!"

Lin Feng pushed the door open, the excitement in his voice cutting off abruptly.

He froze, staring blankly at Lin Qi, who was using both hands and feet, even his mouth, to tear at his Natal Card.

"Uh..."

Lin Qi froze too. He quickly let go with his mouth, then sat up straight as if nothing had happened and looked calmly at Lin Feng, as though he hadn't been the one making a spectacle of himself.

"How many times have I told you to knock before coming into my room? What if I brought a girl home? It'd be pretty awkward if you barged in like that."

Lin Qi cleared his throat, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"Oh, right. I'll remember next time."

Lin Feng walked in with a sheepish grin.

"Son, guess what I bought you?"

Lin Qi glanced at the hand Lin Feng was hiding inside his clothes.

"You've got it hidden inside your clothes, but there's no bulge, so it must be small. What card did you buy?"

Lin Feng looked dumbfounded. "You could even guess that?"

He didn't keep him in suspense. He pulled a card glowing green from inside his clothes and held it out to Lin Qi.

"Ta-da! It's a green-quality Beast Taming Card, a Wind Chime Cat."

Lin Qi looked down, and a flicker of surprise appeared in his eyes.

"A two-star Beast Taming Card!?"

The card depicted a cute little white kitten, the Card Beast known as a Wind Chime Cat.

"That's right! As long as you work hard at cultivating your source power and advance your Natal Card to one star, you can awaken a Card Space and use this Secondary Card."

Lin Qi rubbed the Beast Taming Card in his hand, warmth welling up in his heart, though his face remained serious.

He looked up at Lin Feng and asked gravely, "How much did it cost?"

"Uh..."

Lin Feng immediately grew nervous and began to stammer.

"N-not much. Just, a thousand?"

"Tell me the truth!"

Lin Qi's tone grew firmer. He knew his father too well: whenever he lied, his eyes wandered.

Lin Feng grew uneasy under his son's gaze and had no choice but to confess. "All right... it was ten thousand ka'en..."

"Ten thousand ka'en!"

Lin Qi shot to his feet, his voice rising an octave.

"You spent ten thousand ka'en on this thing? You're a grown man. Why didn't you use your head for once?"

He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself before continuing, "You've been stuck as a four-star Card Master for ten years. In a few more years, you'll be ready to make a push for five stars. You'll need a lot of resources to advance your Natal Card then, and there'll be plenty to spend money on!

"My cultivation prospects might be ruined, but you're different! If you work hard and become a Grand Card Master, I'll have the backing I need to expand the shop and make it bigger and stronger without worrying!"

Lin Qi said a great deal in one breath, and every word made sense.

Lin Feng lowered his head and obediently listened to his son's scolding like a child who had done something wrong. Anyone who didn't know them might have struggled to tell which of them was the father.

"Phew..."

After ten minutes of talking, Lin Qi finally let out a breath and slowly sat back down. His tone softened considerably.

"All right, go cultivate. Don't waste time."

Lin Feng hesitated. "What about the card...?"

"You've already bought it, so I'll keep it."

A smile spread across Lin Feng's face, and he nodded quickly. "All right! I'll go cultivate, then. Don't push yourself too hard either. Get some rest early!"

With that, he closed the door and headed downstairs.

The room fell quiet again. Lin Qi picked up the Wind Chime Cat Beast Taming Card and gently brushed his fingers over the image of the kitten.

"Ten thousand ka'en. How many months will it take to save that much again...?"

In Stone Iron City, one ka'en could buy a loaf of black bread or a large mug of cheap ale.

Five ka'en could feed a family for a day.

Ordinary people in Stone Iron City earned around 300 to 500 ka'en a month. After food and clothing, they could still have one or two hundred ka'en left.

Card Apprentices could earn around 800 to 1,000 a month. They lived far more comfortably than ordinary people.

But that only covered living expenses; it was nowhere near enough for cultivation. After all, even the cheapest one-star card cost 100 ka'en.

A four-star Card Master like Lin Feng had previously worked for a mercenary group, earning a fixed salary of only 2,000 ka'en a month. Of course, he occasionally earned extra on the side, bringing it to around 2,500 ka'en.

Since opening the Wonderful Tales Shop, and thanks to Lin Qi's capable management, they had only managed to bring in around 6,000 ka'en a month.

But most of that money went toward Lin Feng's cultivation.

Cultivation required source power crystals, and advancing a Natal Card required special materials. Saving one or two thousand ka'en a month was already quite good.

This time, he had spent ten thousand ka'en on a Beast Taming Card—a tenth of the family's savings. How could Lin Qi not feel the loss?

"That rotten old man only knows how to waste money."

Lin Qi put the Wind Chime Cat Beast Taming Card away, then picked up the bone card again, a little more determination in his eyes.

"Even if you are a bone, I'm going to figure you out!"

After putting the Beast Taming Card away, Lin Qi took off his shoes, climbed onto the bed, and began cultivating cross-legged.

"Since the money's already spent, I have to cultivate my way to one-star Card Apprentice!"

Awakening a Natal Card didn't mean much. Only after cultivating it to one star did a person become a proper Card Apprentice.

Generally speaking, a Natal Card with white aptitude could be cultivated to the Card Master level.

But no one had really paid attention to whether a trash card like Lin Qi's could gain a star through cultivation.

Fortunately, everyone learned how to cultivate source power upon awakening their Natal Card. Holding a card in each hand, Lin Qi carefully sensed the connection between them.

"Son, come down and eat!"

Lin Qi didn't know how much time had passed, but when he opened his eyes, the sky had already grown dark. Downstairs, Lin Feng was clattering about, busy with something.

"It got dark that quickly?"

Lin Qi looked out the window, hardly able to believe it. He didn't feel as though he had been cultivating for long!

"My source power really did increase a little."

Sensing that the source power in his body seemed to have doubled, Lin Qi was deeply gratified. At the very least, it proved he could cultivate.

"Dad, is it your birthday today?"

Lin Qi was shocked by the table full of meat dishes.

Even during holidays and festivals, there were never more than two meat dishes on their table. But now all six dishes were meat, without a single vegetable.

Lin Feng laughed heartily. "Today you awakened your Natal Card. That's worth celebrating."

Lin Qi tore off a piece of chicken and began eating, mumbling through his mouthful.

"What's worth celebrating about awakening a trash card?"

"Ah, you can't say that."

Lin Feng poured himself a cup of ale and gulped it down in one go.

"Ahh..."

After letting out a long belch, he wiped his mouth and said:

"There are no useless Natal Cards in this world, only Card Masters who don't know how to bring out their cards' potential."

Lin Qi stopped eating mid-bite.

"Why does that sound so familiar?"

Lin Feng continued:

"Thirty years ago, a commoner in the Holy Empire awakened a trash card. Do you know what kind of card it was?"

Lin Qi shook his head. Although he had studied cards since childhood, Implement Cards were the most common kind in Stone Iron City, and he really didn't know much about the other types.

Lin Feng didn't keep him in suspense and revealed the answer.

"It was a flower!"

Lin Qi frowned slightly.

"A flower? What use is that?"

Lin Feng pointed a finger. "Exactly, that was my reaction too. Could someone become a Card Master with a flower?"

"Guess what rank of Card Master that person is now?"

Lin Qi's frown deepened.

"With a trash card, he'd be incredibly lucky just to become a Card Apprentice. Don't tell me he managed to reach the Grand Card Master realm?"

Lin Feng shook his head and gave a mysterious smile.

"Wrong. He's a Card Mastery Grandmaster!"

Lin Qi's eyes widened, and he stared at Lin Feng skeptically.

"Dad, even if you're trying to comfort me, you should at least find a story that makes sense. Even a Natal Card with blue aptitude isn't guaranteed to break through to Grand Card Master. That's way too far-fetched."

Lin Feng grew a little anxious.

"It's not a story. It really happened to a real person. That Card Mastery Grandmaster is only in his forties now. If you don't believe me, you can ask other people."

Seeing how convincingly Lin Feng spoke, Lin Qi asked again.

"Really?"

Lin Feng looked certain. "Of course it's true!"

At that, Lin Qi's confidence in the story rose to fifty percent.

"A flower... What would that Natal Card's advancement path be?"

Lin Qi had lost interest in eating. His mind was full of this flower master.

Seeing his son regain some confidence, Lin Feng's mood immediately brightened, and he rewarded himself with another cup of ale.

"Son, I'm going out to restock tomorrow. Be careful looking after the shop by yourself. I have a feeling that bastard Lei De will probably come looking for trouble."

Lin Qi waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry, Dad. Our shop is registered with the city lord's residence. If that bastard dares to come here, I'll make him pay for it."

The lavish dinner was finished in half an hour, and three quarters of it had ended up in Lin Feng's stomach.

After dinner, Lin Qi went straight to the rooftop, basking in the moonlight as he examined his Natal Card, which he couldn't summon.

"How exactly did you appear? You didn't awaken normally, so you should have some special abilities!"

Under the moonlight, Lin Qi stared absentmindedly at the patterns on the unusual Natal Card. Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.

The next day,

When sunlight came through the window, Lin Qi woke to find himself lying in bed.

"Dad."

He went downstairs and found only one breakfast on the table. Lin Feng was nowhere to be seen.

"He left pretty early."

Lin Qi took the black bread and milk outside and threw the shop doors open.

"Well, well, if it isn't our bony master. You're up early today."

As soon as Lin Qi opened the door, mocking laughter came from the bakery across the street.

Apparently, word had already spread that his Natal Card had awakened as a useless card.

"Dashan, nobody's going to think you're mute if you keep your mouth shut!"

Lin Qi shot back without hesitation.

Though he had awakened a useless card, Dashan from the bakery was already twenty and still couldn't sense Source Power. Compared to him, Lin Qi was practically a genius.

"Hehe, Linzi, you should give up on becoming a card wielder. Wouldn't it be better to inherit your family's shop like me? Then our two families could dominate the whole street."

"All right, all right. Is that all you aspire to?"

Lin Qi couldn't be bothered with him. After hanging up the open sign, he sat down at the counter to study his Natal Card.

Most of the customers who came that morning bought daily necessities.

The Wonderful Tales Shop sounded rather unusual, but it mainly sold daily necessities.

Things like black bread, dried Sawtooth Rat meat, ground roots, round potatoes, coarse salt, and cheap sugar cubes.

Tallow candles for lighting, low-quality lamp oil, and flint. Coarse linen, ordinary needles and thread, low-quality soap, pottery bowls and plates, wooden buckets, brooms, and so on.

Aside from the small profits on those items, the Wonderful Tales Shop's main source of income was selling supplies to adventurers and card apprentices.

Things like hemostatic herbal paste, antidote powder, maps, and simple traps.

"Haah~"

Lin Qi sat there until noon, when he couldn't help yawning and finally put down the book in his hands.

It was a storybook about the Source Card Continent. He wanted to see if he could find a way to defy the heavens and change his fate.

Clearly, he hadn't found one.