Chapter 19: Class Continued
The sun sat high in the mid-afternoon sky as the kids gathered back up to finish their first major class of the day. It was a fun class as it was spent in a bazaar instead of a classroom doing academic studies. Every kid in the class was excited about the prospect of getting a new creature to add to their collection. For most of the kids, this would be their second creature and one that would be with them for a long time.
Mr. McDowell had now acquired a large box that was wrapped up with butcher block paper. The huge thing was chained to a pull cart. The thing was so big Kaden figured it would take up all of his own storage space. He figures Mr. McDowell being a teacher could probably not afford a decent size storage treasure. Large storage treasure like the one his dad had gifted him was very rare. As the only offspring of an old noble family, Kaden by default got the best the family could afford. Hinata and Jessica's warning about the problems his treasure could cause helps Kaden to appreciate his family even more.
"Ah, good everybody is promptly back. Show of hands who has beast eggs? Mr. McDowell asked. " Good, good, glad everybody accomplished their missions. Now everybody comes over to get a card. As all the eggs in the bazaar are random. We will learn to use capture cards on these unborn beasts. So now who among you can answer me this? What are capture cards exactly? anyone?" he asked hoping to get a couple of hands to raise.
Kaden was unsure what a capture card did exactly. He could infer like the rest of the class that it was used to capture the beast. But how to use it and the rest of its abilities was lost to him. Unfortunately, this class did not use any books for reference. Looking at Mr. McDowell and most would know why. He was definitely not your average book teacher.
"Miss Han if you be so kind as to answer" Mr. McDowell called out to one of the kids with their hands raised. Han Yunana was a bright-looking girl. She seemed too young to be part of the class. Her hair was done up like a famous female martial artist in a game Kaden likes to play. He could also almost picture the girl dressed up in the same battle outfit. Shaking the dumb thought from his head Kaden gave her his full attention.
"Sir, the capture card is a tool used as its name implies to capture wild creatures. It also acts as a storage device. This way a summoner can save space in their Gilmore. It helps to not waste a page. Especially on a creature that might not be compatible with us. When the card is used to house a creature then it becomes a summoner card. Any trained summoner can use that card to summon the creature inside it" Yunana said in one go.
Kaden was surprised she could say all that in one breath. He was afraid the poor girl was going to pass out from the lack of oxygen. Some of the boys in the class even clap for her as she finishes her answer.
"Well said, excellently done. Though I might add just a bit to the end of that." Mr. McDowell said as he also claps. "The biggest downfall of summoning cards is they do not help you with gaining the trust of the summon creature." He pauses to make sure his kids are keeping up.
"That is where beast eggs come in to fill the gap. A newborn beast can bond easier than one already grown up." Mr. McDowell finished and took out a card and beast egg of his own. "Using the card is very simple. Focus your mind on the card and the egg, then touch the two together like this." He did as he said and a bronze light flashed and his egg disappeared.
"This can be done with any fully grown beast as well but you have to befriend them or knock them out first. An unfriendly beast summoned could be a nightmare to the summoner. Never summon someone else's cards. Unless you are freeing the beast back to the wilds. Then only do it with extreme care." Mr. McDowell warned.
"To summon them is a lot simpler than a contract within the grimoire. But the tradeoff is that carded creatures cannot grow stronger with use. Unless they are bound to a grimoire they will never improve." He explained as he flipped the card over to see the creature's details. "Basic information along with the name and picture of the creature is shown on the face of the card. The back of the card is a reflection of the caster grimoire." Mr. McDowell said as he passed his card around for the class to see.
"As you all can see this card shows the name 'Rock Viper' a bronze ranked creature. The bronze star in the upper right corner is its rank. The three circles on the lower right show the creature's current potential. The blue is its attack, the green is its defense, and the red is its power. The numbers range from zero to nine and their total average determines a beast rank." He continued.
"As you can see this snake's total points are 5. It's at the bottom of the bronze rank. It also only has one skill 'Acid Spit'. Able to throw a ball of acid from its mouth. The snake can only use that skill once a day before it needs to rest. Since its power is a one" Mr. McDowell finishes his introduction.
Soon the card he passed out had returned to his hand. "Just like how I explained how to capture the beast to summon. To summon it's much the same except." he paused to survey his class before moving on. "You must call out the best name. Like so 'Rock Viper'. Mr. McDowell said in a commanding voice.
In a flash, there was now a small snake on the ground in front of him. It had gray rock-like scales covering its body and it seemed to be afraid of being in front of a crowd as it quickly shot back and wrapped its little body around Mr. McDowell's ankle.
" As you can see it's still an infant and needs time to grow up but that might not be the case for the rest of you. There are many creatures out there that will be fully grown after hatching." He stated "Now that you saw how to give it a try with your eggs," He said with a smile.
As soon as Mr. McDowell was done with his explanation the kids jumped to try their own hand at it. Kaden was no exception and as soon as his card touched the egg it lit up the area with a golden hue. Hinata was the second to succeed and her light flashed with a light purple-silver color. Soon after a bronze light flash shows a third kid had completed the task.
As the others tried to complete their captures Kaden spent the time looking over his card. The once blank index card now looks like a playing card. The back of the card was jet black with little twinkling stars of all colors on it. The border of it had a golden trim giving the card an elegant feel to it. In the center of the card was a big bright golden star. All in all, it looks like the back of a high-end poker card. Compare his card which he had yet to flip over to Hinata he was surprised at how different the two cards were. The back of her card was snow white with swirls of blue on it. Lacking any trim at all, the card looked beautiful.
"Hinata, let's flip out cards together," Kaden suggested. He was a little bit more than just excited. He felt Christmas had come early and he was really loving his first day of school. "Hmm, " Hinata said as she put her finger to her mouth in a thinking pose. "Sure, that would be ok with me Kaden," she said with a grin.
"Cool, so on three. One, Two, Three." Kaden said as he flipped his card over. Hinata as she agreed to also did so on three. (Kid geniuses are still kids in the end it seems.) Mr. McDowell thought to himself as he watched the two elites of the class antics.
The design on the face of Kaden's card left him confused at its use. At the top left corner of the card was the thing's name. On the right corner of the card was a silver sprocket with a gold star in the center of it. A picture of a humanoid thing took up most of the top half of the card and on the lower right corner were three circles. A blue with the number two in it, a green with the number 9 in it and last a red with the number 9 in it. Below that was some more text that described the beast within along with the creature's skills.
Kaden should be overjoyed by capturing a gold-ranked beast. But all the joy he might have had for the thing was taken away by the description and skills it listed. First the thing's name, yes the thing was not a living creature but a machine. Its name read 'Clockwork Butler' and its description was 'A dutiful servant who willingly works tirelessly and endlessly.'. What the hell did he just get Kaden thought to himself? The skill was just as weird as the picture of the butler.
The thing surprisingly had three skills. The first and the one that had the highest rating was called 'Super Cleaner' and had six stars next to it. it read 'Leaves no dust behind'. The second Skill was called 'Super Dense Alloy' under it read 'Built to last the test of time.'. The skill had a three-star rating. Finally, the last skill was called 'Logical Mind' and it was a two-star and under it read 'Process information like a supercomputer.'.
Going back to the picture the mechanical man thing was holding a towel draped over one arm and a duster in his other hand. He or she was standing in a triumphant victory pose. Kaden could only hope that they did not have to share with the others what they got. He would be too embarrassed to do that. Hinata on the other hand really wanted to share her card with a certain boy.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
arodjr
arodjr Got a book on Amazon. Go check it out its called:
Nuwa: Chronicles of Fang Lou
I could do ******* or some other funding site but I rather have a product to sell to you my audience.
As always thank you for your support.
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