Chapter 5: D.W.O. Part IV
“Summon!”
It was the first time he saw this monster in a real fight. The card he got was 3-star Ice Wolf Cub, the strongest card in his deck.
“45!”
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Ice Wolf Cub (3 stars¶¶¶)
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Type: Summon
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Race: Wolf Element: Ice
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A small wolf with an ice body. It can perform normal attacks or summon ice lances to attack enemies.
- The most powerful card in the starter deck.
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An attack from the wolf cub was as powerful as the Apprentice Mage’s magic. Soon, one of the goblins was eliminated and disintegrated into spheres of light. The cub then turned to another goblin. An ice lance emerged in mid-air in exchange for every single bit of its MP.
“114!”
The battle was over, and the system voice sounded.
Player Tanthai has successfully defeated goblins and received a 1-star Goblin card, 70 EXP, and 70 Gil.
Tanthai dodged the bullet and won the battle. He grew doubtful about the Job he randomly picked because it could easily kill him. He went back to the village and added the goblin cards he got to his deck, replacing them with Staff cards to increase the amount of Summons, preventing a situation like this from happening again.
However, it did not go as planned. Tan spent a long while leveling up with his beloved goblins. The time spent made him realize that his Job, Amateur Gambler, had an effect in which his status would randomly change with a one-fifth chance of happening. There were many kinds of changes, and even a lot more he was not aware of, but these were his discoveries.
Switching HP with MP.
Draining HP over time, giving a boost to other stats.
Reducing MP to one-third, three times increasing SP.
As for now, after annihilating a bunch of goblins, he had risen to level 5, but his job and skills had not had any changes at all…
“That was tough.” He murmured as he walked back to the town. Suddenly, a voice rang out in the distance not far from him.
“Hey, kid! You bumped into and you’re not even going to apologize!?” A knight in copper armor shouted at the knight who gave him advice in the starter town.
“You have to pay me compensation!” The copper armor knight continued to shout.
“Woah…That’s so classic and lame,” said Tan. “How shameless are you to pull that out?”
The copper armor knight turned to him “You called me shameless!? Do you want to get hurt? Kids these days are bold.”
Tan gave a long sigh. He now had more confidence in his skill and level. “Come, just bragging is not going to hurt anyone.”
The copper armor knight chuckled. “Okay…I was going to crush someone as well. I’ll let you know when I’m done.”
Battle Start!
“Summon! Summon! Equip! Equip!” Tan smiled when he saw his first seven cards because among them was his most powerful card, Ice Wolf Cub, along with a mage and a warrior. There were also Equip Cards—a small shield and a dagger—plus a health potion for an emergency.
“We’ll see who’s the weak one.” He said.
The copper armor knight was stunned by what he saw. He looked at each Summons and then said, “You are a newbie, aren’t you? How weak, really weak.”
He picked up a card after insulting and summoned a 5-star heavy armor and two monsters—4-star Black Knight and Dark Gladiator.
The Black Knight roared and then rushed towards Tan and his monsters.
“240!”
“197!”
The numbers indicated damage dealt by the Black Knight and the Dark Gladiator to the Apprentice Warrior and the Apprentice Mage appeared as the two were executed. The Black Knight and the Dark Gladiator turned to the Ice Wolf Cub, but that was not the end of everything.
“Equip!” The opponent shouted followed by the appearance of a black sword with a black eye at the end of the blade. It was a 4-star Equip Card, Demon Eye.
The copper armor knight grabbed the sword and rushed to Tanthai who was still in shock.
“210!”
“212!”
With two slashes, Tan fell to the ground. His HP became zero…
“Such a noob,” said the copper armor knight. “Let’s see which card I should take.” He spoke as Tanthai’s entire deck appeared before him. It was the rules of the duel between players—the winner was allowed to take a card from the deck the loser had used in the battle.
“These are cards from the starter deck! What a waste of time. I’ll go with this one. At least I can sell it for a thousand or two.” The knight took a card from the deck as he spoke.
It was the strongest card Tanthai currently has, the Ice Wolf Cub…
“Don’t get too cocky if you’re just a noob…keep that in mind.” Tanthai could not hear it loud and clear.
His body then turned to spheres of light. Five minutes later, he was back to life at a church at the center of the starter town.
Church of the Travelers in a border town of…Rindervel.
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Tan opened his eyes, seeing a knight in old armor. He then recalled that the guy was the one who gave him advice and the one he came to rescue, though he got himself killed and ended up here.
“Thanks.” The knight reached out his hand. Tan grabbed it and stood to his feet.
Tan just noticed that the knight seemed to be mixed-race—he had got blonde straight hair and a huge body. Tanthai’s thought was confirmed when he introduced himself. “I’m Blanche. What’s yours?” He asked.
“Tanthai,” replied Tan. “Just call me Tan.”
Blanche nodded then continued, “How bold of you to pick up a fight with the Dark Nights when you just started the game. They’re a group of players with the highest level around here.”
“The Dark Nights? Highest level?” Confused, Tan asked as he sat on a bench inside the church.
“Dark Nights is the name of that group. The group’s average level is probably twelve,” said Blanche.
“Darn…that is high.”
“It takes almost a month to grind to that level,” Blanche continued. “What level were you at before you died…?”
“Five…” Tan answered quietly.
“Five?!” Blanche repeated his answer. “Then it’s just like starting all over again, but with your 3-star card taken away.”
Tan looked at Blanche and frowned. “Start all over again?”
Blanche sighed and explained, “You know that you lose your level as a penalty when you die, right?”
With a shocked expression, Tan raised his eyebrows and then shook his head like a head-shaking doll. “No,” replied Tanthai. “By how many—one or two?”
“Five…” Blanche said and then elaborated his answer, “But as for you, a player within level five, will go back to level one.”
“Level one!” Tan stood to his feet as he barked out.
“Yeah, level one.”
“Darn it…I have to start all over again.” He muttered.
“Why don’t you group up with me? I’ll help you level up. It will be much faster,” said Blanche calmly.
“What level are you at?” Tan asked.
“Nine.”
The black hair guy chuckled then replied, “I don’t want to be a burden to anyone. Thanks for your invitation. Let’s group up when I’m on par with you.” He said as he turned and left the church. Suddenly, a small screen popped up in front of him.
Player Blanche has sent you a friend request…
Tan turned to look at Blanche who gave a smile back to him, but he rejected the request, making Blanche frown with displeasure. The blond could not be in that mood for long. Soon after Tan rejected the request, the system voice echoed at Blanche’s side.
Player Tanthai has sent you a friend request…
Blanche shook his head when he saw the request, before he could say anything, Tan suddenly spoke, “You helped me many times before, plus I couldn’t help you as planned. Let’s just say I want to be your friend.”
Blanche nodded and approved the request. After that, Tan left the church and walked to a quiet corner of the town with no one around to plan his way to level up all over again…
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone