Song Qian's announcement landed like a bomb in still water.
Lin Yue was the first to ask, unable to hold back, "Teacher, can all of us go?"
Song Qian smiled and nodded. "Yes, this time every student in the advanced class will be allowed to enter the secret realm for practical training."
"Of course, it's one of the most basic types of secret realms."
Hearing that, several students showed visible disappointment.
Russell, however, just shook his head inwardly. Getting access to a secret realm was already a huge privilege. How many senior-year students wanted this opportunity but never got it? This was basically a windfall.
Song Qian continued, "The training will begin in half a month. The secret realm is forest-type, so I hope you'll all prepare accordingly."
"Basically," Jiang Nanxi whispered beside Russell, "if you can manage it, try to craft either a vehicle-type support card or a ridable creature card."
Her father was a gold-tier cardmaker, so she was well-versed in these little nuances.
Although forest realms weren't especially complex terrain-wise, having something to ride would save a lot of effort.
Russell glanced over to Du Heng, who had been sitting in silence, brooding ever since the rankings had been announced. Of course he would know all this too.
Not giving it much thought, Russell nodded to Jiang Nanxi. "Thanks for the tip."
She smiled. "Don't mention it."
With the ranking test over, everyone returned to the classroom for the afternoon lessons.
In the advanced class, the curriculum was mainly focused on cardmaking techniques and meditation, with occasional field survival training—because you never knew what you'd run into inside a secret realm.
The Association didn't want greenhouse flowers who only knew how to duel. They needed cardmakers who could actually survive in combat.
This afternoon's session was meditation.
That said, "class" was a loose term—it was more like self-study.
Everyone practiced the same meditation technique—Deep Blue Meditation—so there wasn't much for the instructor to teach.
Eyes closed, Russell focused on the slow, satisfying growth of his mental energy and let out a slow breath.
Since arriving in this world, he'd realized that he progressed through meditation far faster than the body's original owner ever had.
Maybe it was the result of having two souls in one body. Or maybe he was just naturally gifted.
Either way, he didn't plan to overanalyze it. It was good news—he wouldn't get stuck in mental bottlenecks.
Time flew while meditating, and before long, class ended.
"See you tomorrow, Russell." Jiang Nanxi waved with a cheerful smile.
"See you," Russell nodded slightly.
He watched her walk off into the distance, then headed home himself.
Not long after arriving home—
Knock knock knock.
Russell turned toward the window.
It was a Coo Coo Chicken.
"I didn't order anything…" he muttered, puzzled, as he opened the window.
The Coo Coo Chicken pecked the button on its delivery pouch. A crisp, artificial female voice rang out:
"Please deliver the purchased items promptly."
Russell instantly remembered he'd listed some materials on a trading website. He'd nearly forgotten he had seven [Ghoul] (Green) cards up for sale.
He quickly retrieved the materials from his room and handed them over. The chicken stashed them into its pouch and flew off into the sky.
Watching the Coo Coo Chicken fade into a white speck in the clouds, Russell suddenly had an idea about his rideable card.
Take advice, eat well. Since Jiang Nanxi had gone out of her way to remind him, he wasn't going to slack.
With the extra cash from his sales, Russell had just over 300,000 Daming credits. Enough to make a simple Green-tier transport card.
He opened the trading site and began browsing materials he could afford.
Even though he was at Black Iron rank and technically eligible to buy Bronze-tier materials, Russell decided against it.
First—his mental energy wasn't high enough yet to craft Bronze-tier cards.Second—he was broke.
Before long, he found what he needed:
[Chirp Sparrow] (White)
[Bald Eagle] (Green)
One blank card
Total cost: 30,000 Daming credits.
Soon enough, the Coo Coo Chicken delivered the materials to Russell's door.
He sat at his desk, picked up his card-drawing pen, and began sketching on the blank card.
Gradually, a large yellow eagle took form on the card's surface.
Once the illustration was finished, Russell placed all three materials together and infused them with mental energy.
The next moment—he entered that familiar mysterious storycrafting space.
[Please begin crafting your story.]
[Pidgeot has a large build, broad wingspan, and short pink talons.][Its feathers are mostly brown, with black markings around its eyes. Its crest is red in the center and yellow on the sides. Its tail fans out, colored red.][Originally, Ash encountered this Pidgeot's pre-evolved form, Pidgeotto, in Viridian Forest. After a fierce battle, he captured it.][Through their journey, Ash and Pidgeotto defeated Team Rocket many times and won gym battles. They experienced many things together and eventually returned to Viridian Forest.][There, they found a group of Spearows trying to drive out the Pidgeottos. Ash's Pidgeotto was badly injured trying to protect them, but in a desperate moment, it evolved into Pidgeot and defeated the Spearows.][After that, Ash released Pidgeot back into the forest, promising to return after finishing his business.]
Russell silently waited for the system's evaluation.
A moment later, he returned to his room.
Hovering in front of him was a card with the image of a large brown bird.
[Pidgeot]Tier: Black IronQuality: GreenType: CreatureSkills: NoneTraits: NoneDescription: After 24 years, they meet again—ready to soar together once more.
Russell wasn't surprised.
It was a simple story with low-tier materials, so he didn't expect any special abilities. That was fine. He didn't need a battle card—he just needed something to ride.
He summoned the Pidgeot and inspected its form carefully.
It was about 1.5 meters tall—plenty large enough to carry him through the skies.
That said, Russell wasn't about to hop on it and fly around like some anime protagonist.
Besides, riding flying creatures inside city limits required registration with the Cardmaker Association.
Russell planned to do that. Pidgeot wasn't a combat card anyway, so it didn't matter if people saw it. And more importantly…
He couldn't stand hearing that hellish "welfare card alert" from the public buses every day anymore.
Patting Pidgeot on the head, Russell stored it back into his mind.
Throwing on a jacket, he headed out to register it.