My Card Beast Taming Game

"Big? That's alright, but unfortunately I don't need it right now," Zhou Chen sighed.

The world is full of spirit cards with different ranks, star ratings and attributes.

The rank represents the upper limit of a spirit card's potential growth, which can be seen from the card colors such as bronze, silver, and gold.

The star rating represents the current strength of the card, starting from one star, and is displayed in the upper left corner of the card.

The attribute represents the elemental type that the spirit card excels at, which generally includes nature, earth, fire, water, electricity, sky, etc.

As a trainee card master, Zhou Chen can only use the lowest-ranking bronze spirit cards under normal circumstances, and the highest star rating of bronze cards cannot exceed two stars.

Each time a Spirit Card advances its rank, it gains one star.

Because card players need to trigger spirit cards with mental power to summon card creatures, insufficient mental power will only result in failed summoning, let alone subsequent control.

Therefore, trainee card masters can only summon bronze cards, junior card masters can summon silver cards, intermediate card masters can summon gold cards, and so on.

Fortunately, he can summon high-ranking spirit cards through the formation function; unfortunately, high-ranking spirit cards cannot be controlled by ordinary means, and their star rating cannot be increased to the limit of their current rank.

For example, the maximum value for a Silver card is three stars, and the maximum value for a Gold card is four stars.

Just like in common mobile games, where the maximum level of a card character is limited based on the player's personal level.

Internship! That awful internship!

Zhou Chen pursed his lips, only wishing that he could advance to the next level as soon as possible and master more powerful spirit cards.

"It's alright, it's time to go into the dungeon."

He exited the summoning interface and switched to the dungeon interface. He opened the dungeon he had become most familiar with in the past few weeks and was about to enter when a call came from outside.

"Xiao Chen! Xiao Chen!"

She is the old lady from the Lu family next door.

Zhou Chen's hand froze halfway, hesitating whether to respond.

The old woman continued calling out in her local accent, "Come to Grandma's house for dinner! Grandma has cooked lots of delicious dishes today! Come and eat with us!"

The old lady was Zhou Chen's neighbor. After his grandparents passed away, she often invited him to eat, and even brought him food several times.

Later, Zhou Chen felt a little embarrassed and refused several times before the old lady finally gave up.

The other party probably saw him leave during the day and would only call him at night.

Zhou Chen rubbed her belly and replied loudly, "Okay, Grandma! I just woke up!"

Upon receiving a response, the old woman's tone rose, "Then wash your face and come over!"

"it is good!"

Zhou Chen continued to respond, looking at the proud rooster in front of him, and couldn't help but touch its comb, "Looks like I'll have to wait a bit before you show off your prowess."

"Goo!"

The rooster seemed to understand his words and went back to the yard to continue its circling walk.

In the blink of an eye, Zhou Chen arrived next door.

Several people had already taken their seats at the round table in the hall; they were mostly relatives of the Lu family.

At the very back is Grandpa Lu, the most senior member of the family at this table.

Upon seeing Zhou Chen, they immediately invited him to sit down. Grandpa Lu even asked him with a smile if he wanted some rice wine, saying that it had no alcohol content and he wasn't afraid of getting drunk.

Zhou Chen declined.

"Xiao Ning! Stop helping and come out!" Grandpa Lu called out to the kitchen, and a pretty figure appeared carrying a plate of vegetables.

The girl had a neat, short, choppy black hairstyle, delicate and three-dimensional features, and bright red lips and white teeth, exuding vitality.

However, her gaze was slightly cold, giving off a somewhat aloof feeling. She had a straight nose, small and full lips with a natural light pink hue, which, combined with her fair and delicate skin, made her seem to glow.

After she put the dishes down, her gaze met Zhou Chen's, who was looking at her, and then she looked away unintentionally.

An older man at the table chuckled, "You've been neighbors since you were kids, going to school and playing together. Now that you're both card dealers, why are you acting so distant?"

“Men and women are different, Uncle,” the girl said in a clear voice.

Zhou Chen remained silent.

The exceptionally beautiful short-haired girl in front of him was his childhood playmate, Lu Qingning.

They happened to be in the same class in elementary school, so they often went to and from school together and played together. But starting in junior high school, perhaps due to the influence of gender awakening or because they were assigned to different classes, the two gradually drifted apart.

In the following years, Zhou Chen experienced his parents' divorce, his father's unexpected death, and the passing of his grandparents. He became depressed and had little to talk to Lu Qingning anymore.

Normally, the two would at most exchange greetings when they met, and sometimes they would pass each other without even saying hello.

Childhood sweethearts?

That's a plot point only found in Japanese novels.

Moreover, since the other party became a card master earlier last year and has been going home less and less, Zhou Chen was very surprised to see her today.

But it was just surprise.

Zhou Chen waited until everyone was present before picking up his chopsticks and eating quietly.

He occasionally thanked the elderly for adding dishes to his meal and the uncle next to him for pouring him drinks, and soon he had almost finished eating.

After everyone at the table had left and he felt he had eaten his fill, a faint aroma wafted into his nostrils.

Lu Qingning sat down next to him and poured a drink.

Before Zhou Chen could react, the other party spoke first, as casually as if chatting with an old friend, "You became a card master last month?"

"Um……"

"Do you have your own card yet?"

"There is."

What attribute is it?

"nature……"

"You have communication difficulties? I remember you were quite talkative when you were a child!"

Lu Qingning frowned. "It seems like you changed starting in middle school, becoming timid and hesitant! You haven't changed even now that you've become a card master!"

Zhou Chen looked somewhat dazed.

Was I timid and hesitant in junior high school?

He turned to look at Lu Qingning, who seemed a little angry for some reason, and honestly said, "I don't know what to say."

"What are you saying? Aren't you curious about what cards I have, and what I've been doing lately? How are you going to stimulate my mental power and make it improve like this?!" Lu Qingning's tone rose.

Card dealers usually don't have a very good temper.

On the one hand, having mastered superhuman power, one must still restrict oneself; on the other hand, to allow one's spiritual power to grow, one must use the meditation method promulgated by the association to stimulate it.

Once stimulated, emotions will fluctuate.

The weaker the card master, the greater the mental fluctuations generated after practicing meditation. Online, this is often referred to as "the less skilled, the more they like to complain."

Seeing that Zhou Chen still didn't react, Lu Qingning suddenly paused just as she was about to explode, then took out a candy from her pocket and ate it.

The dryness between his brows immediately lessened considerably.

"Sorry, I've been a bit too stimulated lately." As soon as the candy entered her mouth, Lu Qingning suddenly seemed like a different person, apologizing in a calm tone.

Because lower-level card players are prone to emotional outbursts after accumulating stress, the Card Player Association discovered through research that they can calm themselves down by doing certain specific things—

They are mostly things I like.

Lu Qingning's method of controlling her is to feed her candy; she has a sweet tooth.

Chapter 3: Secret Teaching.jpg

Zhou Chen shook his head to indicate that it was okay.

Seeing that he was still not good at speaking, but was no longer as impatient as before, Lu Qingning asked, "You probably haven't been to the secret realm before, have you?"

He replied, "There really isn't a secret realm."

Lu Qingning smiled and said, "Are you free next week? I'll take you to experience it!"

"You? Take me to experience the secret realm?"

Zhou Chen looked surprised.

Lu Qingning immediately wrinkled her little nose in displeasure, revealing half of her little tiger tooth in a fierce manner, "What? Is it not allowed? Are you questioning my strength?"

He quickly shook his head and said, "I just don't want to hold you back. The secret realm is very dangerous, isn't it? Don't let me, this burden, drag you down."

"What are you afraid of? I'll take care of it! The secret realm is dangerous, but we can definitely take a stroll around the outer areas!"

Lu Qingning said confidently, "At worst, I'll teach you a trick or two. You've been a card master for a while now, right? How's your basic manipulation practice going? Show me!"

"Now?"

Zhou Chen glanced at the sky.

Lu Qingning countered, "Do you have something urgent? If you're not in a rush, you can postpone it. I can teach you some tips that are very useful for beginners!"

Is this a beginner's guide?

Zhou Chen was immediately tempted.

He currently learns methods through online courses, and has considered purchasing offline courses, but is worried that his lack of knowledge might lead to him being scammed.

Although Lu Qingning became a card master only half a year earlier than him, there are definitely things she can learn from him.

There is always something to learn from others when three people walk together.

"Thank you for your trouble," he said politely.

The girl quickly stood up. "No trouble at all. Okay, come with me. There's not enough room to move around at home."

The Lu family's grandparents watched the two leave with smiles on their faces.

In a wasteland outside the village.

Lu Qingning glanced around and, seeing that she was far from the telephone pole, took out a diamond-shaped box, put it on her hand, and took out a card from her waist and inserted it into the box.

The box is called a card summoning device, an important instrument that helps card masters summon card creatures, but it is said that advanced card masters can summon them without the card summoning device.

bake!

A black gale suddenly surged from inside the card-calling device, then swirled and flew forward, eventually transforming into a giant black lion.

"Roar!"

It roars in a deep voice, and its nearly two-meter shoulder height makes it appear exceptionally large, inspiring awe from afar. Its fluffy and smooth mane sways like waves.

Lu Qingning smiled and put her hands on her hips, saying, "This is my three-star silver-tier dark and fire attribute spirit card, Netherflame Lion."

Her expression subtly revealed the source of her confidence in leading the flight.

Hearing that it was a three-star silver rank card, Zhou Chen was somewhat surprised, "Silver card! You're already a beginner card master?"

"That's right, it's been a while. I also put in some effort to upgrade my Netherflame Lion to three stars. Look closely at its expression and movements, isn't it quite different from low-star card creatures?"

Lu Qingning's smooth chin was slightly raised, like a proud white peacock.

But this is to be expected. She had only awakened her spiritual power for less than a year, and as a result, she not only advanced to the initial stage, but also upgraded her spirit card to three stars.

Looking at the entire Maple City... and even Yuzhou, he can be considered a genius.

She urged Zhou Chen to summon his card creatures, "Hurry up, let me see what you chose."

Once a citizen of Zhuxia becomes an apprentice card master, they will be given a free one-star bronze card, which they can choose from in the Spirit Card Vault.

"Row."

Zhou Chen casually pulled out a bronze card with mountains and rivers printed on the back and a monkey holding a stick sitting cross-legged on the front.

He inserted it into the call card device.

Without the dazzling special effects of the Netherflame Lion, with a slight detachment in the mind, the nature-type spirit card named [White Ape] rolled out, growing larger from a small size.

Summoning a spirit card consumes spirit energy, while releasing it recovers spirit energy. When the card creature is attacked, the recovered spirit energy is reduced according to the extent of the injury.

"Chirp~"