Chapter 61: Chapter 61: A Father’s Worries
[Alice recounted her experiences and clarified her plan.]
[Oshana was skeptical that followers of the Master of Thunder would commit such vile acts, but she was willing to help Alice. Although there is a certain understanding among the Gods, they do not stop their followers from attacking each other.]
[If necessary, Oshana doesn’t mind striking back at the church of the Master of Thunder to retaliate for their forceful expulsion of other churches from the Roland Empire.]
["But... is it really necessary to go to such lengths just to save a five-star Magical Beast?" Oshana found it hard to believe that Alice’s ruthless plan was merely to divert the guards of Paiyiga City and sneak in to rescue the Silver Moon Wolf King.]
["It’s my companion, Oshana. I will not abandon any friend or partner. If one day, Oshana finds herself in such a predicament, I would do the same."]
["Impossible, I’m the eldest miss of the Price Clan! If I run into such a predicament, it could only be the topmost echelons of the church..."]
["Even if it means stirring up a Divine War, I will come to rescue Oshana. Ah! Anna, you’re pinching me!"]
[Oshana’s affection increased, Anna’s affection increased.]
It seems that there are indeed rifts between the major churches, but because of the Twilight of the Gods a thousand years ago, the Gods had reached a tacit understanding; while the followers fight, they maintain a balance among themselves.
Shen Sui was browsing through the homepage on the Dueling Device while also looking at web pages on the nearby computer, checking the rules for the upcoming Ranking Tournament to prepare.
Joining tournaments is a quick way to earn money, especially professional matches.
Although the prize money from the last Chosen Cup was substantial, it wasn’t enough for Shen Sui. His current deck looked rather complete, but it was only suitable for dueling among students. Truly going professional would require a significant investment.
Shen Sui had a very clear planning route for his deck.
He hoped that every form of Alice could create a central strategy as its core, so he wouldn’t be hampered by Forbidden Cards when competing professionally in the future.
Presently, Alice had four forms: Magic Apprentice, Junior Mage, Flame Witch, and Rebellious Witch. Even for Alice, it was impossible to quickly assemble four sets of main-axis compatible Life Cards.
Shen Sui had an external tool to modify card effects, but such modifications had to be based on the initial effects of the Life Cards. If he wanted to write card effects entirely according to his ideas, then the card’s star level needed to be very high.
"What a pity," Shen Sui scratched his head and sighed. "I thought just using the skills on the Soul Card followers could produce the corresponding Life Card, but it turns out to be probabilistic."
Shen Sui had tried applying his skills to Alice, attempting to sweep through the skills, but unfortunately, acquiring Life Cards involved certain probabilities, perhaps related to the timing of skill usage and synergy with the Soul Card’s situation. In any case, he obtained some Life Cards but not as many as he had imagined.
Wondering if there was a collectible card game forum online.
Shen Sui thought to himself.
It likely existed. Due to the lack of profit from card sales and some malicious individuals who buy cards only to report the platform for refunds, domestic Life Card transactions often chose to conduct exchanges.
As long as it’s card-for-card, we can’t lose.
But such transactions are quite lengthy. For example, the trade between Yue Tao and Shen Sui was still pending because Shen Sui desired that Elemental Wheel of Magic Conversion card, but he hadn’t found an Elemental Creature on the Dawn Continent yet, so the trade was temporarily on hold.
Perhaps he should ask Bu Pei later, as he might know.
With this in mind, Shen Sui refocused his attention on the Dueling Device.
The text on the interface continued to scroll, as Alice and Oshana prepared to pull a trick on the church of the Master of Thunder.
In this process, Oshana was unexpectedly more enthusiastic than Alice.
This reminded Shen Sui of Baris from the game.
The ancestral teachings of Baris were no exaggeration. In the game, she was a girl who valued friendship highly. Once you’ve become a friend recognized by Baris, you can ask her to do anything she could for you. Thus, the first step for newbies was to make friends with Baris, for once you did, many challenging tasks in the game could be accomplished with her help, significantly speeding up progress.
And Shen Sui was the first player to test the friendship limit with Baris. As long as you raised her level, Baris, with her Godslaying capabilities, could even betray the God she worshipped, Daylight, for her friends.
The nickname "Mommy Baris" in Dawn Link wasn’t given for nothing.
Oshana used the postal Token to successfully mobilize a group of Thunder Knights.
Normally, as a Knight of Daylight, Oshana wouldn’t be able to mobilize so many Thunder Knights, but this time, Oshana had the righteous cause of annihilating the Sok Evil God.
What’s more, the leader of this Sok Church was the Priest Tim of the Thunder Church, and this news had reached Paiyiga City. Although the church of the Master of Thunder had already sent a specialized team to eradicate them, upon learning that this evil God’s followers aimed to attack Paiyiga City, the Thunder Knights stationed in the region were easily persuaded by Oshana to act.
Up to this point, Alice’s behavior was quite normal.
Things went just as Alice had said before; she wanted to deal with those nobles in Anlud City who intended to sacrifice civilians along with their minions.
However, the keen Shen Sui noticed a change in Alice.
This change was reflected in Alice’s bold actions.
This was partly due to her no longer fearing death, but also because of her smooth-sailing journey thus far.
She seemed to believe that her newfound talent for persuasive speech made her invincible, making her overly confident.
This mindset was flawed.
Shen Sui thought, stroking his chin, it wasn’t conducive to Alice’s growth.
Should I manipulate things slightly to set Alice up for some setbacks? If not, she might not realize that tricky, eloquent strategies can’t always solve problems; only the strongest power can break through all obstacles.
Shen Sui recalled the moment he first drew Alice, feeling a bit reluctant.
Challenges? Setbacks?
If it weren’t for his arrival, Alice would probably have perished back on the day the village was attacked by evildoers.
Not to mention, Alice had died dozens of times just to save Anna.
Faced with such a girl’s experiences, creating more difficulties for her on purpose, Shen Sui felt reluctant.
While leveraging setbacks and suffering to promote Soul Card upgrades was an often-proven tactic, Shen Sui felt it was unnecessary.
Given Alice’s tendency to cause trouble, she could generate enough Life Cards for herself. Why manufacture additional challenges for her?
However, without refinement, how could Alice realize that solely relying on words couldn’t achieve all goals, and that enhancing one’s strength was also necessary?
Shen Sui felt his thoughts were chaotic.
He wanted Alice to recognize the importance of cultivation, boost her power to gain more forms, yet didn’t wish to use a Time Regulator like other Life Card Masters, deliberately creating difficulties to force his Soul Card to level up.
It felt as though an old father was troubled over whether to help a daughter who had fallen into hardship.
[Clyde! Clyde!]
[Alice called to you.]
[What?] Shen Sui typed back.
[Can you do me a favor?] Alice showed a cheerful and adorable smile.
Shen Sui looked at the line of text, picturing Alice’s joyful smile from the Soul Card in his mind.
[Sure.]