Age of Summoner

“If so, then will the rewards for quests received from inside Arcadia and the ones from the outside world be different also? For instance, quests received in the game will give out rewards in the game, while quests received from the outside will give out physical rewards similar to the one you are about to be rewarded?”

“Not always. Sometimes, we can redeem the rewards we obtained from inside of Arcadia outside of the game, such as those card packs or card accessories; it’s all up to each CF’s regulations. They will use our ID card to record information. All we have to do is walk up to a CF store and declare that you want to redeem your quest reward, that’s all.”

Joke nodded as he tilted his head towards the mentioned Quest Center. Once he saw that there were a large number of summoners queuing up, he let out a long sigh. He could foresee himself having to stand in that exact place one day.

“We don’t have to line up for those quests, Joke,” Rin stated. “Before we reach that step, I have to first teach you how to use your cards. You are currently registered under this town; so if there are deaths resulting from fighting, you will be regenerated here. Hence, we don’t really have any businesses here.”

“Where will we be going, then?” Joke asked.

The truth was, he actually wanted to have a look around town, but it seemed like learning how to play AOS was his first mission to complete.

“The main mission upon entering Arcadia is, of course, to battle monsters in order to collect experience points. I guess you have some idea about a player’s level?”

The young man nodded. Even though he did not have much experience regarding gaming, this was considered as basic gaming knowledge. The more opponents you fought, the more skillful your character became.

“One thing that exists in Arcadia, but not the outside world are the monsters that roam free outside of town. Our mission is to fight those monsters to level up and upgrade our cards. Should we try that out, then?”

“Okay.”

.

.

It was not long before Rin led him back outside of town once again but through a different gateway this time.

This gateway, which was on the opposite side, appeared to be leading out to a vast grass field near a sea. Looking far into the distance, a beautiful and calming sea could be seen. The scenery in this area was truly beautiful as the sky was fading into dusk; the emanating pale orange hues evoked an indescribable sense of relaxation.

But that was not what Joke was paying attention to.

It was perhaps the figure of a large blob of jelly, which was almost a meter high, bouncing in front of him that caused him to narrow his eyes at this strange creature positioned before him.

“This is the monster you were talking about?” Joke asked.

“Yes, this creature is a Water Slime, a level 1 monster—the weakest in the game.”

Rin stated as she reached out her hand to do something. A window then opened up in front of her. She pushed that information window towards Joke so that he could have a closer look at it. It looked like a typical card game, which also included a picture of this “Water Slime” along with other information.

----------------

Water Slime LV1 (water)

----------------

Race: element

Attack-1

Defense-1

----------------

HP: 120

----------------

It could clearly be seen that this was simply general information on this monster. Judging from the look of it, it was no wonder why this lame creature was the game’s weakest monster. Looking far into the distance, he saw other summoners abandoning these slimes alone as if they were too weak to be worthy of a fight.

And as a result, this area was filled with tons of blue jelly blobs bouncing up and down, being somewhat of an annoyance.

“Alright. Should we first start with the details about AOS cards?”

“You’ll explain that right here?”

Joke asked as he glanced around. He was somewhat irritated seeing these slimes bouncing all over.

“It’s okay. It’s kind of cute seeing these creatures jumping around like this.” Rin giggled. “First of all, Joke, you need to know that we summoners do not have any power or magic that can fight against these monsters, even these jelly blobs. No matter how hard you kick them, you won’t be able to injure them. On the other hand, they could bite you back to death, actually.”

“Huh?... So how are we going to fight them?” Joke asked.

“With cards, of course.”

Rin then raised her hand to her face until three cards subsequently appeared in her hand.

“The only ability we summoners have is to use power from these cards to fight against monsters. These cards are the same set of cards that I put into your ID slot before going online.”

“Ah… I understand. So, we can also use the cards that are brought from the outside in Arcadia?”

“That’s right.” Rin smiled. “Also, AOS cards are divided into these three different types...”

Rin slightly flicked her hand, causing the three cards to disappear and immediately convert into an information window in front of Joke. The three types of cards displayed were all different in terms of design and color.

“For the first type, we call these ‘halves’.”

“Halves?” Joke narrowed his eyes.

“The halves I mentioned are summons we call out for battles, such as this card:”

----------------

Ramina LV19 (wind)

----------------

♦♦♦♦♦

Race: Elf

*Ramina gain atk +1 def +1 for every Trap Card deployed*

----------------

Attack-5

Defense-4

----------------

HP: 1,850 (DP-6)

----------------

The picture on the mentioned card was of an elf maiden with long black hair, dressed in a green cloak, running in a forest with an arrow held by her side. It was an illustration much prettier than that of the slime; besides, it also looked much more powerful.

“And this is how we activate this card…”

Rin then called the mentioned card into her hand once again before flicking her hand to another side, causing a magic circle to be illuminated in front of her. The card in her hand dissolved away as a figure appeared in its place.

“Woah...”

Joke accidentally exclaimed as the person who had just emerged from the magic circle was none other than the long-haired elven archeress he saw on the card a while ago. She now stood majestically before Rin, with her head humbly bowed towards the person who was her master; a smile then slowly crept its way onto Rin’s face.

“This —is my half. The reason why we call them ‘halves’ is because they are a summoner’s other half. We surrender our magical power, or “mana”, in our bodies to call them out to help us fight battles. And this is my partner, Ramina.”

The elf maiden then greeted Joke by bowing down humbly, to which Joke instinctively responded by bowing back to her, causing Rin to smile gleefully.

“Once we successfully summon out a half, we can order them to do anything,” Rin stated, then turned to look at one of the slimes. “Ramina, attack that little slime!”