After the comotion died down a bit, the children had found a new object of their curiosity, they tried to ask Yuhan to show his magic but he said he didn't know how, something they understood, but that remark has earned him a look from the priest.
After the banquet, Father Orsi asked him to stay a little longer, it seems they had something to talk, while everyone else left to brush their teeth and go to bed, Yuhan found himself sitting on the table with Father Orsi looking at him.
— That Grimoire is from the Clover Kingdom, which means you are from this kingdom, Yuha, I have something to ask... Could you join Asta and Yuno to the Royal Capital?
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*Sub-Quest*
[Jorney to the Capital]
º Reach the Royal Capital with Asta and Yuno
Reward:
Crystal x10
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Yuhan's first reaction was to agree immediately, but he hesitated and asked a question.
— Why would you want me with them?
Leaning back on his chair, Father Orsi let out a long sigh.
— Well, Yuno is most likely gonna join the Magic Knights, but Asta... I would be more at ease if someone came along with him back home...
He seemed sure Asta would fail, and decided it would be safer if he got someone with him on the way back.
— Of course, if you wanna take the exam as well, I could let you join as one of the orphans from the village, besides Yuno, two others were gonna take the exam, but they both dropped out.
The boy didn't forget his main quest, and now a chance to take the exam and complete it has landed on his lap, Yuhan had no reason to refuse.
— Then I'll take the exam with them!
He said confidently, Father Orsi nodded in approval, it seems he had to pay a late-night visit to a certain Tower Master.
A new day had just begun, the sun on the horizon was barely visible when Yuno and Asta started to gather their things, some clothes, food for the journey, Yuhan didn't have much, but still packed a few things to eat on the way, the excitement of the journey had almost kept him awake the entire night.
He had studied his Grimoire and found out it has almost every function of the "Shadow Realms" game system, besides the chat and logout function.
The shop screen had some interesting changes.
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Card Shop
[Beginner Box — Monsters and Minions ]
[Locked]
[Locked]
[Locked]
...
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Besides the Beginner monsters box, everything else showed as [Locked], the current box had 35 packs, looking at the cards availabe, all of them showed x3 copies, the only ones showing x2 copies were, Petit Dragon, Meda Bat, Basic Insect, Feral Imp and Hinotama Soul, the cards he pulled from the pack.
This matched with the "Shadow Realms" game rule, where only 3 copies of each monster card could be carried, every player had the same limit of copies. Each pack from this beginner box costs 15 Crystals to buy, after completing the Side-quest from Father Orsi, Yuhan could finally buy another pack. But another matter had bothered him, he was still stuck at level 1, it seems Side-quests didn't give Exp.
Walking out the doors of the church, Yuhan joined Asta and Yuno as they said their sad farewells, although short, Yuhan had enjoyed this last few days with them, but it was time to start his journey. The touching moment was cut short when Yuno turned around and said.
— Well, I'll be off.
With a slight bow, Yuhan followed suit, leaving Asta still lingering behind, it didn't take long before he caught up to them.
— Hey, wait for me! Yuno! Just because we're rivals doesn't mean we can't get along!
The excessive shouting made Yuhan tilt his head away from Asta out of reflex. As a response Yuno picked up the pace, followed by Asta and then Yuhan lazily following them. It was currently summer, the sun shines in the clear sky, a warm and confortable winds rustle the leaves, as the three young mages start their journey to the royal capital in order to take the Magic Knights Entrance Exam.
The Royal Capital is a long way from Hage village everyone said before Yuhan left, the journey had just started, and the three of them talked about what awaited them.
— I wonder if we'll meet the Wizard King.
Asta said excited, but was cut off by Yuno's realistic point of view.
— First we need to pass the Magic Knights Entrance Exam, then we'll talk.
Rolling his eyes, Yuhan didn't care much for the Wizard King.
— What do you think the Exam will be like?
He asked Yuno, who looked more like the intellectual type.
— No one knows until we take the exam, it's always been like that.
Nodding in understanding, Yuhan carried on studying his Grimoire.
Their journey was long and arduous, on a rainy day, while Yuno protected himself with wind, and Asta found a log to protect himself, Yuhan didn't even bother, to their surprise, the water would just slide right off the boy, his clothes remained dry as usual. In reality, Yuhan had just turned off the "Environmental Interaction" in the options menu on his Grimoire, it was a weird feeling, he couldn't feel the wind currents anymore, it wasn't hot or cold, he couldn't even feel the raindrops hitting him.
While splitting chores, Yuhan would mysteriously finish his chores while no one was looking, while Asta and Yuno were fishing or gathering food, suddenly there would be chopped wood and a lit campfire waiting for them.
Yuhan had came to understand his Grimoire's functions. Just like in "Shadow Realms" he could summon his monsters in a 1x1 square, each page in his Grimoire could hold a monster card, the total amount of pages, besides the menu, were 200 in total, just like in the game, a player could only carry 200 cards in the overworld.
While not in a duel, Yuhan could use the command 'Draw', to summon 5 random cards to his hand, a cooldown started to countdown on the command, after the first 5-card drawn Yuhan could only pull one card every 1 minute, while holding a card, he could see the world like a playing field with faint lines on the ground.
Yuhan could summon level 4 or lower monster to any 1x1 square without tribute summoning, each level would increase that monster's mana cost by 10, and to quickly chop wood and test his magic, he had summoned a Basic Insect.
╭───────────╮
Basic Insect - Earth
★★
[Insect/Normal]
ATK 500/ DEF 700
╰───────────╯
[MP: 4000→3980]
With it's sharp claws, it had easly cut the tree branches into the perfect size for a campfire, with a wave of his hand, the Basic Insect turned back into a card and few into his hand. Switching into another card, Yuhan tossed it into the ground, a fireball appeared shortly after, floating beside him with a mocking face.
╭───────────╮
Hinotama Ball - Fire
★★
[Pyro/Normal]
ATK 600/ DEF 500
╰───────────╯
[MP: 4000→3960]
With a command, the fireball slowly rested on the campfire, feeding on the wood slowly and warming the place, it stayed there the whole night as a source of fire for the three mages resting from their journey. The spent mana would recover at a rate of 1 point every 3 minutes, it would take Yuhan about one and a half hour to have all of his spent mana back.
Although I have a lot of mana, I need to be careful with my resources.
Their journey continued, through fog, mountains, rocky cliffs and even derserts, Yuhan couldn't help but complain as they faced the desert while their watter supply was slowly running low.
— Are you kidding me?! What kind of quest makes you walk to the other side of the map?!
The other boys looked at the scene and didn't know what it was about, maybe Yuhan was having hallucinations due to the heat. Even though Yuhan couldn't feel any heat.
Finally, after many days and nights, standing on top of a mountain, berely coming into view the Royal Capital of the Clover Kingdom, where the Magic Knights Entrance exam awaits.