Chereads / A Sneeze that Destroyed a Magical Civilization / Chapter 4 - Chapter 4: The Calamity... Is Me!

Chapter 4 - Chapter 4: The Calamity... Is Me!

"Sigh, forget it, no point in thinking too much. I'm about to starve to death; better figure out a way to leave this hellhole first."

A loud grumble from Zuo Si's stomach interrupted his thoughts.

He hadn't eaten a proper meal in days.

The food stored in the warehouse had long rotted, spoiled by both the corpses and the plague, emitting a stench so foul it made him gag.

Just the smell was enough to make anyone throw up, let alone consider eating it.

Still, to stave off hunger, Zuo Si carefully pulled out a small paper packet from his satchel, opened it, and placed a translucent candy into his mouth, closing his eyes to savor the sweetness on his tongue.

The candy had been a small gift from a pretty young female apprentice, barely sixteen, who had given it to him over two months ago to curry favor, as Zuo Si was the most favored disciple of the tower master.

Since he had been going through a phase of losing his teeth and didn't particularly like sweets, the candy had been saved by chance, and now, it was the only thing left that could provide any energy.

After all, aside from Asta, no one knew Zuo Si's real age. Everyone assumed he was a child, no older than ten.

Since this misunderstanding brought him plenty of perks and convenience, he saw no reason to correct it.

Unfortunately, when the plague broke out, that charming young apprentice was one of the first to die.

Zuo Si had mourned for her for quite a while.

That was until he accidentally discovered that he was actually the source of the plague…

The Calamity… Is Me?!

Zuo Si couldn't believe it, not even in his wildest dreams. A simple sneeze from him had caused the deaths of thousands, driving this once-thriving magical civilization to the brink of extinction.

Luckily, through his research, Zuo Si found that he didn't always emit contagious bacteria and viruses into the environment.

When he was in good health, his immune system maintained a delicate and complex symbiotic balance with the pathogens inside him, like playing a game of cat and mouse.

His saliva, blood, and even waste weren't infectious in this state.

But if he fell ill, these suppressed viruses and bacteria would become active immediately, multiplying at a terrifying speed and ultimately evolving into a plague that wiped out all life around him.

As the candy slowly dissolved in his mouth and provided the energy his body desperately needed, the hunger only intensified instead of subsiding.

With no other choice, Zuo Si gulped down half a cup of water to trick his digestive system, then quickly made his way out of the dark and eerie basement to a window in the public lounge on the middle floor of the tower.

He took a moment to sense the surrounding energy levels, then swiftly drew a blank card engraved with mysterious symbols, using the power of the Spark to drain all the mana from his mana pool into the card.

Instantly!

The sky over the floating city, previously shrouded in negative energy, seemed to be torn open by an invisible hand.

A blinding beam of light shot down from the heavens, landing directly on the tower!

Boom!!!!!!

Under the intense surge of energy, the once-blank card began to reveal images and words.

[Land Card: Tower of the Floating City]

[Level 2 Colorless Card (Upgradeable)]

[Card Quality: Common]

[Effect: When this card is activated, it provides 3 points of universal mana and 1 point of black mana per day. It can also be permanently bound to the creator's class. In any other magical world, the class will regain mana normally and operate at full capacity.]

[No mana is required to use this card.]

[If the card's effect is disrupted or destroyed by other magical forces, it will automatically enter the graveyard and regenerate after ten days.]

[Note: Universal mana can substitute for any other mana type. Black mana represents swamps, decay, rot, and death, mainly used for creating and using black cards.]

"Activate the Land Card! Permanently bind it to my class!"

After confirming the card's effects, Zuo Si activated it without hesitation.

In the next moment…

The card, which had been glowing faintly, vanished without a trace.

Zuo Si immediately felt a surge of energy connect to his Spark, forming a stable energy channel that allowed him to continuously draw power from the Tower of the Floating City.

Of course, the price was that his mana pool, which had just been full, dropped to 0/100.

Not a single drop left.

"Finally! With this Land Card, I can safely make my escape."

Seeing the card take effect, Zuo Si exhaled a long breath of relief.

He had been worried that after all his hard work reaching Level 5 in the Creator class, everything would be for nothing if he fled to another magical world without a bound Land Card.

Without his Creator class, many of the magical artifacts and curios he had made would either become unusable or extremely dangerous.

At the same time, the floating page in front of him changed.

[Current Task 1: Create a Land Card (Completed)]

[Planewalker Class Upgrade Unlocked]

[New Task: Escape the Crisis (Reward: Three Card Draws)]

"Escape the crisis? And I get three card draws as a reward? Looks like the upper passage to the dimensional gate is filled with deadly dangers." Zuo Si frowned as he stared at the new task on the floating page.

After all, the number of card draws usually indicated how dangerous the task was.

Typically, low-risk tasks only rewarded a single draw.

Even the creation of the Land Card, which could have led to serious consequences if exposed, had only earned two draws.

So a task offering three draws at once meant it would require serious preparation.

With that thought, Zuo Si immediately used two of the draws he had just earned.

A giant spinning wheel appeared on the page, with countless cards revolving around it at high speed.

Since all the cards were facing down, he had no idea what they contained.

As the wheel began to slow and finally stopped, two cards nearest to the pointer flipped over—one glowing white, the other emanating black mist.

[Creature Card: Human—Light Armored Soldier]

[Level 1 White Card (Upgradeable)]

[Card Quality: Common]

[Effect: Summon a soldier with a Level 5 warrior rank. The soldier could be a melee unit equipped with chainmail, a metal helmet, a short sword, and a shield, or a ranged unit equipped with a bow and leather armor. Regardless of type, the soldier will understand all your commands and follow them until they die or the summon is canceled.]

[This card costs 2 points of white mana, representing plains and positive energy, or 2 points of universal mana to activate.]

[When the summoned soldier dies, this card automatically enters the graveyard and regenerates after one day.]

[Spell Card: Wither]

[Level 2 Black Card (Non-upgradable)]

[Card Quality: Rare]

[Effect: Upon activation, this card releases a large death cloud filled with negative energy at a location within 30 meters, lasting for 30 seconds. All creatures that breathe it in, friend or foe, will experience rapid decay and death. The speed of death depends on the creature's size, magic resistance, and vitality. Undead creatures, however, are immune to the spell and will slowly regenerate health within the affected area.]

[This card costs 3 points of universal mana or 3 points of black mana to activate.]

[After the Wither spell ends, this card enters the graveyard and regenerates after two days.]

"A common creature card and a rare magic card? Not a bad result this time. Definitely better than my previous draws."

Zuo Si smiled as he looked at the two newly drawn cards.

It was clear that when it came to card draws, he wasn't exactly lucky, but he wasn't unlucky either.

His luck was more... balanced.

Besides, Zuo Si had already inherited this "legacy."

The number of cards in the deck was limited. Even if he didn't draw powerful ones now, he would eventually draw one.