Moste was still sensing the changes within his meditation space when a voice interrupted him.
"Well then, since everyone has successfully completed the goal of refining their first monster card,"
"Let's all log off together,"
Vainette said.
Many of the students nearby echoed in agreement.
"Let's go, let's go, log off!"
"Time to take a break, after that, we'll apply for a leveling party together."
"I feel like I'm about to fall asleep…"
After refining their first monster card, students theoretically had the ability to level up on their own. However, Card Realm was an incredibly difficult game. Most wild monsters were level 5 or higher, with only newly spawned ones being level 1 or 2.
Furthermore, monsters usually traveled in packs. Even with a refined monster hatchling, it was still a huge challenge to venture out into this world.
Let alone those students who had refined monster eggs—before they could even think of fighting, they needed to hatch their monsters, and the newly hatched creatures would always be level 1, making them no match for any enemies.
Therefore, students typically had to apply to join official leveling teams to get through the beginner phase before they could grow on their own.
As the students began to log off one by one.
Moste informed his tutor.
"Professor Vainette, I'm not logging off yet. I'm planning to explore the city."
"I've mostly been in my personal space, and I haven't really had a chance to explore the world of Card Realm yet."
Vainette was momentarily stunned but didn't stop him.
"Huh? Alright, but be careful."
"I heard that if you get killed by a wild monster, it takes a day to revive. You might miss a leveling team's mission, which could affect your progress."
She wasn't particularly worried. After all, it was just a game.
The worst problem Moste could cause himself would be dying and wasting some game progress.
"I'll be fine. Don't worry."
"Thank you, Professor."
Moste said his goodbyes.
As Vainette's figure slowly faded, the other students logging off murmured as they did.
"Moste, if you make it big, don't forget about us, alright?"
"From now on, it'll be your turn to carry the class. Malite's no good!"
"Looks like you've really taken off! That starting monster card is insane, you're gonna carry us for sure!"
…
Hearing his former classmates calling him "bro" and asking him to "carry them later."
Moste appeared indifferent on the surface but had a slight smile at the corner of his mouth. His mood was pretty good.
He casually replied a few times.
"Don't worry, we're all bros, no need to say it."
And with that, the last of his classmates' figures disappeared from the nurturing zone.
Moste nodded at the white-tier staff member and quickly headed towards the breeding zone.
"I'll level up a bit first,"
"Then, I'll go after my second monster card!"
That's right, the second monster card!
Normally, a Card Apostle would need to reach level 10 and the grey tier to unlock a second monster card slot and refine their second monster card.
But Moste's SSS-tier talent was too powerful. After refining the first monster card, there was still plenty of extra space in his mental domain.
He had just tried it out and confirmed that he could directly create the second monster card!
Moreover, the second monster card didn't need long hours of ritual refinement. As a full-fledged Card Apostle, Moste only needed one night to complete its creation.
So, he came up with a plan: instead of logging off, he would simultaneously work on creating the monster card and level up with Dathumon.
While leveling up, Moste also planned to venture into the wilderness to find a second monster worth refining.
Although he was quite satisfied with his initial Dathumon monster card, Moste would definitely not choose his second monster card from the breeding zone.
While other players couldn't easily read detailed information about monsters like Moste, high-quality monsters naturally carried a certain aura of excellence.
How could real treasures end up in the breeding zone? They had long been picked up by the wealthiest players and families.
Dathumon had remained unsought by those players from the powerful financial families and elite clans because it possessed a hidden skill.
On the other hand, Moste, by venturing into the wilderness, was able to use his talent's innate detection ability to locate monster cards with extraordinarily high potential.
As he pondered this, Moste swiftly left the town area and entered the wild.
After traveling for about half an hour, Moste finally came to a stop.
At this point, the surroundings were completely barren, a vast wasteland stretching in all directions.
As he walked, the ground cracked beneath his feet with a crunching sound of earth and stones.
The ground was a dull grey-yellow, with sparse patches of dry green grass.
Looking into the distance, he could see a pack of wolf-like monsters slowly wandering.
"This place should be off the radar, right?"
Moste nodded and then snapped his fingers.
"Dathumon!"
At the sound of his call, the dragon-shaped misty life form appeared.
In Moste's eyes, his initial monster card had a loyalty value just as low as Malite's two monster cards.
Thankfully, Dathumon had been subdued by Moste's terrifying sealing power.
It was still somewhat loyal to its master.
Its initial loyalty value was a modest 60 points.
Moste didn't know exactly how the loyalty value functioned.
But he could roughly guess that the higher the loyalty value, the more dedicated the monster would be in carrying out its commands.
In situations where the loyalty value is extremely low, it's possible that the monster card could betray its master or even intentionally slack off during battle.
At this moment...
Moste decided to casually raise Dathumon's loyalty value.
"Your capacity for devouring other monsters is nearly at its limit, right?"
"You might still be somewhat dissatisfied with me."
"But what if I can increase both your overall capacity and your devouring ability?"
His tone was calm.
In an instant...
The Dathumon, who had been floating nonchalantly in the air, suddenly showed signs of intense fluctuation.
It began to fly around rapidly, almost as if pleading.
At early stages, the intelligence of monsters was equivalent to that of a six- or seven-year-old human child. Just moments ago, Dathumon had been distant and aloof, but now, it was completely devoid of any pride, humbly attempting to please Moste.
"Watch closely."
Moste stepped forward and gently placed his palm on Dathumon's dragon-shaped mist body. He then activated the effect of his talent, Evolution Core—
All cards gained a layer of evolution!
Previously, when Moste had captured Dathumon, he had worried that triggering the Evolution Core would cause some kind of dramatic disturbance.
Thankfully, his concerns were unfounded.
The strengthening effect of Evolution Core could be activated at will.
At this moment, Moste officially activated his talent.
Instantly, he felt a strange force surge from within him, resonating with Dathumon.
The mist-like creature gave a sudden tremor, and deep, dark purple and radiant golden patterns began to glow intensely within its body. Then, the entire mist cloud began to expand rapidly as if it had exploded under the energy flow!
Dathumon's dragon-shaped form suddenly burst like a popped balloon, with waves of energy scattering in all directions!
Finally, a colossal energy storm surged forth!
The two types of energy, Shadow sys and Lightning, were wildly drawn in from the heavens and earth, spiraling into a visible funnel that continuously injected into Dathumon's body!
This grand spectacle lasted for about ten seconds.
The energy storm gradually began to subside, and at last, a form that was almost twice as solid as before—a dragon-shaped mist life form—reappeared.
Earlier, in Moste's eyes, Dathumon had only been a vague dragon-shaped shadow. Now, the creature's form had become far more tangible and realistic. It had sprouted wings, and one could vaguely make out the eyes and sharp claws of a dragon beast, all taking on a semi-corporeal form.
From just its appearance, it was clear that Dathumon had undergone a complete transformation!
After undergoing this refinement, Dathumon, initially a little dazed, seemed to sense the immense power within its body. It then flapped its wings in joy, clearly thrilled by the change.
Dathumon danced through the air, soaring around with excitement. After a few seconds, it seemed to snap out of its daze, quickly darting to Moste's side. Then, the creature willingly coiled itself around Moste's shoulder, rubbing affectionately against him.
A system notification popped up:
[Due to special reasons, the loyalty value of your monster card Dathumon has greatly increased. It has now reached 80 points.]
"80 loyalty points, huh?"
"That seems like a pretty good value…"
Moste nodded, not overly concerned. He quickly chose to check Dathumon's stats after its evolution.
Then, a look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face.