My monster cards can evolve infinitely.

Xiuqi suddenly opened his eyes.

The sky was a greyish-blue, with low-hanging clouds that appeared particularly soft in the evening glow.

He was lying beside a dirt road overgrown with weeds, with gravel and cracked soil beneath him.

Not far away, several low farmhouses are scattered along the dirt road, with wisps of smoke constantly drifting out of their chimneys.

Xiuqi's first reaction was to check his luggage.

Fortunately, the baggage was still on my back, only one strap had broken.

The "Bavarian Moonlight" sword lay quietly in its sheath at his waist, its cool glow emanating from the hilt standing out prominently in the twilight forest.

He unpacked his bag and checked its contents one by one—

One bottle of healing potion and one bottle of antidote were intact.

A complete and intact medical kit.

A box of magic cards, not a single one missing.

The food bag prepared by the proprietress, Adeline, was empty; only the kettle for fairy tea and the water bag filled with the eternal hot spring water remained.

A fine psionic crystal, the size of an egg, lies at the bottom.

There's one more...

His pupils contracted as he reached down and took out the extra item that had appeared at the bottom of his bag.

This is a silver brooch with a teardrop-shaped moonstone set in it.

The brooch is attached to a glowing leaf, with a pale blue light flowing through its veins.

Xiuqi carefully held the brooch in his palm, his gaze fixed on it...

......

【Tears of Protection】

Type: Magic Brooch

Quality: Extremely rare (blue)

effect:

1. The wearer gains "Dark Vision" (60 feet) under moonlight and increases Perception by 1 point and Passive Awareness by 10 points.

2. Summon a protective barrier to block one mental attack for you.

3. You can sense the location of another holder.

Introduction:

It wasn't until just before his departure that Elijah realized he had forgotten to tell her that he was about to embark on a long journey.

Remarks:

"Promise me you'll never let her cry for you again, okay?"

—Noel Elijah, the miraculous alchemist under the command of the great Lord of Dawn

......

Xiuqi held the brooch in his hand, remaining silent for a long time.

"Ilulith..."

The elven girl's smiling face, with her eyes narrowed into crescent shapes, seemed to appear before his eyes, and her clear, sweet voice seemed to be right next to his ears.

He gripped his right hand tightly, which was holding the brooch.

He spent only a day in that secret realm, yet it felt like a dream.

But the object in his hand clearly told him that it was not an illusion.

Illustrious, the treehouse, the eternal hot springs, and that powerful guardian with his heavy footsteps... it's all real.

In just one day, he improved five attributes, obtained a rare meditation stone, and this moonstone brooch.

I also met a beautiful girl who was like an elf.

"I will be back!"

Xiuqi told himself.

He began to recount how he entered that mysterious place, seemingly after killing the strange bird demon, when he was enveloped in a gray fog.

When I woke up again, I was already in a secret realm.

Yes, it's that monster card.

He reached into his robes.

A warm pulse emanated from the rare spiritual energy crystal on his chest, and a powerful current of warmth surged into his chest, instantly making his mind sharper and his spirit more abundant.

The cards felt smooth to the touch as my fingertips touched them—the monster cards, Princess Alice and Bird Poet, lay quietly in my bag.

He also placed six one-star white common cards in another pocket.

Holding the two-star card with its border resembling the deep sea in his hand, the lifelike blue-haired woman with outstretched wings on the card seemed to be watching him.

"You're the one who led me into this secret realm..."

"What do you want me to find?"

Xiuqi infuses magic into the cards.

The card trembled slightly, and the color of its glow gradually deepened from pale blue.

Instantly, a slightly joyful emotion emanated from the card, seemingly responding to his call.

Unlike the response received in the secret realm last time, this time the emotion conveyed was orange-red joy, no longer accompanied by sadness and loneliness.

Just as the summoning was about to succeed, Xiuqi felt his magic power was like a dried-up pond, unable to squeeze out a single drop.

The blue glow emanating from the card instantly dimmed.

It was just a tiny bit off again; the summoning failed once more.

"My mana is not enough to summon this two-star rare card!"

"Ugh!"

The black-haired boy wore a bitter smile.

Begin to gaze at your own hands.

......

Monster Card Maker: Hugh Light

Age: 18 years old

Race: Human

"Occupation": Mage (Apprentice)

【Strength: 8】

[Agility: 9]

[Physical Fitness: 9]

【Intelligence: 8】

【Perception: 8】

【Charm: 9】

[Affinity with the Protective School of Thought: 98]

[Meteorology Affinity: 58]

......

His attributes are like the two poles of a magnet, both at extreme positions.

A score of 9 in Agility and Constitution means that his sensitivity and coordination are twice that of an average person, and his physical resistance and recovery ability are also twice that of an average person.

This is already considered superhuman among ordinary people.

With 8 points of strength, one's strength is more than 1.7 times that of an average person. Combined with agility and physique, this ability almost crushes more than 90% of the first-year students in the Knight Academy.

Even among melee fighters at level 1, he was no less formidable, possessing a hint of upper-tier strength.

Unfortunately, he did not learn any combat skills.

Although his father and brother were both melee combat professionals, and his family also had several combat skills passed down from combat masters.

Unfortunately, he just couldn't learn it.

That man once commented on his talent in combat—like a loaf of bread that fell into a toilet...

It smells bad and is soft.

Fortunately, while closing one window opened another door for him, Xiuqi's talent in swordsmanship was just as outstanding as his brother's, who was a guardian knight.

In contrast, as a mage apprentice, Xiuqi's only notable attribute among his arcane attributes and school affinity is his 98 points in the Protection school affinity.

An intelligence score of 8 is merely the entry-level requirement for a mage apprentice. Even in the lowest-ranked first-year class C at the Arcane Academy, at least half of the apprentices have an intelligence score of 9.

An 8-point perception mental strength is considered average, placing him in the middle among first-year apprentices at the Arcane Academy.

Besides that, he only has an affinity of 58 points in the Meteorology School. Due to his low intelligence and low affinity, he has not yet mastered any of the Meteorology School's tricks.

Among the geniuses in the Star Moon Class of the Arcane Academy, one even possessed arcane affinity with all eight major schools of magic, with three of them having an affinity of over 85 points.

Indeed, people cannot be compared.

Xiu Qi stood up and looked around.

The dirt road next to it wasn't wide, barely wide enough for a horse-drawn carriage to pass through.

The cultivated land on both sides of the road is planted with some common crops.

The farmhouses looked very simple, mostly constructed of adobe walls and thatched roofs, typical rural dwellings.

Judging from the current environment, this should be the outskirts of Summertown.