Overwhelming Firepower

The people who had gathered became very excited as Lucen Thornehart appeared. This was the person who had introduced them to wonder after wonder. What kind of wonder would he show them today?

Lucen did not make them wait for long. The Grey Tower mage standing beside the covered Focus Video Orb quickly pulled the cloth away.

The orb was revealed. When the people saw it, they were confused. Wasn’t this a communication orb with a few things added to it?

A few people whispered among themselves. Some even looked disappointed.

After all, a communication orb was rare and expensive, but it was not something they had never heard of before. Nobles, large merchant groups, military officers, mage towers, and even a few commoners with enough money used them. It was amazing, but it was not new.

Was this really the wonder Lucen Thornehart wanted to show them? This was a reaction Lucen expected to see, and he was really not bothered by it.

Lucen gestured at the grey tower mage beside him. The mage nodded and carefully placed his hand on the metal ring surrounding the Focus Video Orb.

Lucen needed someone else to activate the item because anything he tried to power with his mana would simply explode.

As the grey tower mage applied mana into the orb, it glowed, and then the storage crystal beside the orb glowed faintly as well.

Then the light gathered above the square. It did not spread outward like a normal illusion. Instead, it formed a clear rectangular frame in the air, like a painting made of light.

The crowd grew quiet. Inside the frame, an image appeared. A small house, a quiet room, and a boy sitting beside his dying father.

The first thing the crowd thought was whether this was really happening right now. Since this was a communication orb, was someone holding the communication orb on the other end showing the boy’s grief?

Why was Lucen showing them this? It was at this moment that the scene paused. This surprised quite a few people, since communication orbs don’t have a pause function. A few thought that something incredible was happening, like stopping time.

It was at this moment that Lucen spoke. ”What you are seeing is not happening somewhere else right now.” His voice, which was being enhanced by his aura, carried clearly through the entire square.

”This is not a communication orb. There is no person on the other side showing this scene to you. What you are seeing has already been recorded inside something I call the Storage Crystal. What I’m showing to everyone now is what I call an orbshow.”

A communication orb could only show what was happening at that exact moment. It needed another orb, another person, and another place. Once the moment passed, it was gone. But this Storage Crystal could preserve a scene that had already happened.

A few nobles watching from the nearby buildings immediately understood how valuable such a thing could be. Some thought of recording important meetings. Some thought of recording speeches. Some thought of recording lessons from famous teachers and masters.

Of course, a few sharper nobles also realized that such a device could become dangerous if used in less honorable ways. There was also the fact that this could be used to record thoughts like a diary before death.

The commoners, on the other hand, understood something much simpler. This was another amazing thing that Lucen Thornehart was able to create.

Lysette, who was hiding amidst the crowd, smiled. ’As expected of the man who always advances ever forward.’

Lucen did not explain any further. He then gestured to the grey tower mage to continue the show.

Inside the framed light, Eren held his father’s hand. The man on the bed looked thin and weak. His face was pale, and his breathing was rough, but his eyes were gentle when he looked at his son.

It showed a world similar but different from their own. In this world, there were people called Card Summoners, able to use a ritual called card duels to fight one another.

The summoned creatures were beings from different dimensions. At least, that was what the story inside the orbshow explained.

Eren’s father had once been a Card Summoner. He was not the strongest, nor was he the most famous, but he had loved the cards more than anyone else.

To him, they were not just tools for battle. They were companions that carried memories, choices, and the will of those who used them.

The orbshow continued, the father died, and the young man called Eren, who inherited his father’s cards, practiced using them.

The highlight of the episode was when he faced an old-time bully of his, and he used those weak cards to face him.

Despite barely understanding the rules of the game, they understood that Eren’s cards were considered weak.

His bully made that very clear. The boy laughed when Eren placed his first card on the field. He laughed even harder when the small creature appeared, a thin little beast with dull fur and nervous eyes.

”That is your summon?” the bully asked inside the orbshow. ”Even a training dummy looks stronger than that.”

A few children in the crowd frowned.

”He is annoying,” one child muttered.

Another child nodded. ”Eren should beat him.”

The bully placed down his own card. Compared to Eren’s weak summon, the bully’s creature looked far more powerful. It was a large armored hound with iron-like fangs and a thick body.

The moment it appeared, a few people in the crowd immediately understood the difference. They were now fully invested in the story and continued watching with utmost curiosity.

They witnessed how the game was played. From the Ambush cards, to the Art Cards, and the Summoning Cards. It was basically similar to a monster tamer’s battle.

At first, the bully overwhelmed Eren with pure strength. The armored hound charged forward, its iron-like fangs flashing as it slammed into Eren’s small summon. The weak beast was sent rolling across the field, and Eren’s Life Crest dropped.

The crowd did not fully understand what the Life Crest meant yet, but when the glowing number beside Eren decreased, they understood one thing.

Eren was losing. The bully laughed again. ”That is what happens when you use trash cards.”

There was only one card in Eren’s deck that could be considered strong, but he did not have it in his hands. What was in his hand did not have any good cards, but Eren did not give up.

He looked at the cards in his hand, then at the small beast that was trembling on the field. The bully laughed when he saw Eren hesitate.

”What? Are you finally realizing how useless your father’s cards are?”

Eren’s fingers tightened around his cards. The small beast on the field lowered its body, its dull fur standing on end as the armored hound growled at it. It was clearly afraid.

Anyone could see that it was not a creature meant to fight head-on. That was why Eren stopped trying to make it fight head-on.

”I place one Ambush Card facedown.”

A card appeared behind Eren’s small summon and sank into the field, disappearing beneath the ground like a hidden trap.

The bully snorted. ”Do whatever you want. My Iron-Fang Hound attacks!”

The armored hound charged forward again. Its heavy paws struck the ground, and each step made the battlefield tremble. Compared to Eren’s small beast, it looked like a trained war dog chasing a frightened rat.

It was then that the armored hound opened its jaws and lunged. At that moment, Eren spoke.

”I activate my Ambush Card, Mud Pit.”

The ground beneath the armored hound suddenly softened. Its front legs sank into the mud, and its massive body lurched forward. The attack missed Eren’s small beast by a hair’s breadth.

”Heh, you barely survive this turn. I’ll get you in the next. I end my turn.”

”It’s my turn, draw!”

Eren drew one card and looked at it. It was not the strong card he had been hoping for. Still, his eyes shone with determination. At that moment, the background music became faster, making the scene feel even more exciting.

”I activate Art Card, Quick Step.”

The small beast vanished from where it stood and appeared behind the trapped hound. ”I then summon Field Mouse Scout.”

A tiny mouse appeared beside the beast. The crowd blinked. It looked even weaker than the first summon.

Eren continued his combo attack. ”Field Mouse Scout’s effect lets one weak summon attack directly if the enemy summon cannot move.”

The small beast lunged. It was not strong, but it was fast. It slipped past the armored hound and struck the bully’s Life Crest. The glowing number dropped.

”What?!” The bully shouted, surprised by the turn of events.

”I activate another Art Card, Pack Courage.”

The small beast and the mouse glowed faintly. Their bodies were still small, but their eyes no longer trembled.

”Attack again.”

The two weak summons charged together. The bully’s Life Crest shattered. Eren smiled as he got a close-up.

”Alone they might be weak, but together my father’s cards are strong!”

That was the end of the first episode. The glow of the focused video orb disappeared. It took a while for the audience to react, but the reaction was explosive.

”Wait, what happened?!”

”Is that it?!”

”I wanted to see more of those cards!”

”What’s going to happen to Eren next?!”

Seeing the reaction of the crowd, Lucen knew that he had them hooked. Everything was going exactly as he envisioned it.