Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2433: Familial Bonding

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Lil Red Storm Realm, Ceed World, Trophy Section

"I can defeat that thing!" Dalie exclaimed emotionally, catching me by surprise.

"Why does it matter? We’re back home safe, aren’t we? Just let it go," I said in response to Dalie’s emotional outburst. My rational mind couldn’t figure out why she was being so irrational about this and having such a hard time letting go of it.

"No, I can’t let it go. I’m the eldest, I’m supposed to protect you, but you don’t think I’m capable of protecting you," Dalie spoke what was on her mind, revealing the thing that made it difficult for her to let this matter rest for good, as I asked her to.

From her words, I gathered what bugged Dalie was not the fact that she was weaker than Davient Devil, but the fact that I thought she was weaker than Davient Devil. Realizing this, l let out a long sigh. For a second, I even considered whether the bloodkin calamity daughter gems were worth it.

It was just Dalie. Ceed and Clown Mask didn’t bother him with their drama. In Dalie’s defence, she chose to become my bloodkin calamity daughter gem seeking kinship. I guess this was one of the prices I paid to get myself a Celestial goon.

Many elder siblings enjoy having their younger siblings depend on them, and they will push themselves above and beyond to come through for their younger siblings even at the expense of themselves. Dalie was the same. She wasn’t hurt by the fact that she was weak, but by the fact that she felt I thought I couldn’t depend on her.

I guess for the price of a Celestial goon, I got a selfless Celestial elder sister. Some would consider it a bargain, but I felt... the same.

"Dalie, you are not omnipotent. You have your strengths and weaknesses. You have already helped me in so many ways. I know you would fight the Deviant Devil to death for me, but I couldn’t bear to see my elder sister get hurt over something that could be solved so easily," I explained to Dalie that my actions in the blood rule source were in no reflection of her being an undependable elder sister, but just a tactical decision I made as her younger brother.

"Really?" Dalie asked skeptically, but soon eagerly added, "Because I would have really fought with it and also won."

"I know. Come on, you are a true celestial, a mere egg is no match for my elder sister," I said, eyeing Dalie’s expressions, wondering if I was too obvious with my choice of words. So, I hurriedly continued, "Now help me with the card creation."

"Alright, what do I need to do?" Dalie enthusiastically asked, forgetting about the rest.

"Take out dozen Ruler-class Blood Slave cores and revert them to their soul pathways. Next, follow Hive Spirit’s instructions to refine select parts of their soul pathways as per my needs for the card creation, and then add them respectively to dozen clusters of soul pathways following the card recipe. Then, leave the rest to me," I informed Dalie as we made to my clone that was holding down the fort in my absence. Taking over, I said, "If you have any doubts, don’t hesitate to ask me or Hive spirit."

Breath of erosion was incredible when it came to refining soul pathways. But at my current rank, it was too taxing to use, especially if I planned to use it to refine the soul pathways of dozen ruler-class blood slave cores. Therefore, I had to recruit Dalie’s help with the card creation process. Besides, this way I get to distract her from how we left the blood rule source.

"Whoa, you are fast," I exclaimed, expressing my fake surprise just to stabilize Dalie’s emotions. She was a celestial; not to forget, her background as a celestial array spirit, this much was expected of her, especially with Hive Spirit guiding her.

With Dalie taking over refining of the ruler class soul pathways and my clones having already completed the rest of the creation process, I had nothing left to do but go through their work again and again. I wasn’t trying to find faults, but trying to find if there was a way for me to further improve the card recipe I had decided on or any last-minute additions I would like to make.

I guess this was why other card creators referred to creating higher rank cards by forming a party with their trusted aids. Not only does it help me conserve my mental strength, but it also allows me to keep trying to improve the card being created until the very last second. Or at least this was true in my case.

This experience, involving Dalie, was different not the same as me using my clones and Hive spirit. It was the first time I had invited someone to help with my card creation.

Well, considering that Dalie was my bloodkin, I don’t know if it counted as me trusting outside help with my card creation. It doesn’t matter, as it was a pretty big deal for me. I said I was doing this to distract and stabilize Dalie’s emotions, but turns out I was beginning to see Dalie as my trusted and dependable elder sister. What can I say? She fought for it. My only regret was that I had seen her earthly incarnation naked when she first formed it.

Just as my thoughts wandered, instead of doing what I said I planned to do, Ceed contacted me using Hive spirit, reporting that Corey was out and kicking up a fuzz, demanding that I meet her this instant. I frowned, wondering if Corey failed to defeat and subdue the darkness in her title demon core with the pills I prescribed to her. Because had she succeeded, the Corey I know and consider as a friend should be back, and she would never be this demanding or act unreasonably.

’Keep her busy, I will be out soon,’ I replied and returned my focus to the card creation process. But I couldn’t help but look at Dalie with stern eyes mid-process, realizing I almost lost my way. Never have I ever let my thoughts wander during a card creation process, but today, I did, and I believed Dalie and her selfless love were to be blamed for it.

"What? Did I make a mistake? I can fix it," Dalie said, feeling her little brother’s gaze turn stern.

"No, you are doing better than me. It’s just that I’m needed back in the city. So, let us finish this," I said, shaking my head, understanding that it wasn’t Dalie but me. I can’t let a moment of tender familial bond hold me back. Instead, I need to be a lot stricter with myself to protect what I have managed to gain in my second chance.