"Sigh… none again today, huh?" Hal muttered impatiently as he stood up and exited one of the one-star rooms in the Mana Meditation Hall after dismissing his Spirit Sparrow.
A week and a half had passed since the spicy and eventful first day of classes.
Sadly, since then, he hadn't earned a single Chaos Point.
The campus had been unsatisfactorily far too peaceful in the past few days.
And so, Hal had to delay his plans of checking out the Mission Hall, as he had been unlucky in his previous draws.
Five whole Chaos Points from the Kraisel Bullying Situation, and he got nothing.
Hal, consequently, was stuck training in the Mana Meditation Hall while looking for opportunities to earn points using his sparrow summon.
The slow progress and lack of opportunities to draw new cards were very displeasing for him, but he didn't let the days pass fruitlessly, training hard despite the boring daily routine.
His maximum Chaos Karma had now grown from a measly 14 to 94 as a result.
He wanted to go on missions to earn money and a few academy credits, but unfortunately, Hal only had four charges of [Sparkblast] to protect himself with, which was far too lacking.
He would only head out after obtaining two or three more offensive spell cards, perhaps one if the number of charges was enough.
'Patience…Patience…'
Hal knew things were only this hard because he had just started out and still had no reliable arsenal of offensive spell cards, believing that as long as he remained patient, the right timing and opportunity would come.
From there, he'd probably start steamrolling in wizardry prowess.
Heading to the academy canteen, Hal arrived a few minutes later, grabbing the same old bland chicken porridge, hard bread, and water.
He didn't dare use his money to indulge himself in meals—yet.
Once done, he cleaned up his table and placed the used tray in the appropriate section before leaving, deciding to rest for a while and try one last time to search for opportunities before calling it a day.
But Hal remembered something on his way back to the dormitories: the wizardry duel with Agon.
He hadn't signed the challenge yet…
'Right…I should sign it before I forget…'
Hal changed directions and headed toward the disciplinary office, which was about a kilometer and a half from his dormitory.
It was a rather tiring walk, but the academy grounds were just that vast.
He only arrived around a little over twenty minutes later.
It was already nighttime, so there weren't any queues at the counters at all, and Hal promptly headed to the nearest empty one.
"Hello, I'm here to sign a wizardry duel challenge," he stated after making eye contact with the employee.
But the older woman didn't respond immediately, remaining silent as her expression turned serious.
"Are… you sure? I'd like to remind you that anger is temporary, and that your future, which you'd be risking by signing up, is more important. I would advise you to back down if your feud with the other party isn't that deep…"
The employee didn't even check Hal's documents.
Her advice merely came straight from the heart, as she had seen too many youngsters ruin their futures because of impulsive, hot-headed decisions.
Hal was somewhat shaken, fully knowing that the older woman was right.
But unfortunately, he truly needed the spectacle to happen, both for himself and for his mother.
"Thank you for the advice, but I would like to push through with the challenge."
The employee could only nod, her expression turning indifferent as she opened one of the cabinet drawers beside her desk and retrieved the wizardry duel challenges.
There weren't many, so it wasn't too difficult for the two to find "Hal Fennec versus Agon Burner."
The older staff member then asked for his student ID to verify that he was indeed one of the competitors before proceeding.
"Please sign here, and do note that once you're done, we'll be posting this on the upcoming wizardry duel board."
Hal simply nodded before signing above his name in the document.
The moment he finished, Hal froze.
A notification popped up in front of him—a pleasant one he hadn't heard in over a week.
[Congratulations! You've earned 10 Chaos Points!]
His expression instantly brightened and he quickly finished signing the challenge, eager to return to his dormitory room.
He hadn't expected that there was a "signing bonus" waiting for him.
Thanking the employee, Hal left the disciplinary office.
…
[Boohoo! No Cards drawn!]
…
[Boohoo! No Cards drawn!]
…
[Congratulations! You have drawn a [Common]-tier card!]
This time, Hal wasn't so unlucky, drawing a common-tier card on the third draw:
==
Card Name: Fireball
Rarity: Common
Type: Elemental Spell
Durability: 3 uses
Cooldown: None
Chaos Karma cost: 1
Description: Shoots a fireball in a straight trajectory at a fixed, novice-level speed.
==
'Yes!!' Hal celebrated.
He finally drew the good-old, trusty fireball, though it was only good for three uses.
Nonetheless, he now had seven charges of offensive spells, and with another similar draw, Hal could finally try to complete a mission and earn academy credits and some much-needed cash for himself.
'Please…one more…'
Pressing the [Common Draw] button once more, Hal was bewildered, flabbergasted, and more—all at the same time.
[Congratulations! You have drawn a [Common]-tier card!]
For the first time since he obtained the system, he had drawn two cards in a row!
To his surprise…
==
Card Name: Fireball
Rarity: Common
Type: Elemental Spell
Durability: 5 uses
Cooldown: None
Chaos Karma cost: 1
Description: Shoots a fireball in a straight trajectory at a fixed, novice-level speed.
==
It was the same spell card, differing only in durability, as this draw had five uses.
Hal clenched his fists and was about to raise his arms and jump up and down in excitement and celebration when, suddenly, a prompt appeared:
[Merge function has been unlocked! You may now merge two cards of the same card name and rarity.]