Chapter 5

The figure before him was all too familiar! Wasn't this the protagonist of the Onimusha game, Mouri Motonari? How could he have drawn this character!?

Could it be because he was now learning swordsmanship?

However, Ian was also very curious about how to use this card, so he tried to check it out.

【Mouri Motonari Shu Man】

Card Rank: 3 Stars

Title: Onimusha

Level: 1

Strength: 50

Speed: 50

Health: 50

Spirit: 50

Skills: True Flash: Counterattack at the moment the enemy is about to hit you, dealing massive damage.

Rebound Flash: Counterattack immediately after blocking an attack, dealing massive damage.

Chain Flash: Continue attacking before the Flash attack timing expires, dealing continuous massive damage.

Bonds: Gain Ako, +32% Health

Gain Sengoku Ranmaru, +25% Strength

Gain Oda Nobunaga, +20% Spirit

A 3-star card, even with three skills, made Ian's eyes light up, as these were the skills he was most familiar with. After all, the game Onimusha was all about the Flash!

"The card has been drawn. Do you want to equip it to the card slot?"

As soon as the system prompted, Ian immediately confirmed, eager to see how the card character would take effect.

After confirming the equipment, the screen immediately switched to the team mode. Including himself as the host character, there were six card slots available, but Ian currently had only two slots unlocked, just enough to equip Mouri Motonari's card. The other slots had a small lock on them, and based on Ian's estimation, these locked slots would likely require a level-up to unlock, just like in most games.

After equipping the Mouri Motonari card, Ian immediately noticed changes in himself.

He found that his attributes had increased by an additional 15 points of strength and 15 points of speed, and the health and spirit attributes also increased by 15 points each!

System: "Card equipped, spirit ability activated!"

This surprised Ian. He had been wondering how to activate the spirit ability, but it suddenly appeared, which was a good thing.

Ian calculated and asked the system, "A 3-star card grants 30% of the card's attributes, right?"

"Yes, a 1-star card grants 10%, a 2-star card grants 20%, and so on, with a 5-star card granting 50% of the attributes!" the system replied.

Ian was satisfied and asked, "Can the card be upgraded?"

"Yes! The card has its own level, and each level-up will increase the card's attributes, which will be fed back to the host according to the corresponding percentage! The card can also be advanced to a higher star rank, which will increase the percentage of the attribute bonus. This requires the host to cultivate the card! Recharging diamonds can speed up the cultivation!"

"Can we wait until I have money to recharge?" Ian asked, speechless: "How does the card advance?"

"Obtain the same character fragments and use advancement stones to upgrade. Having the same 3-star card will grant 30 character fragments!"

Ian checked the advancement requirements and found that to advance Mouri Motonari to 4-star, he needed 120 character fragments, meaning he had to collect four of the same card.

This would likely be a long-term process...

Ian then looked at the skill section. The card had three skills, so he was full of anticipation.

However, when he checked, Ian was a bit stunned. He found that his skills were still just the basic swordsmanship.

"Can't the card character's skills be used?" Ian quickly asked the system.

"You need to reach the corresponding basic ability!" the system replied.

Sure enough, Ian checked the card already equipped in the slot and found that the skill descriptions had changed.

True Flash: Counterattack at the moment the enemy is about to hit you, dealing massive damage. Requires Basic Swordsmanship.

Rebound Flash: Counterattack immediately after blocking an attack, dealing massive damage. Requires Intermediate Swordsmanship to activate.

Chain Flash: Continue attacking before the Flash attack timing expires, dealing continuous massive damage. Requires Advanced Swordsmanship to activate.

And Ian was still at the basic swordsmanship level...

Feeling depressed, Ian realized he had to train hard...

In the following time, Ian did not continue practicing but sat quietly in the dojo to recover his sore and trembling muscles.

This was a method taught by Master Koshiro, focusing on aerobic breathing to quickly clear lactic acid from the muscles, which seemed to work better than massage.

He sat until noon when Kuina brought him his meal.

The dojo where Ian stayed was called Ichibantou Dojo, which was quite large, but only three people lived there permanently: the dojo owner Koshiro, his daughter Kuina, Ian, and Koshiro's junior, Zouji, a middle-aged man with a mustache who served as the instructor. When Koshiro mentioned that Kuina could beat the adults in the dojo, he was referring to his junior.

The four of them lived in the dojo, while the other young students from the village went home for meals.

Now, there was one more person eating at the dojo: Zoro.

As the only woman in the dojo, Kuina always prepared the meals. Her cooking was quite good, and Ian always enjoyed it.

Seeing Kuina come in, Ian smiled at her and got up to help set the table.

"Master's meal?" After sitting down across from each other and preparing to eat, Ian suddenly remembered and asked.

"I've already taken it to Father!" Kuina replied.

Ian nodded and started eating without saying more.

Over the past three months, Ian had noticed that when Kuina mentioned her father Koshiro, she often used the term "Father" but never "Dad."

The different terms represented different levels of intimacy, so Ian could sense that the relationship between Kuina and Master Koshiro was somewhat distant.

Through observation, Ian gradually understood why this was the case.

Master Koshiro usually had a harmless, smiling face and was always kind to everyone, but he had a traditional mindset.

He always wanted a son to inherit his Ichibantou Dojo, but unfortunately, Kuina's mother gave him a daughter.

In his view, female swordsmen, due to physical limitations, could not become the strongest.

Although Koshiro loved his daughter Kuina, he occasionally revealed a sense of regret in his words. Kuina, being a smart child, naturally sensed her father's thoughts and, to avoid disappointing him, gradually began to adopt a more masculine personality.

She started cutting her hair short, practicing swordsmanship intensely, and constantly improving herself. She even defeated Koshiro's junior, trying to prove to her father that she could inherit the dojo and carry on Koshiro's legacy.

All of this was to gain more of her father's love...

Unfortunately, these efforts could not change Koshiro's traditional thinking. He still stubbornly believed that a girl could not inherit the dojo.

Kuina might not have realized this, but Ian, with his adult mind, could see it clearly.

"Big Brother Ian, what are you thinking about?"

Ian had been lost in thought and was suddenly brought back to reality by Kuina's voice. He looked at her and saw her beautiful big eyes full of curiosity.

"This fish is delicious! Your cooking has improved, Kuina!" Ian praised her, changing the subject.

"It was a gift from Uncle Hel, the fisherman from the village!" Kuina smiled sweetly, showing a more feminine side only in everyday life.

As they ate and chatted, a figure suddenly burst into the dojo.

Zoro, drenched in sweat, walked in, looking like he had just finished practicing. Seeing the two eating lunch, he immediately shouted, "Ah! You guys are so sneaky, already eating! What about mine?"