He was far too familiar with the character before his eyes!
Wasn’t this the protagonist of the Onimusha game, Akechi Samanosuke Hidemitsu?
How did he draw this character!?
Could it be because he was currently learning swordsmanship?
However, Ian was also very curious about how to use this card, so he tried checking its details.
[Akechi Samanosuke Hidemitsu] Card Star Level: 3-Star Title: Onimusha Level: 1 Strength: 50 Speed: 50 Vitality: 50 Nen: 50 Skills: True Issen: Counterattack at extreme speed the exact moment an enemy’s attack is about to hit you, dealing massive damage.
Deflect Issen: Activate immediately after parrying an attack, counterattacking at extreme speed and dealing massive damage.
Chain Issen: Continue attacking before the Issen attack window fades, dealing continuous massive damage.
Bonds: Acquire Ako, Vitality +32% Acquire Mori Ranmaru, Strength +25% Acquire Oda Nobunaga, Nen +20%
A 3-Star card actually came with three skills.
Ian beamed with joy reading them because these three skills were incredibly familiar to him.
It was safe to say that the core gameplay of Onimusha was all about Issen!
“Card drawn.
Equip to a card slot?”
The moment the system prompted him, Ian immediately confirmed.
He really wanted to know how this card character would take effect.
Upon confirming the equipment, the screen immediately jumped to the party mode.
Including his own host character, there were a total of six card slots available for equipping cards.
However, Ian currently only had two slots unlocked, which was just enough to equip Akechi Samanosuke’s card.
The remaining slots had small locks hanging on them.
According to Ian’s estimation, these locked slots would probably require him to level up before they could be unlocked.
Wasn’t that how standard games worked?
After equipping Akechi Samanosuke’s card, Ian instantly noticed a change in himself.
He discovered that his attributes had gained an extra 15 points in Strength and 15 points in Speed.
The Vitality and Nen attributes were the same, each increasing by 15 points!
System: “Card equipped.
Nen attribute activated!”
This surprised Ian a little.
He had just been wondering how to unlock the Nen stat, and it suddenly appeared just like that.
This was truly a good thing.
Ian did the math and then asked the system, “A 3-Star card grants thirty percent of the card’s attributes, is that right?”
“Yes.
A 1-Star card grants ten percent, a 2-Star grants twenty percent, and so on.
A maximum 5-Star card can provide a fifty percent attribute bonus!” the system replied.
Ian expressed his satisfaction and asked again, “Then can the cards be upgraded?”
“Yes!
Cards have their own levels.
With each level up, the card’s own attributes will increase, and it will simultaneously feed back to the host according to the corresponding percentage!
Cards can also be advanced.
While reaching a higher star level, the bonus percentage will also increase.
This requires the host to cultivate the cards!
Topping up diamonds can accelerate cultivation!”
“Can we talk about topping up when I actually have money?” Ian asked speechlessly.
“How do cards advance?”
“Obtain identical character fragments and use advancement stones to upgrade them.
An existing duplicate 3-Star card can yield thirty character fragments!”
Ian checked the advancement section and found that upgrading this Akechi Samanosuke card to 4-Star actually required 120 character fragments.
This meant Ian had to collect four identical cards.
This would probably be a very long-term process…
Ian then looked at the skills section.
This card came with three skills, so Ian was full of expectations.
However, upon looking, Ian was a bit dumbfounded.
He discovered that his own skills still consisted of just a single, lonely Basic Swordsmanship.
“Can’t I use the card character’s skills?” Ian quickly pressed the system.
“The host needs to reach the corresponding basic abilities!” the system answered.
Sure enough, Ian looked at the card equipped in the slot and found that the skill descriptions had changed.
True Issen: Counterattack at extreme speed the exact moment an enemy’s attack is about to hit you, dealing massive damage.
Requires Beginner Swordsmanship skill.
Deflect Issen: Activate immediately after parrying an attack, counterattacking at extreme speed and dealing massive damage.
Requires Intermediate Swordsmanship skill to activate.
Chain Issen: Continue attacking before the Issen attack window fades, dealing continuous massive damage.
Requires Advanced Swordsmanship skill to activate.
Yet Ian was currently only at the Basic Swordsmanship level…
Exiting the menu in frustration, Ian realized that his only option now was to train himself to death…
For the time being, Ian did not continue practicing.
Instead, he sat quietly in the dojo to recover his aching, trembling muscles.
This was also a method Master Koushirou had taught him.
Focusing on aerobic breathing adjustments seemed to quickly clear the lactic acid produced in the muscles, working even better than a massage.
He sat there until noon, when Kuina brought him a meal.
The dojo Ian stayed at was called the Isshin Dojo.
The dojo’s area was quite large, but there were only three permanent residents: the dojo master Koushirou, his daughter Kuina, and Ian.
There was also Master Koushirou’s junior martial brother, Sasuke, a middle-aged man with a small mustache who served as an instructor in the dojo.
When Koushirou previously mentioned that Kuina could defeat the adults in the dojo, he was actually referring to this junior brother.
The four of them lived in the dojo full-time, while the rest of Ian’s bratty junior disciples were all residents of Shimotsuki Village.
Whenever it was mealtime, they would all go back to their respective homes to eat.
But now, there was one more person regularly eating at the dojo, and that was Zoro.
As the only female in the dojo, Kuina was always the one who cooked the meals.
Her culinary skills were quite good, and Ian thoroughly enjoyed eating every time.
Seeing Kuina arrive, Ian smiled at her and got up to help set the bowls and chopsticks.
“What about Master’s?” Ian suddenly remembered and asked as the two sat face-to-face, ready to eat.
“I’ve already delivered Father’s!” Kuina replied.
Ian nodded and didn’t say much more, starting his meal.
Actually, over the past three months, Ian had noticed that whenever Kuina mentioned her father, Koushirou, she often used terms like “Honorable Father!” but he had never heard her call him “Dad”!
Two different forms of address naturally represented different levels of intimacy.
Therefore, Ian could sense that the relationship between Kuina and Master Koushirou seemed somewhat distant.
After observing them for this period of time, Ian gradually came to understand why this father and daughter were like this.
Master Koushirou usually wore a harmless, smiling face, showing an amiable expression to everyone.
However, deep down, he always held somewhat traditional views.
He had always wanted a son to inherit his Isshin Dojo.
Unfortunately, Kuina’s mother had given birth to a daughter.
In his mind, female swordswomen could never become the strongest due to their physical limitations.
Although Koushirou also loved his daughter Kuina very much, his occasional remarks inevitably revealed a sense of regret.
Kuina was a smart child and could naturally sense her father’s thoughts.
In order not to disappoint him, under this influence, Kuina gradually began to shift towards a more boyish personality.
She started keeping her hair short and began practicing kendo desperately to continuously make herself stronger.
She even eventually defeated Koushirou’s junior brother, wanting to use this to prove to her father that she was capable of inheriting this dojo and carrying on Koushirou’s ambitions.
All of these actions were simply to gain more of her father’s love…
Unfortunately, these displays could not reverse Koushirou’s traditional mindset.
He still stubbornly believed that a girl could not inherit the dojo.
Kuina might not have realized this, but Ian, with the mind of an adult, could see it clearly.
“Big Brother Ian, what are you thinking about?”
Ian had been lost in thought.
Hearing Kuina’s voice, he suddenly snapped back to reality.
He looked at Kuina and found her beautiful large eyes filled with curiosity.
“This fish is delicious!
Your cooking skills have improved again, Kuina!” Ian praised her, taking the opportunity to change the subject.
“It was a gift from Uncle Hull, the fisherman in the village!” Kuina smiled sweetly.
Only in everyday life would she reveal such a girlish smile.
The two chatted as they ate.
Just then, a figure suddenly burst into the dojo.
Zoro walked in, his head covered in sweat.
It looked like he had just finished practicing.
Seeing the two of them eating lunch, he immediately started yelling, “Ah!
You guys are so sneaky, you already started eating!
Where’s mine?”