Card Apprentice Daily Log

Date- 18 April 2321

Time- 10:46

Location- Card World, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City

Ever since Wyatt was asked to take the stage, for the first time back on Earth, Wyatt had long gotten a feeling that he had no future as a motivational speaker. But receiving a graveyard silence in response to his 'You are the hope of the South' speech, Wyatt finally confirmed his guess.

"Who is the hope of the Southern Region?"

Wyatt repeated himself looking at the stagnate crowd, they all had awkward expressions on their faces, and once again he was answered with the sound of passing wind.

The kids, they— they were picking their nose. This was not the reaction he was expecting, no it was far from the reaction he was expecting. His gaze landed on the adults in the dining hall, especially the Fine Gold employees who were supposed to be the ones who contributed the most, they had an expression of disappointment.

*Laugh* the Field Marshal let out a chuckle unable to hold back her laughter. Causing Wyatt's expression to darken. Turning to sternly stare at her, he yelled, "This is not a laughing matter."

Then, turning to the crowd, he glanced over at the older kids they were about a year or two younger than his physical body. That was, a year or two from becoming legal adult and losing their right to live in the orphanage. They had no hope on their face. Wyatt was not some ignorant person who did not know the difficulties of life these kids had seen, he had seen the worst and the best of humanity in his two lifetimes.

The crowd in front of him gave him a flashback of the time when everyone on Earth had given up on struggling for their freedom and decided to submit to the Viltronian.

"What have they done to you?"

Wyatt's eyes turned red, kids were supposed to be ignorant and naive believing in fables and miracles, but the ones in front of him seemed to have grown numb having seen and experienced the worst of life. Yes, he knows he was in an orphanage, but this was too— his genius brain could not find a word for it.

"Wyatt," Cortney uttered, planning to console her best friend. However, Clara Cassidy pulled her back. Cortney turned to look at the orphanage headmaster, seeing her shake her head, Cortney decided to trust her and stepped back.

"Wyatt, you done? Brain says he is hungry." Bloodette suddenly spoke from the crowd. She was sitting with friends, Daisy and Brain. The Eight or nine-year-olds were one of the few who were not afraid of her appearance and accepted her.

"..." Listening to her, Wyatt's expression darkened further.

"Son, why don't you warp it up?" Clara walked next to Wyatt asking him to finish his speech so that they could start serving the kids. After all, it was almost noon and the kids only had chocolate milk since morning.

"Haha Haha," Wyatt laughed, scaring the crowd, Diana, and Cindy. Then he turned to Field Marshal and said, "You win. But I will still do it my way."

Wyatt finally understood why Anna's mother wanted him to embrace the title 'Hope of the South' at the orphanage of all places. It was not for the orphans, it was for him. Wyatt might have stolen Field Marshal from her side but she still won.

"I would not prefer it any other way," the Field Marshal said with a gentle smile.

"Headmaster, I am sorry. I was not what you promised them," Wyatt apologized, and looking into her eyes he asked her, "I need your help to salvage the moment, would you please be my prop?"

"My pleasure, anything for the 'Hope of the South,'" Clara agreed with a sincere nod, like a soldier prepared to kill for her country.

Seeing this Wyatt's heart ached, this place was not Earth, here the monsters under the bed and in the closet were real and not some figment of imagination. So, here encouraging words were not enough, here fables of miracles were not enough.

"Headmaster, please swallow this pill," Wyatt said, handing a silver milk powder pill to Clara.

"Gulp." Clara swallowed the pill without hesitation. As soon as the pill touched her tongue it melted. Soon her body was brimming with an unknown power, this was a feeling Clara as a mortal had never felt. She closed her eyes and concentrated on it, trying to savor it while it lasted.

Noticing that the time was right, Wyatt summoned six pairs of floating arms and six floating heads, gaining a gasp from the crowd. The floating heads and arms moved from behind him and surrounded Clara. Seeing this, the Field Marshal, got up from her seat exclaiming, "Soul Energy Manipulation!"

Wyatt having a Soul energy manipulation skill was not news to the Field Marshal or the Southern royal family. But the extent of Wyatt's Soul energy manipulation proficiency came as a surprise to the Field Marshal, as she did not expect him to be able to use it to help elevate the active soul control percentage of a mortal. Now that was beyond anything she had imagined. It was even more surprising than seeing him create a casual attire from pure soul energy.

"Headmaster," Cortney uttered in panic seeing the sudden surge of soul power in the Headmaster. Such an amount of soul power was not something a mortal could handle. However, she noticed that the soul energy in the Headmaster was not trying to escape from her body instead it was enriching her soul, increasing its active soul control, which was nothing short of a miracle.

The silver milk powder pill that Wyatt had fed Clara was a high-

grade pill that would help a Card Lord with their active soul control percentage but for a mortal, it was a death sentence. However, with the combination of his otherworldly knowledge of Soul cultivation and his soul energy manipulation skill, Wyatt was going to achieve what was believed to be impossible in the Card World so far. He was going to give the people the miracle they desperately sought.

...

[AN: Check out Reader's Quest Board in the Author's Thoughts section for mass release.]