all was so tense it could almost be cut with a knife. {Write to here I hope readers remember our domain name}Caius sat upon his high throne, his eyes coldly watching the throng of examinees before him...Chapter 10: Are the magic cards made by Ranch a bit of a problem

The bright lights shone on the workshop, illuminating the magical instruments and vessels.

Those implements exuded an antique air, as if they had witnessed the brilliance of many card makers' journeys to success.

Now, Lance was completely focused on the workbench.

He counted out the basic materials carefully, took a compartmentalized tray, and selected some of each necessary material.

Put each one into the grid of the division plate.

Talya watched his material choices with an unconscious furrow in her brow.

What's this guy doing with so many materials

As Talia wondered, Lance gradually finished his preparations.

Tallia, who had been poor and destitute for so long, had almost forgotten that she had once been wealthy.

Lanchi rolled up his shirt sleeves, his face full of anticipation, ready to put his magic card making skills into practice.

He seemed a little clumsy as he mixed the pre-ground, non-attribute magic crystal powder with the magestone liquid, starting to make ink. He used a measuring instrument to check the fluctuation of magic power during the mixing process.

Lanche, who is not yet able to synchronize his magic with ink mixing, can only temporarily rely on magical tools for assistance.

"…"

Actually, this isn't difficult. It's just that simply reading books won't be enough; he needs someone to teach him.

Tallia watched Lanchi's rookie mistakes with an emotionless gaze.

However, she had no interest and absolutely no need to guide this utterly talentless human boy.

See here.

Talya already knew what Lanche wanted to do with the card even without continuing to look.

Because Lanche had opened the magic scroll that would be used to transcribe, copy, and imprint.

This scroll was clearly a first-level psychic spell, [Psychic Disruption].

Compared to magical scrolls that are used once and discarded, creating them as magic cards allows for repeated use of the spell.

【Spiritual Harassment】

Category: Spell Card

Grade: Blue Precious

Class: 1

Effect: Only affects enemies within 3 meters, briefly immobilizing them. Spell duration and mana cost are determined by the difference in mental fortitude between caster and target. Cooldown: 120 seconds.

In most cases, magic cards made based on this single spell scroll will have similar effects, with only slight fluctuations in the controlled time.

If the card maker's skill is exquisite, they may be able to create even higher quality [Purple Rare] cards.

Then the effect will become more powerful, or have some additional effects.

Of course.

Even if it is only a first-level spell, its [Azure Precious] quality presents a high challenge for novice card crafters.

If it could avoid crashing or make a degraded version of "White Normal" quality, that would be great.

Talya couldn't yet comment on the boy's talent or what kind of card he would make.

But generally, gifted humans who are just starting to learn card making now are already quite late.

Lanqi's family background is obviously not bad.

If one has talent, they should receive the best resources and begin learning at an early age.

It's not like I've just recently become interested and am fumbling around with card making on my own.

"Tata, do you understand how to make a card"

Lan Qi gazed at the scroll in his hand, as if he had sensed Talia's gaze, and suddenly asked.

For him, it seems like having someone to chat with in the workshop wouldn't be so bad either.

"…"

Talya ignored him, merely shifting her gaze away.

She didn't want to lie about such a small thing, and she didn't want this human to know things he didn't need to know.

Lance smiled wryly and said no more to Talia.

Just like how a cardmaking association views itself, if I were to act as a businessman, I would still possess considerable trade value.

But if it were viewed as a card maker's material, there would be no value whatsoever.

So far, the only ones who seem to be on his side are Mr. Hans, the steward, and Miss Francine, the maid.

Lan Qi kept thinking to herself as she continued to pour the prepared magic ink into the engraving pen.

Now he couldn't afford to be distracted, because he was about to enter the most crucial step in crafting magic cards —

Revisions and standardization of magical structures and circuits.

First-order spirit magic is mostly small-scale psychic interference. While control-type spirit magic often requires closer proximity to cast.

To rewrite the effect, one not only needs extremely strong magical creation ability but also multiple experiments and improvements. The difficulty is far beyond that of normal production.

Lance was fully focused, concentrating all his mental energy on what was before him.

As his inscription pen moved slightly in his hand, he slowly poured his magical power into each magical circuit.

The magical structure of a card is not something that any mage or artificer can simply draw. It is a process of understanding, creation, and casting that coexist.

Even if one can draw something that looks similar, it cannot imbue it with the power it deserves without a profound understanding of exceptional talent.

Lanche held his breath, as if entering the most challenging moment.

The biggest trouble with engraving is the fine, intricate magic glyphs that have to be inscribed onto the card. These twist and turn like ants crawling all over the place, and if you don't have sharp eyes, you can't even make them out, let alone write them down.

He frowned and slowly wrote it down.

Just like an artist is painting a masterpiece.

Every stroke is delicate yet carries a sense of steadiness.

This made Talia, who was standing beside him, unconsciously focus her gaze on Lance with a little more seriousness.

Let's not talk about what kind of low-level cards Lynch is making, and how inexperienced he is.

At least in this moment, Lan Chi's aura was not like that of a clumsy card-making apprentice, but rather that of an artist of unparalleled skill!

And then several seconds passed.

Accompanied by an explosion that echoed through the air.

blew up.

Taliya: "..."

In the faint, swirling smoke, she shook her head imperceptibly.

He's really a wastrel who squanders money.

Even if she didn't quite understand the arcane script of human magic, she could tell that Ranchi was performing some very baffling operations.

He doesn't seem satisfied with just creating a [Psychic Disruption], but is trying to inscribe and rewrite it while being etched, into a more complex spell before directly encapsulating it.

Just as a beginner should first learn to walk before mastering running, Lynch started from the beginning by attempting to fly instead of walking or running.

Someone would do this sort of thing.

Either an extremely conceited genius.

either a fool who aims too high or a clown.

"How did it get fried..."

Lanche stared blankly at the magic card in his hand, which had exploded like a firecracker.

It all seemed to come so suddenly, shattering his carefully crafted dream.

Fortunately, the light ward in the cardmaking workshop protected him from harm.

The next second, Lance ran out of the card-making workshop as if he had just thought of something.

"This guy… "

Tallia frowned and muttered to herself.

Even if the employer is feeling down after being struck, they should not abandon her in such a heartless manner if they choose to leave.

What she hates most is being left behind by anyone.

Just as Talia was about to leave the card room with a displeased expression, Lance ran back and arrived at his workbench, starting to scribble furiously in his notebook.

Won't you leave

Tallia asked.

"Don't leave, this is just the beginning! I just asked the attendant to bring me something."

Lance, of course, answered.

He didn't seem to be fazed at all, instead his eyes sparkled with enthusiasm and anticipation, as if he had an endless thirst for exploring this card-making field.

Taliya said nothing more and sat back down.

She is very patient, she just sits here every day and gets 3 pounds reward, she doesn't mind.

... but I don't know how long this human will keep going before they give up because of repeated failures.

Soon, the attendant brought Lance a few books and some materials that he hadn't used before.

Lancie took the book and began to flip through it rapidly, as if mesmerized, at the long table.

The entire afternoon was spent continuously crashing cards and recording failed data, studying and learning from his mistakes.

……

That's how the whole two weeks went by.

Every day, Ranchi and Tallia would come to this card-making workshop. One would make the cards, the other would watch, and they'd spend almost the whole day there.

But Ranch has yet to produce a decent [Psychic Disturbance].

Talya was still sitting in her chair, her hands gently holding a book and flipping through it at a leisurely pace, completing the task of protecting her employer.

But she no longer paid much attention to Lanchi's card-making process, only flipping through human books to pass the time.

In her view, Ranchi's failure was quite normal.

Even beginners, even if they train with high intensity like Lance doesn't mind the cost, need to go through repeated failures to make a blue rare quality.

Lance doesn't seem to have much talent.

Gifted individuals may already have crafted a few usable first-tier magic cards.

There are even geniuses who can directly produce blue, rare quality cards even when they first touch making cards.

Unlike Lance, who spent a whole two weeks producing garbage.

A faint glimmer arose along the edge of his vision.

Even though Talia focused on the book in her hands, she knew that soon there would be the sound of a magic card exploding.

Since Ranch already doesn't know how many times this step has failed.

However.

As the light grew brighter and brighter until it extinguished, there was no sound this time, unlike usual.

"

“……”

" Let me know if you'd like to translate more text!

Talia involuntarily shifted her gaze from the pages of the book.

She saw that Lan Qi was intently focused, like a craftsman completing the final step of a masterpiece.

And the magic cards in his hand began to spread outwards with a hazy glow.

It seems to have worked. Lance also let out a sigh of relief.

Finally, a magic card that can be called a finished product was successfully born along with the mist!

Lancer gave a satisfied smile, gazing at the ramen.

He seemed quite pleased with the quality of this card, even as a card maker himself he couldn't help but admire it for a while longer.

Only the purple crystal light emanating from the card could be seen.

Even Talia couldn't help but glance at Lance.

Can you get a purple rare card as your first card without any guidance

Most card makers often only have a chance to make rare quality cards when they reach levels four or five and then look back to create level one or two cards.

Although, Lance did spend too much time and cost, there are more exaggerated geniuses in the demon clan.

But to Talya's surprise, the random human she had encountered possessed such talent...

Surely, even fate is on humanity's side.

A sense of powerlessness suddenly crept into her heart.

This scene, this moment, only makes her feel that in this human era favored by the gods, the demon clan's restoration of the nation seems like a mere illusion, far out of reach.

"Tata, look at my masterpiece!"

Lanche's cheerful voice made Talya raise her downcast eyes for a moment.

Actually, for her.

A first-rank purple card isn't something rare.

Moreover, compared to the materials wasted by Lanche, this card's value is not even a fraction of the losses incurred.

Even a purple quality [Psychic Disruption], it is ultimately just a relatively low-cost psychic spell, not a necessity, and not even a common card.

Compared to ranged jobs, more melee jobs will carry it.

However, that's when I started thinking.

Talia identified the effect of the card in Lanchi's hand, and finally frowned.

Because.

She saw that the effect of the improved 【Psychic Interference】 spell was —

Basic Etiquette

Category: Spell Card

Rarity: Purple Rare

Class: 1

Effect: Only affects enemies within 3 meters. Causes the target to kneel down. Magic cost depends on the difference in spiritual power between caster and target. Cooldown time: 120 seconds.

Note: Sir, please do not peek through the cracks in the door, and do not be conceited.

"..."

She was thinking, isn't this kind of card usually used to immobilize enemies within range for half a second or something like that

Although Ranchi's version also achieves a similar effect... it's possible that the control time is slightly longer than [Psychic Disruption].

But...

There are some things she's not comfortable saying.

Are you selling this card

After a moment of thought, Talya finally spoke.

This was her first time taking the initiative to talk to Lanchi.

With the dozens of pounds she now earns from Lanch, it's not difficult to buy a lowest-tier purple rare quality magic card.

Of course, that's just for ordinary cards.

This unique spell card doesn't exist on the market, so its price is impossible to determine.

Its value doesn't really lie in whether it's good or not.

But it's absolutely not okay to let others use it.

So it's better to be in control of it yourself!

"No, this one I'm keeping for myself. It's a pretty good lucky charm."

Lancy looked at Talia with a touch of surprise, as if surprised by her admiration. He then shook his head with a smile and refused.

Talya: ""

A pretty good life-saving card

Are you sure this card can be used to save your life

You probably wouldn't die in a fight.

But with this card that comes with a powerful rage and mockery effect, it's hard to say.

……

(The End)

[ ] hopped around to peck at them. At the same time, he turned his head to talk to his new animal friend, a fox.Even from afar, one could hear the chatter of the teacher and the old fox carried on the co...