Bright lights illuminated the card-making workshop, reflecting off the magical instruments and vessels.

These tools exuded an ancient aura, as if they had witnessed the glory of many card-makers on their paths to success.

At this moment, Lan Qi was fully focused on the workbench.

He carefully counted the basic materials, took out a divided tray, and took some of each material he needed.

He placed them one by one into the compartments of the tray.

Talia watched his material selection with a slight frown, almost unconsciously.

*What is this guy doing with so many materials?*

While Talia was puzzled, Lan Qi gradually completed his preparations.

Having been impoverished for so long, Talia had almost forgotten that she used to be wealthy too.

Lan Qi rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, his face full of anticipation, ready to start practicing the creation of magic cards.

He somewhat awkwardly began to mix the ground, non-attribute magic crystal powder with the magic core liquid, using a measuring instrument to detect the magic fluctuations during the mixing process.

Lan Qi, who was not yet able to synchronize the mixing of ink with his own magic power, could only temporarily rely on magical tools for assistance.

"..."

Actually, this wasn't difficult, but he couldn't learn it just by reading books; he needed someone to teach him.

Talia watched Lan Qi's novice operations with an expressionless gaze.

However, she had no interest in, and no need to, guide this human teenager who had no magical talent.

Seeing this.

Talia already knew what kind of card Lan Qi wanted to make, even without continuing to watch.

Because Lan Qi had opened the magic scroll he was going to use for excerpting, capturing, and imprinting.

This scroll was actually the Tier 1 mental spell [Mental Interference].

Compared to magic scrolls that would be scrapped after a single use, if it was made into a magic card, this spell could be used repeatedly—

[Mental Interference]

[Category: Spell Card]

[Rank: Blue - Rare]

[Tier: 1]

[Effect: Only effective on enemies within 3 meters, causing them to be unable to move for a very short period. The magic power consumption and duration of the effect depend on the difference in mental strength between the two sides. Cooldown time: 120 seconds.]

In most cases, magic cards made using only this one magic scroll as a base would have roughly the same effect, with only slight fluctuations in the control time.

If the card-maker's skill was exquisite, they might be able to make a higher-level [Purple - Epic] quality card.

Then the effect would become more powerful, or have a few additional effects.

Of course.

Even if it was only a Tier 1 magic, a [Blue - Rare] quality card was still very challenging for a novice card-maker.

Being able to avoid the card exploding, or making a [White - Common] quality degraded version would be good enough.

Talia couldn't yet comment on the teenager's talent, or what kind of card he would make.

But generally, for talented humans, it was already very late to start learning card-making at this age.

Lan Qi's family was obviously not poor.

If he had talent, he should have started learning with the best resources early on.

He wouldn't be exploring card-making on his own now, as if it was just a hobby.

"Tata, do you know about card-making?"

Lan Qi, gazing at the scroll in his hand, seemed to sense Talia's gaze and suddenly asked.

For him, having someone to chat with in the workshop seemed not too bad.

"..."

Talia ignored him and indifferently turned her gaze away.

She didn't want to lie about such a small matter, nor did she want to let this human know what he didn't need to know.

Lan Qi smiled knowingly and stopped talking to Talia.

Just like the Card-Maker Association's attitude towards him, if he was a merchant, he would still have good trading value.

But if he was a card-maker, he couldn't see any value at all.

In that case, the only people who had faith in him so far were Hans, the butler, and Francine, the maid, at the manor.

Lan Qi thought to himself as he continued to pour the mixed magic ink into the engraving pen.

Next, he couldn't be distracted, because he was about to enter the most crucial step in making a magic card—

Rewriting and shaping the magic structure and circuits.

Tier 1 mental magic was almost all small-scale mental interference, and strong control-type mental magic often required a close distance to activate.

If you wanted to rewrite the effect, you not only needed extremely strong magic creation ability, but also many experiments and improvements. The difficulty was far from that of normal production.

Lan Qi concentrated all his attention on what was in front of him.

As the engraving pen in his hand moved slightly, he slowly integrated his magic power into each magic circuit.

The magic structure of a card was not something that any magician or magic artisan could draw at will. It was a process that combined understanding, creation, and casting.

If you didn't have a thorough understanding based on excellent talent, even if you could draw something that looked similar, you couldn't give it the power it should have.

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

The biggest trouble in engraving was writing the dense magic rune characters on the card. These twisted existences, like ants crawling around, couldn't be recognized without sufficient eyesight, let alone written out.

He slowly engraved with a frown.

Like a painter creating a beautiful masterpiece.

Every stroke was incredibly delicate, yet full of steadiness.

This made Talia, who was beside him, couldn't help but take the gaze on Lan Qi a bit more seriously.

Regardless of how low-level the card Lan Qi was making, and how insufficient his experience was.

At least at this moment, the aura on Lan Qi's body was not like that of a raw card-making apprentice, but a great artist with extremely high skills!

Tens of seconds passed like this.

Accompanied by a loud explosion.

It blew up.

Talia: "..."

In the faintly spreading smoke, she shook her head almost imperceptibly.

As expected, he was a mediocre talent who was wasting money in vain.

Even if she didn't quite understand the magic engraving of human magic texts, she could roughly see that Lan Qi was doing some very confusing operations—

He didn't seem satisfied with just making [Mental Interference], but was trying to rewrite it while excerpting and imprinting it, and then directly encapsulate and produce it.

It was like a beginner should first find a way to learn to walk before mastering running, but Lan Qi wanted to skip walking and running and try flying from the very beginning.

People who would do this.

Were either extremely conceited geniuses.

Or fools who were high-minded and unrealistic.

"Why did it explode..."

Lan Qi looked a little dumbfounded at the magic card that exploded in his hand like a firecracker.

It seemed that everything came too suddenly, shattering his card-making dream.

Fortunately, the light barrier in the card-making workshop protected him from harm.

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

"This guy..."

Talia frowned and muttered to herself.

Even if the employer was feeling down and in a bad mood, he shouldn't abandon her like this as if he was throwing a temper tantrum.

The thing she hated the most was anyone leaving her behind at will.

Just as Talia was about to leave the card-making room with a slightly displeased expression, Lan Qi ran back again, rushed to the workbench, and started taking notes quickly.

"You're not leaving?"

Talia asked.

"Not leaving, this is just the beginning! I just went to ask the butler to bring me a few more things."

Lan Qi answered matter-of-factly.

He didn't seem discouraged at all. Instead, his eyes were shining with enthusiasm and expectation, as if he was full of endless desire to explore this card-making field.

Talia didn't say anything more and sat back in her original position.

She was very patient. She could get a reward of 3 pounds a day just by sitting here, which she didn't hate.

She just didn't know how long this human would give up due to repeated failures.

Soon, the butler brought Lan Qi a few books and some of the materials he hadn't used before.

Lan Qi took the books and began to flip through them quickly at the long table as if he was obsessed.

In the afternoon, he spent his time constantly blowing up cards, recording failure data, and reading and learning.

...

Two whole weeks passed like this.

Every day, Lan Qi and Talia would come to this card-making workshop, one to blow up cards, and the other to watch, staying for almost the whole day.

But Lan Qi still hadn't made a decent [Mental Interference].

Talia was still sitting in her chair, gently holding the book with both hands, turning the pages slowly and steadily, completing her job of protecting her employer.

However, she no longer paid much attention to Lan Qi's card-making process, only reading human books to pass the time.

In her opinion, Lan Qi's failure was normal.

Even if beginners like Lan Qi trained with high intensity without regard to cost, they would still need to experience repeated failures to make a blue-rare quality card.

Lan Qi didn't seem to have much talent.

Those with good talent might have already made several usable Tier 1 magic cards by now.

There were even geniuses who could directly make blue-rare quality cards as soon as they came into contact with card-making.

Unlike Lan Qi, who had been producing waste materials for half a month.

Accompanied by a faint light rising from the edge of her vision.

Even with her attention on the book in her hand, Talia knew that there would soon be the sound of a magic card exploding.

Because Lan Qi had failed at this step countless times.

However.

As the light grew stronger and stronger until it went out, this time there was no sound as usual.

"..."

Talia couldn't help but move her gaze from the book page a little.

She saw Lan Qi with a very focused expression, like a craftsman completing the final step of a masterpiece.

And the magic card in his hand began to spread a hazy halo outward.

It seemed to be a success, and Lan Qi also breathed a sigh of relief.

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

Lan Qi showed a gratified smile, staring at the card surface.

He seemed to be very satisfied with the quality of this card, and even he, as a card-maker, couldn't help but admire it for a moment.

I saw that the card was glowing with amethyst light.

Even Talia couldn't help but look at Lan Qi sideways.

In the case of being self-taught, the first card was of purple-epic quality?

Most card-makers often only have the hope of making rare quality cards when they reach Tier 4 or Tier 5 and then look back to make Tier 1 and Tier 2 cards.

Although, Lan Qi did spend too much time and cost, and there were not more exaggerated geniuses in the Demon Race.

But what surprised Talia was that a human she casually met had such talent...

Sure enough, even fate stood on the side of the humans.

A sense of powerlessness inexplicably filled her heart.

This scene only made her feel that in this human generation blessed by the gods, the Demon Race's revival was like a bubble, out of reach.

"Tata, come and see my masterpiece!"

Lan Qi's cheerful voice made Talia's lowered eyes lift up a little.

In fact, to her.

A Tier 1 purple card was nothing rare.

Moreover, compared to the materials Lan Qi wasted, the value of this card was not even worth the tip of the loss.

Even if it was a purple-quality [Mental Interference], it was still just a relatively low-consumption mental magic, not a necessity, and not even a universal card.

Compared to ranged professions, more melee professionals would bring it.

However, just thinking about it.

Talia identified the effect of the card in Lan Qi's hand and finally frowned.

Because.

The effect of her seeing this improved [Mental Interference] magic was -

[Basic Etiquette]

[Category: Spell Card]

[Rank: Purple - Epic]

[Tier: 1]

[Effect: Only effective on enemies within 3 meters, making them kneel to you. The magic consumption depends on the difference in spiritual strength between the two parties. Cooldown time: 120 seconds.]

[Note: Sir, please don't look at people through cracks in the door, and don't get carried away.]

"...?"

She wondered if the effect of this kind of card was not generally to immobilize the enemy for half a second after getting close?

Although the one Lan Qi made also had a similar effect... maybe it was indeed a little longer than the control time of [Mental Interference].

But...

Some things she couldn't say.

"Do you sell this card?"

After thinking about it, Talia finally asked.

This was the first time she had taken the initiative to talk to Lan Qi.

With the dozens of pounds she had earned from Lan Qi now, it was not difficult to buy a purple-rare quality magic card of the lowest rank.

Of course, that was just for ordinary cards.

Lan Qi's original spell card did not exist on the market, and the price could not be inferred.

Its value was not at all in whether it was easy to use.

But it must never be used by others.

So it was better to control it yourself!

"Ah, no, I want to keep this one for myself, it's a good life-saving card."

Lan Qi looked at Talia with slight surprise, as if surprised by her appreciation, and then shook his head with a smile and refused.

Talia: "?"

A good life-saving card?

...Are you sure this card can be used to save lives?

Maybe you wouldn't die in a fight originally.

But using this card with its own powerful anger and taunt effect, it's hard to say.