Chapter 1 Taliya’s Sigh

Taliya shifted her gaze away from the card shimmering with a purple glow, a hint of helplessness in her eyes, and sighed almost imperceptibly.

It had been so long since she last crafted a card that she had almost forgotten the glow that accompanied the flow of magic on its surface.

Especially how vibrant the colors became when the card was created and activated.

This grade largely reflected the card's strength, value, and rarity.

The lowest, [White Common], was ubiquitous and the most widely circulated magic card on the market.

Most were simple life spells with few additional effects, equipment, or summons.

[Blue Precious] magic cards had complete and practical effects, exquisite and flawless creations that required stable and superb skill to produce.

A novice card maker who could create magic cards of this quality often possessed extraordinary talent.

More advanced [Purple Rare] magic cards underwent a qualitative change in both value and strength, and their prices were generally beyond the reach of ordinary people.

For wealthy nobles and most powerhouses, Purple grade magic cards were often the key cards to match their combat professions and form their own systems.

If this grade of magic card had some practical additional effects, even if the numerical value was low, it could produce unexpected results.

As for the grades above that, most people wouldn't even know anything about them.

After all, [Pink Sacred] magic cards were more like a distant symbol and representation to most humans.

In a border city like this one, it would probably be difficult to see a Sacred card holder all year round.

The reason for their rarity was not only their inherent scarcity, but also the need for careful consideration before binding one's soul to it.

Under normal circumstances, magic cards were not permanently bound to the user after use.

However, the higher the grade, the greater the cost of severing the soul bond.

However, once it was a [Pink Sacred] magic card, it could not be unequipped and re-equipped at will outside of combat like the first three types of cards; it required cumbersome re-encapsulation steps and would cause prolonged damage to the binder.

As for [Orange Epic], it was the highest level of magic card known to exist in the world, a concept understood by all living beings.

Each Epic card was unique, anchoring the world and spanning history.

Once bound to one's soul, it was difficult to break the bond even at a great cost.

For this reason, White, Blue, and Purple cards had high mobility and could be replaced and combined at any time according to tactics, while Pink and Orange, although possessing greater power, required careful consideration in the long term, even if there was an opportunity to bind them, to ensure they were compatible with one's system.

In the ancient legends of the Demon Realm, there was a grade above Epic, but it had not appeared for thousands of years. With the fall of the Demon Race, clues about this kind of card had become increasingly untraceable…

For the well-traveled Taliya, the noble Purple Rare quality was nothing special.

She herself had made countless of them.

But compared to the quality of the card Lan Qi had made, Taliya was more surprised by the card's strange effects.

Generally speaking,

a card maker's early works could reflect their card-making style throughout their career.

As for Lan Qi, it was a little difficult to predict what more outrageous things this guy would come up with in the future.

Taliya, lost in thought, caused the card-making workshop to fall silent again.

"..."

Seeing that she was not speaking, Lan Qi did not disturb her further.

The serene afternoon sunlight quietly filtered through the clouds, and the silhouette of the window frame was reflected on the brown floor, now bright, now dim.

After two weeks of relentless work, the result was finally achieved. Lan Qi gradually relaxed and leaned back in his chair, feeling a rare sense of drowsiness at this midday hour.

Time seemed to freeze briefly within the card-making workshop, pervaded by an odd atmosphere of tranquility. Tools such as engraving pens, alchemy jars, and ink bottles on the workbench seemed to have been endowed with souls, whispering slumbering poems in this fantastical realm.

However, just as Lan Qi was about to drift off into a dream, like a stringed instrument in the wind, Taliya's question awakened his mind again.

"How old are you?"

Her tone was as cold and emotionless as ever.

"I'll be 17 next year."

Lan Qi looked up and gazed at Taliya.

He used a relatively cautious way of answering.

After all, he didn't know if Taliya would consider it a lie if he said he was 16.

His body was definitely 16 years old, but the age of his soul should probably be calculated based on his age before he transmigrated.

"Then it's not too late for you to learn card-making now."

Taliya re-examined the boy in front of her.

In recent days, she had watched Lan Qi go from complete unfamiliarity to gradually becoming somewhat skilled, so she was sure that Lan Qi didn't have much card-making experience before.

Based on her years of wandering from the northernmost part of the continent all the way south, passing through many human kingdoms, this boy named Lan Qi, aside from starting to learn late and having a low rank, could already be called a natural magic artisan among human card makers.

"Tata, in your opinion, are the magic cards I make not bad?"

Lan Qi still had a natural smile on his face.

There was no hint of boasting in his words, but he seemed very confident that Taliya had extraordinary knowledge, so he sincerely sought advice.

"...If it can be mass-produced, it may become a new general-purpose card once it enters the market."

After a brief silence, Taliya replied.

The reason why this card was general-purpose was very simple.

Because everyone would want to buy it.

When this card circulated, the nature of combat might have already changed.

Making enemies kneel might be more important than victory or defeat.

And, in a fair competition, it was also a deterrent—"If you dare make me kneel, I'll make you kneel in return." You might not use it, but you can't be without it.

Although Taliya felt that Lan Qi really deserved to die at the thought of having to guard against enemies using this Sword Cemetery spell in the future,

in the long run, if the human combat atmosphere was messed up, it would be beneficial to her restoration cause.

Therefore, she would not actively stop Lan Qi from abusing this card to pollute the human magic card system and environment.

"I see."

Lan Qi picked up the card [Basic Etiquette] in his hand and looked at it, the corners of his mouth curving into a rather friendly smile. He then looked at Taliya,

"I can't give you this one, but I'm willing to sell you the next one. Based on the success rate, I'll probably have to work on it for several days. I'm busy preparing for exams recently, so I can only help you make it after the exams are over."

"How much?"

Although Taliya was slightly surprised, she asked without hesitation. There was no interrogative tone in her words, and any questions she asked would become statements.

She knew that before this general-purpose card was officially circulated, it would undoubtedly have the highest value while it was still in a scarce state.

Even, as the first edition, it contained the value of a "recipe."

Since Lan Qi was willing to trade the second card to her, then the price would certainly not be low.