Chapter 37: The First Card (Please subscribe! Please vote for monthly tickets!)

Chapter 37: The First Card (Please subscribe! Please vote with monthly tickets!)

Moran summoned the Book of Cards and looked at the card slot on its cover.

Within the indentation, a soft white light was still slowly churning. On the nearly solidified square card, Chinese characters flickered in and out of view.

Seeing the familiar text, Moran froze for a moment.

After a brief thought, she understood; this card was condensed based on her own thoughts and intentions, so it was no surprise that it had taken the form of the language she was most familiar with.

She carefully examined the words on it.

{Unnamed 1}

[Race: ***]

[Rank: ***]

[***: ***]

[***: ***]

……

[Developed Cards: 0]

[Cards in Development: 1]

[Stored Energy: *]

[Card Creation History: Unnamed Card 1]

[Card Design: New Design Available]

[Card Slot: Unnamed Card 1]

—[Estimated Consumption: *** Mana]

—[Estimated Appearance: None]

—[Estimated Function 1: Guide the development of the Book of Cards.] (Completion: 60%)

—[Estimated Function 2: Guide the improvement of one's own abilities.] (Completion: <1%)

—[Current Difficulty 1: Severe shortage of card-making energy. Suggestion: ******]

—[Current Difficulty 2: Unclear classification and grading of abilities. Suggestion: ******]

When she saw the words "Severe shortage of card-making energy," Moran had an epiphany.

It meant there wasn't enough energy yet for the card to fully take shape!

Looking at the completion rates, "Estimated Function 1" was doing alright at 60%, but "Estimated Function 2" was actually "less than 1%."

This meant that the mana that had nearly drained her dry earlier had basically had no effect on "Estimated Function 2."

Should she continue to replenish her mana?

Without a second thought, she abandoned the idea.

With her current mana capacity, it was practically impossible to complete "Estimated Function 2."

However, there was still hope for "Estimated Function 1."

Since this was her first time condensing a card, it was better to be conservative.

Rather than trying to replenish an unknown amount of energy, it was better to prune the estimated functions that exceeded her current capabilities.

Moran simply deleted the "Guide the improvement of one's own abilities" function.

In the next instant, the personal information section at the top of the card vanished, leaving only the content related to the Book of Cards.

{Unnamed 2}

[Developed Cards: 0]

[Cards in Development: 1]

[Stored Energy: *]

[Card Creation History: Unnamed Card 2, Unnamed Card 1]

[Card Design: New Design Available]

[Card Slot: Unnamed Card 2]

—[Estimated Consumption: *** Mana]

—[Estimated Appearance: None]

—[Estimated Function: Guide the development of the Book of Cards.] (Completion: 90%)

—[Current Difficulty 1: Slight shortage of card-making energy. Suggestion: Replenish card-making energy, reduce estimated functions, or set a limit on card functions.]

—[Current Difficulty 2: Unclear quantitative grading of mana. Suggestion: Supplement relevant knowledge and refine the mana grading required for the card.]

"It seems I made the right choice!" She was just a tiny bit away from successful condensation.

Moran mobilized a sliver of mana and carefully poured it into the card slot.

The moment the tendrils of mana touched the slot, Moran felt a powerful suction. A single thread of mana transformed into a massive surge; she lost control immediately, unable to restrain it at all.

Fortunately, after about one second, the suction vanished, presumably because there was enough card-making energy.

Otherwise, she might have fainted again.

It seemed she had to be careful and avoid attempting to condense cards that exceeded her abilities.

The information on the card surface changed as well; the function completion rose to 95%, and the only remaining difficulty was "Unclear quantitative grading of mana."

Regarding the quantification and grading of mana, Moran only knew that the unit was "Mana," the highest level of energy on the Valen Continent, also known as Primordial Energy.

The ranks of all transcendents on the Valen Continent were divided according to their mana levels.

Other forms of energy, such as a witch's magical power, would be converted into an equivalent amount of mana for calculation.

Less than 100 Mana was Apprentice level.

100 Mana and above, but less than 500, was Novice level.

500 Mana and above, but less than 1,000, was Intermediate level.

1,000 Mana and above, but less than 5,000, was Advanced level.

5,000 Mana and above, but less than 10,000, was Peak level.

Anything above 10,000 Mana was Transcendent Peak.

This knowledge alone didn't seem sufficient; Moran still didn't know exactly how much mana "1 Mana" actually represented.

It was too late, and it wouldn't be appropriate to disturb her senior sister.

However, Moran was truly curious and wanted to figure it out right now. On a whim, she called out to the air: "Dean?"

Last night, the Dean had been able to detect them making honey bread and juice in time; surely she could hear her call now.

"Dean, are you there? I have an important question I'd like to ask. Could you please answer it for me?"

...

The dormitory was silent. Just as Moran thought the Dean wouldn't answer, a familiar voice drifted into her ears.

"In all my years of teaching, you are the first person to treat a Guardian Avatar as a teacher to ask questions."

"Guardian Avatar?" Moran keenly caught the key point.

"I will only answer one question. Are you sure you want to ask this?"

"No, no, no!" Moran quickly suppressed her curiosity. "I want to know exactly how much 1 Mana is. This is related to whether I can successfully use the Book of Cards to condense my first card. Dean, you must help me!"

"To turn developer paper into bright red, it requires the consumption of 1 Mana or an equivalent amount of magical power."

Moran understood instantly. "Thank you, Dean! I've got it!"

She looked at the card slot; the function completion had finally reached 100%.

The "Estimated Consumption" entry was no longer vague.

With only a name left to decide, the card could be fully formed.

Since this card was meant to assist her in developing the Book of Cards, with a single thought, {Unnamed Card 2} became {Book of Cards}.

The card in the slot fully solidified, becoming a card with black text on a white background.

{Book of Cards}

[Developed Cards: 1]

[Cards in Development: 0]

[Stored Energy: 0]

[Card Creation History: Book of Cards, Unnamed Card 1]

[Card Design: New Design Available]

[Card Slot: Empty]

Moran took the card out of the slot.

It was an extremely simple card, with black Songti font written on the front.

Everywhere else was blank, without any patterns or decorations.

It looked almost like a piece of white cardstock with a few words printed on it by a computer.

It was only slightly sturdier to the touch.

It was far too crude.

It seemed she would have to design the card's appearance properly; otherwise, it would look too ugly.

Fortunately, thanks to her memories of Earth, Moran had countless patterns and art styles to use as reference.

Ten minutes later, she had sketched a design draft.

She then placed the {Book of Cards} back into the slot, preparing to re-forge it.

[Card Slot: Book of Cards]

—{Book of Cards}

—[Estimated Consumption: 1149/1200 Mana]

—[Estimated Appearance: Appearance Template 1]

—[Estimated Function: Guide the development of the Book of Cards.] (Completion: 100%)

...

After supplementing a bit more mana, the card was complete.