https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-114-Lanchi-s-Ordinary-Sealing-Card/12584052/
Chapter 115: Lanchi's Artistic Limit
Chapter 115: Lanchi's Artistic Limit
In the Headmaster's office-turned-card-crafting workshop, Lanchi cleared his spacious worktable and began preparing a new set of materials and proportions.
On the short-legged auxiliary workbench beside him, several compartments held an assortment of ingredients, reminiscent of the setup Talia had when she crafted the ["Great Loving Poet"].
These were materials that Lanchi had spent a significant amount of time carefully measuring and mixing.
Bringing the compartments to the main worktable, Lanchi calmly and skillfully began processing the ingredients.
Crafting this card was a gamble; just purchasing the materials had cost him nearly all his savings.
To harmonize with the core sacred-quality material, the [Unnamed Light Elemental Stone], Lanchi required a complex array of light-based sealing materials.
If an average card crafter were handling these costly ingredients, they might find their hands shaking from the pressure.
Yet, Lanchi remained calm, even more so than when he crafted cards at Talia's home.
Rather than bemoaning his tendency to fail at critical moments, he accepted his abilities for what they were.
That was Lanchi's mindset.
No matter the occasion, he approached card crafting with the same relaxed attitude, knowing that a calm mind led to the best results.
Lanchi worked swiftly and precisely, his expression serene yet determined. Within ten minutes, he had completed all the preparatory steps.
His meticulous preparation soon caught the director's attention, and the broadcast began to intermittently cut to Lanchi's workspace.
When using materials of this caliber, the outcome was binary: either abject failure or a remarkably impressive creation.
On-screen, Lanchi took a deep breath.
Soon, a magical card appeared in his hand, and he summoned its creature.
"Great Loving Poet, are you ready?"
After double-checking that everything was in order, Lanchi asked the question of the recently summoned poet.
"Yes, all set," the poet replied, joyfully raising her arms and spinning gracefully, as if dancing.
Suddenly, surprised voices echoed not only in the Card Crafter's Association building but also on Herton Walking Street outside.
"An epic-level summon?"
Typically, creatures of this caliber only appeared in high-level shadow world broadcasts.
Who would have thought they'd witness one during a card crafter's exam?
"Card crafters are indeed allowed to use any spell and magic card during their exam," a knowledgeable spectator sitting in the open-air area of a plaza shop soon clarified.
In theory, an epic-level summon with a high degree of self-awareness could act as an assistant.
Rumor had it that some notable figures with particularly amiable summons would keep them permanently summoned to act as butlers or attendants.
The mere presence of an epic-level creature was often enough to draw a crowd, and the Great Loving Poet, with her dazzling, adorable, and captivating appearance, was no exception.
"Wait, the gray-haired, red-skirted beauty, so graceful..."
Someone in the crowd seemed to have made a connection.
"Could that be the rumored ['Great Loving Poet'] of Principal Lan from Demon Academy?"
As the whispers grew louder, more pedestrians on Herton Walking Street paused to look up at the live footage displayed on the association's glass walls.
Inside the conspicuous Headmaster's office, Lanchi had already begun crafting without hesitation.
Though the exam allowed for over two more hours, he had summoned the Great Loving Poet at the cost of his magic power, which had started to deplete.
The poet, for her part, seamlessly fell into the role of assistant, much like a nurse aiding the lead surgeon in an operating room.
During his card crafting sessions in the dormitory, Lanchi often summoned the Great Loving Poet to collaborate with him.
What had gradually caused him to question his life choices was the discovery that the poet's card crafting talent seemed to surpass his own.
Despite being just a magic card herself, she picked up new techniques instantly.
While the Great Loving Poet lacked Lanchi's innate talent for painting, her understanding and grasp of magic engineering exceeded his own.
It was a pity that the poet was limited to the first tier; when crafting high-tier magic cards, she could only assist him as a helper.
Thus, whenever Lanchi embarked on a challenging card crafting endeavor, he would summon the Great Loving Poet to work alongside him.
"This card I'm crafting is especially important, so I need you to help me focus," Lanchi said as he mixed the finely ground light-attribute magic crystal powder with the sealing-specialized magic core liquid to create ink.
The Great Loving Poet seemed to understand the gravity of the situation.
Her expression turned solemn, shedding her previous lively and carefree demeanor. She became as cold as a strict overseer, her gaze fixed on Lanchi.
"Is that enough?" she asked coldly.
"It's perfect," Lanchi replied, feeling himself slip into a state of immersion.
In essence, the Great Loving Poet was cosplaying as Talia, providing Lanchi with the pressure he needed.
Aside from the assistance the poet offered, Lanchi had another reason for summoning her this time.
The magic card he was attempting to create would be based on his other third-tier, highest-quality magic card, ["Beautiful Melody"] (Melody of Purgatory). He intended to emulate the core principles of demonic magic inherent in that card.
Humans rarely used magic cards of other races for extended periods, as doing so could lead to irreversible localized demonic mutations in their bodies and souls.
This abnormal demonic transformation wouldn't change their race, but it would shorten their lifespan significantly, and they might even become insane monsters.
The way to avoid these side effects was to find a suitable demonic medium, typically by using demonic materials as consumables, although this would drastically increase costs and still carry risks. By summoning the Great Loving Poet, with whom he had a soul contract, Lanchi could harness her presence to mitigate the harmful effects of demonic magic on himself.
And so, Lanchi needed to maintain the summoning of the Great Loving Poet for an extended period during the card-crafting process, consuming a large amount of magic power. Additionally, the card-crafting process with her involvement depended on their coordination and her performance.
Ordinarily, a card crafter would not be able to collaborate with the Great Loving Poet. In a highly focused card-crafting state, merely hearing a little of the Great Loving Poet's voice could trigger tenfold anxiety and tension, leading to a mental breakdown and card crafting failure.
Only Lanchi's unique mental state could immunize him from the Great Loving Poet's immense negative influence.
Entering an immersive state, Lanchi familiarly and effortlessly mixed the ingredients to achieve the optimal ratio.
Subsequently, the Great Loving Poet began to synchronize his magic with the ink, and soon, the ink was infused with her unique magic.
Lanchi poured the magical ink into the magic pen, unsealed the magic scroll, and imprinted the summoning prototype he had previously created with the core materials onto the blank card.
The next crucial step involved rewriting and shaping the enchantment structure, which would activate the properties of the materials and truly impart magical attributes to the summoning card.
Lanchi sat at the worktable, burying his head as he concentrated fully on slowly engraving the card, while the Great Loving Poet stood at the other end of the worktable, helping him sort out and identify the magical circuits on the card, collaborating to infuse their magic completely and evenly into every intricate magic glyph.
Due to the massive amount of engraving, his progress seemed exceptionally slow.
Just burying his head in this one step made him feel like he had lost track of time.
Outside the Shadow World exam venue, the midday sun had been shining on Herton Walking Plaza for a long time.
Nearly two hours passed, and Lanchi was still drawing.
As the exam neared its end, only a handful of candidates remained in the artificial Shadow World exam venue, and the footage of Lanchi increased.
The image on the screen showed Lanchi in the Principal's office, completely engrossed in the crucial step of imbuing the summoning creature with a magical structure and form.
The unfinished magic card, mostly hidden by Lanchi and the Great Loving Poet's hands, had begun to emit dangerous arcs of light, seemingly unstable and on the verge of exploding.
However.
Lanchi seemed to be oblivious to it all, proceeding without hesitation to the final step of completing the drawing and final tuning and packaging!
At this moment.
Under the glass walls of the Card Crafter's Association on Herton Walking Plaza, many onlookers unconsciously opened their mouths.
When the director finally fixed the camera on Lanchi, they knew that the success or failure of this card rested on this moment.
"This card won't take shape," someone commented. "Even if the magic circuits and spell formulas are all correct, the image he wants to impart to the summoning creature is too crazy."
"How foolish," another spectator added. "He got so far only to ruin it all. If he had just performed normally, it would have been a purple rare-quality magic card at the very least. It's as if he's deliberately trying to destroy this magic card."
"How could a human draw something so magnificent..."
There were exclamations of awe, shock, and disappointment among the crowd.
Even those who knew Lanchi would fail couldn't help but stare at the magic card that was taking shape under Lanchi and the Great Loving Poet's hands.
It was as if Lanchi was trying to depict the sun with the brush in his hand! By this point, Lanchi's face had turned increasingly pale, and even though he had reached the third tier, he was pouring all his heart and magic into this final drawing.
Maintaining the summoning had finally taken its toll on his magic power.
But perhaps due to Lanchi's intense focus.
He seemed completely unaware of his state or the changes on the card's surface.
It was a state of self-transcendence that went beyond immersion; even unto death, he would see this creation through.
The changes on the magic card were gradual, and it was only when they were fully manifested that Lanchi truly became aware of them.
It was a brilliant light that his eyes couldn't bear.
In the moment he closed his eyes, a dazzling flash seemed to engulf everything in the Principal's office. In the white light, only the gray outlines of Lanchi and the Great Loving Poet remained, until they too faded from view.
...
Herton Walking Plaza, under the glass walls of the Ekrity Card Crafter's Association.
The gazes of the onlookers were fixed on this most astonishing moment, as if the air itself had frozen.
The light on the screen expanded as if it would devour the real world.
In that instant, all the viewers' breaths caught in their throats, their eyes locked on the screen.
"...Is it ruined?"
"It's failed after all. He was too greedy. If he had succeeded, I don't know what level it would have been!"
"Thankfully, the artificial Shadow World has a protection mechanism. Even if you're injured by an explosion, you'll return to your normal state once you leave."
"What a pity."
However.
Just as many were sighing and preparing to resume their weekend plans.
The footage on the glass walls of the Card Crafter's Association seemed to continue uninterrupted.
After all the light had faded and calm returned, a card appeared on the screen, encased in orange silk!
[Radiance of Virtue]
Category: Summoning Card
Grade: Orange Epic
Attribute: Light/Seal
Rank: 3
Effect: Continuously consumes a large amount of magic power to summon a small sun with a maximum brightness that causes no damage, blocking the vision of all targets and raising the temperature in the vicinity. In enclosed spaces, the radiance effect intensifies, while in open areas, the visual radiance effect gradually weakens.
Note: In the morning, our songs reach heaven, piercing the clouds to the Supreme, Merciful and Almighty, revered by all saints, glory and praise, to the sun's wondrous body, casting aside the golden crown, encircling the crystalline sea's shore, a thousand heavenly armies bow, together singing the true name of our Lord, Lanmen.
Today, I updated 1,200 words. Sunset is completely burned out... I feel like I've lost my mind...
(End of Chapter)
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