https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-298-Each-Day-is-One-Less-Day-with-Lanchi/12584399/
Chapter 299: Lanchi Couldn't Forget Loren
Chapter 299: Lanchi Couldn't Forget Loren
Within the expansive confines of the Endless Library, broad pathways stretched out.
Under the lofty, suspended ceiling that towered several dozen meters high, each step that Lanchi and Zestila took forward was accompanied by the illumination of surrounding lights, as if drawing back a curtain to unveil a spectacle.
Lining the lofty bookshelves of this library, imbued with a classical theater ambiance, were myriad tomes of magic, their pages bathed in a subdued glow, with ghostly sheets occasionally drifting through the air.
Underfoot, the black marble floor, trimmed with golden edging, reflected a faint radiance, yet at times, one might suddenly realize that the ground was, in fact, a colossal magic crystal screen capable of displaying a myriad of holographic colors and providing informative guidance.
The first space designed to prevent visitors from getting lost was the open-plan reading hall, and further ahead, a red carpet laid out on the floor extended from the end of the hall all the way to the reception desk of a meeting room.
The two of them strode straight ahead until they entered the meeting room.
Suspended above the reception desk was a massive chandelier, casting a soft yellow glow that illuminated its smooth surface.
"May I assist you?"
The words emanated from the lips of a doll-like, artificially crafted beauty, her skin as pale as snow, stationed behind the reception desk.
Zestila was slightly startled, having assumed that this magical puppet couldn't speak.
"We wish to exchange a collection item," Lanchi said, offering a reassuring smile to Zestila, indicating that she had no cause for fear, before addressing the puppet.
"Certainly, please proceed," the puppet replied, its voice devoid of emotion.
As the door to the meeting room closed, the puppet slowly activated the magical ritual on the reception desk, and soon, dark-colored textual information appeared on the tabletop.
Following the instructions, Zestila removed her bracelet and placed it on the sensing area.
After a few seconds of reading, new information appeared:
【Exchangeable Content: One pink sacred-grade magic item.】
Ranking above the white, blue, and purple grades and second only to the orange epic grade, was the pink sacred grade.
"Please select your desired item from the main collection catalog," the puppet intoned.
Listening to this creature speak caused Zestila's blood pressure to soar.
However, Lanchi seemed to possess a calm demeanor, unaffected by the puppet's presence, merely offering a word of thanks before proceeding to browse through the catalog.
Among the options were ancient artifacts from the demon world collected throughout the empire's history, powerful magic cards crafted by masters, products from the Shadow World, and confiscated treasures.
"Teacher, do you intend to choose a magic device or a magic card?" Zestila asked after taking a deep breath.
Lanchi paused momentarily upon hearing this.
It was important to note that the reward they had been promised was not limited to the selection of a magic card.
They could choose from pink sacred-grade magic cards, magic devices, scrolls, or materials.
The drawback of magic devices was that they couldn't be soul-bound or taken into the Shadow World, and they were slightly less portable, carrying a risk of loss. However, they offered greater diversity and didn't occupy card slots.
In the North Continent, where there was a greater focus on current-world combat and resource competition, magic devices and magic cards were equally sought-after.
Only in the peaceful and stable South Continent, where the primary focus was on conquering the Shadow World, were magic cards overwhelmingly more popular than magic devices.
Scrolls could be used either once or as materials for crafting magic spell cards.
As for other materials, their utility depended on the skill of the magic craftsman employing them; unless there were no suitable options among the magic cards and devices, one would only opt for materials if the focus was solely on quality.
"If I were to choose from the pink sacred grade, I'd probably lean towards a magic card," Lanchi replied.
After all, he hailed from the South Continent.
Additionally, if there were no restrictions on card types, he would likely seek out spell cards.
While summon cards, equipment cards, and spell cards were all equal in terms of value, according to Lanchi's personal understanding, spell cards held the highest prestige.
High-quality spell cards were challenging to create, and only those who possessed the corresponding spell or had the ability to master it could craft them. Epic-grade spell cards were nearly impossible to create, and only the Shadow World could produce them.
For someone like Lanchi, who might never have been able to learn certain heaven-defying magic in their lifetime, such as the bloodline powers, the opportunity to master them through an epic spell card could potentially turn the tide of a battle.
Equipment cards and summon cards had their merits as well. Equipment cards had low mana consumption and provided sustainability and basic attributes, but their functions were relatively weaker. Summon cards, on the other hand, required a significant mana investment and demanded focus to control or command the summoned creature; if the summoned entity was destroyed, the card's effect would cease.
Thus, after filtering by the [Seal] category and sorting by rank from high to low, Lanchi's attention was primarily drawn to the spell cards.
Summon cards and equipment cards were also viable options, but binding a pink sacred-grade card to them would make it challenging to unbind. He already had limited flexible card slots, so binding a pink sacred-grade magic card required careful consideration.
However, Seal was a relatively rare category of magic, and the highest Seal card in the treasury was only a fifth-rank, pink Sacred-grade Seal card.
Night Forbidden Zone
Category: Spell Card
Grade: Pink Sacred
Attribute: Dark/Seal
Rank: 5
Effect: Cast a barrier that blocks all vision within a certain range centered on oneself. Consumes a large amount of mana to cast and maintain the barrier. When a unit within the barrier touches the barrier's boundary for the first time, it will be subjected to a brief restraining effect.
Note: That was the last time you will ever see the light.
"...'
Lanchi glanced over this familiar range-based Seal card and quickly moved on.
This card combined Seal and Dark magic, and its effect was similar to his ['Radiant Virtue'], although ['Radiant Virtue'] was a Seal and Light magic card.
At first glance, ['Night Forbidden Zone'] seemed stronger, but ['Radiant Virtue'] was essentially a specialty card against vampires.
There were only two fifth-rank Seal cards.
And only one fourth-rank card.
Forbidden Curse Seal
Category: Spell Card
Grade: Pink Sacred
Attribute: Curse/Seal
Rank: 4
Effect: With the target's consent, a temporary contract can be formed, turning them into your familiar and granting them an attribute bonus equivalent to one-eighth of your own attributes.
Note: Entrust your life to me, and there will be no issues.
"This card's effect seems a bit weak," Zestila commented from the side.
If used by a support role, it could only provide a small non-attack attribute bonus to the damage dealer, and if used by the damage dealer, it would occupy a card slot that could be used for something else.
"It's hard to say with this one," Lanchi frowned slightly.
Essentially, it was a Curse-type magic card with some Seal principles infused.
Although it seemed a bit ambiguous in its purpose, when combined with spells that could "transfer familiars" or "grant powerful bonuses to familiars," it could become quite useful.
However, accepting this forbidden curse was also extremely dangerous. Once transformed into a familiar, which was closer in nature to a summoned creature, one might become susceptible to instant death effects or fall under further control.
"It's actually quite worth exchanging..."
Lanchi hesitated for a moment, then continued scrolling down.
What made this magic feel somewhat taboo was its potential to be extended to transform living beings into magic cards.
However, Lanchi always felt that there was some profound and analogous magical principle at play with the ['Compassionate Verse'], which was a core material used to create ['Great Loving Poet'].
If he exchanged for this card, he might be ridiculed by ['Great Loving Poet']. She might say something like, "You needed to exchange for this piece of trash? I could've directly researched it for you." That would be embarrassing.
As he scrolled down, he soon reached the end of the options.
Seal magic cards were already quite rare, and pink Sacred-grade cards were scarce even in the Protoss Empire's treasury.
Lanchi's gaze lingered on the last Seal magic card, appearing indecisive.
Melody Elimination Domain
Category: Spell Card
Grade: Pink Sacred
Attribute: Barrier/Seal
Rank: 3
Effect: Eliminate all sound within a self-designated range. The larger the range, the more mana it consumes to cast and maintain.
Note: Those cold, golden irises. When he appeared, all sound in the world ceased to exist.
"Is there something special about this card?" Zestila asked, confused as to why her teacher was focusing on this disruptive Seal magic when there were stronger offensive and controlling Seal spells available.
"This magic can completely counter melody magic," Lanchi explained. "Although it can't interrupt chanting for spellcasting, and it's ineffective against word magic, its main use is to block an opponent's communication."
With just a quick glance at the appraisal details, Lanchi could confirm that this was definitely a card created by a demon.
There were no signs of tampering, and Talia had never mentioned any such Seal magic, so it was likely an ancient product of the Demon Shadow World.
If he chose this card, he could counter the negative effects of ['Beautiful Melody'], which affected allies and enemies indiscriminately.
In a sense, it was a hard counter to ['Beautiful Melody'].
If he had this spell at the Inferno Corridor Academy, he might even be able to stop the nuclear fusion of the hellish sounds in that classroom.
"...'
Zestila furrowed her brows, deep in thought.
She felt that her teacher's perspective on magic cards was rather peculiar.
Zestila frowned upon the cards that she deemed inferior, while the ones she thought were excellent were quickly skimmed over by her teacher.
Lanchi contemplated for a moment, acknowledging that while there were some decent pink Sacred-grade cards in the Seal category, he wanted to explore other options that might be more suitable.
He switched to the [Mental] category and swiftly scrolled through the detailed appraisals of the magic cards.
Zestila watched quietly by his side.
"Teacher, wouldn't it be better to choose a magic card that you can use yourself first?" she asked softly, a hint of confusion in her voice.
She noticed that Lanchi always browsed through the magic items in order of rank, from high to low.
In the entire treasury, high-rank magic cards were far fewer in number compared to their lower-rank counterparts.
Even though higher-rank cards were undoubtedly more expensive, the real issue was their rarity and the difficulty in acquiring them through trades.
"Actually, when it comes to high-rank cards, they're not only challenging to obtain, but even for card craftsmen, the difficulty for an eighth-rank card craftsman to craft an eighth-rank finished product is far greater than for a third-rank card craftsman to craft a third-rank one. So, if there's an opportunity to get a magic card, unless it's an urgent need to increase combat power, it's best to aim for a higher rank," Lanchi explained as he continued browsing.
Zestila might not have witnessed the effects of high-rank magic cards and thus assumed that lower-rank cards were already powerful.
It was true that lower-rank Epic cards could be useful for a lifetime.
There were also many low-rank countermeasure cards that could produce exceptional effects in specific situations.
However, when it came to sheer power and multipliers, there was an insurmountable gap between low-rank and high-rank cards.
Ranks one to three were considered low-rank, primarily used for countermeasures and filling out a system. Ranks four and five were the backbone of functional cards, and rank six was a watershed, with many powerful purple Rare quality general-use cards at this level.
For example, the purple Rare sixth-rank spell [Designated Purification] could remove a specified abnormal status or control effect and prevent the user from being affected by that status or effect for a period of time.
There was also [Spell Counter], which could be triggered when an enemy cast a low-rank or low-quality spell, causing their spell to fail and doubling its cooldown time, and [Forced Dispelling], which could forcibly dispel all statuses from oneself or an opponent.
These three cards were among the most popular sixth-rank Rare magic cards, easily interchangeable and flexible. That was why, during the Holy Villain Banquet Shadow World event, their team had struggled to continuously control and hinder the Saintess with hard crowd control abilities.
They had mostly relied on soft crowd control instead.
Moving up the ranks, seven and eight were the true powerhouses, with blue Rare magic cards being extremely difficult to obtain and so powerful that they were hard to counter.
"I see," Zestila nodded, enlightened.
She had thought that her teacher was trying to cash in the reward, which was why he was looking at the higher-rank cards.
However, even if her teacher found a seventh-rank card, how long would it take for him to be able to use it? Zestila was still a bit perplexed.
Her curiosity now shifted to what kind of card her teacher would ultimately choose.
Another ten minutes passed.
Lanchi went through each card but still couldn't make a decision.
Unfortunately, whether it was Seal, Mental, or the later Light and Fire categories that he browsed through, the highest rank he found was a sixth-rank pink Sacred-grade card.
He seemed to have taken a cursory look at the Healing attribute, but he didn't delve into the healing multipliers of the healing magic.
It was unclear why he even bothered with that category.
Zestila was certain that her teacher only had suitable affinities with a few types of magic, and those were the optimal choices for his system, with the potential for him to decipher their principles and even decompose and recreate them in the future.
It was normal for small categories like Seal and Mental to have a scarcity of high-rank cards, as there were inherently fewer practitioners of those types of magic.
As for popular elements like Light and Fire, the lack of high-rank cards was simply a matter of luck, and they might have been chosen by others in previous years.
"..."
Lanchi stroked his chin thoughtfully.
Then, he changed the filter to [Wind].
Zestila: "?"
In that moment when her teacher made this enigmatic choice, she inexplicably felt that someone was about to be in trouble.
(End of Chapter)
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