The Card Apprentice

When he had first drawn up the plan, Bogner had been clear about their advantages. Their biggest one was to have a grand-master-level card master. Perhaps that would only provide a limited actual advantage in the eyes of ordinary people, but Bogner had keenly seen its latent power.

So, he had decided to bring that advantage into play to the greatest extent.

As he saw it, a grand-master-level card master’s greatest strength wasn’t in how many powerful cards he could make, but it was rather in his powerful design ability. Of course, that would have limited use on an ordinary team. However, if an outstanding commander were added to the mix, enough energy would be released to shock people.

Chen Mu was quite surprised by the plan laid out in front of him. He had never thought such a creative scheme could come from the hands of someone who was neither a card artisan nor a card master.

Sensing Chen Mu’s surprise, Bogner carefully approached him. “Do you think it can work?” To tell the truth, he didn’t have all that much confidence himself in the scheme he was proposing. He had his reasons for proposing such a weird scheme. He’d already thought most of it through a while ago, but he had never had an opportunity to try it out. Now, compelled by circumstances, he thought of the method that had been abandoned for so many years.

There was no other way he could think of to increase their power in a short amount of time. Although the boss had great ability, their base was pretty skimpy, and there wouldn’t be much possibility if he wanted to recruit some aces. To recruit high-level card artisans required more than just money, but his boss didn’t have those things.

So, he finally proposed that plan, though its workability wouldn’t be known until after the boss had decided. Once the plan could be implemented, he believed it would absolutely be an historic innovation. Bogner still had another plan prepared if that one were to fail, but he wasn’t fully satisfied with it.

“I can’t really say. We’ll have to try it and see.” Chen Mu was staring at the plan in front of him, speaking almost unconsciously.

In his eyes, Bogner’s plan was still a little crude, but that was inevitable. Bogner couldn’t really be considered in the know with theories about a card artisan’s power, and he was even more ignorant with regard to card making. His creativity had come from the angle of a commander, and he naturally had no way to take all the details into account.

That creativity seemed full of earth-shattering thinking.

The energy body emitted by every card artisan would take the original energy emitted within the apparatus and would pass it through a fantasy card, where it would be formed into a stronger energy body. High-level card artisans would add a step, which was to make some adjustments to the composition of the energy body, so it could achieve his optimal objective before being emitted. The deeper the card artisan’s understanding of the energy composition, the more optimally he could adjust the energy body to increase the power of the one emitted.

But, in Bogner’s conception, each step was divided out. One person would specialize in making adjustments to the energy body, one would be responsible to do the scanning and locking in, and another would take responsibility for the shot. In that way, each step would be quite a bit less difficult, and every card artisan only had to master one of the steps for the attack to be completed.

There was quite a bit of distance between the battle power of a high-level card artisan and that of a low-level card artisan. The biggest difference was in destructive value. In the hands of a high-level card artisan, the power emitted by an ordinary fiery dragon card was a lot higher than that of the same card in the hands of a mid-grade card artisan.

If the plan could be implemented, their objective wouldn’t be insurmountable for the rookies there.

Being so full of unique creativity, how could Chen Mu not be impulsive? Without saying another thing, he once again dove into his lab with several kinds of not-quite-mature thoughts already floating around in his brain.

Bogner didn’t disturb him. He would never have brought out that plan if it were anyone else. In his eyes, his boss was a grand master card master divided from ordinary people by a chasm they couldn’t even talk across, so he thought the odds of a breakthrough were much higher.

For that creative idea to be implemented, he also needed to do a lot of work in addition to Chen Mu’s part. Essentially, his plan really called for team coordination to replace the power of a single great person’s control. Still, he well knew that the difficulty of team coordination was sometimes not any less than for a single person’s control.

To get those rookies to follow orders and establish discipline was also a complex and tedious project. But that was the realm where he had the most confidence.

Walking on the metallic floor, Bogner’s steps were resolute and expressed great fortitude. He seemed to have returned to his former years, when he had been so full of iron blood and fervor.

He had no expression on his face as he looked at the team of rookies in front of him. They were a little intimidated under Bogner’s relentless gaze. They were all novices, not yet 25, their perception having just broken though the fourth level. While that kind of result wouldn’t be considered outstanding, it wasn’t bad among card artisans. But such talent could be found anywhere among the well-known academies, and most among them would have no way to find opportunities to pursue further study.

Most of them would probably have chosen to enter some card artisan firm’s training squad, with the younger ones likely to enter the youth brigade. Most of the rest of them would probably change professions and enter some other domain, such as the professional builders Chen Mu had seen, who had used all sorts of cards.

The card artisans in front of him had all signed ten-year contracts. In other words, Chen Mu had the rights to them for ten years. That contract would be valid throughout the federation. Chen Mu had paid a lot of fees for that, but those costs were still not comparable to the cost to recruit a single high-grade card artisan.

* * *

Lu Xiaoru was a little surprised when she saw the bar-browed man.

Why did he come?

Although the two of them hadn’t dealt with one another, they did know each other. After all, those they had previously served had all been local powers in Pomelo. There were only a few aces in all of Pomelo; even if they’d never met, they would know something about one another.

Lu Xiaoru looked a lot thinner. Her previously plump frame had gotten a lot hotter, with amazing curves. That was all thanks to her recent training, which wasn’t really different from anyone else’s. Because she had previously gotten used to fighting alone, however, she had little experience in team collaboration, which made her suffer in front of the picky Bogner. All she did every day was stationary running for five hours. She had to run continuously for those five hours, which meant every day she would run no less than 50 or 60 kilometers. The scariest part was that those 50 kilometers were all sprinting.

Her whole body had thinned a layer, but she still gritted her teeth and stuck to it. Her toughness had gained her the respect of her comrades. She could clearly feel the change in their attitudes, which made her happy.

She had no other thoughts in her head by then. Without even realizing it, she had already integrated into the team. Although most of her comrades didn’t really like to talk, she was still happy. At that place, even though the training was hard, there was none of the backstabbing she hated so much. There were only the appreciative gazes of her comrades, without that naked look of just itching to swallow her up.

There was nothing left of the endless flirtatiousness about her. What came from her now was the determination peculiar to a young woman. Without knowing it, she seemed to have returned to the simple and fulfilling life of her school days. What reason would she have not to like it there?

After taking a look at the bar-browed man, Lu Xiaoru threw herself back into her training. There was still a fifth of it she had yet to complete.

* * *

Jiao Si arrived the next day, bright and early, bringing along an impressive several hundred people.

The first thing he said when he saw Bogner was, “The defenses here aren’t bad!” From far off, he’d been detected by the card artisans on watch. At the time, he’d wanted to check out the newly built base’s defenses, so he had deliberately probed them a little.

He’d experienced hundreds of battles, and his insight was masterful. He just did a little probing to find out how the defenses were. He was quite surprised. Although he didn’t encounter that many attacks, their power wasn’t weak, and the subtlety of their coordination was really rare.

“How are you, Master Jiao Si? I am the boss’s security chief, Bogner. Welcome to all of you.” In the face of the famous Jiao Si, Bogner wasn’t the least bit reserved. His expression was composed, and Lu Xiaoru was behind him.

Jiao Si’s eyes flashed as though something were strange, and he wore a thoughtful expression. “Bogner? I seem to have heard that name somewhere!” After a while, he still couldn’t think of it. He couldn’t help but slap his head with annoyance, mocking himself. “Look at me, so old and with my memory going.” As soon as he said that, a 20-something girl to his side couldn’t help but chuckle.

Bogner smiled. “Dean Jiao Si must be joking.” He then apologized. “The boss is in the lab. It could be a while before he comes out. I wonder if Jiao Si might wait a little while.”

Some of those behind Jiao Si showed their displeasure and were about to say something. Jiao Si waved his hand and said unconcernedly, “It doesn’t matter; I was the same when I was young. Once I encountered a problem, I didn’t want anything to do with what was going on outside. Let’s sit and chat. Oh, right—this is Ru Qiu, the only student of Madam Pei, the dean of the card making division of the Origins Academy.”

As one of the federation’s topmost aces, he didn’t put on any airs. Everyone admired him.

Bogner couldn’t help but let his gaze fall onto the girl called Ru Qiu. Quite a few of those behind Jiao Si had an annoyed look on their faces since he had only introduced her. That showed how special her position at the Origins Academy was. Seeing Bogner watching her, she smiled lightly and gave him a generous salute.

Bogner hurried to return it, praising her to himself; although she looked ordinary, she had a good disposition.

“Have all of these people been trained by my young brother?” Jiao Si couldn’t help but ask. He raised his thumb and said in praise, “They have a lot of ability!”

“The dean is too flattering,” Bogner said modestly. “Compared to the garrison at your honorable school, they are quite lacking.”

The garrison at the Origins Academy was famous throughout the Ming Zheng District, as well as somewhat well-known throughout the Heavenly Federation. They were composed of the top aces from the academy, and under the influence of Jiao Si, each one had a bright and heroic style. They were the true standard bearers of the Origins Academy.

Jiao Si shook his head. “That’s not what I see. Their solo power might be a little bit stronger, but they are far from your team in their coordination.” The people behind Jiao Si looked a bit edgy when they heard that.

Being experienced, Bogner laughed. “The dean is so typically finding the steamed buns of someone else more fragrant than his own. We’re all from the countryside. How could we come up to the level of a regular army?”

Jiao Si gave a meaningful smile, and the faces of those behind him opened back up. They still didn’t know who the owner of the base actually was. Even so, they had allowed the dean to take them there himself. They still didn’t know a thing about what the job was.

Ever since they’d entered the base, the dean had been praising their counterparts, with his tone implying that they weren’t up to the others. That had made them abruptly edgy. But, the dean’s authority was ingrained in them; even though they were a little edgy, no one dared to confront anything.

“I’ve already brought the card artisans, all according to your esteemed requirements.” Jiao Si pointed behind him as he spoke. He did find it strange that those card artisans were so weak. Reasonably speaking, they wouldn’t have a lot of value. If a real battle were to erupt, he was afraid they wouldn’t even serve well as cannon fodder. Since they’d wanted so many, he had been curious about it all along.

Bogner nodded and lowered his head toward Lu Xiaoru behind him to say something. She showed she’d understood and took out a large pile of contracts that had been prepared earlier.

Jiao Si took one of them and carefully browsed through it. As for the card artisans he’d brought, the contract treated them pretty well. It had nothing special about it. The only thing to surprise him was that it was a ten-year-long contract.

His any notion of their being used as cannon fodder had been overturned. No one would give a ten-year contract for cannon fodder; they would have had to pay a premium for such a long-term contract.

So, what were they doing looking for so many beginner card artisans?

Those beginner card artisans, as well as those who had just broken into the mid-grade, would have their place in an ordinary card artisan firm. But, in the eyes of those people, they wouldn’t have been worth so much.

Such a long-term contract would make many of those who’d come with him a little hesitant, but most of them were attracted by the generous terms from above. Moreover, most of them felt a rush of excitement once they saw the base. Of course, it wasn’t up to the school’s base in many ways. Outside the school, though, such a base was actually pretty good. Given their level, to be able to work at such a place was quite a stroke of luck.

Quickly, there were about 300 or more signed contracts, which pleased Bogner. Adding to that the several dozen he’d recruited last time, there were just about 400 total. Those 400 didn’t even cost much, so he still had ample funds on hand.

Having signed the contracts, that meant starting then, they would be serving Chen Mu. Lu Xiaoru led them to arrange their living quarters.

* * *

Jiao Si was leisurely drinking his tea when Chen Mu came out of the lab with a face full of soot. Some little accident had happened with his experiments.

When he came out, everyone’s gaze turned strange. Only Ru Qiu smiled, having had that kind of experience many times. Some astonishment then floated onto her face; the age of the person in front of her really surprised her.

Chen Mu immediately realized what his issue was and hurriedly apologized with a smirk. He briefly left to wash his face and returned.

“This is Mr. Cao Dong!” Jiao Si smiled brightly, arising in solemn salute. Hi move stunned those who had come along with him. No matter what the power, or who it was, only a handful in the entire federation would make him so solemn.

How would everyone not lose their composure when he gave such a salute to someone who looked to be not much older than 20? They all looked at each other, no one knowing where that person had come from.

Apart from Bogner, those with Chen Mu were just as gape-mouthed, their gazes toward their boss abruptly different. Bogner was the only one among them who knew Chen Mu was the one who’d made the numbered series of cards.

Chen Mu rushed to return the courtesy. “Mr. Jiao is really being too polite!” To tell the truth, Jiao Si being so solemn in his salutations had also surprised him. But he’d only recently heard about Jiao Si. His power and position hadn’t made a direct impression on him. Even though he felt strange inside, he was still calm.

He became inscrutable in the eyes of everyone else because of that bit of calm.

“This is Ru Qiu, who will become the dean of the Origins Academy card making division next term. We hope Mr. Cao won’t hesitate to advise her.” Jiao Si’s expression become still more solemn as he himself modestly drew Ru Qiu forward, making nearly a statement with a just a word.

That stupefied all of the students he had brought along from the Origins Academy. The news that Ru Qiu was going to be the dean of the card making division next term was doubtlessly quite explosive. If it got out in the school, they were afraid it would make a lot of waves. They were both surprised and puzzled. Having come from the mouth of Dean Jiao Si meant it was basically set in stone. Without being at the Origins Academy, it would be impossible to understand how much influence and authority Jiao Si had there, even though he was only the dean of the card artisan division.

They had been blown silly by the bombshell suddenly tossed out by their own past president. The entire hall, apart from Bogner and Jiao Si, was staring at Ru Qiu.

They watched Ru Qiu respectfully bow toward the youth. “I await the teacher’s guidance.”

That, that… that…

The next dean of the card making division of the Origins Academy had made a disciple’s salutation to someone just as young as she was!

A disciple’s salutation… The students thought they were seeing an illusion.

The hall fell completely silent.