Dekan looked helplessly at Theresia, seeking a bit of assistance. It was his first encounter with royalty from this country. Every word he would say next could potentially affect his peaceful life.
"Princess Alice, may I have a word with Dekan?" Theresia quickly said, pulling Dekan aside.
She quietly told Dekan, "Princess Alice is actually a good person; she’s just a bit stubborn and likes to be in the limelight. Just go along with her to make her happy."
Dekan nodded slightly and looked at Alice.
"Princess Alice, our team happens to need a tier 4 group purification spell card. Can we entrust you to make one for us?"
As Dekan couldn't make tier 4 magic cards himself; he usually bought essential spell cards like "Group Purification."
One of the purposes of his visit to the Card Maker Association was to purchase this card. Second-year students at the College of Alchemy should be able to make tier 4 spell cards, right?
"Heh heh, you have a good eye. My card making skills will surely amaze you! Let's not waste time; watch me create this card!" Alice, seeing Dekan's attitude, instantly became cheerful and her tone exuded delight.
She seemed eager to make Dekan, the young demon king, admire her even more.
The senior store attendant, who was waiting on the side, immediately understood the situation. He quickly walked up to Alice and her companions, performed a respectful gesture, and slightly bowed, saying, "Princess Alice and Princess Alice’s friends, please follow me."
Under the guidance of the attendant, they bypassed half of the association's grounds, and reached the fourth floor of the association via a floating staircase.
The third floor of the association was the venue for certification exams for card makers of tier 5 and below. It was evident that the floors above were not accessible to ordinary visitors.
At the end of the corridor, a room with a white sign hanging outside came into view. The attendant opened the door for them, stepped aside, and signaled for the three of them to enter.
Dekan immediately realized that this spacious room, resembling an ancient workshop, was a master card maker's studio. It was much more high-end than the workshop he had modified in his dormitory.
It was equipped with all the necessary tools and top-of-the-line equipment.
Soon, the staff began to bring in materials. They had already heard that the princess wanted to make "Group Purification," so they brought all the materials that could possibly be used.
In addition to blank cards, magic crystals, and magic core liquid, there were also several scrolls. The main materials required for creating three types of magic cards were different. Equipment cards required equipment prototypes and enchantments, seals, and other items. Summoning cards required materials like monster crystals or soul crystals. For spell cards, magic scrolls were needed for processing and rewriting. For example, Dekan's "Hydrogen Explosion" card included scrolls for Fireball, Waterball, and Shockwave spells.
The production steps for the three types of cards differed significantly, and the higher the tier, the more noticeable these differences became. Therefore, card makers often specialized in one direction after reaching a high tier.
...
While waiting for the staff to deliver the materials, Alice chatted with Dekan and the others for a while. The attendant locked the door, and then Alice opened a storage cabinet.
Sure enough, the cabinet was filled with various materials. Alice carefully counted them, took out a divided tray and selected the necessary materials from the cabinet, placing them in the compartments.
She seemed to have visited this room many times and was familiar with the storage locations of the materials.
Dekan watched her material selection and was unable to contain himself from showing a slightly furrowed brow.
Why did she take so many materials?
While Dekan was puzzled, Alice had already finished her preparations.
"Watch closely, Dekan! Opportunities to witness a card maker creating magic cards are rare."
Alice rolled up her sleeves, her face lit up with a brilliant smile. It was as if she could already anticipate Dekan's astonished expression.
"Um..."
Dekan decided to watch carefully and even considered taking some notes where necessary. After all, besides his master, he hadn't heard of any other "super amazing magic card maker." What if she creates an epic rarity purification magic card?
Alice's expression became serious as she started mixing holy attribute magic crystal powder and magic core liquid to create ink. She could feel the fluctuations of magic power during the blending process and adjusted her own magic power to synchronize with it. This would make it easier to infuse magic into the card when drawing the magic array.
After blending the magic ink, Alice filled her magic pen with it and began unrolling the scroll, transcribing, excerpting, and imprinting the magic from the scroll onto the blank white card.
Next came the most critical step, card makers' rewriting and shaping of the magic structure and circuits. This process required the complete concentration of the card maker, with their full mental focus on it.
As Alice moved her magic pen, she balanced her magic power into every magic circuit. The magic structure of a card wasn't something any mage could simply draw. It required a process of understanding, creation, and casting. Without an exceptional understanding of it, even if one could draw it, it wouldn't possess the intended power.
Alice held her breath, seemingly entering the most challenging moment.
The most challenging part was inscribing the intricate magic symbols around the card. These twisted symbols were like ants crawling around, incomprehensible to anyone who wasn't a scholar, let alone being able to write them.
She slowly and meticulously inscribed them. Her forehead furrowed.
She looked like a great artist painting a masterpiece. Her every stroke delicate and powerful.
She exuded a sacred and noble aura. One couldn’t help but wonder what level she had reached.
After dozens of minutes, the magic card began to emit a faint glow. It seemed to be a success, and Alice breathed a sigh of relief.
Next was the third step, the best materials for magic cards were mithril and orichalcum. Magic arrays were carefully drawn on the blank card's surface, and a bit of radiant stone powder, used to activate the holy attribute magic, was imprinted on the card's surface. This created a framework, locking the energy within the magic card.
Alice started the tuning process, connecting several magic inscriptions simultaneously, forming a magic energy loop. This allowed the magic card to recharge and be reused after magic consumption.
Although it was nearing the end of card creation, this penultimate step was still quite complex. Each magic array had to partially overlap with others, ensuring that all magic structures operated correctly during activation and didn't conflict with each other. Any failure could result in the card's destruction or even an explosion due to improper handling.
Alice's technique was very skillful, and she smoothly completed this process.
At this point, the basic card production was complete, and only the final sealing remained!
She boiled various alchemical materials into a paste, spread it on the surface of the magic card, and quickly solidified it using magical devices to create a transparent film.
Alice frowned, her expression highly focused. She was like a craftsman completing the final step of a masterpiece.
Finally, a tier 4 spell card, "Group Purification," was successfully produced, accompanied by a misty aura!
Alice wore a relieved smile as she stared at the card. She seemed very satisfied with the card's quality and couldn't help but admire it for a moment, even as a card maker herself.
She glanced at Dekan, her mouth forming a perfect curve, as if she could already foresee Dekan's astonished expression.
This made Dekan take a deep gulp. Was it a purple-rare rarity card? Considering Alice's expression, could it even be an orange-epic rarity card?
"Heh heh," Alice chuckled twice, handing the spell card to Dekan before taking out a handkerchief to gently wipe the sweat from her forehead.
Dekan took the card. It emitted a deep blue glow. This truly surprised Dekan.
Alice seemed very pleased with Dekan's reaction and said triumphantly, "Dekan, did you see that? Masterpieces are created like this. Isn't it amazing!"
Dekan: "..."
He remained silent for quite some time, seemingly trying to calm his emotions.
Spending so much effort to make a tier 4 blue-uncommon spell card. Was this what a super amazing magic card maker is? How could you have been so shameless to proclaim yourself as that?!
"Wow! That's really awesome!" Dekan spoke with no emotion.
After confirming Dekan's reaction, Alice grinned, and her voice exuded joy. "Hoho, I'm glad you like it!"
Just thinking about the next time Dekan went on a rampage in the Shadow World, she could boast to others, "See that, Dekan and his team are using the card I made!"
Alice found it even harder to control the corners of her mouth.
She even fell into a daydream for a moment.
...
The three of them arrived at the identification room on the fourth floor.
After identification and testing, the quality of this card was excellent, fully meeting Dekan's needs.
Alice was still immersed in the joy of gaining Dekan's admiration.
Theresia, on the other hand, had long noticed Dekan's thoughts and felt somewhat embarrassed.
Alice had the level of a normal tier 4 card maker.
She was just a bit too boastful.
After all, Dekan, a rising star currently famous in the capital, was a particularly meaningful subject of boasting for Alice.
She couldn't control herself for a moment, and Theresia could understand it.
But...
She really mustn’t keep boasting.
My dear Princess.
You are facing a true cardmaking genius!
"Thank you, Princess," Dekan said, taking the card and counting out 20 gold coins to give to Alice.
The market price of this card was about 25 gold coins, and Alice had promised to take 20, which was a very kind price. Considering the material costs, she didn't make much profit.
She did it solely to show off in front of Dekan.
"Then I'll take it," Alice said, accepting the gold coins from Dekan without making him feel awkward. Refusing his money at this point would have made him feel indebted, which was not a good situation for most people when it came to the royal family.
"Shall we go back to school together? My carriage is outside," Alice suggested, seemingly enjoying the idea of bragging to Dekan on the way.
She relished the feeling of appearing saintly in front of others.
At this moment, she noticed that Dekan and Theresia had somewhat embarrassed expressions and were exchanging glances.
"Do you have any other plans?" Alice asked.
Dekan sighed and honestly replied, "Actually, I came here to take the tier 3 card maker certification exam."
Everyone would find out about it later. There was nothing to hide.
"Oh, Dekan, you can also make cards?" Alice asked with surprise.
"I know a bit," Dekan replied.
"Well, you're really lucky to meet me then. Tier 3 card maker certification isn't that simple. Let me tell you some key points about the exam..."
Alice became even happier as she felt like she found more topics to boast about in front of Dekan.
Dekan patiently listened, occasionally looking at Alice with an eager thirst for knowledge.
...
"Since I have some free time this morning, let Theresia and I watch your performance later!" Alice patted Dekan's shoulder and said with a smile.
It felt like a teacher sending a student off to an exam.
The three of them had already arrived at the examination hall on the third floor of the card maker's Association.
Dekan was about to enter the examination hall for the certification exam.
There were also viewing seats in the hall and the entire process was open to the public.
"Okay, sure," Dekan replied humbly.
"Dekan, if you ever need guidance on making magic cards, feel free to come to the College of Alchemy. While I'm a student, I should be able to help you!"
"Huuu!" Dekan finally couldn't help but chuckle at Alice's enthusiasm, showing a genuine smile on his face.
"Thank you very much, Princess Alice."
"Hehe, it's not boasting if it's true. Not long ago, I even made a tier 2 purple rarity card! It's not something an ordinary card maker can do. Aren't you really impressed with me?"
Alice seemed to be getting more excited and didn't notice Theresia's puzzled expression.
"Wow, that's really amazing! Alice, you're incredible!" Dekan praised, playing along.
This princess was quite fun to flatter. She even forgot about Theresia's weird look.
However, Alice seemed truly astonished by what Dekan had just said.
"What?! Could you repeat what you just said?"
But Dekan changed his words before re-emphasizing.
"In the realm of card making, who stands at the peak, one sight of the princess makes all else bleak."
"!!!"
Alice was so surprised that she forgot to close her mouth.
"You, you have to let me write down that rhyme!"
Alice's voice was filled with excitement.
Theresia had completely averted her gaze, looking into the distance.
"Princess, please, no more," she silently pleaded.
My dear Princess, please, just stop talking. If you keep going, you won't be able to step down from the stage later!
