At exactly ten o'clock, the Magic Card Maker Association officially began the tier 3 certification exam.
The exam room was very spacious, with dozens of workbenches set up, each equipped with complete card-making equipment and labeled with numbers.
There were more than twenty card makers participating in this exam, including local residents of the capital and card makers from nearby cities.
The audience seats were also filled with spectators, mostly businessmen and curious residents of the capital. Of course, there were also friends and family of the examinees.
Dekan, in his Hevenlit Magic Academy’s Knight College uniform, stood out among the examinees. Normally, one would expect to see students from the College of Alchemy in card maker certification exams. Occasionally, there might be students from the Mage College or the College of Summoning. It was rare to see students from the Knight College.
...
First, the examiners gave a series of opening remarks, followed by an introduction to the rules of the exam.
Basic materials such as blank cards, magic crystals, and magic core liquid would be provided by the association to establish a theme for the exam. Each examinee would only be allocated with enough materials to make three cards.
The type of card the examinee produced was not restricted; they could choose freely based on their expertise. Creating a white common card would qualify them, making them a tier 3 third class card maker. Producing a blue rare card would make them tier 3 second class, and a purple epic card would make them tier 3 first class.
Higher class symbolized greater potential, and the Card Maker Association would provide more privileges and benefits accordingly.
Depending on the examinee's specific needs, additional materials might be required during card production. There was an in-house shop in the exam room where examinees could select additional materials they needed, with a total value not exceeding 10 gold coins.
It's worth mentioning that the exam registration fee was 15 gold coins. The association wasn't going to let you profit from the exam.
...
After finding his assigned desk, Dekan looked at the basic materials already set up on the table, lost in thought.
Why are there tier 3 Holy attribute magic crystals and Holy Radiance Stones? It seemed like the theme of this exam was Holy attributes.
Holy attribute wasn't an attribute he was particularly skilled in. He rarely made healing or dispelling type magic cards. He had some research in cards related to severe injuries and purification, but those weren't things that could be created solely using Holy attribute magic crystals as the base material.
"At least give me a Light attribute magic crystal so that I can make a Taiyoken Solar Flare card."
Dekan scratched his head, feeling the need to think for a while.
There were teachings related to the Holy attribute in the card-making techniques his master had imparted. After all, his master had once focused on researching how to counteract Holy attributes.
“Well, it’s alright. I’ve already learned book 2, how could I fail to make something from book 1?”
Dekan organized his thoughts and began drafting his card-making ideas on paper, calculating the material ratios.
Then he went to the exam room shop and selected materials like "Demon Blood," "Purifying Holy Flame," and "tier 3 Purification Magic Scroll."
He was ready to begin.
...
Half an hour into the exam, some examinees had already exhausted all their materials and left the exam room in disappointment. For most card makers who had just reached tier 3, it was challenging to ensure success, let alone guaranteeing the quality of tier 3 cards. Nervousness and other factors also played a role, making it quite common to experience three consecutive failures.
However, at the same time, an examinee had successfully created a card, prompting exclamations from the audience.
The blue light emanating from the card indicated that he wasn’t an ordinary card maker. His success on the first attempt resulted in a blue-uncommon rarity card!
Soon, the examinee took his finished product to an appraiser, who, after identification, sent it to the testing room.
Then, the examiner announced the examinee’s passing score on the spot and displayed the card information.
[Holy Light Hammer]
[Category: Equipment Card]
[Rarity: Blue Uncommon]
[Tier: 3]
{Effect: Deals an additional 60% damage to enemies with Evil alignment.]
[Note: The Holy Light will crush your head!]
"It's amazing! He's already a tier 3 second class!"
"Tier 3 second class is basically the limit for ordinary people. I bet only the most talented geniuses from the Hevenlit Alchemy College can achieve tier 3 first class."
"I heard there’s a new student who achieved that this year."
"There's a student from Hevenlit College there... but why is he wearing a red uniform?"
"Don't underestimate the red uniforms. Although they have few card makers, they are fierce in combat. For example, the recently rumored Evil Cultist and Valkyrie..."
"Wait a minute, doesn't that guy in the red uniform look a lot like... Dekan?!"
Someone in the audience seemed to have recognized Dekan from the edited videos released by Hevenlit College and exclaimed.
"Are you sure he's Dekan? Wasn't Dekan a cultist? Why is he making cards?"
"Absolutely sure! I didn't mistake him! Even though he was an incubus in the recording, this appearance is definitely him!"
The wealthy merchant in the audience circled the stands, repeatedly examining Dekan's appearance, and confidently confirmed it.
The audience seats suddenly became noisy.
They had thought it was going to be an ordinary tier 3 card maker exam.
To unexpectedly encounter such a remarkable figure!
No matter what kind of card Dekan ultimately makes, it's bound to be a hot topic!
As the spectators enthusiastically discussed, the exam hall started to emit the light of completed cards.
However, whether it was the blue skies or the white clouds, the audience paid little attention to them.
They were only concerned about Dekan's skill level!
Another ten minutes passed.
Those who had succeeded once had already finished making their cards.
Those remaining on the field were mostly students who had made mistakes during card creation and needed to start over.
Alice furrowed her brow.
"Dekan... he hasn't failed yet, but why is it taking him so long?"
"I don't know, I don't understand you card makers," Theresia pretended to be clueless.
She silently prayed that Dekan wouldn't create anything too extravagant. Else, she could already envision the awkward expression on Alice's face when she found out the truth about "Dekan being a master card maker."
"Dekan seems to be making a spell card. I don't know what kind of spell he's aiming for... It's surprising that he didn't choose to make an equipment card... It seems like he was inspired by watching my card-making process earlier and wants to imitate me," Alice continued with an air of profundity.
This made Theresia even more anxious.
Another ten minutes passed.
Even the students who had failed twice were now close to completing their final card creations.
Interestingly, the number of spectators in the stands was increasing, not decreasing.
Many first floor staff and customers heard the commotion and rushed to the third floor to see what was happening.
None of them could resist their curiosity about what Dekan would create.
"He's taking so long. What is this kid up to?"
Even the examiners couldn't help but ask each other.
Unlike most spectators, they had known the name of the examinee from the beginning as Dekan's full name was prominently displayed in the registration information.
They were equally surprised that Dekan had come to participate in the tier 3 card maker exam.
