The card shimmered in the dim light, its deep black surface framed by an intricate purple-gold border that gave it an air of mystery and elegance. The back of the card depicted a striking image: a purple-haired witch, her eyes closed in quiet concentration, floating in a dreamlike state. In front of her, a massive gilded book hovered, its pages open and alive with swirling energy. Above the book, several cards levitated as if waiting to be summoned. The entire scene was rendered in a gorgeous, comic-style design that was both ornate and dramatic.
The front of the card was equally stunning. At the top, a square frame showcased a realistic, oil-painted image of the Book of Cards, its texture rich and detailed. Below this frame, the card's information was etched in dark purple ink dusted with gold powder, giving the text an otherworldly shimmer. Every detail, from the witch's flowing hair to the delicate brushstrokes outlining the patterns, spoke of craftsmanship far beyond the ordinary.
Lyra couldn't contain her excitement. She waved the card in the air triumphantly. "Dean! I did it! I made the card!" she exclaimed, her heart racing with accomplishment.
This time, however, the familiar voice of Ms. Amisha didn't respond. But Lyra didn't mind; the thrill of her success was enough for now.
With the {Book of Cards} firmly in her possession, she felt more confident than ever. She now had the ability to craft cards without rushing, carefully calculating the magic power required for each one. It was a relief to know she could design the effects first, gauge the energy cost, and then decide whether to proceed. This new approach felt much safer than her previous hasty attempts.
There was one card idea she hadn't quite let go of; the one designed to help her improve her own strength. The earlier suggestion of limiting the card's function had stuck with her. She now realized that by setting clear limits on the card's abilities, she could reduce the magic consumption dramatically.
Determined to test this, Lyra began working on a new card design, experimenting with setting functional caps. She crafted a basic concept:
{Card Design: Unnamed Card 2}
- Estimated consumption: Infinite Mana Magic
- Expected appearance: Appearance template 1
- Expected function: Guide to improve your own strength
As expected, with no limit in place, the card required an infinite amount of mana. 'No wonder magical tools like Mistress Tracy's Witch Book or Carmela's Golden Pen are divided into different levels,' she thought. 'It's all about controlling the power and energy drain.'
Lyra then reworked the card's function, adding a clear limit this time:
{Card Design: Unnamed Card 2}
- Estimated consumption: 10 Mana
- Expected appearance: Appearance template 1
- Expected function: After binding, the card can display the user's name, race, strength level, magic power, and magic skill levels. It can also monitor the status of an apprentice-level user. Additional mana can increase the monitoring capacity, raising the card's limit to higher levels.
Satisfied with the new design, Lyra felt a wave of relief wash over her. The energy consumption was now finite, and she could move forward with confidence.
In a matter of moments, the new card materialized in the slot. It bore the title:
{Character Card - Apprentice Level - Unbound}
Below the title, a text box appeared with a simple prompt:
[Once bound, it cannot be unbound. Do you wish to bind?]
Without hesitation, Lyra selected "Yes."
However, a new message flashed on the card:
[The strength exceeds the card's usage limit and cannot be bound. You can inject 100 mana into the card to upgrade its usage limit to primary level.]
"100 mana? I can handle that," Lyra thought, and promptly channeled the energy into the card.
The card upgraded itself:
{Character Card - Primary}
But before she could celebrate, another message appeared:
[The strength exceeds the upper limit of the card. You can inject 500 mana to upgrade the card to intermediate level.]
Lyra winced. "Five hundred mana... this is going to hurt." But she knew it was worth it. With a determined sigh, she poured the mana into the card.
Finally, the card shimmered and stabilized:
{Character Card - Intermediate - Lyra}
Her likeness appeared on the card, perfectly capturing her features. Below her image, all her essential details were displayed:
[Name: Lyra]
[Race: Witch/Witch]
[Level: Intermediate]
[Magic: 195/989 Mana]
[Magic Skills: Golden Pen (Apprentice), Witch Book (Apprentice)]
A wave of satisfaction surged through her. She had done it; successfully bound a card that reflected her growing power. Now she had the tools, not just to develop her cards, but to monitor and strengthen herself along the way.
"It's done!" Lyra exclaimed, her face lighting up with joy. The card had come together perfectly, and she could already feel how useful it would be, especially since it displayed her magic power in real time.
"This is way more accurate than trying to gauge it from the brightness of an energy halo," she thought, remembering how unreliable that method had been during her earlier training. During her talent test a few days ago, the results had shown that she had 998 units of mana. After signing the witch contracts for the Golden Pen Technique (Apprentice) and the Witch Book (Apprentice), each of which required her to sacrifice 10 mana, her full magical power should have been 988.
But now, the card showed 989 mana. That meant only one thing, her magic power had increased by a single point over the past few days. It was a small change, but significant nonetheless.
As she scanned the card, she noticed that only her main magical abilities were listed; Golden Pen Technique and Witch Book along with their respective levels. Other minor techniques, like magic infection, weren't included since they were more about using magic than generating it.
A sudden thought struck her. If the card could display the level of her magic, could it also track her progress in learning spells? The idea excited her. If each spell had a visible progress bar, she could monitor her growth more effectively. It would be like having one of those proficiency panels she had read about in novels from her previous life, where hardcore gamers tracked their skill progression with meticulous detail.
"Can I really turn my character card into something like that?" she mused, her excitement growing.
Without hesitation, she dove back into her work, redesigning the Character Card using the Book of Cards. This time, she added a new expected function: "ability progress display". Of course, this addition raised the card-making cost from 10 mana to 50 mana, but it seemed worth the effort.
Eager to see the new version of the card, she placed it into the card slot and began the process. But as she waited, something strange happened; the function completion stalled at 50%. Despite having enough mana, it wasn't progressing any further. A message appeared:
[Current difficulty: The progress of magic is unclear. It is recommended to add relevant knowledge and refine the progress of all magic at the apprentice level.]
Lyra frowned. This issue felt eerily similar to her earlier problem with magic grading. The card couldn't track her magic progress because 'she' didn't fully understand it herself. She had no idea how to measure the incremental steps of learning various types of magic at the apprentice level. If she didn't know the process, how could the card?
"This isn't going to be as easy as figuring out magic power," Lyra realized. As far as she knew, magic users were generally ranked as apprentice, junior, intermediate, or senior. Beyond that, there wasn't a widely accepted system for breaking down magical progress any further. If she wanted her card to track her growth accurately, she'd have to learn each type of magic herself, going deep enough to understand the subtleties of progression.
But that level of mastery was far off, she hadn't even formally begun her magic studies. Knowing it was a long road ahead, Lyra made a decision. She saved the card design in her card-making history, deciding to revisit it when she reached the elementary level in all her magic disciplines.
As the unfinished card in the slot slowly dissolved, a soft white light flowed into the purple gem set into the card slot. The {Card Book} displayed an updated status:
[Stored Energy: 50 Mana]
Lyra's eyes widened. So that's what the purple gem did; it stored energy for future card-making. Curious, she placed her finger on the gem and carefully began to channel her magic power into it. This time, the suction was much gentler, allowing her to maintain control. When she lifted her finger, she saw the stored energy increase from 50 mana to 51 mana. Her own magic had dropped slightly, leaving her with 143 points of mana.
"Looks like I can store magic in the gem little by little and use it for card-making later," she thought, pleased with this discovery. However, with only a small reserve of magic power left and school looming the next day, she knew it was time to take a break.
With a satisfied smile, Lyra put her card-making research on pause. She had accomplished more than she had expected tonight, and she was excited to see what tomorrow would bring.