Lyra mulled over the idea, estimating that if a card were used on its own, without relying on magic or contracts as a medium, it would function much like a magical artifact. But for her, this didn't seem like a great deal; there would be no benefit in terms of increasing her magic power limit.
Making such cards in large quantities was out of the question. Even with all the mana in the world, it wouldn't be enough to sustain such wasteful expenditure. But perhaps, just perhaps, she could make a few special cards for her closest friends.
"Really?" Sylph and Vasida's eyes sparkled, brighter than the midday sun, as they hung on Lyra's every word.
Caught off guard by their excitement, Lyra hesitated, then gritted her teeth. 'How can I say no to those faces?' she thought. "I'm not sure if the {Book of Cards} can guide the development of talent manifestation cards," she admitted. "But how about I design one and give it a try?"
At least her magic reserves had recovered slightly since last night. And since designing the card would only require 1 mana, it seemed worth the attempt.
Both Sylph and Vasida nodded eagerly, their anticipation palpable.
Lyra carefully laid out her cards and began working, the two witches holding their breath, afraid to break her concentration.
[Card Design: Unnamed Card 2]
- Estimated consumption: Infinite Mana Magic
- Expected appearance: Appearance template 1
- Expected function: After binding, it can guide the witch to develop her own talent embodiment.
"Hmm… strange," Lyra muttered under her breath. She had simply adjusted the wording from her original {Book of Cards} design, swapping "guiding oneself to develop the Book of Cards" with "guiding a witch to develop her talent manifestation." Yet, the mana consumption remained incalculable. 'Maybe I need to set a limit?'
But there was a problem; unlike magic, the manifestation of talent had no standardized levels. 'Wait… witches do have levels.'
She quickly modified the card, specifying the expected function to "guide Vasida (intermediate witch) in developing the Devouring Stomach," and renamed the card {Devouring Stomach}.
This time, the mana consumption finally showed a concrete number 1200 mana, just like her own {Book of Cards}.
Feeling a surge of hope, Lyra summoned the Book of Cards, funneled 1 mana from the purple gem into the card slot, and inserted the design template for {Devouring Stomach}. However, as soon as she saw the difficulties in the card's creation, her heart sank.
[Current difficulties: Insufficient knowledge of the Devouring Stomach. It is recommended to acquire detailed knowledge of the function and development of the Devouring Stomach, or submit a complete sample for analysis.]
Lyra sighed. The issue wasn't simply a lack of knowledge about magical progression; this was something entirely different. With magic, she could eventually learn and understand on her own, given enough time. But the Devouring Stomach was a unique manifestation of Vasida's talent. Even Vasida didn't fully understand it yet, so how could Lyra possibly hope to?
She realized that by the time Vasida truly understood her own talent, there would be no need to make the card at all.
Undeterred, Lyra turned her attention to Sylph and changed the expected function to guide the development of Sylph's {Box of Ten Thousand Species}. But the result was the same.
Lyra couldn't gain the necessary knowledge of her friends' innate talent manifestations before they did. And as for the other suggestion; providing complete samples of the Devouring Stomach or the Box of Ten Thousand Species as material for card-making; that was impossible. These manifestations were one-of-a-kind. There was no second Devouring Stomach, and no duplicate Box of Ten Thousand Species.
It dawned on Lyra why she had been able to create the {Book of Cards} in the first place: the Book of Cards belonged solely to her. Although she didn't fully understand it yet, the Book of Cards knew itself, and that intrinsic connection had allowed her to create the card.
She turned to her friends with a wry smile. "It looks like this is more complicated than I thought," she admitted. "The reason I could create the {Book of Cards} is because it's mine, it's a part of me. Your talents are unique to you, and without fully understanding them, it's impossible to make a card to guide their development."
Sylph and Vasida exchanged glances, then smiled back, understanding. Sylph put a hand on Lyra's shoulder. "It was worth a shot! You've already done so much. One day, we'll figure out our talents just like you did with your Book of Cards."
Vasida nodded. "And when that day comes, we'll all make amazing progress together."
It became clear to Lyra that the Book of Cards required not only her magic power as an energy source to create cards, but also the necessary knowledge. And that knowledge wasn't just theoretical, it included her personal abilities and experiences as well.
For example, with her {Book of Cards}, the knowledge came directly from her connection to the card book itself. In the future, to enhance her understanding of magical progress, she might not need to painstakingly study and quantify every small change in magic levels. She would simply need to learn them for herself, and the Book of Cards would capture and reflect that information.
If the knowledge required was tied to a physical object, like Vasida's Devouring Stomach or Sylph's Box of Ten Thousand Species, Lyra could potentially submit a sample to the Book of Cards to fill in the gaps.
As she pondered these revelations, Vasida noticed her daze and broke the silence. "Lyra, what's wrong? You've been quiet for a while."
Lyra sighed and replied, "It didn't work. I can't create a card that neither I nor the Book of Cards understand."
Sylph smiled warmly and offered some comfort. "That's okay! We can figure things out as we go. Every witch has to face this. Your card is an extension of your talent manifestation, of course it can't be easily used by others."
Vasida nodded in agreement. "Exactly! Even witch magic can only harness part of an innate object's power. Yours is already incredible!"
To their surprise, Lyra wasn't as disheartened as they had expected. "I'm not upset," she said. "Sure, the designs for the {Devouring Stomach} and {Box of Ten Thousand Species} didn't work out, and I couldn't help you two… but I did learn a lot about the rules of card-making through the Book of Cards."
She paused, thoughtful. "It's just that these guidance cards for your talent manifestations are lacking in knowledge support. Once we have that knowledge, I can try again."
With renewed focus, Lyra cleared the card slot, reclaimed the energy, and re-imported the {Character Card - Apprentice} template, this time translating the text into the witches' language. She realized Vasida and Sylph weren't as familiar with the cards as she was, so she added a brief explanation of each card's function.
Lyra then transferred 20 mana from the purple gem, and two new {Character Cards - Apprentice - Unbound} materialized in her hands. With a proud smile, she handed them to her friends.
"Even though I can't make a card to guide your talent manifestation, I 'can' make you character cards. Try binding them!"
Vasida and Sylph eagerly took the cards, and their eyes widened in delight as they realized they could now understand the words on them.
{Character Card} (Unbound)
'Level: Apprentice' (Can be upgraded to Beginner by spending 100 mana or an equivalent energy source)
'Function: After binding, personal information such as name, race, rank, magic power, and magic level will be displayed in real-time.'
[Bind Entry] (Exceeds the card level; cannot bind. Please upgrade first.)
The instructions were clear and easy to follow, and Lyra offered a helpful reminder. "You're both at the intermediate magic level, so you'll need to upgrade your cards to at least intermediate before you can bind them."
Without hesitation, both Vasida and Sylph chose to upgrade their cards.
After spending 100 mana, the cards shifted from apprentice to beginner level. Then, after another 500 mana, the {Character Cards} were upgraded to intermediate level.
Hundreds of magic points were consumed in the process. Vasida, however, quickly replenished her lost magic by drawing energy from the food stored in her Devouring Stomach, so her energy halo remained bright and unchanged.
Sylph, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky, her energy halo dimmed significantly as she drained her reserves.
But in the end, they both succeeded. The binding entrance finally unlocked.