"Wait, I really have 100 points now! Thank you, Senior Irena! I love you the most!"
Aisha couldn't believe that she, in her lifetime, could ever obtain so many spell points. Even though they were borrowed, she couldn't contain her excitement.
"Uh..." Senior Irena felt her heart skip a beat.
"This child... she can say something so impactful without any hesitation."
Watching Aisha's slender figure walk toward the Spell Catalog, Irena felt a mix of joy and reluctance.
As the librarian, Irena always watched Aisha leave before closing the library.
But perhaps today would be the last time.
[Remaining Spell Points: 100]
"Mr. You Ling, which cards should we craft now?"
The magic and trap cards registered in the Spell Catalog were divided into four levels: D, C, B, and A, from lowest to highest.
For example, the [Card Exchange] that Aisha had just crafted today was a D-rank magic card.
These types of magic and trap cards generally didn't have powerful effects. They could only provide basic offensive or defensive boosts, or even if they had strong effects, the cost was extremely high.
The lowest-level D-rank cards required the fewest spell points to craft, only 10 points.
The next level up, C-rank magic and trap cards, had relatively stronger effects.
However, even though they were stronger than D-rank cards, C-rank cards required the duelist to have a clear strategy to truly shine in a duel.
Crafting a C-rank card required 30 spell points.
Although this seemed expensive for Aisha, who only had 100 spell points, there was one magic card that You Ling had been eyeing for a while.
C-Rank Magic Card: [Tri-Wight Zone]
Its effect allowed the special summoning of three normal monsters with 2 stars or lower from the graveyard, making it perfect for Aisha's current deck.
As for B-rank magic and trap cards, they were already beyond Aisha's current means.
Crafting just one required a whopping 100 spell points.
Among them was the iconic [Polymerization] magic card, a representative card of Fusion Academy.
Similarly, there were many powerful trap cards that could single-handedly turn the tide of a duel.
Classics like [Mirror Force] and [Magic Cylinder] were also in this category.
Although the allure of such powerful magic and trap cards was strong, they were largely outside You Ling's consideration.
A single card would consume the entire 100-point loan.
Not only would You Ling not consider it, but most first-year students, who typically accumulated only two to three hundred spell points over half a semester, rarely considered crafting B-rank magic and trap cards either.
Did Aisha need a single card that could change the course of a duel right now?
Not really. Adding one powerful card to a deck full of weak monsters would hardly make a difference.
In a deck of at least 40 cards, the duel might be lost before that one card was even drawn.
What Aisha's current deck needed was to quickly increase the number of magic and trap cards and reduce the concentration of pure monster cards.
Therefore, You Ling's current crafting focus had to be on C-rank and D-rank cards, with most being D-rank.
As for the highest-level A-rank cards, they weren't even a consideration.
Crafting just one required a staggering 400 spell points.
Moreover, A-rank magic and trap cards, in You Ling's opinion, were better described as forbidden cards rather than powerful ones.
Most of the cards in the A-rank list were banned in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters tournaments of You Ling's previous world.
Classic examples like [Pot of Greed], [Graceful Charity], and [Painful Choice] all fell under the A-rank category.
Although these cards weren't forbidden in this world, the high crafting cost of 400 points was enough to deter most duelists.
"Anyway, let's start by crafting that C-rank [Tri-Wight Zone]."
"Got it, Mr. You Ling."
[Tri-Wight Zone] Crafting Progress: (30/30)]
[Remaining Spell Points: 70]
With a bold move, Aisha, who had previously hesitated even to craft D-rank cards, experienced the thrill of instantly crafting a C-rank card for the first time.
"It's really a C-rank card, Mr. You Ling! We did it!"
Clutching the magic card that had emerged from the Spell Catalog, Aisha Yuna Carlos obtained her very first C-rank card.
The card art of [Tri-Wight Zone] looked eerie and terrifying, but to Aisha, it shone brightly.
However, in Irena's eyes, what shone even brighter than the C-rank card were the stars overflowing from Aisha's emerald-green eyes.
"Then what next? What other cards should we craft, Mr. You Ling?" Aisha asked eagerly.
"One C-rank card is already a heavy burden. To effectively increase the number of magic and trap cards in your deck, we'll use the remaining spell points to craft D-rank cards."
With the remaining 70 spell points, plus the [Card Exchange] Aisha had crafted earlier, that would make a total of 8 D-rank cards.
It was no exaggeration to say that, compared to Aisha's previous deck of pure weak monsters that had no chance of winning, this new deck at least had a "probability of victory."
However, using the remaining 70 spell points to craft 7 D-rank cards sounded simple, but it was a time-consuming task.
After all, selecting the best 7 cards from the vast sea of D-rank cards to use against Kevin Seto required very careful consideration.
"The real battle starts now. Be prepared, Aisha."
"Leave it to me, Mr. You Ling!"
For the entire afternoon, Aisha, like a puppet robot completely obedient to You Ling's commands, tirelessly flipped through the D-rank catalog, selecting one card after another.
[D-Rank Trap Card: "Trickery" Crafting Progress: (10/10)]
[Remaining Points: 0]
By the time Aisha successfully crafted the last D-rank trap card, the sun had long since set.
Snapping out of her focus, Aisha was surprised to realize how late it had gotten.
Although it was a boarding school, Fusion Academy's library wasn't open at night. After club activities ended and the sun went down, the library would close.
And now, it was well past the library's closing time.
The quiet, empty surroundings confirmed that all the other students had already left.
In the dimly lit library, only the faint light above Aisha's head and the librarian's desk remained.
The soft yellow light made Irena's delicate features even more captivating.
"Senior Irena, were you waiting for me?"
"I saw how focused you were, so I didn't want to disturb you. How did the crafting go?"
"It went really well, but I ended up taking up your time."
"It's fine. I happened to have a book I wanted to read a bit longer today, so it wasn't a bother."
Smiling, Irena gently closed the book in front of her.
"But it is quite late now. Before heading back to the dorm, would you like to grab dinner together?"
"Dinner together? With Senior Irena?"
Aisha was flustered by the unexpected invitation from the renowned Gray Witch of the academy.
"Not willing?" Irena gazed at Aisha, her azure eyes blinking.
"Um..." Aisha scratched her cheek. It wasn't that she was unwilling, but she was more concerned about You Ling's feelings.
"I'm fine. As a soul, I don't seem to need to eat. Aisha, go ahead if you want to," You Ling reassured her, sensing her hesitation.
"I want to go!" Her stomach had already started growling in protest, and after getting You Ling's approval, Aisha immediately nodded in agreement.
"Great, dinner's on me tonight. Let's go to that popular magic restaurant in the academy."
Putting on her wide witch's hat, Irena flashed a bright smile and pushed open the library doors.