A Calamity of My Own Making?!

"Ah, forget it. No point thinking so much. I'm practically starving to death now. I should figure out how to get out of this hellhole first."

A rumbling growl from Raymond's stomach interrupted his thoughts.

He had not eaten a proper meal in several days.

The food stored in the warehouse had rotted under the combined effects of corpses and the plague, giving off a pungent stench.

Forget eating it—even getting close enough to smell it would make someone vomit.

Still, to ease his hunger, Raymond carefully took a small paper packet from his satchel. After opening it, he placed a clear, crystalline piece of candy into his mouth and closed his eyes, savoring the sweetness on his tongue.

The candy had originally been a small gift from a beautiful sixteen-year-old female apprentice more than two months ago, given in an attempt to please him, the tower master's most favored disciple.

Because he happened to be losing his baby teeth at the time and did not like sweets much, it had fortunately been preserved until now, becoming the only thing he could use to stave off hunger and replenish his energy.

After all, aside from Astar, no third person knew Raymond's true age. Everyone treated him as a child under ten.

Since this misunderstanding brought him plenty of extra benefits and conveniences, he had no intention of correcting it.

Unfortunately, when the plague broke out, that likable female apprentice had quickly become one of the first to die.

Raymond had mourned her for quite some time because of it.

Until he accidentally discovered that he himself was the source of this plague...

A calamity of my own making?

Raymond never would have believed, even in his dreams, that a single sneeze from him had caused the deaths of countless thousands and driven such a flourishing magical civilization toward destruction.

Fortunately, after some research, he discovered that he did not constantly release massive amounts of mutated bacteria and viruses into the surrounding environment.

When his body remained healthy, his immune system formed an incredibly delicate and complex symbiotic relationship with them, as though they were playing a game of cat and mouse.

Neither his saliva, blood, nor excrement was contagious.

But once he fell ill, the viruses and bacteria suppressed by his immune system immediately became active, reproducing and multiplying at an astonishing rate until they eventually turned into a terrifying plague that swept through every living thing around him.

As the candy slowly melted in his mouth, traveled down his esophagus, and entered his digestive system to be converted into the energy his body needed, his intense hunger not only failed to subside but grew even stronger.

Left with no choice, Raymond gulped down half a cup of water to fool his digestive system, then quickly left the gloomy, terrifying basement and came to the windowsill of a public lounge in the middle levels of the tower.

After briefly sensing the proportions of the various energies in the surrounding environment, he immediately drew out a blank card covered in mysterious symbols and used the power of his Spark to drain every last bit of mana from his mana pool.

Instantly!

The sky above the Floating City, previously dim beneath a shroud of negative energy, seemed to be torn open by an invisible hand.

A blinding pillar of light descended from the heavens and fell above the tower!

BOOM!!!!!!!

Under the infusion of such powerful energy, patterns and words gradually appeared on the blank card.

Land Card: Floating City Tower

LV2 Colorless Card (Upgradeable)

Card Quality: Common

Effect: When this card takes effect, it can directly provide three points of generic mana and one point of black mana per day. It can also be bound to the Creator profession.

In any other magical world, this profession can recover mana normally and unleash all of its abilities.

Using this card does not consume mana.

If this card's effect is damaged or destroyed by other magical forces, it will automatically enter the graveyard and await rebirth for ten days.

Note: The generic mana from Land Cards can replace any other type of mana. Black mana represents swamps, decay, rot, and death, and is mainly used to create and use black cards.

"Use the Land Card! Permanently bind it to the Creator profession!"

After confirming the card's effects, Raymond activated it without hesitation.

The next second...

The card emitting a faint glow vanished without a trace.

He immediately sensed an energy channel tightly connected to his Spark.

Through this energy channel, he could continuously receive replenishment from the Floating City Tower beneath his feet.

Of course, the price was that his mana pool, which had only just been filled, became 0/100.

There was not a single drop left.

"Not easy! With this Land Card, I can finally run away without worries."

Seeing that the Land Card had taken effect, Raymond let out a long sigh of relief.

He had been deeply worried that the Creator profession he had painstakingly raised to LV5 in this world would become completely useless when he fled to another magical world because it was not bound to a Land Card.

After all, some of the magical items and wondrous objects he had created would immediately become unusable—or extremely dangerous—if he lost the Creator profession.

At the same time, the floating page before him also underwent a slight change.

Current Mission One: Create a Land Card (Completed)

Planeswalker Profession Upgrade Unlocked

New Mission: Escape Desperation (Reward: Three Card Draw Opportunities)

"Escape desperation? And it even rewards three card draw opportunities? It seems the upper passage leading to the temporal gate is filled with dangers capable of threatening my life." Raymond frowned as he stared at the changes in the mission section of the page.

The number of card draw opportunities rewarded was usually directly tied to the danger level of the mission.

Generally speaking, low-risk missions only rewarded one card draw opportunity.

Even a mission like creating a Land Card, which could expose him and lead to serious consequences, had only rewarded two card draw opportunities at most.

So for a mission to reward three card draw opportunities at once, he absolutely had to make sufficient preparations.

With that in mind, Raymond immediately used the two card draw opportunities he had just obtained.

A massive roulette wheel appeared out of thin air on the page, with countless cards spinning rapidly around it.

Since only their backs were visible, he had no idea what the cards actually were.

When the wheel gradually slowed and finally stopped, the two cards closest to its pointer suddenly flipped over. One emitted a pale white glow, while the other gave off black mist.

Creature Card: Human—Light-armored Soldier

LV1 White Card (Upgradeable)

Card Quality: Common

Effect: Summons a soldier with an LV5 warrior class.

This soldier may be a melee unit clad in chainmail, wearing a metal helmet, and wielding a shortsword and leather-covered shield, or an archer equipped with a bow and dressed in leather armor.

Whether melee or ranged, the unit can understand any language you speak and will completely obey every command issued until killed or dismissed.

Using this card requires two points of white mana symbolizing plains and positive energy, or two points of generic mana.

When the summoned soldier is killed, this card automatically enters the graveyard and awaits rebirth for one day.

Magic Card: Wither

LV2 Black Card (Non-upgradeable)

Card Quality: Rare

Effect: When this card is activated, it can release a vast cloud of deathly poison filled with negative energy at any designated location within thirty meters. Duration: thirty seconds.

Any creature that inhales the poisonous cloud, friend or foe, will have its body and internal organs rapidly wither, decay, and die.

The speed of death depends on the creature's size, magic resistance, and vitality.

However, undead creatures are not only completely immune to this spell, but will also slowly recover health within the range of Wither magic.

Using this card requires three points of generic mana, or three points of black mana.

When the Wither spell ends, this card automatically enters the graveyard and awaits rebirth for two days.

"One common creature card and one rare magic card? This draw turned out pretty well. At least it's much better than the last few times."

Raymond looked at the two newly acquired cards in his hand, a pleased smile appearing on his face.

Clearly, when it came to card draws, his luck definitely did not qualify as that of a chosen one, but he was not cursed with terrible luck either.

It was the kind of luck that was good at times and bad at others—balanced karma.

Besides, Raymond had already inherited this Legacy.

The number of cards inside was limited anyway. Even if he could not draw a powerful card now, there would come a day when he could.