More than five hundred years ago, Rosenberg, the founder of card theory, first proposed his theory and successfully made the first card. Over the five hundred years that followed, cards of every kind emerged in an endless stream. Before that, large numbers of primitive card prototypes had existed within various religions, where they were regarded as manifestations of supernatural power. Even now, some religions still had many extraordinarily skilled Card Masters and Card Adepts. Their origins reached back beyond even Rosenberg's era, and their traditions in this field were all the more mysterious and little known.
But it was Rosenberg's sudden emergence that utterly shattered the mystical halo surrounding cards. He systematically researched and explained card structures, and invented many cards himself. The standard structure of today's Energy Cards, for instance, had first been proposed by Rosenberg. With the veil of mystery surrounding cards torn away, card studies became a new academic discipline.
Around three hundred years ago, another great Card Crafter, Hainer Vincent, ushered card development into its golden age. The year Hainer Vincent was born happened to fall exactly two hundred years after Rosenberg formally proposed card theory. It was as though the two greatest Card Crafters of those five centuries were echoing one another across time.
The era in which Hainer Vincent lived was an age that produced heroes in abundance. Over that century, countless cards were invented by gifted Card Crafters. Hainer Vincent, a master Card Crafter whose fame rivaled Rosenberg's, spearheaded the invention of as many as ninety-seven types. Many other master Card Crafters whose names would become famous in later generations also emerged during that period, including Luo Qi and Che Moxihe.
After so many years of development, card studies had long since become utterly different from what it had been five hundred years earlier. The entire discipline had grown more finely divided, with numerous branches and increasingly profound research.
When the Tianyou Federation established normal diplomatic relations with the Mohadi Domain and the Hundred Abyss Prefecture, its card theory spread into both regions. Their outstanding talents swiftly absorbed it and, drawing on their own regions' characteristics, developed unique card theories suited to each. Thus, the system of card theory was further enriched and expanded, while new cards emerged in an endless stream. It was a brilliant, glorious age, one that countless people yearned for deeply.
As the system of card theory continued to develop and all manner of strange cards appeared, classifying cards became increasingly difficult. Even now, there was no authoritative method of classification.
Still, there was one method that was both the simplest and most direct for finding out exactly what a card did: use it!
Using a card required a Wrist Device. As it happened, the Wrist Device had also been invented by Rosenberg, the founder of card theory, and perfected in Hainer Vincent's hands. Although modern Wrist Devices had grown increasingly sophisticated and acquired more and more auxiliary functions—Chen Mu's, for example, had a searchlight—their core had not changed in the slightest.
Viewed from the outside, a Wrist Device was a rectangular box with three fastening straps that secured it to the arm. Slots at the top were used to activate cards. Generally speaking, a Wrist Device had at least two slots, and the more advanced it was, the more slots it had. Of the two slots, one held a basic card such as an Energy Card, while the other held whatever card the user wanted to use. Put simply, a Wrist Device connected an Energy Card to another card. The Energy Card supplied the energy to activate that card, allowing it to be used.
Chen Mu's Wrist Device was certainly nothing fancy. What fancy equipment could a little over two hundred Odi buy? Although Wrist Devices were extremely common, Chen Mu rarely had occasion to use his.
Without hesitation, he inserted the card into the upper slot of his Wrist Device, then selected an unused One-Star Energy Card and inserted it into the lower slot. Once he had finished, Chen Mu took a deep breath and pressed the activation button on the surface of the Wrist Device.
"Beep!"
A translucent screen suddenly appeared before Chen Mu, displaying a line of text.
Energy Card does not meet specifications. Please use an Energy Card rated three stars or higher!
A Three-Star Energy Card! It actually needed an Energy Card rated three stars or higher! Astonishment written all over his face, Chen Mu was now certain that this was a genuine high-grade card. Generally, the higher a card's grade, the higher the grade of Energy Card it required, and the faster it consumed energy. Chen Mu knew that much.
But now Chen Mu faced a dilemma. He had no Three-Star Energy Card on hand. If he wanted to find out exactly what kind of card this was, he would have to buy one. But the price of a Three-Star Energy Card was no small sum!
A One-Star Energy Card had an energy capacity of one hundred units, a Two-Star Energy Card held one thousand, and a Three-Star Energy Card held as many as ten thousand.
The standard retail price of a One-Star Energy Card was one hundred and ten Odi, meaning an average cost of 1.1 Odi per unit of energy. A Two-Star Energy Card cost one thousand two hundred and fifty Odi, averaging 1.25 Odi per unit. A Three-Star Energy Card sold for as much as fifteen thousand Odi, averaging 1.5 Odi per unit of energy.
That was why One-Star Energy Cards saw the widest use. After all, poor people still made up the largest share of the world.
Over the past three years, he had scrimped on food and other expenses and worked day and night, yet his entire savings amounted to only eighty thousand Odi. Spending fifteen thousand Odi in one go made him deeply hesitant. Having lived on the streets since childhood, he valued money more than most people did, because he knew it was the very foundation of survival.
After a long struggle, reason finally overcame impulse, and Chen Mu decided to put the card aside for a while. He did not throw away the two thin films that had been stuck to it, either, but stored them safely.
Life settled back into its peaceful routine, except that Chen Mu had acquired a new habit. Every day, he could not help taking out the card and turning it over in his hands. Whenever he examined it, he became absorbed in its intricate, flawless structural pattern.
But life had to go on. Nor had he accomplished nothing during this time: he had successfully incorporated the loop compression structure from another One-Star Energy Card with a different design into his own structure. This reduced the cost of making his One-Star Energy Cards by another two Odi. In other words, his daily income was now fifty Odi higher than before.
The structure of the One-Star Energy Cards he now made could be said to differ considerably from the standard design, but without a careful examination, it was hard to tell. And who would carefully study a One-Star Energy Card they had just bought?
He took out the class pass Uncle Hua had given him last time. According to the date, the class was today.
The training class was held in a building beside East Guard Academy. Chen Mu had originally assumed that few people would attend, but when he entered the classroom, he found it filled with noise. The students were all teenage boys and girls. Young people naturally became friendly in no time, and they gathered in groups of three or five, laughing, teasing, and having the time of their lives.
Chen Mu picked a seat by the window at random and sat down. Years of life on the streets had taught him a thing or two about reading faces and expressions. One quick glance told him that these students probably all came from ordinary families. It made sense: if their families had money, why would they send their children to such a low-level training class? They would send them to East Guard Academy instead.
He gazed out the window at East Guard Academy, separated from him by only a wall. From his seat, he had an unobstructed view of its grounds. Neat, clean uniforms, smiles brimming with confidence, and courteous greetings exchanged between students-the bearing of East Guard Academy's students was a refreshing sight.
For some inexplicable reason, Chen Mu felt a little uncomfortable, and a trace of bitterness quietly rose in his heart. He withdrew his gaze and sat in a daze for a while. When he came back to himself, he could not help breaking into a rueful smile.
What's gotten into me? Three years ago, I probably couldn't have dreamed of living like this. What do I still have to be dissatisfied about? He silently reminded himself that he had to be content. He was already very fortunate!
Having worked through that thought, Chen Mu turned his gaze back toward East Guard Academy. A faint envy still lingered in his eyes, but they were remarkably calm.
Just then, the instructor entered the classroom, and the room immediately fell silent.
The instructor was a young man in his twenties named Jia Ming. His looks were unremarkable, but he had a very slick tongue. Right from the start, he launched into a long speech about how he was a direct disciple of Professor Jia Ziling of East Guard Academy, how he had a partnership with the academy, and how finding a job would be a simple matter once everyone completed the course, and so on. His boasts and stirring promises made the students' eyes shine.
Chen Mu, however, listened with a frown. Life on the streets since childhood had given him an understanding of the world that these boys and girls could not begin to match. To him, this instructor looked far more like a swindler than a Card Crafter.
That round of boasting took up a full half of the morning.
Half the morning left Chen Mu deeply disappointed. Jia Ming did nothing but read straight from the textbook. Over the past three years, Chen Mu had been studying on his own, reading at least a hundred books on the fundamentals, many of which he knew inside out. He even knew that what Jia Ming was reading from was the 04 edition of Introduction to the Fundamentals of Card Theory, compiled by Wang Jing and widely used by academies.
He had read that book no fewer than ten times, but because his grounding was so poor, there were still many passages he did not quite understand.
He soon focused his attention on the lecture.
Time to pick up the pace! There's another installment this afternoon! Everyone, send every vote you have flying in like rays of light~
(End of chapter)