"Yan'er, why the long face? If something's troubling you, tell your big sister. Don't bottle it up." A woman's voice rang out.
Soft and melodious, it was lovely to listen to. Chen Mu couldn't help making that judgment, but he had no intention of opening his eyes. Such things no longer held any attraction for him.
He had once seen an exceptionally beautiful woman viciously stomping and grinding her high heels into a fellow street child, cursing him all the while. He had never imagined that such a lovely voice could spit out what he then considered almost the vilest words in the world. And all because his companion had accidentally dirtied her high heels while begging for food.
His companion had been only six at the time, and he had been eight. Without thinking, he had lunged at her without hesitation, trying to knock the beautiful woman away. Unfortunately, he had been too young. In the end, both boys had been left covered in countless small bruises. That same winter, his companion had left him, never to wake again. That winter had been too cold.
Ever since, whenever he heard a woman's sweet voice, he couldn't help recalling that scene.
Chen Mu frowned slightly, then relaxed his brow. He told himself it wasn't worth letting this voice spoil his good mood.
But the two voices kept worming their way into his ears.
"Big sister, I don't know what's wrong. I just can't make a Blue-Skinned Rabbit Illusion Card. I've tried so many times, but it never works! My Perception is the best in class! But I'm the only one who still hasn't made an Illusion Card!" The clear, youthful voice was utterly dejected.
It was a little girl. Even without opening his eyes, Chen Mu could roughly guess her age. She couldn't have been older than twelve.
"Yan'er, tell me what it feels like when you're making a card." Her older sister gently coaxed her.
"Ugh, I can't really explain it. It just feels like the pen in my hand won't do what I want. I remember the structure perfectly, but when I try to make it, I can't finish."
Lying on the ground, Chen Mu suddenly opened his eyes. Though his back was to the sisters, he strained his ears, afraid of missing a single word. The little girl's problem was almost exactly the same as his!
"Don't worry, Yan'er. One-Star Illusion Cards are very simple. You're so clever, I'm sure you can do it." After encouraging her little sister, she began explaining the key point. "Yan'er, you've never made cards before. Even though your Perception is strong, it's perfectly normal to lack experience. A lot of teachers don't explain this very clearly, either. We don't use Perception to control how the materials bond. We use it to induce that bonding. It's like a catalyst; it only guides them. The actual changes in bonding still depend on the physical properties of the materials themselves. Do you understand, Yan'er?"
A thunderclap seemed to ring out in Chen Mu's mind, lighting everything up at once. Induce... induce... induce. So that's how it worked! All his problems seemed to unravel in that instant.
By the time Chen Mu got up, the sisters were nowhere to be seen. He had no idea they had left more than an hour ago, or that he had spent over an hour lost in thought.
Unable to wait another moment, he broke into a run. If only I had a flying card, I could fly straight home!
He sprinted the entire way, practically crashing through the door. The moment he entered his room, he sat down at the table and bent over his work, beginning to make a One-Star Illusion Card. Confidence filled his heart now. He had a feeling that this time, he would definitely succeed!
Taking a deep breath to settle the turmoil inside him, Chen Mu slowly calmed himself.
Once his excitement had subsided, he took a blank card and laid it in front of him, then gently picked up his pen with his right hand.
Without hesitation, the tip touched the card's surface.
Clear and effortless, his hair-fine Perception enveloped the pen tip. It was like gliding over perfectly smooth ice, without the slightest resistance.
Chen Mu completed the entire structural pattern in one uninterrupted sweep, no longer feeling even the faintest trace of difficulty. The sensation was marvelous!
Proudly setting the finished card before him to examine it, Chen Mu was filled with a sense of accomplishment. The world truly was full of wonders. Only a thin sheet of window paper had stood in his way; once he poked through it, he had entered a whole new realm!
He inserted the finished card into the slot in his Wrist Device and pressed the activation button.
A fist-sized ball of light floated in midair before Chen Mu, warm and glowing with soft white light.
Excited, Chen Mu reached out a finger and gently touched the ball of light. His finger sank into it as though passing through air. The ball was merely an intangible form, or rather an image, not a real physical object. This was the defining feature of low-level Illusion Cards. High-level Illusion Cards, however, could use energy to simulate solid objects. That was the most fundamental difference between low-level and high-level Illusion Cards.
Successfully making the One-Star Illusion Card finally released the tightly drawn string inside Chen Mu. Working day and night lately had pushed his body dangerously close to its limits. Now that he had relaxed, boundless sleepiness immediately engulfed him.
He slept for two full days and nights, until hunger finally dragged him awake.
After waking, Chen Mu found whatever food he could and filled his stomach.
He sat down at the table out of habit, but found himself at a loss. He had successfully conquered the greatest problem that had weighed on his mind: making a One-Star Illusion Card. Any further progress with One-Star Illusion Cards would simply be a matter of refinement. That was slow work, requiring steady effort day after day before he could achieve anything.
Making Illusion Cards had been Chen Mu's dream. Now that he had fulfilled it, he felt rather lost. Two-Star Illusion Cards? The principles behind making them were no different from those of One-Star Illusion Cards. They wouldn't pose a problem for him.
For a moment, Chen Mu felt as though he had lost his goal. Once, One-Star Illusion Cards had seemed so far beyond his reach, and he had worked tirelessly toward that dream. He had never considered what he should learn after mastering their creation.
Forget it. Life still has to be lived one day at a time. I should keep making One-Star Energy Cards. I've spent so much money lately, and my savings have shrunk badly. It's time to build them back up.
Taking a card, Chen Mu was just about to begin making a One-Star Energy Card when he suddenly remembered the mysterious card.
His pen stopped in midair.
The mysterious card seemed to possess a strange magic. No matter what he did, he couldn't drive it from his mind.
Putting down his pen, Chen Mu took the card from his drawer. The intricate, spiderweb-like silver structural pattern on its surface had long since vanished. Now, countless silver dots, some large and some small, some dim and some bright, covered the pitch-black card. Every time Chen Mu looked at it in its current state, it gave him a faint illusion of boundless vastness.
Vastness. What a strange feeling! Chen Mu smiled wryly at himself.
(End of chapter)