The Card Apprentice

Chen Mu shook his head, “I haven’t done a thing for a while.” During this ‘while’, he was working hard digesting basic theory about the token card.

“So, what have you been busy with these few days?” It seemed to Copper that he had heard something utterly inconceivable. He sat up and looked at Chen Mu. He understood his friend well. He didn’t goof off, which is to say that he didn’t even have the concept of playing in his head. In Copper’s head, Chen Mu seemed like someone who had never known fatigue, had never known being fed up, who put his heart and soul into making progress in his study of fantasy cards, while basically falling well short in any efforts to make progress toward having a good youth.

Yet today he heard Chen Mu unexpectedly say that there had been a time during which he didn’t touch a fantasy card. How would that not make him surprised?

Chen Mu was silent and didn’t say a thing. He didn’t know how to explain what had happened.

Copper knew that Chen Mu’s look clearly said that he didn’t want to talk. If Chen Mu didn’t want to talk, Copper believed that there was basically no one in the world who could pry a word out of him.

“OK, don’t make that stinky face, if you won’t talk, we’ll drop it. Who cares? So, do you have something you made before? Let me have a look.” Copper intentionally lightened up.

The pair of friends were like that. When they were indignant about something, they couldn’t help venting, and whenever the other one was feeling bad, it was as though they felt bad themselves, and they didn’t want to throw hail on top of snow, to make a bad situation worse, or a face go bitter.

Chen Mu tossed a fantasy card to Copper, “Here, this one.”

“Hey, why don’t I get some of the big wigs from the card show world to come and check out the fantasy cards you made? Let me tell you, I have a poison eye and when I tear something apart, people go away broken hearted.” Copper was both showing off and thrown for a loop getting the fantasy card that Chen Mu had tossed him.

“Ha, the historic moment has finally arrived . . . ” Copper kept talking while clumsily putting the fantasy card into the slot of his own apparatus.

Seeing Copper’s clumsy action, Chen Mu couldn’t quite bear to watch. He was puzzled. Hadn’t this guy always been extremely coordinated?

He couldn’t tell if what was going on with him now was related to coordination, agility, strength, or his eyesight, but compared to before, it was like he was a different person. But he then quickly decided that Copper’s clumsiness didn’t make sense. It wasn’t that Copper had become clumsy, but rather that his level of expectation had become higher, though he himself hasn’t realized it.

Copper pressed the activation button.

A huge monster floated into being suddenly, nearly filling the whole room. It was a dragon! A fiery dragon! Its long body circled and danced in the air, staring right into him with those deep red eyes, as though it wanted to penetrate to his very soul. A cold shiver went right up Copper’s spine.

“Oh Mama!!” Copper’s eyes rolled up into his head, and he fainted.

Chen Mu looked speechlessly at the fainted Copper. It had never occurred to him that a one-star fantasy card could scare a person – literally – out of his wits.

He went over bedside Copper, and turned off the apparatus, ‘done!’. The terrifying flame-blasting dragon immediately vanished from the air.

Chen Mu didn’t rouse Copper but sat down beside him. Too bad he didn’t have any Sapphire Cloud Running Water. Chen Mu felt a little regret. He sat calmly, indulging his own thoughts and feelings. Tranquil and without regret, Chen Mu was really no different from a blockhead.

Copper slowly revived after more than ten minutes.

As soon as he came to, another wave went up his spine. He looked around, with some traces of fear still on his face. “Blockhead, did you just see that? What kind of a thing was that?”

“Mmm, I saw it.” The expression on Chen Mu’s face didn’t change a bit. “That was a flame blasting dragon, derived from a three-star battle-style fantasy card.”

“Whoa! Three-star battle card?” The expression on Copper’s face suddenly went blank. After ten seconds, he suddenly turned his head, and dumbfoundedly asked. “When did you become a card artisan?”

“I haven’t, that’s a one-star fantasy card, and that fiery dragon is nothing but an illusion, without any power to cause harm.” Chen Mu explained, although since the card he had made himself had gone so far as to make someone pass out, he was feeling a little proud of himself.

“Illusion?” Copper stared blankly for a while, after which he shook out his head, hard. “Impossible. How could there be such sharp illusion? Don’t mess with me, Blockhead. You know what I do? I make card plays! Every day, all I do is engage with illusions. I can tell at a glance if something is an illusion. That was certainly no illusion!” Copper came to his verdict with an extremely categorical tone.

“When did you become a card artisan? You have three-star cards? The cost of playing with those is not cheap, eh?” Copper looked dubious.

Chen Mu didn’t feel like explaining but walked over to Copper’s side and turned on his wrist apparatus again.

“Grab it and find out!” Chen Mu tossed out the phrase.

That vividly lifelike fiery dragon appeared once again.

Copper still jumped, but he was a lot calmer than the last time, except that his calf was quaking. He took a look at Chen Mu, to see if he seemed like he was kidding, and then Copper timidly reached out his hand to touch this huge dragon.

What he grabbed was air.

“Yi!” Copper was dumbstruck by the feeling of nothingness in his waving hand. It really was an illusion. And so, he let his heart which was in his throat go back down. Once he had relaxed again, he built up a heavy interest in this fiery dragon illusion. He walked all around the fire-blasting dragon illusion, with clucks of admiration coming out of his mouth from time to time.

“Good Lord! It really looks like it; no difference at all from the real thing! I had no idea that your skill had gotten so far, Old Mu, you blockhead. It really terrified me!” Copper was really excited and couldn’t stop talking.

Not really caring so much about Copper’s praise, Chen Mu responded with a sigh, and lay down on the bed.

Copper watched for a full ten minutes, and then, very reluctant to let it go, pulled out the fantasy card. He turned around, with his face still full of delight.

“I have an idea, Blockhead!” In Chen Mu’s eyes, Copper was still in state of excitement.

Chen Mu responded slowly, “What is your idea?”

“Why don’t we make a card play?” Copper moved closer and looked at Chen Mu with anticipation.

Chen Mu looked carefully at Copper, and saw that he was serious; he didn’t seem to be making a joke. After thinking a while, he opened his mouth, “Copper, I don’t know a thing about card plays, I wouldn’t be able to make one.”

Copper wasn’t a bit discouraged, “Blockhead, being able to make your one-star fantasy card come so far, card images are not going to be a problem for you. I believe that it wouldn’t take you very long to learn about card plays. It would be much simpler than what you’ve done with this fiery dragon illusion from a one-star fantasy card. I can do the marketing and the screenwriting, and all you need to do is the card images. I’ve been muddling along for quite a while in this place, and I know its ways very well. Blockhead, you have this strength! I do too! We should collaborate!” Copper’s words came out with intense self-confidence.

Chen Mu lowered his head to think. Ever since Uncle Hua’s passing, he hadn’t had any source of income. Perhaps making card-plays wasn’t such a bad choice . . .