The Card Apprentice

“Sweetie, why do you look so miserable? What trouble do you have to tell your sister? Don’t keep it all inside!” it was a female voice.

Gentle and sweet, a lovely sound. Chen Mu couldn’t help the assessment, but he had no intention of opening his eyes. This sort of thing no longer held any attraction for him.

He had once had experience with a similarly gorgeous woman, who ruthlessly stomped his street punk companion with her high heels, over and over again, all the while hurling abuse at him. He had never imagined that such a lovely voice could hurl what he considered to be the foulest language on the planet at that time. And the only reason for it was that his companion had carelessly soiled her high heels while begging for food.

His companion was only six at that time, while he was eight. Without thinking, he hurled himself at her without the slightest hesitation, wanting to knock that beautiful woman away. Unfortunately, he was too young. The result of this all was that two people were left with numerous little pockmark bruises. That little street punk buddy of his left him that winter. That winter was too cold, and he never woke up again.

Ever since then, whenever he heard the sweet sound of a female voice, he couldn’t help calling up that scene.

Chen Mu pursed his brow very slightly, and then shortly eased it, telling himself not to let his good mood get wrecked by the sound.

But the sound of the two-people chatting wouldn’t stop piercing his ear.

“I don’t know what is the matter, sis, I just can’t seem to make that blue-skinned rabbit fantasy card. I’ve tried it so many times, and it never works. And my perception is the best in the class. I’m the only one in the whole class who hasn’t been able to make a fantasy card. The cranky voice sounded so disheartened.

It was a little girl. Chen Mu didn’t need to open his eyes to be able to guess the girl’s age, which was certainly not more than twelve.

“Talk to sis, sweetie, what do you feel when you’re making the card?” her older sister asked patiently.

“Oh, I can’t really tell, it’s just that I feel that the pen in my hand won’t take orders. I have the composition clearly in mind, but when I go to make it, I can’t finish it.”

Lying on the grass, Chen Mu’s eyes popped open. Although his back was to these two sisters, his ears stood right up, not wanting to miss a word. That little girl’s issue was identical to his!

“Don’t worry sweetie, a one-star fantasy card is simple, and you’re so smart you can certainly succeed, sweetheart.” The older sister was encouraging her sister at first, and then she started to point out the main points: “Sweetie, you haven’t made a card before, and although your perception is good, you don’t have enough experience, which is common enough. Many of the teachers aren’t very clear on this point. We don’t use perception to control the materials getting along, but rather we encourage the alliance. It’s like an introduction, but it’s really just guidance. And for the transformation toward alliance to really happen, it still depends on the nature of the materials themselves. Do you understand, sweetie?”

It was as though a thunder-bolt went off in Chen Mu’s head, followed by the flash of light. Guidance . . . guidance . . . guidance, all along that was what had been going on. All of the issues seemed suddenly to resolve themselves in that instant.

By the time Chen Mu got up, there was no longer any trace of those two sisters. He didn’t even realize that while those two sisters had been gone for over an hour, he had remained at that place pondering freely for over an hour.

He impatiently broke out running – it would be great if he had his own flying card, so he could fly back!

He rushed madly the whole way, and nearly crashed through the door. He sat at the table as soon as he had entered the room, and threw himself into making a one-star fantasy card. His heart was flush with confidence, and he had a sense that this time he would certainly succeed!

Drawing in a deep breath to settle his excitement, Chen Mu calmed himself down little by little.

After waiting for a calm mind, he took out a blank card and placed it in front of him, while lightly taking up the pen with his right hand.

Without any hesitation, the penpoint fell onto the card-face.

Clearly and smoothly, the pen nib – so full of perception and as thin as a hair – slid along as though on the smoothest ice, without the slightest impediment.

He completed the entire composition in a single go, without the slightest feeling of roughness or difficulty. The feeling was splendid!

Pleased, he put the completed card down in front of him to look it over. Chen Mu’s heart was brimming with the feeling of accomplishment. The affairs of this world were indeed endlessly wonderful, but now having broken through a layer of window-paper, he’d arrived at a different realm.

He put this completed card into the slot of the apparatus and pushed the activation button.

A glowing ball the size of his fist floated in space in front of Chen Mu’s face, warmly emitting soft white rays of light. Chen Mu opened his fingers with excitement, and lightly touched the glowing sphere. It was as though they were penetrating air and hadn’t penetrated the glowing sphere. This glowing sphere was but an illusion, which is to say, an image. It certainly wasn’t substantial. That was the characteristic of the low-grade fantasy card, where a high-grade fantasy card could use the power to simulate actual things. That was the essential difference between low-level and high-level fantasy cards.

The success of the one-star fantasy card let those tightly wound bow-strings of Chen Mu loosen up. They’d been about to burst! Those few days of working day and night had brought Chen Mu’s health to the verge of a dangerous state. The loosening up immediately left Chen Mu submerged in an endless sleepiness.

That bout of sleeping lasted through two days and nights, until in the end he was simply awakened by hunger.

After waking up, Chen Mu went searching haphazardly for something to fill his belly.

Used to sitting in front of his desk, Chen Mu felt a little dazed. Having worked straight through on his most important problem, Chen Mu had already pulled off the accomplishment of a one-star fantasy card. To continue working now toward the development of the one-star fantasy card was a knotty problem. It was slow work, requiring that he work night and day on end before realizing any results.

Making fantasy cards had always been Chen Mu’s desire. Now his dream had been realized! He felt a little bit at a loss, though. Two-star fantasy card? There was really no difference in the principles involved in the making of a two-star fantasy card and a one-star fantasy card. As far as he was concerned, that wouldn’t be any trouble.

Chen Mu had momentarily lost his goal. For so long now, the one-star card had seemed so very far away in his eyes, and he had struggled all along for this one desire. He had never considered what he should study after learning how to make a one-star fantasy card.

Forget it. He still had to get through each day. So, he’d continue making one-star power-cards. Since he’d spent a lot of money during that period, and his savings had been seriously shrunken, he would now have to replenish them.

Picking up a card, Chen Mu was just thinking about starting to make a one-star power-card when he suddenly thought about that mysterious card.

The pen stopped in mid-air.

That mysterious card seemed to have some exotic magic. He couldn’t get it out of his mind.

Putting the pen down, Chen Mu took the card out of the drawer. The silver composition on its face, as fine as intricate as a spider’s web, had long since faded away, so that now on the pure black card, there were innumerable small and large, dark and bright, silver dots. Whenever Chen Mu looked at the card, he always had the sense of a vast illusion.

Vast . . . that feeling was really strange. Chen Mu laughed at himself.