Card Apprentice Daily Log

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Five Regions, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City

Hearing Lorn’s answer Dyke remained silent for a good while.

Now that he had a basic understanding of how the New Empire’s merit system worked, he couldn’t help but feel that his prestigious title as the number-one Mythic Card Creationist of the Five Regions had suddenly become considerably less useful than he had imagined.

The problem wasn’t that his skills had lost value. If anything, they were more valuable than ever. The problem was the Unranked Grimoire. It was simply priceless. Especially, to give away to an outsider with no loyalties.

As Lorn had pointed out, an Unranked Grimoire could only be earned within the New Empire. And, ultimately, there was one more factor, the False Ruler. Or, as Dyke was beginning to reluctantly acknowledge, the Ruler.

That realization made Dyke’s situation painfully clear. Outside the New Empire, his title gave him tremendous status. Inside the New Empire, however, status alone couldn’t buy him what he wanted.

He could spend decades earning merits through his Card Creation skills, risk his life on dangerous missions, or accept a century-long contract and receive the Unranked Grimoire immediately. At this point, to him, they seemed one and the same.

Dyke slowly glanced at the Unranked Grimoire in the Ruler’s possession, his eyes turned resolute as he said, “Your highness, I will accept the century long employment contract and also apply to acquire New Empire’s citizenship.”

There was more behind Dyke’s initial hesitation. He wasn’t afraid of working for the New Empire. He was afraid of tying himself to a nation that might not even exist a few months from now. Joining the New Empire for a century felt like buying a cruise ticket for the Titanic after watching the movie before transmigrating into it.

Yes, the New Empire was powerful. Yes, its Ruler was clearly no ordinary Card Apprentice. But wars weren’t won by strength alone. The Five Regions’ long history was proof of that.

Countless powerful Card Apprentices had challenged the Masters and Royal Families over the centuries. Some had possessed strength that could shake entire regions, yet they had still accomplished little or ended up dead, defeated, imprisoned, or forgotten.

Dyke had always believed the New Empire and its young Ruler would eventually face the same reality. Power could create a nation. Keeping it alive was another matter entirely.

Yet, Dyke ultimately chose to tie himself to the New Empire, even going so far as to apply for citizenship. It wasn’t because he had suddenly stopped worrying about the New Empire’s survival. It was because of its leadership.

He had to sign a century-long employment contract to receive an Unranked Grimoire immediately, while many of the Empire’s existing leaders could potentially earn one simply by continuing to perform their regular duties.

Dyke couldn’t complain about that. Their circumstances were fundamentally different.

They had joined the New Empire before it had secured its position, before it had established itself as a true power, and despite the fact that the Five Regions officially declared it an enemy state.

They had taken the risk when there was no guarantee the New Empire would survive.

They had invested their strength, resources, reputations, and futures into building it.

They had helped turn the Ruler’s vision into the New Empire that stood before him now.

Dyke, on the other hand, had arrived after seeing the finished product and being tempted by the rewards. Put simply, they were the actual passengers who had boarded the ship from the beginning. He was little more than a hitchhiker trying to climb aboard after seeing where it was headed.

That was why he couldn’t begrudge them their rewards. If anything, he understood why the Ruler valued them so highly.

Beyond all of that, there was another, more personal reason Dyke was willing to go this far. He wanted to be part of the New Ruler’s legend.

The man had discovered Silver Milk Powder, created the first card recipe capable of digesting soul energy, created the VR-Universe, and now apparently possessed the means to recreate the legendary Unranked Grimoire.

Each of these achievements made Dyke’s pride in his mastery of the Card Creation and Soul Craft like the frog in a bottom of the well. He felt that if were to be with someone like him his mastery of the Card Creation and Soul Craft would continue to grow.

Therefore, despite everything he knew, despite all the reasons he had given himself to remain cautious, there was a voice deep within his soul that refused to stay quiet.

Show me more.

Show me how ignorant I really am.

Show me what else I’ve been missing.

Show me, goddammit.

It wasn’t fear driving him anymore. It was his passion for the card creation. The kind that had kept him obsessed with Card Creation even at the cost of his life. For the first time in a very long time, Dyke felt like he was standing at the foot of a mountain he hadn’t even known existed. And he wanted to climb it.

If he was going to do it he didn’t want to do it as a hitchhiker but as one of them, as the Citizen of the New Empire.

“Alright, I’ve shared the contract with your Grimoire. Here’s your Unranked Grimoire,” I said, tossing the Grimoire toward Dyke, as if it was worth nothing. “As for your citizenship, Lorn will help you with that. Anything else?”

Dyke caught the Grimoire, but instead of immediately storing it away, he held it carefully in both hands. His eyes lingered on its crystal cover for a moment before he looked back at me, requesting, “Your Majesty, if it won’t be an inconvenience, I would like to see the strongest card you have ever created.”

There was a mixture of nervousness and anticipation in his voice.

I smiled. He had finally asked. Honestly, I had expected him to ask much earlier, perhaps the moment I offered him the employment contract. Yet, he had restrained himself until now.

For someone whose reputation painted him as an arrogant genius who looked down on everyone around him, Dyke was surprisingly different in person. He wasn’t arrogant about his abilities. If anything, he seemed almost self-conscious about them.

Perhaps centuries of being compared, challenged, praised, and criticized had taught him to be painfully aware of where his abilities ended. Or perhaps that was simply what separated a true genius from someone who merely believed himself to be one.

Either way, I was beginning to find Demigod Dyke far more interesting than I had expected.

…

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