I Swear I'm Not a Demon Masquerading as a Human

Talia tore her gaze away from the card, which shimmered with a lingering purple radiance. A hint of resignation crossed her face as she let out a faint, almost imperceptible sigh.

It had been ages since she last crafted a card, so she had nearly forgotten the glow that accompanied them. The color was particularly vivid when a card was first completed and when it was activated.

The grade of a card largely determined its power, value, and rarity. The lowest grade was Common, corresponding with the color White. These made up the bulk of enchanted cards in circulation. Common cards mostly contained utility spells used for daily life and had very few additional effects, equipment capabilities, or summoning functions.

Blue Uncommon cards boasted complete, practical effects.They were exquisite, polished products that required both steady hands and a masterful skill to produce. Any novice card maker capable of producing cards of this caliber invariably possessed exceptional talent.

In contrast, Purple Rare cards represented a qualitative leap in both value and power that many couldn’t afford. For wealthy nobles and powerful individuals, Purple cards were often pivotal components of their combat builds that complemented their specific profession and strategy. If a card possessed even a few usable secondary effects, it could be an unexpected trump card, regardless of how modest its base stats were.

The average person knew virtually nothing about the grade above rare. After all, to most people, Pink Divine cards were little more than theoretical concepts, treasures far beyond their reach. In a small border city like this one, someone who held a Divine grade card was almost never seen.

The scarcity of these cards stemmed not only from their inherent rarity, but also because one needed to deliberate carefully before soulbinding them. Under normal circumstances, enchanted cards were not permanently bound to their user the moment they were used. However, the higher the card’s grade, the more it cost to sever a soulbond.

A Divine grade card couldn’t be unbound or swapped freely outside of combat like the lower three grades. It required a complex resealing process and doing so inflicted long-lasting damage upon the user.

As for the Orange Epic cards, they represented the highest tier of enchanted cards known to exist within the concepts of the world's living beings. Every Epic card was unique, and they were anchored to the world and woven through history.

Once soulbound, it was almost impossible to sever the connection again. Forcing a separation inevitably inflicted irreversible and devastating damage upon both the user and the card.

White, Blue, and Purple cards offered great flexibility, allowing users to swap them in and out of their rotation based on their tactical needs. Pink and Orange cards, on the other hand, had far greater raw power. However, a person needed to carefully consider whether the card in question was truly suitable. Of course, that was assuming they even had a chance to bind one.

Ancient demonic legends spoke of a card grade above Epic, yet there hasn’t been a single one that has appeared in the last millenia. With the fall of the demon kingdom, all clues regarding such cards had vanished without a trace.

For someone like Talia, a Rare grade card was nothing special. She had personally crafted countless such cards. However, after seeing the type of card Lance had produced, Talia was astonished by its bizarre effects.

In general, a card maker's early works tended to reflect the style that defined their later career. Based on that, even Talia was unable to guess what sort of outrageous creations this fellow might come up with in the future.

She remained silent, lost in her thoughts, and a hush once again settled over the card making workshop. Seeing that she had no intention to speak further, Lance decided not to disturb her. The gentle afternoon sunlight quietly filtered through the clouds, casting the silhouette of the window lattice onto the brown floorboards in a flickering play of light and shadow.

After working himself to the bone in the past two weeks, neglecting his meals. and skimping on sleep, Lance finally began to relax. He leaned back in his chair as a wave of drowsiness washed over him in the quiet of the afternoon.

Time seemed to briefly stand still within the workshop, which was suffused with an odd yet tranquil atmosphere. His inscribing pen, alchemy vessel, and ink bottle were laid out on the workbench, and they felt almost alive, muttering whispers in this strange and wondrous atmosphere.

Just as Lance was on the verge of drifting into sleep, Talia’s voice sounded, soft as the light strum of a harp. It was as cool and detached as ever, devoid of any perceptible emotional inflection. "How old are you?"

Lance looked up and met Talia’s eyes. "I turn seventeen next year."

He had chosen his response carefully. After all, he wasn't sure if stating "sixteen" outright could be judged by Talia as a lie. His physical body was certainly sixteen, but the age of his soul should arguably be calculated based on the years he had lived before transmigrating here.

Talia viewed the young man before her in a new light. She pronounced, "Then it’s not too late for you to learn the art of card making."

Having witnessed firsthand how Lance had progressed from a complete novice to showing signs of genuine proficiency over the past few days, she was certain he truly had little to no prior experience in card making.

She had passed through numerous human kingdoms as she wandered south from the northernmost reaches of the continent. Based on those experiences, she had a gut feeling that this boy named Lance, despite his late start and low professional ranking, was born to be an incredible magical artisan. He was meant to be a card maker.

"Tali, in your opinion, is the card I made any good?"

Lance wore a natural, easygoing smile. There was no hint of showing off in his tone; he simply seemed convinced that Talia possessed extraordinary insight and was sincerely asking for her opinion.

After a brief silence, Talia responded, "If it can be mass-produced, once it hits the market, it could become the next card that everyone needs to have."

Her reasoning was simple. Everyone would want to buy it after seeing its effects. Once the card began to circulate in the market, the very landscape of combat could change. Forcing an enemy to kneel might become more important than the actual outcome of the fight itself.

Furthermore, in a duel, it served as a deterrent of sorts, a kind of unspoken threat. No one wanted to be forced to kneel to their opponent. Therefore, it was a card one might not use, but one certainly couldn't afford to be without it.

Although the mere thought of having to guard against such an infuriating, humiliating spell card in the future made her want to throttle Lance, in the long run, if the landscape of human combat was turned topsy-turvy, it would actually benefit her grand cause of restoring her kingdom.

Therefore, she wouldn't stop Lance from abusing the card to forcefully twist the human enchanted card system and environment.

"How about this?" Lance picked up Basic Etiquette and examined it briefly. A friendly smile danced on his lips as he turned to Talia. "I can’t give you this card, but I’m willing to sell you the next one I make. Given my success rate, it’ll probably take me a few more days of tinkering. I’m busy preparing for the entrance exam right now, so I can only make it for you after I finish."

Though slightly surprised by his response, Talia didn’t hesitate as she asked, "How much?"

However, calling it a question was generous. From the way she spoke, anything phrased as a question came out sounding like a declaration instead.

She knew that before such a card entered general circulation, its scarcity gave it immense value. As a first edition, it even held the value of the "original" itself. Since Lance was willing to sell the second copy to her, it certainly wouldn't be cheap.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!