Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2553: Lucine’s Gratitude

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Central Region, Central Academic City, Morningstar University District, Morningstar University Campus, Garden of Beginning, Time Vestige, Morningstar University 2nd Campus

One of my long-standing principles was to never take on a job without getting paid. The last time I broke that promise to myself was when I exterminated that Viltronian bastard and his turncoat army of Human–Viltronian hybrids. I faced more than half the humanity to achieve it, to do my part for the right thing—and in the end, all it earned me was a traitorous death.

Yes, my original reason for curing Lucine’s time-rule dementia was to protect my reputation and show Lucine I wasn’t a fraud. Now that I had accomplished that, it was time for me to be compensated. I knew that if I handed Lucine a bill, she would pay it without the slightest hesitation. But being so direct wouldn’t get me the form of payment I actually wanted. So instead, I gave her the perfect reason to reward me with exactly what I had in mind.

Back when Hive AI scanned the entire time vestige with its primordial soul pupils for my plan to build an artificial one of my own, it discovered a hidden section—a vault designed specifically for artificial ego gems. These gems held countless broken and intact runes from various rule systems, including time-rule. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted at first, but after learning that my time-rule resistance came at the price of being unable to comprehend time-rule myself, that temptation had grown into outright greed. Those time-rule runes became the perfect way to compensate for my lack of comprehension of time-rule.

Yes, activating time-rule runes would require time-rule power, and I had none, since I hadn’t begun my comprehension of time-rule. But I possessed something far better—primordial energy. Using primordial energy openly would be risky, of course, but that was a problem I could solve later.

The tricky part was getting my hands on quality time-rule runes. Outside of extremely rare and unpredictable circumstances, Morningstar University was practically the only source for them in the entire card world. I could technically buy them through the Devil Merchant Code, but time-rule runes were scarce there, and even if I did manage to find one, the price would be astronomical—unless it came from a common time-rule meaning, which was practically useless to me.

Naturally, my attention kept drifting back to Morningstar University’s vault full of artificial ego gems.

”What? How did you know about them?” Lucine gasped, genuinely shocked. Even among the core members of the university aware of the second Morningstar campus hidden inside the time vestige, almost none knew about the vault—let alone the trove of time-rule runes stored within it.

Only a tiny handful of people, mostly the members of the time-vestige council, knew of its existence. It was their ancestral wealth, accumulated over generations and reserved exclusively for Morningstar University’s most exceptional researcher and guardian-card apprentices.

They were a university, not a militia, so this was the only reliable way for them to maintain the number of guardians needed to protect Morningstar University. After all, even with access to the time vestige, they couldn’t guarantee that every talented student would comprehend the time-rule to a satisfactory level.

Henricks was the perfect example. His comprehension of space-rule meanings was unmatched across the five regions, yet when it came to the time-rule, he moved at a snail’s pace. For disciples like him, Morningstar University had prepared these runes.

And it wasn’t just time-rule runes—there were runes for every rule. Not all card apprentices were as fortunate as I was. Even if they had the talent, they didn’t have the time to master every rule. So they would abandon certain rules and rely on these runes to compensate whenever necessary.

”Like I told you earlier, even if you hadn’t revealed anything to me, I would’ve deduced it sooner or later,” I said, letting a smug, knowing look settle on my face. I enjoyed the shock on Lucine’s features—right before it twisted into conflicted regret. She realized she had walked straight into my trap, and she couldn’t help staring at me because of it.

”Wyatt, ask for something else,” Lucine pleaded, her expression tightening painfully. ”Those runes are the legacy of the university’s brave and generous teachers and students—the ones who were willing to strip their runes and entrust them to the university before their deaths. They’re not something we can trade. They can’t be given to an outsider.”

Before I could even respond, she shifted the blame to me with a frustrated groan.

”It’s never easy with you. You always find new ways to push my buttons. Wyatt... I really am indebted to you for what you’ve done for me. But the price you’re asking for is too much.”

”Why are you throwing around so many big, fancy words? Legacy, brave, gracious—just say you don’t want to pay me if you don’t want to. I knew you Morningstar University people were all the same and shouldn’t be trusted. Just drop me off in our present and we will part our ways amicably,” I said, exaggerating my distaste at Lucine—the same Lucine who had just asked if she was being ungrateful.

”Wyatt, I’m not going to argue with you about this,” Lucine replied firmly. ”Those teachers and students entrusted their runes to us for the sake of the university. Treating them as a commodity would be an insult to their intentions and their love for Morningstar. It would be akin to us designating their memory. Now that would be truly ungrateful on my part. Yes, I’m indebted to you but I’m indebted to them as well.”

Her eyes lost the earlier guilt, replaced with resolute indifference. Just as I wondered if I had pushed her a bit too hard, she added—this time with a touch of reluctance,

”However... if you truly want those runes, I can give them to you—if you officially join Morningstar University. Don’t misunderstand. We can’t trade them or give them to outsiders. But if you’re one of us, there’s nothing stopping me from giving you a few and then some to show my gratitude.”