Chapter 31 Platinum

The third floor of the Card Maker Association. The afternoon sun fell on the glass curtain wall, subtly blending with the orange glow of the epic card on the magic screen, refracting into countless captivating, psychedelic halos, making the entire hall seem to be immersed in shimmering waves.

At the same time, murmurs and exclamations arose throughout the floor.

Outside the building, on Hutton Walking Plaza, a celebratory cheer erupted, like distant sea waves, stirred up from in front of the screen downstairs, crashing against the glass curtain wall, clearly audible even in the third-floor meeting area.

In contrast to the joyful atmosphere of the onlookers,

the air between Hyberian and Sophia seemed to have solidified.

The oppression was almost suffocating Hyberian.

When Sophia first saw that orange light, she froze for a moment, as if her brain had short-circuited.

"Orange... Epic?"

In Sophia's mind, making a purple, rare-quality card was the limit for someone their age.

Only academy professors and the most exceptional, monstrous third-year students had the potential to create a pink, divine-quality card.

Orange Epic.

It was a realm only accessible to the world's top card makers, like Duke Megaera!

"Sophia, do you know what level an Orange Epic will be ranked? Did you see it? Lanqi is amazing!"

After regaining his senses, Prince Einol grabbed Sophia's shoulders, his face glowing with excitement, and asked.

Even after watching so many Registered Card Maker exams, he couldn't guess what level his close friend would be assigned!

Sophia seemed to have gone completely blank, staring at the projection screen with the dazed expression of a doll who had just woken up from a dream and hadn't had time to adjust to reality, as Einol shook her.

On the single sofa to the side,

"Stop it, stop it... Your Highness Einol... please, stop it... take back your supernatural powers..."

Hyberian desperately buried her head, muttering in an extremely low voice.

She now felt that all was lost, like sitting on pins and needles!

If she hadn't promised Lanqi that she would wait for him to return, she would have unhesitatingly activated her invisibility and fled!

...

Meanwhile, on the other side,

in the central examination hall on the fifth floor of the Card Maker Association, Lanqi seemed to be completely consumed by fatigue.

In the broadcast, his body flickered several times under the mana pressure at the brink of collapse as he retreated from the artificial Shadow World, finally appearing in the spacious central hall, attracting the attention of the examiners.

He had actually been unable to continue making the fifth card for a long time, even if he had the chance.

At this moment, Lanqi felt an endless weariness surging from every corner of his body, even his eyelids had become heavy, and his dorm room, his bed, had become his only longings.

Once he returned to the Ykelteth Academy, he should be able to sleep for a long time.

Maybe even longer than the time he slept after finishing Talia's portrait in the Southern Wantina Borderlands.

As Lanqi walked out of the void gate of the artificial Shadow World, the chief examiner, Lawrence, was already staring at him with shock.

Although the broadcast screen did not publicly display the examinees' scores,

as the chief examiner, he could directly see the results and specific content through the monitoring terminal in his hand.

There, a simple and clear line of text was conspicuously displayed: [Examinee Lanqi Wilford, Platinum Level].

This evaluation was like a thunderbolt from the blue, startling Lawrence.

He felt his heart pounding as if he had been struck by a torrential downpour of surprise.

He stared at the monitoring terminal, the line of text echoing repeatedly in his mind, confirming whether he had misread it.

However, the result was still glaringly obvious, followed by a surge of excitement.

Lawrence, the vice president of the Ykelteth Card Maker Association branch, had been in charge of the Registered Card Maker exam in the royal capital for so many years, and had only seen gold-level rankings a few times.

Moreover, gold-level rankings almost always happened when unregistered but already experienced sixth or seventh-tier card makers participated in the Registered Card Maker exam and created a pink, divine-quality card.

This was the first time Lawrence had ever seen someone directly ranked at the platinum level, and more importantly, he was a young man from his own country!

Orange Epic represented the upper limit of magic card creation, and was also a chasm.

Many gold-level card makers, who were already at the top of the experienced card maker profession, could not create an Orange Epic-level masterpiece even after exhausting their entire lives.

Platinum level represented the potential to create an Orange Epic.

Magic Crystal level represented the ability to control an Orange Epic.

The Grandmaster level above that was just an honor, and no one in the Southern Continent could bear it in this era.

So even though platinum level and gold level were only one level apart, there was a world of difference between them.

Seeing that Lanqi had returned to the central hall, the chief examiner, Lawrence, immediately assigned his duties to the deputy examiner, and then quickly walked up to Lanqi.

"Student Lanqi, may I have a word with you?"

Lawrence asked sincerely, his eyes falling on Lanqi's obviously exhausted face, and quickly added,

"I know you need to rest, I promise it won't take too long, we can talk while we walk."

"Of course, Mr. Lawrence. My friends are waiting for me on the third floor."

Lanqi then roused himself a bit and replied with a smile.

He was curious as to what level his work had reached to make the examiner show him such respect.

"Please, follow me."

Lawrence nodded, his voice calm and collected, as if he already regarded Lanqi as a member of the association.

He led Lanqi and slowly walked into a passageway that led from the hall to the inner area of the fifth floor, a place that was usually only used by internal association staff.

The passageway was made of warm wooden walls, and the steady color tone formed a distinct contrast with the overall novel style of the association building, giving people a sense of stability.

They walked to the end of the passageway, and suddenly the view in front of them opened up, and a huge suspended staircase appeared in their sight.

Unlike regular staircases, these stairs were made of semi-transparent immortal crystals, as if they were clouds floating in the air, moving in a mysterious rhythm, like the heartbeat of the association's building.

Lawrence and Lanqi gently stepped onto the staircase, and the crystal steps began to descend slowly, carrying them to the third floor, the surrounding air being drawn by the movement of the stairs, creating a cool breeze.

"Student Lanqi, first of all, congratulations on being ranked as a Platinum Level Card Maker."

Lawrence stood on the crystal steps, turned his head to look at Lanqi and said.

"Platinum Level?"

Lanqi raised his sleepy eyes slightly in surprise.

He did not expect to be directly ranked as a Platinum Level Card Maker.

You should know that the legendary genius magic artificer girl from the Yarolan Kingdom Academy, who will come to observe Dean Roland's [Primordial Tablet - Wind] in a while, is only Gold Level.

(End of chapter)