Chapter 145: Chapter 144: Elise Hargrove’s Invitation
For 30 advance/early Chapters : p atreon.com/AutumnXd
Roughly half an hour passed, and a fused purple-grade material, along with an orange-grade one, now sat before Luke. But that was as far as it went. He had no choice but to halt his testing.
"Synthesizing a purple-grade material also takes only four blue-grade materials. Though one purple synthesis drains every last bit of mana I had left. The cost is a touch steep, but it falls within an acceptable range."
"It’s only at the orange grade that things change. Not only does the quantity of purple-grade materials needed as feedstock double again, to a full eight, but the mana cost grows far more terrifying, eating straight through two mana crystals."
Even so, Luke was thoroughly satisfied. After all, with the price of eight purple-grade materials and some mana, he came away with a single orange-grade material, which was an enormous bargain. Under normal circumstances, never mind eight, even the price of eighteen purple-grade materials might not be enough to secure one orange-grade.
"That said, the cost of synthesizing orange-grade material is still a bit much of a burden for me as I am now." Placing all the materials he’d produced through Multiple Fusion into the Card Editor, Luke wrapped up what he’d planned to accomplish that day.
He had only a single mana crystal left in reserve, kept against any sudden emergency. But even at full capacity, Luke didn’t believe the mana a Leader Realm Card Master held could synthesize a red-grade material, the grade above orange.
Red-grade material was already the stuff used to craft Ten-Star cards. Luke had a feeling that synthesizing a material at that level would demand a truly extraordinary quantity of mana. Even after ascending to the Monarch Realm, he might not be able to sustain it.
M "Master, someone was looking for you a moment ago." Seeing that Luke had finally stopped, Blanc held out the personal terminal she’d been cradling, her expression unbearably docile.
While Luke had been testing, the terminal had relayed several communication requests, but the two girls, not wanting to disturb him, had kept quiet the entire time.
"Thank you, Blanc." Taking the terminal, Luke rubbed Blanc’s head, drawing a flush across her whole face. Then, noticing Mana’s eager expression off to the side, he reached over and dealt her a head-pat too, before finally opening the terminal.
There were no shortage of messages on it, the overwhelming majority of them invitations from various businesses. The exam had only just ended, after all, and Luke, the Eastern Region’s first-place finisher, was riding a peak of attention.
If a business could land Luke, the exam champion, as a spokesperson for its products, the returns over the coming year would be considerably richer.
And a year from now? Bah, wouldn’t there be a fresh exam champion by then? For these capitalists, naturally, whoever held the greater fame was whoever they’d partner with.
Luke had no interest whatsoever in these so-called endorsements. He’d already received plenty of such invitations over this stretch of time, and cleared every one of them out. Even opening them was a waste of time. He’d rather pour those minutes into conceiving new cards.
Select all, delete. Luke’s whole operation flowed in a single smooth motion, and the terminal’s message board was, at last, quiet again.
"Hm? Her?" Quickly scanning the terminal’s display, Luke came to a stop, in the end, on a single name.
Elise Hargrove.
Luke had a fairly deep impression of the Hargrove family’s young lady, but he couldn’t work out why she’d be reaching out to him now.
On that trip to the Capital’s Youth Training Competition, the group of them had exchanged contact methods before parting ways, but they’d hardly been in touch since.
Mid-thought, Luke pressed her communication link. A few seconds later, a small crown-wearing loli, the Silver-Crowned Mandrake Queen, was the first thing to come into view. A tiny little thing, exceptionally cute.
"Lord Luke, one moment please." Seeing Luke on the screen, the Queen-loli set off on her stubby little legs, dashing toward where Elise was. The terminal cradled in both her hands, however, remained perfectly steady, without the slightest sway.
For all that the Queen was a tiny little thing, even if you swapped the terminal in her hands for a two-meter giant, she’d run as though crossing flat, level ground.
"Is this a library?" Through the screen, Luke watched rows upon rows of bookshelves recede at speed, every one of them packed to overflowing with all manner of books.
Even across the screen, Luke felt as though he were immersed in a sea of books. Compared to the libraries of his past life, it gave up nothing.
At the very heart of that sea of books, Elise Hargrove, dressed in a light-blue fitted gown, gazed down at the book in her hands through silver-framed glasses.
Registering the Queen-loli’s arrival, Elise lifted her head slightly, a single mischievous strand of hair falling before her eyes. Far from spoiling the beauty about her, it lent her a liveliness distinct from her usual quiet composure, a touch of contradiction, like something out of a painting.
Taking in that exquisite scene, even Luke couldn’t help a brief moment of distraction, and he remarked, "I finally understand why you carry such a deep scholarly air about you."
"I’ll take that as a compliment from you." Hearing Luke’s words, Elise closed the book in her hands, then scooped the entire Queen-loli up and settled her on her lap, the gentle, jade-warm smile on her face the same as ever.
"You can see it that way." Luke shrugged. "So, what did you need from me?"
"In a while, I’m planning to set out for Celestial Academy. The main reason I’m reaching out is to see whether you’d have any interest in setting out together." Elise didn’t waste time, stating her purpose directly.
As for whether Luke had been accepted by Celestial Academy, Elise had no concern on that front at all. If even she had been accepted, Luke would absolutely have received an acceptance too. In fact, he’d very likely received his notice earlier than she had.
Of course, if Luke had declined Celestial Academy’s acceptance, Elise would have nothing to say about it, but she didn’t believe such a thing would come to pass.
The reason for her certainty was that, over this stretch of time, she’d heard her grandfather mention that Celestial Academy’s Head, Tobias Wren, had inquired with him about Luke’s situation.
"Set out for Celestial Academy?" Understanding the reason Elise had reached out to him, Luke pondered for a few seconds. "Roughly when would we be leaving?"
Just as Elise had guessed, Luke had indeed received his Celestial Academy acceptance, the very day Lilith departed.
Even without Elise reaching out, Luke had intended to consider setting out at some point once he’d finished reconstructing Red-Eyes Black Dragon and crafting the Swords of Revealing Light. And if there were familiar faces to travel the road with, all the better to have someone to rely on.
"One month from now." Seeing Luke agree, Elise raised a single slim, scallion-white finger. "I’m planning to set out in a month. Lyra will be coming with us then too."
Like Luke and Elise, Lyra Sinclair had likewise received a Celestial Academy acceptance, and the two of them were close friends, so it came as no surprise to Luke that she’d be traveling along.
A month? Luke thought rapidly to himself. That’s a good window to properly plan out Kisara’s background and design. And before I leave, I should pay a proper visit to City Lord Victor, President Harrison, and Principal Geoffrey.
The three of them had given him no small amount of help before this. Slipping away without a single word would be rather poor form on his part.
Comments