The Card Apprentice

Chapter 119: Mark Victor

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Will shook his head, “My teacher gave me that card, and he didn’t know where it came from either. I only know that it is a rather old card from many years ago. Are you interested in the card?” He didn’t know what about that card was worth studying. He’d used it for a long time and hadn’t found anything special about it.

“Oh well, forget about it then.” Chen Mu couldn’t help being disappointed as he turned around to leave the training room.

The training room door was locked with a card swipe, and Chen Mu was accustomed to swiping his room card just as he was about to leave. Immersed in the hundred blades card, Will wasn’t paying attention that he’d been locked into the training room.

Returning home, Chen Mu thought about that Mark Victor whom Will had spoken about. The reason he had wanted to find a close-combat card artisan wasn’t what he said it was. He had nothing against close-combat cards, even though he knew that remote battle cards were worth more at that time. But for then he didn’t need to worry about materials, production costs, living expenses and so forth, which wasn’t what it would be like later on.

Although it was a good place, he wouldn’t be there a long time.

He had always been looking for a way to leave the base, and he wasn’t counting on the Ning family’s promises. He didn’t know if he could finish those two hundred cards, and the Ning family hadn’t brought them up again since the first time when they gave him that pile. They still had their minds on the raining shuttles card .II. Chen Mu wasn’t a fool, and he knew what the card meant for the Ning family.

He could depend only on himself.

The first thing he would have to do if he wanted to leave there was to become a card artisan. Chen Mu already wouldn’t be considered a weakling battle-card master, but he needed to be able to leave the base – which seemed so loose but was really tight – and still be able to survive the Ning family chasing him afterward.

He would only have one chance, since once he got the Ning family’s attention, wanting to leave would be only a fairy tale.

He was concentrating on that bipolar thunderball card. Although he hadn’t completely mastered it, it’s powerful defensive capabilities were something that no other card had. If he wanted to escape that base, Chen Mu considered that the bipolar thunderball card would be more effective than his tailless shuttle card. And it would be too difficult for him to make a new defensive card at that time.

The base was full of ace card artisans, so why not just find one to teach him? With someone to guide him, he wouldn’t have to travel so many winding roads. He decided that he would rely on the bipolar thunderball card for most of his offense, so he would direct his objective toward a close-combat card artisan.

Chen Mu had a lot of contribution points that he wasn’t spending. If Mark Victor were expensive, he could afford it.

Carefully thinking it over, he reviewed the whole operation another time. He quickly found the most critical part of his plan, which was speed. He needed to quickly improve his power in a short amount of time before the Ning family could react, and then take his chance to leave the base. If the time dragged out, the Ning family would surely notice his activities, which make it many times more difficult if he wanted to leave.

Having made up his mind, Chen Mu found Mark Victor very quickly. An “A” level of contribution points lets you find a lot of information, although that would naturally only be when the person you were looking into was at a much lower level. He could only find information about Mark Victor so easily because there was so much difference between Mark Victor’s level and his.

Mark Victor was just then at the consignment office looking to see if there were any commissions worth doing. The communications device on his wrist sounded, and he couldn’t see the other person’s number, which meant that it wasn’t among his list of friends. The first thing he thought of in getting a call from a stranger was a commission!

With his popularity gradually growing during that time, his power was already well recognized by everyone. He had also become someone that people liked to employ for commissions. Mark Victor had bronzed cheeks and thick facial hair, with drooping eyelids which made him look half asleep. That made him look like an ordinary middle-aged man down on his luck. Alan had paid the very high price of his life for underestimating him. No one underestimated him after that.

Before he had joined the base, Mark Victor had already made a name for himself as the leader of the Wei forest card artisan troop, though it isn’t known why he left that position to come to the Ning family base alone. He was forty-two that year, with both his power and experience at their peak. And he had firmly established his position at the base after the battle with Alan.

He took the call on his communications card.

“Hello, this is Mark Victor, who’s calling?” His deep voice was a little gravelly.

“I am very sorry to bother you Mr. Mark Victor. I have a commission, and wonder if you’d be interested?” The one speaking was a sallow-faced youth with ordinary features, and nothing special about him. If one were to meet such a person on the street, one wouldn’t pay any attention. But Mark didn’t look down on him because of that, since although it was common enough to find such a person on the street, this wasn’t that kind of place. This was the Ning family base, and the people who could join were all outstanding. Someone so ordinary would draw even more attention there.

He had a lot more experience than Will, and so he was naturally more cautious. In any case, having come from a troop of card artisans he would be expected to serve the profession. He would understand how to deal with customers from his capacity as a leader. That was also why so many patrons wanted to commission him. The difference between a professional and a non-professional wasn’t only based on technical mastery; most of it was attitude.

“Oh, I wonder what the commission is?” Mark Victor showed a prudent attitude, not agreeing right away. His eyes were as sharp as swords, with nothing left of that half sleepy and burned-out look.

The youth on the screen tossed out a commission far different from what Mark Victor might have expected, “I want to employ a card artisan as my personal guide, to guide me in the study of knowledge relating to being a close-combat card artisan. Since Mr. Mark Victor is the most excellent close-combat card artisan on the base, you are no doubt the best choice. If you agree, I would give fifty contribution points for each hour. What do you think?”

That price of fifty points an hour raised Mark Victor’s eyebrows. Although it wasn’t a lot, it was a stunning price per hour. If one were to calculate maybe six hours in a day, that would be three hundred points, which was about the same as a mid-range commission. But this commission would have plenty of advantages compared to an ordinary commission. He wouldn’t have to go outside, which would mean that he wouldn’t have to face those dangers. And since being a private guide is a relatively long-term process he would have steady income with an amazing overall payout.

Taking a deep breath, Mark Victor nodded, “OK, I’ll take the commission, though I’ll insist on being paid at each session.” How could that unprepossessing youth in front of him have so many points? He was a little skeptical, though he didn’t say anything right out. Among card artisan mercenaries, there was an unspoken rule not to go looking into matters relating to your employer.

“No problem.” Chen Mu answered smartly, and then said, “Then how about we start today.”

Mark Victor didn’t waste words either, as he got up, “OK.”

* * *

Cheng Ying looked at Will in the training room as though it were inconceivable, “Good lord, you actually locked yourself into the training room? I’ve been pounding my head to understand how you could lock yourself into this training room. And for several hours!” Bo Wen beside her also looked like he was about to smile.

Will said with an awkward look, “Do you still remember that card master I talked about with you last time? The one with an “A” level of contribution points.” He had come back to his spirits in the training room only to discover that he had been locked into it. Not knowing what else to do, he looked for Chang Ying and them to help him open the door.

“Sure, I remember!” Cheng Ying quickly got some energy, and asked anxiously, “Has he made that card for you?” Bo Wen was also paying attention.

Will nodded, “He did. I came here today to try it out, and how could I know he would swipe the door as he was leaving.” And then he thought of something, “Now I get it. He was the one who opened the training room, and I assume that when he was leaving he was in the habit of swiping his card and forgot that I was inside. If he hadn’t swiped his card as he was leaving then he would be considered to still be using the training room, and points would still be deducted.”

“What about the card? Quick, let me take a look.” In her impatience Cheng Ying cut off Will’s recounting.

“It’s called a hundred blades.” Will took the hundred blades card out of his apparatus and handed it to Cheng Ying.

“What a beautiful card!” Cheng Ying was looking at the hundred blades card in her hand with bright eyes. Women always have an extraordinary love for beautiful and exotic things. She was turning the hundred blades card over lovingly in her hands, which put Will on tenterhooks, apart from making him proud. If that old doll didn’t think it was beautiful, then she could just take it for herself.

After quite a few minutes, Cheng Ying reluctantly gave the hundred blades card to Bo Wen beside her. When Bo Wen put it in front of his eyes to make a careful identification, he couldn’t restrain his instant praise, “Nice card!”

After a while, he gave the hundred blades card back to Will, “Give us a demonstration.” Neither Cheng Ying nor Bo Wen knew a thing about close-combat cards, so they would just let Will demonstrate.

Without wasting any words, Will loaded the hundred blades card and started his demonstration. Although he still hadn’t gotten fully proficient, after having been alone in there polishing and refining for a few hours, he could still manage to be presentable.

The firepower of the hundred blades card startled Cheng Ying, “You must be pleased with that. Haven’t you always wanted a powerful card?” She couldn’t help being happy for Will. Bo Wen’s gaze flashed as though he had thought of something.

Will chuckled with his look of satisfaction, and then showed the “crescent moon,” with its chilling weirdness and terrifying firepower, all of which left Cheng Ying dumbstruck and full of envy. Even the ever-calm Bo Wen showed some surprise, “A really nice card!” That was already his second time calling the hundred blades card a ‘nice card.’

Will didn’t demonstrate the “three moons,” since it would be a foolish act to show all of his techniques and hold nothing back for that kind of demonstration.