The Card Apprentice

Chapter 120: What a Freak!

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

Mark Victor very quickly arrived at the number 20 comprehensive training room. He saw that that sallow-faced youth was still a little earlier than he was.

“Hello.” Mark Victor made his greeting.

Having already noticed him, Chen Mu responded, “Hello, Mr. Mark Victor.”

“So, let’s begin.” Mark Victor didn’t intend to waste any time, since at fifty points an hour, if he were to dither he would be embarrassed to take such a fee.

“Demonstrate your close combat card artisan related skills.” Mark Victor went on to say.

But what he didn’t expect was for the youth to shake his head, “I am very sorry, but I’m a novice, Mr. Mark Victor.”

Mark Victor was taken aback, and stared at Chen Mu, saying a little unhappily, “Let’s not joke around, our time is very valuable.” Fifty points per hour would definitely be called expensive. He felt like that youth in front of him was playing a joke on him. Novice? Were there any novices on this base? With aces running all over the place, how could there be any place for a novice?

“I wasn’t joking. I’m a card master.” Chen Mu said calmly, not the least bit jittery in front of Mark Victor. “I’m pretty interested in close-combat card artisans, and so I want to learn a little.”

“You’re a card master?” Mark Victor looked at the youth rather suspiciously, only then paying attention to how little this young body showed any characteristics of a card artisan. He frowned a little. It would have to be a novice. Although he had given pointers to a few card artisans in close-combat when he was the leader of that troop of card artisans, he had never taught someone who was a complete novice.

“I think you should find a beginning close-combat card artisan who specializes in guiding rookies. Although they wouldn’t be very strong, they would be more standard in their teaching, and more professional.” Mark Victor was giving his valid recommendation.

Chen Mu showed a note of appreciation for someone who wasn’t motivated by the high pay and would still give his patron such an appropriate recommendation. But he cut him off, “Is there likely to be a beginning close-combat card artisan who is a full-time instructor around here, Mr. Mark Victor?”

Mark Victor was taken aback as he turned around with a wry smile. Of course, where would a beginning close-combat card artisan come from around there? Much less one who was a full-time instructor. He narrowed his eyes toward Chen Mu. He found it strange and hard to understand that a card master would actually be interested in close-combat card artisans. And wanting to pay such a high price for it was something still more inconceivable. But he didn’t ask any further, since that was his patron’s prerogative. If his patron wanted to send his points down the river, he wasn’t going to ask why.

He didn’t really mind whether he was teaching a beginner, as long as his earnings didn’t change.

“OK, then.” Mark Victor’s expression turned serious, “If that’s the way it is, then I’ll take the commission. But I’m only going to be able to work out a training routine for you based on my understanding of close combat. If either of us finds that unsuitable, then either of us can terminate the commission. Are you OK with that?

He was implying that if Chen Mu didn’t agree, then he wouldn’t do it.

“No problem.” Chen Mu very readily agreed.

“Let’s start with the close-range dodging and evading.” Mark Victor had a great deal of professionalism, and he quickly entered the proper state, “Although you might not understand why, from my experience in a real battle, this is the most important thing. You must know how to dodge your enemy’s attacks while patiently closing in on him. Of course, if you have a defensive card with a lot of capability, you could choose a more direct method. But that would be a ‘meat shield’ and not close-combat.”

He was coming entirely from the aspect of actual combat. The youthful card master was certainly not after some fancy things. The difference between close-combat and remote attacks was that one was down in the mud and the other was for well-dressed nobility. A long-range card artisan battle was always accompanied by a dazzling light show and breathtaking howls. All of it was fascinating, with their flying dance postures elegant and unrestrained. But a close-combat card artisan needed to be accustomed to lying low in the mud and dodging their way out of attacks as thick as rain, and then deciding their fate in an instant, with the light show only barely visible and always hard to detect.

* * *

During that time, the Ning family was incredibly busy, which was really evident for Ning Peng, who was so busy that his feet were hardly on the ground. That shiny bald head was shining still more brightly. As far as the Ning’s versus the Zuo’s, they were equal rivals. It was like one wild beast suddenly swallowing another one of the same size. It would take a long time to digest. The Ning family was in that state of digestion. The people who were the backbone like Ning Peng’s generation, were naturally busier than ever.

Bo Wen was wandering the base at his leisure, thinking back to the scene of the demonstration of that card which Will had given that day.

‘Hundred blades’ wasn’t a bad name for a pretty fine card.

He wasn’t too familiar with close-combat card artisans, and so he wasn’t familiar with close-combat cards. Coming from the Eastern Ning’s as he did, he had seen countless cards, including five-star cards, so that kind of card shouldn’t have meant much to him. But the strange thing was that ever since Will had demonstrated the hundred blades card, he couldn’t get it out of his head.

Even while he was thinking about that, Bo Wen maintained his enchanting smiling face, so mild and cordial.

The entire process of Will presenting the hundred blades card was still in his eyes. From what he saw, the level of the performance wasn’t exactly dazzling. But he was still acutely aware of that hundred blades card’s latent power!

If the one using it were a close-combat artisan who had better ability to control his perception, then the card’s power would probably be comparable to that of the illustrious autumn moon narrow-blade card. He hadn’t actually seen that card, but he was very familiar with its record.

The most crucial part was that this one was only a three-star card!

And . . .

Bo Wen was suddenly acutely aware that he’d hit upon something.

Three stars!

Three-star again!

From the raining shuttles card .II to the hundred blades, that young card master called Chen Mu seemed to be really good at making a three-star card which could exhibit the characteristics of a high-grade card.

The raining shuttles card .II was like that and the hundred blades was also like that.

Bo Wen’s slightly squinting eyes flashed for an instant, and his smile deepened. He realized that he’d unintentionally discovered something, which was the real value of Chen Mu. Yes, this was his true value! This young card master’s worth wasn’t limited to the raining shuttles card .II. While the Amay Ning’s were only focused on the raining shuttles card .II, his true worth had suddenly been revealed. It would be a great opportunity for the Eastern Ning’s. As valuable as the raining shuttles card .II was, if the Eastern Ning’s price was tempting enough, Bo Wen was certain that the Amay Ning’s weren’t going to refuse.

He knew very clearly that the Amay Ning’s would have to get something if he were to get Chen Mu.

But this was still only conjecture. Two cards couldn’t completely explain the issue. He still needed some proof that Chen Mu really had such ability.

* * *

The normally steady Mark Victor was staring dumbly at the screen, and asked in disbelief, “Are you really a novice?”

“Without a doubt.” Chen Mu gasped his response though heavy breathing. He hadn’t taken a breath since he’d started the training, even after completing five sets of the close-range dodging and evading.

Could hellish training be the thing that Mark Victor was best at? The intensity of that kind of training might be too much for Chen Mu. He felt like he’d brought quite a few mistakes on himself that last set, of the sort that he would ordinarily never make. It was just that he’d used up too much energy, and he’d lost a lot of his ability to control his body at will, which revealed so many mistakes.

Oooh, so maybe endurance is extremely important for close-combat card artisans. Chen Mu was thinking as he panted. He looked to be in sorry straits just then, dripping with sweat, and with a few bruises on his face. While the equipment in the training room assured the bodily safety of the trainee, those small injuries were still inevitable. Those kinds of small bruises were all due to Chen Mu having exhausted all of his energy. They were left from his being hit by the obstacles.

“What kind of a novice can get a score above 70 in a situation where the difficulty is 80 in his first time doing close-range dodging and evading?” Mark Victor took a look at the panting Chen Mu and spoke cynically. He felt like he’d been tricked. How could that guy be a novice? Even if he’d done it himself, he couldn’t have gotten much better results.

The first time, he’d had Chen Mu do a training with a difficulty level of 40, and who knew that that youth who didn’t look like much would get a full score. He immediately raised the level of difficulty by 10, and who knew that that youth would get another full score. He kept raising the difficulty until it hit 80, when his score quickly fell to 70. Before then, Chen Mu’s score had never fallen below 90.

And those 70 points were after Chen Mu had completed four sets without taking a breath; he completing them without any rest along the way. Mark Victor estimated that if he had started Chen Mu out with a difficulty level of 80, he would have gotten over 80 points.

He could count on the fingers of one hand how many people in the whole base could get that kind of result. How could such a person be a novice?

After resting for a while, Chen Mu’s breathing was finally gradually restored. Having always stuck to his exercise gymnastics, his physiological functions were all outstanding, and his endurance wasn’t any different.

“Isn’t the close-range dodging and evading exercise part of the flight exercise program?” Chen Mu responded, a little surprised.

Mark Victor stared at Chen Mu’s face, seeing that he didn’t look like he was faking.

“Why are you practicing flight?” Mark Victor asked after thinking it over.

Chen Mu pointed at the screen in front of Mark Victor, and said as though it were a matter of course, “I’ve been practicing according to the practice program on there.”

“That?” Mark Victor pointed to the screen, and said with astonishment, “You mean that you are practicing by yourself according to that program?” Seeing Chen Mu nod, he was suddenly speechless.

These days there are even freaks like that? Freaks who can take their close-range dodging and evading to such a level just by referring to the training program. That was the first he’d seen anything like that.

“What have your scores been like on the other few trainings?” Mark Victor probed.

“With a difficulty of 80 in the high speed long distance flight, I got about 80. In midair pursuit with a difficulty of 80, I got 80. Holding position in midair with a difficulty of 80, I got 75.” Chen Mu was counting on his fingers, when he was suddenly a little embarrassed, “I was only able to learn midair tactical maneuvers to a difficultly level of a little over 70. Where I fell the farthest short was in multi-level tactics, where I could only link three levels. My success rate for four levels was only fifty percent.”

Mark Victor was struck dumb, and if you looked closely, you would see that his eyes had gone slack.

He was utterly confused!

His high-speed long-distance flight was actually pretty good. That was something that nearly all card artisans had to practice. Although in general it didn’t have a lot of technical content; if you had enough perceptual strength, your score wouldn’t drop. Midair pursuit was a skill that both remote and close combat card artisans required. Remote card artisans needed it to pursue enemies and prevent them from escaping their range of attack. While close-combat card artisans needed it to close the distance between them and their enemy.

Holding an accurate position in midair was a skill that long-range card artisans needed to learn, since it would enable them to precisely control their position while maintaining stability in midair.

Midair tactical maneuvers were generally mostly studied by close-combat card artisans, who needed to use them to confuse and dodge their adversary’s attacks.

And as for the multi-level tactics, only close combat card artisans would be likely to study those. They referred to using various kinds of tactical maneuvers in a continuous combination. The so-called three-in-succession ‘hat trick’ referred to the high level of difficulty tactical maneuver of continuously combining three different tactical maneuvers.

That guy had already mastered the hat trick! Mark Victor stared hard at Chen Mu, until Chen Mu got a little creeped out.

Freak! That guy is a complete super-freak! Mark Victor was suddenly excited. If he could really teach that kind of freak, what kind of monster could he create? The more he thought about it, the more excited he got, not having run into something so interesting in a long long time.

And anyhow, he still had to think a little bit more deeply, as he was already forty-two years old, surely at his peak condition. But what would come after the peak? He was very clear that after a couple more years, his condition would quickly slip and the decline of his strength would begin. What would he do when he encountered a challenge then? That was something he needed to consider.

Ever since leaving his position as leader of the troop, he had become conscious of violent death in old age, which was an issue he’d never considered before. He had never thought that such a freak would be sent in front of him so suddenly, to make an impact on him such as he’d never felt, which immediately activated his thinking.

He coughed lightly, “Not bad. It seems that you would make a pretty good close-combat card artisan.” His expression had been restored to calm, not showing the least clue. Chen Mu didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary, but instead felt rather glad, since it seemed that his results weren’t too bad.