10. Crafting Cards
Card-making skills are difficult to practice in the virtual world. Even with top-notch simulation equipment, students can at best replicate their original card-making techniques, but it's difficult for them to truly improve their skills.
The only way to improve card-making skills is through real-world practice.
However, if she were to practice in real life, even without considering the card-making room, using simple card-making tools in her dormitory, the cost of materials would still be considerable.
—The college provides materials for free in class, but this privilege does not apply outside of class.
Thinking of this, Ning Xi nudged Zhang Min with her elbow: "Do you know any ways to make money?"
“Of course.” Zhang Min nodded. “Our card-making department is so busy, we can’t really do a part-time job that only pays a few hundred star coins a month, right? The easiest way for the card-making department to make money is card repair.”
Halfway through her sentence, Zhang Min realized something was wrong.
Many people have seen the video of Ning Xi's card restoration assessment, including Zhang Min. Even those who haven't seen the video witnessed Ning Xi's mental strength during the restoration class.
That's really domineering; a perfectly good card was destroyed just like that.
"It's alright. Besides repair orders, there are plenty of low-level card-making orders on the card-making forum. Ning Xi, you can give it a try."
Zhang Min sent me the address of the card maker forum.
This is a semi-official forum; certain qualifications are required to register as a card maker. However, Ning Xi automatically gained registration privileges after uploading her student ID.
Currently, she is the lowest-ranking "newbie card maker" on the forum.
Low-tier cards are not very useful to card masters, but they are widely used in daily life. Many non-card professionals also have the mental capacity to progress from D to C, and although they cannot become powerful card masters, buying some cards to improve their lives is not a big problem. Low-tier cards are prone to wear and tear and are not cheap, which naturally creates a huge card repair market.
But selling finished cards is a different story.
Finished cards are not cheap, and ordinary people prefer lower-tier card shops with official, academy, or guild backing over unknown individual card makers. These card shops have more stable quality control, and after years of market competition, their price premiums are not too high.
Individual card makers receive more orders for various "custom cards".
There weren't many low-level custom card orders available, and each one was snapped up in no time. Therefore, when Ning Xi saw a custom order appear, her hands reacted faster than her brain, and she immediately clicked the accept button.
[Ding! You have accepted a card production order.]
[Request Details: Please, can someone create an E-grade healing card with detoxification effects? I urgently need it for an exam!]
There are also comments below the post requesting the service.
[This post again? So many days have passed, and the client still hasn't taken the exam?]
[I'm still very curious, what kind of exam would require the use of healing cards...]
[These are probably card-collecting training programs for middle schools, or guilds with qualifications to train minors. In my experience, either the client's exam requirements restrict the card level, or the client's mental development is incomplete, making them afraid to use cards above D rank.]
[Is this card production request difficult? It sounds like it's been posted many times, and no one has been able to complete it.]
[Difficult. Among E-grade materials, there are only a few that can be used to make healing cards, and the most affordable and common one is *Mutang*. *Mutang*'s energy is very unstable and easily dissipates during the card ink mixing process. Therefore, healing cards made with *Mutang* leaves usually have weak effects. Forget about having detoxifying effects; it's difficult for them to even function properly for healing.]
[It seems some sucker accepted the commission. Hopefully, they'll see this post and cancel it quickly, otherwise, not only will the success rate drop if the commission isn't completed, but they'll also lose forum points.]
[Um...is the person who accepted the case really competent? Three hours have passed, and they still haven't cancelled it. If they don't cancel soon, it'll be too late!]
[A genuine talent? More likely, an inexperienced arrogance.]
...
Ning Xi read through all the posts.
It must be said that there was a lot of fluff on the forum, but even more valuable information. After a quick browse, she gained a deeper understanding of much of the knowledge in the book.
However, she had never seen the situation described by the forum experts as "the energy of the Wood Tang is easily dissipated".
Or rather, she had never seen a material whose energy easily dissipates. In her case, the energy of every material would not dissipate; it would only explode with a "bang."
She returned to her dormitory.
Mutang wood is inexpensive and, because of its mild energy, is often used as a neutralizing agent. Ning Xi bought some when preparing for her exams, and still has quite a bit left.
She took out 20g of fresh woody leaves and touched them with a tiny bit of spiritual power.
The once green leaves instantly turned yellow and withered, their energy surging out rapidly, only to be forced into a small corner by her mental power, unable to move. This energy was refined and concentrated, showing no sign of dissipating.
Is this what they mean by "easily dispersed"?
Ning Xi was stunned for less than half a second. Seeing that the energy was about to be compressed to the point of explosion, she quickly poured the base liquid into the container and used her mental power to mix the two together.
The dark gray ink quickly lightened, eventually settling on a translucent light green.
Ning Xi had gotten used to the fact that the ink she made was the wrong color. She used a card-making pen to draw the ink and began making cards.
Antidote cards and healing cards are common cards, and their pattern layouts are already very mature, requiring almost no additional design. Relying on her muscle instincts, Ning Xi first drew the healing pattern and then added the antidote pattern, completing the task in one go without the slightest pause.
The card flashed with light, indicating its successful creation. The excess energy dissipated into the air under the control of mental power.
Ning Xi didn't dare use the cards herself and could only ask her roommate Zhang Min for help. After paying the price of dinner, Zhang Min concluded: "It works, but the connection between the two types of patterns is not very tight. If the user wants to switch the card's function, it may cause the card to become invalid for one or two seconds."
"Thank you so much, Zhang Min." Ning Xi nodded repeatedly, very glad that she had consulted her in advance. "If I had given this kind of defective card to the client, it would definitely have received a bad review."
She returned to her desk and began studying the connections between the diagrams.
...
On the other side, Hua Xin couldn't help but open the forum and click on the commission details.
This was the third time she had checked the details since her request was accepted.
She posted this commission three times, and either no one accepted it and the commission expired automatically, or someone accepted it but the production failed.
In the end, this commission was dubbed a "money-grabbing commission" on the forum.
Hua Xin clenched her fists; her palms were sweaty.
According to forum veterans, it's not impossible to create this card, but only true masters can do so. And true masters wouldn't waste their time on a mere E-rank card.
Even so, she had already staked most of her pocket money to make the reward for this commission seem quite generous.
What if there really is a big shot here?
Hua Xin harbored such fantasies.
After the commission was accepted, she initially thought her fantasy had come true, but the information from the person who accepted the commission shattered her illusion.
The level is the lowest, "Newbie Card Maker". There are no exhibited works on the personal interface, and the success rate of commissions is the "default" that is unique to newbies, rather than a percentage.
All of this shows that the card maker was not a master, but a naive young man who had mistakenly accepted the commission.
Once she understood this, she waited for the other party to withdraw the call.
But they never got around to it. Now, the window for retraction has passed, and the newcomer cannot voluntarily withdraw the message.
Hua Xin didn't like to make things difficult for others. She knew that forum points were valuable, especially for newcomers. If a newcomer lost points, the number of commissions they could accept would decrease, making it harder to earn points. This vicious cycle would affect their income for a period of time.
My parents have said that not everyone is as rich as their family.
She exhaled and proactively sent a message to the recipient.
Do I need to revoke the commission?
Ning Xi: ?
What do you mean? She's still studying the diagrams, why is she withdrawing the commission? Does the other party no longer need the cards?
No, I can't let this commission slip by easily.
She put down her theory book and replied to the other party.
"No, no, are you in a hurry? I've already made a defective one and I'm working on how to improve it."
"If you need it urgently, I can send you the defective product first, and then I will send you the finished product after I have figured out how to improve it."
Hua Xin gently bit her lip.
She had encountered this situation before, where the other party told her that "the card was successfully made, but there are only minor flaws," and then said that they urgently needed money and hoped to finish the commission as soon as possible.
Hua Xin believed him, ended the commission early, and paid the fee.
However, the cards that person made had extremely weak healing abilities, let alone any antidote function.
She won't be fooled again.
“Okay,” Hua Xin replied, “but I will only pay after I verify the cards. I will not end the commission if the cards do not meet the requirements.”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
