Card Apprentice Daily Log

Date- 31 Mar 2321

Time- 19:12

Location- Sky Blossom City, Guild Association Mall, Warehouse no.234, Card Lab

"Kane! Here." Passing his origin card to Kane, I got up.

"Finished already! That's earlier than I expected." Kane said in surprise, taking his origin card.

"I got a lot more efficient in transferring and editing soul pathways. Thanks to that, I have outdone myself this time too." I replied as Kane eagerly checked his origin card info before equipping it.

"Umm, Master Wyatt. I think there is something wrong with the card. It reads that card growth is incomplete." Kane's complexion had turned pale, going through the description of his origin card. He had already steeled himself for an origin card creation failure but not something like a faulty origin card. Card growth is incomplete, what heck does that even mean?

"What are you worried about? Equip it already." I said, patting Kane's back.

"But, here it says the origin card growth is not complete. I think the origin card is only partially finished." Kane implored frantically. Clearly, he was not satisfied with his new origin card.

"Partially finished? I agree. But there is nothing for you to worry about. Trust me and equip it." I agreed with Kane because, in a way, the origin card I created for him was indeed partially finished in its current state.

"But… This…" Kane's words trailed as he hesitated too much about speaking his mind. I guess it cannot be helped since he didn't want to offend his idol.

"Don't tell me you want to discard such an excellent card?" There is no rule that a person must equip his origin card right away. Kane could destroy it, discard it or keep it in his cardholder. It was his origin card, and he could have anything he wanted with it. After all, origin cards are for life, and one should not be stuck with something they don't like for life.

"Master Wyatt…" despite me spilling out his thoughts for him, Kane still hesitated to speak his mind.

"It is a pity that such an excellent card will eat dust in your cardholder. But it is your card, and it is up to you to decide what to do with it. But don't expect me to refund you the money. I have done my part. Those assets are mine now." I meant what I preached. The Variant Ironwood Seed origin card belonged to Kane. Now, if he does not like it, I will not force him to equip it, but he still needs to pay me in full as I did my job. Saying that, I followed Vivian and exited the card lab.

...

"..." Kane stood at the center of the card lab, looking at his origin card in his hand in a daze, deciding whether to trust his idol and equip the faulty origin card or discard it. His happiness of successful origin card creation was short-lived, but what bothered him most was that his revenge would have waited for another who knows how long. Nothing's changed. He will have to continue to live his torment-filled life. Become the object of ridicule and disgust for his classmates.

Remembering he would soon be returning to his hellish life again, a thought flashed in mind, suicide. Kane hurriedly shook his head and didn't entertain that thought for a second. He could not leave his loving mother alone in this vile world, and for some reason, his grandpa with questionable morality.

"If I can kill myself, I can live with a faulty origin card!" Yelling that, Kane equipped his origin card. During the moments of his action, he decided to put all his trust in his idol and see it through to the end.

Equipping the Variant Ironwood Seed origin card, Kane trudged out of the card lab. Each of his steps felt heavy as he was disappointed and depressed, seeing that even after equipping the origin card, its status growth incomplete did not change. Seeds of doubt started to sow in Kane's heart, whether his idol knew what he was doing? Was it a mistake to be influenced by his feelings and ask his idol to help his origin card?

Before entertaining those thoughts, Kane decides to trust his idol one last time and see what he has to say about his situation. So he shuffled to the warehouse hall, where everyone was enthusiastically waiting for him and his new origin card. But they were in for a disappointment. Shaking his head, Kane looked at his Idol and said, "Master Wyatt, I have equipped the origin card. What now?"

...

"Good to know that you decided to equip the card, but why are you asking me? You should know what to do next." I replied casually.

"What do you mean?" My reply visibly ticked off Kane. His voice gave away his emotional ups and downs.

"Huh? So the card didn't tell you what to do next? You must be too depressed to hear its voice. Calm your mind and listen to your origin card. Even though it is a seed, it has high-level sentience." I did not tell Kane that his origin card needs to go through germination to achieve its full potential because I wanted to check how much he trusted me. After all, he did claim to be my number one fan.

If Kane equipped the card trusting me, then his origin card would guide him on how to help it go through the germination stage so that it can achieve its full potential. But Kane was too depressed, and his thoughts were preoccupied with doubts about his origin card and me. Stripping him of the ability to listen to his origin card. Therefore he did not realize what's the deal with his origin card.

I know I went a little far by testing him like this, but he was the one who called himself my number one fan. But I planned I explain everything about the origin card in case he decided not to equip it. In the end, he equipped the card, but his depressed thoughts kept him from listening to the needs of his origin card. So as the responsible card creationist, I stepped in to help.

…