Chapter 219: Judge Lance Hands Down a Delayed Death Sentence

The central hall of the Sages' College's Tower Library was usually a space of quiet solemnity, but it was buzzing with an unusual, lively energy today.

Scholars stood upon the intricate, colorful tiled floors and rug, crowding around Karen to verify details and ask questions. They frequently turned to confer with friends or colleagues, and the air was thick with a mix of tension and excitement.

Although the Wind Primal Tablet had already been thoroughly studied, a Pink enchanted card developed from the arcane inscriptions found in that tablet still held immense academic value. At this moment, the ground floor was no longer merely a silent sanctuary of knowledge. It had transformed into the vibrant venue of an academic unveiling.

Even Lance's return failed to draw much attention at first. Only Lawrence, who had just stored away the Wind Primal Tablet, had noticed him. He had intended to say something, but the words died on his lips the moment he saw the card Lance was holding.

"Lance is back too."

As the Void Gate dissipated, the shift in magical energy caused the crowd to turn around.

However, some merely showed a flicker of surprise before shifting their attention back to Karen, while others looked on in puzzlement.

What they saw in Lance's hand was a drab, White card. It appeared to be of such a low tier that barely any magical fluctuation could be sensed from it.

"Please excuse me for a moment." Upon spotting Lance, Karen immediately apologized to the other scholars and trotted over to his side.

Karen looked up, gazing directly into Lance's face as she commented, "Lance, it seems things didn't go very well for you this time. After hearing Dean Lawrence praise you, I thought you'd at least manage to create a Tier 4 Purple card."

She felt she had a pretty good measure of Lance's skill level now. He was little more than a novice. She even felt a sudden, irrepressible urge to mock him.

Is that it? He's the Sages' College "genius card maker"?

She had expected someone far more impressive. It would be one thing if Lance had crafted a high tier Blue card. However, a low tier White card was nothing impressive. These were things even first year card making students at the College of Magical Engineering could produce. Furthermore, they were usually just utility or equipment cards with negligible magical effects.

The nearby scholars found it awkward to comment. In truth, it was obvious to them that this wasn't a matter of poor execution.

Poor execution usually resulted in the card exploding or turning out defective, dropping a tier in the process. Karen was essentially calling Lance incompetent, just without saying it quite so bluntly.

Lance said calmly, "It's not really a question of how well I performed. This is simply the level of my actual ability."

Hearing that Lance had no intention of making excuses, Karen's lips parted slightly in mild surprise. She had expected him to feel some sense of defeat, given how highly he had been touted.

She continued to smile innocently, offering words of encouragement, "Don't be discouraged, Lance. You're only a first year, after all. Card making often comes down to luck. It's not like I haven't made White cards myself. But at least you're honest, if I had made a White card, I'd probably have hidden it away."

The strong had the privilege of ruthlessly humiliating the weak. The mere thought of Lance making such a pathetic card made it hard for her to suppress her amusement.

By now, everyone could tell that Karen was openly gloating and rubbing Lance's poor performance in his face. It was obvious that their relationship hadn't been great to begin with. Now that she held the upper hand, she didn't even bother to keep up the pretense of friendliness.

She flippantly said, "Well, I suppose we'll meet again sometime, Lance. I hope to see you at the Platinum Certification card making exam in the future. I'd love to witness the skills of the 'super-amazing' card maker Dean Lawrence keeps talking about."

Glancing sideways and giving a casual farewell wave, Karen walked toward the scholars and reporters, acting as if she no longer had time to spare for Lance.

"I'll do my best," Lance replied politely while watching her walk away.

Lawrence had been watching from the sidelines as Karen got right in Lance's face to taunt him, and he began to suspect she had completely misunderstood the situation. It was indeed true that they might cross paths at the Platinum Certification card maker exam.

However, he hadn't realized Karen harbored such animosity toward Lance. He had initially assumed they got along quite well!

Wait a minute.

Lawrence suddenly frowned. A serious issue had just dawned on him. Good grief, was Karen actually treating Lance like a total novice and basically bullying a "noob"?

Although the fact that Lance was a quasi-Platinum Certified card maker hadn't been made public yet, Lawrence hadn't expected Karen to misjudge Lance's strength to such an extreme degree!

After a moment of stunned silence, Lawrence covered his forehead. Recalling the words Karen had just spoken to Lance, he felt a sense of utter doom.

She's done for...

He dared not imagine how Karen would react if she were to encounter Lance as an examiner during her Platinum Certification exam... Her composure would likely shatter completely.

Lance asked with concern, "Dean Lawrence, what's wrong?"

Lawrence lowered his hand and looked at Lance as the words caught in his throat.

Lance had indeed honored his request. Karen would return to the Kingdom of Yaloran healthy, safe, and happy, unlike the other three unfortunates who were staying behind in the Kingdom of Hutton. This time, however, Karen was facing a delayed "social death sentence."

Lawrence muttered weakly to himself, "Forget it... She brought this upon herself..."

Sure enough, nothing good ever came of the Yaloran students who had interacted with Lance. Looking at it now, ending up in the hospital would actually be the best-case scenario!

While standing on the ornate rug, Lawrence thought it over and found himself concerned about Lance's mood. After all, objectively speaking, the card Lance had created after observing the session was rather peculiar.

Lawrence asked Lance, "Lance, were you not in your best form today?"

He was actually curious about exactly what kind of card the youth had produced.

Lance was a quasi-Platinum Certified card maker. Surely he wouldn't stoop so low as to create a basic White card while actually trying? In fact, Lawrence had never seen Duke Michael make a White enchanted card.

Lance lowered his gaze to the card in his hand. He smiled, completely unconcerned about the outcome of his card making session.

He had originally intended to ask Lawrence for a token of identification as a precaution for when he traveled to the Northern Continent and assumed the role of an outlaw. He didn't want to get so immersed in the character that he'd struggle to prove his true identity to the authorities at a critical moment.

Now, however, it seemed that wouldn't be necessary.

"It actually turned out quite well."

Lance chuckled softly and turned his hand, revealing his newly made enchanted card to Dean Lawrence.

[Replica: Wind Primal Tablet]

Category: Equipment Card

Grade: White (Common)

Attribute: Wind

Tier: 1

This card will appear as the Wind Primal Tablet, but provides no stat or enhancement bonuses. Studying this card may grant a faint insight into Wind attribute magical engineering.

All things in the world shall eventually be reborn. The wind will blow across this land for eternity.

With a simple farewell wave, he walked past Lawrence. He left the dean standing there, dumbfounded and wide-eyed.

Later on, Lance would take this Replica: Wind Primal Tablet to the Northern Continent and step directly into the role of High Priest Lawrence. While adopting an artistic persona of the high priest, he would strive to set a positive example, flourishing across both the Northern and Southern Continents while promoting Ikerite culture.