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"Luke, have you thought about which university you want to apply to?" Lily bit into a soup dumpling, and a stream of rich broth escaped past her lips. She caught it with her tongue before it could drip, the gesture unconsciously elegant in a way that drew several nearby stares.
The dining hall was already busy when they'd arrived. Teams from various satellite cities occupied tables throughout the room, and while most maintained a friendly enough atmosphere, everyone understood that these same people would be opponents once the competition began.
How many of the casual conversations happening around the room were actually intelligence-gathering exercises was anyone's guess.
Luke's table, however, had become the undisputed center of attention the moment Lily and Elise sat down. Two top-tier beauties in one spot created a gravitational pull that no amount of professional focus could resist.
"Celestial Academy, if I can make it." Luke worked through his own meal. The food was genuinely excellent. The staff hadn't been exaggerating when they'd promised five-star quality.
"Then I hope we end up as classmates." Lily's tone carried a note of anticipation. Celestial Academy was the Eastern Region's most prestigious institution, one of the Four Great Academies that represented the absolute pinnacle of Magic Card education.
There was a saying in the Ancient Kingdom: graduate from a Great Academy, and even a mediocre talent would find doors opening for the rest of their life. The saying was hyperbolic, of course. Nobody mediocre got into a Great Academy. But the career prospects were undeniable.
"Getting a boyfriend and forgetting your best friend already?" Elise's glasses glinted with mischief.
"He's not my boyfriend! Be serious!" Lily's pale cheeks flushed pink. She reached over and pinched Elise's baby-fat cheek with practiced precision, the gesture of someone who'd been doing this for years and considered it a fundamental right of their friendship.
On this specific point, Lily and Luke shared an identical impulse. The cheeks were simply too pinchable.
Leader Realm. Luke studied Elise with renewed interest.
He'd crafted two Six-Star Original cards, one Special Card, multiple Equipment and Counter cards, and he was still Nine-Star Commander. One step from Leader. Close, but not there.
Elise had already crossed that threshold.
The math was simple. A Card Master's level was determined by accumulated Mana Surge from card construction. But the system had built-in diminishing returns. Crafting the same card a second time gave half the surge. A third copy gave a quarter. By the fifth copy, the surge was negligible. A sixth copy of the same card produced nothing at all.
On top of that, high-level Card Masters crafting low-tier cards experienced a similar decay. The further the card's tier fell below the crafter's level, the less surge it produced. At a certain point, the return hit zero.
These two mechanics meant that grinding levels through mass production of cheap cards or duplicate crafting was impossible. Every level increase demanded new cards of appropriate tier. Which meant more unique designs, more rare materials, and more money.
For Elise to have reached Leader Realm before the entrance exam, she had to possess significantly more mid-tier cards than Luke did. Maybe even high-tier cards. And the resources required for that volume of unique card construction could only come from a family like the Hargroves.
A father who held the vice presidency of the Capital Association. A grandfather who presumably ran the whole thing. Generations of accumulated wealth and connections feeding directly into one girl's development.
Luke had his system. Elise had her family's full backing. Different advantages, different paths, similar results. He respected it.
But if they ever faced each other? Luke ran through his loadout mentally. Mana with Spell Tome, Magical Hats, and Magic Cylinder. The Eye of Timaeus for fusion. Black Star with True Red Soul. Even a Monarch Realm opponent would have to take him seriously with that arsenal.
He wasn't worried.
-----
A stir at the dining hall entrance cut through the background noise.
Every conversation paused. Every head turned. The reaction was instantaneous and unanimous, which told Luke that whoever had just walked in was extraordinary even by the elevated standards of this room.
He looked.
A girl in a tailored ivory shell-top dress stood at the entrance, the garment's clean lines accentuating a figure that was tall, slender, and carried with the unconscious poise of someone who'd never once questioned whether she belonged in a room. Lustrous pearls dotted the hem, catching the light with each step. White T-strap heels. Bare legs that were alabaster-pale and drew the eye whether you intended to look or not.
Her face was flawless in the way that made you suspect divine intervention in the gene pool. Fine eyebrows. A straight nose. Lips the color of winter berries, set in a line that suggested smiling was something that happened to other people. Her eyes were pale cyan, almost green, and they swept the room with the detached interest of someone cataloguing furniture rather than people.
A faint scent of gardenia preceded her. And between her brows, a single crimson mark in the shape of a spider lily bloomed like a drop of blood on snow.
The overall effect was less "beautiful girl" and more "winter given human form." Cold. Exquisite. Untouchable.
Ice queen. Snow fairy.
The words surfaced in every mind simultaneously. Luke's included. This was someone who'd made "unapproachable" into an art form, and the red spider lily mark added a note of dark allure that made the cold beauty feel slightly dangerous.
Luke shook his head with quiet amazement. Magic Card Civilization's average attractiveness was genuinely absurd. Mana-enhanced physiology meant that Card Masters tended to be better-looking than the general population by default. But the concentration of beauty at this competition was on another level entirely.
Beside him, Lily set down her chopsticks. Her eyes had locked onto the newcomer the moment she'd walked through the door.