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Watching the scene unfold, countless question marks flickered across Celestine's exquisite elven face.
In her memory, the vast majority of Card Masters who'd entered Crescent Moon Land had only ever been able to draw blue memory fragments. With a bit of luck, a Card Master might draw a purple fragment. Only in extremely rare cases did gold appear.
For someone as absurd as Luke to directly pull an entire golden ocean, pure and without a single trace of impurity, was something even Celestine, who'd lived for who-knew-how-long, was encountering for the first time.
He'd very nearly drawn out every single gold fragment in the Memory Interstice at once.
Even if she'd cheated on his behalf, the result wouldn't have been this absurd. And she hadn't done that, nor would she ever.
Which meant the scene before her was entirely Luke's own doing. His luck was, frankly, the kind that kicked down the door of absurdity and made itself at home.
"You really are special." Celestine's emerald eyes stayed locked on Luke, her vivid red lips parting and closing. "These are Memory Fragments, the very Crescent Moon Blessing we've been discussing. You may select any one of them you like."
"Memory fragments of different colors are sorted into different tiers, and the Crescent Moon Blessings they convert into are likewise sorted into different tiers." Descending from her floating position to Luke's side, Celestine explained at a measured pace. "Across all these years, ninety-nine percent of Card Masters have only drawn the lowest-tier blue fragments. Roughly zero point nine percent manage to draw a higher-tier purple fragment."
"The remaining zero point one percent, whose luck reaches its absolute peak, draw a gold fragment."
"If my memory is correct, the last Card Master to draw a gold fragment was nearly a century ago, and even then, it was only a single fragment."
The lowest tier was the blue memory fragment, the purple memory fragment ranked above it, and the best, naturally, was the gold memory fragment, also the rarest to appear.
"A Card Master like you, who's drawn nothing but gold fragments across the board, is something I'm encountering for the very first time." As she spoke, Celestine tilted her head slightly, as if trying to engrave Luke's image into her memory.
So this is what they call a god of luck.
In her quiet observations over the years, Celestine had seen no shortage of Card Masters break into all manner of bizarre dances to boost their fortune before drawing from the Memory Interstice, muttering things under their breath, incantations along the lines of unlucky spirits begone, luck-god lend me your strength.
Recalling those scenes from memory, a flash of understanding moved through Celestine's mind.
"In that case, it seems my luck really is pretty good." Gazing at Celestine, so close in front of him, with the fresh scent of nature drifting past his nose, Luke felt his spirits lift.
At first, when he'd seen nothing but gold fragments drawn from the Memory Interstice, he'd assumed the fragments were all identical. He hadn't expected them to be the highest-tier memory fragments.
Well, looks like I inherited my past life's luck after all. Pulling a perfect ten-pull was, after all, not something he'd never managed before. And by the look of it, the luck seemed to have grown even stronger.
"If anything," Celestine said, at something of a loss, "if the Magic Card Civilization truly possessed a Goddess of Luck, I'd start to suspect you were her lover."
Luck like that, Celestine felt, was something even she might not be able to replicate, cheating or not.
Aren't you a reincarnated goddess yourself, though? Which one, exactly, I have no idea. Hearing Celestine's words, Luke couldn't resist a silent quip.
"That said, no one knows what blessing you'll ultimately receive until the final moment." Finishing, Celestine once again regarded Luke with interest. She very much wanted to see what a Card Master this special, and this lucky, would end up receiving.
The Memory Interstice draw was absolutely impartial. There was no cheating involved, and Celestine herself would never do such a thing.
But across all these years, even Celestine was encountering, for the first time, someone capable of drawing nothing but gold memory fragments. Which meant that no matter how Luke chose, what he received would be the highest-tier Crescent Moon Blessing.
"This is absolutely some kind of game." Having heard Celestine's final explanation, Luke couldn't help another round of internal ranting.
Everything he'd experienced from the moment he entered Crescent Moon Land felt far too familiar, like a scene he'd lived through before. If he hadn't lived in the Magic Card Civilization for close to twenty years, he'd have half-suspected he'd transmigrated into some game world.
"Still, these memory fragments all look exactly the same. I can't tell any difference between them at all, so I've no idea what blessing I'll end up with." The golden ocean in front of him guaranteed the highest-tier blessing at minimum, so Luke didn't overthink it, simply reaching out at random to grasp the gold fragment nearest to him.
A god of luck gets to be this carefree.
「 Incomplete World Rule detected. Conversion available. Convert? 」
The instant his fingertip made contact with the memory fragment, a chill swept through him, and before Luke could react, the system's prompt arrived.
Incomplete World Rule? Is it talking about these memory fragments? I thought these things could only convert into the Crescent Moon Blessing. This sounds a fair bit more impressive, somehow.
「 The energy gained from converting Incomplete World Rules can be used to unlock the system's advanced Authorities. It will not affect the host or the host's card spirits. 」
Unlocking the system's higher-tier Authorities normally required the mana backflow gained from crafting cards. But mana backflow, ultimately, was only one of the energy sources for unlocking the system's Authorities.
And Incomplete World Rules were, evidently, a higher-grade energy than mana backflow. Since converting World Rules wouldn't affect himself or his card spirits, what was there to wait for?
Compared to the Crescent Moon Blessing, Luke was actually more eager for the system's new Authority. He just didn't know whether this small handful of memory fragments would be enough to meet the requirement for unlocking a higher Authority.
「 Conversion beginning. 」
In the next instant, a violent suction force began swirling outward with Luke's position at its center. The memory fragments drifting in the air flew uncontrollably toward him, transforming into streams of light that flooded into his body.
"Hssss."
A faintly stinging, tearing sensation hit him, and the unprepared Luke sucked in a sharp breath.
A moment later, Luke felt his soul and body, under the influx of the memory fragments, begin to evolve in some unknown direction. At the same time, the system's prompts sounded continuously in his ears.
「 Conversion successful. Gained 10,000 EXP. 」
「 Conversion successful. Gained 10,000 EXP. 」
Outside, as Luke began absorbing and converting the memory fragments, Celestine, who'd been watching him the whole time, was abruptly shoved back by a storm of mana. Her eyes went wide as she stared at Luke, so much so that she didn't even notice her own robes blown askew, baring her fair skin.
「 Conversion successful. Gained 10,000 EXP. 」