Magic Card Era: Infinite Deck Enhancement — Chapter 148

Chapter 148: Outrageous Popularity and Accelerated Mana

Although Principal Gu deliberately lowered his voice to a mere whisper, Celestine’s acute senses caught every syllable. She tilted her head slightly, her expression remaining a placid mask. She could feel his intense wariness radiating toward her, a defensive tension she neither understood nor cared to analyze.

Even separated from the Land of the New Moon and far from her peak state, swatting away a mere Emperor Realm Magic Card Master would require nothing more than a casual wave of her hand.

Rather than her raw power, Celestine sensed that the older man was far more preoccupied with her connection to Luke. Why human beings placed such heavy emphasis on these invisible social tethers eluded her completely. You could hardly expect a tree to grasp the intricacies of human etiquette, especially a World Tree. Beyond her own existence, the Ancient Spirit God Tree was the sole living entity in the entirety of the Land of the New Moon. She had never been afforded the opportunity to learn the strange customs of mortals, even if she had possessed the desire to do so.

“We are just friends, Principal,” Luke said, clearing his throat to break the mounting awkwardness. The true nature of his bond with Celestine was a tangled, magical mess. Explaining the reality of a summoned tree spirit would only leave the principal utterly bewildered.

“Is that so?” Principal Gu let the matter drop. Powerful entities rarely appreciated being interrogated, though Celestine’s quiet, looming presence still set his nerves on edge. “Since I ran into you here, I might as well remind you of something important.”

“Remind me of what?” Luke blinked, entirely caught off guard. He certainly hadn’t expected to be the target of a sudden lecture in the middle of the street.

Principal Gu let out a long, exasperated sigh. “Remember to actually show up at school in a few days. It is our graduation ceremony.”

“Graduation? Already?” Hearing the sheer helplessness in the older man’s tone, Luke rubbed the back of his neck in mild embarrassment. The thought had completely slipped his mind.

“I knew you would forget if I didn’t track you down.” Principal Gu shook his head, eyeing Luke with a deeply complicated expression. “The ceremony isn’t early this year. In fact, we pushed it back by two full days.”

He paused, letting the weight of his next words sink in. “We delayed it entirely because of you.”

‘What does that have to do with me?’Luke stared back, utterly lost.’This is the first time I have even left the house in days. Don’t pin the school schedule on me.’

“This time, our Third High School is hosting a joint graduation ceremony alongside First High School and Second High School,” Principal Gu continued, his chest puffing out slightly with swelling pride. “And it will not just be City Lord Cang and Chairman Yu in attendance. The Capital Lord himself is coming to preside over the event.”

For the Capital Lord—the supreme authority overseeing all twelve cities of Cang Capital—to personally attend a high school graduation was an event destined for the history books. It was an unmatched honor. Principal Gu had never dared to dream that Third High School would see such glory under his tenure.

And every ounce of that prestige had been dragged to their doorstep by the young man standing in front of him. Principal Gu knew Luke’s recent performances were spectacular, but drawing the personal attention of the Capital Lord was a feat beyond imagination.

Only a tiny fraction of the elite knew about the Night Queen’s recent descent upon Cangling City. As a mere high school principal, Gu remained entirely in the dark. He was just a messenger. He had no idea that Luke had already been taken in as the Night Queen’s personal student. Cang Fenghua had kept her lips sealed on the matter, strictly obeying Cang Ao’s direct orders to maintain absolute secrecy.

Even Chairman Yu only knew a fraction of the truth because Cang Fenghua needed his cooperation to swiftly purge the hidden rats lurking in Cangling City’s underworld.

Thus, Principal Gu remained blissfully unaware that Cang Ao’s grand appearance at the graduation was fundamentally tied to the Night Queen’s lingering influence. No matter how absolute the Capital Lord’s authority seemed, the Domain Lord was his direct superior. That connection, combined with Luke’s terrifying talent, was more than enough to make Cang Ao take a personal interest.

Still, whenever Principal Gu pictured the shameless faces of Zhao Chengyuan and Da Baiman—the rival principals who had come crawling to him, begging for a joint ceremony the second they caught wind of the Capital Lord’s attendance—he had to fight the urge to laugh in their faces. Opportunities to watch those two grovel were a rare delicacy.

“The Capital Lord is coming too?” Luke raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised. “Alright, I will be there.”

He didn’t hold any deep sentimental attachment to the ceremony itself, but it felt right to walk the grounds one last time and put a clean end to his three years of high school. Plus, with Cang Fenghua and Chairman Yu both attending, he could catch up with them in one place instead of making tedious separate trips to the City Lord’s Mansion and the Magic Card Association.

“Just make sure you remember.” Principal Gu let out a quiet breath of relief. “I won’t take up any more of your evening. Enjoy your time.”

The Capital Lord’s visit was entirely centered around Luke. If the guest of honor failed to show up, the resulting awkwardness would be catastrophic. More, standing this close to the silent, terrifying pressure radiating from Celestine was suffocating. Having secured his answer, Principal Gu offered a hasty nod and made a swift retreat down the street.

Luke watched him hurry away, not thinking much of the abrupt departure.

‘This kid’s popularity with women is just outrageous,’ Principal Gu muttered under his breath from a safe distance, glancing back one last time at the pair. He wisely decided to stop guessing at the exact nature of their relationship. Whatever was going on between a prodigy and an entity of that caliber was far beyond his pay grade.

One always had to maintain a healthy respect for the strong.

The brief encounter with the principal faded into the background as Luke turned his attention back to his companion. Keeping Celestine’s unique nature in mind, he eventually guided them into a quiet vegetarian restaurant.

A few minutes later, Luke sat across the table, resting his chin in his hand. He watched in deep silence as the ethereal girl delicately picked at a bowl of fresh greens and sliced fruit. A powerful sense of absurdity washed over him.

‘A tree… eating a salad.’

Even knowing she was a Tree Spirit, the sheer irony of the visual left him completely at a loss for words.

Once the meal was finished, Luke led Celestine on a slow, meandering walk through the vibrant, glowing stalls of Cangling City’s night market, letting her observe the bustling human world before they finally headed home.

The moment the front door clicked shut behind them, a sudden, sharp sensation flared in Luke’s chest. He paused in the entryway, feeling the distinct, familiar condensation of a Mana Crystal forming within his body.

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have given the process a second thought. But this time was entirely different.

Activating the Crystallization Technique to condense a single Mana Crystal usually took him a solid two hours. Even as his personal level grew, his maximum mana capacity expanded right alongside it, meaning the time required to form a crystal remained stubbornly fixed at the two-hour mark.

Yet tonight, the process had completed in just over an hour.

The condensation time had been slashed in half. It was a terrifying leap in efficiency.

‘Could this be because of Celestine?’

Luke closed his eyes, tracing the flow of energy in the room. The only variable that had changed was the quiet Ancient Tree Spirit standing a few feet away.

He had experienced a similar phenomenon back in the Land of the New Moon. Whenever he stood within the immediate domain of the Ancient Spirit God Tree, his magical recovery rate had spiked to an absurd degree, replenishing his reserves almost the instant they were spent. That ridiculous regeneration was the exact reason he had targeted the tree in the first place, inadvertently drawing Celestine out.

As the living spirit of the Ancient Spirit God Tree, it made perfect sense that Celestine carried a localized version of that same passive aura. It might not be as overwhelmingly potent as her true main body, but cutting his condensation time in half was still an incredible advantage.