26 Card crafting II

"Have you decided what card you're going to craft?" Nero asked. But even though he asked, there was a certainty in his voice, as if there was no option for Silas but to successfully craft an Eldrim card.

The boy hesitated, as if considering something, but Nero squeezed his shoulder, and much tighter this time.

"Don't think too much. You have an answer in your mind. Just say it."

"Summon light orb!" Silas blurted out, as if he couldn't wait to get the words out of his mouth. But that did not please Nero. He squeezed his shoulder once more.

"Calmly. Answer calmly," he reiterated, emphasising the need to maintain his state of mind. "Close your eyes, take a deep breath, follow the whole process, and then when you open your eyes, answer again."

A twinge of frustration shot through Silas, not at Nero but at himself. But the firm hold Nero had on his shoulder reminded him of what he needed to do, so he closed his eyes and once again repeated the breathing exercise Nero had told him.

"Summon light orb," Silas answered again once he opened his eyes, this time slowly. "It's one of the easiest recipes, and has the highest tolerance for mistakes due to how simple it is."

"Good. I believe you have all the steps memorised?"

"Ye- yes."

"Good. Then calm yourself down completely, and once you are ready, begin. Do not focus on anything. Just focus on each step individually. Do not think about anything else except the step you are on."

Although Nero's voice remained cold and firm throughout, he lifted his hand from Silas' shoulder at this point. Card crafting was a delicate process even for a normal person, let alone someone as fretful as Silas. He could not afford any distractions.

Silas immediately closed his eyes, and began to take a deep breath. The absence of Nero's hand, oddly enough, made him even more nervous! But he didn't focus on that for now. He focused completely on Nero's instructions.

The boy did not even realise that, through his intense focus, he entered a meditative state and emptied his mind of all unnecessary thoughts. The only thing he was focused on was following through with Nero's instructions.

Nero, himself, was also focused. He did not know nearly as much about card crafting as Silas, due to the boy's background, so this would be a learning experience for him as well. So far, however, the most interesting thing he found was how effective his orders were on Silas. He even stopped being irritated at him. But how long this lasted was yet to be seen.

Nero expected to see a long and arduous process, since card crafting was not easy, and the slightest mistake would waste the base template. Getting Silas to remain calm through failure would be the true hurdle.

While the boy calmed himself down, Nero also reflected on why he was so easily pissed off by him. This self reflection was important, as Nero needed a deep and thorough understanding of himself. That way, he would know how to manipulate his own emotions in the direction he desired.

Nero was not a person to be ruled by his emotions, but it would definitely be a hell lot easier if his emotions cooperated with his intentions and made life easier for him.

After nearly five minutes of practising the method of breathing Nero taught him, Silas opened his eyes. In his mind he thought about what the first step was, and began working on it without hesitation.

He had gathered more than the required ingredients, and for different cards just in case Nero was not satisfied with his selection. But since he had given the nod of approval for Summon light orb, he would not need them.

The base of this card was made using the bottom slice of a Hibiscus leaf, which basically meant that after a leaf of an appropriate size was located, the leaf itself was sliced perfectly in half, separating the top and bottom.

Just the difficulty of harvesting this ingredient, alongside storing it, made it extremely difficult to find. But compared to the ingredients for higher level cards, this was absolutely nothing, thereby demonstrating the first difficulty of crafting cards and the entire civilisation based on them. But humans were resilient creatures and always found a way.

Silas put on his gloves and reached for the first container. Using a tweezer, he gently lifted the base material and placed it right in front of him. He double checked its size and freshness, ensuring that the leaf base had not died yet, before moving to the next process.

Slowly and meticulously, Silas went through the steps. His every action was measured, and flowed smoothly as if he were a machine rather than a human.

Nero had never seen Silas like this. In fact, he seriously doubted if the boy had ever been like this even once in his entire life!

With his mind empty of the countless thoughts that usually filled it, he could give his utmost to this task. He forgot his fear of Nero, and especially his fear of failure. He only focused on the task.

Layer by layer, he added the ingredients and additives. If one were to look at what was in front of him, they would hardly be able to associate it with the beautiful and refined Eldrim cards, but that is exactly what this was leading up to.

Nero stood perfectly still, not even breathing loudly so as to avoid waking Silas from whatever state he was in. He only absorbed everything he saw, from the way Silas held the tweezers, to the way he sprinkled aether dust, or used the many adhesives required in the process. He took in the main steps, as well as the many subtleties they involved.

Finally, after twenty minutes that seemed to flash by, Silas took a 0 star card and placed it atop his creation without any hesitation. The card was completely black on the front, though on the back it sported the design commonly used in the army.

Then, he placed the aether shard atop it, firmly pressing the card down onto his creation. The last step, one which was purely theoretical, and that they had not tested before was all that was left. But Silas showed no hesitation, as if his mind currently did not have the capacity for such thoughts. He picked up a gavel, and smashed the aether shard in one swift motion.

The loud bang seemed to wake Silas from his state of concentration, and a flood of anxiety filled him. Had he… did he really just?

In a daze, he picked up the hammer without even realising it. But then a change caught his eye. The card was glowing.