Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2699: Petra’s Possibilities

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City, TSR Guild Headquarters

"Are you being serious right now?" Petra asked, staring at Cortney in disbelief, unable to trust what she was hearing. She had never even approached Cortney with an offer to buy her silence regarding persuading Bloodette to move to the Way Beyond with her. It felt as though she had reached for an iron axe and somehow been handed a gold one instead.

When Cortney nodded in confirmation, Petra wasted no time and hurriedly put forth her offer. "I’ll give you twenty rule ore veins, each belonging to a different rule. Let’s shake on it."

Before agreeing, Cortney paused and asked, "Will they be different from the twenty rule ore veins you’re already giving, Wyatt?" She knew that if her friend intended to build what she suspected, having forty distinct rule ore veins without overlap would be an immense advantage.

"That will be hard," Petra answered after a brief moment of thought and with a pensive expression she continued, "I have more enemies than friends."

In her long life, enemies and rivals had always made existence more entertaining just as much as companionship. Otherwise, after a few rebirths, everything would have begun to feel repetitive and dull.

"You have fewer than forty friends?" Corey remarked, voicing an unexpectedly sharp observation and catching Petra off guard.

"Yeah, got a problem with that? How many do you have?" Petra asked sharply. She still hadn’t forgiven Corey for threatening to rat her out to Bloodette.

"Hey, I was just saying. No need to get personal," Corey replied, a faint note of loneliness slipping into her voice. The number of friends she truly had could be counted on her fingers. Then again, if she included the friends of Corey Park and Earth Corey, she could probably fill an entire village.

Petra shot her a glare, then turned back to Cortney and put forward a new proposal. "How about you come with us too? I’ll give you one hundred rule ore veins, no, any resources you want. As many as you want. Name them, and I’ll get them for you. Besides, my place is far more beautiful than anything in the card apprentices’ regions."

Now that Cortney had shown a willingness to sell her silence, an entirely new range of possibilities opened before Petra, all aimed at ensuring she returned home with Bloodette in tow. One of those possibilities involved taking Cortney along as well. With that in mind, Petra went all out, offering Cortney a deal that would make any card apprentice alive green with envy. Even the masters would feel the sting of it.

After all, once a supreme being gave a verbal agreement, it was as good as done, regardless of time or circumstance. That meant if Cortney chose to leave with Petra, she would never again need to worry about lacking resources. Anything found in the Way Beyond would be hers for the taking, and Petra would personally see to it and be responsible for her safety.

For many it was an offer too good to refuse, but for Cortney, it was never truly an option. Her heart belonged to the orphanage. Just as I expected, she refused immediately, without a moment’s hesitation.

"No, I can’t come with you. If you can’t produce twenty distinct rule ore veins, then make it twenty five rule ore veins, and Wyatt will tell you which ones can overlap. If you’re fine with that, then let’s shake on it."

From the very beginning, Cortney had planned to remain silent about Bloodette leaving for the Way Beyond. Unlike the others, she understood that Bloodette was just as curious about her past as she was about the world beyond the dungeon seal. Cortney could be selfish, could ask Bloodette to stay and abandon her search for her past, but that would have been unfair to Bloodette .

If Cortney were the only reason Bloodette remained with them, then after her death, Bloodette would return to the Way Beyond alone, where life would be far harsher without any friends waiting for her. Like throwing a domesticated cat onto the streets. The wisest choice, then, was to let Bloodette go and live her own life, rather than binding her out of selfishness.

So, when she realized what her friend was planning to do with the twenty rule ore veins he had negotiated with Petra in exchange for his and his employees’ silence, she immediately recognized an opportunity she would regret missing and seized it without hesitation. If she could make this happen, she knew that even after her death, the orphanage would never have to worry about money again.

As for how it might look to Bloodette, she believed the latter wouldn’t mind. Their friendship had long since transcended words and actions, ever since she signed her origin card and they had shared an innate blood rule rune.

That was also why it was easier for her to let go of Bloodette. If she ever missed her, all she had to do was use their shared innate blood rule rune to summon her or through her origin card itself. If not, she could go visit Bloodette by relying on their shared innate blood rule rune. Either way, no distance in the world could truly separate them. They were always just one thought away from each other.

"I can do that," Petra agreed to Cortney’s counter proposal, but her voice lacked the earlier excitement. It was as if she wasn’t sure.

Everything was unfolding far too smoothly, almost too perfectly. It felt unreal. She could understand Anti-Petruth and Corey changing their spots, but even Cortney? That was harder to believe. Petra couldn’t help but wonder if they knew something she didn’t. Was there something important she was missing, something she needed to know?

Her thoughts were abruptly cut short by a cry sharper than even Bloodette’s constant whining. It was Corey. She was now shamelessly clinging to Anti-Petruth’s thigh, bawling her eyes out as she wailed, "Wyatt, this is not fair..."