Card Apprentice Daily Log Chapter 2541: Timeline Madness

Date: Unspecified

Ti: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Central Region, Central Academic City, Morningstar University District, Morningstar University Campus, Garden of Beginning, Ti Vestige, Morningstar University 2nd Campus

"My Lady, you are the master of the past, present, and future!"

I nearly shouted those words as I listened to everything Lucine’s three ti-rule anings were capable of. And honestly, I wouldn’t have been wrong—she really was the master of all three, at least when it ca to her own past, present, and future.

It was hard to believe soone with abilities this overwhelming had spent her later years tucked away inside Morningstar University, living out a quiet retirent. But I supposed the punishnt for breaking the ti taboos must have been brutal, especially now that she was dealing with ti-rule dentia.

Ti rule was terrifyingly powerful because everything begins with ti and ends with ti. But it had limits—the ti taboos. Ti always moved forward. It never stopped, never rewound. It branched into countless possibilities, but each of those paths eventually collapsing on itself. Only the one sturdy enough to endure the longest would beco the main tiline—continuing forward, carrying everything with it as it pressed on through eternity.

This was the widely accepted theory of ti in both the Card World and all of the Myriad Realms.

That ant our tiline was the oldest surviving branch of the Card World’s tiline—making it the main tiline. If it were ever to collapse, the next oldest branch would imdiately take its place as the new main tiline. In other words, even if the Card World perished in this branch of the Myriad Realms’ tiline, it would continue existing in another.

There was no such thing as true death for the Celestials—only the loss of a single branch, much like how our bodies shed countless cells every day and replace them with new ones.

I wasn’t sure if this was truly how things worked, but the theory heavily leaned toward the idea that life itself gives rise to everything else. Without soone living to witness or shape existence, nothing would exist at all.

I found the idea arrogant—almost as if the living of the Myriad Realms were declaring, "Without us, you are nothing."

And if this theory were truly accurate, how would we even know whether our branch was the true main tiline of the Myriad Realms? What if the real main tiline didn’t even contain the Card World at all? Would that make us... virtual? How would sothing like that even work?

Clearly, the theory had gaps. But anyone could see it originated in the Dark Realm and then spread through the Myriad Realms.

A fitting comparison would be Earth: the British set the Greenwich ridian as the reference line for global ti, even though an oceanic ridian would have served better as a reference line. The first one to define the system gets to make the rules. I just didn’t expect the sa thing to be true in the Myriad Realms—especially in a place where beings could study the ti rule, with so even learning it directly from the ti-rule source.

I supposed this was sothing I could puzzle over in my retirent years. For now, though, all I could think about was how Lucine’s three ti-rule anings, paired with her premortem savant origin card, would turn her into a one-woman army on any battlefield. If the second demon invasion ever ca to pass, sending her alone would probably be enough—if she were more soldier than academician.

Learning what she was capable of had fired up about comprehending the ti rule myself and choosing my first ti-rule aning. If I sohow ended up with Future Finding, I’d practically be untouchable in my realm anywhere in the Myriad Realms. Sure, Future Finding had its drawbacks, but I had ti-rule immunity and access to primordial energy. Every weakness it had, I had a counter for.

The problem was getting the ti-rule aning I actually wanted. Choosing Future Finding at the bifurcation point was like winning a lottery with odds worse than one in a million. I wasn’t nearly optimistic enough to expect to land Future Finding for any of my three ti-rule anings.

However, that disappointnt from knowing this only made admire Lucine even more. Maybe she’d just been lucky to end up with three outstanding ti-rule anings, but it didn’t change how I felt. I even found myself wondering what kinds of runes and hybrid runes she’d forged from them. I’d already seen her use the blackhole hybrid rune, so I couldn’t help assuming that the rest of her runes would be just as impressive—if not stronger.

Lucine gave a confused look when she caught outright staring at her, eyes gleaming like a kid who’d just found his new favorite superhero. She tried shifting out of my line of sight, but my gaze followed her, which only made her more uncomfortable. Even knowing that, I couldn’t look away. Her ti-rule anings were perfectly suited for both research and battle. A combination like that deserved every bit of envy and admiration I felt.

"Wyatt, could you stop staring at like that?" she asked, a helpless edge in her voice—like she was the victim and I was so creep bothering her on a packed subway. What was with these won? They were all ridiculously strong and smart, yet at monts like this they acted like they completely forgot it at ho.

I cleared my throat and asked, "So... what runes did you create using those ti-rule anings? Any hybrid runes among them?"

"Huh?" Lucine stared at , stunned. "You’re... not angry that I used my Future Finding aning to steer you toward a future I wanted?"

"Not really," I usually replied. "If anything, I’m more bothered by the fact that you’d expose sothing this dangerous about yourself to . What exactly are you trying to achieve that you’re willing to lay yourself bare like this?" I asked, genuinely curious about Lucine’s end ga. What was worth all this?