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( Bonus chapter)
A newly formed Dimensional Plane.
Even Harrison, Grant, and Miles, all Sovereign Realm Card Masters with decades of experience, sat up straighter. Their composure slipped briefly. Luke, Elise, Lily, Serena, and Vance simply stared at Edmund with varying degrees of shock written across their faces.
"President Hargrove." Harrison was the first to find his voice. "You're certain?"
"Absolutely certain. I led the discovery team personally."
The implications spread outward from Edmund's announcement like ripples from a stone hitting still water.
Magic Card Civilization existed alongside countless Dimensional Planes. Each one had originally been a separate world, and each one had been destroyed at some point in the distant past, leaving behind a stable shard of broken reality that survived as a Dimensional Plane. The Spirit Home, where Luke had encountered the Abyss Predator. The Mist Relic, where the Youth Training Competition's second stage had been held. Hundreds of others. All of them were the corpses of dead civilizations.
Most destroyed worlds didn't leave behind Dimensional Planes. The vast majority simply vanished from history without a trace, lost to the cosmic equivalent of erosion. Only a small fraction survived as accessible Planes, and even those took millennia to stabilize after the destruction event.
The cause of these world-destruction events remained one of the central unanswered questions in the Magic Card Civilization. Generations of researchers had attempted to identify the underlying mechanism. None had succeeded. Magic Card Civilization itself was technically a "world" by the same classification, which meant the same fate could theoretically befall it. Generations of high-realm Card Masters had pursued this question, and none had returned with definitive answers.
But where the destruction question was a long-term existential concern, the Plane formation question was a short-term economic one.
Newly formed Dimensional Planes contained resources beyond what mature Planes typically offered. Native materials that hadn't yet been discovered or extracted. Dimensional energy at peak concentration. Unique flora, fauna, and ruins from a freshly-collapsed civilization. The first expedition into a new Plane could sustain a Card Master family for generations.
The historical example everyone in the room knew was the Spirit Capital's ruling family. Centuries ago, that family had been the first into a newly-formed Plane, extracted resources that funded their rise to dominance, and now sat at the top of one of the twelve Capitals as a result. The story was a foundational piece of the Spirit Capital's identity, and by extension, of the Southern Region's history.
Replicating that path was the dream of every ambitious Card Master family. None had succeeded. The combination of luck, timing, and capability required was effectively unique.
A newly formed Dimensional Plane being announced in this office, to this assembled group, meant Edmund Hargrove was about to offer them a shot at exactly that opportunity.
"As expected." Edmund continued without dramatic pause. "When we first discovered the Plane, it had only just begun to stabilize. The internal rules were chaotic, the boundary was porous, and the ambient energy was hostile. Nobody could enter safely. We named it the Eternal Night Plane and withdrew to monitor."
Eternal Night Plane. Every person in the room mentally filed the name.
"A newly formed Plane can't be entered immediately." Roland Hargrove stepped forward slightly, addressing the younger competitors directly. "The internal rules haven't settled. Dimensional storms are constant. Worse, the formation event creates a flood of Black Gates throughout the new Plane, and those Gates spawn extra-dimensional beasts at extreme density."
The mention of Black Gates made Luke's pulse tick up. He remembered the Spirit Home expedition vividly. The Abyss Predator that had nearly killed his entire team. Apex predators emerged from those Gates. Without Red-Eyes Black Star Dragon's True Red Soul mechanic, that fight would have ended very differently.
"For most of the past year and a half, the Eternal Night Plane has been considered too dangerous for entry," Roland continued. "Even Sovereign Realm Card Masters might not survive a sustained engagement inside. Only Immortal Realm or higher could reliably enter and withdraw. President Hargrove personally led several reconnaissance attempts, but full exploration was impossible."
Edmund picked up the thread.
"In the past six months, the Plane has stabilized enough that exploration is viable. Spatial geometry is settled. Dimensional storms have decreased to manageable frequencies. The Black Gate density has dropped to levels comparable to other Planes."
He raised one finger.
"There are three entry conditions. The Plane's own rules dictate them, and they cannot be modified."
Every younger Card Master in the room leaned forward fractionally.
"First. Realm restriction. The Eternal Night Plane will only admit Card Masters at Monarch Realm or below. The internal ruleset can support combat between high-tier card spirits, but it cannot withstand combat between Emperor Realm or higher Card Masters. If a higher-realm Card Master attempts entry, the Plane's stability collapses and Black Gates flood every region simultaneously."
Realm restriction was standard for Dimensional Planes. The conditions varied per Plane, but the underlying logic was always similar. A Plane's internal rules could only support certain power levels.
The collective realization that ran through the younger Card Masters' minds was: anyone here can enter. Vance was Commander Realm. Luke was Commander Realm. Lily, Serena were Commander Realm. Elise was Leader Realm. All five were comfortably below the Monarch Realm ceiling.
Roland added a clarification.
"To be precise, the Monarch ceiling exists because the Plane can support combat involving high-tier card spirits, but if a Card Master entered above that threshold, the resulting power output would crack the Plane's stability ruleset. Once that ruleset cracks, the Black Gates re-flood. So the limit is enforced for everyone's safety, including the Plane's continued existence."
Edmund raised a second finger.
"Second condition. Gender ratio. The Plane requires a one-to-one ratio of male to female Card Masters among any group entering. The total headcount can vary, but the male-to-female balance must be exactly equal. If the ratio is broken at any point during entry, the Plane forcibly teleports out every Card Master inside until balance is restored."
That condition was unusual. Most Dimensional Planes had no such requirement. Several of the Card Masters in the room visibly cataloged it as something worth investigating later.
Edmund raised a third finger.
"Third condition. The entry window. The Plane has not yet established bidirectional access. The doorway only opens during the full moon. The next full moon falls exactly six months from today. After that, the next opportunity comes one full lunar cycle later, and so on."
He paused.
"In other words, miss this entry window, and the next chance arrives one moon later. But waiting also means the first-expedition advantage erodes. The richest harvests come from the earliest expeditions. Every subsequent expedition collects less."
Several of the younger Card Masters had begun mentally calculating timelines. Six months from today put the entry on a date that fell shortly after the entrance examinations. That timing was either coincidental or deliberate, and given that Edmund Hargrove was speaking, Luke leaned heavily toward deliberate.
Edmund laid his hand flat on the desk.
"You five performed exceptionally in the Youth Training Competition. The senior leadership of the Eastern Region has reviewed your records and your potential. We've decided to extend each of you an entry slot for the first Eternal Night Plane expedition."
The bombshell sequence concluded with that single sentence.
Five entry slots. To the first expedition into a newly-formed Dimensional Plane. Awarded to five young Card Masters who hadn't even taken their entrance examinations yet.
The opportunity Roland had hinted at suddenly came into focus.
This wasn't networking. This wasn't a reward. This was a generational chance.