Chapter 184: Imp Beast Regrets Nothing in His Life (4k)
“Come, this is the wine you wanted.”
Simmons shook the three bottles of wine in his hand and placed them on the table one by one.
“What kind of wine are these?” Dark asked curiously.
Simmons chuckled and picked out a bottle, saying, “Take it slow. First, this bottle is called ‘Morning Dew.'”
“‘Morning Dew’?”
Dark examined it closely.
The wine named “Morning Dew” was contained in a transparent bottle, with a pale green liquid that had a faint apple juice feel, but clearer than apple juice, slightly translucent.
This made it look somewhat dreamlike.
“Don’t look anymore, no matter how much you look at it, you won’t understand,” Simmons said nonchalantly. “In any case, this bottle is for Little Lily. It costs 1000 credits.”
Dark: “Uh…”
He instinctively felt Simmons was joking.
After all, when he bought fairy wine here before, it only cost him 100 credits.
This time, it suddenly increased tenfold, who could bear it?
But Simmons ignored his shock and continued picking out the second bottle, saying, “This bottle is ‘Eight Deserts.’ Only the Beast Sages can match it.”
As for the so-called “Eight Deserts Wine,” it was actually a bottle of fiery red, intense liquor!
Even without opening the bottle, Dark could sense the hidden fire within, which was probably not something ordinary wine lovers could handle.
Simmons added, “This bottle of ‘Eight Deserts’ hasn’t been sold for many years. Since we happened to meet today, consider it a gift to you, for 2000 credits.”
Dark: “Ah?”
What kind of gift was this?
Simmons didn’t care; he finally picked up the third bottle and put it down again, his eyes flashing with a soft glow. “This third bottle is called ‘Green Fruit,’ just a fruit wine made from soaking green fruits.”
Green fruits were a type of green fruit very similar to plums.
They were sour yet sweet and could be used to make wine.
Among these three wines, only the Green Fruit wine was very common and quite cheap.
Putting it together with the other two wines made it stand out oddly.
But precisely because of this, it made it particularly eye-catching.
Dark immediately realized, it was the main character among the three bottles!
And indeed it was.
Simmons picked up the Green Fruit wine and solemnly said, “I know it’s hard for a first-year student to come up with 3000 credits, but if you promise me one thing, these three bottles will all belong to you.”
Dark asked curiously, “Let’s clarify it first.”
Simmons tapped his middle finger and said, “Since you’re going to give the professors wine, adding one more should be normal, right?”
…
Leaving the tavern, Dark hesitated to speak.
“Forget it, just consider it as helping out.”
He then took the three bottles and walked into the street.
Just having wine wasn’t enough; there had to be a gift box to hold it, and each box needed to have a Christmas card inside.
Dark wandered around Traveler’s Street for a long time before he finally found suitable gift boxes.
Then he went to a candy store and bought thirty-six chocolate gift boxes.
To bring these chocolates back, Dark had no choice but to summon Deoxys to help.
Before dusk came, he finally rushed back to the dormitory.
A huge pile of gifts like a small mountain accumulated in the corner.
Inside the dormitory, he carefully packaged the three bottles of wine, feeling slightly relieved.
“Now, I just need to prepare gifts for my mother and senior Pandora.”
Dark thought for a while.
He decided to sit down and write a letter to Alvaraite.
He described the various experiences of his first departure from home, the kindness of the professors, the friendships with classmates, the tight and fulfilling life at the academy, the thirst and yearning for knowledge, the thrilling and exciting events of the Moon Goddess incident, the smiles and joy of his first duel, and the daily routine of raising a Grass Cat Plant.
Finally, he attached a medal of the Crimson Star as a bonus.
A gift most precious to his mother was complete.
…
“Finally, there’s only Senior Pandora left.”
“What does she like? What does she need?”
Dark suddenly realized he knew nothing about his senior.
He only cared about her superficial appearance, just like those shallow nobles obsessed with their bellies.
“Let me think, let me think.”
“Fourth year, Mana Academy, top of the class, excellent grades, part-time librarian… raised a Grass Cat Plant…”
“Is that all?”
Dark leaned back in his chair, lost in thought for a moment.
His original intention for trading with Senior Pandora was because she promised to guide him in refining “Fusion” magic cards.
But in reality, during these two weeks of free time, Dark almost entirely spent his time learning the preliminary knowledge required for refining “Zoo” magic cards, and he hadn’t even finished yet.
As a result, the research on “Spell Cage” and “Fusion” was naturally put on hold.
The good news was that the book “Advanced Mana Language: Revived Characters” also fell within his current scope of study.
Therefore, his mastery of mana language grew deeper day by day, which was beneficial for refining both “Spell Cage” and “Fusion.”
“‘Fusion’ isn’t possible for now, but ‘Spell Cage’ can actually be tried.”
“Also, since I have some free time, I can refine a few first-tier Mana Spirits to fill my deck.”
“Coincidentally, tomorrow is Sunday, so I’ll spend the night preparing!”
“As for Senior Pandora’s gift… I wonder if she has free time next week?”
…
Once he decided, Dark showed frightening action speed.
That night, he first reviewed the steps for refining “Spell Cage,” identifying and re-familiarizing himself with the various materials already prepared.
Finally, the most important step: relying on his own understanding, he used mana language to write his own unique spell!
Spells, based on whether they are universal, are generally divided into universal spells and exclusive spells.
From this, universal spell cards and exclusive spell cards are derived.
Due to the production process of spell cards, most spell cards are exclusive spell cards.
Because they contain the maker’s personal imprint, only the maker can use them smoothly and freely.
If you want to sell and popularize them on the market, they need to go through “universalization.”
“Universalization” is a relatively advanced production process, extremely difficult to achieve.
So currently, Dark could only write exclusive spells.
The exclusivity of exclusive spells mainly lies in the fact that spells are not written stroke by stroke. Instead, it involves using one’s own mana to naturally evolve parts of the mana language that make up the spell, making the final completed spell compatible with the mana of the mage.
It was incredibly difficult.
Until one o’clock in the morning.
Dark had initially succeeded but was still far from perfect.
However, his overworked brain, boosted by apple juice, had already reached its limit, so he had to rest for a night first.
…
At seven in the morning on Sunday.
A light drizzle began to fall outside the window.
After washing up, Dark temporarily put aside morning exercises and directly started further adjusting and refining the “Spell Cage” spell.
Around half past seven, the Imp Beast brought breakfast and today’s newspaper back.
But he didn’t stop until half past eight, trying to clear his mind while eating, then flipping through “The Wise One Daily.”
On weekends, “The Wise One Daily” always tried to create big news to boost sales.
This issue’s headline was about the twin holy knights of the Church of the Saints.
The twin holy knights in the photo looked very young, seemingly graduates from the Secret Rite Academy of the Saints last year.
They were twins, brother and sister.
Blond hair, blue eyes, stunningly handsome.
The Church seemed to be intent on turning them into new era banners, promoting them extensively even while they were still in the academy.
This time, they were featured in the paper because the siblings had jointly exterminated an unorthodox sect.
According to the newspaper, this was a terrifying cult attempting to resurrect evil demons on Christmas Day.
With Christmas approaching, such organizations were increasing.
Humans always sought stability in chaos and plotted chaos in stability.
The demons were indeed eradicated, but demon-blooded demons still existed, as did humans inclined toward demon worship. Even the Demon King had not been completely eradicated.
Like a centipede that remains rigid even after death.
Demons reproduced differently from humans; some laid eggs, others split, drew silk, or transformed through pollution.
Generally, the strength of demon bloodlines decreased in tiers; the lower the tier, the weaker they were.
In other words, low-tier demons posed little threat, but high-tier demons remaining even a single one would be a major disaster!
And the Demon King was undoubtedly the peak of demon hierarchy!
If the Demon King truly revived, reviving the demons would not take long.
“If the Demon King here is对标 Voldemort, then could it really be the Seven-Split Demon King?”
…
Dark put down the newspaper and shook his head slightly.
What nonsense about a Demon King? Even if it were resurrected, what use would it be?
In its coffin for ten years, this was considered a period of rapid development in the new era, with mana technology exploding. It was incomparable to the war times.
Ten years ago, it took a hero’s sacrifice to seal it.
Now, it probably wouldn’t even withstand a kick from a Valkyrie!
In the original work, it was even eliminated by an ungraduated Hero’s Child, showing how weak it was.
As the saying goes, knowledge is power.
Unless it learned mana technology and became a new-era “Demon King? Mana Type,” it posed no significant threat.
In recent years, the Church of the Saints had been hyping the “Demon King Threat Theory,” frequently predicting the “resurrection of the Demon King,” but only to consolidate hawkish power.
…
Dark saw through this clearly.
After all, although he didn’t know the process, he knew the ending well, knowing that the final boss of the game was not the Demon King, but the Demon God.
A Demon King who wasn’t even the final boss was only bullying students in school.
“Hey, wait!”
“Am I not a student?”
Dark fell into deep thought.
…
Around nine-thirty.
Dark restarted his research, continuing to compile and refine the “Spell Cage.”
By half past ten, he finally had satisfactory results.
He calmed down, ate lunch first, then began refining the “Spell Cage.”
Although the “Spell Cage” was a type of magic card, it needed to be compatible with the method of refining Mana Spirit Cards.
Like “Fusion,” it was an extremely special type of magic card that had a Mana Spirit Card base.
Using “Spell Cage,” one could temporarily seal familiars, constructs, and other pseudo-living beings, using them as Mana Spirit Cards.
The first half of refining a “Spell Cage” was basically like refining a Mana Spirit Card.
In the latter half, it gradually changed.
With the experience of refining the “Flash Spell,” Dark didn’t struggle much in the latter part of the refinement.
Learning is a gradual process; you can’t become a fat person overnight unless you were already one.
…
Considering that refining a “Spell Cage” required 1500 credits, Dark was unprecedentedly serious and cautious.
He spent two hours preparing and another hour and a half refining it.
When he finally succeeded, he couldn’t believe it himself.
A success on the first try!
This meant that he had reached a higher level in the study of mana language, comparable to a second-year student.
…
The completed “Spell Cage” was a mana card with a wooden cage on the face.
Each side of the cage had a spell symbol, with several key mana symbols written on it.
Dark picked up the “Spell Cage” and examined it thoroughly before looking excitedly around for AIBO.
Five minutes later, the Imp Beast, who had sneaked out, was forcibly summoned back by the selection card…
“Imp Beast,” Dark boasted, shaking the “Spell Cage” card, “From now on, you can be my Mana Spirit and fight alongside me on the stage of duelists. Aren’t you happy?”
The Imp Beast shook its head violently.
“Not bad,” Dark squinted his eyes. “You’re so happy you’re losing your mind.”
Then he activated the “Spell Cage”!
Bright light shone, and instantly, the foundation of the cage appeared under the Imp Beast’s feet. Wooden bars fell from the sky, “thud thud thud,” nailed onto the foundation, and a wooden lid sealed the top.
Gold-colored mana symbols appeared on every surface of the wooden cage.
Finally, a giant “spell” character fused!
The Imp Beast was immediately trapped in the cage, then transformed into light along with the cage, drilling into the mana card in Dark’s hand.
The card face rapidly changed, revealing a world-famous painting— “Imp Beast Trapped in a Cage!”
Dark extended his finger, poured mana into it, and poked the cage on the card.
The cage wobbled slightly, and the Imp Beast inside, using its wings to cover its head, curled up into a corner of the cage.
Dark couldn’t help but chuckle.
…
[Card Name: Imp Beast]
[Type: Elemental Card]
[Level: ?]
[Race: Demon Race]
[Attribute: Dark]
[Mana: 100]
[Attack: 100]
[Defense: 100]
[Ultimate Skill: Small Dart]
…
After transforming into a Mana Spirit Card, the Imp Beast could obtain an ultimate skill even without using “Arrogance I.”
With its wing advantage, it could fly into the sky to dodge most attacks.
“In the name of Dark Diemon, come out, Imp Beast!”
Accompanied by the completion of the usual summoning spell, the Imp Beast materialized in the light.
For the first time, the Imp Beast appeared as a regular Mana Spirit, fluttering its wings and flying out.
Dark grabbed its claw and held it in his arms, soothing it, “Be good. As long as you’re obedient, I promise not to lock you up except during duels!”
Imp Beast: “Ah ah ah!”
