Chapter 619: Dark Demon’s Petrifying Gaze (5k)
Two days later, at dusk.
Dark finally developed a feasible approach based on the alchemy methods of the “Cursed Mask” and the “Wisdom Mirror.”
Despite being unable to test due to having only one “Bronze Mirror,” he confirmed the method by simulating it with various data.
After all preparations were complete, he decided to conduct the experiment on Tuesday evening!
The essence of the “Bronze Mirror” was a replica of the “Medusa’s Mirror.”
Medusa was a gorgon with snake hair.
Her upper body was human, her lower body was a snake, and each strand of hair was a tiny snake, hence the name “snake-haired gorgon.”
In legend, Medusa was born with the power of petrification.
Anyone who saw her eyes would turn to stone.
Other creatures with similar abilities included the common Cocksnake in the dungeon.
The Cocksnake’s eye could emit gray petrifying rays, turning targets to stone.
However, the Cocksnake and Medusa’s petrifying abilities differed greatly.
Their powers were worlds apart.
A Magus could easily avoid being petrified by a Cocksnake if they covered their eyes with cloth.
Even if accidentally petrified, they could use the saliva of a Calcium Toad or a “Petrification Antidote” to reverse the Cocksnake’s effect.
“Petrification Antidote” was not difficult to make; its core ingredient, “Snake Tongue Flower,” could be found near the tenth-floor Magic Marker, the Medusa statue.
To test the “Bronze Mirror’s” petrifying ability, Dark prepared plenty of “Petrification Antidotes.”
Medusa’s petrification, however, was almost irreversible.
Of course, the “Bronze Mirror” was just a replica, and after testing, its petrifying ability was only slightly stronger than that of a Cocksnake, which could also be reversed with a “Petrification Antidote.”
Dark’s goal was to enhance the “Bronze Mirror’s” petrifying ability during its transformation into a “Props Card.”
Thus, he referred to the alchemy method of the “Cursed Mask” and added three points of “Greed” during the process.
One cannot catch wolves without letting go of the children.
He couldn’t be too stingy.
…
“Greed” symbolized Saturn, with its primary attributes being Rock and Ground types, aligning well with the “Petrifying” ability.
But whether it would work remained to be seen after the experiment.
Using the “Technique of the Shadow God,” he quickly calmed down and focused on the experiment.
The softener for the “Bronze Mirror” was adjusted based on the “Wisdom Mirror’s” softener.
The ink used for writing the “Mana Language” was inspired by the “Cursed Mask.”
And the most crucial “Mana Language” was a blend of both items and included the activation spell of the “Bronze Mirror,” which ultimately completed the script.
Claire had activated the “Bronze Mirror” with that spell, revealing its petrifying power.
Dark recorded the activation spell afterward and used it now.
With the softener, ink, and “Mana Language,” the experiment proceeded smoothly.
It took him three hours to advance the experiment to the stage of melting materials.
While adding auxiliary materials, he observed the reaction of the fourth Conjure Array.
To ensure the “Bronze Mirror’s” petrifying ability wasn’t reduced, Dark chose a lot of Cocksnake materials and referenced the alchemy method of the “Cursed Mask.”
The array’s reaction was stable, and the materials slowly integrated into the light array.
Finally, Dark placed the softened “Bronze Mirror” into the Conjure Array.
This was the critical step.
Whether the entire alchemical design was correct depended on whether this array could successfully refine the mirror.
Fortunately, his recent learning and experiments paid off, and there were no major deviations in the final result.
After adding two more auxiliary materials, he successfully refined the “Bronze Mirror.”
During this process, he indeed added three points of “Greed.”
Three points of “Greed” were enough to make the “Greed” emblem appear.
But as “Greed” was added, the maximum capacity of the alchemy suddenly increased.
Since it was a small increase, he didn’t add a fourth point of “Greed” but instead filled it with some auxiliary materials, making the alchemy reach saturation.
After gaining more alchemical experience, the final refinement was complete.
When the internal reaction of the “Mana Card” finally stopped, Dark sighed in relief, picked it up with tweezers from the viscous gray liquid, and rinsed it under the tap.
Water flowed down.
The “Mana Card” gradually revealed its true form.
Dark immediately saw the mirror pattern on the card.
The prototype of the “Bronze Mirror” was a round mirror, encased in a bronze frame with intricate and beautiful designs. However, this newly refined “Mana Card”… its frame now had four snakes crawling on it!
Four slender bronze snakes formed new patterns, giving the mirror an aura of mystery and eeriness.
But after seeing the four small snakes, Dark felt a surge of joy, realizing that after being refined into a “Props Card,” this “Bronze Mirror” was even closer to resembling the “Medusa’s Mirror”!
As a replica, the closer it resembled the original, the better.
“Swoosh—”
The Imp Beast suddenly flew down from the perch, landing on his shoulder and curiously looking at the Item Card.
“Was it successful?” It tilted its head and asked.
To refine this Item Card, the Imp Beast had also put in a lot of effort, so it was particularly concerned about it.
Dark took a deep breath and said, “We can only truly know after checking.”
Then he used his finger to grab the Mana Card, injecting Mana to receive the initial feedback.
[Card Name: Bronze Snake Mirror]
[Type: Item Card]
[Effect 1: Spirit +3, Rationality -3.]
[Effect 2: Comes with the Ultimate Skill “Bronze Serpent.”]
[Effect 3: Comes with the Ultimate Skill “Petrifying Gaze.”]
“Three effects, two ultimate skills!”
Dark’s heart stirred, and he couldn’t help but take a closer look, but then he frowned.
The “Bronze Mirror,” after being refined into an Item Card, became the “Bronze Snake Mirror.”
It had three effects in total.
But the first effect was a mixed blessing.
Spirit +3 not only added extra spiritual power to the holder but also made the holder more spirited and emotionally agitated.
Although this effect wasn’t very useful in Mana Duels, it could be beneficial for the Magus himself.
However, the second part of the first effect was Rationality -3!
Rationality -3; the appearance of this negative effect in the “Bronze Snake Mirror” was actually within expectations.
After all, both the “Cursed Mask” and the “Wisdom Mirror” were not particularly friendly to their holders.
While Spirit +3 and Rationality -3 seemed contradictory, they were actually not conflicting.
Losing rationality in excitement means becoming chaotic!
This matched the effect of the “Cursed Mask.”
Moreover, if the holder became chaotic, they would be more easily deceived by the mirror, eventually losing themselves—this aligned with the “Wisdom Mirror.”
But if these side effects were only to this extent, Dark was not worried.
He pondered for a moment and then turned to the last two effects.
Firstly, Effect ②.
This “Bronze Snake Mirror” came with two Ultimate Skills, which was relatively rare among Item Cards.
One of these Ultimate Skills was “Bronze Serpent!”
Judging from the name of the Ultimate Skill, it should be a skill that summons a snake.
But after Dark injected more Mana to check, he found out it wasn’t like that.
[Bronze Serpent: A bronze serpent slumbers within the Bronze Snake Mirror. The suppressed desires will awaken the Bronze Serpent from its slumber, and those with weak wills will lose themselves in the whispers of the Bronze Serpent.]
The effect of the “Wisdom Mirror” seemed to have been perfectly transferred to this “Bronze Snake Mirror.”
Dark didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
He shook the Mana Card, and suddenly had an idea: “Could the whispers of the ‘Bronze Serpent’… not just be heard by the holder?”
From the description, this idea was highly possible.
If indeed so, then the “Bronze Serpent” Ultimate Skill would have a way to be utilized.
Ordinary Mana Spirits might not be deceived by the whispers of the “Bronze Serpent”—after all, they lacked thinking abilities.
But if this Ultimate Skill were used on intelligent beings, perhaps it could subtly lead them to self-destruction.
Thinking of this, Dark couldn’t wait to summon the “Bronze Snake Mirror” for a try.
But he still held back.
Then he continued to look at the final Effect ③.
This Effect ③ came with the Ultimate Skill “Petrifying Gaze.”
It was arguably the easiest to understand among the three effects.
Dark glanced at it.
[Petrifying Gaze: Four snakes on the frame of the Bronze Snake Mirror will come alive when “Petrifying Gaze” is activated. Anyone who is looked at by their gaze will turn into stone.]
As for how effective the “Petrifying Gaze” petrification effect would be, it could only be known through experimentation.
Dark took a light breath and said, “It looks like it was successfully refined. Wait for me to summon it.”
“In the name of Dark Demon, Mana Summoning — ‘Bronze Snake Mirror’!”
As soon as the summoning incantation ended, a bronze mirror adorned with four small snakes appeared before Dark.
He reached out and felt that his originally weakened spirit due to prolonged experiments had slightly increased.
As for the deducted rationality, for someone who was constantly in a game of wits with the “Capital Sin,” it was almost negligible.
As long as it wasn’t a negative effect like “Greed +3,” it wouldn’t shake him.
He picked up the mirror and examined it carefully, then tightly stared at the surface of the “Bronze Snake Mirror.”
Suddenly, the mirror’s surface rippled like water.
A large snake with bronze scales slowly opened its vertical pupils in the mirror world!
“Sssss—”
A faint whisper suddenly entered his ears.
Dark sharply looked around and noticed that the Mana Spirit Cards that had been watching this whole time almost simultaneously frowned.
He immediately realized that the whispers of the “Bronze Serpent” were “area-wide”!
As for how wide the range could be…
At least no Mana Spirit in this room could avoid it.
Dark closely watched the bronze snake shadow reflected in the mirror, suddenly asking, “Bronze Snake, Bronze Snake, who is the most handsome person in this world?”
“You are, you are!”
After self-answering, Dark smiled, preparing to try making the “Bronze Serpent” disappear.
“Sssss—”
Suddenly, a thought struck him!
“If one thoroughly masters this ‘Bronze Snake Mirror’ to the point where they can command the ‘Bronze Serpent,’ could they use the ‘Bronze Serpent’ to transmit messages over a wide area?”
Without opening his mouth, he conveyed his thoughts through the “Bronze Serpent” to everyone around him.
This ability for long-distance communication was actually very useful!
“After this, I definitely have to give it a try!” Dark determinedly decided.
…
When he stopped looking at the “Bronze Snake Mirror” with his lustful gaze, the “Bronze Serpent” gradually closed its eyes and fell back into a deep sleep.
After mastering the technique to make it disappear, Dark took out a row of “Petrification Removal Elixirs” and placed them on the table, then summoned the Imp Beast to fly in front of him.
He then injected mana, activating the “Petrifying Gaze,” the ultimate skill attached to the “Bronze Snake Mirror”!
In the next second, the four small snakes on the frame of the mirror simultaneously opened their eyes and glared at the Imp Beast in front of them.
The Imp Beast had prepared mentally and immediately used its wings to shield its body, but the “Petrifying Gaze” not only petrified its wings but also petrified its entire body underneath.
It was clear that such shielding was completely useless.
Even though one of its wings still had fabric attached, it did nothing to prevent the petrification.
Once it fully turned into a stone statue, Dark picked up a tube of “Petrification Removal Elixir” and sprinkled it over it.
However, the petrified shell on the Imp Beast only showed minimal signs of dissolving.
Even more “Petrification Removal Elixirs” could not fully reverse the petrification.
Dark proceeded as usual to conduct an experiment on the durability of the petrified Imp Beast.
He discovered that after turning to stone, the Imp Beast’s defense had significantly increased!
According to records, creatures called Gargoyles would petrify themselves to defend against attacks.
The “Petrifying Gaze” of the “Bronze Snake Mirror” seemed to be able to utilize this method as well.
Afterward…
Dark did not immediately release the Imp Beast from its petrified state by canceling the summon.
Instead, he patiently waited, calculating the time.
Approximately five minutes later, the petrification on the Imp Beast automatically dissipated.
The cooldown for the “Petrifying Gaze” was a full hour.
…
“It is clear that the ‘Petrifying Gaze’ of the ‘Bronze Snake Mirror’ is much closer to Medusa’s petrifying ability compared to the Cocksnake’s.”
“The petrification strength has also clearly increased; ordinary ‘Petrification Removal Elixirs’ can no longer immediately reverse it.”
“As for the duration of the petrification being shortened to five minutes—this aligns with the typical phenomenon when converting an item into a card.”
“In summary, the ‘Bronze Snake Mirror’ has been greatly enhanced and has more potential for development.” Dark wrote in his notebook.
…
This炼成 was undoubtedly very successful.
Such cards generally had few equipment restrictions and could be equipped by any Golem that could carry them.
The high-intensity petrification effect would surely make it shine in Mana Duels.
“So, the remaining item to be refined into a card is the ‘Jester Mask.'”
Dark began to contemplate.
In his expectations, the “Jester Mask” after refinement would possess a special ability to force-equip opponents—turning it into a control-type Mana Card like the “Bronze Snake Mirror.”
The research on the “Curse Mask” Conjure Method also gave him ideas about how to refine the “Jester Mask.”
In short, as long as he could develop the Conjure Method for the “Jester Mask” before the end of October, he would be able to participate in the Golden Cup.
There should be no problem with that.
Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to make it for this year’s Halloween event.
Although there were still two weeks until Halloween, the festive atmosphere was already spreading throughout the campus.
First-year students who had never celebrated Halloween after joining the Mana Academy.
Upperclassmen with tight credit constraints, eyeing the chance to earn credits during the Halloween event.
Men and women eyeing the Masquerade.
They had all begun preparing.
…
But this year, there would be no Sect, no Moon Goddess, and thus no Big Princess Elisa.
Not even Professor Kazel!
Dark realized this only when he bumped into Professor Kazel in the castle, noticing that he didn’t have any pumpkin sauce.
For Professor Kazel, who prides himself on being prepared ahead of time and had started preparations a month early last year, this was an impossible situation.
In conclusion, Dark could only deduce that the person in charge of this year’s Halloween activities had changed!
…
Under normal circumstances, even if the person in charge changed, considering Professor Kazel’s personality, he would likely still help out.
But the giant heart in the Dungeon probably had completely captured his attention.
Without Professor Kazel, the Halloween activities…
Dark suddenly felt an ominous premonition.
He shook his head forcefully, trying to dispel the feeling.
Most of the professors within the Mana Academy were reliable, so nothing too disastrous would happen.
This year’s Halloween night would surely pass safely and happily!
Rather than worrying about these things, he might as well think about what clothes he should wear to the Masquerade.
Surely he wouldn’t wear the “Night Prince Outfit” again this year, right?
Dark pondered.
Even counting this weekend, there were only two weekends left until Halloween night.
If he didn’t decide soon, he would have to wear the “Night Prince Outfit” again.
With this thought in mind, Dark stepped onto the Mana Duel stage.
Today was October 18th, Friday.
The “Silver Cup,” continue!
