Chapter 186: Darke Demon’s Accumulated Strength Comes Forth (4k)
After dinner.
Darke listed out the remaining core resources he had in hand.
① “Pride” 1 point.
② Harpy feather;
③ Mermaid scale;
④ Button eyes from a plush bear.
Except for the fourth one, which was intended as a Christmas gift for Diana, the other three could be used flexibly.
In fact, the moment Darke obtained the “Harpy feather,” he immediately thought of a magic spell card from “Yu-Gi-Oh!” — “Harpy Feather Duster!”
However, that was clearly impractical.
The炼成 of a magic spell card required too many elements.
Darke could炼成 the “Spell Cage” because there were ready tutorials, even including a basic framework for the spells he needed to write.
If he had to rely entirely on himself to write a spell that didn’t exist before, that would undoubtedly be self-imposed suffering.
So a more practical idea was to use the “Harpy feather” to take a gamble, hoping to炼成 a low-star “Harpy” series card.
As for the mermaid scales, they were naturally aimed at refining them towards a mermaid.
Mermaids symbolize envy in the Seven Deadly Sins, but unfortunately, Darke’s envy was too little to utilize in the short term.
But none of this mattered.
After careful consideration, Darke made up his mind to take the gamble!
There were always costs on the path of growth.
Even if he failed, losing some materials was not a big deal.
But what if he succeeded?
Perhaps there might be unexpected gains?
He acted on the thought.
Darke glanced at the wall clock; it was exactly seven o’clock in the evening.
If he moved quickly, he could complete two experiments before nine.
He soon began preparing.
The Basic Conjure Method was the most random Conjure Method.
If luck was favorable and the added materials were precious enough, there was a chance to炼成 a high-star Mana Spirit Card!
Of course, the probability was very low.
It was essentially like buying lottery tickets, falling into the category of intelligence tax.
Therefore, limiting the preciousness of the materials within a certain range, aiming for the first Tier Mana Spirit Card, was the most suitable and practical approach.
Darke completed the initial制作 of the first Mana Spirit Card in half an hour, activating the first炼成 array, and began to add the core materials.
First, of course, was the “Harpy feather.”
Perhaps the power contained in the “Harpy feather” was already sufficient; after just adding this single feather, the light from the first炼成 array became extremely strong.
Before the炼成 ended, Darke did not forget to drip a bit of saliva prepared beforehand, following the guidance of the Mana Theory professor.
“Saliva” was actually an excellent catalyst during the process of炼成 a Mana Spirit Card.
Because human saliva contains rich elements that can promote the formation of life.
The effect of “saliva” was evident.
After the light from the first炼成 array reached its peak, it rapidly converged.
Then, from the card surface, some black impurities overflowed, gradually covering the Mana Spirit Card.
Two minutes later, the Mana Spirit Card finally stopped reacting.
Darke took out tools, carefully scraping off part of the black impurities covering the Mana Spirit Card, then picked it up with tweezers and rinsed it under the faucet for a moment.
As the surface stains were washed away, the corners of the Mana Spirit Card were revealed, gradually emitting a faint blue glow.
“It’s a Blue Card!”
Darke’s heart stirred, revealing a look of joy.
Of course, he could not fantasize about a Gold Card; anything but a White Card was considered a major gain!
…
A while later.
Darke placed the cleaned Mana Spirit Card on the table for a detailed inspection.
The pattern on the card was not the harpy he imagined, but rather more akin to an “eagle” — a “Wrestler Eagle”!
The Wrestler Eagle was a type of Pokémon. Standing less than a meter tall, it looked like a wrestler wearing an eagle mask at first glance.
Its face had a mask-like pattern in blue-green, with three orange feathers standing upright on its head.
Its wings spread open, red on the outside and green on the inside, resembling a cape, quite handsome.
“It’s a Three-star Card!”
…
[Card Name: Wrestler Eagle]
[Type: Elemental Card]
[Level: ???]
[Race: Avian-beast Kin]
[Attribute: Fighting/Flying]
[Mana: 1100]
[Attack: 1500]
[Defense: 1200]
[Ultimate Skill: Feather Dance]
…
“This is a standard Three-star Blue Card. The full 1500 attack points are a bonus, and the ultimate skill is Feather Dance, which in the original work reduces the opponent’s attack by two levels, but here it seems different.”
[Feather Dance: Scatters feathers, enveloping the opponent, hindering their attacks.]
In short, it’s a good skill similar to a “smokescreen.”
This ultimate skill’s usage is clearly not limited to scattering it towards the opponent.
Used well, it can completely serve as a control technique to obscure vision.
…
By now, Darke was very accustomed to炼制 Mana Spirit Cards that leaned towards Pokémon.
He was no longer surprised but began to look forward to the next Mana Spirit Card.
“In the Pokémon world, what Pokémon would be based on a mermaid? Mewtwo? No, its prototype seems to be the royal bonito…”
Of course, he did not immediately start炼制 the next Mana Spirit Card but first summoned the Wrestler Eagle and did some experiments.
“Pride I,” “Pride II,” “Bliss III.”
After using each of the three Capital Sin Cards once, Darke returned the Wrestler Eagle to the card.
It wasn’t exactly disappointment.
The Wrestler Eagle was originally a Pokémon without evolution potential. Perhaps using more precious materials could炼成 a higher-star Wrestler Eagle, but using Capital Sin Cards obviously couldn’t further enhance it.
But this also met Darke’s initial expectations.
A Three-star Mana Spirit Card capable of direct combat!
Got it!
…
The second experiment began in earnest.
Darke quickly completed the preliminary steps and advanced to the final material addition stage.
This time, the core material naturally used was the “mermaid scale”!
Darke carefully added the “mermaid scale” into the light emitted by the first炼成 array.
As the scale was engulfed by the light, he retracted his hand and carefully observed, then dripped in his saliva again.
But this time, the light from the炼成 array continued to flicker.
If there was “Envy,” Darke would definitely have added it.
But he only had a bit of “Pride” left, still trapped in the Worm Branch.
What should he do?
Darke’s gaze began to wander.
The “plush bear button eye” was certainly not an option; adding more than two cores was a taboo in Basic Conjure.
So he could only add some auxiliary materials.
And the auxiliary materials he could easily grab nearby… really existed!
“Beep!”
Darke’s eyes lit up, fixing on the three meowing Cat Plants!
These three different types of Cat Plants had one bearing a Pride fruit and two bearing Bliss fruits.
After the fruits matured and were not picked, fine stems remained atop their heads.
Those three stem-like structures became meat in Darke’s eyes!
“Speaking of mermaids, besides ‘Envy,’ there’s ‘Bliss,’ and here happen to be two stems of ‘Bliss Fruit.'”
Darke immediately went over, first hugging back the Cat Plant that rushed up, then catching the Fox-eared Grass Plant that came rushing in, and extending the evil scissors towards the fine stem on its head!
“Snip!”
“Gyin?”
The Fox-eared Grass Plant let out a soft cry, feeling as though something important had been lost, leaving a sense of emptiness.
So it got closer to Darke’s embrace.
But the merciless Darke abandoned it after using it, turning his attention to the Dairy Cow Grass Plant!
“Snip!”
“Moo?”
The Dairy Cow Grass Plant was at a loss.
With two “Bliss” stems obtained, Darke quickly ran back and forth, first throwing one into the light of the first炼成 array.
As the炼成 array swallowed the thin stem, the light gradually stabilized.
But it wasn’t enough!
Darke promptly added the second stem!
Indeed, the light strengthened!
The entire炼成 array began to operate at high speed.
The materials thrown into it underwent fusion and digestion through the炼成 array, undergoing the process of “taking the essence and discarding the dross.”
Some black and green impurities were expelled.
The more refined parts were retained.
Another familiar scene.
As these unknown impurities were spewed out, the炼成 process proceeded smoothly.
Darke could not help but show a look of anticipation.
Basic Conjure actually had a failure rate, and it was quite high.
But he succeeded three times in a row, not knowing whether it was due to the “saliva” or simply his natural good fortune!
…
Once the炼成 of the Mana Spirit Card was complete, Darke cleaned it and discovered it was a Two-star Purple Card!
The pattern on the card showed an abnormally cute baby sea lion!
This sea lion had smooth, water-blue skin, a pure white mouth, twitching whiskers, and a pink spherical nose.
Its neck was adorned with a light blue collar, and it had a pair of front flippers and a tail fin in front and behind.
In short, it was super cute!
…
[Card Name: Piplup]
[Type: Elemental Card]
[Level: ??]
[Race: Avian-beast Kin]
[Attribute: Water]
[Mana: 500]
[Attack: 700]
[Defense: 300]
[Ultimate Skill: Moisture Call, Charm Call]
…
Compared to the Wrestler Eagle, Darke clearly preferred this Piplup.
Although it only had two stars, as one of the starter Pokémon in the Sun & Moon chapter, Piplup had enormous evolution potential!
[Piplup → Prinplup → Piplup (Final Evolution)]
The final evolution form, “Piplup,” was a Pokémon shaped after a mermaid.
From the data panel, the stats of “Piplup” among Two-star cards were moderate, very close to those of a Two-star Ibut.
But as a Purple Card, it had two skills: a passive skill derived from the hidden ability “Moisture Call,” and a Fairy-type skill “Charm Call.”
[Moisture Call: All sound moves become Water-type.]
[Charm Call: Emits a charming call, causing mental damage to the opponent.]
Every Mana Spirit Card has its own attribute. Normally, using ultimate skills of other attributes results in a significant reduction in power.
Only using the same-type ultimate skill can fully unleash its power.
“Moisture Call” is like the passive skill “Fairy Skin” of the Magical Beast: Eevee, converting other attributes to the same type, but “Moisture Call” does not have additional power bonuses.
Unfortunately, the sole ultimate skill “Charm Call” is not powerful.
Even when converted to the same type, it remains mediocre.
Since Darke was already familiar with “Charm Call” due to the existence of “Eevee,” he found nothing new about it.
But without the “Attractive Body” foundation, “Piplup” cannot fully utilize the charm effect of “Charm Call.”
This was indeed very regrettable.
…
In the evolution chain of Piplup, both Piplup and Prinplup are purely Water-type, only the final evolution form — “Piplup” — possesses an additional Fairy-type!
This means that the evolution of “Piplup” might require a “Bliss” series Mana Spirit Card!
But that would be the second evolution.
Before that, Darke needed to research how to evolve “Piplup” into “Prinplup.”
The “Pride” series cards clearly wouldn’t work.
The “Bliss” series cards had some possibility.
But ultimately, “Envy” was the top choice.
The symbol of “Envy” is Mercury, with an attribute leaning towards Water, perfectly fitting the great sin associated with the mermaid.
However, Darke still summoned “Piplup” and alternately used the three Capital Sin Cards, treating it as “awakening.”
And indeed, the first two “Pride” effects were minimal, while the third “Bliss III” caused some phenomena but did not trigger the evolution of “Piplup.”
No star-upgrading phenomenon occurred like with “Magical Beast: Eevee.”
Clearly, “Magical Beast: Eevee” was special, similar to “Magical Beast: Ditto,” where any type of “Capital Sin Card” could affect it.
“Momo!”
“Alright, petting, petting.”
Darke dealt with the Bliss-affected Piplup somewhat helplessly, temporarily putting aside the immediate urge to tidy up.
…
Today’s experiments concluded, yielding fruitful results.
Looking back, Darke suddenly realized that within a single day, he had consecutively炼成 “Spell Cage,” “Magical Beast: Ditto,” “Wrestler Eagle,” and “Piplup,” a total of four Mana Spirit Cards!
It could be said that this day was very fulfilling.
It was truly a case of accumulating strength and then bursting forth.
With these four Mana Spirit Cards, his deck was further perfected.
When registering for the Dueling Club next year, he would have better performance.
“The remaining unfinished Mana Spirit Cards are only ‘Fusion’ and ‘Zoo’!”
“‘Zoo’ is a long road ahead.”
“‘Fusion’ can be attempted as soon as possible. Regardless of success or failure, one must take this step. The 1500 credits worth of materials can be seen as an investment in experience.”
“I wonder when my senior will have free time?”
