Chapter 196: You Are My Best Christmas Gift (4k)
The gazes of both parties intertwined for twelve point six seconds.
As the atmosphere gradually turned ambiguous, Senior Pandora suddenly exerted her strength, flipping Dark over in an instant as she stood up.
Their positions instantly switched.
Seeing the shock in Dark’s eyes, Pandora couldn’t help but feel amused.
Before Pandora, who could dance under the moonlight since childhood, Dark, who had skipped out on Valkyrie’s power training, was simply incapable of resisting.
Only now did Dark realize that he was just a lamb caught in the wolf’s mouth…
But he blinked, twisted around, and managed to escape the wolf’s jaws.
Senior Pandora indeed cooperated; under his lead, she stepped forward, then kicked off with her toe, performing a 360-degree spin, and fell back weakly once more.
Dark reached out, grabbing her waist!
Her chest’s lower edge came into view, signifying the burgeoning vitality.
The music abruptly stopped.
Pandora rolled along Dark’s arm, suddenly rising against his chest, ending the song.
…
When Dark and Senior Pandora walked down the stage side by side, all the dishes on the four long tables had been cleared and replaced with fresh drinks and pastries.
The Christmas ball no longer had assigned seats; everyone could move freely.
Senior Pandora seemed satisfied with this interaction; she slightly lifted her skirt and walked out of the hall with Dark.
They didn’t speak,默契地默契着.
It wasn’t until they turned a corner and were out of sight of the ballroom lights that they sat on a stone bench.
Pandora looked up at the night sky on Christmas Eve, a blush unexpectedly appearing on her cheeks.
Though she appeared experienced, this was actually her first time dancing with someone.
She was fortunate to have practiced circle dances in secret before.
So one song was enough.
If she danced a few more times, she might accidentally reveal herself.
She finally opened her mouth after a while, “Thank you, this is the best Christmas gift I’ve ever received.”
Dark was slightly stunned, not expecting her first words to be this.
But he quickly smiled, “This isn’t a Christmas gift.”
Pandora, “To me, it is.”
“Alright.”
Dark helplessly looked at the night sky.
Perhaps excellent people all have their stubborn sides.
…
Tonight’s moon was nowhere to be seen; the sky was clear blue, with only scattered stars shining down.
After chatting softly for a while, Dark curiously asked, “Senior, are you leaving tomorrow?”
Pandora shook her head, “Tonight.”
Dark was surprised, “So soon?”
Pandora smiled, “It’s far away, maybe I’ll need to take a leave when school starts.”
Dark, “I see…”
Then the Christmas gift originally planned for midnight had to be given earlier.
After some consideration, he stood up, “Shall we go upstairs?”
Pandora turned her head, seeing people appearing one by one in the distance, making this place no longer hidden.
She stood up accordingly.
As they chatted, they climbed the stairs.
They arrived near the window on the third floor of the castle.
After coming here several times, Dark found this place indeed a good observation spot.
Leaning on the windowsill, he could see the night sky and clock tower, as well as the bridge where many events occurred.
He clapped his hands and asked, “Can you summon your familiar?”
Although puzzled, Pandora took out the selection card and summoned her familiar.
Her familiar, a small dragon with wings, was named “Winglet,” a type of winged dragon that never grew up.
Dark held up the familiar, about the same size as the imp beast, and Winglet, though flapping its wings happily, showed only a familiar-level reaction.
Familiars generally had a 2.5 intelligence level, slightly higher than golems.
They were intermediate pseudo-living beings, similar to ordinary constructs, lacking complete and independent thought circuits.
At first glance, they seemed lifelike, but prolonged contact revealed them to be artificial.
“Can you turn around?” Dark looked at Pandora and asked again.
Pandora became even more puzzled, but trusting Dark, she turned around.
Dark pursed his lips and drew “Arrogance I” from his card pack!
This was the first time he used a card from the Capital Sin series on another’s familiar (or golem), so he couldn’t confirm the effect.
According to the plan, if the effect was unsatisfactory, he would change the Christmas gift.
So he hadn’t mentioned the term “Christmas gift” to Pandora yet.
Fortunately, Pandora was cooperative, saving him a lot of trouble.
He didn’t show “Arrogance I” directly but hid it behind his back.
Magus could sense their own crafted magic cards; injecting a bit of mana would instantly identify the card type.
He began to silently chant the usual summoning spell.
…
Four seconds later…
A dark gold sphere emerged from “Arrogance I,” slowly floating towards the winglet dragon he was holding with his other hand.
The winglet dragon widened its eyes, showing no awareness of danger.
Until the sphere entered its head, it suddenly short-circuited and stopped reacting.
Then it suddenly opened its eyes, and dark gold light burst from its pupils!
Its slightly dull facial expression suddenly came alive!
Almost immediately, it bit down on Dark’s finger!
“Aah!”
Dark felt a sharp pain and quickly released it.
The winglet dragon flew high into the air, squawking loudly!
Pandora couldn’t help but ask, “Can I turn around now?”
Dark put “Arrogance I” back into the card pack and said, “Yes.”
Pandora turned around upon permission.
That winglet dragon, which had been bossing Dark around, suddenly felt an overwhelming terror!
It was biological hierarchy suppression!
Absolute dominance of the upper over the lower.
In that moment, the “arrogance” provided by “Arrogance I” could no longer sustain its proud stance.
It suddenly curled its tail, trembling like a tiny lizard, turning its head to face its owner.
Yet this humble yet genuine reaction instantly brightened Pandora’s mood.
No one knows their familiar better than the owner.
She immediately sensed the change in the winglet dragon.
This was the change she often dreamed about during her first summoning.
The cute winglet dragon transformed from a familiar into a true living being, becoming her first family member, accompanying her day after day…
But with the accumulation of magical knowledge, she gradually realized it was impossible.
Familiars were still familiars.
Not family members.
While familiars’ intelligence levels seemed half a grade higher than golems, that was nearly the limit, a hardware barrier.
Mind Magus could form bonds with golems but not with familiars.
This made her那段日子过得很艰难。
直到贝尔拉女士察觉到她的状态不对，主动接触她，她才幸运地找到了第一个家人。
但现在，三年前的梦似乎就在眼前实现了？
她眨了眨眼，露出了难得一见的可爱表情。
“吼！”
最后的傲慢让翼龙对着天空喷出了一口火焰般的龙息。
似乎想通过这一表现来宣示自己的高贵？
但随着火焰像烟花一样散开，它的高贵仍然无人理解。
潘多拉看着理论上毫无攻击力的使魔竟然施展了技能，一瞬间明白了达克炼制“咒笼”的原因。
“或许我也需要一张‘咒笼’？”
潘多拉总是习惯将过于激烈的情绪隐藏在心底，但她此刻真的激动。
明明刚刚才收到了最好的圣诞礼物。
这一转眼又刷新了纪录！
她忍不住看向达克，这位一年级学弟到底要给她带来多少惊喜才算罢休？
…
随着“傲慢Ⅰ”的表面效果消失，翼龙终于恢复正常。
但它已经开启了灵智，有了完整的自主意识。
潘多拉爱不释手地逗弄着翼龙，用修长的手指挑动着它那粉嫩的舌头。
心情愉悦到了极致。
如果这时候达克向她告白，她说不定会因为高兴而答应。
“对了，得回馈礼物才行！”
潘多拉绞尽脑汁思考起来。
她原本准备的圣诞礼物虽然也很用心，但和达克的这一份惊喜相比，就显得逊色了。
“要不，就送那个吧！”
她很快有了主意。
“达克，你转过去。”
“啊？”
达克完全没想到这么快就轮到自己了。
他干脆转身趴在窗台上往下看。
目之所及的那座外置桥梁果然是一个约会圣地，一会儿工夫，已经有两对男女上了桥。
他们各自为伴，互不干扰，低声细语，情意绵绵。
达克看着看着，想起了许久不见的海鲜教团——也不知道那些人缓过来了没有？
海鲜教团一共十六人，除了海星先生被开除外，其余十五人仍在学校。
校方没有公布他们的身份，对外公告中也将他们视为受害者。
实际上也是如此。
他们或多或少受到了月之女神像的洗脑，否则也不会做出那些事情。
随着整个事件的结束，海鲜教团剩余的十五个成员都恢复了正常的学院生活，达克不止一次看到过“鱿鱼”斯科特。
斯科特不再像以前那样阴郁，除了遇到他会躲开之外，和同年级生之间的交流还算顺畅。
但达克并不知道，海鲜教团还没有解散。
那十五个成员，仍然在暗中联络。
只是性质上，从一个阴谋暗藏的教团，变成了一个类似社团的组织。
他们通过每周一次的聚会来相互倾诉，从而排解压力。
希尔芙教授暗中观察过他们，确认他们并无危害后，才放任自流。
…
“可以了。”
潘多拉学姐清脆的声音从背后传来。
达克猜测着会是什么惊喜，慢慢转身。
却看到了一身纯白的潘多拉学姐正将双手藏在身后，带着俏皮的表情看着他。
那只刚刚开启灵智的翼龙趴在她的肩膀上，乖巧极了。
“来，你的圣诞礼物！”
看着达克转过来后，潘多拉才从身后伸出手，在他面前张开五指。
“嗯。”
达克定睛一看，却发现她的掌心之中，正静静地躺着一枚指甲盖大小的月牙状银鳞。
他忍不住问道：“这是什么？”
潘多拉：“龙之逆鳞！”
…
龙有逆鳞，触之必怒！
因为逆鳞是龙全身上下唯一一枚柔软的鳞片。
逆鳞内部生长着大量的神经，表面遍布感受器，异常敏感。
无论是触觉、痛觉，还是其他感觉，都能放大数倍！
这是龙最重要的珍宝之一。
每一条龙蜕皮后，即使抛弃所有的龙皮、龙鳞，也不会丢下逆鳞。
因此，逆鳞的稀有度远超普通龙鳞。
从某种意义上来看，这确实可以与达克的惊喜相媲美的珍贵礼物！
达克伸出两根手指捻起龙鳞，仔细观察。
他当然第一次见到这种东西，更何况还是龙鳞中的逆鳞。
逆鳞本身没有一般鳞片的冰冷，触摸起来略感柔软。历史上有一种完全由逆鳞打造的软剑，轻薄柔软，却又坚不可摧！
但达克第一时间想到的，却是千千万万的龙种，或是龙系魔导精灵！
用这一枚龙之逆鳞作为核心材料，是否能炼制出强大的龙种？
他的脑海里，并没有将这片银白色的逆鳞当作收藏品保存起来的选项。
…
“怎么样？我的这份圣诞礼物足够有诚意了吧？”潘多拉学姐看他看得认真，便调侃道。
达克眉脚兴奋，学着潘多拉的语气说道：“当然，这是我收到过的最好的圣诞礼物！”
潘多拉掩嘴轻笑：“希望不会立刻就出现更好的礼物。”
达克从卡包里取出一块手帕，小心翼翼地包好这枚逆鳞，然后才放入卡包。
两个交换了圣诞礼物的少年少女，背靠着墙壁，小声聊了起来。
潘多拉学识渊博，无论说什么都头头是道，一不小心便停不下来。
等到达克回过神来，已经十点半！
潘多拉见他频频注视钟塔，便开口道：“需要先回礼堂吗？你看来还有别的安排？”
…
