Chapter 280: Dark Demon’s Unchanging Metamorphosis (5k)
[Identification]
[Reading]
[Reconstruction]
These are the temporary names for the three core arrays in the “Ultimate Skill Card” creation. They refer to their functions during the creation process.
The creation of an “Ultimate Skill Card” starts with identifying the ultimate skill from the “Mana Spirit Card.” Afterward, the identified ultimate skill is read out, and finally, it is reconstructed within the mana card.
In this entire process, “Identification” comes first. If identification fails, everything becomes void.
To identify the desired ultimate skill from the “Mana Spirit Card,” one must place materials corresponding to the ultimate skill on the “Reconstruction” array to guide the process. Finally, these materials are used for reconstruction.
This is a cyclical process.
Understanding this process makes it easier to realize that “Identification,” “Reading,” and “Reconstruction” are essentially disk reading procedures.
The “Mana Spirit Card” is like a USB drive.
“Identification” is “search.”
It searches for content related to the “ultimate skill” within the USB drive.
The existing “ultimate skills” on the panel are akin to files in folders.
Those not on the panel but potentially learnable “ultimate skills” are deeply encrypted “hidden files.”
The search difficulty for both is naturally different.
Moving an “ultimate skill” file from deep within the folder to the front makes it easier to find!
In other words, it is about having the “Mana Spirit” recall this memory from the depths of the mind to the surface – a recollection!
Recall the feeling when releasing the ultimate skill!
Other mana spirits might not be able to do this.
But each of Dark Demon’s mana spirits can!
And it is very easy.
…
After receiving Dark’s command, the Ditto inside his bag couldn’t help but recall the scene when it first met its owner, transforming into the owner’s head.
At this point, Dark had not even placed the magical beast’s fur onto the “Reconstruction” array, yet the “Identification” array began to glow!
This was a sign of identifying the ultimate skill!
…
“What is this…”
Professor Kazel, observing from behind Dark, couldn’t help but show a slight change in expression.
Dark’s operation was somewhat unexpected, but considering that Dark’s mana spirits were all intelligent beings above level 3, such operations seemed normal.
Yet, it was an operation that even he could not replicate!
“This does not have universality.”
A groundbreaking technology that could change the era must be universal.
Whether it’s the “Merlin Formation,” “Dalton Formation,” or “Demit Formation,” they are all universal.
Even the “Alvaraite Formation” has some degree of universality.
If the formation of the “Ultimate Skill Card” requires high intelligence from mana spirits, then it can only be a personal-use exclusive formation.
Unless high intelligence also becomes widespread.
This thought flashed through Professor Kazel’s mind and was promptly discarded.
How could a technique that many magi yearn for become so easily widespread?
If it did, the entire era of mana guidance might be overturned!
…
Professor Kazel continued to observe Dark’s experiment.
After the “Identification” array slightly glowed, Dark still placed the magical beast’s fur on the “Reconstruction” array.
He then injected mana to guide and fine-tune the process, allowing the “Identification,” “Reading,” and “Reconstruction” arrays to light up sequentially.
Once the light stabilized, the “Mana Spirit Card” could be removed from the “Identification” array, adjusting the formation to bring the three arrays together.
Finally, other materials were placed on the “Reconstruction” array, slowly refining them.
It was like cooking bone broth; the core material is the bone, but other ingredients are also needed.
This step proved to be more difficult than expected!
…
Without precise formulas, one must control the types, quantities, and qualities of materials placed in the formation.
Even veteran magi found it hard to achieve perfection, let alone first-year young magi.
Therefore, the original purpose of this class was merely to give the young magi a preliminary understanding of advanced refining methods.
Meanwhile, Professor Kazel might also consider them as test subjects…
Children’s thoughts are often the wildest.
Perhaps, from their actions, one could find ways to improve the formation method.
…
During the refining process, Professor Kazel noticed that Dark’s attempt at creating an “Ultimate Skill Card” failed.
Although it might eventually take shape, it was ultimately an “Ultimate Skill Card” below the passing grade.
He narrowed his eyes and continued watching.
…
Just as he expected, Dark noticed something was off during the final stages of the refinement.
His experience in researching “Spell Cage” and “Fusion” told him that there was likely a flaw in this refinement.
But since the refinement had progressed this far, it could not be undone, only continued.
Two minutes later.
Once all materials were refined and the formations were drawn into the mana card.
Gradually, a shadow of a Ditto appeared on the card.
It looked quite convincing.
Dark felt a bit hesitant.
But he used tweezers to pick up the magic card, rinse it, and then retrieve [Magical Beast: Ditto], preparing for the experiment.
At this moment, many students’ eyes were already fixed on him.
Despite sitting in the last row, he could not escape the attention of the students.
Even if only one person noticed, it could spread quickly.
Soon, everyone in the classroom knew that Dark Demon had once again been the first to complete the mana card refinement!
“In the name of Dark Demon, Mana Summon — Magical Beast? Ditto!”
After a quick incantation, a cute purple elemental appeared on the table.
Dark picked up the newly created ultimate skill card and activated it with a standard summoning spell.
As the card emitted gradually stronger white light, Ditto also emitted similar frequency light.
“Pfft!”
Ditto transformed into “Crooked Mouth Dark”!
…
Lying on the table, with only a face completing the transformation, Dark couldn’t help but laugh.
“Mmm!”
Diana and Rose, turning around from the front row, hurriedly covered their mouths, barely suppressing their laughter.
Nearby students couldn’t help but stand on tiptoe to look, then laughed one by one.
The classroom gradually filled with joyful laughter.
…
Then came the explosion…
“BOOM!”
Someone’s pot exploded!
“Wah!”
Screams erupted.
Professor Kazel waved his wand, and water descended from the sky to extinguish the flames.
However, the unknown liquid from the pot had already eroded the desk, releasing a strong stench.
“Open the window! Open the window!”
Students screamed frantically.
Regardless of whether they were affected, they all started causing a commotion.
Students near the windows opened them, letting the stench dissipate.
“My God, dear Gold, what did you put in there?!”
Vit’s front-row student’s scream was drowned in the chaos.
No one cared who caused the explosion. The fun was in the chaos.
…
When the classroom calmed down, Dark shook his head slightly, picked up his pen, and recorded the material ratios from this refinement, planning to adjust them later.
There wasn’t enough time for another experiment.
He felt his overall steps were decent, mainly needing improvements in details.
The deviation of the failure sample was larger than it appeared on the surface.
Because the failure sample extracted “transformation” without copying data, only changing the shape — and incompletely.
He originally thought Ditto had only one “transformation” ultimate skill, and success would mean extracting this. But…
“It might be a problem with my thinking.”
Reflecting on his words when asking Ditto to recall the transformation, he pondered.
“But these are minor issues.”
“This experiment basically confirmed that recalling ultimate skills helps in creating ‘Ultimate Skill Cards.'”
“If we extend this, does it mean recalling ultimate skills not on the panel but learned internally can extract ultimate skills not on the panel?”
“This is a good direction for experimentation!”
Dark quickly recorded his thoughts to prevent forgetting.
…
Afterward, he played with Ditto for a while before starting to clean up the remnants of the experiment.
“Busy!”
Ditto grinned crookedly, extending its tentacle to transform into a hand and start helping.
A few minutes later, everything was cleaned up.
Dark leisurely observed the other students.
The progress of the students varied, but none were particularly fast.
Some students’ slow progress clearly indicated they would need extra time after class.
Others were faster, but it seemed they hadn’t grasped the core of “Ultimate Skill Card” creation.
Diana and Rose, after laughing, hurried back to their experiments.
Their distraction almost ruined their experiments.
On the other side,
Robert’s experimental situation was surprisingly better than Vit’s.
Vit was desperately trying to salvage his exploded pot, looking panicked.
Emma had lost a couple of ancient gold coins.
…
“Ring ring!”
When the bell rang, students’ groans echoed.
Students who failed happily packed their bags and headed to the cafeteria.
Students who hadn’t failed eagerly awaited failure.
This was destined to be a class with a strong start and weak finish.
No one succeeded throughout the lesson.
…
After the afternoon potion class.
Dark, while Professor Thompson was still around, hurriedly brought his notebook and asked about the doubts regarding potion refinement from the morning class.
Professor Thompson could be considered the most normal professor for first years.
He put down his textbook and patiently explained.
Dark listened and took notes.
A few keywords formed a coherent paragraph.
After about ten minutes, he obtained the knowledge he sought.
He then stopped troubling the professor and tried to understand it himself.
…
That afternoon, instead of heading straight to the library, he returned to his dorm and started the next experiment right away.
Learning from the mistakes in the mana guidance class, he communicated thoroughly with Ditto beforehand, instructing it to recall the feeling of the “transformation” skill rather than the usual transformation…
This time, the experiment went smoothly, though the result was still unsatisfactory.
Dark summoned an Imp Beast and had Ditto compare transformations.
However, after the transformation, Ditto released a soft “small dart” with significantly lower attributes.
This showed that the transformation wasn’t perfect.
“Ultimate Skill Cards actually have variations…”
This discovery made Dark feel frustrated.
But upon reflection, it seemed reasonable.
He recorded every detail of this experiment, planning to practice with the Big Milk Jar materials.
Since the core materials of the Big Milk Jar were infinite, after excluding the core material costs, each material pack cost only 100 credits, allowing for repeated experiments for deeper research.
“Moo moo!”
The Big Milk Jar stretched its head to nudge his palm, then rubbed its hands to produce a bottle of milk, affectionately offering it to Dark.
Dark drank it down, feeling energized.
Then he started a new experiment!
With the previous two experiments as a foundation, this time’s process was relatively smooth.
The Big Milk Jar’s “recollection” was spot-on.
The result was a successful creation of an “Ultimate Skill? Drink Milk”!
Dark immediately tested it.
Though the ultimate skill card still had flaws, the effect of restoring 1/3 mana value was excellent.
“Drink Milk” and “Transformation” were fundamentally different skills.
Even with reduced effects, “Drink Milk” was still significant.
Reducing the effects of “Transformation” turned it into a mishmash soft mud monster…
Dark pressed on, completing the remaining two experiments in one go.
The second “Ultimate Skill? Drink Milk” failed, but the third succeeded, roughly restoring 2/5 mana value, very close to the strongest 1/2 effect!
Unfortunately, he only had one set of base materials left…
Moreover, the material pack for “Transformation” differed from “Drink Milk” in composition.
“I bought too little!”
Dark sighed, feeling unsatisfied.
He slightly raised his head, noticing it was already 9:30 PM.
Time always seemed to fly by.
He even forgot to eat dinner.
…
“Wait until Friday!”
Dark didn’t continue experimenting with the “Transformation” ultimate skill card. Instead, he analyzed and summarized the theory based on the “Drink Milk” ultimate skill card’s formation process and results.
He planned to wait until Friday, buy more materials, and perfect the “Ultimate Skill? Drink Milk” before restarting the “Ultimate Skill? Transformation” experiment.
…
Before long, it was Tuesday.
Dark was still immersed in his research on “Ultimate Skill Cards,” but a new storm was brewing.
In Tuesday’s duel class, Professor Jones praised seven duelists and collected all their assignments.
She then placed the thick stack of assignments aside and began explaining the seven duels!
The order of explanation followed the sequence of the matches.
Tudor, the first to be addressed, was completely bewildered!
While others called it a lucky start, he also had a lucky start, but his “luck” was red, as in blood-red!
The disastrous debut match in the novice tournament had been forgotten after finishing the analysis paper, but Professor Jones insisted on revisiting it, making Tudor recall his bitter defeat.
Though it didn’t come to public punishment, he clenched his fists tightly.
Next time, he would win back!
…
Tears welled up…
Professor Jones’s analysis naturally surpassed first-year students by far.
After initially being upset, Tudor was gradually drawn in by her brief words, gaining a deeper understanding of his mistakes in the debut match.
In his recent assignment, he largely blamed his defeat on the lack of a second-tier mana spirit.
Though this was a significant reason,
he himself did not perform at his best in that duel.
Professor Jones concluded, “From the beginning, you didn’t think about winning. That’s the biggest issue!”
This harsh statement left Tudor’s face pale.
But Professor Jones was never a soft person, and this was part of her teaching style.
“I’ve always said to view victories and defeats with equanimity. Winning without arrogance and losing without discouragement. Every victory and defeat is a baptism, an opportunity to gain experience and grow stronger.”
“A duelist who doesn’t want to win is not a good duelist.”
Professor Jones’s words echoed in the room.
Tudor’s face turned pale, and Vit Gold, sitting in the back row by the door, also turned pale instantly.
Professor Jones’s criticism not only exposed Tudor’s weaknesses but also struck deep at Vit’s heart!
“Vit, what’s wrong?” Robert asked, noticing his change in expression.
Vit hesitated for a moment, subconsciously saying, “Nothing.”
Robert: “Hey, you don’t look like nothing.”
Vit forced a smile, “Look at my bright smile, today’s weather is really nice.”
Robert: “Hmm, wouldn’t handsome be a better description?”
Vit: “…”
Regardless, Robert’s attempts to lighten the mood helped ease Vit.
He widened his eyes, continuing to listen intently.
…
Outside, a light rain drizzled, inside, voices murmured.
After analyzing Tudor’s duel, Professor Jones began analyzing Diana’s duel.
The students listened more attentively.
