Chapter 324: Dark Demon’s Path in Art (4k)
…
In the quiet and tidy book street, this Goblin Ancient Bookstore, which seemed to be assembled from several pieces of rotten wood, stood out like a sore thumb.
The old goblin with wrinkles that could trap flies wore a tattered cotton jacket revealing cotton fluff, grabbing old and worn-out books and shouting loudly. Rather than selling books, it was more like selling miscellaneous items.
Fortunately, the students were used to it; after picking their books, they simply wiped off the dirt on the cover and managed to read them.
Most books in the bookstore could be bought for one or two credits, while the slightly more expensive ones cost around ten credits.
However, Dark often heard that the books in this Goblin Ancient Bookstore were particularly expensive.
Some rare editions auctioned off could even fetch over a hundred credits.
Clearly, this was a place only for those truly passionate about books or those with ample credits.
Dark wasn’t particularly fond of books, so he had never visited before.
But Angelia Hudson was a regular at the Goblin Ancient Bookstore.
Especially since she found a way to earn credits recently, she visited more frequently.
Therefore, encountering her here wasn’t much of a coincidence.
However, their interactions weren’t deep, so Dark didn’t initiate a conversation and simply walked into the bookstore.
Unlike the noise outside, the bookstore was relatively quiet inside, with a faint aroma of wood wafting everywhere.
The clerk behind the counter wasn’t a goblin but a lady from the Long-Ear clan.
Aside from a pair of furry long ears that could reach her shoulders, she had no other distinguishing features of an anthropoid race, known as the Long-Ear clan.
When Dark entered the store, the Long-Ear lady was pulling down her ears, placing them under her chin, completely covering both sides of her face, lying on the table with a listless expression, looking outside with dead fish eyes.
It was unclear whether it was due to too much noise or too much cold.
This was Dark’s first time seeing a living Long-Ear, so he couldn’t help but take another look, and then… he got glared at!
“He looks like a grumpy girl.”
With this thought, he walked towards the bookshelf labeled “Art” and casually flipped through the books.
Since he was here, he wanted to find some useful books.
Under the “Art” category, most books were related to paintings, but there were also some about carving.
His main focus was on carving, preferably wood carving.
After a few minutes, he found a thick book titled “Wood Carving” at the bottom of the shelf and squatted down to pull it out.
Using some strength, he pulled the book out and shook it vigorously when he stood up, causing a large cloud of dust to fly out.
This indicated that the book had been sitting at the bottom of the shelf for quite some time.
After shaking off the dust from the cover, Dark carefully looked at the title and read aloud: “The Wood Carving Art of Van Di… Van Di… Who is he?”
Dark blinked involuntarily.
He knew Van Gogh, who painted sunflowers.
But this Van Di…
“A behavioral artist during wartime, did he also know how to carve?”
A gentle voice suddenly sounded from behind.
Dark turned his head slightly and saw that Angelia-senpai had walked up beside him and casually asked, “Are you interested in wood carving?”
Dark smiled and replied, “Yes, a little. Senpai Hudson, it’s great to meet you.”
But Angelia-senpai reached out to pull back her overly long bangs and said indifferently, “You didn’t seem to think so when you saw me just now, did you?”
Dark paused momentarily but maintained his natural demeanor, “Not at all, I didn’t want to disturb you, senpai. By the way, Van Di wasn’t a sculptor, but a behavioral artist, right?”
“I don’t know if he was a sculptor, but he was indeed a behavioral artist,” Angelia nodded and said, “Otherwise, have you ever seen a madman running naked and laughing in a battlefield filled with corpses?”
“This…”
Dark looked down at “The Wood Carving Art of Van Di” and replied, “Actually, I’ve never seen a battlefield.”
Angelia picked up her own book and glanced sideways at his.
Dark then opened “The Wood Carving Art of Van Di” naturally.
The first page repeated the book title, author, and a quote by the author.
“There is nothing more beautiful than the human form. Therefore, we give our gods the human form.”
…
“It doesn’t sound like something a wild and naked lunatic would say.”
Dark read the line and felt it made sense.
Gods’ forms were uncertain; many gods could freely switch between multiple forms.
But humans often imagined their deities as pure human forms.
The ultimate imagination was the core of the Saint Church’s faith—”Saint!”
Of course, before confirming it, Dark couldn’t determine whether it was imagination or reality.
After all, the gods had long fallen.
In any case, while pondering, he casually turned to the next page, glanced at the numbered chapters, and continued flipping.
Afterwards, he saw the first section of the first chapter—”Gentle Beauty.”
The book illustrated a delicate human figure carved from white wood.
The entire carving depicted a figure arching backward, with every detail meticulously rendered.
Dark was startled and quickly looked away.
He wasn’t shy; he was worried about getting “Bliss +1.”
But after looking away, he realized it wasn’t private time, making him awkwardly close the book.
Then, he looked at Senpai Angelia.
Her long bangs covered her forehead, giving her a very understated appearance.
Surprisingly, she didn’t show much girlish shyness but instead seemed more intrigued.
“Is this Van Di’s work?”
Angelia blurted out.
“I never expected a behavioral artist to have such profound carving skills! Would you like this book? If not…”
Dark instinctively replied, “Yes.”
“Really?” Angelia felt somewhat disappointed, “If you finish reading it, could you lend it to me? I can pay rent.”
Dark continued, “No need for rent, I’ll lend it after I’m done.”
Angelia immediately said, “Alright, thank you!”
…
Dark eventually bought “The Wood Carving Art of Van Di.”
Not because Angelia was there.
After careful consideration, he found this wood carving book genuinely helpful.
While “Armed” types varied, the most common were full-body armors, and the foundation for making armors, especially soft body armor, naturally needed to fit human structures.
Learning new knowledge required laying a solid foundation.
From basics to advanced, one couldn’t just focus on lofty goals.
He was almost starting from scratch and had to learn independently. Directly moving on to armor crafting was too difficult.
So, he started with human carving.
Moreover, “The Wood Carving Art of Van Di” didn’t just cover human carvings; it also included many anthropoids, such as beastmen carvings.
Mastering beastmen body carvings would naturally allow him to understand animal body structures.
Overall, the book was unexpectedly comprehensive.
…
After buying “The Wood Carving Art of Van Di,” Dark didn’t stay long in the Goblin Ancient Bookstore.
He soon bid farewell to Senpai Angelia and continued collecting materials on Traveler’s Street.
By late afternoon, he summoned Deoxys from his dormitory and helped bring a whole cart of packages back to the dorm.
Room 201’s door seemed like a huge mouth, only letting things in, not out.
Dark unpacked the packages, sorted the materials, and then took a breath before entering the bathroom to clean himself.
After feeling refreshed, he lay on the bed and flipped through “The Wood Carving Art of Van Di.”
Although he initially avoided it,
his current composure allowed him to handle these intricate yet fake wood carvings without much trouble.
Dark Demon wasn’t a naive teenager anymore.
…
Just as he began flipping through the wood carving art, Lil’Eevee and Eevee quietly snuck into the bed, rubbing against his face, causing him some distress.
Sure enough, not long after, the two golem spirits were drawn to the book and refused to leave.
…
Time swiftly passed.
Starting from this Sunday, Dark officially embarked on his wood carving journey.
From basic material identification and tool familiarization, he gradually became engrossed.
Boys seemed to have a natural interest in this type of handwork.
The feeling of creating art from one’s hands was irresistible.
And with his indulgence, “greed” steadily grew.
Yet, nothing could be achieved overnight.
Throughout the day,
aside from leaving some broken items in the dorm, he had no results.
However, at night, he suddenly remembered something and summoned “Meow Meow”!
As a result, “Meow Meow” showed its prowess, demonstrating “technical expertise.”
Within half an hour, “Meow Meow” proficiently mastered various carving tools and, under Dark’s and the other golem spirits’ watchful eyes, carved a lifelike chubby fish!
“Meow…”
The finished “Meow Meow” bit the chubby fish and proudly stuck out its waist.
In this round,
Dark Demon suffered a bitter defeat!
…
“Perhaps, this is what true genius is?”
[Envy +1]
The “Capital Sin” slowly drifting in his vision was the long-lost “Envy.”
Dark suddenly missed it and couldn’t help but reach out to touch it.
Of course, his hand met empty air.
Afterwards, he watched “Meow Meow” proudly showing off the chubby fish, and a spark of inspiration flashed in his mind.
But it flickered and went out, like scratching at his heart, making him want to grab it but unable to.
“What did I just think?”
Dark sat down and pondered deeply.
Sometimes, the harder one tried to recall, the harder it was to catch the thread.
He struggled all night but couldn’t retrieve that spark of inspiration.
…
A new week began with Professor Shylph’s lecture, marking the end of Valentine’s Day.
Students refocused on their studies.
Dark regained his daily rhythm.
He reduced his wood carving time to three hours each evening.
Unlike before, whenever he returned to the dorm, he summoned “Meow Meow” and had the best text learner, the imp beast, and Deoxys take turns teaching it.
During the three-hour wood carving session each night, he learned carving together with it.
Even though “Meow Meow” learned all the wood carving knowledge from Dark’s retelling, it always grasped it quickly and left Dark far behind.
Dark hadn’t felt this way in a long time.
In the field of wood carving, “Meow Meow” was like a rabbit, and he was the tortoise in the race.
Only persistent effort could make them reach the same endpoint.
But sometimes, having someone to chase ahead was actually a fortunate thing.
He clearly felt that his learning efficiency had improved significantly compared to that Sunday.
By the end of the week,
he could already carve a decent human figure from softwood.
Though it was still far from “refined,” he had a complete structure.
His skill in carving steadily improved.
He finally looked like someone playing with carving.
Though “Meow Meow’s” chin was increasingly raised, he didn’t mind.
…
The last Sunday of February.
Two days before the month ended.
At 7:30 PM.
Dark looked at the wooden puppet he had carved on the table, slowly closing “The Wood Carving Art of Van Di,” and exhaled.
“One week from nothing to something, my progress has been quite fast. If not compared to ‘Meow Meow.'”
He smiled slightly and placed “The Wood Carving Art of Van Di” in the corner, pulling out another wood carving book—”Spirit Crafting: Wood Carving!”
“There are still many detailed human carving techniques in ‘The Wood Carving Art of Van Di,’ including techniques to soften materials to simulate corresponding parts. But these techniques are temporarily beyond my current needs.”
“After mastering simple human carving, I can finally start adding ‘armor’ to the human form, starting with the simplest dresses.”
“In this regard, ‘Spirit Crafting: Wood Carving’ should provide more help.”
After opening “Spirit Crafting: Wood Carving” to the necessary page, Dark picked up the carving knife, studied it for a moment, and finally started carving.
“Let’s carve a small dress first!”
