Chapter 325: Trinity Armored Conjure (4k)
The reason he started with a small dress was certainly not because Dark liked skirts.
He merely placed great importance on his promises.
During his duel with Senior Else Kevin, he had promised Fairy Eevee that once he learned how to perform Armored Conjure, he would find a way to get her a set of dress.
Although armored cards have limitations when used on mana spirits, Dark estimated that with his current level, he could not create the kind of genuine armor that consumed large amounts of mana.
If he could accidentally assemble an armor slightly better than a changing card, it would already be considered very fortunate.
In short, since this was just an initial attempt, it did not matter which type of armor he created first.
…
Taking a small dress from “Spirit Crafting: Wood Carving” as a reference, Dark picked a piece of wood from the material box and began carving.
Carving a simple dress did not require too much precision, so the difficulty was limited.
The main challenge lay in the hollowing out process.
For beginners, external and internal carving were two different levels of difficulty.
However, when Dark learned human sculpture, he had an idea.
Things like this, which required hollowing out the inside to carve, could be simplified through a “modular” approach.
In other words, he would divide a small dress into two or four parts, leaving structures at each contact point for assembly.
After all parts were carved, they could be assembled into a complete dress!
Using this method, he could avoid “internal carving.”
Moreover, this was also the雏形 of armor-making techniques.
It took him nearly an hour to finally finish carving this small dress.
The dress used a lace skirt template, but his finished product didn’t have any lace…
In short, he continued carving the vest and bracelets next.
Since the puppet model was about thirty centimeters tall, the matching dress, vest, and bracelets were also small.
By around nine o’clock, Dark thought for a moment and added a sun hat.
Finally, after putting the sun hat on the puppet’s head, the entire set of clothing was completed!
Though it wasn’t painted, it looked quite realistic.
Dark looked up at the clock.
“It’s half past nine… There’s still time.”
So he put away the carving tools and leftover materials, preparing for his first attempt at “Trinity Armored Conjure!”
…
Alvaraite’s trinity armored conjure array emphasized the combination of mind, mana, and armor. Only handmade clothing or weapons could be turned into armored cards.
There were no specific requirements for the clothing or weapon itself.
However, the armor created could only vary within a small range.
Therefore, even if this set of clothing successfully became an armored card, it couldn’t be worn by Fairy Eevee for now.
But that was fine; he would make another set later.
…
Armored series mana cards belonged to the branch of item cards. Additionally, equipment cards and weapon cards were also branches of item cards.
There were generally two approaches to making this type of mana card.
One was to use mana conjuring to turn existing items into mana cards.
The other was to directly conjure using raw materials, similar to forging weapons!
Dark had previously used the second method to create “energy potion,” pouring a mixture of white dry fruit and blue fruit juice into the third conjuring array, ultimately creating an “energy potion” card.
However, Alvaraite’s “trinity armored conjure” leaned more towards the first approach.
It focused on conjuring based on existing “armor.”
Unlike traditional methods of making mana cards, “trinity armored conjure” required high-level use of mind and mana, while the auxiliary materials had lower requirements.
With homemade armor as the core.
With mental power as the furnace.
With personal mana as the fuel.
Together, they formed “trinity armored conjure!”
Conceptually, it felt somewhat like “refining tools” in cultivation, which seemed a bit out of place in this world.
Even though the “trinity armored conjure array” was merely the prototype of the 99th conjuring array called “Alvaraite Conjuring Array,” the difficulty of the “trinity armored conjuring method” based on it was already extremely high.
The quality and mastery of mind and mana were two insurmountable mountains.
According to Dark’s understanding:
The difficulty of the “trinity armored conjuring method” should lie between the conjuring of “fusion” cards and “zoo” cards.
Under normal circumstances, without guidance, he actually had little chance of mastering it independently.
However, fortunately, this conjuring method suited him well!
Whether it was the mastery of mental power or the quality and quantity of his own mana, he had some confidence.
The only weakness was the “homemade armor,” which was the simplest thing for others.
…
Having overcome this weakness, he could roughly start his first attempt at “trinity armored conjuring.”
Yesterday, he had prepared all the necessary materials.
Everything was ready, except for the final push!
…
“Gurgle.”
After giving the empty apple juice bottle to the imp beast,
Dark finally began his first attempt.
“Trinity armored conjuring” was originally a work from Alvaraite’s student days, with its unique features mainly concentrated in the later stages of drawing the “trinity armored conjuring array.”
In the early stages, it basically followed the general conjuring method of equipment cards.
The general conjuring method of equipment cards, like “mana language,” was content taught in the second year.
But related textbooks were available in the library, depending on whether one wanted to learn and could learn.
Dark clearly belonged to the latter category.
The general conjuring method of equipment cards was just one method, unlike the complex “mana language.”
Following the steps in his memory, he first processed all the necessary materials and then categorized them before starting to brew the potion.
The main ingredient here was a special mana potion called “red spider lily.”
“Red spider lily” was a bright red flower said to bloom in the underworld.
The dead wandered in the void of the underworld, occasionally encountering that patch of red.
Once attracted, the red spider lily would transform into their deepest desires, most cherished memories, and unattainable things, causing them to fall into a dream-like state, unknowingly being consumed.
Since the “red spider lily” potion was named after this, it naturally possessed the effect of “transformation.”
Many things involved in mana technology were considered taboo by ordinary people.
Potions like the “red spider lily” were even more prohibited.
However, in the realm of mana tutors, it was one of the most commonly used potions.
Equipment cards, weapon cards, and even field cards like “zoo” required the “red spider lily” to form the base.
Its status in these mana cards was akin to that of the “mana spirit card” and “spirit nectar.”
Because the essence of these mana cards was the application of real projection!
“After evenly applying the “red spider lily” on a blank mana card, the mana card gains the foundation of transformation…”
…
About forty minutes later, Dark finally advanced the conjuring experiment to the stage where the “trinity armored conjuring array” was needed.
He carefully checked the semi-finished products on the table, confirming that his first attempt was acceptable, before beginning to draw the “trinity armored conjuring array” on the semi-finished product.
The “trinity armored conjuring array” was a three-dimensional array, with a carving difficulty far exceeding that of a flat diagram.
But Dark had done ample practice for this.
He poured mana into the mana pen and spent a full ten minutes, finally completing the drawing of the “trinity armored conjuring array”!
During those ten minutes, he did not stop, and his mana output was steady and smooth, surpassing the limits of a normal human.
The final product was a nearly perfect sphere!
This was the only known complete spherical conjuring array that Dark knew of.
But successfully drawing the “trinity armored conjuring array” was just the threshold of “trinity armored conjuring.”
The true difficulty began with “soul forge.”
…
The foundation of “soul forge” was to pour “mental power” into the “trinity armored conjuring array,” transforming this already highly complex array into a “mental furnace”!
To achieve this, one must first understand “mental power.”
What is “mental power”?
As the name suggests, it is the power of the mind—though this is obvious.
So far, Dark had encountered various forms of mental power.
The fundamental bond between a mana tutor and a mana spirit, such as that of the Mind Magus Red’s “mind summoning,” was a form of mental power.
Another form was his use of Wit’s [Magical Beast: Buck Deer] to release the ultimate skill—”light of mind”!
That was his first clear encounter with “mental power.”
Afterward, he gained a basic understanding of “mental power.”
It was precisely this basic understanding that allowed him to gradually confirm that the “seven deadly sins” were also manifestations of mental power!
Pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony, bliss!
Each of the seven deadly sins represented a form of mental power.
…
Therefore, without the ability to use “light of mind” and lacking mastery of “mental bond,” the only “mental power” he could use was his own “deadly sin.”
And how to guide and use it?
He actually already had a mature system.
…
“It’s time to confirm the possibility!”
Dark calmed his mind and retrieved the thought bottle he had prepared from the corner of the experimental table.
The thought bottle contained only 0.5 points of “bliss.”
That thin layer of aura seemed to shine like a light, almost invisible.
He picked up the mana dropper, inserted the tip into the membrane at the mouth of the thought bottle, slowly rotating to suck in, and gently withdrew once a hint of aura entered the tip.
This “bliss” was probably less than 0.1 points.
But for this experiment, it was already a luxurious move.
Dark was even a bit reluctant to do it.
He focused intently on the glowing sphere of the “trinity armored conjuring array,” dropping that hint of “bliss” into it.
At the touch of the aura.
That barely perceptible hint of “bliss” seemed to dilute, flowing outward along the surface of the glowing sphere, quickly spreading throughout the entire conjuring array!
This phenomenon was exactly the same as “soul pouring” that Dark had learned from Principal Altair.
Despite having expected it, Dark couldn’t help but marvel.
“Less than 0.1 points of ‘bliss’ was enough to transform the ‘trinity armored conjuring array’ into a ‘mental furnace’!”
“Now, it’s time to insert the homemade armor, pour in mana, and melt it.”
Dark hesitated not, directly placing the entire set of clothing into the “mental furnace,” then pressing the mana pen at the top of the conjuring array, gradually pouring in mana.
Mana flowed into the furnace, and the white light gradually intensified.
This “mental furnace” was like a bottomless mana extractor, greedily consuming Dark’s mana.
The amount of mana required for “soul forge” was enormous.
Even a typical mana tutor might need to drink several bottles of “mana recovery elixir” to sustain it until the end.
Feeling the rapid depletion of his mana, Dark was greatly alarmed.
Such a mana-consuming conjuring method, like what Saint Alvaraite could develop, was rare.
“Deoxys!”
Dark whispered.
Deoxys, who had been prepared, immediately picked up a bottle of “mana recovery elixir” and poured it down Dark’s throat.
With this “mana recovery elixir” down, Dark’s already high mana regeneration rate increased further, finally allowing him to complete the entire “soul forge” process!
He finally poured in the last bit of mana, pressing the mana pen downward, causing the spherical conjuring array to rapidly contract into a thick light curtain covering the card surface.
When this light curtain sank into the card surface, the entire “armored conjuring” process was truly complete.
Dark looked up at the wall clock: “It’s already eleven?”
…
The mana spirits probably sensed that the experiment had ended, so they all gathered around involuntarily.
Especially MeowMeow, who was particularly interested, holding the fathead fish carving.
They all knew that the success or failure of this experiment was closely related to each of them.
…
Waiting for about three minutes.
The light curtain gradually thinned and finally sank into the card surface.
On the card surface, a pattern of the entire wooden carving dress gradually emerged.
“It seems… it worked?”
