Chapter 326: Continuous Research on Dark Demon (4k)
Despite this “Armed Card” appearing to have been conjured, the patterns displayed on the card slightly differed from what Dark had envisioned.
He furrowed his brow slightly and picked up the Armed Card, injecting mana into it.
With a trickle of information feedback, he gained a general understanding of the “Armed Card.”
[Card Name: Wooden Armor]
[Type: Item Card]
[Effect: +10 Defense, slightly increases the ability to attract moonlight.]
At first glance, the card seemed to have no major issues.
“Armed Cards” indeed belonged to the category of “Item Cards,” and would directly display as such on the card face.
The name of this card was also quite ordinary and fitting.
After all, this was indeed made of wood.
As for its effect.
Such a crude piece having a defense value of “+10” already exceeded his psychological expectations.
He originally thought it would only be “+1.”
Unexpectedly, not only did the defensive bonus turn out decent, but there was also an additional effect of attracting moonlight.
“Attraction to moonlight? After wearing this wooden armor, could I automatically become the most eye-catching one under the night sky?”
Dark chuckled dryly and used a regular summoning spell to bring forth the set of wooden armor.
Armed Cards generally had two summoning methods: one was to summon them out of thin air, and the other was to target the wearer.
If targeting the wearer, the summoned armor would directly dress the person.
But this time, Dark chose to summon it out of thin air to get a better understanding of the entire set.
As the card’s surface glowed, the entire set materialized on the table.
A straw hat, vest, short skirt, and two bracelets.
This was the complete set of the wooden armor.
Apart from the slight white glow emanating from the surface layer of the wooden armor, it was almost no different from before the “Armored Conjure.”
“The size hasn’t changed.”
“The material hasn’t changed.”
“It’s still wood.”
After careful examination, Dark confirmed his findings.
Although this wooden armor had the name “Wooden Armor,” it was essentially just a wooden sculpture with no change in core properties.
The carved rings, straps, and pleats were still made of wood.
This was completely different from what he knew.
After all, Alvaraite could use the “Trinity Armored Conjure Array” to transform woven garments into battle armor!
That was true “Armored Conjure,” which greatly altered the material of the armor itself.
“What went wrong?”
“Was it due to insufficient precision in carving?”
“Or was it because of taking shortcuts using ‘Capital Sin’?”
“Or was it a problem with the materials?”
Dark fell into deep thought.
But his knowledge of “Trinity Armored Conjure” was mainly derived from Principal Altair.
Things that seemed simple and self-evident to the principal might be difficult points for him to overcome.
…
“It’s too hard!”
Thinking this, Dark took a deep breath.
“Mew.”
Eevee’s antennae wrapped around his wrist, rubbing gently as if consoling him.
He turned and held both of its small feet, smiling: “It’s okay, difficulties fuel motivation.”
Eevee: “Mew—”
Deoxys: “It means its dress will be delayed again.”
Eevee: “(ー.′ー) Mew!”
…
In summary, Dark’s mindset was still pretty good.
Not failing on the first attempt at “Armored Conjure” was already very lucky.
The shortcomings could be addressed through repeated experiments and research later on.
High-difficulty conjuring experiments like this weren’t meant to be achieved overnight.
Just like after the astronomy class on Wednesday evening, he had actually received the data for the “Love Spell Array” from Professor Metia, but upon reviewing it, he found himself unable to understand it.
It was impossible to use it for redeveloping “Flower Cards.”
This led to the large amount of materials prepared being useless, and they could only be repurposed for other experiments.
To understand the “Love Spell Array,” he would need to learn more about astronomy and astrology.
However, he currently lacked the talent for divination and had hit a bottleneck in learning astrology.
Under normal circumstances, if he wanted to continue independent development, he could only rely on Eevee.
If little Eevee could achieve success, then under its assistance, Dark could continue to develop “Flower Cards.”
Fortunately, his need for “Flower Cards” wasn’t urgent.
Given the current research foundation, “Flower Card” development could be restarted at any time.
This kind of attitude was extremely precious.
Often, those who tried to grab both sesame seeds and watermelons ended up achieving nothing.
…
In the end…
Dark called over Ditto and had it transform into a puppet-like figure, then equipped the “Wooden Armor” onto it.
“Ditto!”
Ditto put on the little skirt, wore the little hat, and started shaking its bottom on the table.
But the wooden skirt hanging on it clattered noisily, lacking any sense of clothing.
“At this level, the armor not only fails to provide a boost but may even cause negative effects…”
Dark pondered for a while and decided to put it away forever.
…
The next Monday.
After a full day of diligent study, Dark first finished his homework at the library, then ate something quickly and hurried back to his dorm.
Last night’s conjuring hadn’t dampened his enthusiasm; instead, it intensified it.
This time, he selected a large piece of wood to carefully craft a skirt suitable for Eevee.
From designing the blueprint to completing the carving, it took over an hour.
Instead of immediately using it for conjuring, he took out a set of paints and began coloring!
This was a response to last night’s failure.
Among the three potential causes for the unexpected results of “Armored Conjure”—the trickery of mental power, the choice and addition of materials—he had no solution for the former and no clue for the latter, so he focused on the precision of the carving.
The skirt made last night was too crude, not resembling real clothing at all.
This time, he aimed to make a very realistic skirt!
Hmm…
In total, after two hours, he successfully made a pink wooden skirt and had Eevee try it on.
The color matched well, but the wooden skirt got stuck on its legs.
Under Eevee’s reproachful gaze, Dark removed the wooden skirt and began the second “Armored Conjure.”
With experience from the first attempt, the second “Armored Conjure” was significantly faster than yesterday.
Both the pouring of the mental furnace and the final melting were smoother.
After just a short hour, he completed the second “Armored Conjure” and obtained a second “Armed Card!”
Since he only used a wooden skirt, this “Armed Card” looked much like an “Equipment Card.”
But in practical operation, “Armed Cards” and “Equipment Cards” had fundamental differences.
He picked up the final product and examined it closely; the pink skirt on the card clearly felt more substantial than the wooden armor’s skirt.
This breakthrough gave him better expectations for the experiment’s outcome.
With a hint of anticipation, Dark injected some mana, and information flowed into his mind, causing the corners of his mouth to lift.
[Card Name: Moonlight Dress]
[Type: Item Card]
[Effect: +23 Defense, becomes more enchanting under moonlight.]
“From Wooden Armor to Moonlight Dress… This is a qualitative breakthrough!”
The significant improvement was evident from the card name alone!
Though the slight increase in defense was less important, the additional effect was excellent.
For Eevee, who possessed a “charming body,” this was likely one of the most suitable effects.
Dark couldn’t help but summon the “Moonlight Dress.”
As the light brightened, the pink dress landed in his hand.
When he touched it, he could feel a distinct softness unlike wood.
However, the softness still seemed insufficient, lacking the finesse of fabric.
The most groundbreaking aspect was the waistband—it actually had an elastic band!
Although Dark intentionally carved that elastic feeling, he didn’t expect it to actually work.
“This shows that my approach was correct.”
Dark’s smile grew wider as he raised the dress, holding it up to the light of the magical lamp to examine it further and show it off to the surrounding golems.
Everyone’s attention was drawn to the dress.
The imp beast rubbed its head, suddenly feeling a threat to its status.
Meow, meanwhile, had a bright gaze jumping between the dress and the fat fish in its paws, clearly eager to try it on.
Of course, the most excited was Eevee, who had just tried on the wooden skirt.
“Mew!”
It called out forcefully, its two antennae climbing up Dark’s wrist, applying gentle pressure.
Dark snapped out of his thoughts, lowered his hand, and scooped up Eevee, holding it close. He flipped its body over, exposing its belly, and rubbed its tiny tummy.
“Mew—”
Eevee let out a contented sound.
Dark grabbed its tail, slipped on the dress, and then lifted its right leg, threading it through the skirt.
Next, he lifted its left leg.
Once both legs were through the skirt, he grabbed the waistband and pulled it up to its waist.
Thus, the pink little skirt was properly worn.
Dark looked at it carefully and felt satisfied, placing Eevee on the ground.
Eevee hopped excitedly once its hind legs touched the ground, performing a circle dance.
Immediately after, it hummed a version of “Enchanting Voice” — “Enchanting Song.”
Overall, it was visibly happy!
…
After many days, it finally returned as the king!
While singing and dancing, Eevee occasionally glanced at the surrounding golems, noticing their envious looks.
Especially the deceitful White Cat, hiding atop the cat tree like a pitiful orphan.
And the fat stinky cow, useful only for producing milk.
Indeed, the most favored was still this Eevee!
As it glanced around, Eevee’s gaze landed on the imp beast’s head.
“Mew!”
(Not just a hat! I’ll have one eventually!)
…
Dark squinted and observed for a while before taking out Eevee’s Magical Card and examining its mana changes numerically.
Although this “Moonlight Dress” was barely usable, it was still considered an “Armed Card.”
“Armed Cards” and “Equipment Cards” differed not only in whether they needed to be worn but also in their operational principles and mechanisms.
Simply put:
“Equipment Cards” were external objects.
Whereas “Armed Cards” were integrated to a certain extent with the user.
For example, if a sword was an “Equipment Card,” it could only be held and used, with the attack bonus provided by the equipment relying on the sword.
If the sword was an “Armed Card,” the attack bonus would partially apply to the whole body, enhancing the user’s base attack.
It felt like entering the realm of “man-sword unity”!
Applied to armor, it was the same.
“Equipment Cards” were simply putting on armor.
While “Armed Cards” would enhance the overall performance, akin to a “transformation”!
…
The main reason for this difference lay in their operational principles.
“Equipment Cards” usually had a limited duration, but once summoned, they could be used directly. If the duration expired, a single mana enrichment could extend it.
“Armed Cards,” however, had no duration limit because they required a constant flow of mana!
Because of the substantial support of mana, “Armed Cards” could exhibit powerful effects that “Equipment Cards” couldn’t.
Due to the continuous flow of mana, “Armed Cards” could closely connect with the user, achieving a “combination” or “transformation” effect.
Therefore, everything has its pros and cons.
“Armed Cards” seemed great, but because they required a lot of mana support, they couldn’t be widely used.
If equipped on golems, their mana values would deplete rapidly.
Golems’ mana values were equivalent to life force.
Thus, “Armed Cards” were difficult to utilize in formal duels.
Magi generally used “Armed Cards” on themselves.
…
Now, Dark equipped the “Moonlight Dress” on Eevee, and naturally, Eevee’s mana was depleting.
However, so far, the mana loss was within acceptable limits.
The reason was probably because the “Moonlight Dress” was too weak.
Such armors with more ornamental than combat value had little comparative worth.
This “Moonlight Dress” was still inadequate!
