Chapter 529: Alluring Fox with a Thousand Transformations (4k)
How does one verify the source of a monster’s blood?
Professor Nina once demonstrated this in her Beast Mastery class.
However, her method was not easily replicable by others.
After that class, Dark researched in the library and found some useful information.
“Blood contains a vast amount of biological information, but tracing its source from these data is no easy task.”
“Of course, if the blood contains condensed mana that doesn’t dissipate, this process becomes much simpler.”
Dark moved the gemstone to the center and examined it closely.
The gemstone was shaped like a drop of water, yet it emitted fiery red light.
Injecting mana and stimulating it would cause the stored mana within to react, producing bright flames and significantly increasing the surrounding temperature.
A creature whose single drop of blood could trigger such a phenomenon was rare indeed.
From the beginning, the range of the search was relatively limited.
Dark still remembered the rumor that had always been on Diana’s lips—the Easter egg in the cafeteria contained a “Phoenix Egg!”
When he obtained the gemstone containing the blood of a fire attribute monster, he fantasized that the blood might be the legendary phoenix blood.
This guess was only quashed after encountering the flame of the Phoenix Girl.
Although the Phoenix Girl was just a mana spirit and not a living phoenix, her mana properties and flames were similar.
However, the mana aura from this blood sample greatly differed from the Phoenix Girl’s.
If not phoenix blood, then what else could it be?
With a glimmer of hope, Dark prepared for the trace experiment.
The process wasn’t difficult.
Some basic fire attribute materials and several overlapping spell circles.
With these preparations, he could draw a simple spell circle.
Dark placed the gemstone in the center of the circle and injected mana, instantly activating the spell circle.
“Bang!”
As the spell circle took effect, the gemstone, shaped like a drop of water, erupted into intense flames.
However, when his fingers passed through the flames, there was no burning sensation; only the surrounding temperature continued to rise.
Clearly, the gemstone’s sealing effect remained intact.
Dark furrowed his brows, focusing on debugging the spell circle circuits.
As he continued to adjust, the mana sealed within the blood began to move slowly according to his will.
About fifteen minutes later, the mana finally carved out a peculiar array within the blood.
Then, the flames emanating from the gemstone gradually converged, suddenly bursting forth from the inner array as a wisp of flame, blending with the surrounding flames, twisting and deforming until revealing its true form!
Dark’s eyes widened, leaning closer to observe.
He saw that the flame had transformed into the shape of a three-tailed fox!
“A three-tailed fire fox…”
This three-tailed fire fox was formed by flames, making its finer details hard to discern, but the three tails were distinctive, recognizable at a glance.
However, many fox-type monsters existed, and those with multiple tails weren’t uncommon.
In fact, most fox-type monsters displayed their transformations through the number of tails.
Relying solely on three tails, fire attributes, and being a fox couldn’t precisely identify the target.
Dark quickly considered which fox-type monsters fit the criteria and abruptly withdrew his finger from the spell circle, cutting off the mana input.
“Bang!”
The form of the three-tailed fox instantly disintegrated, the flames retracting back into the gemstone.
…
Tracing blood has its limits.
With Dark’s abilities, he could only go this far.
He couldn’t use the same method to present more detailed forms, thus unable to truly determine the species of the blood’s origin.
But…
If he merely wanted to use this gemstone as the core material for a mana spirit, this information was already sufficient.
“Three tails, fire, and fox. Only Fox-ear Grass can pair with it.”
“If it’s an ‘Arrogance’ Fox-ear Grass fruit, perhaps it could produce a Pokémon with the ‘Sunlight’ trait—Six Tail!”
“But given the current situation, I can only use the ‘Bliss’ fruit… Maybe it’ll work?”
Dark pondered deeply.
Regardless of their nature, foxes inherently evoke a fixed impression in most intelligent beings, aligning them with ‘Bliss.’
If aiming to conjure a mana spirit like a fox, precise identification would be highly probable.
However, Six Tail and its evolved form—Nine Tail—seem to lack the potential to learn fairy-type ultimate skills.
For ‘Bliss,’ the fairy type is a better match than the evil type.
Night, moon, fairy, bliss.
Dark picked up the gemstone, carefully assessing: “Even if the attributes don’t match, a nine-tailed fox still evokes ‘Bliss.’ Of course, this could also be a trap… a dangerous trap luring gentlemen. Should I fall for it?”
Dark thought for a moment, finding the Fox-ear Grass among a group of peering Cat-grass plants, then gestured to it.
“Mia!”
The Fox-ear Grass immediately ran over excitedly, not at all like a plant.
Though affected less by ‘Capital Sin’ than mana spirits, each flowering and fruiting seemed to add a bit of sentience.
Over time, they might even transform!
With unrealistic hopes, Dark held the Fox-ear Grass on his lap, scratching its chin, causing it to coo.
After playing for a while, Dark carried the thought bottle filled with ‘Bliss’ to the Worm Tree’s planting spot.
The Worm Tree served as a substitute for the feeding machine—nipples—for Cat-grass, essential for its existence.
Even with many advanced thought bottles in the future, it would continue to have significance.
From morning till afternoon, at a deliberately slow pace, Dark successfully cultivated a ‘Bliss’ fruit. The ‘Bliss’ within the thought bottle was reduced to a thin layer.
Then, he promptly began the conjuration experiment.
After nearly an hour, the final product was laid out on the experimental table.
Looking at the pink mist-emitting light cocoon on the table, Dark couldn’t help but stroke his chin.
On such fundamental conjurations, he couldn’t imagine making mistakes.
But this stability among magi was quite rare.
Most magi, even as they aged, couldn’t guarantee success in basic conjurations.
Dark could only attribute this to his high-quality mana and control, though he sensed other factors without delving deeper.
In any case, it was now the exciting moment of unveiling the result.
“Six Tail is a fire-type Pokémon with high affinity to fire and psychic types. Successfully conjuring Six Tail greatly increases the chances of obtaining a psychic-type ultimate skill. Additionally, Six Tail can master a fire-type ultimate skill called ‘Purgatory,’ complementing the name ‘Demon God.'”
“Even if it’s not Six Tail, any fox-type mana spirit is acceptable.”
Dark picked up the mercury knife and began cutting.
In truth, among the mana spirits he conjured, there were types like ‘Trash Slime.’ Even if based on that drop of blood, conjuring a native monster’s variant was highly possible.
But regardless of the type, once conjured, even a ‘Trash Slifer,’ he would accept it gladly.
Because since adding the ‘Bliss’ fruit, the final conjured mana spirit would inevitably possess sentience!
With sentience, it couldn’t be viewed simply as a mana spirit card.
Struggling to conjure them felt akin to giving birth to children.
“Thinking about it, am I about to achieve a 20-birth milestone?”
Reaching out, Dark pulled, and the light cocoon split open.
It was as if long-suppressed energy burst forth, releasing a dense ‘Bliss’ aura.
Dark instinctively felt this mana spirit conjuration might be a grand success!
Perhaps the gemstone from the Easter egg in the cafeteria contained the blood of an extraordinary monster?
Perhaps, this was the real ‘Easter Egg’!
Excited, Dark eagerly used tweezers to remove the mana spirit card covered in transparent mucus.
The golden aura emanating from the card signified its undeniable high quality!
Yes, a gold card!
…
“Clatter!”
After cleaning the mana spirit card, Dark shook off the water droplets and looked at the card face.
What emerged from the card face wasn’t a small fox with six tails—Six Tail—but a digital monster that left a deep impression on him!
In the Digital Monsters series, Dark’s impressions mainly came from the earlier parts.
Among those, the first, second, and third parts were particularly memorable.
Apart from the first part, he liked the third part the most.
And the mana spirit conjured this time originated from the third part!
On the mana spirit card, clearly depicted was a beast-type digital monster sitting cross-legged.
Its slender body was covered in golden fur, with fluffy white fur on its chest and abdomen. It had cold, sharp eyes, a slim waist, and a pair of sultry fox eyes that exuded an indescribable cold beauty.
Despite being a golden fox standing upright like a human, it gave the impression of looking directly at a female with fox ears.
While digital monsters fundamentally had no gender—since their reproduction was unrelated to gender—many did exhibit gender characteristics.
Whether it was Angel Beast, Demoness Beast, or the “Demon Fox Beast” in front of him, they were all like this.
Indeed, this mana spirit was none other than one of the main characters from the third part of Digital Monsters—the partner digital monster of Miki Nakamura—Demon Fox Beast!
The aspect of it that left the deepest impression on Dark was its cold and decisive personality, its high intelligence surpassing typical digital monsters, and its unyielding calmness under any circumstances.
This natural talent made it invincible in battle!
This might be Dark’s second extremely combative mana spirit!
The first was the Wrestler Eagle.
Dark reached out and touched the forehead of the “Demon Fox Beast,” which immediately lifted its head in the card, revealing a look of disgust.
Staring at him, Dark felt awkward and quietly withdrew his hand.
Then, pretending nothing happened, he injected mana to view the “Demon Fox Beast’s” information.
[Card Name: Demon Fox Beast]
[Type: Elemental Card]
[Level: ???]
[Race: Avian-beast Kin]
[Attribute: Fairy Type]
[Mana: 1800]
[Attack: 1500]
[Defense: 1200]
[Ultimate Skills: Fox Illusion, Fox Leaf Wedge, Vine Fist, Fox Flash Strike]
This digital monster, infused with Taoist elements, despite being a three-star, possessed an impressive 1500 mana, significantly exceeding the standard.
Dark’s fondness for it also stemmed from its ultimate form—Sakuya (Shakuyaku).
Additionally, it had an extra priestess form.
Both forms aligned perfectly with ‘Bliss.’
Its race, like the Lion Beast, leaned more towards beast types.
Surprisingly, its attribute was Fairy Type.
Dark originally thought it might be like the Lion Beast, a fighting type, but it wasn’t.
Its stats were even higher than Meow’s, a three-star mana spirit, with outstanding mana, attack, and decent defense.
Coupled with the “Demon Fox Beast’s” high agility, comparable to its attack, it was a born warrior.
Even if its subsequent evolution leaned towards道士、祭司、巫女的方向，but it didn’t abandon physical capabilities.
As a pure embodiment of ‘Bliss,’ its evolution method was straightforward: stacking ‘Bliss’ cards.
The four ultimate skills were fully loaded, bringing joy.
Dark further injected mana to check the details of these four ultimate skills, focusing on the only change-type ultimate skill—”Fox Illusion!”
[Fox Illusion: A transformation technique that copies the appearance of another and replaces its structure.]
This was undoubtedly a change-type ultimate skill similar to “Ditto’s” transformation!
Dark’s mind raced with guesses about the limitations and effects of this ultimate skill.
First, what were the restrictions on the target for copying?
Second, could copying grant the acquired race, attribute, stats, and even ultimate skills?
These differences would determine the ultimate strength of the “Demon Fox Beast”!
