Chapter 546: Dark Demon and the Imp’s Secret Realm (6k)
Of course, not everything left behind by the Magical Animal Club was trash.
Upon returning indoors, Dak pulled the curtains shut on the balcony and lit up a magic lamp.
The magi golems all gathered around him at once.
The imp beast “plopped” down onto Dak’s head happily, saying, “Is everything sorted out with the club?”
Dak took it off his head and replied, “Yes.”
The imp beast hurriedly asked, “Then where is our clubroom?”
Dak pointed outside the window and laughed, “On the tenth floor of the bell tower. I’ll take you to see it later. For now, let’s check what great mage Peter has left for us.”
“The tenth floor of the bell tower?”
The imp beast recalled the location of the spiral bell tower.
“Eevee!”
Eevee cried out excitedly.
Once the baby blue-eye dragon carefully moved over, Dak brought the cardboard box to the center of the bedroom, sorting through its contents in front of all the magi golems.
He first removed some obvious clutter, such as a broken magic pen, shattered test tubes, a dirty cat toy, and pieces of wood resembling chair legs.
Then he picked out some items that seemed more significant.
As he sorted, Dak said, “Professor Lily, did you find anything?”
Professor Lily peered into the cardboard box for a long time but only shook her head, looking bewildered.
“Even the imps can’t tell if there’s any treasure among these?”
Dak clicked his tongue, feeling quite perplexed.
He looked closer and grabbed a golden chain from the box, slowly pulling out a palm-sized old pocket watch.
“Principal Altair wouldn’t have given me these things from the Magical Animal Club without reason.”
Dak held the pocket watch and examined it, saying, “Look at this watch; it seems to be the most valuable thing here.”
There were rust marks on the watch case, and the hands no longer moved. The hanging golden chain appeared to be made of copper.
When he flipped the watch over, he could see what looked like a rune array on the back.
But when Dak lifted it, Lily glanced at it and said, “It’s just a brand.”
Dak couldn’t help but sigh.
“What about this then?”
He immediately picked out a key from the box and asked, “Could this be a gate key to a hidden space? It might only activate at the right time and place, so there’s nothing unusual about it now.”
Lily held the key between two fingers and examined it closely, then said, “It’s just an ordinary iron key, the same style as the classroom door. This must be the key to the former clubroom of the Magical Animal Club.”
Dak: “Then what about this notebook filled with mysterious text?”
Lily tossed the key aside and shook the notebook, causing a cloud of dust to fall out.
She flipped through the notebook and said, “Unfortunately, it’s a diary. The owner probably used Nisendel Clan’s script to keep others from reading it.”
“What is the Nisendel Clan?” Dak couldn’t help but ask.
A glimmer appeared in Lily’s eyes as she said, “A small clan that went extinct long ago. Few people in this era know of their existence.”
Dak frowned and thought for a moment, asking, “So who is the owner of this diary? Peter Sherwich or another member?”
“I’ll check.” Lily flipped the diary back to the first page and read out the owner’s name in a special language.
Dak was puzzled, “Who?”
Lily translated, “Ursula Springhall.”
Dak was curious, “Isn’t she from the Nisendel Clan?”
Lily shook her head, “No.”
Dak then pondered, “Ursula Springhall, a name I’ve never heard before. Is she also a member of the Magical Animal Club? Let me think about it.”
The founder of the Magical Animal Club was the “Great Mage” Peter Sherwich, a half-imp from the Fool’s Academy.
The second member was the “Beast Sage” Claire Kate.
Although Claire came from the Mana Academy, she was just a quiet girl who loved reading before the second year and had no other special skills.
So when she was required to join at least one club in the second year, Claire chose the Magical Animal Club, which had only one member and didn’t require much ability.
Her initial goal was likely just to find a quiet place to read…
Since Peter also shared a love for reading, they naturally came together.
Afterwards, Claire met Alvaraite because of the incident with the fat cat “Galileo.”
And Alvaraite, whose soul was entrapped by “Galileo,” became the third member of the Magical Animal Club.
Then the fourth member…
“So who is the fourth member?”
Dak suddenly realized how little he knew about the Magical Animal Club.
He only knew that “Hero” Black Gold was a member, but he didn’t know how or when he joined.
What was the reason for his joining?
Was it similar to Alvaraite, meeting Claire while solving a magical animal incident and being drawn into the club?
And who was the fifth person who formed the foundation of the club?
Was it that diary-writing Ursula Springhall?
…
In the end, how many members did the Magical Animal Club have? Who were they, and where are they now? Dak had no idea.
During the holiday, he did have the thought of asking about it, but in the end, he never opened his mouth.
Because after the war, Claire became depressed, and it was largely due to the d*ath of Peter Sherwich and others.
Reopening old wounds only brought more sadness.
Better to explore it himself.
…
Dak looked up at Lily and said, “Perhaps we can discover something from Ursula Springhall’s diary.”
Lily blinked, closed the notebook with a snap, and reopened it, signaling with her actions that she didn’t want to deal with this trouble.
Dak stared at her for a while, but her gaze drifted further away.
“Busy—”
As Dak looked up at the sky, Ditto suddenly hopped over with the Trash Slime, shaking it.
Dak stared at it for a moment, and suddenly his thoughts became clearer. He immediately understood Ditto’s meaning.
“Treasure hunting, treasure hunting, don’t I already have a ready-made treasure detection device?”
Thinking of this, Dark’s gaze towards the Trash Slime was filled with joy.
The Trash Slime immediately jumped up excitedly.
As long as it could be useful to its master, it could feel very happy and content.
“Let’s start with the ‘Greed Slime I’.”
Dark took the Trash Slime from Ditto’s hands, then drew out “Greed II” and activated it quickly.
With the pale blue light shining on the Trash Slime, the green slime-like creature gradually expanded in the light, changing from a liquid state to a jelly-like state, and its body color shifted from green to a bluish-green.
“Trash Slime” – “Greed Slime I”!
“Poyo!”
Still in Dark’s palm, “Greed Slime I” gradually sharpened its gaze, tightly focusing on the remaining items in the cardboard box as per Dark’s wishes.
Its sole ultimate skill, “Treasure Olfaction,” was in effect.
“Poyo poyo!”
After a few seconds, “Greed Slime I” leaped up suddenly, an excited expression appearing on its face.
It seemed that even with Dark as a huge interference source, “Greed Slime I” still detected the scent of more treasures.
Dark squatted down, placing it beside the cardboard box, and further asked, “Are there treasures inside this cardboard box?”
“Poyo poyo!”
“Greed Slime I” nodded vigorously.
Dark couldn’t help but smile and said, “Then can you identify which one it is?”
Inside the cardboard box were left an abandoned mana card, a trophy that looked like it was made of copper, two badges, two unopened letters, several mostly expired magic potions, some withered branches and flowers, and a few discarded magic tools that had lost their mana fluctuations…
After receiving the command, “Greed Slime I” immediately widened its eyes to look inside.
However, “Treasure Olfaction” was actually a rather vague ultimate skill in terms of range.
Within a very small area, it couldn’t make precise confirmations.
Unless each item in the cardboard box was placed at a certain distance apart.
“There’s no need for that.”
Dark thought and pulled out “Greed III” from his mana card deck.
“Guruguru!”
Bathed in deep blue light, the body of “Greed Slime I” suddenly expanded, turning into a large slime over a meter and a half in diameter!
In an instant, “Greed Slime II” engulfed Dark, as if entering a botanical garden emitting the fragrance of plants, cleansing all the filth from his body, making him feel refreshed as if he had been reborn.
“Bo—”
Professor Lily suddenly dived into the transparent slime body, swimming toward Dark.
Dark naturally withdrew, watching her play a dog-paddle inside.
“‘Greed Slime II’, use the ultimate skill — ‘Greed Addiction’!”
“Guruguruguru—”
“Greed Slime II” squeezed out two tentacles from within, grabbing miscellaneous items in the cardboard box.
Then, the withered branch was picked out from among the items!
…
Two minutes later.
Dark placed the branch on the experimental table, contemplating whether to conduct a slice analysis.
Lily, feeling refreshed, peered curiously beside him, asking, “Could this withered branch really lead us to find magical creatures?”
Dark replied blankly, “I don’t know.”
It wasn’t that he wanted to be pessimistic; it was just that the branch showed no signs of mana fluctuation, and it didn’t even have a single twig. It looked like an ordinary withered branch to the extreme.
Lily said, “Perhaps, as we discussed before, it’s a tool that only reacts correctly at the right time and place?
Or perhaps it’s just part of a secret treasure, needing multiple parts assembled together to produce changes?”
“Collect seven branches to summon the Wood Dragon, right?”
Dark rolled his eyes, but secretly harbored a desire to try something similar.
Of course, he didn’t act on it.
After pondering for a while longer, Dark suddenly stood up with the branch in hand and said, “Let’s go, check out the secret passage.”
…
If there was any place in Saint Maryann Academy where magical creatures could be discovered by chance, it would be the secret passage.
He took out the blue “Identification Card” from his mana card deck and waved it at Professor Lily.
Although Lily didn’t need the “Identification Card” to enter the secret passage, she still happily said, “I know, the blue identification card allows one extra person to enter the secret passage, and you can enter twice a month.”
Dark nodded, “So our chances are limited. If possible, we should go today.”
Then he pointed at the golems among them, first holding the trash slime in its liquid form on his shoulder, then gesturing to the imp beast, and finally pushing open the door.
The imp beast immediately winked at the golems, then hurriedly followed.
“A magical animal club cannot just do research on paper.”
“Even though little creatures count as magical animals, they are ultimately hard to give a tangible sense.”
“Even if it’s just one, there must be at least one magical animal to hold up the facade of the club.”
Not long after, Dark and Professor Lily arrived at the entrance of the most familiar secret passage.
Then he asked Lily to wait a moment, and gently pressed the identification card against the wall of the entrance. The wall instantly melted like water, revealing an elliptical opening large enough for two people to pass through.
When the entrance became transparent, the scene inside the secret passage was fully visible.
Dark carefully examined the interior, leading the way in, then paused, slightly pondering.
After three months, re-entering the secret passage felt different somehow, yet he couldn’t pinpoint what had changed.
But entering the secret passage felt like returning home, nothing more than a change in decor.
Dark took a deep breath, letting the air of the secret passage flow into his nostrils, then raised the branch.
“No glow!”
Once Little Lily also entered the secret passage, the elliptical entrance automatically closed.
She stared at the branch from left to right, showing a disappointed expression.
Dark remained silent for a moment, then suddenly squatted down, placing the branch vertically on the ground, and slowly released his grip.
The branch immediately fell in a certain direction, as if guided by the legendary “Branch Guidance Technique.”
However, when he tried the same method again, the branch fell in a completely different direction.
Thus, the “Branch Guidance Technique” failed!
When Lily, puzzled, asked what he was doing, Dark had already put away the branch, pretending nothing had happened.
…
The two continued down the tunnel for a while until they finally reached their first fork.
Dark was reluctant to give up and took out the branch again. However, just before he used the “Branch Guidance Technique” once more, a sudden inspiration struck him. He gestured to Little Lily, “You come here.”
Lily eagerly took over the branch, straightened it as Dark had done, and then released her fingers.
A mysterious power quietly emerged,
the branch stood upright for half a second before slowly tilting in one direction at an extremely odd slow speed.
Just by watching this, Dark was ecstatic, knowing he had surely found the right method!
Even though when Lily tried the same method again, the branch pointed in a completely different direction.
But this time, the branch did not exhibit that eerie “standstill” or “slow motion,” giving a very different feeling.
Dark’s heart was clear as crystal.
It seemed that not only did the branch require someone with imp bl**d to use it, but it also had a cooldown period.
…
After finding the method, Dark and Lily’s pace naturally quickened.
Every so often, Lily would use the branch to test the direction, eventually determining that the branch’s cooldown should be around fifteen minutes.
Though there were slight fluctuations, they were minimal.
Following the guidance of the dried branch, the two delved deeper into the secret path.
Time flew by quickly.
When it was three o’clock in the afternoon, Dark finally caught a whiff of an extraordinary scent.
And if Dark could smell it, Lily certainly couldn’t miss it.
“Dark, have we found it!”
Lily was incredibly excited, flapping her wings ready to move forward.
Dark, after some thought, took out “Greed II,” evolving the Trash Slime into a “Greed Slime I!”
Almost instantly, the “Greed Slime I” began to buzz like a radar with its “treasure detection sense.”
It urgently clung to Dark’s ear, shaking it vigorously.
The treasure location indicated by the slime matched closely with the “branch guidance.”
…
Their pace quickened once more.
Minutes later.
With just a single step forward, the entire environment changed dramatically.
What was once a dry, plain secret passage transformed into a natural sanctuary filled with the fragrance of flowers.
Dark, who was already quite familiar with the mechanisms of the secret passage, wasn’t overly surprised.
He held back the overly excited Lily and carefully observed the surroundings.
If this secret realm had existed long before and the “imp bl**d + mysterious branch” was the key to enter it,
then it must have grown wildly for at least twenty years.
Many dangers that weren’t previously felt could now become fatal!
Caution is the motto of adventurers.
…
“We’re standing on the edge of a cliff.”
Dark looked back, revealing a sheer cliff where carrion creatures resembling griffins circled overhead, cawing harshly.
Taking a step back didn’t change the scene as expected.
It seemed this particular secret realm was a one-way path!
Dark’s expression changed slightly as he looked ahead.
Near the cliff, vibrant flowers grew in clusters, like a garden.
The sky above seemed distant, with billowing clouds that felt almost real, and a gentle breeze brought a warm spring-like feeling.
In the distance, forests, grasslands, and mountains dominated the landscape. The terrain of this secret realm was vast and terrifying, even surpassing Alvaraite’s treasure location.
The colors within the realm were primarily green, lacking the overwhelming visual impact, instead offering a subtle comfort akin to a spring outing.
But upon closer inspection, this subtle comfort might be more dangerous than the sudden burst of vibrant colors.
It seemed as if the entire will was being gradually eroded by this secret realm!
Dark suddenly woke up, noticing wooden vines entwined beneath his feet.
He hastily lifted his foot, tearing apart the wooden vines, sending fragments flying.
Although no substantial harm was done, it was enough to instill fear.
Had he not woken up in time, his whole body might have turned into wood, becoming an ignorant, withered old tree.
A chill ran down Dark’s neck, and cold sweat trickled down his spine.
He turned to look at Lily, only to see the imp still turning her head, her face filled with excitement and curiosity, completely unaware that Dark had narrowly escaped d*ath.
Or perhaps, from the imp’s perspective, she couldn’t see his abnormal changes.
For those with imp bl**d, this secret realm was a gift from nature, a true place of comfort.
But for outsiders, it was a realm fraught with hidden dangers!
Dark became alert!
…
Two minutes later, the imp noticed Dark’s predicament and grew more cautious.
They then descended from the cliff and began to cautiously explore.
However, after half an hour of searching, Dark encountered no further danger.
Flowers blooming, streams flowing, quiet forests…
The beautiful scenery along the way made them relax their guard.
After descending the cliff, they found a river and followed it, occasionally hearing insect sounds and seeing birds flying overhead, but encountering no animals.
Even the clear river had no fish.
Only when Dark felt slightly tired and stopped by the river did a snow-white fawn with round antlers cautiously emerge from the bushes, slowly approaching the riverbank and lowering its head to drink water.
To avoid disturbing it, Dark instinctively hid behind a tree.
But his imp companion suddenly vanished.
By the time Dark realized, Lily was already sitting atop the snow-white fawn!
The fawn showed no signs of fright, instead turning its head and gently licking Lily’s hand with a friendly low sound.
“True to form, an imp.”
Dark felt a small twinge of envy.
But just as he stepped out from behind the tree, the fawn let out a loud cry, turning and fleeing back into the bushes, disappearing in an instant.
Lily returned with her hands drooping, her mouth pouting high.
Dark felt slightly awkward and shifted the topic, “Is that little deer a magical creature?”
…
