Chapter 071: Cornelia’s Dream Cat
Nearly three weeks had quickly passed.
Dekan was enjoying a vibrant campus life.
His daily routine was still the same: attending classes, making cards, and developing poisons.
For the most part, Dekan spent his mornings with Cornelia.
They were almost inseparable when they had mandatory classes.
Unlike before, now Mia and Chloix might join them for lunch and in the library in the afternoon.
Occasionally, Dekan and Chloix would discuss complex issues related to spells.
But since Chloix belonged to the Mage Academy, his class schedule rarely aligned with Dekan and Cornelia’s, so they only met occasionally.
Sunday.
The morning sunlight filtered through the curtains, casting mottled shadows on Dekan’s living room floor.
Dekan lay on the couch, eyes closed, furrowing his brow as he turned over to continue sleeping—he had stayed up too late the night before.
Even though they tried to wrap up their poison research by ten every night and return to their respective homes, there were always one or two days when they’d get carried away exploring crucial points of the research, losing track of time.
On those nights, they both ended up staying in the dormitory.
Dekan gave his bed to Mia, opting instead to sleep on the couch.
Mia made herself completely at home in Dekan’s dormitory.
Dekan wanted to sleep a while longer, but a faint sound had been nagging at his ears since a while ago.
Mia must have already woken up. She was even more disciplined than Dekan.
After some time, he heard a gentle yet teasing voice say,
“Thank you, I slept very comfortably last night.”
“All right, all right, you can leave now.”
Dekan still hadn’t opened his eyes but mumbled in response.
“You’re really stubborn, aren’t you.”
Mia’s voice seemed a little discontent, but her face couldn’t hide her sly smile.
“Since you always talk like that, the one who takes you seriously is the loser.”
“Huff, then I’ll leave. You go on and rest.”
“The ‘Poisonous Ground Spike 3.1’ on the table is yours to take. I can soon recreate it alone,” Dekan said as he sat up, rubbed his eyes, and looked at Mia.
Once successfully developed, blue-quality cards were easy for Dekan to recreate.
“Oh, alright.”
Mia chuckled and walked into the card-making workshop, taking the masterpiece they had successfully developed the night before.
“Poisonous Ground Spike 3.1”
“Type: Spell Card”
“Quality: Blue Rare”
“Rank: 3”
“Effect: Causes persistent weak poison and bleeding state. This spell can be triggered from a long distance, and the poison cannot be purified.”
“Note: Version 3.1 is equipped with a new exchange poison, delivering unparalleled torment! —— Researcher’s Diary.”
“By the way, you’re going to the Shadow World next week, right?”
Seeing that Dekan was awake, Mia continued chatting with him.
“Yes, do you want to come?” asked Dekan.
“No, no, I’m a desk job person. I wouldn’t go to such dangerous places. I just lament that I might not see you for a while,” said Mia.
Dekan wanted to tease her, but remembering that he had said similar things in the past, he held back.
Per the agreement between Dekan and Cornelia, next Wednesday was the second Shadow World strategy plan for the Beautiful Soul Squad.
Since Dekan and Cornelia were only at level three, they couldn’t yet team up with Chloix at level six.
According to the rules, teams could only differ by two levels.
Otherwise, it might severely impact the survival rate of other challengers.
Cornelia wasn’t far from reaching level four, but Dekan still needed more training.
They would likely be able to pass the Shadow World with Chloix once before he graduated.
Additionally, Dekan had promised to take the Teacher Cat through the Shadow World.
The duration of a Shadow World was fairly random—it could be one like the Demon Academy that could be finished in half a day or a longer one lasting over a month.
Moreover, after completing a Shadow World challenge, there had to be a cooling period during which one would be repelled by the Shadow World.
If it took too long to fight only a level three Shadow World, the benefits for Dekan and Cornelia would be too low.
So it was better to bring the level five Teacher Cat to increase the team’s difficulty.
After Mia left, Dekan was mostly awake.
Today he had a very important task to do.
Yesterday, he saw Cornelia feeding cats on the hillside again.
It appeared to be the most important project of her weekend.
Dekan noticed that in the past few days, every time Cornelia saw the Teacher Cat sticking to Dekan, she couldn’t hide her melancholy.
After all, even Chloix played well with the Teacher Cat.
It seemed particularly afraid of Cornelia.
Despite the Teacher Cat becoming much closer to Cornelia compared to the start, the instinctual fear seemed imprinted on its soul.
The other Spirit Cats were even more afraid, only approaching Cornelia thanks to the luring cat potion.
They were about to head to the Shadow World again.
And this time it would be Dekan, Cornelia and the Teacher Cat teaming up.
Dekan was worried that Cornelia might feel even more downcast in the Shadow World.
So he had to make a decision.
Should he sacrifice himself to make Cornelia happier?
“Am I a seven-foot-tall man? How could I turn into a cat?”
Dekan shook his head.
Thus, on this sunny Sunday morning, Dekan used the “Transformation Spell: Spirit Cat” to become a graceful light gray Spirit Cat in his dormitory.
“Alright meow, who calls me so kindhearted?”
The feeling of lowered perspective and a light body was surprisingly pleasant.
Oddly enough, it was addictive to Dekan.
That was one of the reasons he resisted turning into a cat—he feared becoming addicted to this state.
The lightness in his body made Dekan feel like dancing.
“Just once, just once…”
After letting go of his hesitation, Dekan hummed a song with his nose and walked on his flexible four legs.
Having already transformed.
Then he should be a good Spirit Cat.
Soon, he arrived at the grass in the back mountains.
Basking in the warm autumn sunshine, he couldn’t resist flipping a few times on the soft grass.
The light breeze was perfectly gentle.
Ah, he was very comfortable.
Dekan felt a level of relaxation double that of his human form.
Was being a furry ball this wonderful?
The drowsiness he thought had disappeared came back.
When Dekan noticed, he had already fallen into a deep slumber.
He didn’t know how much time had passed.
When Cornelia arrived with the cat lure and cat food, she saw a lazy little cat sprawled sideways under her usual tree.
Cornelia hesitated for a moment, but still approached.
As expected, the Spirit Cat would probably be scared awake by her and flee in a flash.
But as she got closer step by step, the little cat showed no reaction.
Her heartbeat quickened.
