Once again, the material pack included two blank Magic Cards, each worth 10 skill points.
Beyond those, however, the materials within weren't clearly categorized. In fact, the contents varied slightly from pack to pack, requiring the students to assess and decide how to use them.
After half an hour of review, the lesson finally progressed to the practical application stage.
Dark, already familiar with the process, moved with practiced ease, his crafting flowing as smoothly as water. He didn't spare a glance for the others for the moment, starting with mixing the Sprite Honey and Cerebral Essence Fluid. Everything felt effortless, easily within his grasp.
In less than thirty minutes this time, he had already reached the final step of the Basic (Random) Refinement Method.
He activated Refinement Array No. 1 and, with great concentration, began adding the ingredients!
Just then, Professor Kazel happened to be standing right behind him.
Diana wanted to lean in for a better look, but with the professor right there, she could only steal furtive glances.
"Statistically speaking, the more similar the properties of the core materials, especially those leaning towards biological origins, the higher the probability of a successful refinement."
Dark stared at the core materials arrayed before him, feeling conflicted. Over the weekend, in his quest to get those 'Flower Cards', he'd ended up buying a fair amount of seemingly useless materials. Beyond the initial Centennial Turtle Shell and Magic Armor Fragment, he'd acquired bizarre items like a Seashell Bracelet, a Snake Eye, Magic Candy, and even a Dried Giant Insect.
He watched as the light from Refinement Array No. 1 began to flicker erratically.
Gritting his teeth, Dark decided to throw caution to the wind. Not aiming for guaranteed success this time, he started with the turtle shell and tossed in nearly all his core materials.
Perhaps because most of them were indeed rather useless, Refinement Array No. 1 accepted the whole lot without protest, swallowing everything!
But just as the array's light flared to its brightest and Dark was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Professor Kazel, still behind him, suddenly interjected, "Spit into it."
Dark: "Huh?"
Professor Kazel explained, "Human saliva contains various compounds. When you've overloaded the core materials like this, adding a bit of saliva can act as a catalyst for the refinement."
Dark gave him a strange look but, swallowing his embarrassment, spat into the array.
So this is one of Professor Kazel's obscure tidbits of knowledge? Awesome!
In any case, after the saliva was added, the light from the refinement array changed noticeably. Over the next thirty seconds, all the materials fused and were absorbed. Then, the surface of the card began to eject impurities.
Extracting the essence, discarding the dross. This was the most crucial step of the Basic (Random) Refinement Array.
The last time he'd tried refining using cat hair, Dark had failed at this very stage, resulting in the Magic Card catching fire.
This time, however, as various impurities were expelled, the light emanating from the Magic Card grew clearer and brighter, seemingly heading straight towards success...? But soon enough, the card was buried under an ever-growing pile of dross.
Dark stared at the small mountain of waste that seemed to have materialized out of thin air, sweatdropping.
"It stinks!" Diana whispered, covering her nose.
Rose discreetly turned her face towards the window.
Professor Kazel had already backed off a good two meters.
The rapidly intensifying stench soon drew the attention of the entire classroom.
Dark leaned back awkwardly but held his ground.
"That guy's fast, just like always!" Emma pouted, clearly frustrated. A large pile of ancient gold coins sat on the corner of her desk.
"Did he fail?" Robert asked, mouth slightly agape.
Virt shook his head. "Hard to say."
On each of their desks lay the 'treasures' they had picked up from the '10 Skill Point Shop'.
Virt had actually been watching Dark the entire time, taking in everything from the pile of core materials—worth hundreds of skill points, at least—down to the final addition of saliva. He then glanced at his own pile of 'treasures' and couldn't help but feel a pang of despair.
The gap between them had formed before he even realized it. Fall behind once, and you keep falling further behind. If he remained content with his current progress, the distance between them would only widen. It was like debt—the longer you left it, the more it grew.
Virt gritted his teeth, then inspiration struck: 'If saliva works... what about hair? Or fingernails?'
Hair and nails from an ordinary person wouldn't work, of course. But Virt knew he was different. Could the heroic bloodline he inherited offer some advantage?
Just then, the Magic Card on Dark's desk finally stopped its 'expulsion'.
Holding his breath, he carefully reached into the pile of dross with a pair of tweezers, extracted the Magic Card, and quickly rinsed it under the tap.
As the surface grime washed away, a corner of the Magic Card gradually became visible. It faintly radiated... a golden halo!
Dark's hand trembled, nearly dropping the card.
Although he had previously used [Lust III] to evolve his Eevui into an Orange Card possessing three skills, the two Magic Spirit Cards he personally owned were both standard Blue Cards with only a single skill.
Magic Spirit Cards weren't just differentiated by their number of skills; they also emitted a halo of a corresponding color, easily identifiable by sight.
Gold, naturally, represented a Gold Card. Possessing four skills—the nobility among Magic Spirit Cards! Before the emergence of the truly divine God Cards, these Gold Cards were sometimes even referred to as 'God Cards' themselves!
Dark had never, ever imagined he could actually refine pure gold from a pile of worthless junk!
He eagerly used a gauze cloth to wipe away the last traces of grime from the card's surface, finally getting a clear look at the Magic Spirit depicted!
A Magic Spirit with a small yellow head poked out from a hard, red shell. It resembled a little imp, but its limbs were like slimy tentacles. The shell, reminiscent of a turtle's, had eight distinct holes rimmed with white, circular ridges. Its head and limbs extended softly from some of these openings.
"It's actually a [Golden] Shuckle!" Professor Kazel's astonished cry came from behind.
Looks like Shuckle got copied too... but shouldn't it be Shuckle Turtle?
Dark gazed at the Shuckle, his eyes wide with delighted surprise. This was a super 'tank' exceeding all his expectations!
[Card Name: Shuckle]
[Type: Spirit Card]
[Level: ☆☆☆]
[Race: Insect]
[Attribute: Rock]
[Magic Power: 900]
[Attack: 0]
[Defense: 2200]
[Skills: Sturdy, Power Split, Guard Split, Power Trick]
Internal thoughts racing: 'I already have Eevui, so what's adding a Shuckle to the mix?' 'This kind of thing is becoming normal, isn't it?' 'A 3-star card with 2200 Defense? So what? Aren't those the expected stats for Shuckle?' 'Lady of the White Bone is 3-star, 0 ATK/2200 DEF; Giant Shield Gardna is 4-star, 100 ATK/2600 DEF; Millennium Shield is 5-star, 0 ATK/3000 DEF... stuff like this is pretty common, really!'
And so... Dark turned around, put on his most innocent expression, and asked, "Professor, is this a particularly rare Magic Spirit?"
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