When Sister Carian heard why he had come, plain astonishment crossed her face. "Honestly, you're the first person who has ever come to me to have a Magic Guide Spirit looked at."
"My Magic Guide Spirit may be a rather special case," Dark said helplessly.
Sister Carian only shook her head. "No matter how special it is, a Magic Guide Spirit is still a Magic Guide Spirit. You have to understand that everything about a Magic Guide Spirit is engraved into the Magic Guide Card at the moment of Forging.
"Height, weight, appearance, racial traits, all of it is decided the instant it comes into being. None of that can be altered."
"Meaning?" Dark asked, puzzled.
Sister Carian spun her pen between her fingers. "Meaning that the 'madness' you're describing is also contained within Leomon's fundamental factors. It belongs to the unchangeable part of him. Unless you re-Forge the Magic Guide Card."
Dark's brows drew together slightly. "Re-Forge the Magic Guide Card?"
"That's right," Sister Carian nodded. "You deconstruct the existing card, add new materials, and put it through a second Forging without damaging it, thereby making up for the card's flaws, or strengthening it where appropriate.
"But that is a very high-end application. It involves a great deal of knowledge, and the moment it fails, the Magic Guide Card is destroyed completely. The risk is enormous. I doubt you'd be willing to take it."
Dark was quiet for a while. "Then it seems this is simply how it has to be."
Sister Carian smiled. "There's no need to worry so much. Every Magic Guide Spirit has its own particular nature. Fallen, bloodthirsty, mad, all of these are part of that nature.
"Such traits may bring certain flaws with them, but they also make some aspect of the spirit stand out. Learn to understand them, and to use them sensibly. Don't treat them as a sickness."
And if it wasn't a sickness, then where would any medicine come from?
Dark's mood was rather complicated as he walked out of the infirmary.
Still, Sister Carian's words had shifted the way he was thinking. Perhaps Leomon's madness factor wasn't entirely a bad thing?
No point dwelling on it.
Dark reached the classroom soon after and began the day's lessons.
Tuesday's first period was Dueling Class. Professor Pava Jones called Dark up to the platform not long after the lesson started, having him serve as an assistant while they analyzed several classic duels from the Easter Dueling Festival.
Working through the analysis gave Dark a far clearer picture of his own weaknesses in a duel. He came away with plenty.
Second period was Professor Lily's Arithmetic Class, where he held a privilege that let him focus on his own business.
The first period of the afternoon was History of Magic.
Seeing Professor Ryan Hacks again, Dark found the man not the least bit awkward. If anything, he had loosened up further.
Thanks to the Astral Barrier Professor Medea had set in place, what had happened on Easter night never spread.
Inside the academy or outside it, nothing had visibly changed.
After History of Magic, Dark paid another visit to Professor Silf's office to ask about the matter.
Professor Silf had, in fact, informed Principal Cynthia about it, and the Principal had told her to handle it however she liked.
So she had chosen silence.
"Of course, once you go back, you may tell Alvit or Claire if you choose. Both of them are worth trusting."
Professor Silf smiled, a rare sight, and with that the matter was settled for good.
People all lean one way or another. It's foolish to expect absolute impartiality from anyone.
That was true of Professor Silf.
It was true of Dark as well.
He smiled too. "Then I'll wait until the holidays to bring it up."
…
There were only two months left before the long vacation, and Dark still had a good deal he wanted to do.
He had originally hoped to Forge "[Zoo]" before the break, but that was looking difficult now.
Research into the "Magic Circle of Love" hadn't progressed either. No, he hadn't even started it.
On the other hand, he had blundered his way into an understanding of "Blood Sacrifice."
Beyond that, he still needed to learn the improved "Soul-Sucker Spell" from Professor Harvey, and at minimum find a way to master it to the Elementary level.
For that leap from Introductory to Elementary, he had originally wondered whether he could borrow the "Holy Grail" to make it. Now, though, another opportunity seemed to have opened up outside of that.
Learning magic was genuinely arduous, especially magic as difficult as the "Soul-Sucker Spell."
If he could learn the improved version of the Elementary "Soul-Sucker Spell" from Professor Harvey, and still get a chance at the end of term to test a wish with the "Holy Grail," then he could spend that chance on pushing the "[Nether God Art]" further instead.
But he was only a first-year, with essentially no power to decide where the "Holy Grail" ended up. All he could do was hope the older students of Noble House would put in the effort to seize the Academy Cup.
Fortunately, Noble House had always been highly competitive in the fight for the Academy Cup.
Dark still stood a decent chance of coasting to victory.
Compared with that, learning the "Transfiguration Spell" could wait.
"As things stand, mastering the Elementary 'Soul-Sucker Spell' as soon as possible is the most important thing. Ideally I'd have it before May."
"My foundation in the 'Soul-Sucker Spell' is solid enough that Elementary shouldn't be too hard. Intermediate and Advanced, though, will need long-term planning."
"All of which depends on Professor Harvey finishing his improvements to the 'Soul-Sucker Spell' quickly."
"Also, I can start preparing for an expedition into the secret passage."
"And my idea about Living Metal, that can get moving too!"
Back in his dormitory, Dark took the last three Flower Cards out of his card pouch and selected the one adorned with a white datura.
This pure white datura card was the very first "Flower Card" he had obtained through the crack in the door, which gave it an extra layer of symbolic meaning.
"Whoever beholds this flower shall have evil driven from them. I hope it brings me luck."
…
The next day was Wednesday, and Dark went to Professor Kazel's office right after lunch.
Professor Kazel was still hard at work. It looked as though he hadn't even eaten.
Looking at the thick stack of coursework on his desk, Dark felt a twinge of reluctance about interrupting.
But Professor Kazel lifted his head and smiled. "Well? Ready to learn the 'Transfiguration Spell'?"
"Not quite," Dark said, taking the opening. "Actually, I was hoping you could do me a favor, Professor."
As he spoke he drew out the white datura Flower Card and waved it at Professor Kazel. "It's like this. I'd like to ask you to make me another card like the last one."
Something shifted behind Professor Kazel's eyes. "The moth orchid one?"
Dark nodded. "That's right."
At that, Professor Kazel set down his pen, his expression turning serious. "Don't tell me you're planning to…"
Dark didn't hide it. "The Temple of the Moon. I want to find the Temple of the Moon again in the secret passage."
Professor Kazel frowned. "That is not a good thing to go looking for. Besides, the last Temple of the Moon already collapsed and vanished. Making it appear again would take a great deal more than luck."
Dark shook his head. "I believe the Temple of the Moon, or at least one statue of the Moon Goddess, still exists in some corner of the secret passage."
"How did you determine that?" Professor Kazel asked, curious.
Dark only smiled, eyes crinkling. "That's a secret, Professor."
Professor Kazel stared at him for a long while, then weighed it over and over before speaking. "In principle, I encourage you to explore. That is the whole purpose of issuing gate cards, after all. But a new statue may well be even more dangerous."
Dark smiled. "Wealth only lies where the danger is."
"Fine," Professor Kazel said with a resigned laugh. "Since you've already prepared yourself, I'll help. But if you run into danger, remember to use the gate card's message function."
"Of course," said Dark.
Altering a Flower Card wasn't complicated.
Professor Kazel carved half an hour out of his schedule and soon had the card remade into a Magic Tool capable of tracking the Moon Goddess's aura.
But when Dark reached for it, delight all over his face, the professor held the card up out of reach and waggled it. "One hundred credits."
Dark blinked, then laughed and paid the hundred-credit crafting fee.
The Flower Card Professor Kazel had modified wasn't a Magic Guide Card at all, but a Magic Tool refined through alchemy.
Once the card was in his hands, Dark fed a thread of magic into it. The white datura on its face drifted lazily up off the card and out into the air, arranging itself in an orderly row like a string of pure white wind chimes, spinning and ringing with a silvery sound.
From the calyx of each white datura spilled a pollen-like fluorescence, and as the whole row drifted past it wove itself into a curtain of white gauze.
It wasn't as vividly alive as the butterflies released by the moth orchid card, but the white datura was beautiful all the same.
Dark waved a hand lightly, waited for the row of daturas to float back, then put the card away. "Thank you, Professor."
Professor Kazel looked resigned. "Be careful. I mean it."
Dark grinned. "I don't usually take risks."
…
With the Flower Card in hand, Dark stopped taking up Professor Kazel's time. He left the office, made a round trip to his dormitory, and then went to the Library.
His plan from here was to wait until Friday night, when he would have gathered 10 points of "Greed," Forge a "Greed III" first, and only then act.
And before that, naturally, homework had to be finished!
When he arrived at the Library, Senior Pandora was working the counter.
It had been a few days, and Senior Pandora was as fresh and lovely as ever.
"Sign in." She pushed the register across to Dark, then said softly, "Why haven't I seen you these past two days?"
Dark wrote as he answered. "Been a bit busy."
Pandora knitted her brows and complained, "And here I thought you'd forgotten about me."
Dark's fingers paused. He looked up. "Come on, Senior, I only missed two days at the Library."
Pandora's face stayed full of reproach. "Have you forgotten what you promised me?"
Noticing that the looks from the students around them were turning distinctly strange, Dark caught on at once. "How could I possibly forget your invitation, Senior? Time and place?"
Senior Pandora finally dropped the act. She laughed lightly and said, "Wednesday afternoon next week. The usual place."
"The usual place, then." Dark nodded, finished signing in quickly, handed the register to the next person, and strode into the Library.
Since that night, his "Lust" had dropped straight down by 10 points to 92, sitting inside a very rare zone of safety.
He had hoped to hold it there until the long vacation, but that was starting to look difficult.
…
The next two days were unusually peaceful.
Dark checked the paper every morning, yet there wasn't a word about the Holy Church for days. Even the usual filler had vanished, the sort of thing where some priest helped an old woman across the road, or some cleric went out to the countryside to treat the elderly for free.
That eerie calm only painted the days with a sense of urgency.
Not until Friday morning did the Great Sage Daily suddenly carry a piece of news about the Holy Church, and even that had nothing whatsoever to do with the Demon King.
Dark hunted for ages before finding the item tucked in a corner of the paper. "Maria Euphemia, an honors student of the Holy Church's Mystery Academy, refused to keep the money she found and spent three full days tracking down the owner of the wallet, returning the purse and its precious contents to Viscount Gabi Eugene… what on earth is this?"
Dark sat in silence for a moment, then folded the paper away.
Friday morning had two classes, Dueling Class and Monster Studies.
Dueling Class was still mainly analysis of classic cases from the Dueling Festival, while Monster Studies, for once, turned to pure theory.
Professor Nini had dug up a book as thick as a brick from goodness knows where and stammered her way through its contents.
She was plainly no good at teaching this way, but if she wanted to become a full professor of Monster Studies, it was a road she had to walk.
Reading straight off the page draws plenty of scorn, but anyone who can't even manage that certainly isn't a good teacher.
Professor Nini was working toward her dream too.
…
On Friday afternoon, the moment the gate to Traveler Street opened, Dark went through with the crowd.
He had a long list to buy. Beyond the preparations required for entering the secret passage, he also needed furniture and little trinkets suited to an eight- or nine-year-old child.
On top of that, he had to buy another small bed.
The Vampire Young Lady probably wouldn't need it, but what children mind most is other people having something they don't, and since Dark could afford it, he wasn't about to shortchange any of his Magic Guide Spirits.
By the time everything on the list was bought, it was already six in the evening.
Dark picked up a pile of food on the way back, shared dinner with his Magic Guide Spirits in the dormitory, then waited until eight o'clock, took out the magic-brain dropper, and began this month's sixth extraction!
From the night of April first through to today, April sixth, he hadn't forgotten a single evening's drop of "Greed."
With tonight's included, that made a full six drops, which came to 9 points of "Greed."
Adding the 2 points of "Greed" he had stored from last month brought the total to 11.
Eleven points of "Greed" ought to be more than enough, in theory, to Forge a single "Greed III."
With tonight's "Greed" successfully drawn out, Dark held back the urge to begin Forging immediately, letting his brain rest for half an hour first before he started preparing for the decisive experiment.
As for the changes "Greed III" might bring, he was truly looking forward to them!
____
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