"I concede, I concede."
The silence lasted only a moment before Camilla stirred from her thoughts.
She turned to face Dark, a faint, warm smile blooming on her lips as she admitted defeat.
The woman she was now was no longer the "Silver Wolf Knight" who'd once thrown caution to the wind in pursuit of victory.
She folded her hands before her, the overwhelming presence that had dominated the arena moments ago completely gone, leaving only her familiar, water-soft gentleness.
...
Hearing her concession, Dark felt something in his chest loosen. The flicker of excitement that had just begun to rise retreated just as quickly.
"Just good luck," he said.
He took a deep breath, refusing to let the win swell his head.
The truth was, Camilla was terrifyingly strong.
If he hadn't gotten lucky with the Wishful Die and rolled "Dragon Dance," he probably wouldn't have stood a chance.
And that was with Camilla using only a single weapon card!
The "Silver Wolf Knight" Camilla had fused martial arts with magic seamlessly, and possessed all the necessary Magic Guide knowledge besides — she was strong enough to stand in that final battle to come.
Even after more than a decade of focusing solely on family, with no progress to speak of, she still wasn't someone the current Dark could beat easily.
Of course, Dark wasn't about to undersell himself either.
He picked up his Magic Guide Card and voluntarily dismissed his "Armament Evolution."
In the next instant, his adult form shifted back into that of a thirteen-year-old.
"The armament form's nice and all, but my real body's still better."
Claire Kite smiled faintly and declared the impromptu extra match over.
She clapped her hands, signaling the maids watching as spectators to clear out promptly.
The maids left with barely contained excitement, casting glances back toward the young master as they filed out.
Once outside the door, they could no longer hold themselves back, breaking into animated discussion, their bright laughter echoing through the ducal estate.
Word of Dark's final performance spread through the household before long.
...
Inside the training arena.
Once all the maids had left, Alvit finally came up to Dark, pulled him into a hug, and said, "Those last two strikes were excellent."
Dark blinked. "That was just luck, though."
"Luck is always a form of skill," Alvit said with a smile. "How else did we get this far, if not for some luck along the way?"
Dark fell into thought.
Camilla and Claire walked over as well.
Claire teased, "Didn't expect to lose, did you, Camilla?"
Camilla smiled gently. "There are far too many unexpected things in this world. Maybe if you stepped into the arena yourself, Claire, you'd lose too — who knows."
Claire wagged a finger, confident. "Not a chance, at least not right now."
Duels between Magic Guide Masters were naturally fought with Magic Guide Cards, and in a Magic Guide Duel, even if she wanted to lose, it wouldn't come easy.
But right after saying that, she turned sharply and said, "Oh, right — Dark, what about your [Zoo]?"
Dark looked faintly embarrassed. "Just one last problem left."
Claire nodded. "Don't force yourself if you can't solve it. Come find me tonight if you get stuck."
"Okay," Dark said.
Claire went on, "Given your learning pace, we'll set aside qi and swordsmanship training for now. In July we'll focus mainly on Forging, but you can't neglect the rest of your Magic Guide knowledge either."
Alvit agreed. "The two armament cards you've forged are both remarkably unique, but that doesn't mean your foundational knowledge is up to standard. The fact that you have no mid-tier armament cards proves as much."
Dark nodded. "That's true. Aside from the 'Moon God Armament' and the Wishful Die, most of what I've forged only amounts to a costume-change effect."
"Seems your problem runs deeper than I thought," Alvit said. "Then we'll start from the most basic knowledge tomorrow. Your morning training stays as is, though."
Dark said, "What I need is a normal armament — one without a time limit."
The "Godhood Armament" of Moon God Spirit I worked like an "Evolution" — lasting only about fifteen minutes, with a cooldown of a full hour.
This kind of unconventional armament had its unique traits, but not being usable around the clock was a serious drawback.
"That depends on your own effort," Alvit said with a faint smile. "Once you can forge a regular armament, I'll take you somewhere."
Dark asked, curious, "Where?"
Alvit said mysteriously, "Judging by your performance just now, let's just say it's a place that'll suit you."
"My performance just now?" Dark thought for a moment, then guessed, "Don't tell me — is it some kind of battle tower?"
Alvit's mouth fell open at that. "Could you let your mother keep a little mystery, please?"
"Ha ha," Dark chuckled dryly. "I only made a rough guess, didn't I? Anyway, if it really is a battle tower, I can't wait."
...
As they talked, the group made their way out of the arena.
The Magic Guide Spirits made room on a bench, and Diana and Aurora shifted over to make space.
Dark, Alvit, Claire, and Camilla each took a seat.
They fell into conversation.
At first, it was an overall summary of the tournament.
Alvit and Camilla went through every flaw each competitor — Diana and Dark included — had shown during their matches, one by one.
To an outsider, the duels might have seemed flawless, but through their eyes, the matches were riddled with mistakes.
Even Diana's final battle against Gatomon had no shortage of problems.
As Alvit and Camilla explained everything in careful detail, everyone listening felt a series of small revelations dawning on them.
About an hour later, they finally finished going through everything.
Then Alvit turned to Diana. "So, Diana — have you decided what you want as your reward?"
Diana pressed her lips together, thinking it over.
Before coming here, she hadn't even known she'd be competing, so naturally she'd never thought about what a winner's prize might be.
Besides, according to the original plan, the winner was supposed to receive some "mystery grand prize" that had been prepared in advance.
But as it turned out, there wasn't one.
Alvit simply asked her directly what she wanted.
"What do I want..."
Diana couldn't make up her mind.
There were plenty of things she wanted, but if she said them out loud, she might get scolded.
So, to avoid embarrassing herself, she racked her brain trying to think of something safe.
Eventually, she noticed Camilla desperately winking at her.
Hesitantly, she said, "Can I... come play with Dark every day?"
Alvit burst out laughing. "Of course you can. Actually — how about this: would you like to study Armament Forging together with Dark?"
Diana blinked. "Is that... allowed?"
"Of course it is," Alvit said. "Consider it your winner's prize."
Diana nodded rapidly.
Even she understood perfectly well just how enviable it was to receive Alvit's personal instruction.
And besides, if she agreed, she'd get to come to the ducal estate with Camilla every single morning!
As for Camilla, she knew her little scheme had been completely seen through.
But it wasn't as if it was anything shameful, so being caught didn't bother her much.
The one slight disappointment was that Alvit had only agreed to teach Diana alongside the others — not to take her on as a formal disciple.
...
Afterward...
Alvit had Ollie arrange a ladies-only tea gathering, and the group went their separate ways.
Diana wanted to run off and play with Dark, but Camilla dragged her along to the tea party instead.
Dark, meanwhile, spent some relaxed time with his Magic Guide Spirits.
That night.
Once Dark had settled his mind, he brought up his system panel.
A new month, a new start.
Last month's "Major Sin" indices had fluctuated quite a bit, but thanks to regular extraction, they'd stayed within a relatively stable range overall.
[Pride: 92-95]
[Envy: 38-44]
[Wrath: 80-77]
[Sloth: 70-68]
[Greed: 93-92]
[Gluttony: 75-78]
[Lust: 82-93]
First, "Pride."
Since it had been continuously drained, "Pride" had once come close to hitting the 90-point threshold.
But because Dark had deliberately eased off, it climbed back up in the latter half of the month.
Add in the boost from today's victory over Camilla, and it landed at 95 points.
But 95 alone still wasn't enough.
"Greed" showed a similar pattern to "Pride."
Meanwhile, "Lust" had climbed back up to 93 points.
Dark had specifically tried to keep "Lust" in check, but even after draining it down to 90, it had still risen another three points.
There was no denying it — there were simply too many women in the household.
Some things, no matter how hard you tried to dodge them, just couldn't be avoided.
Beyond the usual "Pride," "Greed," and "Lust," "Gluttony" had also gone up three points, thanks to Ollie's feeding habits.
What really caught his attention, though, was the rise in "Envy."
Some people felt envious of others even when they were clearly the stronger party.
But Dark was nothing like that — not someone who let envy leak out carelessly.
Ever since his Demon God bloodline had awakened, his "Envy" had barely budged at all.
Yet last month, it had hit something of a milestone breakthrough!
A full six-point rise in "Envy" gave him a real clue about how to push that number up.
And among all seven "Major Sins," the only one that had actually gone in reverse was "Sloth"!
Most people got lazy once they went home on break.
Dark had originally been no exception.
But after barely a week of slacking off, he'd snapped right back into his usual diligent self.
His high-intensity morning training, starting at five every day, had forcibly dragged "Sloth" down by two points.
"Overall, still under control," he thought.
Dark tapped his head and sketched out a rough plan for July's "Major Sins."
"Draining just 'Pride' alone really isn't realistic."
"I need to keep an eye on extracting both 'Greed' and 'Lust.'"
"Once I'm familiar enough with the Armament Forging curriculum, I should use some 'Greed' to forge a new Magic Guide Spirit."
"Just... I don't have a clear direction for that yet."
"And the dedicated Forging circle for 'Pride IV' — I still have no idea where to even start."
"Feels a little lost, honestly."
"Then there's Mathematics II — haven't even started compiling that yet."
"For second-year material, maybe I could cover functions, or some more complex geometry problems?"
"Ugh, headache."
"Maybe I should find something fun to take my mind off it — like finishing the Transformation Spell?"
...
After wrapping up a less-than-satisfying plan, Dark, right before bed, went ahead and drained 1.5 points of "Pride," bringing his reserve back up to 17 points.
Then he slept, and woke at five in the morning.
Dark took a deep breath, changed his clothes, started with a warm-up, then practiced his breathing technique, then sword-swing drills.
By seven, he returned to his room, bathed and dressed, and had breakfast at seven-thirty.
Then he had an hour to spare.
At eight-thirty, he arrived at the "Armament Forging" classroom — a laboratory that had already been fully set up.
Besides Diana, who'd come with Camilla, two other students had also come to the classroom.
One, naturally, was Aurora, who shared talents similar to Diana's.
The other was Meowth!
Though Meowth was only there to sit in temporarily.
What interested it was purely the byproduct of "Tri-Armed Armament Forging" — carving!
Carving wasn't actually a necessary part of "Tri-Armed Armament Forging."
But Dark had chosen to include this technique, and he meant to see it through from start to finish.
As for Diana and Aurora, following Alvit's guidance, they'd chosen needlework — something girls tended to prefer.
Diana, of course, preferred molding candy figures.
Aurora, surprisingly, turned out to have some skill with needle and thread.
Dark had originally assumed she was the type of noble young lady who'd never touched manual work in her life.
But apparently that wasn't the case at all.
...
In any case, Alvit's "Armament Forging Workshop" got off to a lively start.
What Dark had mastered as "Tri-Armed Armament Forging" was actually an unclassifiable technique that grafted the "Equipment Card" forging method onto the [Tri-Armed Transmutation Circle].
That he'd managed to forge both the Wishful Die and Moon God Spirit I was, aside from luck, entirely due to special factors unique to him.
Now, with Alvit's careful instruction, he was finally able to study the subject systematically, and his enthusiasm was running high.
Meanwhile, after witnessing his "Armament Evolution" with their own eyes, both Diana and Aurora had developed a keen interest in "armament cards."
But despite being far stronger than Dark in raw martial talent, the moment they stepped into the field Dark excelled at, they couldn't even keep up with his shadow.
While they were still fumbling their way across the river, Dark had already left them far behind.
On the very day he received his lessons, Dark managed to successfully forge his first proper "armament card" right there in the classroom!
Using the materials available in the classroom, and drawing on both Alvit's teaching and his own understanding, he'd forged an armament card he named — "Sourman"!
The moment it was successfully forged, both Diana and Aurora, thoroughly curious, wanted him to "try it on."
But Dark just smiled faintly and firmly turned them down.
Dark absolutely did not need to.
____
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