As he spoke, he turned back to the workbench and reached out.
Just as Dark tensed up, he pulled a Flower Card from the card case on the shelf. A Green Rose adorned it.
The pure, unadorned Green Rose carried a blessing for everlasting youth and a wish for love that would last forever.
A hint of tenderness flickered in Professor Kazel's eyes. "It's just a little trick, but there's something inside it that even I can't see through. Still, if you cut off the magic, you can separate it from the card completely. It's harmless."
By the time Dark left the experiment, he'd given up trying to test Professor Kazel.
He couldn't shake the feeling that Professor Kazel couldn't possibly be the one who had actually made the Flower Cards.
But Senior Leon didn't seem like he was lying—in fact, he had no reason to.
"So someone dressed up as the professor to win people's trust?"
Dark thought of the Disguise Card.
If the design inside the Disguise Card was a skin suit that looked almost exactly like a person, could it be used to impersonate anyone?
It was both a hypothesis and an inference.
"Maybe I should study the Disguise Card."
Senior Pandora was playing with her Meow Meow Grass on the counter—a chubby chinchilla.
A chinchilla, not a hamster!
She'd used a Silence Card over a small area around the Meow Meow Grass, to make sure its Growl wouldn't disturb the students in the library.
Dark couldn't help thinking her behavior was odd. She'd never brought the Meow Meow Grass to the library before.
"Could it be bait?"
As he wondered, Dark's fingers had already wandered to scratch the chinchilla under the chin.
There was a scale beneath the chinchilla's chin, soft and warm, and not uncomfortable to touch at all.
"Did you buy a Meow Meow Grass?" Senior Pandora narrowed her eyes.
Dark said, "I bought a short-haired cat."
Send in your Halloween title ideas! Whoever catches the most ghosts wins!
Chapter 53: The Old God Raises the Dust
He'd sacrificed a little of his good looks. Novel website
Senior Pandora told Dark where to find books on Meow Meow Grass, and he soon located a copy of Ten Thousand Mimicries of the Plant Kingdom in the library.
The library was relatively quiet on Friday night.
Dark poured himself a cup of unscented tea, then began reading carefully.
"Mimicry is an ecological adaptation in which an organism imitates the form, behavior, or other characteristics of another organism or an inanimate object, benefiting one or both parties. It is a specialized behavior that develops in living things through long-term evolution in nature."
"The biological phenomenon of Meow Meow Grass stems from mimicry."
"A typical mimicry system consists of a mimic, a model, and a deceived observer."
"Take Meow Meow Grass, for example."
"The mimic is Meow Meow Grass itself."
"The model is a cat."
"And the deceived observer is a human."
"The six main parts of a plant: roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruit, and seeds."
"Divide Meow Meow Grass according to the structure of a plant."
"The part buried in the soil is the root."
"The tail is the stem."
"And the fur covering its body is... leaves?"
Dark was completely dumbfounded by this point.
At first, he'd assumed that the "cat" part of Meow Meow Grass would count as the "fruit."
But it seemed that wasn't the case.
The cat's fur was made up of leaves, while its body, limbs, and head were all fleshy stems, just like the main body of a cactus.
As for the flowers and fruit...
Every spring and autumn, beautiful flowers grew on top of Meow Meow Grass's head.
Once the petals fell, fruit would grow in their place.
As for the seeds, they were naturally inside the fruit.
Dark continued reading and gradually learned more about Meow Meow Grass's ecology.
When they were about to flower, they sent most of the nutrients in their bodies to the top of their heads. This stimulated the growth of flower buds, which developed into buds, then blossomed. Afterward, the flowers were pollinated and bore fruit.
"This is a very important process."
Dark drew a diagram of the whole process in his notebook. Then he circled the top of Meow Meow Grass's head, certain that he'd found the cause.
To confirm his theory, he looked through a lot more material. It wasn't until nine that night that he borrowed another book, Dress-up Master, and left the library.
Senior Pandora wasn't always in the library. Most of the time, Mrs. Bella was on duty.
After Dark returned to his dorm, he turned on the light and set the book he'd borrowed on his desk, then went out onto the balcony.
"Meow!"
Meow Meow Grass trotted over on its short legs. Dark crouched down to scratch it under the chin, while his other hand carefully felt around the Pride crest on top of its head.
And sure enough, he found a tiny fleshy nub in the middle of the Pride crest!
Feeling the little bump press against his fingertip, Dark suddenly grew excited.
What kind of fruit would Meow Meow Grass produce after absorbing Pride?
"Speaking of fruit, countless potions are made from all sorts of fruit. Some Magic Spirit Cards even need special fruit as their core materials. Before it successfully bears fruit, I could look into making potions or Magic Spirit Cards that use fruit."
The Wrath that had been building up in his heart also faded a little.
After a while, he carried Meow Meow Grass into the bathroom and rinsed it off, then set it on the bedside table. He read a little more of Dress-up Master, and soon fell into a deep sleep.
But Friday night wasn't over yet.
Diana and Rose were still making a ruckus in the common room.
After the Tea Party, Emma had been invited to a gathering at the Magister House. She'd be up all night.
After calming herself down, Pandora was getting ready for tomorrow's Magic Duel tournament.
As for Victor and Robert, they didn't return to their dorm until very late, after spending half the night playing around.
But not long after they got back, Victor quietly opened the door. He glanced at Robert's room, then slipped out of the Knight Academy's tower.
As he walked through the silent Castle, Victor couldn't help thinking back to what had happened that afternoon.
Emma's final ripple had really struck a chord with him.
It had almost made him take a wrong turn.
Fortunately, Robert had suggested going to the library to study, showing him that there was still hope for change.
"Think of your parents, who have passed away!"
Victor had never met his parents, but he'd grown up listening to stories about the Hero.
The Hero had always been someone he admired.
The day Principal Arte told him he was the Son of the Hero, he'd been over the moon!
Now, looking back at everything he'd done over the past month or so...
He wanted to dig a hole and bury himself in it!
→ That was exactly what he'd thought when they first entered the library.
→ He'd even set himself a small goal: to surpass Dark Dimon before the end of the semester!
But two hours later, the difficult arithmetic homework had crushed his resolve.
After exchanging a look with Robert, the two brothers had come to an agreement: they needed to balance work and rest!
That's right.
They'd learned from Dark, too!
The sound of his footsteps echoed through the hallway.
Victor drew Forbidden Love and fed it a little magic. Pink mist slipped out of the card and gradually gathered into a blurry human shape.
He hadn't forgotten his little goal: to surpass Dark!
And to do that, it seemed the usual methods wouldn't work. He'd have to find another way.
Following the pink mist, Victor returned to the small Temple he'd visited the night before.
The Tinkerers who'd been shouting about starting a Holy War weren't there.
He cautiously checked his surroundings. Only after confirming that no one was hiding in a corner like he had been the previous night did he walk up to the statue and stop before it.
The statue's skin had grown more delicate. Its pale face gave off a gentle glow, as though it could open its eyes at any moment.
Victor pulled the copy of Chapter of the Old Days he'd borrowed that afternoon without Robert's knowledge from his shoulder bag, then carefully compared its pages with the statue's face.
Chapter of the Old Days recorded the gods who had once held Dominion over all realms.
They had existed at least five eras ago. They had come from the stars and walked through the abyss. They had once been great, and they had once ruled all realms... History had long since forgotten them. They were the Old Ones buried beneath the dust of ages!
Half an hour later.
A delighted look appeared in Victor's eyes.
He'd found a goddess whose face resembled the statue's.
"She was born from the moon and descended upon the earth. She was both the Moon Goddess and the Earth Mother Goddess. She presided over the reproduction of all living things and generously bestowed the earth's blessings. She was the most beautiful goddess, the mistress of the night. Her beauty was eternal. She was divine and noble, and presided over abundance, fertility, and love..."
The term "Old Ones" in this story is used in its literal sense. It's a broad category, and many of its members are original creations; it doesn't refer exclusively to the deities in the Cthulhu Mythos.
The setting of this book takes precedence.
Recommended votes
Monthly votes
Chapter 54: The Beginning of the Bliss-Series Magic Cards
Faint moonlight speckled the night, and shadows fell in patches all across St. Marian.
Atop the Spiral Clock Tower in the center of the Castle, Professor Didi Maxwell hovered in midair, her butterfly-like wings fluttering gently.
Deep wrinkles lined her forehead, and two waning moons were reflected in her eyes.
Time was a blade. She should never have let it touch her.
Before you continue