As a streak of red light shot into the sky, a crack split the canopy overhead, and warmth seeped through.
After watering the Insect Tree with Magic Potion, feeding Meow Meow Grass some Cat Juice, and finishing the breakfast DemiDevimon had brought, Dark left the tower and headed for Traveler Street.
The autumn morning was already growing chilly, and Traveler Street was sparsely populated.
Dark bought a safety fence and some cat toys.
After thinking it over, he also bought a complete set of laboratory tools, modeled on the ones in the lab.
Ordinary lab tools weren't expensive. The costly ones were the specially made items, like the mercury glass rod Professor Thompson had used in class.
He also bought ten blank Magitech Cards worth 10 credits each, two blank Magitech Cards worth 50 credits each, and some commonly used basic materials. In short, he ended up with a mountain of bottles and jars.
His credits dwindled at a visible rate until only about 200 remained.
"Borrowing the lab all the time isn't going to work. I need a set of my own."
Dark nodded in satisfaction and hauled his bags back to the dormitory.
It was only just past nine.
Luckily, the dormitory was spacious enough to easily make room for a small lab corner.
Next, he took the Costume Change Card he'd bought yesterday from his Card Case and set it on the table.
According to Senior Leon's explanation, all he had to do was carve the final miniature Transmutation Array into the lower-right corner of the Costume Change Card to activate it.
Costume Change Cards were actually a kind of Item Card, a variant of the armor series.
They completely sacrificed attack and defense bonuses, focusing solely on style and design, with "size adjustment" as the most they could offer in terms of functionality.
The Kamen Rider Costume Change Card Senior Leon had made was merely a crude imitation.
To put it plainly, it was a cosplay outfit!
Dark quickly finished the final step and tried it on.
How should he put it?
It was convenient, but the workmanship was rather crude.
This Tuxedo Mask Set in particular was barely any different from an ordinary tuxedo.
Since it was for Halloween, he might as well buy something high-end himself.
"No, this won't do. If Mother found out I was wearing something this cheap, she'd cry, wouldn't she?"
So Dark tossed the Costume Change Card into a drawer, planning to take it apart and examine it whenever he felt like studying it.
Next, Dark chose one of the nine Flower Cards to run an experiment.
The purpose was simple: he wanted to further test his earlier hypothesis.
The phenomenon triggered by just one Flower Card wasn't enough to prove that all of them could absorb "Bliss."
So he needed to conduct repeated experiments to verify it.
Besides, he wanted to see if he could control the frequency of the mana input so that the Flower Cards wouldn't mutate and break after absorbing "Bliss."
Victor's "Forbidden Love" had given him the idea.
If Victor could transform a Flower Card into a Magitech Card, then so could he.
[Bliss: 92]
Hmm, two points higher than at the end of last month.
Once the Sin Index exceeded 100 points, it became a little harder to raise, giving him more leeway.
Dark paid no mind to the two extra points and instead studied the Flower Card on the table.
The exquisite card was decorated with vivid red plum blossoms, blooming defiantly against frost and snow—steadfast, unyielding, and captivating.
But what evil lay hidden beneath that vivid beauty?
He prepared himself, then once more used the Magic Pen as a medium, touching it to the Flower Card and gradually channeling in mana.
Red plum blossoms bloomed from the card, releasing a fresh fragrance.
As the mana continued to flow in, the blossoms gradually spread apart, and an exquisitely pale face appeared on the card.
The heart-shaped scale beneath the corner of her eye always made the face—which should have seemed pure and innocent—look strangely alluring.
Dark held his breath and swiftly shifted his thoughts.
Senior Pandora's face vanished, replaced by the adorable Meow Meow Grass.
"Meow—"
Meow Meow Grass, perched on the bedside table, let out a timely cry.
"Quiet!"
DemiDevimon, perched on the bird stand, raised a claw at Meow Meow Grass. A trace of pride showed in its eyes as it looked down at Meow Meow Grass, "bound by a flowerpot," and drew a steady sense of superiority from the sight.
Dark stayed fully focused on adjusting the mana output.
As the mana continued to flow, the red plum blossoms on the card suddenly began to behave strangely!
Dark immediately stopped the flow and pulled away the Magic Pen.
The red plum blossoms shook violently, only settling down after a long while.
Only then did Dark touch the Magic Pen to the card again, trying to feed in just a little more mana.
[Bliss -1]
That tiny trickle of mana was enough to push the Flower Card past some kind of critical threshold.
The red plum blossoms, which had just settled down, erupted in an instant!
Their vivid red petals tore free of their calyxes, shot out of the card, and became a swirling storm of howling petals.
Dark immediately leaped back.
DemiDevimon, which had been waiting in readiness, flapped one wing and fired a huge syringe. It pierced through the storm of petals and pinned the red plum Flower Card to the table.
Dark didn't give up on the experiment.
He sealed the remains of the red plum Flower Card in a bag and chose another new Flower Card.
"Spring cannot be kept behind a garden wall; one apricot branch stretches over the wall."
The pink-and-white apricot blossoms were delicate and charming, with a faint hint of Captivate.
He picked up the Magic Pen again and channeled mana into the card.
Though he was even more careful this time, the mana the Flower Card could withstand still reached its critical threshold.
Watching the apricot blossoms shake wildly inside the card, Dark thought it over for a long while, then still fed in another tiny trickle of mana!
[Bliss -1]
The moment the system notification appeared in his vision, he immediately cut off the mana.
But the apricot blossom Flower Card still changed!
Starting at the edges of their petals, the apricot blossoms on the card broke down into countless fine threads!
But unlike the threads of the Black Rose, these pink threads didn't turn into little vine snakes and rush out to devour anyone.
Like strands being woven into cloth, they wound around the Flower Card, one neat, orderly loop after another.
Once they had covered the last gap in the card, they quickly melted away, leaving the Flower Card a pale pink.
Dark stared at the now entirely pink card with a strange look, then gestured for DemiDevimon to pick it up and take a look.
The pride in DemiDevimon's eyes had only just faded. It immediately flew down from the bird stand and poked the Flower Card with a claw.
At that touch, a trace of hazy energy crept up its paw.
It lifted one foot and spun around once on the spot. Blushing all over as if drunk, it toppled over with a "plop."
### Chapter 55: Rules for Using Sacrificial Summoning
Looking at DemiDevimon, blushing and babbling incoherently, Dark couldn't help wiping away a cold sweat.
"So close!"
"Thank goodness DemiDevimon was here!"
Dark quickly picked up his notebook and recorded the effects.
The Flower Card had clearly undergone a qualitative change. And given the power inherent in the card itself, its effect should be even more pronounced than "Pride 1."
"I'll tentatively call it 'Bliss 1.'"
"Judging by how it works, it's at least the ultimate version of the 'Happiness Card.' Just a trace of its energy escaping was enough to leave DemiDevimon lost in bliss."
"But why did the apricot blossom card succeed while the red plum blossom card failed, even though I treated them the same way?"
"Is it because they're different flowers?"
"That seems a little too subjective."
Dark wrote in his notes: Perhaps apricot blossoms were more compatible with "Bliss."
To prove this conclusion, he would need to conduct more experiments.
But before that, he had to thoroughly study "Bliss 1."
Dark pulled "Magic Beast: Eevee" from his Card Case and summoned the little Eevee.
"Bui—"
Eevee-chan tilted her head and looked at him.
Dark felt a little reluctant, but in the end, he steeled himself and gave her the order.
Eevee-chan, whose intelligence level had already reached 2.5, gave him a reproachful look. Still, she jumped onto the table and pressed her paw pad against the pink Flower Card.
A trace of hazy energy seeped from the card. Eevee's eyes narrowed slightly, a blush appeared on her cheeks, and her body swayed a little.
But she didn't pass out from happiness like DemiDevimon had.
After she patted the card twice more, no more hazy energy came out of it.
Dark concluded that the energy had probably only leaked during the card's creation.
So he tried touching it with the Magic Pen, then with his own hand, and finally picked up the card.
A few minutes later...
DemiDevimon staggered back to its senses, but just as it managed to lift its head, it saw that wretched Eevee lying limply in her master's arms, licking his fingers.
Then it saw the pink card in its master's other hand. It promptly shut its eyes and played dead!
"Magic Guidance Summon!"
Dark activated "Bliss 1" for the first time.
In an instant—
A faint glow appeared on "Bliss 1," and pink petals suddenly burst forth. But they no longer resembled apricot blossoms. Instead, they had become another, entirely unfamiliar kind of Bliss Flower.
As soon as the petals touched the air, they turned into a thin mist. Guided by mana, they rushed toward the feigning-dead DemiDevimon!
"Waah!"
DemiDevimon let out a scream as the pink mist enveloped it completely!
Then a panting DemiDevimon appeared on Dark's head...
Afterward, he experimented with Eevee-chan as well and finally reached a conclusion.
"Bliss 1" was considerably stronger than "Pride 1," but not as strong as "Pride 2."
Its duration was about 15 minutes, longer than "Pride 1," and its cooldown was shorter—just 30 minutes.
Before you continue