Victor Unlocked the Magic Box

Initial estimates suggested that this "Bliss 1" had already reached the limit of what a single drop of Great Sin could achieve.

Also, after Eevee-chan recovered, her intelligence rating had risen to 3.0.

Little

There was no way to tell with Devimon.

Dark was satisfied as he recorded all the data.

Then he suspended the experiment.

That afternoon, he used the Magic Brain Dropper to draw up another drop of Pride and tried placing the dropper's tip by Meow Meow Grass's mouth. But Meow Meow Grass seemed completely uninterested in the dropper and refused to suck on it.

Dark didn't want to waste it, so he injected the drop of Pride back into the Insect Branch.

To his surprise, Meow Meow Grass acted as though it had suddenly caught the scent of something tasty. It meowed and pounced on the Insect Branch, sucking eagerly.

Then the bud atop its head began to grow right before their eyes!

Dark watched and took notes, filled with delight.

Seventeen minutes after Meow Meow Grass had absorbed the drop of Pride, the bud on its head stopped growing. But it had already grown into a tiny flower bud!

By Saturday afternoon, Dark drew up another drop of Pride and injected it into the Insect Branch.

As usual, Meow Meow Grass perched on the branch with its two little paws and sucked hard!

The flower bud atop its head grew bigger and bigger!

Gradually, it had grown to the point where it was about to bloom!

Dark excitedly recorded the data. "At this rate, one more drop should be enough to make it bloom. Two more, and it might even bear fruit!"

But after recording everything, he suddenly realized he'd already used up his allotment of Pride for the month. His spirits sank at once.

"Meowww—"

"Meow meow meow!"

Before long, it was Monday morning.

After two and a half days of rest, the Little Magisters returned to their busy school routine.

In the first Summoning Technique class, Professor Sylph finally began teaching one of the advanced techniques of the Normal Summoning Technique—Sacrificial Summoning!

Sacrificial Summoning was a special summoning technique created to deal with the exceptionally long summoning times of Magic Spirits rated four stars or higher.

Magic Spirit Cards were divided into tiers by star rating. The first three stars made up the First Tier, four to six stars the Second Tier, seven to nine stars the Third Tier, and anything above nine stars the Fourth Tier.

With each increase in tier, the casting time and cooldown for a Normal Summon rose by one level.

The casting time for a Normal Summon of the first three stars could be reduced to as little as three seconds.

Starting at four stars, it took at least one minute.

At seven stars, it took at least thirty minutes.

At nine stars and above, it took at least three hours. Some Magic Spirits even required continuous casting for days or even months before they could be summoned!

In the early days of Magic Guidance research, even Magisters who had high-level Magic Spirit Cards struggled to summon them in direct combat.

Every time they summoned a high-tier Magic Spirit, they needed a large number of people to protect them.

Then, about thirty years ago, a special summoning technique of unknown origin emerged. Magisters could summon high-tier Magic Spirits by sacrificing lower-tier ones, successfully reducing the summoning time.

But each sacrifice inflicted irreparable damage on the lower-tier Magic Spirit Cards.

It wasn't until recent times that this technique was improved. It no longer damaged lower-tier Magic Spirit Cards and further reduced the time required for a Tribute Summon. It was officially named "Sacrificial Summoning."

The core principle of Sacrificial Summoning was the addition of star ratings.

+=

++=

The number of cards didn't matter; only the total star rating counted.

The essential rule was that to summon a Third Tier Magic Spirit, the sacrifices had to include at least one Second Tier Magic Spirit, and so on.

Professor Sylph gave a demonstration in class. She summoned a six-star Magic Spirit in just twelve seconds, leaving the Little Magisters in awe.

Sacrificial Summoning and the Normal Summoning Technique didn't share a cooldown. The minimum casting time and cooldown were both three seconds.

It was around then that Dark realized his eight-second summoning time was nowhere near enough.

"Don't get cocky!"

As he expertly started daydreaming, he suddenly noticed that Victor, sitting in the last row as well, was acting strangely.

Was he using the Flower Card to scan people?

Chapter 56: Victor Unlocked the Magic Box

Without the burden of debt, Victor seemed to have lost his soul.

Though he'd said he would change, finishing his homework was already the best he could manage.

Nothing in the world could compare to Magic Chess!

If there really was anything better, perhaps it was the "Forbidden Love" in his hand!

Victor carefully aimed the Flower Card at the students in the row ahead.

After three consecutive nights of prayer, he had finally received an oracle from the "goddess."

A drop of divine water had fallen from the sky, upgrading "Forbidden Love" even further.

As long as he aimed "Forbidden Love" at someone's head, the card would display that person's portrait and some of their attributes:

[Name:]

[Rarity:]

[Affection:]

Though Victor hadn't discovered any other uses for it, this was already plenty of fun, wasn't it?

"Victor, what are you doing?" Robert asked quietly.

Victor aimed "Forbidden Love" at Robert and said smugly, "A new toy!"

[Name: Robert Broheim]

[Rarity: R]

[Affection: 80]

Victor set "Forbidden Love" on the desk. "Look, Robert. Your rarity is R! Your affection is 80."

Robert was utterly confused. "I know what rarity means, but what does R stand for? And this affection..."

"I don't know what R stands for either," Victor said, "but most people are N. You're special, Robert!"

"Really?" Robert immediately grinned. "Then this affection..."

Victor lowered his voice. "Maybe it measures how much they like me. Most people are below 50. Robert, you really are my best friend!"

Robert smiled confidently. This was the one thing he was especially sure of. "What about Emma? Have you scanned her?"

Victor shook his head. "She's too far away, and someone's blocking the way."

Emma always sat in the front row, so of course he couldn't scan her.

But Victor soon thought of someone else. He couldn't help looking toward the window seat in the last row.

Robert noticed his gaze and grew interested too. "Want to try?"

Victor nodded. "Keep an eye on Professor Sylph for me. I'll give it a shot."

Dark happened to look over just then, and their eyes met.

Victor hurriedly put down "Forbidden Love" and pretended to whisper to Robert.

Once Dark turned back and paid them no more attention, Victor opened "Forbidden Love" and took a look.

[Name: Dark Dimon]

[Rarity: UR]

[Affection: 45]

Victor paused, then sighed. "45. I didn't expect Dark to like me more than a lot of people do."

"Your parents are the Kingdom's Twin Swords, after all," Robert said. "Maybe he wants to be friends with you too?"

"..."

After a moment of silence, Victor suddenly noticed a golden symbol appear in the card's upper-right corner.

He reached out and touched it. A line of text appeared beneath it: Unlocks at 80 affection.

"Ring, ring!"

The Summoning Technique class drew to a close amid Professor Sylph's scolding. Robert, who had been caught and docked points in the final minute, hung his head.

Dark glanced over, put his books in his bag, and prepared to head straight to the next classroom.

After "Magic Phantom Beast," Professor Kazel was supposedly going to teach a widely applicable, general method for making Magic Spirit Cards in this class.

Dark was very interested.

And it seemed that most of the first-years were too.

After all, anyone who wanted to join the Duel Club needed twenty Magitech Cards.

If they could learn a general method for making Magic Spirit Cards, they could put together a full set of twenty Magitech Cards relatively quickly.

No one could resist a duel!

Dark couldn't help quickening his pace.

But he'd barely made it halfway from the Summoning Technique classroom to the Magic Guidance classroom when he suddenly noticed someone following him.

Dark didn't give away that he'd noticed. After turning a corner, he walked a few steps in place, then turned around and waited.

Victor and Robert promptly came charging into him.

Dark dodged to the side.

Robert managed to stop in time, but Victor's foot slipped and he crashed into the wall.

"Ugh—"

That looked painful!

Dark spoke first. "Why are you following me?"

"Ha ha." Robert shrugged and gave an awkward laugh.

After a moment, Victor turned around, rubbing his head. He said with forced confidence, "Well, our parents were comrades, right? It suddenly occurred to me that we've been at school for over a month and I still haven't properly introduced myself."

Dark furrowed his brow slightly, a hint of wariness in his eyes.

Victor's approach was too abrupt.

If Victor had tried to befriend him right after they started school, Dark might have believed him.

But, as Victor himself had said, they'd been at school for over a month!

They'd entered and left the same classroom countless times over that month. Why hadn't he approached him sooner—or later? Why now?