Dark Dimon Is Torn

Professor Kazel nodded in satisfaction. "Yes, this is the Meditation State. Remember this feeling; it'll help you master the Meditation Art faster."

Dark nodded at once.

He'd actually gained more from the experience than Professor Kazel had imagined.

After experiencing it once, he'd immediately realized it was also a technique that could help with "emotional control"!

"This is much more effective than reciting the Heart Sutra."

Though it couldn't prevent sudden emotions from arising, it could stop them from continuing to flare up.

For instance, when he was enraged, he could use the Meditation Art to forcibly suppress his rising anger.

As long as he dealt with it in time, he could minimize the damage when [Wrath +1] appeared, rather than letting it escalate to [Wrath +2], [Wrath +3], or [Wrath +10].

"Professor," Dark suddenly said.

Professor Kazel looked over. "What is it?"

Dark thought it over carefully before saying, "Actually, yesterday I went to Traveler Street specifically to ask the senior who gave me the Flower Card where those Flower Cards came from."

Professor Kazel immediately grew interested. "Who made them? An ordinary student couldn't make such a finely crafted item."

Dark considered his words. "The senior said you were the one who handed them out."

Professor Kazel looked distinctly confused. "I handed them out? Wait, someone's impersonating me? Then those Flower Cards might be hiding something I don't know about. Let me see..."

Dark hadn't expected Professor Kazel to think so quickly. Just one sentence was enough to make him realize what the problem was.

Professor Kazel soon pulled his own Flower Card from his Card Case.

The Flower Card, decorated with Green Roses, glimmered in the light.

The professor pressed a hand to it, and the Green Roses drifted away, revealing the slightly youthful, beautiful face of a girl on the card.

Dark happened to see it and realized she was a Pixie with butterfly wings.

He didn't think much of it, assuming she was an old flame of Professor Kazel's.

But as Professor Kazel took out his tools to forcibly dismantle the Flower Card, he hesitated.

After a long pause, he put the tools down and said, "Let's leave it for now. I'll discuss this with the other professors this afternoon. Leave it to us. Perhaps this is just a prank?"

Dark replied, "Let's hope so."

Then, sensing the mood, he left the office.

As he walked toward the Cafeteria, Dark considered Professor Kazel's various reactions and became certain that the professor couldn't have made the Flower Cards.

But it seemed he was hiding some secret, too.

And what role did Victor, who possessed "Forbidden Love," play in all this?

Dark was becoming interested.

But he understood the value of "not overdoing it." Getting too deeply involved in this kind of affair might destabilize his emotions.

Perhaps it was better to remain an emotionless spectator.

By the time he finished lunch, it was already one in the afternoon.

He hadn't forgotten to go to the library to borrow Magic Spirit Refinement—General Manual.

→Fortunately, it hadn't all been borrowed.

Dark Demon Gets Caught in a Dilemma

The first class of the afternoon.

Potions.

During the first thirty minutes of class, Professor Thompson reviewed the preparation of "Speed Magic Potion" with the students.

For the following hour, he taught them how to make the standard version of "Mana Recovery Potion."

Victor and Robert made repeated mistakes while distracted, causing no shortage of laughter.

Dark, meanwhile, prepared his potion without incident. After getting Professor Thompson's approval, he then gave clumsy Diana a hands-on lesson.

When it came to preparing potions, Diana was even worse than the careful Rose.

Though she was very patient, not every potion could be made better by "taking your time."

Most potions had a set preparation time.

Once that time limit was exceeded, some of the processed ingredients would become useless.

As a matter of principle, Professor Thompson encouraged students to help one another.

Of course, if you didn't know how to do it and couldn't find a friend to help you, there was nothing to be done.

As Dark taught Diana, he suddenly noticed that Emma, seated in the row ahead, had started helping the student beside her, despite looking thoroughly displeased.

It seemed the Ladies' Tea Party over the weekend had made a big difference to her.

At the very least, she'd learned how to get along with others.

After Potions class ended.

Unlike usual, Dark didn't head straight to the library. Instead, he lingered in the classroom for a while.

Only after seeing Victor and Robert head toward the Knight Academy Tower did he make his way to the library, somewhat disappointed.

Professor Thompson had assigned an essay on "Mana Recovery Potion" that day, and it would take at least an hour to finish.

After finding some reference materials, Dark began writing.

The difference between "Mana Recovery Potion" and "Speed Magic Potion" was that the former restored a large amount of mana gradually.

If these two potions were refined into Magitech Cards, they could be used to make charge-up Magic Cards similar to Emma's "Gold Coin x3."

Dark added his own ideas, and soon finished a perfectly adequate essay.

At the same time, he began considering whether to add one or two charge-up Magic Cards to his own deck.

Meanwhile, in the Knight Academy's common room.

After finishing a game of Magic Chess, Victor and Robert packed away the board after a long silence.

On the way to the library, Robert couldn't help asking, "Victor, are you really planning to stop using that Flower Card?"

Victor looked unusually dejected. "What else can I do? Professor Kazel made it clear that if I'm caught again, it won't be as simple as losing fifty points."

Robert glanced around to make sure they were alone, then said, "But it worked perfectly well when we used it this morning, didn't it? As long as we don't use it on the professors, ordinary students won't notice. Besides, the lock on the card..."

"Speaking of the lock," Victor suddenly said, "I've realized that Dark Dimon is actually a pretty good guy."

Robert blinked. "What do you mean?"

Victor said, "Do you know who was in the office when I got reprimanded at noon?"

Robert replied, "Who else but Professor Kazel?"

"Not just the professor," Victor said with a sigh. "Dark was there, too! If he hadn't been, I don't think I could've withstood the pressure from the professor. I think he deliberately went to the office to ease the tension as a third party."

Robert was surprised. "Wait, Victor, how did you come up with that? Is Dark really that nice?"

Victor shook his head. "Don't say that. We don't really know him. Maybe greeting him this morning did have some effect."

Robert said, "But his favorability went down!"

Victor replied, "Favorability fluctuates. That was only temporary!"

Robert said, "Why don't you check again? He's definitely in the library."

Victor said, "No. I won't use it again."

Robert said, "But don't you want to know how much Senior Pandora likes you?"

Victor said, "I..."

Under Robert's questioning, Victor began to waver again.

"If I only use it once, as long as I don't get caught..."

"I used it so many times this morning, and no one noticed."

"As long as I don't use it on the professors..."

Robert leaned in with a suggestive smile. "Just one more time!"

But Victor, who had come to the library with great resolve, discovered that Senior Pandora wasn't there that day.

He felt disappointed, but at the same time, he breathed a deep sigh of relief.

However, his inability to hide his feelings made Robert realize that his friend had truly fallen in love.

Reading Room.

After finishing his Potions essay, Dark was getting ready to return to his dormitory and check on the Insect Tree and Meow Meow Grass.

But just as he was packing up, he saw Victor and Robert walking toward him.

"Excuse me, could we sit here?"

Victor pointed to the seat across from Dark.

The table could seat four.

Usually, the ones who sat across from Dark were Diana and Rose.

Dark furrowed his brow almost imperceptibly, but still said, "Of course."

Victor and Robert sat down one after the other.

Victor took out his assignment and was about to say a few words to Dark to improve his favorability, but then he realized Dark had already stood up.

His expression stiffened.

But Dark wasn't about to stop because of that.

After Dark left.

Victor suddenly noticed Emma sitting diagonally across from him, and grew even more awkward.

Dark left the library and went straight back to his dormitory.

After checking on the Insect Tree and Meow Meow Grass, he immediately began practicing the "Meditation Art" using the method Professor Kazel had taught him.

But just as Professor Kazel had said, mastering the "Meditation Art" required patient, sustained practice over a long period.

The best way was to practice for an hour each night before going to sleep.

So after half an hour of practice yielded no results, Dark took out Magic Spirit Refinement—General Manual and began studying it on his own.

But after reading only a small portion...

Dark put the book down again and stood up.

For some reason, he felt restless today, as if there was something he'd been meaning to do but still hadn't done.

"Meow!"

Meow Meow Grass dragged its flowerpot over and rubbed against his calf.

He lowered his head and looked at the adorable Meow Meow Grass, especially the flower about to bloom atop its head. A glimmer of understanding flashed in his eyes.

"That's it."