There was no need to wait for the professors' lectures. Once Dark had an idea, he headed straight to the library after his Magic History class in the afternoon.
Soon, he knew exactly where to find it: a book titled Pierre Explains Personally—How to Refine Potions into Magic Cards. Pierre was an incredibly famous potioneer in magical history. From his perspective, there wasn't a potion that couldn't be refined into a magic card! The explanatory book was a daunting three fingers thick, enough to make anyone hesitate. Forget first-year students; even among the upper years, few had the courage to take it down from the shelf.
After retrieving it, Dark suddenly remembered another question he needed to resolve. He temporarily placed the book on a reading room table, using his shoulder bag to claim the spot, and then went back into the stacks to search again.
Quickly, he found an illustrated guide to insect species and flipped through it until he found the description for the "Shuckle Bug."
The book's description was rather brief, but it generally covered the essential points. In this world, the "Shuckle Bug" didn't actually exist in reality; it was a rare magic spirit that could only be successfully created through accidental refinement. In fact, the vast majority of "Shuckle Bugs" were white cards, possessing no skills. The even rarer blue card versions, at most, possessed the passive skill [Sturdy]. There had never been any record of skills like [Power Trick].
The card name for the "Shuckle Bug" was simply [Shuckle Bug], differing by one character from Dark's [Shuckle]. Perhaps it was this single character difference that gave these two magic spirits, identical in appearance and stats, entirely different forms of life. Combined with the activation of the Sins series magic cards, it resulted in [Shuckle] gaining the special ability to ferment fruit into juice.
In other words...
His [Shuckle] was absolutely unique!
Having resolved the doubt in his mind, Dark returned to the reading room, only to notice someone sitting at the seat he had claimed, flipping through the incredibly long-titled Pierre Explains Personally.
He walked over and tapped lightly on the desk. "Ahem!"
Emma looked up at him, then silently closed the book and returned to her own seat. Dark pretended nothing had happened and began to pore over the book himself.
The book started by clearly explaining the difference between a potion and a potion that had been refined into a magic card. Potions refined into magic cards would be categorized as either magic cards or item cards based on their form, but their actual effects wouldn't differ greatly. Existing potions were generally single-use; once drunk, they were gone. Refined into a magic card, however, they became reusable [Potion] cards.
But [Potion] cards had drawbacks: their effects were weakened and not long-lasting. For instance, a potion that restored 10 magic points per second might, when refined into a [Potion] card, only restore 10 magic points total upon a single use.
The advantages of [Potion] cards were their convenience in use and transport, and their reusability. Of course, the rarer the potion, the higher the difficulty in refining it into a [Potion] card. Without sufficient skill, one might even end up losing everything invested.
For magisters wanting to use potions in duels, refining them into [Potion] cards was a necessity. Learning to refine potion cards was something every magister had to go through.
Starting that afternoon, Dark began to slowly work his way through the book, temporarily setting aside other matters. However, Diana, having developed a taste for it, started shamelessly coming to him daily to ask for apple juice, while Rose developed a keen interest in pear juice.
Apple juice could boost mental clarity and refresh the mind, making it suitable as a study drink, plus it tasted good. Dark found Diana's requests for apple juice completely understandable. But what was the deal with pear juice? He knew it could reduce internal heat, but surely Rose wasn't overheating every single day?
It wasn't until Rose told him that reducing internal heat and toxins prevents acne that enlightenment dawned.
But... did that really work???
Dark admitted he didn't understand. A person's scope of knowledge has its limits, and he didn't pursue the matter further.
In the blink of an eye, it was Friday.
After the morning dueling class, students once again looked forward to their trip to Traveler Street. With only a week left until Halloween Eve, more people began focusing on their costumes for the masquerade ball. Upper-year students were even starting to arrange partners for the dance.
The Halloween ball wasn't typically as romantic or atmospheric as the Christmas ball, especially with the traditional ghost-catching activity, so it hadn't been very popular among couples in the past.
But this time was different.
The planned attendance of the kingdom's princess elevated the ball's tone from a quirky costume event to another dimension entirely. Some students even declared on the spot that they would absolutely wear their most formal attire to this masquerade, transforming into the prince most suited for the princess, aiming for a dance with her. How he was subsequently ridiculed is another story.
In any case, the comical and bizarre costumes were no longer as popular as last year. Instead, sets like the vampire series, knight series, and royal court series, which showcased the wearer's handsome features and charisma, became more sought after. The increasingly romantic atmosphere also sparked other ideas among the male and female students.
They began searching for dance partners.
The first-year students lacked the foresight of the upper years; their own frenzy would likely erupt in a few more days.
Dark entered Traveler Street at this time, but he was looking for suitable fruits to use as materials.
Traveler Street did have fruit stores, but they were the kind that just sold ordinary pears and apples. He would, of course, buy some apples and pears to take back, but his main objective now was fruits with special effects.
For example, the legendary Dragon Saliva Fruit!
→ Just kidding.
Even if it existed, Dark couldn't afford it.
He first visited the "Wind Traveler" materials shop. But not long after, he walked out again. "Wind Traveler" indeed had various materials, but concerning fruits, they only had dried fruit. And as everyone knows, dried fruit has no juice.
After leaving "Wind Traveler," Dark wandered the street for a while before entering the "Cuckoo's Garden" flower and plant shop where he had previously bought the bug tree.
Buying fruit at a flower shop? It might sound unreliable. But in the golden autumn season, quite a few plants in the shop had indeed borne fruit!
The plump auntie who owned the shop clearly remembered the first-year student who could afford a bug tree. When Dark asked, she smiled and said, "I can sell them, sure, but the fruit is part of the plant's value. If you buy the fruit, won't my plants become unsellable?"
Dark smiled back. "But when fruits ripen, they eventually need to be picked. I only need to buy one or two that have been picked, or have fallen off."
The plump auntie replied, "There aren't many like that. Perhaps they aren't what you're looking for?"
Dark said, "Can I take a look?"