Dark had realized before that Senior Pandora's childhood could not have been smooth, but he hadn't expected it to be difficult to this extent.
The Exile Forest, as the name suggests, is a place where sinners are banished.
Although it fell into disuse after the war, the existence of the Exile Forest has never actually been forgotten.
It is simply that the land is truly cursed, so no one is willing to approach it.
That Senior Pandora was able to walk out of the Exile Forest alive is truly the greatest fortune amidst misfortune.
As for why she grew up in the Exile Forest...
Dark did not want to delve too deeply into it.
During the war, the order was chaotic, and not everyone sent into the Exile Forest was guilty.
A large portion of them had "sins" but were individuals who could not be formally judged.
Another portion consisted of innocent family members, or even those accused of trumped-up charges.
Moreover, judging by Senior Pandora's age, she must have been sent in shortly after she was born.
Since Principal Cynthia brought her out, that alone explains a lot.
...
Dark took a slight breath, trying his best not to let his expression reveal any traces of his thoughts.
On Christmas Eve, he had not imagined at all that Senior Pandora leaving the school was actually to sweep graves.
Christmas was supposed to be a day for family reunions, yet she could only mourn the spirits of the deceased.
...
"Don't be like that."
Senior Pandora suddenly laughed out loud.
"I'm not that fragile. Besides..."
She raised her index finger again, placed it before her lips, and shook her head slightly. "I can't say anymore; I have to keep it a secret."
Dark was bewildered, but the muscles on his face visibly relaxed.
He said, "Senior, since you're back..."
Pandora smiled. "[Fusion], right? Tomorrow afternoon at two o'clock, does that work?"
Dark immediately showed a look of joy. "Of course."
The two then chatted about some trivial matters in hushed tones.
When she heard that Dark had successfully joined the Dueling Club, Pandora slapped her forehead and sighed, "I forgot all about that. Congratulations, congratulations."
Dark: "That sounds so insincere."
"After all, it's not very difficult," Pandora said with a smile, then stood up. "Alright, I have some things to do tonight, so I'll go back first. See you tomorrow."
Dark reached out and waved. "See you tomorrow."
Watching Senior Pandora's back gradually disappear at the entrance of the reading room, Dark suddenly realized something. "Did Senior Pandora come here specifically to find me?"
But after thinking about it, he felt that wasn't right. "She probably just glanced over here while looking for Ms. Bella. After all, she couldn't have predicted I was here."
...
Dark rested his chin on his hand, analyzing rationally.
However, he did not notice that Virt, who was also in the reading room, had been peeping this way for a long time.
Virt had been stealing glances ever since Pandora entered, only avoiding direct eye contact to prevent being noticed.
The tip of his pen, hanging over the paper, hadn't moved for a long time.
Sitting opposite him, Robert was absorbing knowledge frantically like a "Sponge"—even though the bit of knowledge in the books was pitifully scant.
But he still gradually became addicted, to the point where he completely failed to notice Virt's stagnation.
He had never thought that one day he would have such a thirst for knowledge.
But it felt good.
...
The next morning.
For the sake of the afternoon experiment, Dark went to Traveler Street early in the morning and spent a long time buying a total of three sets of [Fusion] materials.
He had been researching [Fusion] for a long time; this was the moment to verify his results!
Before two in the afternoon.
Dark brought the materials, his notes, and the laboratory key, arriving at the library ahead of schedule.
Senior Pandora was chatting happily with Ms. Bella. As soon as she saw him appear at the door, she lowered her head and said a few words to Ms. Bella with a smile, then walked out from behind the counter.
"Let's go."
"Mhm."
The two exchanged a smile; everything was understood without words.
But after entering the laboratory, that relaxed atmosphere abruptly converged.
The experiment was starting!
...
Dark already had the experience of one failure, so he didn't demand that today's [Fusion] refinement must succeed.
The [Fusion] Magic Guide Card itself was a card filled with uncertain factors, and the refinement process was the same.
Even if one thought everything was perfect, a large number of uncertain factors would often appear during actual operation.
In the refinement of the [Fusion] Magic Guide Card, luck actually played a significant role.
Only through repeated experiments and repeated refinements would there be a chance of success.
"Let's test the incantation first."
Senior Pandora opened Dark's notebook and quickly read through it.
Dark's analysis of various problems was extremely detailed, making it impossible to tell this was a first-year student's notebook.
Especially regarding the compilation of the [Incantation], it looked even more perfected than last time.
But merely "looking" was far from enough.
Throughout the entire experiment, Pandora only offered pointers at critical moments; everything else was done by Dark himself.
After spending about half an hour, Dark completed the testing of the [Fusion] incantation and made fine adjustments based on the values of various indicators. Finally, he obtained an incantation that perfectly matched his current state.
Then, the formal refinement began!
The essence of [Fusion] is to use two or more Magic Guide Spirits as core materials to refine a brand-new Magic Guide Spirit on the spot.
The difference from true Magic Guide Spirit refinement lies in the fact that this process is temporary, reversible, and unstable.
This allows for the avoidance of many intractable problems.
Using a [Fusion] card requires consuming a massive amount of mana; ordinary magisters do not have the leeway to use [Fusion].
Dark took out the first set of materials, processed them separately after opening them, and then placed them in their respective categories.
If the first experiment failed, the unused materials could be saved for the next round.
Thrift and diligence are good habits.
3:22 PM.
Following a sudden conflict between two types of materials, everything went down the drain.
The materials melting into the Magic Guide Card reacted with each other under this influence. A large amount of dark green foam bubbled out with a "gurgle," then exploded with a "bang"!
The power of the explosion wasn't strong, and Dark remained relatively calm.
A Dragon Princess wearing a white battle skirt blocked in front of him just in time, using her Finishing Move [Light's Four-Seal Shield] to seal the exploding green slurry.
Dark turned around and asked, "Senior, where was the problem this time?"
Pandora waved her Magic Guide Card to recall the Dragon Princess and said, "There is a high probability that the problem lay with the materials themselves. The growth, harvesting, refining, and preservation of materials involve many factors. Some factors that simply cannot be detected often lead to experimental failure. This is very normal."
Dark nodded and began cleaning up the residue.
Since it wasn't his problem, he just had to proceed with the second experiment.
It was just a pity about these 1500 credits worth of materials. Heartache!
4:42 PM.
The second experiment... also failed!
The reason was an operational error. The mana vibration was too fast, causing a mutation reaction before the fusion of materials could stabilize.
Dark engaged in self-reflection for five minutes, then took a deep breath and resolutely began the third experiment.
Failure is not terrible; what is terrible is not finding the cause of the failure.
The third experiment.
The Goddess of Luck finally prostrated herself at the Demon God's feet.
The process from start to finish was extremely smooth.
From the black slime, Dark carefully picked up the formed Magic Guide Card with tweezers and placed it under the faucet to rinse it clean.
A Magic Guide Card emitting a faint halo was gradually exposed to the air.
"Success!"
The moment he saw the card face clearly, Dark suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
The image on this Magic Guide Card was impressively a Twin Fish Diagram, exactly as recorded!
...
[Card Name: Fusion]
[Type: Magic Card]
[Effect: Fusion]
...
[Lust +1]
Dark hurriedly held back his laughter.
The refinement of [Fusion] was of great significance to him; it almost instantly raised his upper limit to a level difficult to reach before.
If he had a [Fusion] card in hand when he encountered the vampire in the secret passage back then, perhaps he wouldn't have fallen into such a bitter struggle.
Of course, the premise was that the effect of [Fusion] was the same as he anticipated—capable of prompting Gatomon and Black Gatomon to perform a combination evolution!
If Senior Pandora weren't still by his side, he definitely would have already sprinted back to the dormitory to try it out.
"Senior."
Dark turned around.
Pandora extended her slender, fair fingers and chuckled softly. "Lend it to me for a look."
Dark then solemnly placed the [Fusion] Magic Guide Card into her hand.
A slight touch of her fingertips transmitted a trace of coolness.
Pandora took the [Fusion] Magic Guide Card and examined it carefully. "Sure enough, the pattern on the card face is slightly different from mine."
Dark asked, "Is this caused by the difference in incantations?"
Pandora nodded. "Most of the reason lies there. The higher-grade the Magic Guide Card, the deeper the personal imprint. Even without using a Mind Lock, one need not worry about it being stolen."
As she spoke, she injected a sliver of mana into it.
But after the mana circulated once, the [Fusion] card showed absolutely no reaction.
Pandora continued, "This [Fusion] looks like it has been refined at first glance, but it's impossible to determine yet whether it is actually useful. You can go do an experiment first and tell me the result tomorrow afternoon. Hmm, I'll still be working as the librarian."
Dark took back the [Fusion] card and said sincerely, "Thank you, Senior!"
...
After cleaning up the laboratory, Dark quickly said goodbye to the senior.
He naturally knew that the senior said that on purpose, the goal being to let him return to experiment as soon as possible instead of forcing himself to stay and treat her to a meal.
As for gratitude...
Wasn't there still tomorrow?
...
At this moment, Dark didn't have the heart to think in detail.
The success of an experiment is always exhilarating, let alone refining a high-level card like [Fusion].
Theoretically, without Senior Pandora's help, he probably wouldn't have been able to successfully refine this Magic Guide Card until his third or fourth year.
Of course, his own talent and hard work were also indispensable!
Ordinary people couldn't teach themselves Magic Guide Language.
________________________________________
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