Vampire Vlad's 'Soul Powder' — in terms of pure value, it was second only to the 'Angel Feather' and the [Dragon's Reverse Scale] among all the core materials Dark had ever obtained.
Under normal circumstances, a material of that caliber deserved far more careful handling.
But what could he do? It was Vlad's remains.
Anything he didn't trust was best refined away as quickly as possible.
Before beginning the experiment, Dark glanced at the clock on the wall. It had just passed seven. He started his preparations methodically, step by step.
By now he'd become something of a seasoned experimenter — handling all manner of materials was second nature to him.
A Basic Transmutation Method like this only took about half an hour to complete the preliminary steps.
But for Magic Guide Spirit synthesis, it was only when No. 1 Transmutation Circle was activated that the process entered its truly critical phase.
Dark held the small vial of 'Soul Powder' in his hand, narrowing his eyes as he studied the white light emanating from No. 1 Transmutation Circle.
A Basic Transmutation could only accommodate a single core. Adding two or more core materials would cause a violent conflict between them, resulting in an experimental accident.
Since he'd chosen the 'Soul Powder' as the core this time, he could add at most a few supplementary ingredients.
Vlad was a Vampire — a darling of the moonlit night — and his soul's attributes naturally aligned best with [Lust].
That said, [Pride] was another option worth considering.
But his stock of [Pride] was far smaller than his supply of [Lust], so Dark's final choice was [Lust].
7.3 points of [Lust].
For [Major Sin], seven was a very special number. Seven points of [Major Sin] was enough to birth a [Major Sin Fruit].
So then — what would happen if he poured all seven points of [Lust] directly into No. 1 Transmutation Circle?
...
In theory, those seven points of [Lust] would fall short of a proper [Fruit of Lust] in terms of effect — but without the corresponding Catnip available, it was a concession he had to make.
Life or death, it would come down to fate.
Dark's fate — and Vlad's fate!
Dark drew a deep breath, gathered his focus, then unscrewed the stopper on the vial containing the 'Soul Powder.'
He had prepared three vials in total.
One held the 'Soul Powder.' The second held [Lust]. The third held saliva.
Adding saliva to a Magic Guide Spirit synthesis was a habit Dark had maintained for a long time. Since the results had consistently been good, he'd kept at it.
Saliva was an excellent catalyst in the process of refining Magic Guide Spirit Cards. The rich elements contained in human saliva could promote the formation of life.
And Dark had already begun to suspect that his own saliva might also qualify as a high-grade supplementary material.
...
But the moment the vial containing the 'Soul Powder' was opened, 'Lia' — far away in Professor Medea's dormitory — suddenly reacted.
Under Professor Medea's mildly puzzled gaze, she set down the book in her hands and returned once more to that low cabinet beside the bookshelf. With careful hands, she retrieved the glass bottle — thirteen centimeters in diameter.
Over these many days, the bubbles (souls) inside had fully condensed into a shape: a tiny infant, curled up like a sleeping child within the clear liquid.
But as the bottle was lifted out, that tiny infant opened its eyes under Lia's watchful gaze!
A flash of blood-red light darted through its small, narrow eyes.
A thought stirred in Lia's mind, and she murmured with a hint of hesitation, "What is it that made it react?"
Professor Medea walked over, curious. "Lia, what on earth are you doing?"
"Lia" smiled softly. "We're friends, aren't we?"
Professor Medea could only let out a quiet sigh. That question again.
She very much wanted to say they weren't actually friends — but somehow, she could never bring herself to.
Because in her heart, 'Lia' was more than a friend. She was a benefactor.
...
Dark had no idea what kind of reaction Vlad's 'Soul Powder' might be triggering elsewhere. He simply continued through his steps as usual.
'Soul Powder' was a luminous powder — without a barrier sealing the mouth of the vial, it would disperse rapidly in the wind.
Handling it therefore required extreme care. It had to be held within the light of the Transmutation Circle before the seal was removed.
Following this procedure, Dark tilted the vial at an angle and let the 'Soul Powder' inside begin to slide slowly downward, where it was drawn into the Transmutation Circle.
He held his patience absolutely steady, nudging the vial with the lightest touch of his fingers to draw the entire process out as long as possible — the better to observe every shift in the Transmutation Circle's radiance.
Once roughly half the 'Soul Powder' had been absorbed and the light began to swell in intensity, Dark picked up the processed saliva with his other hand, poured in half of it to suppress the glow, then resumed adding the 'Soul Powder.'
When the vial was empty and not a trace of 'Soul Powder' remained, he reached over for the ideation bottle containing [Lust], and used the Mind Dropper to draw the [Lust] up from inside.
Speaking of this Mind Dropper — it was originally on its last legs, with only about a year of life remaining.
But lately, Dark had gradually noticed that it seemed to be thriving more and more with each passing day.
He wasn't sure whether it was a final burst of vitality before the end.
In any case, the Mind Dropper's intelligence rating was only 0.1 — roughly on par with a paramecium. When it died, he'd just replace it.
No point getting sentimental over a tool. At most, he'd preserve it as a specimen in its memory.
Dark drew up a single drop of [Lust] with practiced ease — approximately 1 point's worth — and dripped it into the luminous No. 1 Transmutation Circle.
The moment it landed, however, the Transmutation Circle's light began flickering rapidly.
Dark remained calm and added the second drop.
Then the third, the fourth…
But at the sixth drop, he stopped.
The Transmutation Circle's light showed no sign of settling — if anything, it flickered faster and faster, as though one more drop would cause an instant explosion.
Dark dipped the tip of the Mind Dropper back into the ideation bottle and drew up the seventh drop of [Lust].
Only the thinnest last layer of liquid remained in the bottle.
He thought it over, and then — with extreme deliberateness — let that seventh drop of [Lust] fall into the Transmutation Circle.
As the pink liquid slid from the tip of the Mind Dropper and slowly dropped into the light, a burst of intense radiance erupted — sudden as a bolt of lightning.
Dark instinctively raised a hand to shield his face. He felt a wave of searing heat against his skin — then the light rapidly died away.
No. 1 Transmutation Circle contracted swiftly back onto the card's surface, its internal circuitry spinning at high speed.
Dark sensed carefully, confirmed the energy within was relatively stable, and let out a small breath of relief.
Experimental accidents were an inevitable part of long-term experimentation — but they were still best avoided whenever possible.
Now there was only one question: would this final synthesis succeed?
Behind him, the Magic Guide Spirits had all drifted a little closer to watch. Only Meowth remained wholly absorbed in carving its little shield, entirely undistracted.
...
As dark impurities were expelled, threads of material spun up from within the Magic Guide Card, gradually wrapping the entire thing into a glowing cocoon.
Reaching this stage generally meant there was a high probability the experiment would succeed.
The occasional cocoon that, when cut open, spilled out a puddle of black liquid — that was the exception, not the rule.
By now, Dark couldn't help but feel a twinge of anticipation.
"What kind of Magic Guide Spirit could possibly come from consuming an entire vial of 'Soul Powder' and a full seven points of [Lust]?"
The Basic Transmutation Method had an extremely low floor but a relatively high ceiling.
The chances of hitting that ceiling were vanishingly small — but there was always that one sliver of hope.
It was precisely that sliver of hope that had driven countless struggling Magic Guides to pour their meager resources, again and again, into a bottomless pit.
Had Dark not already developed his own method for synthesizing Magic Guide Spirits, he couldn't have been sure he'd be any different.
While these thoughts drifted through his mind, Dark pressed his hand against the glowing cocoon and naturally channeled a thread of magic power into it to sense what was within.
Several minutes later, he withdrew his hand and took the small mercury knife from the nearby shelf, carefully cutting the cocoon open.
As the first sliver of light broke through the slit, a spine-chilling, eerie coldness began to seep outward.
The hand Dark held the knife with paused for just an instant.
But he kept cutting.
When the cocoon was split fully in two, it suddenly dissolved — melting into a pool of black liquid.
Dark quickly grabbed a nearby towel and blocked the dark liquid before it could run off the edge of the table.
Only then did he look at the Magic Guide Card lying quietly on the table, its surface obscured by the black liquid.
From the edges of the contaminated card, stubborn threads of golden light continued to radiate — unmistakably the mark of a Gold Card!
...
Dark glanced at it once, then paid the golden light no further mind.
What others regarded as extraordinarily rare and precious, Gold Cards had simply become commonplace in his hands.
He was more or less used to it by now.
Of course, the appropriate excitement was still warranted — he simply kept it off his face.
Using tweezers to lift the Magic Guide Card and rinse it clean, Dark examined it closely at last.
His gaze landed first on the stars at the top of the card — three stars.
A rating far lower than he'd expected.
A vampire soul of at least seventh tier or higher, plus seven full points of [Lust] — and the result was merely a three-star card?
No one would believe it if he said so out loud.
But there it was, plain as day.
"Perhaps," he thought, "that's precisely the charm of the Basic Transmutation Method."
Dark gave a small sigh, then continued reading the card.
The spirit depicted on the card's surface was a cute little creature — completely at odds with the cold, eerie aura it had given off.
Dark had expected the source of that ominous energy to be some kind of vengeful specter, but instead it turned out to be a Misdreavus!
The word "Misdreavus" is essentially derived from "misery" and "devilry."
It's a Ghost-type Pokémon, but its appearance carries no trace of menace.
Roughly 0.7 meters tall, with a soft, round body — its overall dusky green coloring actually gave off a strangely warm impression.
Its eyes reflected red, and around its neck hung a conspicuous string of red beads.
Those beads, it was said, could absorb emotions of fear.
Misdreavus was said to creep up on people from behind in the dead of night, letting out a sobbing-like cry while using its red beads to absorb their fearful emotions, feeding on that terror as nourishment.
...
[Card Name: Misdreavus]
[Type: Spirit Card]
[Level: ???]
[Species: Undead Species]
[Attribute: Ghost-type]
[Magic Power: 1600]
[Attack: 1500]
[Defense: 800]
[Ultimate Moves: Dream Eater, Astonish, Psywave, Fear Gem]
...
From vampire to nightmare — what kind of transformation had taken place along the way?
Dark had no way of knowing.
But the fact that the synthesized Magic Guide Spirit had turned out not to be a vampire was actually something of a relief.
If a miniature Vlad had come crawling out, he honestly wouldn't have known what to do with it.
He thought back carefully over what he knew about Misdreavus — recalling only that it was a Ghost-type Pokémon with a somewhat mischievous temperament, capable of evolving into the more composed Mismagius.
"Since this Misdreavus was synthesized using [Lust] — could it be evolved through [Lust III]?"
The thought surfaced at once.
But he suppressed the urge to try it immediately and continued studying Misdreavus's panel data.
"Magic Power exceeding 1500 points, top-tier Attack — so its weakness is Defense? But as an Undead Species of the Ghost-type, it should have at least partial immunity to physical impacts."
"The key is the Ultimate Moves."
Dark channeled magic power in at once, and soon received the information feedback for all four Ultimate Moves.
"Dream Eater, Astonish, Psywave, Fear Gem?"
"What kind of skills are these?"
"And what in the world is 'Fear Gem'?"
The sudden flood of bewilderment left Dark momentarily dazed.
Setting aside 'Fear Gem' — which remained a complete mystery — the other three skills were none of them conventional offensive or defensive techniques in any standard sense.
Among them, 'Dream Eater' had decent power, but it wasn't a same-type move, and could only be used against targets in a 'sleep' state.
'Astonish' was exactly what it sounded like — an almost entirely damage-free technique that merely startled opponents into flinching.
And 'Psywave,' in the Pokémon games, was a move that raised accuracy.
Not useless, exactly — but hardly impressive.
Still, Dark steadied himself, and quickly talked himself into learning more.
He channeled magic power in further, and more information flooded his mind.
[Dream Eater: Misdreavus can invade the dreams of sleeping targets, consuming their dreams and converting them into its own magic power, inflicting severe psychic trauma in the process.]
[Astonish: By suddenly shrieking and similar means, it startles the target, making them more prone to feelings of fear.]
[Psywave: Uses psychic power to move objects.]
[Fear Gem: Absorbs emotions of fear and converts them into magic power stored within the Fear Gem. When necessary, the stored power can be released as a gem-like radiant beam of magical light for use in an attack.]
"Invade dreams, eat dreams, induce fear, move objects with the mind, absorb fear, convert to magic power, store magic power…"
"I see. A textbook nightmare-type skill set."
Dark fell into thought for a moment, a flash of understanding crossing his face.
The string of red beads hanging around Misdreavus's neck — those were what the skill called the 'Fear Gem.'
And this Ultimate Move seemed to be derived from the same principle as the 'Power Gem' move.
"Taken together, this entire suite of Ultimate Moves basically constitutes Misdreavus's biological needs."
"Since Magic Guide Spirits have no feeding or digestive function, it simply built itself a 'stomach.'
"Rather fascinating, really."
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