The spirit egg City Lord Montielfali had sent was a rare species discovered in a temple that enshrined the Sun God and the Moon God.
According to City Lord Montielfali's analysis, it had originally been a Fire Spirit egg that, in some extremely ancient era, had absorbed a trace of the Sun God's divine power, and then over the span of centuries had gradually transformed into this Flame Flame Sun Spirit egg.
Something similar applied to the Frost Moon Sprite, which was likely a mutated variant of an Ice Spirit as well.
Dark carefully set the Flame Flame Sun Spirit egg on the table and took a small breath.
Hatching a spirit egg required two conditions: a sufficiently precious treasure of the same attribute, and so-called fate.
Dark originally had a gemstone sealed with the blood of a Fire-attribute monster, but since this Flame Flame Sun Spirit egg carried the extra attribute of "Sun," the gemstone no longer seemed quite fitting.
Naturally, his thoughts turned to the one thing that matched the "Sun" attribute perfectly — "Pride"!
By now he had accumulated a full 17 points of "Pride"; another 13 would let him attempt the Forging of "Pride IV."
Even though he still had no real idea what the dedicated Forging circle for "Pride IV" would look like, he figured he should keep stockpiling for now.
That said, "Pride IV" was still a distant prospect. Skimming off a small amount for other uses wouldn't really hurt.
For the moment, though, activating this spirit egg wouldn't require touching those 17 points of "Pride" at all.
He still had three stems left over from the Fruit of Pride!
Mixed together and pressed into juice, these three stems from the Fruit of Pride could serve well enough.
Dark took the three stems out of their sealed bag one by one. He set aside the one stem that still carried a trace of the madness factor, then cut the other two into small pieces and placed them in a bowl.
"Shuckle, come here a moment."
Once everything was prepared, Dark called Shuckle over.
A "stem" wasn't the same as a "fruit," but since he wasn't after any extra bonus effect and just wanted the juice, Shuckle would do the job just fine.
Splurt—
Shuckle happily let Dark drop the stem pieces into its hole, and juice soon flowed out.
Dark collected the juice into a small beaker, then, after a moment's thought, simply dropped the Flame Flame Sun Spirit egg straight into the beaker full of juice.
"Now it's up to whether it wants to cooperate!"
Dark narrowed his eyes slightly, watching the spirit egg's reaction closely.
After a good while, the egg suddenly stirred, and the juice in the beaker began visibly shrinking.
A flicker of delight rose in Dark's chest.
"Seems like this juice suits its taste well enough."
Sure enough, it wasn't long before the beaker was drained down to the bottom, the fibrous juice absorbed completely.
The inside of the egg gave off a faint glow, as if conveying some kind of joyful emotion.
But after studying it for a long while, chin in hand, Dark found nothing more happened.
"Is the juice not enough?"
The stems from the Fruit of Pride were, after all, only leftovers — even two of them weren't really much.
As for the last one...
One Leomon incident had been enough. Dark had no desire to invite another unpredictable variable.
"Maybe I should try a bit of 'Pride'?"
After weighing it back and forth, Dark finally picked up the magic-brain dropper, pierced its tip through the membrane of the Thought Bottle, and drew out precisely 1 point's worth.
Then, aiming at the spirit egg in the beaker, he squeezed the "magic brain" of the dropper.
Squeak—
With a thin, high-pitched sound, the magic-brain dropper spat out that point of "Pride."
As the drop of higher-purity "Pride" fell, the egg suddenly leapt upward, catching it of its own accord.
The moment the drop of "Pride" touched the egg's surface, it was rapidly absorbed.
Almost the instant the "Pride" was fully absorbed, layers of cracks spread across the egg's surface, and a small spirit burst forth from the shell!
Dark blinked, caught somewhat off guard by the Flame Flame Sun Spirit's sudden hatching.
But he didn't freeze for long — in an instant his hand shot out and clamped down over the mouth of the Thought Bottle.
The Flame Flame Sun Spirit slammed headfirst into the back of his hand and bounced off with a boing.
"Cheeky little thing."
Dark couldn't help a laugh.
The Flame Flame Sun Spirit had clearly tasted "Pride" and hatched out because it couldn't resist.
But every drop of "Pride" was his hard-won effort — he wasn't about to let it get pilfered like that.
...
As he pondered this, a faint tug stirred in his chest, and his right hand rose unconsciously, palm turned upward.
The Flame Flame Sun Spirit drifted wobbly over and landed in his palm, giving off wisps of warmth.
Watching it roll around in his palm, he seemed to catch faint voices in his mind — something between flattery and pleading.
...
Dark glanced at the Thought Bottle; only 0.5 points of "Pride" remained inside, a thin film coating the bottom.
So he tilted the bottle's mouth slightly and let the Flame Flame Sun Spirit roll inside.
Slurp—
As if a tongue had darted out to lick it clean, the thin layer of "Pride" in the Thought Bottle vanished completely.
At that same moment.
Dark suddenly felt a faint itch between his brows and turned to glance at the mirror on the table.
A ring of sun-like markings had risen right through his skin!
"What is..."
Dark reached up to touch his forehead, an odd look crossing his eyes.
Even though he'd never actually witnessed one before,
he could tell at a glance what this obviously was — a "contract."
Because nothing had been given in exchange, only favor received,
spirit users usually called this kind of "contract" a "Favor."
Dark never imagined that a mere 1.5 points of "Pride" would be enough to win over this Flame Flame Sun Spirit — wasn't that a little too cheap?
As the saying goes, cheap goods are never good goods. Could this be some kind of defective product?
Unable to shake off a faint unease, Dark poured the Flame Flame Sun Spirit, still lingering in the Thought Bottle, out into his palm. The spirit nuzzled affectionately against his hand a couple of times, then drifted unsteadily upward, floating like a toddler taking its first steps, up to the top of his head, and burrowed into his hair.
Just as Dark thought the Flame Flame Sun Spirit would settle down peacefully in his hair, the wisp of the Blessing of the Wind Spirit — a gift from Professor Silf, also hidden in his hair — was suddenly driven out!
Though it wasn't a spirit itself, the Blessing of the Wind Spirit still carried a touch of sentience, and it actually knew to fly in front of Dark's face to complain.
Dark fell silent for a moment before trying, "How about moving somewhere else?"
The Blessing of the Wind Spirit wiggled a few times in front of him, seeming to finally understand, then circled his head twice before burrowing into his right ear.
Dark felt an immediate wave of discomfort.
But once he realized the Blessing of the Wind Spirit only meant to stay in the outer ear, he let it go.
"This works too. Keeps the dust out."
Then he suddenly mimed pulling a toothpick out of his right ear, chuckling to himself alone.
...
Winning the Flame Flame Sun Spirit's favor for so little cost was a completely unexpected delight.
The only thing was, once the Flame Flame Sun Spirit burrowed into his hair, it went still, as if it had fallen back asleep.
Dark wasn't in any hurry.
The path of a spirit user wasn't something achieved overnight either. To become a spirit user like Professor Silf, the road ahead was long.
...
Once things had settled, Dark spent some time organizing the assignments the Academy had left, then, filled with anticipation for the next day, climbed into bed.
"Here we go!"
...
June 11th.
Monday...
Yesterday's downpour had left the morning dew unusually rich, glittering droplets reflecting miniature images of the ducal estate.
Before the Magic Guide Spirits' lessons began, Dark rose early.
He changed into a set of pure white training clothes, drew a light breath of the five o'clock morning air, and slowly recalled the feeling of his old school days, then pushed open the door and stepped out.
By the time he reached Aurora's door, she happened to be stepping out as well.
The girl, dressed in pink training clothes with her long hair tied into a ponytail, had a faint rosy flush on her cheeks and carried a certain ethereal quality.
"Good morning."
After exchanging greetings, the two of them walked toward the training grounds together.
Waiting for them at the training grounds were Alvit, who'd risen even earlier, and Suna Montielfali, who'd said she was leaving but in fact never had.
These two comrades-in-arms, who'd known each other for many years, once again found themselves standing in the same training ground, though the old competitive spark between them was gone now.
Bearing half the bloodline of the "Sun-Chasing Giant," City Lord Montielfali had changed into a deep red training outfit she hadn't worn in ages; her frame, sturdier than an ordinary person's, gave her a distinctive, rugged beauty.
Beside her, the unadorned Alvit, though slightly shorter, was every bit as broad-hearted. Her golden hair, tied into a ponytail, hung loosely about, carrying a sense of easy, unrestrained grace beneath its warmth.
"Suna, have you taught Aurora how to use qi yet?" Alvit asked, though she already knew the answer.
A flash of pride crossed Suna's eyes. "Not yet. She was born with nine chakras — besides the crown, brow, throat, heart, navel, root, and Brahma-aperture chakras, she also has the Great Sun chakra and the Condensed Moon chakra."
"And she was born with six of them already open. Even among the giant race, that kind of talent comes along maybe once in ten thousand."
"I'd originally planned to wait until she turned fourteen, once her body was closer to full development, before teaching her to use qi. If I teach her now, I'm worried all nine chakras might open at once and stunt her growth."
"No wonder you two are cousins," Alvit said, a note of envy in her voice. "Looks like Aurora has innate divine strength, just like Diana. I looked into that child specifically too — she was also born with nine chakras and has six open. Of the extra two, one is the Condensed Moon chakra as well."
"Their bloodline really is formidable," Suna said with a nod. "I'd wager Diana's last chakra is the Giant Bear chakra, inherited from the Greatbear bloodline."
"That's probably it," Alvit said.
Suna asked, curious, "And your boy? Does he have any talent in this area?"
Alvit shook her head, a little regretful. "Average, I'd say."
"That doesn't seem right," Suna said, a look of puzzlement crossing her face. "He's your own child."
Alvit shook her head slightly. "I only gained this kind of talent myself after awakening my divine bloodline and becoming a Holy One. To pass the Holy One bloodline down to him, I even took a Golden Apple, but it doesn't seem to have worked."
"A Golden Apple?" Suna said, startled. "You were trying to conceive a natural-born Holy One?"
Alvit nodded. "My original intention was to bring another Holy One into the family line. But that was all in the past. From the moment he was born, I knew — Holy One or not — he'd already become the most precious thing in my life."
Suna nodded in sympathy, recalling, "I felt exactly the same way when Aurora was born."
A shift crossed Alvit's expression. "All right, we can talk about this later — they're here."
...
As Dark stepped into the indoor training ground, he saw Alvit and Suna standing together.
He couldn't help smiling and quickened his pace.
Aurora, seeing her mother there too, widened her eyes slightly.
Once all four had gathered,
Alvit finally spoke. "Good — no one's late. Do you know what I'll be teaching you starting today?"
Dark looked up. "The use of qi."
"That's right," Alvit said. "You two may both be exceptionally gifted future Magic Guide Masters, but even a Magic Guide Master, once their mana runs dry or they've got no usable Magic Guide Card left, can't escape the same weakness every spellcaster class shares."
"A real fight isn't a duel — it's a brawl. Every enemy will use every dirty trick available. True strength means being strong from every angle, with no blind spots."
Dark nodded, agreeing.
St. Marian was a Magic Guide academy; martial arts-related courses only appeared as electives, and weren't given much weight.
If he wanted to master this kind of skill, he couldn't rely entirely on the Academy.
Alvit hadn't become the "Valkyrie" merely by owning a high-grade "Armament Card."
Without the corresponding foundational strength and technique, even Transforming into armament would just amount to flailing wildly.
In fact, even without "Armament," she was every bit the true "Valkyrie"!
Getting personal instruction from the "Valkyrie" was something every warrior in the kingdom would only dream of.
And yet Dark had turned her down more than once...
Alvit continued, "Once you've mastered the use of qi, I'll teach you the full Forging method for the 'Armament Card.'"
Dark asked, curious, "The 99th Circle?"
Alvit shook her head. "No, still the [Tri-Armed Transmutation Circle]. The 99th Circle isn't something you're ready to master yet. Now — warm up first."
...
Speaking of "warming up," that naturally meant running laps.
As for any leg or foot stretching beforehand — that wasn't a concept that existed in Alvit's mind at all.
Luckily, Dark had always kept up his morning training routine, so at least he didn't collapse during the initial "warm-up."
But after running a full ten laps around the training ground, he was still drenched in sweat, gasping for breath.
Aurora, on the other hand, looked as though she'd simply taken a stroll — utterly unaffected. She carefully wiped the sweat from him with a damp cloth and handed him a cup of water.
Dark grabbed the cup and gulped down a mouthful, only for a sharp, spicy burn to shoot straight down his throat — his face instantly turning green.
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