NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 18
Chapter 18: Saint Maryan Gradually Eroded by Love
Knight Academy Common Room.
In this usually quieter room compared to the past, Wit and Robert were playing Mana Chess.
Mana Chess was a chess variant adapted from “Capsule Monster Chess,” with twenty-one pieces on each side. Each piece had corresponding attack, defense, and life values, as well as skills and the number of steps they could take per round.
By deploying pieces within their own territories and advancing one piece per round, they moved forward to capture the opponent’s pieces and ultimately conquer the fortress to win!
The new Mana Chess set that Wit and Robert had bought together with a joint debt of five credits featured miniature constructs as pieces, with an intelligence level of 0.5, capable of moving according to specific commands and performing rap, dance, and sing.
At that moment, Wit was commanding a mermaid piece to sing, listening in a daze.
Robert, on the other hand, was ordering a Medusa piece to dance, not having a particularly joyful time.
A short distance away, Emma Maltis looked coldly at them, inwardly sneering.
Two inferior students of Saint Maryann Academy, completely unaware that their good days were numbered!
…
Saint Maryan Outdoor Duel Arena.
A beautiful white dragon, as slender as if it could break through reproductive barriers, hovered in the air. Its snow-white scales shimmered with fine silver light under the sun, and intense rays of light were gathering on its jade-like antlers.
Pandora Dragon stood on the Competitors’ Platform, her languid posture seamlessly blending with the dragon. Leaning forward, she rested her elbows on the platform in front of her, her delicate hands supporting her chin as she watched her panicked classmate across from her with boredom.
Too simple.
Life had lost its fun because it was too smooth.
The only thing that could bring meaning to life was looking at cute, innocent, and shy little boys.
Pandora lowered her head, fiddling with her nails, which were narrower, longer, and sharper than those of a normal human. She couldn’t help but smile foolishly.
When she looked up again, her classmate had completely broken down.
In the Spectator Area, fans from all walks of life cheered her name, and large banners displayed words that were incredibly shameless.
As Pandora descended from the Competitors’ Platform, she waved towards the loudest cheers, instantly elevating the atmosphere by another three points.
She smiled seductively.
…
This was Mana Academy’s fourth-year student, the Silver Dragon Lady, Pandora Dragon, a highly popular duelist with countless fans!
…
Traveler’s Street…
Rose, exhausted after being dragged around by Diana for snacks all afternoon, leaned against a chair in an ice cream shop. She lowered her head and touched her slightly protruding belly, unable to hide a bitter smile.
“Rose, you need to learn to say no!”
But, how sweet!
…
Such is youth, beautiful and full of promise. Everyone moves forward at their own pace.
A card game called “Love Divination” quietly became popular.
Diana played with a cherry blossom card given as a freebie in a candy store, suddenly shaking it vigorously so that the cherry blossoms on the card fluttered out.
They truly flew off the card!
Pink and white cherry blossoms danced in the air, and the fragrance spread.
Once the cherry blossoms scattered and naturally dissipated, the face of the person most on one’s mind would appear on the card.
“Diana, did you get a divination?”
Rose struggled to straighten her body, trying to peek.
Diana brushed away the petals on the card and saw a person appear on the “Love Divination Card.” Her fair cheeks flushed with a cute blush.
She quickly raised her chubby little hand to cover the card.
Then she frowned at Rose, “Let me see yours first!”
Rose leaned back, looking troubled, “I said there isn’t any. Oh right, someone told me yesterday that if you hold strong feelings after divining your lover, and input mana into the card, you can divine who they like. Do you want to try?”
“No!”
Diana shook her head forcefully, but her fingertips secretly started to gather mana.
Peeking through her fingers, her face paled. It wasn’t herself!
…
Returning to the library, Pandora touched the golden-haired boy on the “Love Divination Card,” seriously considering the possibility of marrying a wealthy man when she gets older.
…
Emma Maltis took a book from the corner of the table, opened it carefully, and glanced at a lily card used as a bookmark for the “Love Divination Card,” which remained unused.
Next to them, a corner of a flower card peeked out from Wit Gold’s textbook.
…
Dark carefully flipped through “Mana Fundamentals 2” in the Library Reading Room.
The library did not have textbooks, and this second-year Mana Theory textbook he borrowed from Miss Bela, the librarian, was an old textbook left behind by a former student.
Unlike Harry Potter’s “Advanced Potion-Making,” which was a precious collection attributed to the Half-Blood Prince, this “Mana Fundamentals 2” was just an ordinary textbook with classroom notes.
However, these notes still helped Dark understand some of the stiffer knowledge in the book more easily.
Starting from the second year, the difficulty of courses at Saint Maryan Academy would see a qualitative leap.
If the first year was just an introduction, then the second year was direct research!
This gap was so large that first-year students who weren’t diligent enough would instantly fall behind and be trapped in endless remedial classes!
Even Dark found it quite challenging.
But fortunately, his writing skills were indeed excellent. With the notes, he could gradually understand the material.
Soon, he found the chapter on “Crafting Precise Emotion Cards.”
The knowledge in the first-year textbook only covered how to make “Simple Emotion Cards.”
To improve “Arrogance I,” one must learn more complex and advanced crafting methods!
“So it turns out that the 7th Engraving Array can only be considered a replication array, imprinting the power of emotions onto the Mana Card.”
“To refine emotions precisely, one needs the 13th Engraving Array.”
“To enhance effects, one needs the 9th Engraving Array.”
“To prevent energy loss, one needs the 18th Engraving Array.”
“To allow repeated use, one needs the 21st, 33rd, and 34th Engraving Arrays!”
“I never expected such depth in a small emotion card.”
Dark took a slight breath.
Besides the engraving arrays, refining emotion cards also required auxiliary materials.
He glanced at his nearly depleted credits and thought that applying to the Mana Theory professor for temporary access to the lab might be a better idea.
After all, who doesn’t love a freebie?