MTL NOVEL Chapter 14
Chapter 14: Emma Maltis Wants to Try Changing
The same lake, the same Lotus Pavilion.
But after leaving the Lotus Pavilion and crossing through the garden-style bridge, it was like stepping into a completely new world.
What greeted them was…
Well, it was the air of freedom! o（?≧≦）ツ┏-┓
The students no longer needed to adhere to the outdated school rules; a series of transformational magic cards could allow one to become vibrant and colorful.
“Get lost, school uniform!”
Dark even saw a usually serious senior girl let out a scream.
Her uniform, which covered every important part of her body, instantly turned into a large-shouldered and low-cut puffy-sleeved lace black dress.
Another senior with a watermelon hairdo, who seemed honest and simple, transformed from a watermelon hairstyle to a slicked-back look by simply running a magic card through his hair.
His school uniform also changed into a suit that accentuated his figure.
And the magic card in his hand turned into a bright red rose.
He tucked the red rose into his chest pocket and walked with a confident stride, completely unrecognizable from before.
Transformation, play, dating, shopping, drinking, singing and dancing…
Traveler’s Street was like a fairyland completely opposite to Saint Maryan, offering everything Saint Maryan didn’t have!
And to fully enjoy these, one only needed a little bit of credits!
…
Although the Academy Cup is held every academic year, indeed no one would start to be frugal at the beginning of the term just for the competition at the end of the semester.
Moreover, there is a saying within Saint Maryan that isn’t quite applicable to everyone: the more you use, the more you earn!
But because there were a few role models, many people habitually used this as an excuse to justify their spending.
Of course, there were those who couldn’t even afford to spend freely!
…
When Dark took a small detour in Traveler’s Street and met Wit and Robert again, they were dejectedly leaving a toy store.
Clearly, their nearly depleted credits weren’t enough to buy the toys they wanted.
Dark didn’t have much time to care about others, so he only glanced at them and left quickly.
Thus, he didn’t see another credit大户—Emma Maltis—being harassed by two underachievers as she happened to pass by.
…
Emma originally came to Traveler’s Street to find some miscellaneous books not available in the academy library, but she suddenly noticed Dark seemingly searching for something and subconsciously followed him.
As a result, she fell into the entanglement of Wit and Robert.
Enraged, Emma snapped, “So your lack of credits isn’t your own problem? Even normal people should have 480 credits without any additional points. What about you?”
Wit awkwardly said, “I have… 250…”
Robert blushed, “Emma, we just want to borrow five credits from you! It’s easy for you, right? We’ll return it on Monday when classes resume!”
Wit glanced at the new magic chess set displayed in the store and couldn’t help but say, “Just five more points!”
Emma looked at this classmate known as the “Hero’s Child” and suddenly felt somewhat pitiful.
Then, a thought surfaced.
Her brows furrowed, and she suddenly said seriously, “I can lend you the credits, but you must repay double. And for each day you delay, you owe me double the credits!
The second day is twice the first, the third day is twice the second, and so on. I only accept full payment once. If you agree, I will lend you the credits, with the Selection Card as proof!”
Robert immediately agreed without hesitation, “Tomorrow I’ll pay you ten, the next day twenty, and by Monday forty, which is just two lessons for each of us. No problem!”
Although Wit felt something was off, his eagerness to buy the magic chess set made him unconsciously overlook this oddity.
With the Selection Card as proof, the two signed the contract and immediately rushed into the toy store to purchase the latest magic chess set that could sing, dance, and rap!
…
At the same time.
After wandering around for a long time, Dark finally found a shop specializing in magic instruments—the Morgan Store.
Traveler’s Street was filled with various general stores where cheap items could be bought at any store.
But the “Mana Dropper” was a highly specialized alchemical tool, very expensive, and could only be purchased in specialized shops.
Dark searched for a while and finally found Morgan Store between two accessory shops.
He pushed open the old wooden door and immediately smelled a musty, decaying odor.
“Don’t touch anything, little guy. You won’t be able to afford to replace what you break.”
The one-eyed Morgan behind the counter only pushed up his eye patch and knew Dark must be a new student.
How many credits could a new student earn in a month?
Morgan knew this too well.
He bluntly dismissed Dark, “The cheapest thing in our store costs over a thousand credits. This is beyond what a new student can afford.”
Dark glanced at the test tube set on the shelf and suddenly asked, “A set of test tubes costs a thousand credits?”
“…”
One-eyed Morgan was genuinely stumped and finally said angrily, “Why shouldn’t this set of constant temperature magic test tubes be worth a thousand credits?”
Dark: “And this beaker, this flask, this evaporating dish?”
One-eyed Morgan slammed the table and stood up, “What’s it to you!”
Dark shook his head, realizing the boss had a bad temper and was a bit childish, possibly coinciding with the days of the month.
He didn’t argue further with One-eyed Morgan and started looking at the shelves instead.
There were test tubes and beakers, so there must be a pipette, right?
“Flame crucible, demon spirit alcohol lamp, mana separator… versatile glass rod, mana dropper…”
This mana dropper was probably a lower-grade version of the mana brain dropper, capable of absorbing only a bit of mana.
A pipette is a short tube with a narrowed end and a rubber bulb on the other end, used to measure liquid by drops.
In magic card crafting techniques, it is often used to absorb mana, knowledge, thoughts… and even souls!
It is rumored that some magi could infuse their souls into magic cards to create intelligent level 3.0 magic golems!
The mana brain dropper Dark wanted was one grade lower than the soul-sucking dropper.
It wasn’t an extremely rare item.
But it was indeed not on the shelf!
He had to walk to the counter and wake up the embarrassed One-eyed Morgan who was pretending to sleep.
“Hello, sir. Do you have a mana brain dropper?”
One-eyed Morgan didn’t even look up, “What does a new student like you need that for?”
Dark maintained necessary politeness, “For experiments.”
One-eyed Morgan looked up, his gaze strange, but still said, “Wait here, I’ll check inside.”
A moment later, he really brought out a mana brain dropper, though its condition wasn’t great.