MTL NOVEL Chapter 15
Chapter 15: Dark Demon’s Overflowing Pride
Dark glanced at the Mana Dropper in One-eyed Morgan’s hand and couldn’t help but frown. “Why does this Mana Dropper look so listless?”
One-eyed Morgan casually replied, “It has been stored for too long.”
He added, “Even if you had the money, you still couldn’t afford a good one.”
Such straightforward nonsense!
After a month of trials, Dark was no longer bothered by trivial matters. “Let me see it.”
One-eyed Morgan handed over the Mana Dropper.
Dark pinched the neck of the Mana Dropper and brought it close to his eyes for a closer look.
The Mana Brain inside the Mana Dropper had aged, and it didn’t seem like it was just due to being stored for a long time. He had studied it thoroughly before.
Mana Droppers were living beings, though their intelligence level was only 0.1, similar to amoebas. However, all life forms experience birth, aging, sickness, and death.
A Mana Dropper’s normal lifespan was ten years. In other words, this Mana Dropper might not have much time left!
He couldn’t help but ask, “How many years has it lived?”
Only then did One-eyed Morgan take Dark seriously and surprisingly gave an accurate number, “Eight years and six months.”
“Does it have a few more months left? It’s not entirely unacceptable.”
After some careful thought, Dark looked up and said, “Quote a price.”
One-eyed Morgan grinned, “That would be 1000 credits.”
In reality, even a Mana Dropper with only a year left would not be sold for just 1000 credits!
One-eyed Morgan quoted this price solely to prove that Dark couldn’t afford it!
In other words, he was trying to annoy him!
But Dark wasn’t aware of this. He thought it was a regular quote and even tried to haggle several times.
Seeing that One-eyed Morgan was firm on his price, Dark reluctantly said, “Fine, 1000 credits, wrap it up.”
One-eyed Morgan then suspiciously asked, “Pay first.”
Dark reached for his Selection Card and looked at him.
After some hesitation, One-eyed Morgan also took out the merchant card specifically prepared for merchants by St. Maryan.
Dark placed the Selection Card on top of the merchant card and with a mere thought, transferred 1000 credits from the Selection Card to One-eyed Morgan’s merchant card.
One-eyed Morgan picked up the merchant card and examined it closely, his gaze becoming increasingly strange.
He could not understand how a first-year student who had only been in school for less than a month managed to gather 1000 credits.
However, once the water was poured and the words were spoken, it was 1000 credits.
He hadn’t considered any tricks.
Then, he took an empty bottle from the cabinet, filled it with clear water, and placed the Mana Dropper inside, screwing on the cap before handing it to Dark.
“Take it.”
Dark blinked and took the bottle, turning to leave.
But as he reached the door, One-eyed Morgan called out behind him.
“Hold on, what’s your name?”
“Dark DiMont.”
…
For Dark, 1000 credits was quite a burden.
Since he planned to go to Traveler’s Street to buy what he needed, Dark had started purposefully accumulating credits.
As a first-year student, getting credits was incredibly easy for him.
Even a first-year student from the Mana Academy wouldn’t stand a chance against him when it came to credits!
His only competitor was Emma Maltis.
Every time the professor asked a question, Emma always rushed to answer.
Dark found this annoying and decided to get extra credits by helping the professor “grade assignments.”
Especially in Arithmetic Class, Professor Lily practically offered her lectern to him.
Thus, in the first month, he earned a total of 1200 credits!
Even someone as credit-rich as Emma couldn’t compare.
After spending 1000 credits, leaving him with 200, Dark went to a general store and bought a complete set of basic experimental tools.
And that concluded his trip to Traveler’s Street.
…
At three o’clock in the afternoon.
While most first-year students were still enjoying their time in Traveler’s Street, Dark had already returned to his dorm.
He needed to learn how to properly use the “Mana Dropper” before the weekend ended.
Prior to this, he had borrowed related books from the library and spent some time studying them.
The “Guide to Using Mana Droppers,” hidden on the twenty-third shelf, detailed almost all methods of using a Mana Dropper.
It included ways to extract specific memories and techniques to manipulate emotions, making them easier to absorb.
Using a Mana Dropper was extremely dangerous and required high-level mana manipulation skills and extensive knowledge.
A single mistake could result in permanent memory loss!
There was even a record of a very unlucky Magus who accidentally sucked out the “sorrow” emotion forever, unable to feel sadness ever again.
Among the safest and simplest methods was called the “蜻蜓点水法” or “Dragonfly Touch Method.”
In short, it involved pressing the tip of the Mana Dropper to the temple and gently squeezing the “Mana Brain” to absorb natural emotional outflows.
By avoiding deep contact with brain thoughts, the danger could be minimized!
This was precisely what Dark was planning to do!
This was likely his only viable method at the moment.
Placing the prepared instruments on the low cabinet beside his bed, Dark lay down and followed the book’s instructions to calm his mind.
Once his breathing stabilized, he could focus his energy and stimulate a specific emotion or desire through mental activity!
But he skipped this step,
Instead, he directly grabbed the Mana Dropper, pressed its tip to his temple, and gently squeezed the “Mana Brain” with his fingers before releasing it.
A thin black line was extracted from his brain!
“Expected result, no need to concentrate on stimulating emotions; my ‘pride’ has already leaked out.”
Dark thought silently, unsure whether he should be happy or not.
In any case, he definitely shouldn’t be angry!
“System, display indicators.”
[Yes.]
A moment later…
Seven indicators appeared in Dark’s vision.
[Pride: 112]
[Envy: 44]
[Wrath: 96]
[Sloth: 60]
[Greed: 82]
[Gluttony: 58]
[Bliss: 90]
Pride stood out prominently!
As more black lines were extracted, “Pride” finally decreased from 112 to 111!
“Chirp—”
The Mana Dropper suddenly let out a scream!
Dark quickly stopped pressing.
From the book, he knew that the Mana Dropper’s scream indicated that its Mana Brain capacity had reached its limit.
“In other words, it can barely contain a little bit of ‘pride.’”
Carefully sitting up, he got off the bed and approached the low cabinet, moving a half-finished blank Magus Card to the center.
These half-finished blank Magus Cards required high craftsmanship and were very time-consuming to make.
Therefore, most Magi chose to buy them directly from stores.
Blank Magus Cards in Traveler’s Street were priced at 10 credits each.
According to the exchange rate, they were more expensive than on the market.
This price difference attracted more traveling merchants to settle in Traveler’s Street.
Dark only bought five blank Magus Cards.
He pressed the tip of the Mana Dropper against the blank Magus Card and, ignoring the Mana Dropper’s screams, forcefully squeezed the “Mana Brain”!
“Chirp chirp chirp!”
The “pride” stored in the Mana Brain instantly sprayed onto the blank Magus Card!
The originally snow-white card face seemed to have a dark gold ink drop spread across it!