NOVEL WEB Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Dark Demon Knows Well the Art of Work and Rest
“Is it a demon race?”
Professor Shylph had somehow appeared beside Dark without him noticing. The unique fragrance of the elemental race wafted into his nose, causing an itch in his heart.
Dark took a slight breath and asked in puzzlement, “Professor, isn’t the era of demons already over? Why can I still summon a demon race?”
Professor Shylph explained in an extremely calm tone, “The familiars of the selection card are merely one type of golem, strictly speaking, they are alchemical products. Just like constructs, they are not real life forms.
The term ‘demon race’ is merely a classification of golems and does not mean it is truly a demon.
As a magus, you must learn to distinguish reality from illusion and explore truth, do not let appearances deceive your eyes.
As for why you summoned a demon race, this has to do with your mana, knowledge, and personality. Moreover, the technology of golem magic is not yet perfect; many things are still unexplained.”
The new students nodded their heads in partial understanding, not fully grasping the explanation.
Only Dark asked seriously, “Then, Professor, what is the name of my familiar?”
Professor Shylph said solemnly, “This will be your homework after class. Before the next summoning class begins, successfully summon your own familiar and find out its species, name, and characteristics. Write a report of about 300 words and submit it to me. Alright, Demon gets 5 points!”
With that, Professor Shylph moved on to another student.
Dark watched her back, wondering if she didn’t even know the name of the demon race?
After all, this thing was an imp beast!
It’s no surprise that “Duel! St. Maryan Super XX Academy” is a complete mashup, even borrowing from “Digital Monsters”!
Even though he knew this game was a hodgepodge, it shouldn’t have copied so directly.
Dark felt a headache coming on.
The imp beast seemed capable of evolving into a vampire monster.
There were too many branches and types of evolution in digital monsters, making it hard to remember.
However, familiars summoned by the selection card should be relatively low-level golems, mainly used for conveying messages or letters, replacing the role of owls.
According to magus theory, the intelligence level of familiars is rated at 2.5, slightly lower than typical beasts, harmless.
Dark played with the head of the imp beast, noticing its reactions were somewhat delayed, perhaps due to its recent birth?
The imp beast had a round body, bat-like wings, three-fingered claws, and a white skull emblem on its forehead, which looked rather cute despite its ugliness.
Most importantly, it could fly, making it a suitable familiar!
Dark quickly accepted the fact that he had summoned an imp beast, as the familiar of a demon god would naturally be a small demon.
…
Next, Dark started looking around.
Said nicely, it was observing classmates’ progress, but in truth, he was daydreaming!
Before he knew it, over an hour had passed in earnest learning. Without taking a break, wouldn’t he suffer?
An idea gradually formed in his mind.
Suddenly, he realized!
Being too engrossed in studies triggers the “greed” metric, so taking breaks in between would balance work and rest, perfectly resolving the issue.
Bingo!
Dark promptly suppressed any “pride,” preventing it from turning into arrogance.
Perhaps because of him, the new students became more proactive in learning summoning spells.
Finally, Miss Versatile completed her familiar summoning second!
…
Emma, upon successfully summoning her familiar, did not immediately observe its species but instinctively glanced at the far corner of the classroom.
Her gaze clearly carried a competitive edge, as if saying, “Look, I succeeded too!”
However, Dark’s gaze briefly touched hers before passing by, seemingly indifferent.
Emma turned back, somewhat displeased.
But the tiny familiar perched on her desk quickly brought a smile back to her face.
It was a small, snow-white otter.
From its bean-sized eyes to its short limbs, the timid posture of rubbing its cheeks and whimpering deeply touched the little girl’s heart!
…
“Indeed, an otter?”
Dark had anticipated this.
Otters are keen, curious, and naturally the guardian spirit of Miss Versatile in the original story.
Thus, it was the most likely choice.
“So, Robert’s familiar should be a hunting dog, and Wit’s familiar is a buck deer?”
Dark glanced over, only to see Robert and Wit scratching their heads in frustration. Their progress wasn’t going well.
In fact, the new students in the Noble Academy summoned familiars faster than those in the Knight Academy.
This was due to the advantage of pre-education.
“Wow!”
A surprised exclamation caught Dark’s attention.
He noticed Diana had also successfully summoned her familiar before class ended!
It was a round-headed iron-eating beast!
A panda, about the size of a stuffed toy, lay on the desktop, its eyes half-closed, appearing both foolish and cute.
“What a familiar that doesn’t suit her…”
Dark couldn’t help covering his eyes.
How could such a fool come from the Gretbail Family, known as the Kingdom’s bear?
Well…
Pandas are bears too!
Diana, however, was clearly very satisfied with her familiar, spinning it around excitedly until Professor Shylph gave her a stern look, making her stop abruptly.
Rose, who hadn’t managed to summon a familiar, grew increasingly anxious.
…
The second class of the morning was Mana Theory.
If summoning spells are the methods of using magic cards,
then Mana Theory is the foundational theory behind creating magic cards.
And the corresponding duel class is practical combat!
Students were forbidden from summoning familiars in the academy corridors, yet some still disobeyed, carrying their familiars everywhere.
Dark ignored them and headed straight to the Mana Theory classroom.
The break lasted thirty minutes. Lazy people wasted time, while diligent ones began reviewing.
To avoid being labeled “lazy,” Dark took out the Mana Theory textbook—Mana Basics 1—and flipped through it not too seriously.
Thus, when Emma Maltis hurried into the classroom, she saw someone diligently studying at the window seat in the last row.
This didn’t seem like something a student from the Noble Academy would do.
Usually, such a person should be in the Mana Academy instead!
Emma grumbled something similar as she found a seat in the front row and started reviewing her textbook.
Dark glanced at Emma in the front row, pondering whether there was a magic card that could alleviate his current predicament.
Not seeking to remove the demon god’s bloodline, just hoping to absorb some negative emotions or calm the mind.