[Image: Basilisk]
Shattered stone shells and stone powder scattered all over the ground.
Professor Nini's innocent little expression.
All of this finally caused the tension filling the classroom to ease slightly.
The students in the front row quieted down, observing the Basilisk held in Professor Nini's hand with caution. Although they still had lingering fears, the excessive panic from the beginning was gone.
The Basilisk was slightly different from the Soul-Sucker.
They were both dangerous monsters commonly found in the dungeon.
But the fame of the Basilisk far exceeded that of the Soul-Sucker.
It looked like a monster spliced together from a rooster and a snake, and there were legends that it could turn enemies into stone just by looking at them.
The incident that had just occurred proved the authenticity of that legend.
It was just that Professor Nini, who possessed the bloodline of a Behemoth, seemed to have extremely strong resistance to that petrification ray, almost completely exempting her from the petrification judgment.
This slightly weakened the students' fear of the Basilisk.
But many people subconsciously ignored a fact.
Professor Nini being immune to petrification did not mean that they could also be immune to petrification!
Fortunately, Professor Nini didn't forget to tie that strip of cloth back on...
"Alright everyone, sit back in your seats. I think since Professor Nini brought such a dangerous monster into the classroom, she should have already prepared the corresponding countermeasures. For example, a [Petrification Removal Potion]?"
Dark's calm and clear voice came from the back row.
The students' emotions finally settled.
Emma Metis looked up at Professor Nini and asked cautiously, "Professor Nini, is that the case?"
Professor Nini on the podium seemed to only remember this now.
She hurriedly tossed the Basilisk aside, reached her spare large hand into her "little schoolbag," and took out a large jar.
The large glass jar was filled with a dark green unidentified liquid.
It didn't look like a proper [Petrification Removal Potion]...
But Professor Nini shook the jar and tried to speak loudly: "This is the saliva of a Lime Toad, the nemesis of the Basilisk. Just one drop of this saliva can create a liter of potion capable of lifting the petrification caused by a Basilisk."
"Phew~"
Although that dark green saliva looked really unreliable and a bit disgusting, it was at least a specific antidote for the Basilisk.
Emma breathed a slight sigh of relief and was the first to lead her two deskmates back to their seats.
With her taking the lead, the boys and girls of the Knight House also began to move one after another.
The students from the other houses also returned to their seats after only a moment.
The entire classroom finally regained some order.
Dark, in the back row, also sat back down.
During the last two classes, he had realized that although Professor Nini looked a bit simple-minded, she would do her best to make the necessary preparations.
Looking at it now, it was indeed so.
With the specific antidote, petrification was no longer such a terrifying thing.
Myths and legends always described "petrification" as something unsolvable and terrifying, the most famous being the legend of Medusa, but in fact, during the long war against the Demon race, humanity had long invented methods to counter petrification.
Watching the students take their seats again, Professor Nini couldn't help but reveal a look of gratitude toward Dark. Then, with the Basilisk in one hand and the toad saliva in the other, she walked behind the lectern and resumed the lecture.
"Actually, the Basilisk is not such a terrifying monster. Apart from possessing the petrification ray that can turn people into stone, it only has the combat power of one large rooster and half a snake."
"Moreover, the rooster-like rear half makes the Basilisk lose some of the characteristics of a snake; its danger level is not even as high as a snake!"
"Many monsters in the dungeon are like this. Their danger is built upon the unknown. Once you understand them sufficiently and make perfect preparations before contacting them, you can greatly reduce the danger, and even convert it into profit during dungeon adventures."
"Take this Basilisk for example. It not only possesses a rooster's body but also a snake's body. This implies... can anyone tell me what this implies?"
As Professor Nini spoke, she seemed to suddenly realize she needed to interact with the students, so she stopped abruptly at a certain point.
Then she looked eagerly at the audience, hoping a student would raise their hand to answer the question.
But this question seemed a bit too advanced; even the students of the Magic House didn't know how to answer.
After a long while.
A Magic House girl who couldn't bear it raised her hand cautiously.
Professor Nini's eyes lit up, and she hurriedly called her up.
The girl whispered, "Since we are talking about profit, a Basilisk with the body of a snake and a rooster implies that one can collect body materials from both a snake and a rooster simultaneously..."
She was still worrying whether her words were too nonsensical when Professor Nini nodded vigorously. "Exactly. This implies that you can eat both chicken meat and snake meat!"
The girl instantly froze in place.
Professor Nini, however, had already continued speaking with the flow:
"In the dungeon, if you want to adventure deep inside for a long time, learning to find food is a very important matter."
"I remember that among the homework you handed in, someone mentioned the Vine Monster. The Vine Monster's blood can not only be used to quench thirst in an emergency, but its meat is soft and delicate, edible as long as it's boiled. Although the taste is a bit bland, if paired with seasoning..."
"There were also students who mentioned the Mushroom Bear. The Mushroom Bear's mushrooms are edible fungi, and they are very large with sufficient portions!"
"Similarly, the Basilisk is also an edible species!"
"As long as you remove the head and tail, the Basilisk will be a delicacy far superior to the Vine Monster and the Mushroom Bear!"
"By the way, although they look more like chickens, they are actually snakes. The part belonging to the snake is the head, and the part belonging to the rooster is the tail."
"Mm, the content of today's lesson, besides introducing the Basilisk to everyone, also includes a petrification experience..."
"I wonder if anyone wants to try it?"
"Rest assured, as long as the petrification is lifted within fifteen minutes, there won't be any aftereffects!"
After speaking, she looked earnestly at the audience again.
But this time was completely different from the last.
All the students averted their gazes.
No one responded to her out of sympathy anymore.
Good heavens!
The Soul-Sucker's soul-sucking experience was one thing; after all, that was truly necessary.
What the hell is this petrification experience?
After experiencing it once, could one possibly gain immunity to petrification?
Are you kidding? Not everyone is a Behemoth!
The herd immunity strategy doesn't work here!
Facing mass rejection, Professor Nini cast pleading glances at Emma, then at Dark.
But this time, Emma turned her head directly, expressing rejection without mercy.
Professor Nini could only look toward the blond boy in the corner of the last row again.
Dark took a deep breath, feeling that leaving things in this stalemate wasn't good, so he stood up and said, "Professor Nini, the petrification experience really isn't necessary. If we encounter it suddenly, it's hard for us to take out the potion before completely turning into stone. If we are on guard, as long as we cover our bodies with inorganic matter, we don't have to worry about being petrified. The best way to deal with a Basilisk is to have companions by your side."
Professor Nini looked curious. "What is a 'no-chicken matter'?"
Dark: "A chicken that contains no chicken element."
Professor Nini: "?"
Dark: "Just a joke. Anyway, rather than conducting a petrification experience in class, why not explain which parts of the Basilisk are the most delicious?"
An explanation in this regard would not only have practical value.
It could also dilute the students' fear of the Basilisk.
In the dungeon, composure and calmness are more important than anything else.
Afterwards.
Professor Nini listened to Dark's opinion and performed a live dissection of the Basilisk.
That scene...
Better left unmentioned!
It wasn't until the latter half of the class, when Professor Nini enthusiastically succeeded in roasting the Basilisk meat, that the students stopped feeling so nauseous.
So, who was it that chose the Basilisk as the topic for the last class's homework?
Virt Gold applies for exemption from liability!
The homework for this Magical Beast class was to write a short essay related to the Basilisk.
After assigning the homework, Professor Nini couldn't wait to slip away with the roast meat.
The saliva dripping from the corner of her mouth had already exposed the truest desire in her heart.
"Eh, Diana wants to taste it too!"
Diana watched the roast Basilisk meat disappear at the classroom door, unable to help revealing a dejected expression.
"Then let's eat chicken this noon," Dark said casually.
Diana nodded vigorously. "Let's eat chicken then!"
At the canteen that noon, chicken was sold out.
In short, today's Magical Beast class was also very interesting.
The initial fright had instead become a topic of conversation after the meal.
Especially the dissection and cooking in class; it was probably content the little Magisters had never imagined.
They ate the chicken with relish, feeling a sense of anticipation for next week's Magical Beast Studies again.
Shortly after the meal, the passage to Traveler Street finally opened.
Dark had long been waiting for this moment, so just past twelve o'clock, he had already entered Traveler Street with the flow of people.
His goal, of course, was to purchase more basic materials for refining the [Ultimate Move Card]!
Regarding the refining of [Ultimate Move · Milk Drink], Dark already had quite a few insights; he only needed a large number of experiments to approach perfection.
As for the refining of [Ultimate Move · Transform], given the premise that only one Magic Beast hair remained, it could only be temporarily shelved.
One Magic Beast hair was worth 1000 credits; that was truly a bit expensive.
Even he couldn't quite afford the burden.
His current plan was to challenge [Ultimate Move · Transform] only after improving his proficiency by refining [Ultimate Move · Milk Drink] multiple times!
But as soon as he entered Traveler Street today, a sour and rotten stench assaulted his face.
Traveler Street, which was perfectly fine last week, had suddenly turned into a pink hell this week!
Whether it was the pink ribbons tied all over the eaves, the various pink panels spread out at the store entrances, or the hearts scattered all over Traveler Street...
They all seemed to be declaring the impending arrival of a certain important holiday.
Only then did Dark suddenly realize that there was only... wait, isn't there still nearly a month left until Valentine's Day on February 14th???
"Isn't the desire of these shops to harvest leeks a bit too urgent?"
Dark couldn't help but mutter a sentence, and then he saw two familiar figures slipping into the Chocolate Workshop!
Outside that Chocolate Workshop, it was clearly written in exaggerated font: "Quickly learn how to make chocolate, two-day crash course, guaranteed mastery!"
Clearly, the classrooms hadn't revealed any atmosphere related to it, but the first-year students, who were gradually becoming sensitive to this, had already secretly begun their armed preparations.
A war without smoke had already revealed its hideous features.
Children's growth is rapid.
The Halloween dance.
The Christmas dance.
Enough to teach them what a "single dog" is.
Since they didn't catch the wind of the Halloween dance, nor grab the tail of the Christmas dance, they couldn't show cowardice on Valentine's Day.
Moreover, Valentine's Day has a very good custom—it doesn't require worrying about whether there is a response!
The corresponding White Day is separated from Valentine's Day by a full month.
People give gifts on Valentine's Day and receive return gifts on White Day.
There is a full month interval in between.
Even if one doesn't receive a return gift in the end, it's not likely to be remembered by others.
So there won't be any loss of face.
As for those who can't think it through and want to confess publicly on Valentine's Day, one can only wish them a social death on the spot.
Dark had always held no good feelings toward this so-called Valentine's Day.
Chocolate, roses, and a sense of ritual.
Exhausting in every aspect.
Two parallel lines are forcibly twisted to cross together, but eventually, they will drift further and further apart.
Too deliberate!
Unfortunately, life is full of deliberateness everywhere.
If one cannot transcend it, one can only compromise.
Time quietly erodes; the road is obstructed and long.
One still has to learn to accept.
For this year's Valentine's Day, I'm afraid I'll have to clear out a cabinet.
[Image: Dark]
Walking on the street full of ribbons and hearts, Dark skillfully purchased various materials and actually received some free gifts of letter paper and small cards.
Before dinner, Dark returned to the dormitory with bags big and small.
Then eating, resting, all in one go.
Once he had built up enough energy, he took a sip of Shuckle brand apple juice and began the experiment.
The refining experiment for [Ultimate Move · Milk Drink] was already at a relatively perfect stage.
After an interval of these few days, he suddenly had some new insights into some of the details.
Restarting the experiment at this time, he was even more adept.
The refining of the first [Ultimate Move · Milk Drink] tonight took only half an hour, and the completion rate was stronger than before.
But he didn't rashly fast-forward. Instead, after refining this one, he compared it with the previously recorded experimental data, found the differences, and then distinguished the parts belonging to optimization from them, recording them down.
For experiments like this that require multiple repetitions for optimization, data recording is very important.
In the subsequent experiments, he further made up for the deficiencies and sought better solutions on the basis of retaining the optimized parts.
If it failed, he would reflect on the comparison and correct it.
If it succeeded, he would extract from the comparison and continue to optimize.
Overall, the progress of the experiment was moving upward, with each card having a higher completion rate than the last.
Although he couldn't achieve the ultimate perfection on Friday night.
But there were still Saturday and Sunday coming up.
Investing financial resources, material resources, and energy would always yield results!
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