The dark-gold ink rippled outward in rings.
In seconds, the entire card was dyed into a thick, uniform shade of molten dusk.
The moment the color stabilized, Darc picked up his mana pen and began drawing Transmutation Array No. 7 on the card's face.
This was the standard beginner method for emotion-type magic cards—used to produce cards such as Sorrow, Joy, Rage, and so on.
Among nobles, Joy Cards were especially popular. After a long, exhausting day, one card was enough to wash away all worries and prepare them enthusiastically for… the next exhausting day.
In duels, skilled magisters used emotion cards to stir their own spirits into heightened states—or to destabilize an opponent's spirits and create openings.
Because the method was simple, this was the first-month assignment for all freshmen.
Darc happened to be the fastest and most precise at drawing arrays. For a time, classmates had nicknamed him "Hawk Hands."
The mana pen itself was hollow inside, constructed like blood vessels. Mercury flowed through its inner channels, guiding mana to the tip so the user could draw finer, more stable lines.
A veteran mage didn't need it.
A beginner absolutely did.
Fast. Steady. Accurate.
Darc completed the array in seven seconds.
The final stroke closed the loop.
The instant the array completed, the card burst into brilliant white light—
Which quickly shifted into the card's dark-gold hue.
Darc stared, tense.
The final stage of card forging was like closing a pot and waiting for the dish to cook. Until you lifted the lid, you had no idea what you had made.
This was the first magic card Darc had ever crafted by hand.
If successful, it proved something vital:
The Seven Sins could be converted into power.
Magic, at its core, was mental.
Knowledge. Emotion. Thought. Creativity.
All were sources of power.
Why not Sin?
…
A few seconds later, the array sank into the card, passing through to the back.
The fusion was complete.
Time to test it.
And Darc was absolutely not testing this on himself.
His gaze shifted upward—
To the little Impmon hanging upside down from the bird perch on the ceiling, imitating an owl.
Darc smiled kindly.
…
Familiars were artificial lifeforms, yes. But with intelligence level 2.5, they had emotions and basic self-awareness.
Which meant emotion-type cards worked on them.
Darc beckoned.
Impmon tilted its head and fluttered down.
Darc clipped a small leg-chain to its ankle ring, secured the windows, drew the curtains tight.
A perfect sealed room.
Impmon looked pitiful.
Darc noted the time.
"3:29 PM. One more minute."
At exactly 3:30—
"My turn. Magic Summon."
He activated the Pride Card.
A dark-gold light sphere shot from the card and drilled into Impmon's head.
Silence.
Time seemed frozen.
Impmon opened its eyes.
Dark-gold light shone from within.
Its lips curled upward. Chin lifted.
And then—
"I, Impmon, shall stand above the heavens!"
…
Darc froze.
Then nearly exploded with joy.
Whether the Pride card made Impmon arrogant no longer mattered.
It spoke.
Clearly. Fluently.
Originally, this familiar couldn't talk. Intelligence barely above an animal.
Now?
It spoke like a person.
"Does this mean its lifeform has changed… becoming closer to an actual Digimon?"
Professor Sylph had said familiars were influenced by the mage's mana, knowledge, and personality.
Perhaps the Impmon he summoned wasn't the same species as ordinary familiars.
Perhaps—
Merlin once said:
Differences in cognition create differences in magic.
Darc looked at the Pride Card.
Cracks had already formed across its surface.
Emotion cards were reusable.
This one wasn't.
This had gone beyond emotion.
This was closer to…
Demonization.
Just like beasts that lost their minds after being demonized—
Impmon was now Pride-ized.
He labeled the card in his notes:
Pride-1
Then began observing how long the effect would last.
…
Impmon tugged at its chain and shouted:
"Servant! Release these shackles at once! Kneel!"
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