Dark glanced at the Magic Brain Dropper in One-eyed Morgan's hand and frowned, "Why does this Magic Brain Dropper look so sickly?"
One-eyed Morgan casually replied, "It's been sitting for a long time, that's why."
Then he added, "You can't afford a good one anyway."
Such unpleasant words!
After a month of honing, Dark no longer gets upset over such trivial matters: "Let me take a look."
One-eyed Morgan handed the Magic Brain Dropper over.
Dark pinched the sides of the dropper's neck and brought it up to his eyes for a closer look.
The Magic Brain inside this dropper had aged; it didn't seem like it was just "sitting for a long time."
He had studied this item carefully before.
The Magic Brain Dropper is a living thing, though its intelligence level is only 0, similar to a paramecium, but as long as it's alive, it has a life cycle.
The normal lifespan of a Magic Brain Dropper is 10 years, which means this one might not have much time left!
He couldn't help but ask, "How many years has it lived?"
Only then did One-eyed Morgan give Dark a proper look and, surprisingly, provided a precise number: "Eight years and six months."
"About a year left? That's not unacceptable."
Dark thought for a moment and said, "Name your price."
One-eyed Morgan grinned, "A bargain, 1000 credits."
In reality, an alchemical tool like a Magic Brain Dropper, even with only a year left, can't be bought for just 1000 credits!
One-eyed Morgan quoted this price simply to prove that Dark couldn't afford 1000 credits!
In other words, just to annoy him!
But Dark didn't know this; he thought it was a normal price and even tried to haggle a few times.
Seeing that One-eyed Morgan wouldn't budge, Dark reluctantly said, "1000 it is, wrap it up."
One-eyed Morgan skeptically said, "Pay first."
Dark reached for his House Card and looked at him.
One-eyed Morgan hesitated for a moment and also took out the Merchant Card specially prepared by St. Marian for merchants.
Dark placed his House Card on top of the Merchant Card, and with a thought, transferred 1000 credits from his House Card to One-eyed Morgan's Merchant Card.
One-eyed Morgan picked up the Merchant Card and examined it closely, his gaze growing more peculiar.
He couldn't fathom how a freshman, less than a month into the school year, managed to gather a full 1000 credits.
But once the water is poured and the words are spoken, 1000 it is.
He had no intention of reneging.
Then he took an empty bottle from the cabinet, filled it with water, placed the Magic Brain Dropper inside, screwed on the cap, and handed it to Dark.
"Here you go."
Dark blinked, took the bottle, and turned to leave.
But just as he reached the door, One-eyed Morgan's voice came from behind.
"Wait, what's your name?"
"Dark Demon."
...
1000 credits were also a significant burden for Dark.
Since planning to come to Traveler's Street to purchase the necessary items, Dark had been purposefully accumulating credits.
In the first year, earning credits was incredibly easy for him.
Even the freshmen from the Mage House couldn't take a single credit from him!
His only competitor was Emma Mortis.
Every time a professor asked a question, Emma would rush to answer.
Dark found this annoying and switched tactics, earning extra credits by helping professors "grade assignments."
Especially in arithmetic class, Professor Lily almost wanted to give him the podium.
So he earned a total of 1200 credits in the first month!
Even Emma, also a credit-rich student, couldn't compare to him.
After spending 1000 credits, Dark, with 200 credits left, went to a general store to buy a complete set of basic experimental tools.
And thus, his trip to Traveler's Street came to an end.
...
At 3 PM.
While most freshmen were still lingering on Traveler's Street, Dark had already returned to his dormitory.
He needed to learn how to properly use the [Magic Brain Dropper] before the weekend ended.
Before this, he had borrowed related books from the library and studied them for a while.
The "Magic Brain Dropper Usage Guide," hidden on the 23rd shelf, detailed almost all the methods of using a Magic Brain Dropper.
It included not only how to extract specific memories but also how to manipulate emotions to make them easier to absorb.
Using a Magic Brain Dropper is very dangerous, requiring extremely high magical operation skills and more than necessary knowledge.
If mishandled, it could permanently extract parts of memory, directly causing amnesia!
Historically, there was even an unfortunate magician who accidentally extracted the "sorrow" from "joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness," never to feel sadness again.
Among them, the safest and simplest method is called the "Dragonfly Touch Method."
In short, it involves placing the tip of the Magic Brain Dropper against the temple, then gently squeezing the "Magic Brain" that replaces the rubber bulb to absorb naturally overflowing emotions, desires, etc., into the "Magic Brain."
As long as it doesn't deeply contact the brain's thoughts, the risk can be minimized!
This is the method Dark intends to use!
It's probably the only method he can use at the moment.
Placing the prepared other instruments on the bedside cabinet, Dark lay down, first calming himself as taught in the book.
Once his breathing was steady, he could focus and stimulate a specific emotion or desire through mental activity!
But he skipped this step,
Instead, he directly picked up the Magic Brain Dropper, placed the tip against his temple, and gently squeezed and released the fingers on the Magic Brain.
A thin black line was thus extracted from his brain!
"As expected, there's no need to focus on stimulating emotions; my [Arrogance] has already leaked."
Dark thought silently, unsure whether to be happy or not.
In any case, he certainly couldn't be angry!
"System, display the indicators."
[Yes.]
Moments later.
Seven indicators appeared in Dark's vision.
[Arrogance: 2]
[Envy: 44]
[Wrath: 96]
[Sloth: 60]
[Greed: 82]
[Gluttony: 58]
[Lust: 90]
Arrogance stood out!
As one thin black line after another was absorbed, [Arrogance] finally changed from 2 to 1!
"Yikes—"
The Magic Brain Dropper suddenly screamed!
Dark quickly stopped squeezing.
He had read in the book that the scream of a Magic Brain Dropper meant its Magic Brain capacity had reached its limit.
"In other words, it can just about hold one point of [Arrogance]."
He carefully sat up, got out of bed, and went to the bedside cabinet, moving a semi-finished blank Magic Card to the center.
This semi-finished blank Magic Card requires extremely high craftsmanship and is as time-consuming as fine carving.
So most magicians choose to buy directly from stores.
Blank Magic Cards on Traveler's Street are priced at 10 credits.
According to the exchange rate, they're more expensive than the market.
This price difference attracts more traveling merchants to settle on Traveler's Street.
Dark only bought five blank Magic Cards.
He placed the tip of the Magic Brain Dropper against the blank Magic Card, and despite the Magic Brain Dropper's scream, he forcefully squeezed the Magic Brain!
"Yikes yikes yikes!"
The [Arrogance] stored in the Magic Brain was instantly sprayed onto the blank Magic Card!
The originally pure white card surface suddenly spread as if a drop of dark golden ink had been dripped onto it!