The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　His abilities in all aspects are likely to experience another explosive growth in the short term.

　We must be vigilant!

　Indeed, such explosive growth would be a cause for great joy for most people.

　However, this might not be entirely a good thing for Dakdimon.

　The long-awaited increase in "bliss" due to Diana's influence is a bad omen.

　He had been restraining himself, but as his understanding and mastery of the "great sin" deepened, he gradually became somewhat lax.

　Fortunately, he has realized his mistake and will exercise more restraint, which should prevent the consequences from becoming too severe.

　Under such circumstances where restraint is necessary, the explosive growth of his abilities naturally gives him a feeling of being out of control, like a train about to derail.

　At this point, he had to apply the brakes. But what he was worried about was brake failure.

　“Dark”.

　A sudden call made Darkdemon look up. He glanced in the direction of the teachers' seats, then told Diana and Rose, "I have to go," and left his seat.

　After a while, he left the banquet hall from behind the teachers' seats and went into a small rest room.

　Principal Arte was still chatting and laughing with Galenoris, Charles Clarissa, Lucia Artemis, and others.

　Only Sarah Shilf, the vice-principal, was sitting in the small room. "Sit."

　Professor Sylph, holding her wine glass, spoke with an indifferent expression.

　The wine glass contained grape juice that tasted like red wine.

　Dark couldn't help but chuckle: "Professor, don't you drink?"

　Professor Sylph rolled her eyes at him and said, "Let's get down to business. What exactly does this 'gift from God' you mentioned bring?"

　Dark considered his own situation and then said thoughtfully, "It should be some kind of sublimation of potential. Simply put, it seems to enhance a person's aptitude in a certain area. Even... it helps people break through the shackles of their race!"

　As human beings, we have limits.

　Humans are indeed inferior to many other races in terms of talents other than intellect.

　Even in terms of intellect, one might not necessarily be superior to certain individuals of certain races.

　If we were to pinpoint a natural advantage that humans in this world possess, it would likely be their aptitude for "Qi cultivation."

　After all, most humans actually have the aptitude for Qi cultivation. Even if that aptitude is poor, one can still open the sixth chakra through hard work and time, becoming a warrior of considerable strength.

　Only something that almost everyone has can be called a "racial advantage."

　The same problem applies to the elves: longevity and magical aptitude.

　In this world, magic power cannot be acquired through training; one's magical talent determines how much magic power a person can possess after reaching full maturity.

　While there are exceptionally talented individuals among human mages, they are generally not as gifted as elves, which is a fact. Therefore, at St. Marian Academy, many students who receive the opportunity to make a wish with the Holy Grail use this opportunity to increase their magical power.

　This is indeed very important to them.

　Many pragmatic students dedicate themselves to the Academy Cup every year, simply to improve their magical power.

　But that "gift from God" can unleash potential, help people break through racial barriers, and achieve a sublimation of their abilities.

　Moreover, judging from the current situation, its potential-stimulating direction is "spot on target".

　Each athlete should have achieved a breakthrough in their most needed potential.

　It can transform someone with poor aptitude into someone with excellent aptitude.

　It can even transform a highly talented person into an exceptional, supermodel! And this is exactly what many professors at St. Mary's College need most!

　"Break through racial barriers!"

　Even Professor Sarah Sylph was clearly tempted.

　Professor Sylph, who was able to forge the "Wind Spirit King," must have unparalleled talent in wind magic.

　Even so, she gradually felt the existence of a bottleneck in the past two years.

　The resurrection of the gods did indeed reopen that tightly closed "door" a crack, allowing humanity to glimpse the mysteries within.

　However, the limitations of their race still bound their limbs, making it difficult for them to step into the "door".

　Within St. Marian Academy, Principal Cynthia St. Art is undoubtedly the closest to being "God".

　She generally doesn't need to break through any more "shackles" to reach the realm of God.

　But professors of Sylph's caliber are always lacking. The transition from "human" to "god" is certainly not easy.

　The Shinto rituals are performed to pave a path for mages to "gods".

　The gifts of the Shinto ritual were undoubtedly intended to guide the faster birth of the Magic God.

　Dark noticed that Professor Sylph's mind was clearly racing. For the first time, he sensed the taste of "greed" in her heart.

Chapter 1349 Darkdemon and the Duel King (5k)

　Humans have desires.

　By understanding human desires, one can control people's hearts.

　As Dak watched Professor Sarah Sylph sip her "red wine" and ponder deeply, some additional thoughts unconsciously formed in his mind.

　But he quickly stopped and returned to his original intention.

　What makes us human is our ability to control our desires.

　He could roughly imagine that the professors who had just learned of this information would also have the idea of ​​keeping this "gift from God" to themselves.

　However, given the character of the professors at St. Marian College, such thoughts would at most flash through their minds.

　Moreover, this "gift from the gods" is not given out of thin air. As far as we know, the only way to obtain this gift is to win the championship in this year's academy competition.

　If we consider this as a "deal" made to guide mages onto the path of divinity, then holding large-scale mage duels would facilitate the next...

　The correct method for "transaction" of piles.

　Furthermore, this "gift from the gods" is likely a special substance that can only be produced if the Shinto ritual is significantly advanced.

　Therefore, the idea of ​​directly skipping the competition and obtaining the "gift from the gods" from the Shinto ritual is basically impossible to achieve.

　It is impossible to "monopolize" the "gift of the gods" by holding a very small-scale duel.

　In fact, all of the above matters are still in a state of uncertainty.

　Even if you have selfish motives, you may not necessarily gain anything.

　According to the plan, holding a massive World Cup duel challenge is the right way to obtain the new "gift from the gods".

　What professors need to do, and what they can do, is simply to make appropriate adjustments within this established framework.

　Finally, there's the issue of adjusting the method.

　Of these, one thing is the most crucial and the one that most needs adjustment.

　Dark waited patiently for a while, and then saw that Professor Sylph had looked up again, staring intently at him.

　Professor Sylph then spoke, "This year's Academy Championship was a team competition, so the entire team, with twelve players, won the 'Gift of the Gods.' However, the planned World Cup Duel Challenge is an individual competition, with only one winner. Does this mean that only one person will ultimately receive the 'Gift of the Gods'?"

　"That's spot on!"

　Dark pursed his lips slightly and smiled, "Theoretically, that should be the case, but of course, the possibility of unexpected events cannot be ruled out. After all, much of our information about this 'gift from God' comes from speculation, and we don't have a definitive answer. However, one point needs to be corrected."

　Professor Sylph frowned and asked, "Which point?"

　Dark said, "According to the format of this year's Academy Championship, an academy team will not only have twelve players, but a total of twenty-four players."

　Professor Sylph said, "The other twelve are just substitutes."

　Dark shook his head and said, "Actually, there's no such thing as a 'substitute.' We're all pre-qualifiers, and we're all qualified to participate in the competition. Moreover, even within our academy, excluding the exhibition matches, there aren't only twelve participants in the three rounds of the competition. In the first round, second-year student Vivian Alvind officially represented the academy."

　However, in the end, only the twelve participants in the third round received the "gift from the gods," and Vivian was not included.

　Professor Sylph said, "Looking only at the final round of contestants," Dark said, "that's also a possibility. But personally, I think it's more likely that there can only be a maximum of twelve 'Gifts from God'."

　Professor Sylph's heart skipped a beat, and she asked, "How so?"

　Dark said, "The key is the number 'twelve.' As we all know, there are twelve Porobos, the twelve gods who sacrificed themselves and actively merged with the Dao to create this divine ritual."

　Professor Sylph stated, "Therefore, twelve is the limit."

　Dark nodded slightly and said, "If a large-scale magic duel tournament is successfully held, and it truly brings about the 'Gift of the Gods,' the maximum number should be twelve."

　Professor Sylph said, "Therefore, we can set up a maximum of twelve champions."

　Dark laughed and said, "Of course there can only be one champion, but we can put it another way. You see, the Heroes Tournament held in the capital a few months ago also selected twelve contestants. We call them the Twelve Heroes."

　Professor Sylph immediately said, "Just set up twelve awards in the end, or to put it simply, directly determine twelve Duel Kings, and that will work."

　"Duel King" Dark blinked and said, "That's certainly a good title."

　Professor Sylph said, "I only thought of it on the spur of the moment. Since it's a World Cup Duel Challenge, it definitely needs some extra prizes, like 'honor.' And 'Duel King' is a very good title. This is a world-class magic competition, and with our Magic Alliance backing it, awarding it the title of 'Duel King' shouldn't be too much of an overstatement, right?"

　Darke laughed and said, "Of course it's not excessive."

　There can only be one champion, but there can be countless "Duel Kings." If a winner could be determined, the annual World Cup would be a crucial competition to crown the new generation of "Duel Kings." However, having only twelve "Duel Kings" might indeed lower the prestige of the title.

　However, if the goal is to maximize profits, this is indeed the best option that can be considered at present.

　The final question, based on this, is whether these twelve "Duel Kings" should still be ranked.

　Dark said, "After all, it's a duel competition. It would be strange if it only went up to the top twelve. Also, if there are twelve spots in the end, the intensity of the competition will definitely decrease significantly. That would put the cart before the horse."

　Professor Sylph nodded and said, "That makes sense. But if we determine the winners, will the prize only be awarded to one person? Even if we don't set up a champion's prize, that's still a champion in the real sense."

　Dark said, "We'll have to ask Principal Arte about that. We can only do our best to imagine it."

　Professor Sylph said, "Hopefully she can provide an answer."

　In short, if the number of World Cup winners can be expanded from one to twelve, the players participating in the competition will have more opportunities to receive a "gift from God".

　Judging from the current situation, many professors in the academy are certainly eager to participate in the competition to increase their chances of obtaining the "Gift of the Gods," which would definitely benefit the academy. Furthermore, with such an opportunity, there will undoubtedly be people in the Duke's mansion who also have their own ideas about it.

　As for Dark himself… he couldn't be sure if the "gift from God" would work a second time on the same person, and this gift was already more than enough for him. So-called potential development, aptitude enhancement, and the like, certainly weren't limitless.

　If "becoming a god" is the ultimate goal, then the "gift from the gods" might have no effect on Principal Arte, who is a saint, or Alvit. They were originally the closest to "god" and the most likely candidates to become the first God of Magic.

　Dark, of course, unconditionally supports one of them becoming the first God of Magic.

　Of course, for now, we can only offer our support in our hearts.

　He then spoke with Professor Sylph for a few more minutes before moving on to the second topic.

　That's something I have to do tonight—lead a group of students to participate in the hidden trial!

　In the two days since the academy championship resumed, a large number of "divine beings" have gathered because of the dueling competition. The "divine beings" in the entire academy have become unusually active, making it easier for students to trigger "hidden trials".

　In fact, last night, a professor led a group of students to participate in a hidden trial, and tonight is the second group.

　Professor Sylph had originally planned to lead them to the trial herself. However, due to the information brought by Dark, she was eager to discuss the matter with Principal Art, and thus entrusted the task to Dark.

　Dak was very familiar with this, so he naturally wouldn't refuse.

　Moreover, leading students to participate in hidden trials is actually a very easy thing.

　He could also use this opportunity to escape and leave the banquet hall.

　Two minutes later, Dak sent a message according to the list, asking that group of students to gather in this lounge.

　Robert Broheim was the first to enter, followed by the uninvited Wittgold.

　Dak nodded at him and then ignored him.

　Robert had previously participated in the Knights Academy's hidden trials, but unfortunately failed to pass.

　However, with Victor's guidance, his chances of passing the hidden trial today are relatively high.

　It's just unknown whether he has mastered the method of making the "Destiny Talisman". Dak continued to look outside the door and soon saw Teddy Dorron rushing over.

　Then, Vanessa, Eudora, and Heidi, all third-graders, also arrived.

　Finally, there are the second-year students: Vivian, Jon, Joey, Anna, Angie, and Cecilia.

　These are all candidates preparing to enter the hidden trial.

　Following the "lower-achieving students first" order, Robert, with the worst "opportunity," will be first, while those behind him may not be able to catch up tonight. However, their "opportunities" are all present, so even if they are postponed to tomorrow night, they can still find the hidden trial, so it shouldn't be a big problem.

　Therefore, after all the students had arrived, Dak led them out through the back door and up to the dark upper level of the castle.