"In that case…"
Dekan's expression at this moment was more serious than ever before.
It surprised Mielle slightly.
Obviously, Dekan didn't treat Mielle's "fantasy" as a joke.
It seems he values me quite a bit.
"Purification magic can only cleanse negative effects, but it can't cleanse positive buffs, right?" Mielle asked with a smile.
"That's right," Dekan replied.
Dekan had thought about using this method to bypass purification, but it hadn't yielded any practical results.
Mielle continued, "I've devised a poison magic, alpha. It can provide continuous healing to the opponent but accumulates a toxin with a small positive effect in their body."
"Could there be another poison magic, beta, that, when it encounters the toxin created by alpha, triggers toxicity, causing the accumulated toxin to explode completely?"
Dekan was extremely familiar with the concept of stacking poison before triggering.
But compared to traditional poison stacking and triggering, Mielle's improved poison magic alpha prevented the opponent from purifying the stacked poison.
Once the poison ultimately detonates, it would achieve a massive burst of damage.
However...
Can this really be called poison?
The process of stacking poison is too gentle.
A poison without a process of pain and torment has lost the essence of poison magic.
Although Mielle's poison magic was an innovative leap, it didn't serve Dekan's purposes well.
He had never sought the damage of poison magic.
"Heh heh, it's not that simple," Mielle teased, wiggling her index finger mischievously.
"This can't be considered the ‘uncleanseable poison' we're after. Poison, you see, is about a continuous process of tormenting the enemy."
She continued. Dekan's eyes lit up at her words.
Indeed, Mielle was a colleague who hadn't given up on the essence of poison magic.
"Please, go on," Dekan earnestly requested.
Mielle asked, "Based on your understanding, would the poison magic beta used to trigger poison damage be a one-time burst type?"
"Yes, since its purpose is to trigger the poison from alpha, its characteristics must be rapid and decisive," Dekan replied.
"What if poison magic beta is also a continuous positive buff?"
"!"
Listening to Mielle's words, Dekan seemed to instantly understand something.
He muttered, "Combine these two positive buffs that cannot be recognized by ‘purification magic’ and interweave them together?"
"Yes! That's it! They are both positive buffs, and their interaction will produce poison. Purification magic can't dispel these two positive buffs as long as you control their trigger frequency well. This will allow them to continuously torment the enemy with poison!"
"My dear sister, that is brilliant!"
Dekan clapped his hands absentmindedly, unable to contain his delighted expression.
He had fully understood Mielle's theory.
As they’re both positive buffs, purification wouldn’t be able to dispel them.
The poison generated by their interaction, even if purified, would immediately produce new poison.
Before the two positive buffs ended, the poisons would be in a state of continuous production.
Purification magic treats the symptoms but not the root cause.
This was a true poison that had no easy solution!
"This is the difference between direct poison and alternating poison!" Mielle had apparently already named this new type of poison magic.
"We are like Edison and Tesla of the poison magic world!" Dekan exclaimed enthusiastically.
Although the principles were completely dissimilar to direct current and alternating current in electricity, there was a certain resonance.
"Edison and Tesla?" Mielle asked somewhat puzzled.
"Two deities who control lightning, they’re legends from my hometown."
"Oh, I see," Mielle nodded, even though she didn't understand.
"By the way, have you already developed these two poisons?"
"Of course. But they are still in their infancy. To successfully combine them, stabilize their triggers, and advance their levels further, we would need a card maker with a deep understanding of poison magic and extremely high skills."
Mielle proudly took out two small scrolls from a cabinet.
"Together, we can definitely succeed in card making! I have confidence!"
Both of them were excited. They started their new experiment somewhat crazily.
……..
When the two of them finished their experiment, they had no idea how much time had passed.
Dekan and Mielle had forgotten about time altogether.
They slumped in their chairs, utterly exhausted.
"Phew, we've made some initial progress."
[Alternating Poison 1.0]
[Category: Spell Card]
[Quality: Rare Uncommon]
[Tier: 1]
[Effect: Inflicts continuous double buffs that continuously triggers poison damage.]
[Note: Mielle & Dekan's masterpiece. An experimental prototype. Developers’ diary: We've finally fixed the bug where poison magic would be dispelled by purification magic.]
"But if we happen to get poisoned by this toxin, it seems like even we can't use purification to get rid of it," Dekan remarked, making a note in his notebook: "For future production of higher-tier alternating toxins, prepare antidotes for both toxins in advance to prevent experimenters from getting poisoned."
"Enemies would have to either endure the poison until its duration ends or they must use a special dispel-type spell to remove the poisons," Mielle added, running her fingers over the smooth surface of the finished card, her face filled with satisfaction.
[Forced Dispel] can instantly dispel both positive and negative statuses, and it's usually used against enemies.
However, it consumed a tremendous amount of mana and had many restrictions.
Rarely would anyone use [Forced Dispel] on themselves, as it would also dispel their own buffs, wasting mana.
But let's not talk about whether the enemy has [Forced Dispel] on them; just forcing the enemy to use dispel on themselves was a win.
Mielle said, "I'm actually feeling a bit tired. Just thinking about the experiment ending suddenly makes me feel exhausted."
Dekan agreed, "You're right, I'm exhausted too."
"In that case, let's go to sleep quickly, but you have to take a shower first."
"Huh?" Dekan was momentarily puzzled and glanced at the clock. It was 3 in the morning.
"If you leave now, the dormitory manager will definitely remember you," Mielle said with a mischievous smile.
"But if we go out tomorrow morning, isn't it just as bad if we run into someone?" Dekan realized the trouble he would be in.
No wonder he was told to prepare his own living supplies at Mielle's dorm. It seemed like he would be spending a lot of nights here in the future.
"Let's leave tomorrow at noon! The two of us should have a proper sleep together!" Mielle suggested.
"Shouldn't your wording be a bit more precise? After all, our behavior can easily be misunderstood," Dekan had gotten used to Mielle's way of speaking. She never spoke seriously and enjoyed teasing people from time to time.
While the two of them were discussing this, they heard a faint sound in the laboratory.
Someone had lightly knocked on the door of Mielle's dormitory.
The knocking was soft, as if the person didn't want to wake Mielle up but desperately wanted to find her.
Mielle made a "shush" gesture and left Dekan in the storage room. She walked to the living room and then opened the door.
Outside, Alice stood with sleepy eyes, rubbing her reddened eyes.
"Mielle, sniffle."
The moment Alice saw Mielle, she hugged her as if she had finally found a savior and sobbed in her arms.
"Alice, what's wrong?" Mielle was initially surprised but then gently stroked Alice's golden hair.
"I-I had a terrible nightmare just now. I dreamt that a demon purified me. I'm so scared, sniffle..."
"It's okay, it's okay. There are no demons in the dormitory," Mielle reassured her, comforting Alice.
Alice looked up with a pitiful expression, "Mielle, can I sleep with you tonight?"
