Chapter 28: Dungeon Full of Surprises

Rizz held his other hand out as if expecting to receive something.

Elenia's gaze bounced between the goblin's hand and the sparkling vial in her grasp. She couldn't bring herself to let go of the vial. But she also couldn't turn down what could be a powerful familiar crest. Not after witnessing the goblin perform a miracle.

That moment of awkward silence was exactly what Rizz needed to clear his vision. For a second, his perspective was littered with pop-ups. So Rizz swiftly speed-read the alerting texts and cleared the queue of notifications.

{Misc. Quests}

[Create Sealing Ink: Unclaimed]

[Deftly craft sealing ink in bulk of notable grade for the first attempt. Reward: 100 skill points… Claim? Y / N?]

[Create Sealing Ink: Achieved]

[New title earned: ((Amateur Alchemist))... Equip new title? Y / N?]

'... What do you want with this vial?' Elenia eventually replied via telepathy. 'You can't do anything while you're chained up anyway.'

Rizz didn't get the chance to explore anything regarding the title, aside from equipping it. 'I'm not asking for the vial. I thought you wanted my familiar crest. For that, I need some enchantment paper.'

Elenia broke her stare with the sparkling vial, eyeing Rizz in further disbelief. 'Enchantment paper? What's that?'

'Seriously? You don't even have something as shitty as basic-grade enchantment paper?' Rizz slapped his face and dragged his fingers across his eyes. 'What the hell is going on in the worlds of Trodar these days?'

'What do you mean by… worlds? Why'd you say that in plural?'

That question was a lightning bolt directed straight into Rizz's brain, short-circuiting all thoughts at that moment. 'No… Don't ask that question… Let's get through this crest business first. You've got some kind of paper in that case, right?'

Elenia nodded and handed over a blank sheet of parchment without batting an eye.

Rizz pushed some of the fallen brushes aside to make room on the floor. But as he uncorked a vial to start painting, Rizz stayed the brush. 'You still haven't promised to keep the process a secret, Elenia.'

'... But how will you even know if I keep this promise, huh?' she retorted, tilting her chin up in rebellion.

'Cause you're daddy's little girl. You're a goody two shoes that does as she's told,' Rizz telepathically stated, swaying his head from side to side. 'You're not the kind of girl to lie without it eating at your conscious. Ain't that right?

'And if I'm wrong, then this should be the easiest thing ever. Go on, shake my hand. Promise to keep the process a secret. Shake my hand now, then share it with your dad later, and let him steal all the credit and get even richer, instead of you earning your own reputation... But none of that matters to me, so long as you shake my hand right now.'

Elenia squinted in deep thought while taking in Rizz's logic. She bit down on her lip and… reached into the cell, shaking his hand yet again.

'I promise.'

'You promise… what?' asked Rizz.

Elenia mentally sighed, 'I promise to keep your ink mixing process and your familiar crest a secret between you and me.'

'Great! Then, pay attention.' Rizz was instantly back in creative mode, dipping the brush hairs into the vial of thick ink. 'Since it's not enchantment paper, you'll have to recreate this later.'

The goblin hunched down over the paper, keeping the open vial close to the floor. He made thin, fast strokes. Again and again, the brush was lightly dipped into the ink to not waste a single drop of the precious liquid.

*Just like in the game… You've done this hundreds, thousands of times…* Rizz barely breathed throughout the process, keeping himself in a creative trance of some sort.

Elenia watched with nothing to say. She was too awed by the design to utter a single word, verbally or telepathically.

It took Rizz almost a minute and half to finish the crest. But he smiled with pride the moment he finished the final stroke. 'Ta-da! Your very own rare-grade familiar crest, guaranteed to grant you and your familiar equal EXP.'

'R-rare-grade? … Did you say this is a rare-grade crest?' Elenia accepted the paper with trembling hands. 'Where's the other half?'

'Don't forget, it'll only get you a rare familiar if you use rare ink' Rizz tilted his head in confusion. 'And this ain't a curse. It'll look the same on both you and your familiar. Trust me, it's better that way. Proof that you're equal partners.'

Elenia blinked and looked back at the goblin. 'But… does that mean I'll have to draw this same pattern on both hands during the summoning?'

'No! Just the one hand, cause it'll be the same,' Rizz mentally exclaimed with a sharp nod. 'And make sure to get all the little lines. Miss any of them and it won't work.'

'But… This is way too complex to be a crest. There's no way to do this efficiently,' reasoned Elenia.

Shrugging, Rizz laughed, 'Then get good. What else do I need to say?

'Crests are just mini curses and seals. That's all there is to 'em. If you can't draw a weak little rare crest, then what will you do when you want to try an epic or unique crest? You'll fail, that's what.

'So just practice with regular ink until you can draw it properly. Then use the ink I made, or fail at making ink a few times yourself before getting it right with some fire-based blood,' Rizz telepathically snickered. 'You'll get yourself the best familiar around after all of that, aside from myself of course.'

… Another second of silence passed between them. Because Elenia couldn't stop staring at the interesting pattern on the paper.

The outermost line was actually two thin lines with a tight gap. They formed a triangular face with long, drooping ears. There was even a pointed nose, a grin of small fangs, and two eyes, one with an arrow at the center and the other with a small "X".

'Why does it look like… you?' Elenia asked.

Rizz showed off a toothy grin and gave her two thumbs-up. 'Cause a perfect crest needs a perfect muse!'

"Ha, ha… ha…" Elenia giggled a bit, stopping herself before she got too loud.

Laughing along, Rizz itched his nose to relax. 'Well, My Lady, I believe I've upheld my side of the deal. Now it's your turn. Don't forget, this was in exchange for my freedom. Tell your old man whenever he gets back.'

'I'll see what I can do…' Elenia replied, nearly biting her tongue despite not speaking verbally. 'But… what if… you just… stayed my familiar?'

'Oh? Have you finally realized how lucky you were; that you've already won the jackpot in the familiar lottery?' Rizz cackled, throwing his hand back into his loincloth.

'Eww…' Elenia looked away while half-groaning and half-giggling.

But her body stiffened the moment she turned her head away from the cell. The paper in her hands was stored that instant as well.

'What's wrong?' Rizz mentally asked, reading her expression and actions like a child's pop-up book.

"My, my, Elenia… It would seem that I'm not the only one tempted by the prospect of experimenting on your fiend familiar."

A calm, aged voice called out from the stairway. A voice that Rizz couldn't recall.

Elenia, on the other hand, scurried to gather everything she'd left inside of Rizz's cell. She haphazardly stored everything without thinking twice, including her academy briefcase. "D-Dr. Daevis… what could possibly bring you down here at this time? I thought you were supposed to wait for my father's return to resume your live experiments?"

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