Chapter 25: Secret Lessons in the Dungeon

"Thank you, Dr. Daevis!"

The young noblewoman threw her hands around the older man. Her briefcase slapped his back. "I promise to come to you the moment I need any help."

Dr. Daevis patted the small of her back, taking a step away from the cabinet. "Hurry up. Get your things and go. I also have a few projects that I need to wrap up."

'Hello? Did you get caught?' Rizz's voice kept popping into the noblewoman's mind.

Elenia was in a hurry. She ignored the goblin once more and glanced at the doctor. "Mind if I take the whole thing? It would take longer to measure it out and come back for more later…"

Dr. Daevis peered into the cabinet. "In that case, take the open one. That should be enough blood for at least a few attempts."

Elenia quickly stored the half-empty jar labeled "Beast - Water." She also grabbed a fresh bottle of arcane solvent, one of many lining the bottom of the cabinet.

"Now I only need a couple of these… and done! I'm all set." Pushing the jar of mana crystals back onto the top shelf, Elenia rushed to close the cabinet.

"No need, Elenia. I'll be needing the cabinet also." Dr. Daevis stopped the door from shutting. "Now go on, get out of here. Let's both get back to work, huh?"

Elenia waved to the old man and dashed to the exit. "Thanks again! I'm sure I'll come ask a few questions later."

"Anytime, Elenia."

Thump.

Elenia wanted to sink into the floor in relief as she closed the door. But a certain goblin wasn't letting her relax.

'Hey! Are you coming or not?'

'I'm coming. I just had to get all the supplies ready,' Elenia telepathically replied.

Her briefcase vanished from her hands as she speedily walked toward the dungeon door. But as she reached the end of the hallway, Elenia heard the guard posted there. She shuffled along the wall to hear him more clearly.

… snooore… snooore…

Elenia soon had the confidence to look around the corner. And she was baffled to find the man slumbering away on a wooden chair.

She moved to swipe the key off the slumbering guard. However, she couldn't find it. It was missing from his belt strap.

'What? How am I supposed to get in now?' Elenia shared her worried thoughts via telepathy. 'The dungeon key's missing? What do I do?'

Rizz squinted and itched his nose. 'Have you tried the door yet?'

'There's no way it's unlocked,' Elenia cried. 'It's never supposed to be… It's open?!'

'Then get down here already,' Rizz laughed. 'It's fate making me your teacher, so don't waste time.'

The young noblewoman delicately opened the door. After snatching a lantern from the slumbering guard, Elenia slowly closed the heavy door behind her. She lit the lantern and scurried down the spiral staircase.

The funk of stagnant air and musky cells hit Elenia square in the nose. But she hurried nonetheless. 'Which cell are you in?'

'Sixth on the left. I hear you coming down.' Rizz's chains rattled as he got as close to the front bars as possible. He held his half-eaten bowl of slop in one hand while waving with the other. 'What's up, Elenia? Thanks for joining my late-notice sealing ink tutorial.'

The noblewoman set the lantern down and retrieved a chair out of thin air.

'Oh, you've got a storage ring?' Rizz eyed the golden ring with tiny, twin rubies on opposite sides.

Nodding, Elenia took out her academy bag. But she only laid it across her lap. She didn't open it. Given the secrecy of their meeting, she also continued conversing via telepathy, 'Rizzio… whatever you are, the moment I see you doing something to harm me or lie to me, I'll burn you alive.'

A few threads of fire swirled around her hand, held up near the iron bars. 'Don't forget that I'm the one who summoned you, so I'm the master and you're the summon.'

'Yeah, yeah, I'm a fiendish goblin that your mom wants dead and your dad wants to experiment on. I get the terms of the agreement.' Rizz smirked and set the slop down at his side. 'I'll teach you the differences between curses and seals. In exchange, you've got to let me go free when all this is over.'

While the goblin held out his hand, Elenia didn't reciprocate. 'I can't promise anything like that. And you seem pretty confident that you know a lot more than me.'

'Because I do.' Shrugging, Rizz plopped onto his butt and sat cross-legged. 'At least promise to speak to your father on my behalf.'

'... I'll only do it if you can teach me something I don't know. For instance, why my father's familiar seal is so weak,' the noblewoman retorted.

Rizz nodded, shared a cheeky grin, and held his hand out as far as the chains would allow. 'Sounds simple enough.'

Elenia trepidaciously reached into the cell. She took three whole seconds to touch the green hand… And she was astonished to discover that Rizz's hands were larger than hers despite the goblin being centimeters shorter. It felt like shaking a human hand, aside from the pointed fingernails.

'Good. Now, where are all the goodies?' Rizz rubbed his hands together in earnest. 'Lay it all out so I can work my magic.'

When Elenia hesitated to comply with that demand, Rizz snickered, 'What's wrong? You think I'll steal it all? And go where exactly, to the next cell over?'

Hearing his chains rattle put Elenia at ease. She wasn't sure whether it was the spiked tea or her curiosity in the irregular creature or the chance to learn something completely new, but Elenia agreed to the demand.

One by one, items appeared on the dungeon floor between Rizz and the bars. A mortar and pestle was pulled out of her briefcase. The bag of vials and the many jars were retrieved from her storage ring.

Rizz took the next moment to overlap his fingers and stretch outward, popping his knuckles. 'Alright! Time to show you what a real seal can do.'

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