A Breakthrough?!

'Do you still wanna know why your old man's crest is a curse?' Rizz brandished an amiable grin. 

Elenia gruffly replied, 'I already know it's not a curse. But I want to know why you claim that it is.'

Rizz stirred the bowl with his right hand so he could hold up his left, displaying the familiar crest on the back of his palm. 'It's a curse cause it only gives to you and takes from me.'

'What… do you mean?' The young noblewoman shook her head, failing to process that explanation. 

'Curses and seals do a lot of the same stuff. But curses are always one-sided.' Rizz stopped stirring for a second to point at the fireball-esque design that was the familiar crest. 'Let me guess. Your old man has to get new familiars all the time cause he out-levels them and they can never keep up.'

A haunting expression trickled down Elenia's face. '... How can you tell that from just the crest?'

'Cause this is a curse, and it's one-sided as hell,' snickered Rizz. 'Hold out your crest.'

When Elenia presented her right hand, she held it side by side with Rizz's left. The crests were nearly identical. They were both a bundle of fire that became a spiral in the center. But it was at the core that Elenia noticed the only difference. 

At the same time, Rizz resumed stirring with his other hand. 'See? My crest only has one output and your crest only has one input. That means you'll forever take some of my EXP while I never get any of yours. It's a fast way to level up, and an even faster way to outgrow your familiar.'

At the core of Rizz's crest was a little arrowhead. At the core of Elenia's was a small "X". 

Elenia lacked the advanced lessons on seal theory, but she still couldn't refute Rizz's assumption regarding her father's various familiars. It was too on-point to disregard. 

'Sure, there are times and places to use curses. But with your familiar?' Rizz clicked his tongue in disgust. 'I find it highly distasteful. Beyond arrogant and foul.'

'... As if you could make a better crest…' Elenia caught herself mumbling in defense of her father. 

'I can. And I'll share it with you since you agreed to bring me all of this.' Rizz resumed his snickering as the ink solution began to boil. 'Only one minute more.'

Suddenly, Elenia noticed that Rizz was yet again crushing bits of mana crystal. Only four pieces, or one whole mana crystal had been used so far. And Rizz was now grinding up two more. This time, though, Rizz used a lot more force with the aim of creating a fine powder. 

'Stop! No more fire.'

The solution continued to gradually bubble while Rizz used both hands to pulverize those two pieces of mana crystal.

'There. Almost missed the window…' Sighing, Rizz wiped the sweat from his brow while pouring the crystalline powder into the hot, highly reduced ink. 

He resumed stirring with the back of an enchanting brush as the solution thickened somewhat. 

'Look at it. There's barely half of it left,' Elenia remarked with a disparaged tone. 

'Yeah, the good half. This should be at least notable grade, if not rare.' Rizz heaved a sigh of relief and threw his hand into his loincloth. 

"EW!" the noblewoman verbally cried out. Elenia hastily looked away while shifting back to telepathy. 'What are you doing?'

'What? A guy can't scratch an itch after a job well done? It'll only take a few seconds. It's not like I told you to look away–'

'You should've told me, or at least warned me!' Elenia mentally screamed. '... Are you done yet?'

'Almost… there… Okay. I'm all good now.'

Elenia slowly turned her eyes back to Rizz. Seeing both of his hands out, she shook her head and resumed watching. 'Why must you be so… repulsive?'

'Sorry, My Lady, but I don't get visitors very often, if you couldn't tell. My humble abode isn't much to look at anyway, whether I like it or not.' 

Rizz was already dipping the vials into the tilted bowl, filling them one by one. Soon, there were eight vials filled with the thick, cerulean blue ink. 'There you have it. A small batch of sealing ink. Ready for a familiar summoning, for beast taming, or for whatever else you want to try out. 

'Now, would My Lady like a genuine familiar seal, or is this fiend too untrustworthy?' 

… Speechless, Elenia reached through the bars. She took one of the vials and brought it close to her face. 

'... It… looks like ink. And it sparkles…'

Like a bobblehead, Rizz nodded and groaned in agreement, 'Yes, it's very sparkly. That's how you know it's at least notable grade. If you hadn't given me shit to work with, it would've turned out epic, if not unique grade.

'... Hello? Trodar to Elenia, is anybody home?'

'Sorry, I just… I can't believe that you actually made this…' Elenia clutched the vial in her fingertips, holding it against her bosom. 'Does this work for fire crystals and fire-based blood too?'

'Sure, if the quality of materials is just as shitty.' All of a sudden, Rizz narrowed his eyes and sharpened his tone. 'Elenia, notable and rare grade inks aren't hard to come by, are they?'

'They're incredibly difficult to find, and even more difficult to create!' the noblewoman telepathically bellowed, gradually laughing. 

'Then don't share this with anyone. At least not the secret behind how you make it.'

The coldness in his telepathic tone froze Elenia's cheerful, celebratory thoughts. 'What do you mean? If this is truly notable or rare grade, this is huge! My father will be over the moon to have this–'

'I'll only give you a familiar crest if you promise not to share the process with anyone,' Rizz retorted, holding a clean enchanting brush. 'Sell the stuff and make it all you want, but don't share it with anyone. Promise me that, and I'll draw you a better crest right now.'