NOVEL NEXT Chapter 117: A god with no altar, which I am.
Why does this man keep coming back? What's there to exploit anymore from this party?
Blorbo had no smuck of care left to question why Ducaz had returned with a sausage link. But he knew this much: being alone with dubious individuals never ended well, unless there was a money bowl and a makeshift altar involved. Especially the smooth-talking kind with suspicious hair and a knack for kicking ancient codices off your face.
Ducaz strolled up to Master Sensei's floating bubble like it was a casual street-side encounter.
"So. You're the one," he said, eyes gleaming. "I've heard of you. The Master Enchanter. Your work gave rise to legends. You've made the weak strong. You've ushered in the mightiest heroes this continent's ever known."
He heard all that while getting sausages? Surely he's never bothered to mention any of this before.
The bubble rotated slowly. Master Sensei squinted back. "You heard wrong. If I'd made anything that powerful, I would've used it myself."
Ducaz grinned. "Ah. But that's your curse, isn't it? Your own enchantments don't work on you."
Silence.
A long silence.
Even without being able to move, Blorbo felt that bullseye hit. Ducaz had aimed true.
"…Tch," Master Sensei finally muttered, and looked away.
"I see," Ducaz said, circling the bubble like a shark made of charisma. "So you're the architect of power. The kind that changes fates and makes kings. And here you are, locked in a bubble. And here I am, not a king. We can change that." He stopped. "Let me help you."
Yo, help me too. I am not able to walk. I'm like, disabled, man. I'm the part of the society that needs the most help.
"I can get you out of that thing," Ducaz said, voice velvet-slick. "Not for free, of course. I want what everyone wants. Ducats."
Sensei snarled. "I have better things to do that entertain your childish endeavor."
"Like what? Breathe and float?" Ducaz snorted. "I can undo your seal. I know a dozen names not meant for mortal tongues, and a thirteenth best whispered backward. I can break this cage." He bowed his head—only slightly. "In return, you grant me power. Strength. Your best work, laid upon me. Etch your art into my spirit. Make me what you could never be."
Never knew Ducaz was a poet.
Master Sensei narrowed his eyes. "And if I refuse?"
Ducaz's smile turned serpent-slick. "Then you remain as you are. A forgotten master in a glass tomb, while the world moves on. Tell me, wise one—what good is brilliance if it rots in silence?"
[Quest Received: The Pact Beneath Glass – Mythic Difficulty]
[Warning: Proceeding may alter fate, alignment, or even grants ability to move.]
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[Countdown until quest acceptance expiry: 12 hours 13 minutes 14 seconds.]
Wow. Move?! This may finally be my ticket to—
[Notice: You are stunned. You cannot accept quests.]
[Countdown until stunned effect removed: 12 hours 13 minutes 15 seconds.]
WHAT?! Nah. Nah nah nah. You're just trolling me now.
Master Sensei did not answer right away.
Instead, he gazed at Ducaz with solemnity. "I can't enchant anything from within this prism," Sensei said at last in a voice so low and heavy it was obviously fake. "The seals are laced with runes of nullification. I am brilliance caged. Really, I am quill without parchment. A god with no altar, which I am."
"Oh no," Ducaz said, placing a hand to his chest. "Tragic. Truly tragic. All that power, and not even a single pamphlet of it to go around." He looked up and grinned. "Good thing I came prepared."
Prepared?
Ducaz had never come prepared for anything in his life. His idea of strategic preparation was wearing both boots.
But then Ducaz—actually Ducaz—raised his arm.
And unfurled a spell so baroque, so gut-wrenchingly overcomplicated, so artfully wasteful, that Blorbo's sinuses began to hum in F-sharp. The air rippled with fractal geometry. The space between seconds twisted into cursive. The sausage link, inexplicably, sizzled.
[Spells Detected—Legendary Spell: ???—Level: ???]
He can cast a Legendary spell?! Why is everyone getting buffed but me? Also, I thought I can't use skills? Why am I still seeing this?
[Minor System Bug Detected: Skills usable for 0.00001 seconds]
[Bug Patched]
What? What is a bug?
"Kel Azoth Quorinthar," Ducaz whispered, and the final sigil burned into place. Then pop, a pinprick appeared. A hole no bigger than a dragonfly's eye was drilled cleanly through the side of Master Sensei's arcane prison.
And he used that spell to drill a hole through some bubblegum.
"There," Ducaz said, voice now silk dipped in sin. "A pinhole in paradise. This is small enough to avoid triggering the containment's retaliatory glyphs, and large enough for a master's work." He leaned forward. "Cast your enchantment through that. I'll handle the rest."
Master Sensei said nothing for a moment, and only stared at the hole.
Then to Ducaz.
Then, with a sigh like a planet finally giving up on tectonics, he lifted one gnarled finger and whispered a single syllable.
Light poured out. Not the kind of light that politely illuminated rooms, but the kind that bent reality's knees. It shimmered through the pinhole like wine through a crack in the world—and struck Ducaz square in the heart.
He staggered. Then straightened.
And grinned.
[Achievement Unlocked (For Ducaz): The Serpent and the Sage]
[Ducaz has received: Enchantment – Sigil of the Twelvefold Unfurling (Bound, Undispellable)]
[His Charisma has increased by +3. His Swagger now has AOE.]
Why do I need to be shown HIS blessing?! I received nothing. NOTHING.
"Delicious," Ducaz murmured, flexing his fingers. "That's the good stuff."
Master Sensei gave a dry, unimpressed look. "That's the first layer. The appetizer. You'll get the full course when I'm free."
"And you'll be free," Ducaz said, stepping back with that same serpent-slick smile. "You've given me a taste. I'll do the rest. Because we made a pact, old one. And I always honor my pacts."
He proceeded to not honor his pact and jumped out the window.