Chapter 154: The Solution
"Granny Jenner was obsessed with making her spells unbreakable," Valerie explained. "So she came up with different methods over the years. I know one of those methods. It’s a spell too."
"What spell is this?" he asked.
"Vol Stasis," she answered. "A spell to put a seal in a suspended state. If the seal binds something, Vol Stasis binds the seal itself."
Ethan’s eyebrows raised slightly as understanding formed into place. "Almost like having two-factor authentication on your Arcphone."
Valerie nodded. "Yes, Master Ethan. I guess you could say that. Although it could still be applied differently."
She paused, then continued, "Let’s say a sealing is temporarily undone and you want it to stay that way, temporarily undone, without really ending the spell completely. Vol Stasis applies there as well."
"That is..." Ethan trailed off, genuinely impressed. "Damn. Is this even in the grimoire?"
He wasn’t sure he recalled seeing something like that when he’d studied it.
Valerie shook her head. "No, Master Ethan." Then she smiled just a bit as she added, "I learned this from her directly. I guess you could say it was an advantage of living with her all those years."
Her smile faded as the reality of the situation returned. "But the problem remains. It’s only Tier 6. I won’t be able to place this sealing on her hand in a suspended state. The Carrion Seal is Tier 7, my Vol Stasis would just fail to take hold."
"But I can," Ethan muttered.
"Hm? How so, Master Ethan?" Valerie asked, looking puzzled.
But Ethan couldn’t just reveal his special card yet, not in front of the prince. He held up one hand and said to Valerie, "Hold on."
Then he turned toward Rayleigh and said, "How do I know you’re not somehow trying to fuck me over?"
"In what sense?" Rayleigh asked, looking genuinely puzzled by the question.
"I don’t know, man. You’re not exactly an Ethan Stark fan, and you don’t exactly like me for being part demon, remember?" Ethan gestured vaguely between them.
"So how do I know that involving myself in all of this wouldn’t give you a cause of action to run to your father and tell him lies? That Ethan Stark, who is a demon, is bringing forth others like him from the demon continent and harboring them in his house?"
Rayleigh’s eyes widened. "How have you even thought of such possibilities already?"
He shook his head. "Jeez, I’m not after you."
He took a breath before continuing. "For one, my sister really likes you a lot, and she means the most to me. So I won’t hurt her that way."
There was a brief pause before he added the second point. "Two, it’s not that easy weaving such stories without somehow complicating things and getting into trouble myself. Do you know how many questions I’d have to answer if I suddenly brought this to my father?"
Rayleigh met Ethan’s eyes directly. "So no, Ethan Stark, I do not intend to fuck you over. In fact, I am putting my faith in you right now."
Ethan stared at him for a moment, weighing the sincerity in the prince’s voice and expression.
Then he exhaled and turned back toward Valerie. "I can amplify spells beyond their normal class of strength, putting them on a different tier level entirely."
Valerie looked taken aback, her eyes going wide. "Is that even possible? Is this a weapon effect, Master Ethan?"
He shook his head. "No. It’s my demon trait."
It was then that Ishtar looked at him with a bit more focus than before. But she still said nothing.
Ethan continued, turning back to Valerie. "So you’ll be showing me this spell."
Valerie just nodded at that point.
-
Several hours passed, which included Valerie writing out the spell’s logic and mapping out every component of Vol Stasis on paper.
Ethan had studied it carefully, asking questions when certain transitions between symbols didn’t make immediate sense.
Then came the visualization practice and after a while, he was ready.
Ishtar had sat down on the couch and extended her right arm again. The glamor had been dropped, revealing the black inscriptions of the Carrion Seal once more.
Ethan then raised his hand over her arm and purple magic circles materialized over his palm.
With the amplification trait in place, the spell had been casted and the effect left his palms and descended onto Ishtar’s forearm.
For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, then an invisible layer materialized over the Carrion Seal’s inscriptions, like a sheet of glass settling into place over the black markings.
Ethan felt his own spell take root and hold fast onto Ishtar’s seal. It had triggered nothing dangerous because in essence, it was simply keeping the seal exactly as it was, frozen in its current state.
The Carrion Seal couldn’t be tampered with, and couldn’t degrade or fail. It was just suspended by the Tier 7 version of Vol Stasis that Ethan’s Amplification had created.
Ofcourse, reward screens from the system followed right after, but Ethan waved them right off.
-
At this point in time, it was a few hours past midnight and Rayleigh was prepared to leave.
Ethan, Eduardo, and Valerie watched from a respectful distance as Rayleigh and Ishtar spoke together close to the entrance.
Their voices were too low to make out the words, but their body language said enough.
Rayleigh held both of Ishtar’s hands and their eyes were locked onto each other in such a way that you’d know they had both actually developed feelings of affection.
Then they both walked back to where Ethan and the others at the manor’s main entrance.
Rayleigh let go of Ishtar’s hands reluctantly. She nodded at him, then Valerie stepped forward and guided her inside gently with one hand on her shoulder.
Rayleigh then turned to face Ethan. "Thank you, Ethan. I will not forget this."
Ethan nodded in acknowledgment, then said, "I’ll be honest, I still don’t like her presence here. So when are you coming for her?"
"In like three days, I promise," Rayleigh said.
Ethan nodded again. "Alright."
With that, the prince turned to leave. But right then, Ethan said, "Oh, and by the way, Isabella knows."
Rayleigh stopped and turned back around. "Knows what?"
"She knows I’m part demon, and she has no problem with it," Ethan said.
"I see," Rayleigh said slowly, looking almost concerned.
But Ethan quickly added before he could dwell on it, "Also, inform her of this little arrangement we have with your girlfriend. We never spoke about how this affects Bella, who visits sometimes. I don’t want it to feel implied that I have to cover for that as well."
"I understand," Rayleigh said. Then he walked toward his vehicle, climbed into the driver’s seat, and drove away.
Ethan sighed as he watched the taillights disappear through the gates.
—-
A/N: And With That, Volume One Comes To An End!
Thanks for sticking it through, and if you can, kindly leave a review.
Kindly note: A Timeskip will be applied at the start of the next volume. So just wait a bit for everything to fall in place.