Chapter 444: Fulfilling the agreement
Claudia and Dicky both floated down into the arena. The fight was over.
In a huge upheaval at the very last minute of the fight, Michael was able to triumph against the ever growing momentum of Chucky. They didn’t know what happened, but they knew that it was enough to completely demolish what Chucky had been building all this time.
And with his momentum gone, he was as defenseless as a baby, allowing Michael to win with a single spell.
"Chucky surrenders. Victory of the duel goes to Michael," Claudia proclaimed, but even with all her professionalism, she couldn’t help but add a tone of confusion in her voice.
Chucky extinguished some flames from his clothes before forcing himself to stand up.
Although he wasn’t all that injured, he knew that he lost the moment his momentum disappeared. His only advantage during the fight was in the beginning, when Michael had no idea about his Aubilities.
Michael wouldn’t have let him gather that much momentum again during the fight. And even if he somehow gained all of his momentum back, Michael’s strange Aubility would have reset it all the way back to zero again.
So, Chucky saved himself from the pain and surrendered.
"That...was awesome," Chucky winced as he limped towards Michael. "Your weapon, whatever it is...is something out of fantasy and books! It was a pleasure to fight with someone like you, in such unorthodox ways."
Michael approached him and they shook hands. "It was a good and fair fight," he replied.
This was his very first duel, and he learned a lot from this experience. Most notably was the fact that information was the key to winning most duels. If he knew about Chucky’s momentum Aubilty, then he wouldn’t have let the fight last that long.
"Congratulations, Michael. You won the duel," said Dicky. He seemed genuinely happy for Michael. Still, he couldn’t help but express a little bit of frustration.
"Urgh...I’m so curious about your weapon and your Aubility. But I will not ask any questions. It’s better for you to not say anything to me or anyone else. It’ll be your advantage in future duels."
As a senior, Dicky wanted to give some helpful advice to Michael. But, this came at the cost to his own sanity, as he wouldn’t be able to sleep well not knowing the truth about that flying weapon.
"I appreciate you for respecting my privacy," Michael bowed.
"Well, if you feel like wanting to tell it to someone more trustworthy, like a Montgomery perhaps, then you can just explain it to me," Claudia interrupted.
She was the one who was most curious about Michael’s powers.
Somehow, Michael’s Aubility was able to overpower a Maugnetic on the same cultivation as he was. This wasn’t that surprising, but when she factored in that his weapon wasn’t yet coated with Soo, then this didn’t make any sense.
She walked over to Michael and whispered to him. "Is your Aubility about stopping momentum?" she asked.
Michael moved his head side to side. "Kind of, yeah."
Of course, he knew that this was not the extent of his Aubility, but it was the extent of his current powers.
"I hope you’ll tell me more about that flying weapon," she said, nudging him.
Michael gave out an awkward laugh. "Maybe in the future."
That seemed enough for her. With her curiosity a little bit satisfied, she returned into being the professional arbiter that she was supposed to be.
"This concludes the duel. As per your agreement, Chucky will perform the secret process of coating Soo onto a Mithril Relic with Michael observing closely. Chucky, are you ready to fulfill your promise?"
Despite being injured, Chucky flexed his biceps and nodded. "A deal is a deal. And since it’s for my new friend, I’ll do it today!"
Michael felt a little bit guilty and wanted to push the date to the day after, but Chucky refused.
"You’ve shown me something extremely good with that flying weapon. It’s my turn to show you something!"
"Just accept his offer," Dicky whispered. "Just like his Aubility, you can’t stop his momentum once he’s decided on something. Well, actually, maybe you can, but that’s besides the point."
Since Michael was pretty excited about this, he didn’t refuse any longer.
They all decided to head back to Metropolis so that Chucky could prepare for his coating process.
They headed back with Claudia still following them around. Despite the duel being over, she still had the responsibility to make sure that the details of their agreement was followed through. She can’t leave their side until Michael receives what he was owed.
Once they returned to Metropolis, they immediately headed towards the basement in their Quench company building, located beneath their very forge. This was where they fulfilled requests to coat Mithril Relics with Soo.
It looked like a domed prison dungeon with no walls nor holes for anyone to come through. Everything was made out of stone bricks, and was surrounded by thick layers of the earth.
In the very middle of the dome was a large circular stage. Surrounding the perimeter of this stage were ancient and hieroglyphical markings that made it seem like this was a place made for ritual sacrifices. The candles placed on the ground to illuminate the dungeon didn’t help its case.
Chucky walked up to the circular stage. There was an uncharacteristic calmness in his face that made the atmosphere in the dungeon turn a little bit more solemn.
He sat down in a lotus position in the center and turned towards Michael.
"There are three ingredients needed for the process of coating," Chucky explained. "The first and most important part is the Spirit of Old. This is the most vital part of the process.
Michael raised his hand. Soon, a shadow hole formed in his palms that soon revealed a single vial made out of dark green glass.
This contained four drops of the Spirit of Old.
He levitated the vial towards Chucky’s hands.
Chucky received the ingredient and nodded. "For the first coating of your Mithril Relic, only one drop is needed."
"Next, give me the Mithril Relic that you wish to bind to your Diva."
Michael reached down his pockets and retrieved the Drone. Its propellers jutted out to the side and it soon flew over and landed in front of Chucky’s feet.
Chucky had seen the Drone before, but it was only now did he see it so up close and personal.
He knew that this was a Mithril Relic, but he couldn’t help but feel as if there was something different. Unable to figure it out, he just attributed it to its weird mechanics that allowed it to fly freely in the air.
"The last and final ingredient that I need is your blood. The very liquid of your life is what will bind this weapon to your Diva and allow it to access the weapon for itself. Just a single drop is enough."
Michael raised his finger and commanded the mana in his blood to seep out of his skin.
A single drop of blood flowed from his finger and floated towards Chucky.
Meanwhile, Chucky used his own spell to take out a single drop of Soo from the vial.
The strange, transparent, and viscous liquid floated in front of Chucky just as the blood arrived at his side.