Chapter 176: A Forbidden Experimental Ritual Seal

Max was practically speedwalking across the castle courtyards while gripping the folded paper tightly in his hand.

His mind was racing a thousand miles an hour.

The ritual circle was still burned into his memory.

The symbols.

The runes.

And above all...

The fact that it had fallen from Thara.

’It can’t be a coincidence.’

Or maybe it could.

But honestly, after everything that had happened lately, Max was getting tired of believing in coincidences.

He crossed through one of the side gardens, desperately searching for red hair, a messy robe, or any accidental magical explosion that would indicate Seraphine’s presence.

But instead, he ran into someone else.

Dorian.

The elf was calmly walking along with a small book in his hands and a suspiciously relaxed expression.

Max stopped dead in his tracks.

"Dorian!"

The healer looked up.

"Hmm?"

Max quickly approached him.

"Have you seen Seraphine?"

Dorian closed the book with absolute calm.

"As far as I know, she was heading toward the stables."

He slipped the book into his coat like he was embarrassed to be seen with it.

"She was trying to find somewhere to keep Raptor so he doesn’t traumatize the castle horses."

That sounded pretty reasonable.

Max nodded.

Then remembered the paper.

He immediately pulled it out.

"Before that."

He unfolded it in front of Dorian.

"Does this look like some kind of summoning circle to you?"

Dorian took the paper.

And the moment he looked at it, his expression shifted slightly.

"Huh."

He frowned.

"I think I saw something similar once."

Max raised an eyebrow.

"Where?"

Dorian answered with complete naturalness:

"In one of the many worn-out books Seraphine keeps in her room."

Max nodded.

And then processed the full sentence.

"...Wait."

He stared at him.

"You entered the most powerful mage in the world’s bedroom to steal her spell books?"

Dorian shrugged slightly.

"Stealing knowledge," he corrected.

"Sounds less illegal."

Max stared at him for a few seconds.

"One day you’re going to die in an extremely ridiculous way."

"Possibly," Dorian admitted.

Then he looked back at the paper.

"I vaguely remember seeing it in a book about experimental spells and rituals."

He handed the paper back to Max.

"I’m sure Seraphine knows exactly what it is."

Then he narrowed his eyes.

"But the real question is..."

He crossed his arms.

"...where did you get this?"

Max hesitated for only a second.

"It seems like the drow dropped it."

Dorian tilted his head.

"Miss Thara?"

Max slowly nodded.

The elf sighed.

"I knew there was something suspicious about that woman."

Max looked at him.

"Because of the forbidden ritual?"

"No," Dorian replied immediately.

His expression turned grave.

"Because it’s impossible for a lady that beautiful to treat me that way."

Max stared at him in complete silence.

"...That doesn’t seem particularly strange to me."

"How cruel," Dorian muttered.

Max rubbed a hand over his face.

"Anyway."

He put the paper away again.

"The important thing is that we have reasons to be suspicious."

Dorian nodded.

"Yes."

Then he sighed dramatically.

"What a tragedy."

Max raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"I was just about to return to my laboratory."

Dorian placed a hand over his chest.

"Prepare myself some tea."

Another dramatic pause.

"And read my nightly romance novel."

Max blinked.

"...Your what?"

Dorian completely ignored the question.

"But now I need to know what Seraphine says about this."

He adjusted his coat.

"So I’ll come with you."

Max no longer even knew which part worried him more.

The forbidden ritual.

Or the fact that Dorian read romance novels before bed.

"Let’s go then."

And the two of them began walking toward the stables.

***

The smell of hay and damp wood became noticeable the moment they approached the castle stable area.

And as soon as they turned a corner...

They heard a happy screech.

"SKREEE!"

Max and Dorian found Seraphine beside Raptor near one of the side corridors.

The mage was talking with Bim and Bam while the velociraptor observed everything with absolute curiosity.

Bim was completely fascinated with Raptor.

He was literally circling the dinosaur, analyzing him like he had just discovered the greatest animal in the universe.

"His teeth are incredible..." he murmured in amazement.

Raptor tilted his head while watching him.

Meanwhile, Bam seemed far more concerned with practical matters.

"I’ll see what I can get from Bertha’s kitchen," he was saying while scratching his beard.

"But I can’t promise there’ll be enough food to satisfy a beast that size."

Seraphine smiled faintly.

"Whatever you can get will help, even if it’s just bones or fatty meat."

Raptor let out another happy screech as if he had understood perfectly.

Then he noticed Dorian.

And immediately walked over to lick his hair again.

"SKREE!"

Dorian tried pushing him away while laughing softly.

"Yes, yes."

"I think he likes you," Max commented.

"That worries me a little," the elf replied.

Bim and Bam finally noticed the whole group.

"Ah, Mister Max!"

Bam proudly pointed at Raptor.

"Isn’t he incredible?"

"I’m still trying to process this," Max admitted.

Seraphine finally looked at them.

"Did you find something?"

Max wasted no time.

He immediately pulled out the paper and handed it to her.

"This fell from Thara."

Seraphine took the sheet.

Opened it.

And the moment she saw the symbol...

Her expression completely changed.

The smile vanished.

"...This is a forbidden ritual."

Dorian crossed his arms.

"I knew it."

Max looked at Seraphine.

"What exactly does it do?"

The mage continued analyzing the symbols.

She slowly frowned.

"Wait."

She brought the paper closer.

"This has been modified."

Max felt a small chill run down his spine.

"Modified how?"

Seraphine pointed to different sections of the circle.

"They combined the summoning ritual with..."

She paused.

"...a reverse ritual."

Max blinked.

"What the hell is a reverse ritual?"

This time Dorian answered.

"It’s a fairly advanced technique."

He stepped closer to examine the paper too.

"If you reverse the seals of a ritual correctly..."

He pointed at several inverted runes.

"...you can reverse the original effect."

Max still looked lost.

Dorian sighed like a tired teacher.

"For example."

He raised one finger.

"A ritual to summon rain."

Then he flipped his hand over.

"If you perform the reverse ritual, it can stop the rain."

Max slowly widened his eyes.

"...Oh."

That definitely sounded dangerous.

Seraphine slowly nodded.

"It’s never been tested with summoning rituals."

Her tone became much more serious.

"Because it’s forbidden under magical law."

Max felt his heart starting to race again.

"...Then."

He looked at the circle.

"Would the reverse version of a summoning ritual allow someone to travel to another world?"

Seraphine slowly raised her eyes toward him.

"In theory..."

She paused.

"...yes."

Silence fell for a few seconds.

Raptor let out a small confused screech as he noticed the tension.

But Seraphine looked back down at the paper.

And frowned even harder.

"No," she muttered.

"This isn’t right."

Dorian tilted his head.

"What is it?"

Seraphine pointed to another group of small symbols near the edge.

"It has marks from the Time Ritual."

Dorian immediately looked confused.

"...The ritual of what?"

"Time," Seraphine repeated.

"It’s another forbidden ritual."

Even she looked uncomfortable talking about it.

"In theory..."

She touched one of the symbols.

"...it’s used to accelerate time."

Max felt coldness run down his spine.

Summoning.

Travel between worlds.

Time.

All mixed together.

"...Then this seal..."

He slowly looked at the paper.

"...is basically a forbidden experiment?"

Seraphine exhaled slowly.

"Yes."

Dorian looked much more serious now too.

"And a very dangerous one."

Max stored the sheet away again.

His mind was already connecting far too many pieces.

Thara, a drow who definitely wasn’t trustworthy.

The rituals. The summoned creatures. Cyborgs and dinosaurs.

And now this.

"We need to investigate that woman," he finally said.

"She’s involved in something really messed up."

Seraphine immediately nodded.

"I agree."

Dorian did too.

"I’ll help."

Max looked at both of them.

And felt that he no longer had to face the problem alone.