"Really?!"
Benbo's eyes lit up. Brimming with excitement, it pressed close to Angel, its pitch-black horizontal pupils nearly filling his entire field of vision.
Angel instinctively leaned back.
Only then did Benbo realize it seemed to have been somewhat discourteous. It had the tentacles on the wall pull it back, though not very far; it was still standing roughly three or four meters in front of Angel.
At such close range, Angel could even see the fine blood vessels in Benbo's enormous eyeballs.
"Sorry, I failed to restrain my emotions just now."
Benbo drew its intricate wings tight. Looking somewhat nervous, it carefully asked, "So you mean the crystal pen's 'Heartbreak Ink' effect was produced through a new trait?"
Facing Benbo's expectant gaze, Angel lowered his eyes for a moment before finally shaking his head. "I can't be certain."
Benbo was not disappointed. Instead, it phrased the question differently. "By can't be certain, you mean... it's still possible?"
This time, Angel nodded and explained his thoughts.
The second trait was, for now, still merely Angel's conjecture.
And that conjecture stemmed from the new effect known as "Heartbreak Ink."
Because according to Algalong's original design, the crystal pen should have had only two effects. This extra "Heartbreak Ink" must have arisen from some variable that had appeared during the forging.
There was no possible source for that variable other than Angel himself.
Once that premise had been established, Angel thought back over what he had done during the Netherflame forging process... hoping to determine where the variable had come from.
In truth, there was no need to think back. He had only done two things in total.
One was enchantment, and the other was shaping.
Angel personally believed that the enchantment was more likely connected to the visual presentation of emotional