"No, no, no."
Barry Danton spoke up at once.
"That would be terribly rude. It does have to do with Spell Sequences, though. I only hoped to sit down and talk with you at length, so a lucky amateur like me could broaden his horizons. Of course, if it's inconvenient, my promise still stands. It's my good fortune to be able to help you, and meeting everyone here makes me think the title Fortunate Barry might actually fit. Hahaha!"
Barry Danton laughed as he accepted a grilled chop from Mahama.
Ruger was still reeling from the mention of four spell slots. A Spell Sequence was not made up solely of fixed spells, either. Demon Pacts, Creature Cultivation and Modification, and other related elements all played a part. Different Spell Sequences drew on different fields.
And then there was that last part: two Zero-Ring slots and two One-Ring slots. Wasn't that equivalent to two One-Ring Wizards?
Exactly twice the spell slots of an ordinary Wizard.
Could one man really have done that? Had some high-ranking Wizard helped him back then?
If Benson had truly accomplished it alone, he was undoubtedly a genius. But Ruger could also conclude that he had used a relatively simple, brutal method. That simplicity and brutality had brought him success while taking something vital away—perhaps the possibility of becoming a Two-Ring Wizard.
As Ruger thought this, his gaze drifted toward the old Wizard's crooked shoulders and the slight hump beneath his robe.
He quickly looked away. Wizards were perceptive, and staring at someone's hunched back was terribly rude.
The old Wizard drank his soup, as though what he had said was merely a fact about someone else. But would anyone really design a Spell Sequence to destroy his own future?
Just for a brief taste of power?