Chương 195: Delivery

"A magical oath? Yes, no problem." The ease with which she said it sold it for me. I would still ask Rhea to perform the ritual. There was no need to take unnecessary risks. Actually, I should make it mandatory for anyone who wanted to join the guild, and for the actual members too. This would be a difficult topic to broach...

"It would prevent you from acting against us, so no leaking information, backstabbing, etc."

"Yea, yea, it's fine. I have no reason to work against you. I was surprised, though." She was back to her sultry personality, a front probably, but I got a peek at what lay beneath, and it wasn't pretty. She could give Alya a run for her money in terms of rage.

"About what?"

"I thought you would ask for my body first... I'm nearly offended." She said while biting her lip.

"I'm not the type to force myself on others, and I already have a partner." Was she just messing with me?

"A pity, actually. But if you change your mind, I'm not jealous, you know?" Was she for real? What the hell was this conversation turning into?

"Didn't you just lose your husband?" I knew it wasn't tactful, but damn.

"Love is love and sex is sex, and a girl has needs." Oh, she was one of those... I felt pity for her late husband. Well, her sexual preferences weren't my concern.

"Right... listen, let's meet here tonight at dinner. We'll go and perform the ritual, then we'll talk. Tomorrow we'll all go hunting. It'll be a good team exercise, and a great chance to meet the others."

"Will do. Nice chat, Elias. You are much more down to earth than I first believed." She gave me a hand and I shook it. It was soft, but strong.

"I'll take that as a compliment. See you tonight." And with that I was left to my own devices. She sauntered off, attracting more than a few eyes. She wasn't exactly a beauty, but her well-endowed body and very tight leathers attracted many looks. I managed to deal with guild matters, and now this. I should ask Rhea to prepare that ritual, but she went out and I had no idea where. Later. For now, I needed a moment to organize my thoughts and rest. The stupid bracelet was killing me.

Not literally, but the curses all together were limiting my capabilities tremendously. I had to go for that boost Miflin was talking about sooner rather than later. Next time I passed by, I would take some more stat-boosting items too, for willpower only though. It was my main stat, and while higher than the others, I needed it to fight the curses and better use my abilities. I noticed that intelligence and wisdom increased my total mana and its regeneration. They didn't have only that effect.

They increased my capability to process information, my memory, and much more. I believe they didn't actually boost IQ, they wouldn't make me a genius at math, but they helped for sure. Willpower, though, boosted something more fundamental than just my magic or my brain. Something that, despite the interface showing me the numbers, was difficult to quantify. It was my highest stat even before gaining my first class, and I always knew I had a strong will.

I was certain that most would have killed themselves in my place after being under that curse for a year, let alone a lifetime. I could feel every time my willpower increased that I was gaining the capability to resist, to reinforce my conviction.

That didn't disappear despite the stat being lowered by the bracelet, so maybe it was a placebo effect, just an idea I had of what that stat should do, but at the same time, I was of the opinion that willpower refined my spirit, made it more solid, and given that all I had done until now regarding magic relied on imposing my will on energy, it was going to stay very important in my build. Central, actually. This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. I decided.

This afternoon I would go out and hunt, to familiarize myself with my new condition, despite the pain and fatigue dragging me down. But first, I would use a couple of tokens. Let's see how that would work out.

"Phil,""Yea?" answered the half-drunk scout.

"Can you go to the shop and purchase something for me? I'll provide the points, of course, and a few more rounds." A cheer went up around the table he was at. A couple of other guild members were drunk while eating some kind of roasted meat.

"I don't kno-""C'mon! Do it for the BOOZE!" Michael, the foreman, shouted at him, then laughed uproariously. I was quite annoyed by this bunch. We just finished a meeting in which I expressly said that everyone should stop slacking and work towards improving their skills and classes. I would let them off the hook today, but from tomorrow drinking during the day wouldn't be allowed.

"Ok, ok, fine! I'll go, just shut up already!" he answered back to his rowdy companions, then he turned to me.

"What do you need?" I explained to him what to buy and gave him the funds, with an extra for their drinking session. At the very least, I gained some new drinking friends were I interested, not that I was, but still.

"Bring them to my room upstairs. It's 121," I told him before going up. What was the point of having all these points if I didn't use them to simplify my life? Actually, I was going to be in debt very soon if I didn't figure out how to generate half a million in five days. I had the first hundred thousand covered, but I still needed a lot more. This damned bracelet was going to be the end of me. The irony. After all the bullshit I went through, getting defeated by something I put on myself...

That made me remember something. I sat on the bed in my room and opened my satchel. Putting an arm inside, I took out a familiar mask. The Eldir's mask was still covered by those dark tendrils. Actually, there seemed to be more now. The maroon core set in the eye socket in the middle of the mask's forehead was darker now, but still thrumming with power. I would have to deal with this thing sooner or later. I always pushed it aside, but I should really decide what to do. I had some ideas.

I could just sell it to the System shop. It should be worth quite a bit after all, but it felt like a waste. What I wanted was to study it. My first curse was still inside the maroon core, the core of the Dodder Vitae, the root tree. It killed its body and somehow fused with its core. Then, in the fight with the Eldir priestess, or whatever that was, Quinn smashed the core into her mask, thus creating this abomination here. The point was that there was a connection between the roots and the Eldir.

I didn't know what it was, but there was. The two had similar, if opposite, powers, like two sides of a coin, and now they were united and cursed into this mask in front of me. Even now, I didn't dare wear it. I didn't know the effects. Even if my stats weren't currently diminished, I wouldn't do it. I felt it was too dangerous. This curse was powerful in a way that was difficult to describe. I could faintly feel that the consciousness inside had managed to harness it somehow and now was waiting.

Could I remove the curse and use it to my ends? Maybe. It could be a good training tool, but the mask could present some use later. What if I put it on a very weak monster or individual? Someone with a weak body and stats? I could have a conversation with the entity possessing the mask, then kill the body again. Dangerous. I felt it was really dangerous, for a simple reason: I was in a similar situation. My low stats were limiting me, and the curses were fucking with me in every way.

The effort I had to put into resisting their push and pull was draining me so strongly that I felt if I let myself slip, it could spell the end of me, but still... Still, I was sure I could defeat most of the people here, even with a twentieth of my stats. My abilities were dangerous and I could create so much trouble that putting the mask in my same situation didn't fill me with an ounce of safety. No, giving it even the weakest of bodies was asking for trouble.

I probably spent too much time ruminating about what to do because a knock came from the door.

"Delivery for Mr. Mercer!" Phil's chipper voice sounded from outside. I opened and got my package.

"Thanks, Phil. Have fun, but remind everyone that from tomorrow there will be no drinking during the daytime. We need to work hard, all of us." His countenance became a tad awkward, but he nodded.

"Thanks for the rounds." I shooed him away. He was clearly still hellbent on getting wasted today. A shame, actually. He was one of three scouts, along with Quinn and Marcus, and we needed information, but apparently he wasn't so reliable. I would have to use a much more hands-on approach from now on. This level of incompetence couldn't be allowed. I wouldn't allow it. I refrained from adding anything to the retreating scout and went back inside my room. I had better things to think about.

I would delegate these matters to Chloe and Tom later. I wasn't one for micromanaging anyway. But I wanted results, and I would have them, or they could say goodbye to the benefits they had by staying in the guild. Now that my curse was somewhat locked by the bracelet, I had much more freedom of action. And I would use it. Oh, if I would, they would see...