Chapter 31: Of Curses and Warlocks (7)

(Miabi POV)

Well, well, this was not quite what I expected from both of them.

Ken Bruce and Philip Oswold.

Fufu, they sure are too much kind for their own good. It's not every day that a person would express their concern for a Warlock like myself, a Mage with the magic of darkness that's both scorned and fear throughout the entire land due to its abhorrent nature that was responsible for many people's suffering in the past.

Of course, the same can be said with other branches of magic as well. A logical person may argue that it's the caster who should be the one to blame instead of the magic that they possess, and I'm in complete agreement with this statement.

Magic is simply a tool like any other, just like how a sword can be used to cut down a foe without remorse, or an arrow being fired for the kill. Thus, there's not much of a difference if we compare magic to others on the basis of making other people's lives miserable.

The same can't be said about the others, close-minded fools that they truly were. They were simply blind to see the bigger picture and perceive things in a rational manner.

And it seemed that Ken and Phil were of the former as I now considered them to be good-natured men of logic with a kind heart.

Anyways, I decided to convey my gratification at their worry for me.

"Hmm, I suppose I also ought to not be an ungrateful swine, and thank you both for your concern. It's the least I could do to show my gratitude."

Ken laughed at my remarks and responded-

"Haha, you got that right. And also, your dancing is kind of awesome too."

He added his last statement with a huge grin on his face.

"Yeah, it's really remarkable!! Even better than most dancers who I witnessed on stage before!!"

Phil intervened and was one with the same opinion as to his seatmate.

Fufu, these two men. Perhaps it would be okay if I considered them as comrades… maybe friends as well.

The last part… we'll see perhaps. Calling them friends might be going too far, given that we've only recently been acquainted a week ago.

"Fufu, as much as how exceptionally touching this conversation turned out to be, I still need to assess if the curse is finally lifted"

Ken scratched his head sheepishly.

"Oh right, the curse, ahaha."

Fufu, his embarrassed expression was honestly kind of cute.

Not that he needed to know that piece of irrelevant information that had nothing to do with the ritual that was performed.

Even Phil chuckled alongside him and said-

"Oh, Ken. Only you would forget the very thing that we came here in the first place. You sure are hilarious, haha."

After a little bit of their short intermission of laughter, I then turned my full attention to the man in question and pointed at the book that was still lying on the ground.

"Now, Ken Bruce. Let us see if you are now truly free from the dire affliction that has been hampering your very soul to darkness. Try reading the book once more."

While I'm quite confident that my ritual would do the trick, there were rare instances where a curse was not completely thwarted. Sometimes, it would take days for it to be fully cured, and the subject needed to be observed for the duration until they were finally remedied.

Ken complied with my order and begun reading the spell book. I looked in incredible anticipation at the result of my very own curse-curing magic.

A few seconds later, I heard a soft whimper coming from him, with tears slowly falling from his eyes.

Well, this is not good. Did my ritual actually fail? Was he overcome by deep sorrow yet again due to the fact that he could not read the contents of the book?

Tsk, how troublesome. All of my confidence that I displayed earlier would be for nothing if my ritual did not even yield favorable results. This was going to be embarrassing indeed.

My pride as a curse specialist is on the line here!!

Oh, and my genuine concern for the cursed victim. Yep, that too.

Phil became worried and approached Ken close at his side.

"Ken, are you feeling well? What happen? Did the ritual not work?"

Gah!!! This really sucks no doubt. If my ritual did not work, then I would be the laughing stock of the Order and my family if they ever heard of this.

Not that I care about their opinions, but the smugness on their faces was really a pain in the eyes. I want nothing more than to wipe that arrogant smirk off them and prove that even someone like me is capable of greatness in this field of magic.

I, Miabi Aventus, former member of the esteemed noble house of Aventus, a distinguished family with the noble rank of Count and with powerful ties to dark magic, was not able to cure a simple curse like Heim's Shroud.

Simple at least when you rank Heim's list of curses. It's still relatively hard even for a trained curse specialist to cure that curse.

Believe it or not, I was not the prodigy that I once was. This dark magic that I wield, was the culmination of my hard work and dedication for many years.

I was once considered a nobody in my family, someone that should not be bothered sparing a glance at. Being a member of the branch house would often get you that kind of treatment.

And it did not help that it was also for the reason of what my elder sister did. Her crime involving the dark arts so dreadful that I was loathed and isolated, even from my fellow branch members.

My sister's crime is something that I don't really have the heart to explain and has caused me a whole lot of trouble ever since I was young.

And my parents died in the last war years ago ever since I was a baby, so I don't have anyone who I can directly call a family.

Thankfully, there was one, a distant uncle from the main family who recognized my talents, saw my worth, and taught me all he knew about Dark Magic.

Arkadia bless Uncle Reynard Aventus's soul.

Thus, I proved the entire family wrong that I was simply a shadow of my sister when I showed the results of my labor, forcing the family head to acknowledge me and my magic when I challenged and defeated his daughter, the prodigious Aventus heiress in Magicka, where every member of the family bared witness of my glorious triumph.

Oh, how my uncle was proud of me on that spectacular day of my victory. And the dumbfounded looks of the main family's faces were a sight to see, fufufu.

Such was one of the greatest achievements of my life. Subsequently, and at the young age of 13, around two years ago, the Ebonhand Order was impressed with my talents and sought me into their fold so I won't be bound any longer by the Aventus name. Nevertheless, I still chose to retain the family name as a constant reminder of how they wasted a young talent like myself and my own way of saying the repulsive F-word at them.

Fufufu, yeah, my family sure is an interesting bunch indeed, a bunch of cynical fools that is. Thank Arkadia that I no longer was involved with them.

While being in the Order was enough to hone and improve my magic, the leader saw fit that I first attend an academy instead since I was still young. While I insisted and objected to his notion, he told me that there's more to this world than simply learning magic, and I should strive to widen my horizon on other factors of life as well.

Thus, came to this bothersome predicament of mine. I don't want to give those unsavory fools from the main family the satisfaction to come up with another excuse to belittle me and go back with their regrets of not treating me like one of their own.

Damn it, should I prepare another magic circle again?

Shit, my Mana level is dangerously low because of the burden of the ritual and I was feeling extremely exhausted as well.

I could force myself, but doing that would put myself at great risk of my life. I'm not so sure if I can pull off another ritual of the same caliber.

As I was contemplating while in my utter self-inferiority and hands shaking with distress, I was suddenly interrupted when something pulled me away from this state of anguish that I was in.

No, not something, but someone rather.

The one who was responsible was none other than Ken Bruce. He knelt and pulled me into a deep embrace as our bodies pressed against each other. Astonishment and confusion befell upon me at this rather heartwarming action that he chose to undertake.

"Thank you."

Thank me?

I'm genuinely confused.

What was he thanking me for? Didn't the ritual actually fail?

My suspicions were all proven wrong when I saw the gentle smile on his handsome face as if the pressures of his past were finally alleviated in sweet departure.

"Thank you, thank you so much, Miabi Aventus. The clouds that have been darkening my visions are finally no more. Because of you, I can properly learn magic like a normal Mage. You have my eternal gratitude."

While on our hug, I find myself quite flushed at this rather emotional personality that Ken Bruce was expressing to me.

Oh… I forgot.

While tears were used to express one's tremendous suffering, the same can be said about the opposite. Tears may also convey an extreme amount of happiness, an emotion that's quite rare for someone like me, given my past upbringings in the Aventus house.

And as much as I'm too embarrassed to admit, this gesture was not so bad after all. Perhaps I could get used to intimate actions such as this… something that I was denied for a very long time.