Special Chapter X - Cursed Field (part 1)

Curse magic, one of a very few amounts of magic that I still don't understand even until today.

Simply said, curse magic is like the reverse of healing magic. Instead of fixing things, it destroys things. Just like healing magic, it is also progressive, meaning it takes time for it to completely destroy things.

But in this case, where the target is merely a field of crops that doesn't even last a few days, instead of being progressive, the curse magic became continuous. It stays on the crops permanently, and will continue to wither the crops.

Question, how long will the curse magic last?

It depends on how much energy the mage puts in. Just like healing magic, the more energy you put, the faster and the stronger the healing will be. The same goes for curse magic, the more you inserted, the danger and the speed of the withering became much higher.

In this case, however, the amount of energy was very small.

It was so small, to the point that it took two of the best academy students in a kingdom of magic to notice it.

It was well hidden, is what I'm trying to say.

The ones that did not know what we were talking about looked very confused, including my teammates and the villagers who were with us. Arfius lifted his hand and pointed towards the withered crops right next to us, and he slowly explained.

"Basically, this entire field has been cursed. If you want a much simpler explanation than that, then let's just say someone doesn't want these crops to grow."

"C-Curse?? How can there be a curse in the fields?"

That's a good question, this is the first time I have seen this.

I had no idea that curse magic could be used on farms like these… No, I had no idea it can be used on plants.

Forget plants, the ones being cursed weren't the crops. It was the ground itself.

I did hear of some terms like 'a cursed house' or 'a cursed land'. I had no idea what they meant and simply thought of them as something people came up to keep others away.

Turns out… it was actually possible to curse even inanimate objects.

"I can't even sense it… how did you two notice?"

Keira asked me and Arfius, and I shook my shoulder.

"I noticed it when I first set foot on this ground."

"I noticed it long before we even arrived."

Arfius turned his annoyed gaze at me, and I chuckled. I quickly looked away and waved my hand to fan my face.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I also just noticed it when I set foot here."

"Then… how come I can't notice them even now?"

Keira asked, Albert and Leo also looked rather confused. The three of them couldn't sense it, then how come me and Arfius can?

Good question… I have a keen sense regarding healing magic or any magic in general. Arfius, however… I have no recollection of him related to any restoration magic.

Could it be that he has some experience with curse magic? Or was he just that keen?

Arfius pointed towards the ground next to his foot while still staring at Keira.

"Focus your senses downwards. What do you feel?"

"N-Nothing, I don't see anything…"

"Don't expect it to be a really powerful magic. It was weak, very weak. Very small, but it is literally everywhere. Once you spot it, you won't be able to miss it."

The three of them tried while everyone else waited. Keira, Leo, and Albert stared at the ground below them as hard as they could, searching for something incredibly small.

After a while, they found it.

Keira spotted it first, and she was quite surprised at the start. But then she turned her gaze around, glaring at the field. Her expression shows a really horrified one, as if she just saw a land of death.

"So you can see?"

I chuckled when she realized. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and sharpened my senses. When I opened my eyes, my senses were heightened, to the point where I could see everything.

To my eyes, every magic has its color. Fire magic's color is red, water is blue, and so on. Healing magic is a pure white color, while curse magic… I have rarely seen one before.

The color for curse magic is bright purple. To my eyes, this entire field… is just covered in bright purple.

A very wide crop field, completely cursed to the brim.