The Curse of a Stead

And even though Maui usually listened to his brave side, he knew that he couldn't do the same thing this time around. Because the last time he listened to the crazy advice of his brave( crazy) side, it resulted in this situation. 

"What should I do? What should I do?" He hopped around in the sky, his ears twitching nervously as he looked around and that was when his gaze fell on a wounded wolf beastman lying on the ground. 

Maui knew instinctively that it was Xavier.

So without thinking about anything, he dove right towards Xavier. He came to a skidding halt next to Xavier before tottering over to his side.

"Master Xavier! Master Xavier, you need to wake up and save Lord Damien," Maui patted the face of the wolf beastman lying on the ground. But Xavier remained unmoved, other than letting out a tiny groan, he stayed unaffected by the fact that a stead was patting his face. 

Maui clicked his tongue. "This will not do, we cannot waste any more time." 

He looked around but Maui could not find anything. The land was covered in magma and far and wide, he could only see rocks and more rocks. Neither of the two things was helpful in waking up a knocked-out, injured wolf beastman. 

His gaze flickered uneasily before Maui's eyes fell on the space ring on Xavier's ring finger and all of a sudden his brown eyes brightened. Wasn't this ring similar to his carry pouch? The one that was stretchable and had unlimited space? 

"Let's just hope that there is something useful inside," Maui said as he walked over to the space ring and tapped on it, however, nothing came out of it. 

A frown appeared on his face and Maui tried to remember how these space rings of the beastmen worked, as he who had lived in the territory of stead had no idea how the beastmen had survived and evolved after the last transcendental war. 

"Ah, yes. It has a new security feature now," Maui recalled what his teachers had told him. He needed to press the ring finger of the other hand on the gem inlaid in the ring. This was the new protection spell that the wizards came up with after the complaints of theft and robbery. 

At least that was what his teacher told him. 

Though this protection spell worked fine— Maui raised his head and looked at the heavy, muscular arm lying on the other side. 

A drop of sweat trickled down his furry forehead. 

There was no way he could lift that thing. 

"What am I even thinking?" Maui laughed with a lighthearted expression. He could just pull the ring off and then bring it to the other side, that should do the trick eh? 

And yet the ring remained stuck on Xavier's ring finger, without budging. 

"Curse those wizards, I knew they were not reliable. So many protective spells for what?" Maui snapped as he dropped his paws when he couldn't pull the ring. 

Roar!!

He nervously glanced in the direction from where the roar came from, even if Damien somehow managed to escape from that Impert Snake beast, Maui was certain that he wouldn't survive without Xavier's help. 

These lands were infested with all kinds of beasts after all.

Left with no other choice, Maui walked over to the other side of Xavier's body, he reached out and held his other hand which was sprawled on the ground.

"Ahhh! Curse it. I knew I was not cut out for fights and lifting weights. I am more of a smart guy," He whined as he lifted Xavier's arm over his head, his legs along with his long ears twitched with the weight of it. "I am more of a strategist, damn it." 

His eyes flickered and Maui stretched his wings. The weight over his head turned lighter and much easier to carry, he rose in the air and threw Xavier's arm off his head such that it now lay right next to his right arm. 

Steads could carry tons of weight but that was only when they were in the air, on land however they were useless. 

All because of a stupid curse. 

"Alright, I can do this." Maui cheered himself up as he fluttered next to Xavier's side. Once his feet touched the ground, the magic in his body left as if it never existed and Maui cursed his ancestors. 

If he could he would have loved to have a little chat with them. What in the world were they even thinking when they offended that one transcendental beast woman? Did they not know a grieving woman could be dangerous? 

Maui shook his head as he shoved the history of his kind at the back of his head. He then reached forward and with all the strength he could muster with his tiny body, he pulled Xavier's hand towards his space ring. 

"One more push, I just need one more push," Maui huffed as his leg wobbled, he winced when his wound stung a little but when he thought of the kind man who had saved him despite the feud between the beastmen and the steads— he gritted his teeth and tugged one more time.

"Come on your piece of shit, you can't be any more useless than this right?" He raised in the air once more before pulling Xavier's fingers towards his ring once he got close.

What? He also had limited mana alright. He couldn't just fly continuously with an injured leg and one-fourth of mana left in his body. 

Now was the tricky part as he threw off the entire arm caught hold of the ring finger and rubbed its tip on the blue gem. 

THUD!

"Yes!" Maui punched the air as he looked at the things that had been regurgitated by the ring. However, his happiness didn't last long as he saw the mess that was scattered in front of him. 

All he needed was a water pouch and some healing sap. 

How was he supposed to find it in this mess? 

Lord Damien was waiting for him to save him!