Chapter 6: The Cursed Stone
The morning sun struggled to pierce the grime-coated window of Fang Yuan's motel room, casting muted streaks of light across the unkempt floor. The scent of damp wood and cheap incense clung to the air, remnants of the previous occupant's futile attempt at masking the stench of mildew.
Sitting cross-legged on the creaky bed, Fang Yuan meticulously inspected the Essence Stones spread before him. The Hobgoblin Knight's Essence Stone pulsed faintly—its core a deep, ominous red, starkly different from the pale blue glow of the normal ones. He picked it up, feeling the dense mana condensed within. Boss-tier Essence Stones were rare. Rarer still were hunters skilled (or lucky) enough to retrieve them.
Sliding the stones into a worn leather satchel, he slung it over his shoulder and checked his Status Screen one last time.
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Status Screen
[Fang Yuan | Age: 20 | Race: Phoenix | Level: 7]
HP: 100% | Mana: 100% | Fatigue: 2%
Strength: 10 | Agility: 55 | Intelligence: 30 | Defense: 10 | Vitality: 90 | Luck: 10
Titles: A-rank Healer, Reincarnator, Symbol of Life, More Poor Than Dirt
Traits: Six Eyes, Semi-Immortality, All Affinity
Skills: Mana Reinforcement (Lv.1), Regeneration Flames (Lv.1), Asura flamrs (lv 1),[Cursed Techniques Locked]
Inventory: 60 Normal Essence Stones, 1 Hobgoblin Knight Essence Stone]
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Satisfied, he stepped outside, merging into the awakening city streets.
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The Hunter's Market
By the time he arrived at the Hunter's Market, it was already teeming with life. The sprawling bazaar, housed beneath a web of weathered tarps and flickering magitech lanterns, stretched as far as the eye could see. It was a place of greed and desperation, where hunters sought to turn their blood-soaked conquests into currency, and merchants peddled both genuine artifacts and counterfeit relics with equal enthusiasm.
Fang Yuan navigated the throng with practiced ease, his Six Eyes passively scanning the crowd. Amid the sea of mana signatures, he filtered out the background noise, focusing on potential threats and opportunities. He finally stopped at a familiar stall—a wooden counter reinforced with enchanted iron, belonging to an old woman known as Madame Lu, a veteran trader specializing in dungeon loot.
The moment he revealed the Hobgoblin Knight's Essence Stone, her wrinkled fingers trembled.
"Boss-tier Essence Stone…" she muttered, holding it up to the light. The crimson glow reflected in her aged eyes, greed momentarily eclipsing caution. "Not many survive to retrieve these." She hesitated, then finally named her price. "7,250,050.15 ₩ for this one. The rest? 144,95 ₩ each."
Fang Yuan's mind worked fast.
Adding all the stones prices the total cost was 15,947,169 ₩
Not bad. But he wasn't here to settle for the first offer.
"I'm an A-rank Healer, you know." He smiled, his tone casual yet firm. "Reputation matters. And people trust me when I say something's valuable. You wouldn't want me telling others that your prices are unreasonably low, would you?"
Madame Lu narrowed her eyes. She knew the game he was playing, but in the end, she sighed.
"Fine 17,000,000 ₩
Fang Yuan, upon hearing the new price smirked.
As he turned to leave, his Six Eyes caught an anomaly—a faint, discordant hum of mana from the shadowy outskirts of the market.
He approached.
The vendor was a greasy-haired man, his yellowed teeth flashing in an exaggerated grin as he waved his hands theatrically.
"Ancient relics! Forgotten artifacts of the old world! Blessed by gods! Cursed by demons! Anything your heart desires, I have it!"
Most of his wares were obvious fakes—rusty trinkets with weak enchantments. But one item stood out.
A jagged black rock, seemingly ordinary to untrained eyes, sat on a velvet cushion. Yet, beneath its rough surface, something stirred. Layers of dormant mana, bound by a brittle seal, coiled like serpents in slumber.
"This!" the vendor shouted. "A cursed artifact from the depths of the Crimson Abyss! Forged in dragonfire! Yours for one million won"
Scoffs erupted from the small audience. But Fang Yuan? He stared deeper, analyzing.
Not a dragon relic… something older. Something worse.
Fang Yuan stepped forward and spoke. "It's worthless."
The vendor flinched. "W-what?"
"You'd be lucky to get 500 won"
The vendor sputtered. "You dare insult—"
"100,000 won." Fang Yuan crossed his arms. "for a pieace of useless rock this is more than fair consider this my charity, this is my Finally offer."
The vendor hesitated. The crowd waited. Fang Yuan's gaze never wavered.
A minute passed. Then—
"Fine!" The vendor snatched the cash from fangYuan's hand, muttering curses.
System Notification:
[Item Acquired: ??? (Unknown ????? Relic)]
Hearing the notification fang Yuan became more happy as he left the market and started to return home
________________________
Back in his room, Fang Yuan placed the rock on his desk.
It pulsed.
He exhaled and channeled mana into it. His Six Eyes dissected the flow.
At first, the rock resisted. Then, after thirty relentless minutes—
Crack.
The surface ruptured. A surge of black mana erupted, binding itself to his arm.
Agony.
Fang Yuan gritted his teeth as the rock liquefied, seeping into his skin like ink. The pain wasn't physical—it was something deeper. A curse carving itself into his soul.
System Notification:
[Warning! Cursed Relic Activated!]
[Curse of the Weaponless Phoenix:]
- Unable to wield swords (One-handed Sword Arts, Dual Sword Arts locked).
- Relic can shapeshift into any weapon except swords.
- Curse intensity scales with user's strength. Removal conditions: ???]
---
Fang Yuan stared at his trembling hand. The rock was gone.
He summoned Ice Wolf—but the moment his fingers touched the blade, it was absorbed by a black liquid which was excreted feom his hand.
"So swords are forbidden now," he muttered. A setback, but not a defeat.
Focusing on the relic's presence in his core, he willed it to change.
A bow formed in his hands. Then a spear. Then a warhammer—each shift seamless, each weapon humming with mana.
System Notification:
[New Skill Unlocked: Adaptive Arsenal (Level 1)]
[Allows the cursed relic to mimic any non-sword weapon it absorbs upon doing this all atributes and Affinitys are retained and can be andded to other wepons that is created. Durability and elemental affinity depend on user's mana control.]
Fang Yuan smiled upon seeing this taking out his next sword as he had it absorbed
If the curse was a chain,The relic was a key.
Hidden Quest Unlocked!
[Cursebreaker]
[Discover the origin of the relic and break the Curse of the Weaponless Phoenix.]
[Reward: ???]
Fang Yuan's smile sharpened.
This he found this new life to become more interesting by the day,seeing the new system message fang Yuan came out of room and headed towards a D rank dungeon called the "Skelton graveyard"
End of chapter