The Sinful Curse

Alex couldn't leave for an extended period of time without letting his parents know, especially if Shana was going to go with him and would have to take a leave of absence from school.

"I'm not happy about this," Mrs. Ivanov stated bluntly.

Unlike her usual cheery and supportive outlook, the mother was extremely critical of Alex and Shana's actions.

"Alex almost died," Shana stated as a matter of fact.

"And you are responding by going into the lion's den where the Realm Guard won't be able to protect you."

"Mom, they aren't able to protect us from assassins who suddenly attack unannounced," Alex was equally stubborn on this matter.

Vanessa was also here, calmly sipping on some tea prepared by the stern mother who couldn't bring herself to support the two.

"Perhaps, but it is still safer here. Don't treat the Realm Guard as useless, they will investigate this incident and get to the bottom of it. Vanessa, dear, how dangerous will it be at your sect?"

Vanessa smiled and responded confidently, "Alex will be safe, the rules within the secular world are far stricter than here. Openly murdering someone, especially a guest, is not something people do unless there is both a deep blood feud and they have enough strength or backing to deter the punishment."

"And for not so open means?"

"He will be safe with us around."

Most of the confidence behind this statement stemmed from the fact that she knew Lilia was stronger than she appeared. There is no way some underhanded means would be able to slip though the attention of a devil that specialized in deceiving and taking advantage of others. Comparing the two would be like comparing your average street thug with a master assassin.

As the group finally came to a consensus, Mr. Ivanov called Alex away for a private discussion outside.

Alex's father lit up a cigarette, a habit he had stopped years ago as he gave Alex his very first beer.

"Son, you are a man now," His voice was calm, but his gaze was anything but.

"I know dad, everything has just been changing so fast, it feels hard to keep up."

Alex's face twisted in discomfort at the taste of the cold beer and couldn't understand how people enjoyed such a bitter drink, but he still drank it regardless. It was almost like some sort of rite of passage from father to son.

"There is something else I wanted to talk to you about," Mr. Ivanov sighed and hesitated before continuing. "I need to let you know about your heritage."

"??"

"The system you have."

"W-what about it?" Alex became slightly flustered as he didn't expect this to be the topic of interest.

"Actually, your grandfather also had this system."

"Huh?!"

Alex had never met his grandfather, or any other member of his family. He had thought about them of course, but he had long ago came to the conclusion that they simply didn't want to have anything to do with his father and him. This wasn't exactly the norm compared to his friends, but neither was it something unreasonable.

"Back when I was just a kid, I learned that this system apparently runs in the bloodline, almost like a curse."

"Why are you only telling me about this now?"

"Because... you have more cousins and extended family than you realize. Even I don't know the exact amount, only that there are at least a hundred. There is only one version of this system at a time, and the likelihood of it passing down through our family branch was negligible..."

The two stood in silence, watching the empty street bar the occasional neighbor entering or leaving their driveway.

"I had hoped that it would never bother us, and you would be able to live a life without worry."

Alex thought about it, but he failed to see any major issues.

"I understand that awakening... no, inheriting the system means grandfather must have died, but its not like I was close to him."

"Neither was I, or most of my half siblings. It's the reason why I was so opposed to you moving out. 

"What is it?"

Mr Ivanov sighed deeply in regret, as if he had a massive weight pressed down on his shoulders. He took a deep breath of his cigarette before answering.

"Every single inheritor of this system has died young. Your grandfather would be around 70 this year, and he has lived longer than most."

Alex took a long drink of his beer, forcing himself to swallow it while making a bitter expression. 70 was a respectable age for a mortal, but in this modern day of superpowers and all kinds of tonics, it truly was young. If holders of this system died even younger than that, it truly was an issue.

"How did they all die?"

"...Women."

"...Pardon?"

"Son, this system drives women crazy. You become like a drug that they become addicted to, and it twists them into something that is no longer themselves. I saw it with my own mother."

Alex had felt this slightly with Shana, but he truly did not think it was that great of an issue.

"You grandmother, my mother, stopped caring for me over time. I grew afraid of her, she would spend an inordinate amount of time sharpening knives, and if I ever embarrassed her in front of my dad, I would get beaten. I ran away from home when I was young, out of fear of my life, and neither my mother or father ever came looking for me."

"I... I'm sorry to hear that, dad."

"It's fine, it was a long time ago. Now that you are cursed with this system though, you need to be aware of this and be careful in the future. You are safe for now, but you need to always have your guard up, else one of your women will eventually try to kill you."

"Does mom know?"

"Your biological mother?"

"Ah, no, I mean step mom."

"She doesn't, and I would like to keep it that way to make sure to keep this secret."

Alex nodded in understanding, and he also agreed with his dad. His step mom only wanted a bunch of grandchildren, and he didn't want to have to burden her with anything else.

Inside the house, Mrs. Ivanov's mood had improved and she was instead gossiping with Vanessa and Shana.

"So when can I expect grand kids?" She cheerily asked with a big smile on her face.

Shana turned deep red and basically shouted, "Mom, we are still in school!"

Vanessa on the other hand, curled her hair in one finger and without feeling a trace of embarrassment coolly responded, "Once this ordeal is all over and we have some backing, I will produce some heirs. As many as darling prefers."

"N-no!"

The superpowered blonde turned even redder as she responded, her cheeks and ears looking like they were severely sunburnt. She wanted to state he wouldn't have kids with a murderer, but the killing of one of the assassins was a fact the duo had been tactily hiding from Mr. and Mrs. Ivanov. 

Because of this, it made Shana seem to be jealous and competing to have Alex's first child.

Mrs. Ivanov, deep within this misunderstanding, was simply happy that she would be getting grand kids sooner rather than later. 

‎ ‎ 

~~~~

"This feels... a little anticlimactic."

Alex complained as he stared outside the train window as the passing scenery. At first, graffiti covered fences and urban landscapes grave way to more rural scenes, paddocks of sheep and fields of grains being the main ones. 

The modern railway extended through most of the continent, even reaching rural outposts at the danger zones where monsters and off realm tribes had settled down after invading millennia ago.

Vanessa rolled her eyes and stated, "Did you think we would have to fly, or walk most of the way there?"

"No, it just feels a bit... ordinary."

"Master," Lilia giggled while sitting on his lap and shamelessly showering him with kisses in the middle of the train, "logistics are a massive part of any civilization. Even immortals use mortal transportation for moving most things, its simply more efficient."

Alex thought about all the stores which sold cultivation pills, armors, beasts and more and knew it made sense, but the thought of having some rare herb shipped to you by air mail was disillusioning.

"Darling, the sect is more reclusive and you can have your fantasy experience."

Vanessa grabbed the succubus and pushed her off Alex's lap before taking her place. Lilia had been particularly brazen ever since she took Alex's wounds onto herself. By the succubus' own words, she couldn't heal these wounds like she normally would due to causality, meaning she was forced to have them until such a time as Alex would have normally recovered.

Alex of course purchased some items and special bandages to help with the recovery, much the Vanessa's annoyance, but the succubus kept using this as an excuse to get his sympathy and guilt to have sex with her. Every single night for the past couple of days he had slept in her bed because of this.

While the succubus and cultivator were fighting over Alex's attention, a superpowered girl called Shana was desperately trying to pretend she wasn't involved while avoiding making eye contact with every passenger of the train who kept glancing towards them.

'How can you do this in the middle of the fucking train,' She cried out in her mind as if in tears, but was secretly contemplating if she should harden her nerves and join in.

After all, it wasn't like anyone on the train would recognize her, right?