Cursed Thrall

He turned around, ignoring Persephone's earlier pleas.

She was now half naked, supple, tanned breasts exposed. She was whispering to the attacker, who at this point seemed confused, however, his eyes were focused on the mounds in front of him.

'What is she doing?' 

"Gian, you can't," Kate whispered. 

The attacker grabbed Persophene's breasts, and she flinched. Despite her seductive smile, Gian could see sadness in her eyes.

She leaned in, and the attacker kissed her.

The others turned around as well, following Gian's lead.

Persophene tore away from the kiss and waved her wand, whispering a spell under her breath.

Gian could see violent threads of pink energy coalesce at its tip, before firing into the attacker's mana core. It ate away at it, slowly phasing its once red gleam to a deep purple.

"Enchantresses," Artemis spat. "An insult to all mages," she whispered, before approaching.

"You bitch, I said turn aro—"

"Cover up," Artemis interrupted, pushing her aside to stand over the attacker.

She undid the rest of the ice cocoon, freeing the attacker completely. He didn't move, merely staring at Persephone like a lost puppy.

"Who sent you here?" Artemis barked. "Who gave the order? Was it Derilith?" 

Persephone scrambled to put on her robes, grumbling under her breath. "He won't listen to you," she spat, tightening her robes. "And why are you suddenly so interested in getting answers?" she added. "You froze him up without so much as a squeak earlier."

"I wasn't aware there was a succubus on the train before," Artemis shot back.

"Gian, shouldn't you do something?" Kate whispered.

Gian ignored her; he still had a few precious seconds left with his mana-vision, and he was going to take full advantage of that. And besides, if he had any luck, the system would trigger another peacemaker side quest from all their fighting, and he'd move one step closer to unlocking whatever a mana heart was.

However, as the seconds ticked by, he didn't discover much else. Sur,e he could see the movements of mana, but it would take weeks, months, maybe even years of research and study to figure out what it all meant.

His mana vision left him the same way it came; glitchy vision, dimming then brightening, and finally darkness.

『Mana-eyes has been deactivated. Cooldown: 2 hours.』

'A 2-hour cool-down, not bad,' Gian thought to himself.

He let out a sigh and joined the two girls over the attacker.

"What did we find out so far?" he asked.

Persephone scoffed. "Bitch keeps breathing down my neck, I can't focus," she replied.

"You need focus to ask him questions?" 

She rolled her eyes. "It's a spell," she shot back.

Gian had assumed that it was a once-off thing. She enchanted someone and could control them indefinitely. Though he should've suspected that such a thing was not in line with the fundamentals of magic.

"Can we let her focus?" he asked, looking towards Artemis.

She gave a grunt before retreating to the back of the cabin.

Luna and Kate took this as their qeue to join in.

"She isn't the smartest wand in the store, is she?" Luna chided with a smirk.

"Just shut up," Persophene shot, clearing her throat. She seemed, restless. Perhaps what Artemis had said earlier had gotten to her, though Gian hadn't taken her as someone easily shaken.

'Are enchatresses really that looked down upon here?' he thought.

To him, it made no sense. They were mages capable of mind magic, that on it's own placed them a tier above the rest in his books. But then again, even with the original Gian's memories, he didn't have a real grasp of this world. To him, they were just pictures, he still had to discern meanings, relations and societal structures on his own. Something he hadn't had the time to do since he got here.

"Who sent you here?" Persephone said.

The thrall blinked, silent for a moment. "Black masked figure," he replied after a while.

"Why?"

Again, the thrall took his time replying. "Magic artifact, somewhere on the train."

Gian grew interested at the mention of an artifact. "Ask him what it does."

"I'm getting there," Persephone snapped.

"What does the magic artifact do?"

The thrall opened it's mouth to reply, before suddenly breaking out into cold shivers.

"What's going on?" Luna asked.

Persophene rushed to hold the thrall's head, trying to kiss him again. However before she could do that, blackened blood began drooling out of its mouth. His eyes rolled back, and he went limp.

"What did you do?" Artemis growled from the back.

"Someone put a curse on him," Persephone whispered. "It must've activated when I asked him about the artifact," she added, still considering kissing him.

"Well that's just great," Luna sighed. "Now, what?"

'We didn't even ask him, how a student managed to join such a group,' Gian thought, studying the effects that the curse had on the thrall. He wasn't dead, though he couldn't exactly be considered alive either.

Gian noticed patches of pink and white flesh within the blackened blood. It was likely brain matter. He had read about curses similar to this before. Complete lobotomization upon activation, both a masterclass in magical sequence and contracts, and forbidden work that the church would have you instantly executed for.

His eyes moved further down the thrall's body, landing on the wand. He picked up, inspecting it.

It was a black thing that felt like human flesh, not what he was expecting from a wand. Along its breadth were several runes, though their meanings were lost to him.

"Does anyone here know anything about runes?" he asked, holding the wand up.

Kate raised her hand, gently taking the wand from Gian's hands. She fixed her glasses, squinting to get a better look at them.

"I've never seen anyhting like this before," she whispered.

Luna cocked her eyebrow. "You know how to read runes?"

Kate shook her head. "Only a little," she said. "My mother works as a librarian at the Mage Tower."

Luna whistled at that. "Glad to see some 'false-breeds' doing well for their selves."

This earned a grunt from Artemis.

"Well, what can you read from it?"