The Workshop

She pushed open the large, thick wooden door with ease — a contrast to her petite frame. The dander floating about in the room flitted furiously as new air found its way in, along with the stale.

"Agh. I'm beat." She groaned, as she removed and tossed her black cloak to the side, revealing long blonde hair and a beautiful crimson dress. She next hopped up and down as she pulled off her black, ankle high heel-less boots. She carelessly tossed each to a different corner of the musty, cluttered room. Pushed against the walls were junk of all types; tables, chairs, trinkets, charms and bobbles. The sheer amount of objects in the room was quite impressive.

"I don't get why I have to keep wearing this thing, anyway. It's not like anyone in this town gives a shit who I am," Lilah remarked as she walked further into the room, undoing the black satin headband which covered her deep blue eyes. As the fabric slid down, it revealed a strangely shaped brand which resembled two broken lines, positioned directly in the center of her forehead.

Rather than placing her belongings with care, Lilah seemed more concerned with making her way to a table near the back of the room. There a lantern flickered, illuminating the sparse lighting of the dim room. She passed the haphazardly boarded windows, which streamed additional rays of scattered sunlight through them, and took a seat in a raggedy wooden chair.

"Let's see… what to make next.." she said, her thoughts focused solely on a small leather-bound book sprawled open on the desk. Its cover was made of burned leather, though the type of leather could not easily be discerned due to age. Next to the book were several pieces of scrap metal, leather, and what appeared to be various dehydrated animal parts. Lilah was so engrossed reading that she failed to notice a rather large creature slink into the open door behind her.

Its flesh was so dark purple that it appeared black, only when light struck the right could one see tones of orchid. It was clearly humanoid, as it stood on two legs, though looking at it, one would never tell as much. Its feet were flat and round-shaped like an elephant. It didn't seem to have a neck, but rather its head and shoulders were connected totally to its thick, muscular trunk. Its nose resembled that of a reptile and its mouth was broad and wide, filled with sharp white teeth. The strange face was rounded out by two large white eyes, both devoid of pupils. On its forehead, a red symbol pulsed faintly, which resembled an upside-down triangle with several smaller triangles within.

Though the creature was imposing, menacing in all senses of the word, Lilah seemed oblivious to its presence. The heavy thud of its footsteps echoed and, in some cases, caused the old wood floors to creak as it walked. Finally, after several steps, it took up a place behind Lilah, gazing down at her as it took deep, heaving breaths.

"What do you want, Solstice?" Lilah said suddenly, a tone of irritation obvious in her voice.

"Play." The creature's voice was low, labored and deliberate, as if it struggled to pronounce even the most basic of words.

"Not yet," Lilah answered, without diverting her attention from her book.

"Play!" it repeated, this time more loudly, its voice taking on a more insistent undertone.

"I said no. You'll get to play when the time is right." Lilah responded as she flipped the page of her book and ran her fingertip down several paragraphs before stopping.

"Ah, this looks like it could be fun. He he." Her girlish laugh did not match the demented smile, which quickly spread across her lips.

"Now!" the creature shrieked, turning its massive body to smash a nearby table. Its large round hands easily snapped the table in two, sending all manner of items flying as its fist left a huge dent in the floor.

Lilah stopped laughing to herself and abruptly closed the book.

"Ah. You ruined my moment." She remarked as she got to her feet and turned to face the heaving creature. Its chest flared dangerously as it struggled to contain its anger.

"I said--" Lilah began, "No." This time, she lifted her left hand and snapped her fingers. A red and black energy enveloped her hand, and the creature known as Solstice shrank backwards in fear.

"Sorry. Sorry! Sorr--" It broke down into apology after apology but it was much too late. The red symbol on Solstice's forehead flared with the same dangerous energy building in Lilah's hand. It soon enveloped the creature's body and in response, Solstice howled in pain. It flailed its large, thick limbs wildly as it moved backwards and stumbled into a pile of nearby junk.

"Please! Please! Good! Good! Sorry!" it pleaded as the ominous red and black energy coursed through its body, causing searing pain. The torture continued for several minutes. The pained scream of the creature could be heard out on the streets — at least it would have been heard if there were anyone around the abandoned building which Lilah called her "Workshop".

Finally, she released the subjugation spell and walked over to the creature, which was now passed out in the center of the room. She thrust her heel down sharply on the back of its head several times, the impact making a dull thudding noise with each blow.

"Know your place Nox." She growled. She coldly gazed down at the creature for a few moments longer before returning to her place at the desk.

It was now mid afternoon, around three or four pm by Takuma's best guess. Rather than rush out to meet Dot and Chloe, he decided to take a nap in the presence of as many cursed items as possible. The idea was to gather as much mana beforehand, in the hopes that he could completely remove the curse in one go. Since he had no idea of the amount of mana required, all he could do was stockpile as much as possible, given the time he had. While there wasn't a strict time table for curing Dot, there was something that Takuma wanted to discern...

"What kind of world doesn't have clocks, watches, or a way to tell time?" He thought to himself as he walked towards his destination, Dot's general shop. Although Takuma finally reached Rank three and unlocked his ability to learn and use general skills, after having a look he decided it best to come up with a plan after gaining a bit more experience.

With over a hundred general skills to choose from and a limit to which he could currently acquire, such a choice would affect his ability to function for many levels to come. Many of them offered utility of some sort. For Takuma, he wanted a better idea of what threats the world at large might offer to himself before making such a decision. Ultimately, he decided to make good on being an adventurer by doing just that — going on an adventure or two. With that in mind, he decided to focus on other things.

He also couldn't help but think of the Cursed Statue and the mana it would require to purify it completely. In theory, he could probably accumulate the amount of mana needed in less than a week — that's if he used most of his free time to gather mana. This seemed highly impractical given everything else he was currently faced with, so for now, he decided to focus on removing as many of the problems in his way. This thought made him grimace as well...

207 cursed items! What could he possibly do about the plethora of cursed relics which now appeared on his mini-map? As he walked, he would occasionally pass a person holding such an item. He couldn't help but wonder what havoc these items might be wreaking on these people's lives. Men, women, children — it seemed that no one was safe from unwittingly carrying these dangerous tokens of various shapes and types. If things continued in this manner, Dot would most likely take the blame for selling dangerous items to the populace. Whoever was responsible for such a thing — Takuma simply had to get to the bottom of it for both his own sake and the town of Arnia. Tackling a problem on such a large scale would require some organization, planning and most likely money — or at the least pull with the right people.

"I need to establish myself and build a reputation so that more people will trust me. Maybe a trade shop? Takuma's Purification Pub? That would kill two birds with one stone. Although it would also be problematic unless I figure out where all these items are coming from in the first place…" He was speaking to himself, as usual, when he finally reached the front of Dot's General Store.

"Definitely a business of some type. It shouldn't be too hard." He said, replying to his own self-imposed series of questions as he entered Dot's. As the door closed behind him, Takuma noticed her standing in the usual spot behind the counter.

"Takuma! Hi!" Dot said as she moved to greet him halfway. He couldn't help but notice the slight bags beneath her eyes. She looked tired — more weary than he'd seen her lately.

"Hello Dot. Do you have some free time today? I think I've figured out a way to fix your 'problem'."

"You mean... the curse? You've already found a way to get rid of it?" Dot said, her demeanor taking on an air of hopefulness.

"Yes, but.. I have to warn you. This could be very, very dangerous. Life threatening, even. I just want to make sure, before we do anything, that you understand the risks." Takuma explained.

In response to this, Dot cast her gaze downward, as if taking a few moments of reflection before giving an answer.

"Yes. As things stand, I don't have a choice, anyway. If things go well, then this curse, which has claimed the lives of so many of my ancestors, can finally end with me." Dot finally gave her answer.

To this, Takuma could only smile.

*No risk, no reward.* He thought to himself as Dot's determination served to fire him up for success.

Nearly thirty minutes later, the shop was temporarily closed and Chloe joined Takuma in Dot's bedroom. He took some time to explain the process to both of them so that they fully understood what was about to happen.

"In a nutshell, I have two ways I used to purify curses. The first is called 'Partial Purification'. It will diminish the duration of a curse by one fourth. This means I'd have to use it four separate times in order to fully remove the curse. The problem is that, using this method, the curse seems to react, usually growing more severe. With a life-threatening curse like yours, I'm afraid this would be fatal. My second skill, one I recently acquired, is called 'Instant Purification'. With this I can remove the ill effects of a curse in one go, provided I have enough mana to do so." Takuma began with the first part of his explanation.

"The main problem is, there's no way for me to tell exactly how much mana I need to use in order to remove the curse on you, Dot. With that in mind, my plan is to use Partial Purification a few times to weaken the curse, then remove the effects completely with Instant Purification. I tested this a few times with cursed items before making my way here, and it works as intended. At least… on normal objects. Weakening the curse requires less mana than outright purifying it, so in theory it should work."

Both Dot and Chloe listened with bated breath as Takuma explained his intentions. One was filled with quiet determination while the other felt a creeping concern take hold. Chloe had been present during the purification of the Goddess Amulet, thus she knew what to expect. With that in mind, what Takuma revealed next was not a surprise to her.

"In the event that your health begins to suffer during this process or the pain becomes too great, Chloe will use her abilities as a healer to treat you." Takuma further explained.

"Is there no other way?" Chloe asked, hopeful that another alternative would present itself.

Takuma couldn't help but think back to his experience with the Cursed Statue and the crippling effects a botched instant purification had on his psyche. The thought alone was enough to cause a panic to creep over his heart. He fought this feeling within a few moments, however, when he thought of all Dot had to lose.

"I could try the 'Instant Purification' outright.. But there's a good chance it would completely render me unable to help at all. Also, I'm afraid the effects for Dot could be... much worse." He didn't want to say it, but Chloe seemed to pick up on his implication that a failed attempt could be deadly.

"It's a risk I'd rather not take if I can help it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not afraid of suffering a bit more if I thought it would help. But, if attempting this caused anything to happen to Dot., I'd... rather not take any chances." Takuma said as he left it at that.

"I see," Chloe said as her arms instinctively pulled Dot closer.

"Well. I'm ready." Dot said after a few quiet moments between the trio.

"When do we begin?"