Cursemancer

by A P Gore

  “But head demon, why the human?” The high priest’s foolish resistance was boiling Noah’s blood. Why the heck did the nosy bastard have to make his path troublesome?

  The high demon clenched one big fist. “Are you willing to go there yourself, Rosaus?”

  “I can't.” The high priest sounded afraid for the first time.

  Quest Updated: Inaccessible Cave - II: The head demon wants you to retrieve his diadem from the cave. Bring it back to him to complete the quest.

  Reward: A map, 2000 reputation with demon town Sumara, 200 silver, 4000 experience. Quest upgraded to rare quality. Partial completion reward: A map from High Mage Roderich.

  Wow!

  An upgraded quest? That hadn’t happened before. The quest had a quality, too. And the cherry on the top was the bump in experience the quest offered him. That was something unreasonably strong—not that he’d complain about it.

  “I’ll do my best, head demon,” Noah replied in a cheerful voice. Happiness swirled inside his heart. He was going to nail it as fast as possible.

  He would head to the cave that very day and scope it out. The experience was too damn good for him to not make a beeline for it. He just needed to stop by the inn to get Thia, and they’d set off in search of the cave.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Thia was playing in the smithy when he got back to the inn. Upon seeing him, she hopped on his shoulder and licked his face. But today he didn't resist her, even though she made his face completely wet in just a few seconds. He would have to say goodbye to her soon, and he couldn't make her sad for such a small reason.

  He kneeled, eye to eye with Thia. “Listen, girl. We are heading to the forest, but before that I want a promise from you.”

  “Daddy. Promise?” She cocked a brow.

  “Yes, a promise. I want you to do a couple of things for me. First do not give me healing. We have healing potions for that.” He pulled out a couple red vials to show her. “And if you think daddy is dying, and he can't protect you, run away. Don't try to save daddy. Is that a deal?”

  “Thia. Protect. Daddy.” Her fingers squeezed into a small fist, and her head shook in refusal.

  “Daddy can come back from death, sweetie. But you can’t.”

  “Thia. Mommy. Dead. Never. Came. Back.” Tears flowed down her cheeks.

  “Come on.” He pulled her into a bear hug. “Don’t worry. Daddy will return no matter what.” His heart was filled with the love for the little demon, which made him question his decision to send her to another town. Could he keep her with him instead?

  No, Noah. She will be safe with a demon family, and not a human male.

  “You do realize that you have to give her away, don’t you?” The blacksmith stood next to them with a hardened face.

  “I….” Noah’s head hung in shame. He didn’t want to do that anymore, but looking at things in a practical manner, it was the best thing to do. “We’ll see.” He understood why he chose the maybe option today. He wasn't really sure if he wanted to give her away. She was a precious to him, and who would give away his own daughter?

  “I made this for her.” Mathial handed him a pair of gloves. “This is a common weapon for demons.”

  Noah inspected the gloves. A description appeared in front of the armor.

  Spiky leather gloves

  Quality: Uncommon

  Durability: 30/30

  Attack Speed: 1.1

  Physical Damage: 5

  +1 claw damage

  +1 poison damage

  Mathial continued, “Demon kids develop a special weapon for protection. Their nails can extend and act as a claw. The nails are tougher than normal metal and provide them with some armor penetration. The gloves work in conjunction with the nails. So, whenever she would draw her nails out, two claws will also emerge out of the gloves. The claws have a special poison applied to them, so it will work as a perfect weapon for her.”

  “These are awesome. Thank you.” Noah's heart raced faster after seeing them. 7 damage on top of Thia’s already strong physical damage was a good bonus.

  “They are not free, human.”

  Of course. Noah couldn't expect something free from the blacksmith.

  “But I like this gal, so I'll give them to you for ten silver.” A greedy smile formed on Mathial’s face.

  “I’ll pay you a full gold for these. They will become invaluable for Thia.” He appreciated the courtesy, but he refused to pay less just because Mathial liked the girl. She was his responsibility, and it was his job to protect her in every way.

  Congratulations! As you have shown a rare quality of paying a fair price, you have gained +1 to charisma.

  That was nice.

  By that time, Thia had put the gloves on and was playing with them. When she was totally satisfied with them, she jumped on Mathial’s chest and hugged him tightly.

  Rare emotion flashed in Mathial's eyes. “Oh, gal. Don’t make an old fool cry. Take them. They are free for you.”

  When Thia was done pulling the blacksmith's mustache, she jumped back to Noah’s shoulder, ready with her gloves for the upcoming hunt.

  The journey into the forest turned out to be uneventful. They killed a couple of griffin swarms, but gained nothing other than experience. After killing something like 40 griffins, Noah had gained 1900 experience due to his greater involvement in the pack clearing. The griffins as a swarm gave 40 experience each. It was good for a start, but they didn't find another griffin pack for the rest of the day.

  After ignoring the tenth snake, they finally spotted the cave entrance from a couple hundred meters away. It didn’t look anything like a cave. Instead, it looked like a snake’s body hiding inside the ground with just its mouth out, open and waiting for fools to enter so it could eat them alive. The strange thing was, when they got within a hundred meter radius of the cave, all the surrounding sounds stopped as if they had entered a soundproof pocket of the world. Noah could even hear their two beating hearts. No, wiat. Three beating hearts. One was his, off course. The other was Thia. Who was the third one? The answer came out of a nearby bush, staring at them in surprised. It was a golden yellow-colored monster.

  Thia’s tail squeezed around his head. “Goblin.” She definitely didn’t like the creature, nor it them. The goblin grasped his weapon tightly and howled. A howl of rage.

  23. Goblin

  T ime stood still for Noah when the monster locked eyes with him. He could hear his and Thia’s heartbeats speeding up. He could see the sweat dripping from the monster’s nose. He sneezed as the smell of decayed, rotten flesh entered his nose. Time resumed. Thia hissed and unsheathed her claws. The goblin flipped his weapon in his hand.

  Noah focused intently on the creature to inspect him. Perception, he willed in his mind, and the results appeared in front of him.

  Level six goblin. Further information due limited by your low perception skill.

  Congratulations! Your continued trial and error while studying the world around you has proved useful. Your perception skill has reached level 2. Now you can gain more information on your target, but don't try it on high level monsters. They are way out of your league.

  The notification startled Noah for a moment, but he quickly recovered and used his perception again.

  Level six goblin. Are you a fool or something? I just told you that you won’t get more information on this target. XxX.

  What the heck! What does the game mean by XxX?

  Noah's blood heated. If he ever got his hands on the developer, he would teach him a thing or two.

  The goblin was three levels higher than him, so it would have lots of life and stamina.

  Shit! Why do I always get difficult targets? Would the blood boiling curse work on him?

  With his luck, probably not. But he had yet to understand how the curse worked in the first place. He glanced at his skills panel in frustration. There was only poison orb, blood boiling curse, and fire orb curse.

  Wait! Fire orb curse?
>
  By that time, the goblin was charging Noah with a spear held high above his head. Thia shot forward, extending her nails and claws in front of her, startling the goblin with her sudden movement. Thia’s surprise attack resulted in her claws piercing the goblin’s chest.

  A light red notification appeared before Noah, and a red bar popped up over the goblin. The goblin’s health was reduced by 25 points by Thia's attack and was now at 375.

  The goblin warrior didn't take much time to recover. He grabbed Thia's leg, tore her off his chest, and threw her.

  Thia flipped in the air and nicely landed on her feet. She had lost no life, thankfully.

  Noah only had seconds to check the spirit requirement of the new spell, and it was a whopping 100, almost half of his spirit. He bit the bullet and applied his curse anyway, hoping for the best. A dark yellow circle appeared around the goblin, and the creature paused to look down, distracted. The circle flew upward, condensing into a thick ball of fire that hovered in front of the goblin.

  Noah watched the whole thing, unblinking. The goblin moved to its left, but the orb remained stationary.

  Why isn't it moving?

  Thia was circling around the goblin now, confusion on her face.

  “What would it take you to hit the damn goblin?” he shouted at the orb. The orb zipped through the air and hit the goblin on the nose.

  Finally! Finally, you got it working. I thought I would have to descend and teach you the fucking skill. Next time chant the curse name and imagine the target, moron. You owe me coffee plus donuts next time I see you in the respawn room. Sumara’s divine voice echoed in his mind.

  Noah grinned. A pure evil grin. For 100 spirit, he had just scored a critical strike and erased 100 life from the goblin's health pool.

  The goblin stumbled backward, giving Thia a perfect opportunity to use her new toy. She jumped on the goblin’s chest and stabbed her claws in his neck, hitting his weak spot. Another 50 health points vanished from the goblin’s health bar as she too scored a crit.

  The goblin growled in pain and smacked Thia with the length of his spear. She stumbled backward and fell. The goblin kicked her in gut. She roared in pain, sliding across the ground and ending up a couple feet away from goblin The goblin held his spear lower charged Thia.

  Noah bit his lips and ran forward. He wasn't about to let the creature hit Thia again. Not a chance. But before he could reach her, she was back on her feet and parried the monster’s thrust. Noah followed up with two simultaneous poison orbs, doing 31 damage each.

  The goblin warrior stopped in mid-stride as his health dropped below 200.

  Thia leaped forward, but the goblin warrior dodged just before she connected with him. Still, her claws sliced across his right hand. She landed on her feet, spun back, and sliced her claws again across the goblin’s back. He dropped his spear. The goblin's life was below 150 now. It was getting difficult for him to remain standing, but something changed. The goblin’s body shook like a lightning bolt had hit him. He not only regained his composure but also charged Thia with his spear at the ready.

  Thia jumped away, dodging the goblin’s attack, and ran back to her daddy.

  The goblin warrior paused, looking at Noah, then charged him with the spear held as an extension of his body.

  Noah only had 130 spirit left, while the goblin had 145 life. He had a choice: 5 poison orbs or 1 curse of fire ball. He chose the poison orbs and shot them at the incoming goblin.

  But the goblin was agile. He dodged the orbs like they were slow moving stones.

  Noah’s heart skipped a beat as the spear came for him. He remembered the pain the demon’s tail inflected on him, and he froze. The goblin warrior pierced Noah’s gut in that moment of carelessness, costing him a big chunk of his life.

  Noah's mind went numb as the pain exploded in his stomach. He couldn't even move his hand to push the goblin—who was drilling the spear inside his body like a screw-driver—away. Noah watched his health slipping away like water from a broken jar. The slow after effect of blood loss was kicking in, and his senses began to dull. He cursed the bastard goblin and hit it in the face with two simultaneous poison orbs. Then Noah dropped. Distantly, he felt the spear being pulled out of his body, and then everything went black.

  “Thia…” He wanted to tell her to run, but he couldn’t.

  When he opened his eyes, he expected to find the respawn room around him. Instead, he found thick foliage overhead, a long spear laying nearby, and a dead goblin on his chest. A slew of notifications waited for him.

  Your companion has healed you for the 100 health. Your current health is 110.

  Your companion healed you for 50 health. Your current health is 160.

  You are losing 10 health every ten seconds due to the heavy weight on your chest. If you die, you can consider it the goblin’s posthumous revenge.

  The game had converted the goblin into a piece of meat upon death, but it retained the whole goblin’s weight. Noah pushed the piece of meat away, then looked around for his girl. Thia lay on the ground near his head.

  “Thia. Heal. Daddy.” She gave him an innocent smile. She’d once again saved his life, but was below her half health. He pulled a health potion out of his bag and poured it in her mouth. He had purchased it for this exact purpose. He watched Thia’s health filling up in his companion interface. He also noticed another interesting thing: Thia had leveled up, maybe in the battle with the griffins if not the goblin. He pulled up her character sheet.

  Name: Thia (Level 3)

  Class: Druid

  Stats

  Strength 6

  Dexterity 11

  Constitution 12

  Some information is restricted due to reputation level.

  Health 135/235

  Stamina 195 (6.21/sec)

  Mana 20 (5.04/sec)

  Spirit 60 (5.36)

  Skills

  Tail Bash - Demonic Trait: Pierce with a tail to inflict heavy damage. (25 per hit)

  Primal Strength - Druid Trait: Can infuse stamina to increase strength and physical defense.

  Primal Healing - Druid Trait: Can infuse own life to heal other.

  Some information is restricted due to reputation level.

  Interestingly, her strength had increased by 1 and constitution by 2.

  That meant she was getting three skill points allocated automatically. It made sense. But her dexterity had increased too. Now he was dying to check her intelligence and wisdom. She couldn't speak properly, and that made him wonder if she had low intelligence. He remembered Mathial saying something about intelligence needing to be higher for speaking capabilities. But Noah’s intelligence was low too. Was it because he was a player? That made little sense.

  He read the rest of the notifications and pulled out his final hit notification.

  You hit the goblin for 62+62 damage. Your companion hit the goblin for 30 damage. Goblin warrior died.

  So, it was Thia who made the final shot on the monster.

  You have gained 800 (200*3*2 - 400) experience.

  What’s with all these numbers and multiplication signs?

  There was a plus sign next to it, so he clicked on it.

  When he looked at the formula, he understood. For damage, he had 25 base damage for level 5 poison orb + 6 additive damage because of 0.24 global spell modifier. Now he could access the modified number too. The same formula applied for fire ball curse, as it was made from spirit, so 50 base damage and 12 additive damage multiplied by 2 for a critical strike. That made sense.

  Then he looked at the experience gain. 200 was base experience for the goblin, which was multiplied by the level difference (3) and then multiplied by 2 for his party, bringing it to 1200 experience. 400 went to Thia, and he got 800. If he’d been alone, he would have received only 600 experience. So this was good and fair.

  Congratulations! You have gained +1 to intelligence for using the health potion on your companion. It’s past time you stop taking advantage of
her.

  “What the heck is this?” The message was straight away an insult.

  He shook his head in disapproval but looked at his experience numbers. He needed 1140 more experience to level up. It was an excellent fight. Even his mana had increased to 60 now and health to 340.

  He jumped back to his feet and collected the goblin’s skin and spear. He tried swinging it in the air, but it felt odd and weird, so he put it in his bag of holding. He then cautiously stepped closer to the cave. Reaching the front opening, he received a pop-up message.

  Cave of Xamphala. Requires level seven to enter.

  He looked at the cave and then back toward the direction of the town gate. The cave would have to wait for a few more days. He needed to level up, because the cave might have higher level monsters, and he couldn’t keep coming back from death again and again and again.

  24. Fock the goblins

  M athial’s head turned toward them as Noah and Thia entered the inn. The demon’s eyes turned black, scaring the crap out of Noah. Had the animal he had seen in Mathial’s eyes a couple of days ago returned?

  Noah glanced around, considering his options in case a fight broke out. The chairs were filled by various demons, but none of them would help him if Mathial wanted to fight. And even if someone did want to help him, how far would they get? They all had beer bellies, fat asses, and sluggish movements.

  Don’t worry, just ignore him and go to your room.

  He followed his own advice and pressed onward without stealing another glance at Mathial.

  Mathial snorted when they passed in front of the counter and bent forward to sniff them. “I smell goblins. Fock the goblins! Who in here has fucked a goblin today?” He frowned, his hawk-like eyes scanning the crowd before settling on Thia. “Girl, come here.”

  Thia jumped on the counter and reached Mathial in an instant. She gave him a cute smile and pulled his nose. She must have thought she was called for playing.