Curselock

Chapter 60: Congratulations [Start of book 2]

The smell of charred wheat filled the tavern moments after the Legacy of Baking opened the oven door. One by one he pulled fully darkened loaves of perfuming rye bread from the scorching heat, expertly slipping them onto cooling racks without burning his hands.

Patrons looked on with salivating eyes, their empty plates mimicking the hole in their stomachs. Soon the tavernkeeper spilled from the kitchen, over encumbered by dozens of bowls. She quickly dropped by each table, setting her stew in front of the many awaiting faces. A moment later, she dashed back into the kitchen only to return with more bowls.

Almost on cue, the baker closed up the oven and got to cutting. A massive wedge of bread for each patron was quickly served, along with butter and jam. Soon everyone had their meal, and only drink remained. Working in tandem, the baker and tavernkeeper moved between the tables, dropping off foaming mugs of mead or ale.

A smile grew upon Jude’s lips before he picked up his mug and hoisted it into the air. “To Glenny, and his new Legacy rank!”

Jude’s boisterous words lit a fuse in the tavern, creating an explosion of cheer from the nearby tables. Congratulations went around the room, despite nearly no one knowing who “Glenny” was. Still, the scene embarrassed the young man in question, and he quickly found his face hovering just above his stew.

“Congratulations Glenny,” Leland ruefully said.

Glenny’s skin abruptly returned to normal. “Oh Leland, I’m sorrr—”

“Don’t be. It's not your fault I haven’t ranked up.”

Jude chose now to chime in. “It's only been two weeks since Shoutwell and the Sightless Cult. You’ll get there, Leals.”

Foamy foul smelling liquid met Leland’s lips. “Yeah,” he muttered into his drink before taking a deep sip. “I hope so. But let's not dwell on me, we are here for Glenny!”

Hoisting his mug into the air, another round of cheers sounded before Jude mimicked his friend’s posture. They clinked mugs, both eyeing the remaining member of their trio. Begrudgingly, Glenny shoved his drink forward.

“Thanks guys,” the rogue spoke.

Dinner continued without interruption for a long while. The boys discussed things like quests, gold, the occasional item they needed to sell, and where to go from here. Frankly, after Shoutwell and the hell that was a city-ending problem, they all wanted to accept only the “easy” quests. Although such quests didn’t necessarily mean they were safe.

Monster hunting or guard detail were both dangerous in their own right, especially when it came to the unfamiliar territory. Having traveled north from the port city of Shoutwell, the boys made frequent stops in villages and towns alike, accepting nearly every quest they could.

They were nearing the front lines of humanity, the invisible point where settlements stopped and monsters reigned. Granted, they were months away, but that didn’t mean the effects weren’t felt. The monsters they had lately faced off against were significantly more dangerous than the simple Mana Lions of Liontrunk or the gnolls of the savannah.

These monsters were nothing the boys couldn’t handle, however. If anything, they grew bored of such trivial quests. Six beaver peltshere, nine leopard tails there. A rare type of spider venom, maybe even the cleaning of a Frostbug nest.

“We need to do something more interesting,” Jude said plainly. “Scout destroyed ruins or escort a prince home… or something.”

Leland raised an eye at that. “I’d rather not escort another noble home.”

Glenny shuddered at that. “And I’d rather not venture into any place that might have ancient traps… like sigils.”

“How about a tournament? Gladiator style combat? Huh? Huh?” Jude wiggled his eyebrow up and down.

The others rolled their eyes and sopped up the last of their stew with the last of their bread. They discussed long into the eve, well after the tavern started to clear out. The occasional drunk remained, but in the end, it was only the boys, baker, and tavernkeeper.

“So, you three are adventurers?” The tavernkeeper asked, bringing over another round of drinks and sitting at the table. A moment later the baker sat down as well and distributed sweet rolls covered in honey.

“Yeah,” Leland said. “We are a recent team. We all only came of age about three months ago.”

The baker raised an eyebrow at that. “Really? Usually the younger teams are more… disrupting.”

Jude shrugged at that. “Yeah some people are weird. Especially the ones that grow an ego quickly. Like, we get it. Exterminating a troupe of Silverbar Primates is impressive and all, but I don’t need to hear the story a dozen times.”

“Silverbar Primates? I haven’t heard of those before,” the tavernkeeper said.

Answering with a nod, Glenny said, “They are native much further south. They don’t take the northern cold well.”

“Ah, you three aren’t from around here?”

“Nah, we are from a small town down south. Came up here because we thought the quests would be better. At least more challenging.”

The baker squinted at that. “The monsters up here aren’t a challenge? What rank are you guys?”

Leland took the initiative. “These two are rank two, and I’m rank one still.”

“Peak rank one,” Jude interjected. “You’d be rank two if it wasn’t for that last minute spell.”

Leland gave his friend a soft exhausted look. They’d had this exact conversation a few times over in the last week – ever since all of his curses reached rank ten except his newest spell. He internally cursed, a pain blazing across the back of his hand. He stole a glance at his Legacy tattoo, finding a beading drop of blood.

I know! Leland screamed internally at the tattoo. I understand that there is a new spell! Stop hurting me.

“Wow!” the tavernkeeper said. “I thought it took nearly a year to reach rank two for adventurers. You two did it in three months?”

“It was closer to seven months for us. But we only started adventuring three months ago,” Glenny answered then slapped his friend on the back. “So we had a bit of a head start of Leland here.”

The baker and tavernkeeper looked at Leland expectantly. He only slouched in shame.

“He got a sixth spell late into his Legacy,” Jude explained. “Hasn’t been able figure out how to—”

“Jude!” Leland screeched. “Please don’t spout off all of my secrets.” He turned to the others. “Sorry, I’m sure you are very pleasant people. It’s just not smart to give up Legacy abilities like that.”

The baker nodded vigorously. “Don’t I know it. All of my recipes are a part of my Legacy, and sometimes people try to finagle them from me.”

“Sorry Leals,” Jude muttered, reaching for another sweet roll. “Hey… you mind giving me the recipe for these?”

The baker laughed at the question, the others quickly following suit. They talked for a few more hours, but eventually the couple stated they had to close down shop. Before kicking out the drunks, the tavernkeeper said one last thing to the boys.

“Have you three heard of the Snowfall Festival in the town of Frostford?”

Shaking his head, Leland said, “No, what’s that?”

“A local festival celebrating the start of the snowy season,” she continued. “They hold a big herb gathering contest on a remote island just off the town’s coast.”

“An herb gathering contest?” Jude asked, trying not to sound rude.

“It’s a bit more involved than that,” the baker added. “The town is said to be home of a Guardian Spirit Beast, one that protects them from monster attacks.”

Seeing that the boys still weren’t sold, the tavernkeeper quickly said, “The island where the competition is held has monsters though. Which is why only adventurers or guard members are allowed to enter. I hear the spoils of victory arequite worth it, if the rumors are to be believed.”

Leland considered their words for a long moment before giving in. “Frostford you said? Maybe we should take a look.”

With that, the boys said goodnight to the friendly owners and headed off to their respective bedrooms for sleep. But it wasn’t long until Leland found himself awake and restless.

His failure to rank-up had been gnawing at him for a while now, keeping him awake in the deadest of hours. He hated the feeling of falling behind, yet he hated the knowledge that he was slowing Jude and Glenny down even more. They were rank two now, but he was still rank one? And with no sight of the finish line?

He stumbled to his feet and quickly found the hardwood of the singular desk in his room. Without ceremony or fanfare, Leland pulled his purple grimoire from his hand tattoo and set the book in front of him. First he reviewed everything to make sure nothing had changed.

Name: Leland Silver

Legacy: Curses

Archetype: Initiate of the Curse Lord

Overall Rank: 1

Fracture:

Type: Curse

Rank: 10 (C)

Call upon the Lord of Bone to shatter those in your way.

100% chance to break a random bone in a single target.

Crow Massacre:

Type: Curse

Rank: 10 (C)

Call upon the ethereal familiar of the Lord of Curses.

Summon 13 ethereal crows to attack a target for 1 minute.

Curse of Collapse:

Type: Curse

Rank: 10 (C)

Pull the target towards the end, bringing them one step closer to the Lord of Death.

Exhaust the target for 200 seconds, lowering their speed by 50%

Harbinger Halo:

Type: Curse (Self)

Rank: 10 (B)

Strike a dark accord with a presiding Lord, calling their aid.

Contract lasts for 600 seconds.

Circle of Souls:

Type: Curse

Rank: 10 (B)

Call upon the souls of the Damned, channeling the power of the Lord of Souls into an area.

Encase the souls of those within 50 yards, siphoning their lifeforce while chaining them to this reality. Fully consume a soul to increase your magical potency by 10% for 1 minute.

Everything looked in order for rank-up, or at least, Leland thought it did. As far as he had learned, achieving rank ten in all primary spells or abilities was means for evolution. Yet, he still faltered to coax such an effect. He pulled at the last page of his grimoire, receiving only a paper cut for his troubles.

After talking it over with the others, Leland concluded that something hid in the back of his grimoire. When he tried to flip past the last page with entries, he found the pages stuck together. Whether it was spell or something else, he had not reached the required prerequisite to unlock such a page. Thus, his sixth primary curse remained at rank one.

Just like him.