Cursed Object

Ethan rummaged beneath the thick stack of documents on the desk and found a popular science book titled Understanding 100 Dark Creatures. Its author, August, was said to be an experienced Demon Hunter who had lived during the Fourth Era, when evil gods were at their most active. People respectfully called him a walking encyclopedia.

Mr. Encyclopedia had unfortunately met his end while searching for records of the one hundred and first Dark Creature. He was forty-three.

The book offered an exceptionally detailed analysis of werewolves, low-level Dark Creatures.

He quickly found the page on werewolves. "Werewolves are followers of Cynthia, the Goddess of the Hunt. Cynthia is one of the seven Mid-tier Gods."

"Half good, half evil, right?"

Without even looking up, Ivy replied, "But the Temple of the Hunt has long existed in name only. The Dark Creatures who follow her have only grown more numerous."

"That's because of how her followers cultivate themselves."

Ethan had read every book in town that mentioned gods. Although no one had ever truly seen what a god looked like, all sorts of evidence suggested that gods were real. They were the key to opening the path to the extraordinary.

Most scholars believed that the power of gods far exceeded human imagination, making it meaningless to discuss their alignments. Thus, gods could only be divided into factions according to the good or evil of their followers.

Mid-tier God did not refer to the strength of a god's power. It meant that followers of the Goddess of the Hunt could become chivalrous Demon Hunters, or fall into Dark Creatures such as werewolves that fed on humans.

Ethan skipped over the stories and research in the book, reducing it to a simple theory. "The followers of the Goddess of the Hunt believe that humans can gain power from beasts and even monsters. From this, they developed the principle of 'imitation'—by imitating the lifestyles of beasts, they could obtain some of their abilities. But during this process, a dispute arose among the followers: to what extent should they imitate them?"

In theory, the more thorough the imitation, the faster one could enter the extraordinary realm. This was the consensus among Demon Hunters.

But on one crucial issue, the two schools differed sharply. "For example, should they eat humans like beasts and monsters do?"

Over the past two years, he had read many books on mysticism. Nearly every mystical system had reached a subtle consensus on the matter of eating humans.

Once you ate a human, certain irreversible changes would occur to both your body and soul.

The only difference was how they defined those "changes." Some considered them retribution and a curse, while others called them growth and evolution.

"So werewolves are followers who ate humans."

Out of rigor, Ethan added, "Those were the original werewolves. However, academic research shows that werewolves can reproduce as well. They give birth to young werewolves."

Thoughtful, Ivy unclasped the collar and held it up against her fair neck. A faint dark-green glow shone from her eyes as she asked Ethan for his opinion, "Do you think this collar looks good?"

Golden Hair atop her head became furious, gesturing wildly at Ethan as though desperately trying to convey a message—could you confiscate that lousy collar from her already?

Ethan got the message and continued his explanation. "If measured purely by strength, werewolves are indeed much more powerful than Demon Hunters of the same rank. But the downside is that they gradually lose human thought and become driven by instinct."

Ivy's expression froze. As if electrocuted, she flung the collar aside.

"You mean werewolves become stupid?"

"To be precise, they completely lose the ability to think."

Ethan had struck precisely at the weakness of the followers of the God of Truth. They would rather die than lose their wisdom.

Golden Hair was very pleased. It nodded repeatedly and even gave Ethan a thumbs-up.

Bringing the conversation back on track, Ethan said, "From the perspective of imitation theory, werewolves cannot be trained. Even if you forcibly put a collar on them and try to tame them, they'll only become huskies."

"Huskies?"

"It's a creature I saw in an ancient book—a highly destructive kind of dog. They can tear down houses with ease, so during the Second Era, they were even used as siege weapons."

"I have heard the claim that dogs are wolves tamed by humans."

"If you suspect that someone caught a werewolf and raised it on the mountain as a monster, then that person must be severely lacking in theoretical knowledge. Once a werewolf wears a collar, it departs from imitation theory and can hardly grow any further."

Yet Ivy kept sneaking glances at the collar, demonstrating the meaning of refusing to give up her wicked intentions through practical action. "My guess is that this collar can turn humans into Dark Creatures."

Ethan's heart skipped a beat. If the werewolf in the mountains had been transformed by a Cursed Object, didn't that mean it had never had a family from the beginning?

But at least... it had been sent off by a warm Fireball Spell, letting it see its grandmother in the final moments of its life.

And now, Ivy was eager to try it, seemingly very interested in testing the collar's effects.

Miss Ivy, a pure follower of the God of Truth, was the kind of remarkable woman who, upon seeing a red button on a wall, could not resist pressing it to find out what it did.

"This is a Cursed Object. It distorts the human body, damages the soul, and is estimated to be Third-tier or above..."

A Third-tier Cursed Object?

No wonder she was so eager. Something like this was rarely seen in a remote town like Brookwood Town.

Ethan glanced at the collar lying disassembled on the table. Such an inconspicuous object was actually rated higher than Ivy herself.

Ivy felt the same. "I'll send a letter to the Containment Bureau. If all goes well, a containment team will arrive in town in three days. Right now, I need some of your help."

He could only recall the Parchment Book he had once read, titled Encyclopedia of Cursed Items. Its author had been the previous Director of the Cursed Object Containment Bureau. He had become Director in his early thirties and handled over a hundred Cursed Objects—a young man with limitless prospects.

He died at thirty-three, in a containment failure.

In the book, the Director had presented his views on Cursed Objects. Most curses required a particular user to unleash their full threat, so a curse's rating was a comprehensive assessment based on its creator and threat level. He concluded that the "Third-tier or above" Ivy mentioned likely referred to the level of the collar's creator.

Ethan silently recalled the details from the book.

Once a Third-tier Cursed Object took effect, it could cause tremendous harm to a town, often resulting in dozens of casualties.

Ivy suddenly said, "Go get some paper and a pen."

Ethan could tell that she was about to begin evaluating the Cursed Object. To ensure the safety of transport and containment, they had to record its characteristics as thoroughly as possible.

"Werewolf Collar, pending confirmation. Estimated curse level: Third-tier or above."

Taking the paper and pen, Ivy seriously began drafting the opening. She then discussed the details of how the collar had been brought back to town with Ethan. "The three Hunters noticed nothing unusual while bringing the collar back. But after seeing you, their urge to put it on gradually weakened. From now on, every answer you give is of great importance—Ethan, when you saw the collar, were you drawn to it as well?"

"Not at all."

Not only that, Ethan suspected that Golden Hair atop Ivy's head had been cursing her ever since she obtained the collar. He even suspected that the tuft of golden hair might itself be some kind of Cursed Object.

Ivy nodded and continued writing rapidly. "Its influence is linked to the number of people traveling together, while its connection to extraordinary rank is not obvious. Recommended transport personnel: at least two."

"Next is the Cursed Object's actual effect."

She bit the pen between her teeth, then suddenly had an idea. "Ethan, why don't you try putting it on?"