Curse Caster

Mark had no intention of keeping it secret. He set down the fish tail in his hand, looked at Hawkins, and said, "Of course it has other uses. Using curses to cancel out curses is the lowest-level method. Cursed Relics aren't items from our world. It's said that all Cursed Relics come from the Dream Realm. That is a... how should I put it?"

For a moment, he found himself at a loss for words, unsure how to describe the Dream Realm.

"Right, the world of daydreams." Suddenly, he put down the grilled fish, clapped his hands, and said with a smile.

Hawkins frowned. "Daydreams?"

"That's right. The Dream Realm is actually the world where all living beings' daydreams exist. For example, Captain, if you dearly wanted an incomparably sharp blade, that thought would be conveyed to the Dream Realm and create such a blade there," Mark said, nodding.

Hawkins looked at Mark and asked, "Then how does that blade reach our world?"

"I'm not too sure. The Dream Realm is extremely chaotic and difficult to grasp. I'm only a first-rank Curse Caster, so I can only faintly sense its existence," Mark said, shaking his head.

Hawkins said thoughtfully, "So Curse Casters are people who know how to properly use Cursed Relics?"

"More or less. But becoming a Curse Caster isn't so simple." After answering, Mark reached out and grabbed another fish, explaining the requirements for becoming a Curse Caster as he ate.

To become a Curse Caster, one needed at least three Cursed Relics, as well as a Qi-Suppressing Stone.

After consuming Qi-Suppressing Stone powder and coming into contact with more than three evil curses at once, one's mind would briefly connect with the Dream Realm. As long as one did not suffer a mental collapse in the Dream Realm, one would sense Curse Power after it ended.

Successfully mastering Curse Power made one a first-rank Curse Caster.

After hearing this, Hawkins roughly understood how to become a Curse Caster. The only question was where the Qi-Suppressing Stone came from.

He looked at Mark and asked, "The Qi-Suppressing Stone isn't a substance from this world, is it?"

"Correct. Qi-Suppressing Stone is also a substance of the Dream Realm. I obtained mine directly from my Lineage. Ordinary people who want one can probably only rely on luck," Mark said with a nod.

Because Curse Casters who reached a sufficiently high rank had a chance of bringing Qi-Suppressing Stone back from the Dream Realm, Curse Caster Lineages indeed possessed an incomparable advantage in this regard.

However, Qi-Suppressing Stone was not found only in the Dream Realm. Just like Cursed Relics that inexplicably appeared in this world, Qi-Suppressing Stone occasionally appeared here as well. The earliest Curse Casters had actually been lucky people who obtained Qi-Suppressing Stone.

"Captain, the odds of Qi-Suppressing Stone appearing are extremely small. If you truly want to become a Curse Caster, the best way is still to join a sufficiently powerful Curse Caster Lineage." At the end of his explanation, Mark looked at Hawkins and offered his advice.

Hawkins looked at Julian and shook his head. "The Seven Seas probably don't have such a Lineage."

Among the Seven Seas' six great islands, each had an absolute ruler. If Curse Casters truly existed in the Seven Seas, they would certainly be among those six.

Unfortunately, none of those six would likely be willing to share their benefits or grant power to unrelated people.

Night fell.

Hawkins returned to the captain's cabin, sat before his desk, and took out paper and pen to record what Mark had said.

Curse Casters felt somewhat like a profession such as mages, yet they were different in some ways.

Moreover, Curse Casters were often covered in evil curses. Though powerful, they also suffered from all kinds of drawbacks.

For instance, members of the Storm Lineage Mark belonged to were blown away by storms every year. Those with good luck survived; those with bad luck landed in dangerous areas and died outright.

However, Curse Casters possessed an extremely bug-like ability: Curseguard.

Curse Power automatically protected its master. As long as the opponent did not possess Curse Power, they would be completely unable to break through its defense.

Joyce's attacks had actually been blocked by Curse Power, so no matter how sharp the paper figures were, they could not cut Mark.

Hawkins was very curious what kind of energy Curse Power was, and in what manner it operated to automatically protect its master. Could Curse Power possess a mind of its own?

However, compared with Curse Casters, a profession similar to mages, Hawkins was actually more interested in the so-called Dream Realm.

Why could humans of this world communicate with the Dream Realm?

If the two worlds truly had a connection, would it be an "onion-like form" or a "double-yolk form"?

He was certain that two curses he did not know about existed on him. One was bad luck, while the other remained unknown for now.

These two curses came from the Black Knife and the Sea Chart respectively.

The Black Knife's ability was unknown, as was its curse. The Sea Chart's ability, on the other hand, was obvious: it displayed the locations of treasures.

Hawkins gently stroked the Sea Chart. His consciousness continuously searched through the original Hawkins's memories. After finding nothing, he fixed his attention on Hawkins's father, Huo Blackblade.

In the Seven Seas, both sea and land were fraught with danger.

The dangers came not only from nobles, but also from other pirates, cryptic legends, mysterious sea monsters, and evil Demonic Beasts.

"Ghost Corpses walking through the sea fog..."

Hawkins found in his memories the scene from the day Huo Blackblade died in battle.

At the time, the Blackblade Pirates had clashed with another pirate crew, and it eventually escalated into a bloody battle between the two sides.

Both sides wanted to eliminate the other and swallow up their wealth and power, so the fighting was extraordinarily brutal. People constantly died on both sides, and the seawater around the two ships was dyed red.

Just when both sides had slaughtered until their eyes turned red, fog suddenly rose over the sea.

The fog gradually shrouded the other pirate ship, and the pirates, who had been fighting with bloodshot eyes, all felt an indescribable chill.

Yet neither side could stop. The moment they stopped, they would surely be killed by the other side, so the slaughter continued.

At that moment, the pirates who had already died began to "come alive" one after another. They seized nearby pirates and bit them directly, while the corpses that had fallen into the sea crawled back out of the water and joined the fighting.

Amid the chaos, Hawkins fled back to the Black Knife. After beheading dozens of Ghost Corpses, he decisively turned the helm and fled.

Huo Blackblade did not make it back to the Black Knife in time, but he did not blame Hawkins. Instead, at the final moment, he threw the Black Knife onto the ship. In the end, he was left in the fog forever.

In truth, after Huo Blackblade's death, Hawkins had constantly pursued the secret of that eerie sea fog. Unfortunately, none of the people he could contact possessed supernatural knowledge, so he had gained no further clues or information.

When Hawkins had casually chatted with Mark earlier, this topic had come up. Mark's answer was simple: some animal had obtained a Cursed Relic. It had merely been an ordinary hunt.

Though it looked strange, its purpose had been very clear: to hunt for food.

In the eyes of Curse Casters, every incredible occurrence was surely caused by Cursed Relics. The Dream Realm had long tempered their hearts into something vast and unshakable, so they were often unsurprised by strange sights.

Yet Hawkins still harbored doubts about that explanation.