Jericho the Bard A VRMMORPG Story - 23 When you use powerful cursed abilities...

A blindfolded archer looked down from a tree. He was using a special eye covering saturated in the curse sight fluid his guild-mate had made. While it blocked his regular vision, it allowed him to see the cursed creatures his guild had been recently been hunting down. “Two of them? That isn’t what I was told. Oh well, more loot for me.” He muttered looking at the information in front of his eyes.

[Cursed beast level 20 (Strong curses) High risk.] [Cursed humanoid level 20 (Mild curses) Low Risk.]

“The cursed creatures have grown this much and now there are cursed humanoids? This doesn’t make sense, their information is almost always spot on since they don’t pass on information they aren’t confident in. I must report this when I am done.” The archer pulled out a silver arrow enchanted to deal high amounts of damage to the creatures of evil nature. “Take out the weaker one so it can’t interfere in the fight with the stronger one.” He muttered a common strategy. He paused slightly at the sound of music playing before deciding he didn’t need to worry about any bystanders.

The arrow flew with the twang of his bow.

***

The cat’s ears twitched. (Ken, watch out!) Lux cried as he body-slammed the hunter out of the way.

[Pet Lux has used Guard: Due to Cursed Skills, he has taken a critical hit.]

Two thuds were heard as the pre-teen fell to the ground and a silver arrow pierced the lynx’s side.

(How dare you attack my friend?!) The injured lynx roared as he started charging forward and climbing the tree the sniper was hiding from.

Jericho’s music paused. He split himself in two and pulled out the zither and ocarina. He started playing and singing The Serenade for the Soothing of the Soul in order to heal Lux’s injuries. He had promised to help if they were attacked.

Kenneth looked up to see his pet get pelted by more silver arrows. (How dare you hurt Lux!) He roared. He drew his bow and started firing arrows back at the sniper.

[Extreme amounts of resonance detected as both parties have shown a strong desire to protect each other. Resonance is already active. Due to the strength of the synergy, effects will stack.] [Resonance has reached an extremely high level, you can use sacrifice in order to restore your pet’s health. Warning: Resonance Gift and as a result Sacrifice are cursed. Using sacrifice may be detrimental. It is analyzed that the cursed effects of using Sacrifice will bring you greater harm then letting your pet die.]

Kenneth felt his skin harden and fur sprout under his armor. It itched a bit as he continued to fire his bow. (I refuse to lose Lux. Even though I obtained him recently, and he embarrassed me in front of princess, he is a great pet.) Ken growled under his breath.

A few notifications, he ignored, appeared in front of him. [You and your pet are exposed to the music Serenade for the Soothing of the Soul. Health, Stamina, and Magic points are being restored. Physical ailments have been weakened. Mental ailments have been weakened. Spiritual ailments have been weakened. Your curses and the curses ravaging your pet have weakened.]

The assassin continued his barrage as Lux bit and slashed them.

(Lux, watch out!) The boy shouted at his pet that had very low health. He fired another arrow at the same time the enemy released one last silver arrow. (Use sacrifice.) He roared. Red light flowed from Ken into Lux.

[You have slain the mysterious foe.] [You have used sacrifice on Lux. Lux has survived a fatal blow.] [Sacrifice has saved your pet from the edge of death. Cursed effects of sacrifice have activated.]

Black light seeped out of Lux and flowed into Ken as the red light seeping out of Ken and into Lux faded. The cat shrunk.

Ken felt ominous energy fill his body.

[You have the cursed touch skill, pet contract has been forcibly canceled as the pet space was directly connected to your hands. Lux has changed from a pet to an animal companion.] [Animal companion, Lux has lost all levels gained from being and while being cursed. All of Lux’s skills have been reset to the state they were before he was cursed. Lux no longer has the cursed skill line. All curses have transferred to Huntsman Ken.] [Lux has lost the pet skill line.] [Due to the cursed nature of sacrifice, Lux has inherited your bloodline and now feels a sibling bond with you.] [Lux’s race has been updated.]

[Your experience points have dropped back down to 0 Exp for your current level] [You have gained the Curse skill line. All curses you had previously have changed to have a permanent duration until cured. You have absorbed all of Lux’s curses. You have gained additional curses.]

The lynx faced, fur covered pre-teen felt his face and head become more cat like. He pulled up Lux’s and his own statuses.

[Name: Lux,Level: 14, Race: Lynx Kitten (Human blooded lynx) (Tier 1 animal) Animal companion (Views you as family).

Skill line Animal (predator) Tier 1: Claw 7/10 Beginner Bite 5/10 Beginner Tracking 5/10 Beginner

Cannot utilize human bloodline until reaching Tier 2 Animal (Predator).]

He scanned over his companion’s information to see all of Lux’s skills and levels reduced and his cursed skill line gone. (Cannot utilize human blood until he reaches tier two again? That is interesting.) He sighed/mewed in relief that Lux was fine despite his severely weakened state.

[Name: Huntsman Ken, Level: 20, Race: Cursed Lynx-Human (monster). (Cursed tier 2)

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New: Curse Tier 2 (Unable to control): Tainted skills (N/A), Unholy corruption (N/A), Cursed Form 4/10 Adept, Cursed touch 3/10 Adept, Evil aura 2/10 Adept, Monsterfication (N/A).

New: Animal (Predator) Tier 1: Claw 0/10 Beginner, Bite 0/10 Beginner, Tracking 2/10 Beginner.]

He looked over his own status and groaned. His pet’s former curses were all there, including a few others that were not originally there including one called Cursed Form which seemed to relate to his current appearance. He looked it up.

[Monsterfication: The owner of this skill will slowly lose their original form and progressively turn into a terrifying monster. Warning some of these mutations may hurt.]

[Cursed Form: Randomly the owner of this skill will transform into a hideous monster that will randomly attack non-cursed creatures around it. While transformed your character is controlled by AI. The transformation will normally last a few minutes. Adept bonus: The duration has a higher chance of being an hour.]

(They weren’t kidding when they said the effects would be harmful. Getting rid of these curses seems even more important now.)

The kitten looked over himself. (I’m still alive? I’m small again? Wait, I’m not cursed?! Ken! You are the best!) It mewed happily.

(I’m glad you are okay.) The hunter replied. (However, I am going to have to rely on you a lot now. Not only do you need to regain your strength, I’m the one cursed now.)

The Lynx kitten nodded. (I’m on it! I will be very helpful. I will find the lady so she can break your curses! Thanks for saving my life!)

Princess came up and gave her friend a hug. (I’m glad you both are okay! Who or what was that, that attacked you?)

Ken didn’t hug her back because he remembered his cursed touch skill. (I don’t know.)

Princess let go.

Ken leaned down and picked up the silver arrows that had been ejected from Lux’s body after sacrifice was used.

[You have cursed touch. All things you touch with your hands will be given a curse. Silver is designed to harm evil beings. The arrows have resisted your touch. You have taken 10 points of damage.]

Ken put them in his inventory. (Princess, it seems my hands will curse whatever I touch right now and not just people, can you or Jericho loot the assassin’s corpse?)

Princess gave a nod.

Jericho shrugged since he had no clue what was being said. “I know we just got done being attacked, but shouldn’t we find that apprentice?”

“Loot first.” Princess replied. “I’ll let you touch the dead body brother.”

Jericho shook his head as he came over to the hunter. “Why did you have to say it like that?” As he touched the corpse it vanished and left a small pile of items.

[Quiver of normal silver arrows: See normal steel arrows with the following adjustments: Damage to evil creatures *1.5. Damage to non-evil creatures -2]

[Nature’s cloak (Tier 2) Level 15: +5 Defense and Magic Defense except against fire. While worn you can activate the skill nature camouflage.

Nature Camouflage: Become the same type of coloration as your surroundings making you harder to spot. This only affects outward appearance and does not stop others from identifying you by other senses.]

While Jericho looted and explained the items, Ken scanned back through his battle log. (Princess, can you tell your brother to play that soothing composition again? I think it helped with Lux’s and my curses earlier. Had I known I would have had him play it to help with Lux’s curses sooner. Even though we are searching for a healer to remove them, every little bit helps.)

Princess relayed the message.

“Okay, I can do that. I have been meaning to get that one more proficient anyways since it seems to be one of my most productive pieces.” Jericho pulled the piano and the ocarina. He played and sung the song repeatedly.

After three times playing the piece, […Your curses have weakened. Cursed Touch has regressed from 3/10 to 2/10 Adept. Evil Aura has regressed from 2/10 to 1/10 Adept. Cursed Form has regressed from 4/10 Adept to 3/10 adept. The likelihood of transforming in the near future has been reduced.]

Another five play-throughs later… […Your curses have weakened. Cursed Touch has regressed from 2/10 to 1/10 Adept. Evil Aura has regressed from 1/10 to 0/10 Adept. Cursed Form has regressed from 3/10 to 2/10 Adept.] [Ally’s abilities are presently not strong enough to further weaken your curses. Search for another method or improve ally’s skill…]

(Princess, can you tell Jericho that his music has stopped working but to keep playing? If his skill level increases, he may be able to further weaken the curses.)

Jericho also received notifications about his composition. [Part 1 has improved. 0/10 Adept: Adept bonus: Listeners will have their skills cost slightly less Stamina and MP, Part 2 has improved. 8/10 Beginner, Part 3 has improved 2/10 Adept. Serenade for the Soothing of the soul has improved. 0/10 Adept. Adept bonus: This piece now has a greater impact on dispelling harmful effects. (Locked requires tier 3 healing to receive the adept bonus.)]

“It looks like I need to increase my healing skill line then. It will take me a while to get the song up that high.” Jericho muttered to himself. “But we have spent a lot of time standing here. Shouldn’t we be going?” He put away the piano and pulled out the zither. It was more mobile.

Ken turned to his house cat sized lynx companion. (Lux, can you track her?)

He sniffed around a bit. (Follow me!) The curse-free Lux led the way.