Chapter 142: Introduction to Curses

Wu Qingsong was utterly lost when it came to matters involving women. Once they united against him as a common enemy, Ram and Xeila’s relationship seemed to improve overnight, at least on the surface.

Together with Ling, and including Liuli and Feya, they took Xeila around for a tour, introducing her to everything as if intent on integrating her into their circle. This made Wu Qingsong genuinely uncomfortable.

A few days later, leveraging Liuli as a bridge, Wu Qingsong somewhat reluctantly apologized to Xeila, who, in turn, vowed never to use her stealth abilities on her allies. Ram cleverly managed to smooth things over.

At least, as far as Wu Qingsong was concerned, it was over.

“Do you really not want to know what she looks like?” Ram whispered to him during one of their dates after the resolution.

Though Xeila had made her promise, Ram couldn’t help but feel a lingering unease about some things. Whenever this topic came up, Ram couldn’t help but whisper in Wu Qingsong’s ear, making his whole body itch.

“People wear veils for a reason. Why should we be curious about such things?” Wu Qingsong said earnestly, though, deep down, his curiosity was indeed slightly stirred.

Once Xeila had fully settled in, the much-anticipated lessons for Wu Qingsong finally commenced.

To keep their secrets safe, they had the top of the city hall’s tower converted into a makeshift laboratory and added guards downstairs.

Xeila being such an individual should be a rarity. It was unlikely that anyone could climb to the tower under the public’s watchful eyes, at least not at this stage. This place should be the most secretive in all of Orgrimmar.

Xeila presented a handwritten manuscript, said to be one of the few books passed down from her ancestors. It contained a number of low-level necromancy spells. However, those from the Batiz clan with genuine power were largely killed in the war that had decimated their kingdom. The survivors, living a life of exile, rarely had any who succeeded in mastering these spells.

“Sacker has also practiced diligently but suffered severe backlashes, forcing him to give up,” Xeila shared.

“And you?” Wu Qingsong couldn’t resist asking.

He had been careful not to let his gaze drift to the veil covering Xeila’s face, but his curiosity, stirred by Ram, was increasingly difficult to suppress.

“I lack the talent for magic,” Xeila responded, somewhat jestingly. “Otherwise, do you think I would actually leave this Book of the Dead with you?”

Wu Qingsong also brought out the fragment he had acquired from the undead mage, subtly recounting that episode.

“Are you concerned that I might harbor resentment over this matter?” Xeila asked. “There’s no need for that worry. Even if he was truly a descendant of the Batiz clan, he’d have no ties to our line. The Batiz kingdom has been gone for so long, most have moved on and just seek a peaceful life. People like Sacker are exceptions among my people.”

“Moreover,” she paused slightly, “they never truly saw me as a Batiz.”

Wu Qingsong recalled the words she had uttered in the Temple of Death when she was lost to the curse.

Nina wasn’t one to spread rumors, and Ling always stayed quietly and obediently on the sidelines, leaving him no opportunity to delve into these matters. Yet, when alone, Wu Qingsong couldn’t help but ponder the secrets that lay behind her words.

Could Xeila be a half-elf? How did she find herself among the Batiz clan? Possessing such an ability to eavesdrop on others’ conversations might not necessarily be fortunate. 

Sometimes, being an outsider and knowing others’ true opinions of oneself isn’t beneficial.

Perhaps her initial decision to sneak in and eavesdrop upon her arrival was driven by such a past. Did it stem from the insecurities that past experiences brought?

With this perspective, Wu Qingsong found his grievances against her diminishing. Nonetheless, boundaries are boundaries, and for him, such behavior could not be overlooked.

“My knowledge of the Batiz script largely comes from these manuscripts,” she explained. “The ‘Book of the Dead’ contains too many arcane symbols. Starting with these simpler documents seems the best strategy. Familiarize ourselves with them before gradually working backward to decipher the unreadable characters. After all, you won’t be harmed physically, and even if a mistake is made, the backlash shouldn’t have any effect on you.”

‘Am I the lab rat then?’ Wu Qingsong mused, then shook his head.

“Let’s get started!”

The Book of the Dead mentioned that the Batiz people’s sacred texts were actually comprised of four books: The Book of the Dead, The Book of Pain, The Book of Shadows, and The Book of Calamity, each corresponding to a different system of magic. The Book of the Dead was known for its advanced necromancy, whereas the manuscript Xeila brought pertained to the curse magic from The Book of Pain.

“Weakness Curse, Rage Curse, Forgetfulness Curse, Fear Curse, and Imbalance Curse.”

The functions of these curses were seemingly straightforward based on their names, though Wu Qingsong felt they seemed somewhat trivial.

“Do you think it’s as straightforward as they sound?” Xeila asked. “There was a case of someone afflicted by a potent Imbalance Curse who couldn’t maintain his balance at all. The moment he opened their eyes, the world would spin uncontrollably, and he’d fall over with every step. The only option was to spend days lying down with eyes shut, moving by crawling on the ground. Imagine casting such a curse on an enemy in battle, even just disrupting their balance, don’t you think it would impact the outcome?”

This prompted Wu Qingsong to view the matter with newfound seriousness.

“A powerful Weakness Curse can strip the victim of even the strength to breathe. A Rage Curse can cause them to lose their basic judgment due to anger. A Fear Curse can instill terror of everything in the world, and a Forgetfulness Curse can erase all memories,” Xeila elaborated. “Don’t underestimate these curses. While they may not directly kill an enemy and might not take immediate effect, at times, the harm they inflict can surpass that of swords.”

“You’re right,” Wu Qingsong acknowledged.

Xeila proceeded to decipher the manuscript for him, word by word, which also doubled as a lesson in the Batiz script.

Wu Qingsong quickly grasped that these curses were essentially interferences and influences on the brain, causing it to trigger harmful and incorrect bodily reactions, ultimately leading to grave outcomes.

Perhaps it was a drawback of coming from a world, but he perceived these curses to resemble powerful hypnotic techniques.

Though the underlying concept might seem somewhat scientific, the execution was purely fantastical.

At the most basic level, a curse required obtaining a sample of the target’s bodily secretions, with blood being the most effective, though saliva and other body fluids also worked. Urine and feces were technically options too but were too repulsive for most to consider using. By placing these substances within a specific magical formation or object and applying mental force for interference, a curser could enact the desired curse. The fresher these materials, the more effective and successful the curse.

Intermediate-level curse casters could implement curses using the target’s hair or items they had frequently used or touched. They could also curse a particular object and then place that cursed object near the target to achieve the intended effect.

High-level curse masters could directly curse their target with the help of magical artifacts, or conduct powerful long-distance curses through the use of magic circles and instruments. The effectiveness of such curses decreased with distance, increasing the likelihood of failure.

The curse encountered in the Temple of Death was unmistakably left by a master of curse magic.

The success of a curse was determined by the comparative strength of the spiritual powers involved and the physical condition of both the curser and the target. Higher-level curses had a lower chance of success, and a failure results in the curse’s effects rebounding onto the curser at half strength. This meant that if Liuli were to curse someone, she would be more likely to bring misfortune upon herself. While Harold’s spiritual power might be considerable, his aging body meant engaging in such practices would likely backfire on him.

Dispelling a curse was generally simpler, but if one was afflicted by a curse’s backlash, then it required a curser with significantly stronger spiritual power to timely remove the curse. Nonetheless, the potency of any curse would gradually diminish over time after reaching its peak. As long as one didn’t die, there was always a chance to escape the curse.

“Would a failed curse be noticed by the target?” Wu Qingsong asked.

“The text mentions that a failed curse often alerts those with strong spiritual awareness.”

“So, they would realize it?” Wu Qingsong felt a bit let down

Otherwise, for someone like him, who might not be affected by the backlash, with persistent efforts, there was always a chance to successfully curse someone stronger. How could that be acceptable?

“It seems very intriguing,” Wu Qingsong noted, then continued his in-depth exploration.