Chapter 27

Nathan woke up early in the morning, ready to begin preparations for the upcoming healing session.

'I have 37 skill points… I better spend some of them to increase my odds of healing Aunty…'

Nathan opened The Skill Menu and started looking through them,

[Enhanced Sight] SP: 1

[Enhanced Sense of Smell] SP: 1

[Enhanced Hearing] SP: 1

[Enhanced Sense of Touch] SP: 1

[Enhanced Sense of Smell] SP: 1

[Appraisal] SP: 1

[Focus] SP: 10

…

The list was very long, but Nathan was already hooked by the first options!

'Improving my five senses does sound very tempting… it would also help me greatly with Grandpa's training!' Since they were rather cheap, Nathan wasted no time and bought them!

[You have acquired: (Enhanced Sight)!]

[You have acquired: (Enhanced Sense of Smell)!]

[You have acquired: (Enhanced Hearing)!]

[You have acquired: (Enhanced Sense of Touch)!]

[You have acquired: (Enhanced Sense of Taste)!]

Nathan felt as if a veil has been removed over his eyes, allowing him to see better, he could hear the distant sound of the floor creaking, and when he touched the bedsheets, he felt as if he could touch every single string, individually!

[(Enhanced Sight), (Enhanced Sense of Smell), (Enhanced Hearing), (Enhanced Sense of Touch), (Enhanced Sense of Taste) Can be combined into [Enhanced Senses] with the cost of 10 Skill Points, Would you like to proceed? Yes/No]

'Ahhhhh… this is so intoxicating! I still have some Skill Points, so let's do it now!'

"Yes!"

[You have acquired (Enhanced Senses)!]

Nathan felt his already enhanced senses double in strength! Not only that, his senses could now be compacted on top of each other to increase the effectiveness of one!

'Let me buy one more Skill before I go heal Aunty… also let's spend my Stat points as well! I bet I'm going to need a lot of Stamina!

[You have acquired (Focus)!]

Nathan opened his Status Menu,

[Name: Nathan Netherstar]

[Species: Juvenile Royal Dragonborn]

[Title: Crown Prince of Darkness]

[Level 5]

Energy Cultivation Technique: None

Soul Cultivation Technique: None

Divine Abilities: [Eighteen Gates of Hell](Locked)

Bloodline Abilities: [Partial Transformation (Lv 1)]

Secondary Professions: [Apprentice Curse Master]

[Stats]

HP: 1400/1400

Strength: 56 >>> 60

Agility: 54 >>>60

Stamina: 100 >>>140

Toughness: 40 >>>60

[Skills: Trial of Darkness (Lv 1)]

[Passive Skills: Blessing of Darkness (Lv Max), Enhanced Senses (Lv 1), Focus (Lv 1)]

Stat Points: 70 >>> 0

Skill Points: 37 >>> 12

[Items: Moon Rock Necklace, Eye of Odin]

[Soul Bound Items: Sigil of Authority(Crown Prince), Mark of Inheritance(???)]

'I think I'm ready!'

Nathan got up from his bed, and after getting dressed, he walked over to Sophie's room.

*Knock* *Knock*

The door immediately opened, and a very energetic Sophie emerged!

"Are you ready Nate??!!" Sophie didn't seem to even try and hide her excitement!

"It's early in the morning… when did you wake up?" Nathan asked suspiciously.

And indeed, he was right, "I couldn't sleep the entire night! I was too excited for morning to come, I couldn't even close my eyes!" Sophie answered cheerfully!

'… Just how can she stay up all night after such an intense training, and still be overflowing with energy…? I think someone forgot to teach her how to get tired…' Nathan thought with amusement,

"Then let's go see Aunty!" Nathan said.

"Yes!" Sophie followed after him with a spring in her steps.

Soon, they got to Aunty Solina's office and entered without knocking. It was a habit at this point.

Grandpa was sitting on the couch, drinking tea, while Solina was almost done with her pile of paperwork.

"Hm?~ Oh! Good morning kids! I ordered some breakfast for you, so eat up while I finish with these." Aunty Solina went right back to work, her speed increasing by at least three times!

Seeing that Aunty Solina was almost ready, Nathan and Sophie sat down on one the couches and ate their simple breakfast, a few nutritious spiritual fruits and some milk. These spiritual fruits were cultivated and harvested for their use specifically, a privilege of being treasured by Aunty Solina.

[EXP gained!]

After a 'light' breakfast, Aunty Solina walked over to Nathan, "I heard you are going to treat me today, so, how will you do it?" She asked curiously, after all, Nathan hasn't started his Energy Cultivation yet!

Nathan smiled proudly, "With this!" He summoned the [Eye of Odin], a spherical red jewel that hovered on his palm, "This is the [Eye of Odin]! With this, I am sure I can find a way to remove the Curse!"

Grandpa stood up abruptly, "…young Prince, you must be careful in the future. Although nothing can be discerned just by looking at it, its origin is too profound! I do not know its effects but I do know that this treasure is invaluable!" Grandpa warned him of the value of this treasure.

"I know Grandpa, I'm not stupid. It has the name of a God, so naturally it is a very valuable treasure." Nathan said calmly.

Aunty Solina stared at the [Eye of Odin] for a long moment, before she turned to Nathan, "So, what do I have to do?"

"Just lie down and relax. Leave everything to me!" Seeing Nathan's confidence, Aunty Solina nodded and laid down on one of the many couches in the room.

Sophie walked over to her Mother and hugged her, "Don't worry Mom! I'm sure Nate will cure you effortlessly!"

Aunty Solina patted her head, "I'm sure he will."

Nathan also walked over, "Well then, Let us begin!"

Sophie squeezed her Mother's hand one last time as encouragement, before standing behind Nathan.

Nathan brought the [Eye of Odin] closer and channeled his Vital Energy into it. Vital Energy is something only Magical Beasts have, but thanks to becoming a Dragonborn, Nathan also gained access to this Energy.

[Detect Curse!]

[Eye of Odin] shone with a bright red light for a moment, before sending information directly to Nathan's brain. In his mind, he saw a transparent scan of Aunty Solina's body, and he noticed that her heart was covered in thin black strings, woven together like a spiderweb. The spiderweb had already infected part of the heart, so nullifying the curse the normal way was not an option.

He also received a detailed description of the Curse,

[Curse of Envy]

Amplifies the target's negative emotions, feeding on them and strengthening the Curse. Once the Curse is strong enough, target will lose their mind to insanity.

'What a vicious Curse! Aunty Solina is always cool headed and rarely gets flustered, so its hard to pin point when it was placed on her. If it was anyone else in Aunty's place, they would have long lost their minds to the Curse…'

Nathan began to ponder on how to solve this Curse. Although the situation was complicated, it was not at the point of no return.

'I don't know if it will work or not… but what if, I use the [Eye of Odin] and replace all the Curse Energy with my Vital Energy… I think this might just work!'

Nathan began pumping all his Vital Energy into the [Eye of Odin] without reserve! 

'Not enough! I need more!' He popped a Stamina Replenishing Pill into his mouth. The rush of energy made him more confidant in his plan, but that did little to slow his actions.

Feeling the amount of energy in the crystal, and comparing it with the data he received from the Eye, Nathan nodded, 'This should be just enough!'

Nathan waved his hand and the [Eye of Odin] flew over and stopped over Aunty Solina's chest. Many streams of energy emerged from it and entered the heart. Nathan was manually handling the energy himself. He couldn't lose focus for single moment, else the energy would go haywire, and explode Aunty's heart!

Thanks to his new ability [Focus], and the [Enhanced Senses] which helped clear any distraction, while enhancing [Focus], the process finished without a hitch.

Nathan had covered the Curse in dense Vital Energy with a thick coating! All that was left was to slowly swap the two energies with each other, while Nathan extracted the Curse Energy using the Eye.

Nathan wiped the sweat from his forehead as the entire process was a huge burden on his mentality. One mistake could be fatal! He cleared his head from these thoughts and continued. He was still confident!

Bit by bit, the Vital Energy seeped into the Curse, uprooting it and taking its place, strengthening the heart instead of harming it. Thanks to Nathan's abilities, and the help from the [Eye of Odin], Aunty Solina didn't feel the slightest bit uncomfortable, only feeling a bit of heat near her heart.

As Nathan was getting closer and closer to the last parts of the Curse, the remaining webs started to shake violently, starting to lose stability!

'This is not good! I need to extract the rest in one go, or else something bad might happen!' Nathan sent the last bits of his Vital Energy to the Eye, barely able to keep standing, but his mind was crystal clear!

He urged all the remaining Vital Energies to rush and replace the curse, while also utilizing the [Eye of Odin] as much as he could to extract the remaining Curse!

The swap surprisingly went without a hitch! And the Curse was absorbed by the Eye just before it could lose its stability.

[Absorbed (Curse of Envy)! Stat Points +30]

Nathan breathed a sigh of relief… before he lost conscious…