Meddler and Bloodline Curse
"Ahhh!" Amu pounded his fists into the ground in frustration. However, he soon composed himself, gritting his teeth as he held Tao's now-stiffening body and continued to flee.
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"Edlyn's friend is running away again… hee-hee-hee…" The doll in Lilia's hand giggled in a voice like a little girl's, its childlike tone underscored by a sinister chill.
"A cursed sorcery tool…" Lucian noted as he covertly observed Lilia's actions while they moved. His interest piqued, he directed his system to appraise the peculiar doll, known as Edlyn.
[Appraisal requires 50 Reverence Points. Proceed?] The system prompt surprised him—it was the highest appraisal cost he'd encountered.
Ordinarily, appraising a low-tier sorcery tool would only cost between 10 and 30 Reverence Points. For this doll to demand 50 points suggested it possessed extraordinary or unique capabilities.
"Appraise," Lucian thought, eager to uncover the doll's secrets.
[Detected a high-level mental field on the appraisal item. Forcing appraisal may alert the owner. Proceed?]
Lucian froze. A high-level mental field? That indicated a full-fledged sorcerer's involvement.
"Cancel." Lucian stole a glance at Lilia, who was leading the way, now fully on guard. He knew she had no close ties to any full sorcerer, or she wouldn't have been assigned to this dangerous mission. That meant the doll likely held a fragment of a full sorcerer's mental energy, raising alarming possibilities—surveillance, control, or perhaps another sorcerer's meddling.
Lucian continued without revealing any reaction, focusing instead on sharing knowledge with Carrie. "Dryads are skilled archers with a natural ability called 'Mind's Eye,'" he explained. "It allows them to sense and target enemies within a limited range. Similar to your archery gift, but their range is shorter. Your talent is even stronger in comparison."
Carrie's cheeks flushed at the compliment.
"When facing dryads," Lucian continued, "the best strategy is to have defensive sorcery or tools on hand. They rely heavily on archery and lack powerful attacks beyond that." Pausing by a blood-streaked vine, he collected a sample in a vial. "Carrie, if you find more blood, collect it. Gathering unusual samples is always valuable for research."
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"They're catching up again!" a younger dryad hybrid whispered, glancing nervously over his shoulder.
"No way. Uncle, we chose this spot because your ability can see through the mist. They shouldn't have been able to track us!"
"Leave Tao behind—quick!" the elder dryad commanded.
Amu hesitated but reluctantly set down Tao's half-petrified body, her once soft skin now rough and bark-like.
"She won't take root in the wood grave, but she'll find new life here in the forest," the elder murmured, brushing Tao's bark-textured cheek. Then, he took Amu by the arm, urging him forward.
"Edlyn has found her friend! Hee-hee-hee…" a distant, haunting voice called from behind them.
"Tao…" Amu's nails bit into his palm, his eyes red with grief.
"Keep moving! If they catch us, we're done for!"
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"It's said that when a dryad dies, their body turns to wood and ultimately becomes an ordinary plant," Lilia remarked, studying the dryad's body, now resembling a human-shaped tree. "Looks like the stories were true."
She shot Lucian a possessive look. "This one's mine."
"Fine, but I'll need some of the blood for research," Lucian replied. Lilia nodded, conjuring a floating mass of blood, which Lucian quickly collected in two large vials.
[Appraising "Hybrid Dryad Blood" requires 10 Reverence Points. Proceed?]
"Yes," Lucian confirmed, and a detailed report soon appeared.
[Item]: Inferior Dryad Blood
[Category]: Bloodline • Hybrid • Fey Type
[Description]: Blood of a dryad hybrid, containing traces of fey bloodline. With special processing, extracting a small amount of pure fey blood is possible.
[Details]:
-Bloodline Ratio [Human: Dryad: Greater Fey: Moon Fey: Other] = 32.1: 39.4 : 17.9: 5.1: 5.5 (%)
-Severe bloodline curse detected...
"So that's it," Lucian muttered, as the appraisal revealed the reason behind the dryads' unusual behaviour.
These hybrids bore a potent bloodline curse—a hereditary affliction passed down from birth, growing alongside them like parasites. It was evident they were desperate, likely hoping for a place on Cossay Island rumoured to hold the means to break their curse: the Fey Baptism Pool.