Arc 1 - Ch 5: "A Cursed Morning"

CHAPTER 5 - "A cursed morning"

This web novel is a draft of the story. Please expect frequent changes and updates as I see fit. Enjoy! -Cloki

※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

-Through the night, Siegfried was greeted by a most feverish dream. In his dream, he was met by a translucent figure of a woman, closely resembling his own mother. She spoke to him in soft words that could barely be made out by the ever so strong sounds of static that accompanied them. Siegfried was in an unknown instance, floating amid the cold, chilling air of the black and purple void in which he was located. His "mother's" words resonated in his ears... ["Return"], ["Time"], ["Eternity"], ["Wish"]. Siegfried could make out no meaning in these words, he only accepted them for what they were...words. He dreamt of this sequence of words throughout the night, accompanied by vivid images of recognizable faces, that seemed ever-so familiar to Siegfried, almost as if he had met them before, but was unaware of their names. Siegfried was then subjected to a different sequence of words...wake up....wake up....wake up...----

Jinore: "WAKE UP!"

Siegfried: "AH, WHO AR-ah, Jinore-san. I apologize for my startling awakening. I had a bad dream last night. I thought I saw my mother.."

Jinore: "No worries, I startle my guests awake often. For some reason, this Inn really has an effect on people, it puts them into a deep slumber sometimes. It's nearing 11:00 AM I gave you some extra time to sleep in, as I noticed your mana Vat had been depleted.

-Mana vat? Siegfried knew no spells, or what mana was in this world.. regardless, hearing the words "an effect on people", Siegfried thought back to the previous night, in which he felt as if somebody was watching him. He felt suspicious throughout the night and even had a crazy dream. Could the Inn really have an effect on people? Suddenly, Siegfried grew ill.

Jinore: "Anyway, Azure-sama is already awake and at the breakfast table, you should get dressed and go gree- are you not feeling well? You look as pale as a ghost!"

Siegfried: "I'm...okay, just not feeling too great. It was probably the result of me sleeping on this floor last night."

-Siegfried felt terribly ill to his stomach and was confused as to why. Perhaps it was the way he slept? Or perhaps it was the unsanitary conditions of the hotel room which hadn't been cleaned? No, the hotel room was immaculate, it couldn't have been that.

-Siegfried suddenly turned around, opened up the window, and vomited outside.

Jinore: "Yikes, you really don't seem too well. Allow me to call in a healer to come and check you out. Stay there, okay?"

Siegfried: "Sure thing..."

Siegfried to himself: ["Man, what did I eat last night? To be honest, I didn't even eat last night. Why am I suddenly feeling so ill?"]

-Jinore called in a healer from the Adventurer's Guild, and when they showed up, they began their assessment on Siegfried's case.

-The healer entered the room, he was a man of average height, with short lavender hair, glasses, and a lab coat on. His eyes were silver, and he had the aura of a thousand fish swimming in the ocean, representative of a powerful water mage.

???: "Oh hello there, young adventurer. My name is Physalis, I'm a healer here in Formai! Allow me to examine your Vat and other organs to check for any damages that could have been caused to you...

-Physalis began his examination, channeling energy through Siegfried's mana vat, as well as checking his veins, hands, neck, back, spine, and other major parts of his body. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until Physalis tapped into Siegfried's conscious, a skill known by healers as "Mental Synchronization", an advanced tactic that allows a healer to tap into anyone's conscious to get an idea of exactly what they're feeling at any given time. Call it "advanced empathy" if you will. By doing this, Physalis could pinpoint the problem.

Physalis: "...Siegfried, I'm afraid to say that you've been cursed. Your pain seems to be originating from your spine and into your stomach, a perfect incubator for curses to grow until they end up killing you."

Siegfried: "Cursed? Already? Damn, I just got here! how could someone have already cursed me!?"

-Siegfried then thought back to the hooded figure the night before...

Siegfried: "That damn wizard."

Physalis: "I'm not entirely sure how you were cursed, but I am unable to remove it. You see, curses are an advanced type of shaman magic that can only be removed by another shaman who breaks the curse for you. Unfortunately for you, I'm not sure if there are any Shamans near here that would be able, or even willing to remove this curse from you. Shamans are users of dark magic, so they usually cast spells with malicious intent... I'm sorry Siegfried.."

-Siegfried, growing more suspicious of the cloaked man by the minute, decided to ask about where he might have wandered off to.

Siegfried: "Say, did you notice anyone weird roaming about this town yesterday? A tall man in a cloak?"

Physalis: "I did notice a tall cloaked man circling the Adventurer's Guild, interacting with people and presenting them with a mysterious book yesterday now that I think about it. Why?"

Siegfried: "Did you see where we wandered off to? I need a word with him..."

Physalis: "Well, last I saw, he was leaving the town about an hour ago going west toward the Aqua Trail, perhaps if you follow the trail that way, you'll eventually run into him."

-After hearing Physalis' answer, a groggy and ill Siegfried found himself to his feet, and got himself dressed. He asked Physalis one more question before leaving his room.

Siegfried: "Physalis, is there any way you can subdue the potency of this curse? In other words, make me feel better while I try and find a shaman?"

Physalis: "I can indeed do that for you. But please know this, 24 hours after a curse is set on somebody, its effects will take control and they most likely will die. Please try to find a shaman and convince them to heal you before 24 hours is up. Fortunately, I can tell that you were cursed just recently, in my professional opinion, about 3 hours ago. You have 21 hours to find the shaman. Good luck."

Sigfried: "Thank you, Physalis."

Siegfried to himself: "I sure hope they didn't curse Azure-san too. I need to make sure she's okay before we leave for the Aqua Trail."

-Physalis cast a subduing spell on Siegfried, which also replenished his mana vat as an added bonus. Feeling better, Siegfried got dressed and met up with Azure at the breakfast table to deliver the unfortunate news to her.

Azure: "What? You think that the hooded figure from the other day cursed you in your sleep last night? Well, now that I think about it, I remember waking up earlier and seeing you twitching slightly. I assumed you were just having a bad dream."

Siegfried: "I was having a bad dream, I dreamt of this weird instance where I was floating in a void and I saw my own mother, she was whispering to me.. words like wish, return, time, eternity.. the static was too loud to make out her entire sentences, however. But besides that, we need to find that hooded man before sunrise tomorrow, or else I could be done for!"

Siegfried: "and also... I wanna make sure they didn't curse you either. I'm just looking out for you, ya know?"

-Azure blushed lightly and fixated her gaze on Siegfried's eyes. With a more serious expression, she said-

Azure: "Well, I appreciate the concern... if you're that confident that it was indeed that cloaked man who cursed you, then I'd say we should waste no time finding him and getting his motives, and seeing if he can reverse the effects. Where did the man wander off to anyway?"

Siegfried: "Physalis said he saw him going west toward the Aqua Trail early this morning. By now, about an hour has passed since he was seen leaving.."

Azure: "He could be far along the trail by now. Fortunately for us, I have a method of fast travel that can get us down the trail in a short amount of time. Follow me, Seigfried, let's make haste and find this man!"

-Azure was concerned for Siegfried, but deep down, was more concerned for her own safety, as she was already aware of the potent effects curses can have on an individual, and how deadly they can be if left untreated for 24 hours.

-The party tipped Jinore before they left, thanking her for their delicious breakfast. They left the Inn, and made their way toward the Aqua Trail in pursuit of the cloaked man who cursed Siegfried!

-Walking past the numerous buildings in Formai, the party decided to take a quick stop at the Adventurer's Guild to let Daichi know of the news, and get his input on how to handle a shaman, were the cloaked figure to be one.

※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※