[Cursed Apprentice]

Aura was wriggling, desperately trying to get out while her eyes became teary from the pain.

He let go of her tongue, keeping his grasp on her neck.

"I..."

Mori was immobile, waiting to hear what she possibly had to say.

"I'm sorry..."

She looked at him, but his expression remained unchanged.

"I'm sorry for holding you captive... I'm sorry I've treated you like cattle," she continued.

I'm in control now.

He slowly let go of her neck, his hand imprint remaining.

She was uncomfortably moving, ultimately asking, "The window..."

"What?"

"The- Please, the curtains..."

He turned his head to his left. The sun had appeared above the trees through the windows. 

He took a step back. 

She quickly went to the window, swiftly closing the curtains. 

She took a moment, facing the closed curtains, but ultimately turned around.

"...What now?" she asked.

Her expression was different. 

When he was chained to the wall, she seemed confident. 

Now, however, she was the opposite. 

She was scared.

Mori walked toward her writing desk, running his finger through the books lined up. He couldn't read their titles, something he mentally noted.

There was some paper lying around. He lifted a few of them but couldn't read what was on them either.

As he went through her things, something was on his mind. "What do you know of sovereigns?"

She was taken by surprise, not expecting that question.

"You mean Kings and Emperors?"

He walked toward her, she instinctively tried to step back but was already against the window.

He opened his profile once he was next to her, ensuring she could see its content.

"No..." she whispered.

She had raised her hand in front of her mouth, her eyes going up and down, repeatedly reading his profile.

"I shouldn't have brought you up here," she said under her breath. 

He closed his profile, "What's this class? I've never heard of it before."

She hesitated, but asked, "You knew about the ring and Father, but you don't know what Sovereigns are?"

Mori twitched, exhaling, "Just answer."

"Sovereigns are the embodiment of power..."

"I know there are other classes using curses."

"That's exactly it," she said, her eyes dodgy. "They use curses, you don't use curses."

"Are you-"

"You don't use curses: you are curses. Sovereigns are the embodiment of their pantheons."

He nodded, in thought.

"Sovereigns aren't normal, they're monsters."

"Go sleep."

"Huh?"

He pointed toward the bed.

Her expression was miserable, and she looked exhausted. 

"...Alright."

She climbed onto the bed, lying down on one side. He could tell she wasn't sleeping. 

He guessed stress probably kept her awake.

He sat crossing his legs at the end of the bed. He slowly opened his shirt, looking at his torso.

He froze.

There were four holes under his collarbone. They ranged from one to two centimeters wide.

A black void filled them, with nothing to be seen on the other side.

Back then?

He remembered hexes entering those specific spots in his body while he was harvesting.

He joined his hands together and closed his eyes.

He breathed in, then deeply exhaled.

He was in a darker version of Aura's room when he reopened them. 

As he looked around, he could see the small eldritch creatures crawling toward him.

They went toward him, going up his legs and arms, entering his mouth, and going down his throat, through his ears, into his head. 

They kept going in, one after the other, barely giving him a moment of respite.

As he was concentrating on the harvesting, his mind wandered.

He remembered that one time she had brought him to the studio she worked in. 

She was proud, stopping him from reading every two seconds so she could present him to her coworkers.

It was truly annoying, yet he missed it.

Fuck.

He quickly snapped back to reality, as one of the creatures had punctured a hole in his chest.

I guess if I don't pay attention they take the shortest route.

He realized his concentration was necessary. Thinking of his mother made him drift away.

He spent the next hours harvesting in control. 

He already thought of a plan for his current situation, but he had truly been blessed with those powers.

A dark smile had formed in his mind.

As the hexes poured in, his next steps solidified in his mind.

He was recalling the spells he had unlocked, reviewing all their activation conditions and preparation needs.

His smile only widened.

He slightly felt sorry for Aura, but that thought quickly vanished from his mind.

[Accursed Novice 2249/2250] +1

[New Path Unlocked]

[Cursed Path: Cursed apprentice]

He opened his eyes, quickly opening his spell list again.

So my older spells become stronger, and I also gain new ones. Some of these seem useless, while others seem quite useful.

Cursed chains and cursed binding will come in handy.

He closed his eyes again, harvesting again while mentally reviewing his spells, but was quickly brought back by Aura sitting upright and inching toward him.

"I see you," he said without turning around.

She jumped, "I'm- I'm not-"

"I told you, if you kill me..."

"That's not it," she replied.

"What is it then?"

"If you keep doing whatever you're doing, even Father will realize..."

Huh? She can sense it?

He quickly stopped and stepped to the window.

It's still daytime. I could do it today...

His plans shouldn't be too hard to execute.

There were a lot of things he had deduced since he arrived.

He chose Griswald's domain for the ring. There was nobody here besides him, his daughter, and probably some maids.

"You know," he said as he looked outside, "maybe it's time we meet him."

"No... Whatever he does to me, what he'll do to you will be worse."

A low rumbling reverberated through the ground, making Mori smile.

"I think he's awake," he said.

The door quickly opened, they both turned, it was an older lady who quickly entered and closed the door behind her.

She was dressed like a maid and looked exhausted.

When she realized Mori was there, she jumped backward.

"Who the hell is this?!" she exclaimed.

"I'm Mori."

"Ohh this is bad. So bad... My poor heart. Now you woke him up from his slumber and you know he hates it..." she said, shaky. "Once he realizes there's someone here... You need to leave."

"She's right, it's daytime, you could probably leave," said Aura.

"Maybe I should."

Aura exhaled, the weight of everything suddenly lighter.

Mori opened the curtains, letting daylight in. He turned to the maid.

"Make sure you go get the ring," said Mori.

"What ring?"

"Asmodael's ring. If you care about her," he said pointing at Aura.

The maid's expression turned from surprise to horror.

Aura, still in bed, shared the same expression.

"[Cursed Chains]"

He lifted his arms, pointing his hands toward Aura.

Chains quickly emerged from his palms, making a straight line toward Aura. 

The tip of those chains was in a cone shape, in less than a second it reached her, piercing her calves.

The cold metal then wrapped around her leg, firmly holding them.

Aura screamed, a piercing shriek resonated as Mori pulled her toward him.