Watching Imina depart, Leinas's deep blue eyes softened. She stepped forward, a glimmer of hope in her gaze.
"I've heard your miraculous alchemical potions can heal any disability." Leinas said, her voice trembling faintly.
Since her curse, she'd tried countless methods, temple healing magic, holy water, various wondrous potions, all to no avail.
Despair had begun to set in.
It wasn't just her altered appearance.
Being abandoned by her family and jilted by her fiancé struck a deeper blow to the prideful Leinas.
"The rumors exaggerate." Adam said, shaking his head. As Leinas's eyes dimmed, he added calmly, "But as long as the injury or disability isn't congenital, it can generally be healed."
Leinas's gaze reignited, and she opened her mouth to speak.
"Miss Leinas, you've helped me, so you're a guest. No need to rush. Let's sit and talk." Adam said with a warm smile, gesturing toward the stone table at the courtyard's center.
Leinas took a breath to steady herself and followed.
She'd observed Adam for days, confirming the potency of his potions before visiting.
As they sat, Adam's gaze settled on the golden-haired Leinas, his expression turning serious. "Let me see your injury."
"It might be a bit unsettling. Please forgive me." Leinas warned, lifting her right hand to pull back the golden locks covering half her face.
A faint stench of decay wafted out.
Her right cheek was fully rotted, laced with chaotic red veins. Close inspection revealed the decayed flesh twitching faintly.
Leinas bit her lip. She hated exposing this filthy, hideous sight, but for a cure, she had no choice.
In a fleeting moment, she braced for the young alchemist's eyes to fill with disgust, disdain, or revulsion.
Yet…
Leinas noticed that, beyond a brief frown at her grotesque appearance, Adam's gaze remained calm.
If anything, there was a spark of… fervor?
Leinas's heart skipped, wondering if she'd misread.
She'd heard alchemists often had peculiar tastes, and the thought flickered unbidden in her mind.
Adam studied the rotted cheek, a stark contrast to her unblemished other half.
But something puzzled him. The Cursed Knight class shouldn't have such a side effect. Had it changed in this world?
"Apply this potion to your face first." Adam said, his expression unchanged as he produced a clear, radiant Regeneration Potion from his sleeve.
Leinas didn't hesitate. She took the potion and poured it onto her rotted right cheek.
Sizzle!
The potion met decayed flesh, hissing like meat on a grill.
Pain surged.
Leinas let out a soft grunt, enduring the itching agony as if ants were gnawing her face. Her eyes gleamed with surprise and hope.
After exhausting every method, this was the first time her rotted cheek showed any change.
She swiftly pulled a mirror from her coat, holding it to her face.
Adam's lips twitched slightly.
Carrying a mirror on her?
Indeed, in any world, women were deeply concerned with their appearance.
Under Adam's watch, Leinas's decayed cheek began to heal, though far slower than with other injuries, several times slower.
The process took a full three minutes.
Staring into the mirror at her restored cheek, Leinas's face lit with disbelief, then joy. Her left hand clenched into a fist.
"Don't celebrate too soon." Adam's calm voice cut in.
Leinas froze, about to look at him when, abruptly, her healed cheek began rotting again.
"How…?" Leinas's hands trembled, clutching the mirror.
Adam leaned back in the stone chair, eyeing her. "Your injury isn't ordinary damage, it's a curse, isn't it?"
That the Regeneration Potion couldn't heal her face was expected. It only treated the Limb Damage negative status.
Moreover, the potion's effects were limited, and Leinas's true curse stemmed from her class.
"Correct." Leinas said, her eyes reddening as she suppressed her emotional turmoil.
"I've never heard of a curse that affects only half the face." Adam said, glancing at her re-rotted cheek. "This outcome suggests the issue lies within you."
"May I examine the curse on you?"
Sensing his glance, Leinas instinctively let her golden hair fall, covering her rotted cheek again.
"Alright."
She had no reason to refuse. Standing, she stepped back a few paces.
Boom!
Leinas's body shuddered, a black energy radiating from her. Though it was night, the dark energy she emitted was deeper than the darkness around them.
In an instant, the black energy surged outward but dissipated quickly, not spreading far.
Adam's pupils narrowed. He clearly saw the grass at Leinas's feet wither and decay.
"My apologies. I'm not fully proficient with this cursed power." Leinas said, looking at Adam. "Would you like me to demonstrate again?"
Buzz!
[Skill Discovered: Dark Wave. Requires High-Tier Class Cursed Knight. Current conditions unmet. Requires 3 skill points.]
[No prerequisite class. Conditions unmet. Requires 6 skill points.]
[No base class. Conditions unmet… Genius class activated. Base class Warrior already acquired, meeting learning conditions.]
[Consume 6 skill points to learn this skill?]
Reading the panel's prompts, Adam straightened. "No need." He said to Leinas.
Success!
It was smoother than expected, justifying his month-long stay.
Six skill points?
He recalled that acquiring the mid-tier Sword Saint class had cost three skill points.
His other high-tier class, Magic Swordsman, was gained automatically upon meeting prerequisites, costing no points.
Snapping back, Adam held off on learning the skill. When he'd acquired Magic Swordsman, his mana had grown unstable.
Who knew if Cursed Knight would cause similar issues?
"I'll need to think about your situation." Adam said, rising from the stone chair, addressing Leinas directly.
"I can wait." Leinas replied without hesitation.
Adam nodded, wasting no more words, and turned toward the half-European, half-Byzantine residence.
"Oh, if you two aren't planning to leave, there are spare rooms on the first floor." He called back, pausing to address Leinas and Imina, who'd finished handling the bodies and was watching curiously from a distance.
On the third floor of the residence, in a cold, spacious room, Adam took a deep breath and thought, Learn.
Buzz!
[Skill Points: 39 → 33]
With Dark Wave mastered, the high-tier class Cursed Knight automatically appeared in his class list.
…
[Class: Cursed Knight]
[Rank: High-Tier Class]
[Abilities:
[Passive · Curse Immunity: Immune to curse attacks.]
[Passive · Dark Attribute Resistance I: Reduces dark attribute energy damage by 20%.]
[Passive · No Rest: When releasing curse powers, continuously reduces durability of superior equipment (below level 40). For legendary equipment (below level 80), durability loss is doubled.]
[Active: Class Skills]
[· Dark Wave: Releases a wave of dark curse energy centered on the user, inflicting Fear (Mental Shock) and Weakness Curse (Movement Restriction) negative statuses on enemies in range. Attacking removes these statuses, dealing double damage.]
[Note: At class level 3, curse damage cannot be healed by low-tier healing magic and suppresses recovery effects.]
[Note: At class level 5, curse damage includes an Instant Death effect.]
[(Each level increases HP, physical attack, physical defense, and magic defense by 15 points.)]
[Description: An unforgivable, betrayer dark knight, cursed to wander the world forever, clad in shattered armor, sustaining a twisted existence.]
…
"!!!"
Adam stared at the Cursed Knight class details, stunned for a moment before letting out a coarse exclamation.
***
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