Chapter 165: Friend of a Necromancer

"You have been cursed!"

"Curse of Balance has been detected!"

"You’re under the effects of Curse of Balance!"

"You have reached an agreement with an unknown being."

...

Curse of Balance!

Aurelius had never heard of this term before, though the word "curse" let him know it was bound not to be anything good.

Combined with the scene that had happened following the Undead Knight’s death, he understood that he might be in trouble.

The Undead Knight had clearly planned everything before its death.

From suddenly revealing the Blood Crown to forcibly pulling it out of his body, every action had been purposeful and deliberate.

There was no way it had created such a scene merely to playa prank on him.

Thankfully, the only good thing was that he still had the Player Panel to answer his doubts.

As his gaze hovered over the words "Curse of Balance," a description immediately appeared in his field of vision.

...

[Curse of Balance: One of the one hundred taboo curses of Nova Roma. Its caster can forcefully form a contract with another being, provided that the other person "owes" them.]

[This debt can be material or immaterial, intentional or unintentional. As long as a debt exists between the two parties, the caster can use it as the foundation for a contract.]

[Once the contract between the two parties has been established, it will take immediate effect, binding both parties to the terms of the agreement.]

...

Seeing this brief description, Aurelius’ eyes narrowed.

Although it was somewhat complicated, perhaps because its level far surpassed his own cognition, he roughly understood what the Curse of Balance entailed.

It was a curse that forced a party to sign an agreement with its caster.

The way to achieve this was simple: all the caster had to do was make the other party owe them. That debt could be anything.

Did Aurelius owe the Undead Knight? ℴ

At first glance, that wasn’t the case.

The two had fought initially, and although they cooperated to deal with the Corrupted Dryad afterward, they did so out of convenience and under the promise of sufficient benefits.

Since the two had met, neither party owed the other anything.

However, that was not the case before their meeting!

Blood Crown!

This fragment had accompanied Aurelius for a long time.

Even though it had never been activated due to its bloodthirsty side effects, it was obvious that it had helped him greatly during his journey—even if just based on the Base Stats it provided.

...And the Blood Crown just so happened to have been forged by the Undead Knight!

Following that train of thought, Aurelius indeed owed the skeleton!

’The Undead Knight must have sensed that the Blood Crown was on me the moment I stepped into the underground hall.’

’Perhaps it’s the reason it discovered that I was in the Shadow World in the first place.’

’Since that moment, it must have planned for this exact moment.’

Thinking of this, Aurelius felt various emotions.

Surprised by the Undead Knight’s patience. Relief that the worst-case scenario had not happened.

The situation was not as bad as one would initially imagine.

If the Undead Knight had wanted to harm him, there would have been no need for it to go through so much trouble.

The fact that it had chosen to leave behind an agreement instead meant that it had a goal. A goal Aurelius could achieve.

Countless thoughts raced through his mind.

Surprisingly, despite being under the effect of the Curse of Balance, he found himself strangely calm.

Not because he had accepted the situation, but because he had a guess regarding what the agreement the Undead Knight hoped to reach with him was.

Indeed.

As he focused on the word "agreement" in the earlier notifications, new lines of text materialized in his field of vision.

They followed a surprisingly familiar form.

...

[Mission—Purification: In its final breaths, the Undead Knight entrusted you with a great task: to help its loved one awaken from its slumber.]

[As long as you purify the Corrupted Dryad’s resentment, allowing her to wake up, the Undead Knight is willing to reward you with a mysterious Artifact!]

[Rewards: Underworld Coffin]

...

Another Mission!

One that required him to purify the Corrupted Dryad, just as Aurelius had expected.

This made him sigh.

’Even until its death, the Undead Knight was still thinking of a way to save the Dryad.’

’I wonder how close their relationship had been for such a being to go through all this trouble.’ Aurelius muttered inwardly.

The Undead Knight had stayed in the Dryad Forest for centuries, hoping to awaken her. Even during its final moments, it hadn’t sought a way to survive but had wholeheartedly sacrificed itself to give the Dryad a hope of awakening in the future.

Had it not been a relationship between a rusty skeleton and a shadowy monster, Aurelius might have been touched!

Since it was, however, he didn’t mull over this matter for long.

His focus soon shifted back to reality.

It was a fact by now that the Undead Knight had forced him to accept a mission through the Curse of Balance.

Yet from Aurelius’ perspective, this was hardly a bad deal. Purifying the Corrupted Dryad might be dangerous. But if he could truly purify her, the benefits he would obtain would far exceed the risks.

He had already witnessed the power of the Underworld Coffin. It was no weaker than the Sea God’s Trident.

Such a mysterious item was worth fighting over.

More importantly, the mission had already been accepted. There was no point in dwelling on something he couldn’t change.

The moment he reached that conclusion, a familiar chime echoed in Aurelius’ mind.

...

"Mission—Last Wish has been completed."

"Rewards: 50000 EXP, 100 Dryad Race Favorability, The Friend of a Necromancer, Inheritance of a Rank 6 Awakener."

...

Aurelius went through the list of rewards carefully.

He had completed many missions in the past, each more dangerous and troublesome than the other.

Among them, fighting against the Corrupted Dryad had been short, but had perhaps been the most deadly.

Exactly because of that, however, it had also been the most rewarding.

The 50,000 Experience had already made his efforts worth it!

With so much Experience, he would be able to bring his strength to the next level once he advanced to Rank 3!

His trip to the Imperial City would be way safer that way!

Yet that was far from the only reward.

100 Dryad Race Favorability.

This was the simplest among the other rewards and the hardest to make an estimate of its value. Yet it was far from useless.

The Dryads were a powerful race in Nova Roma, akin to the Medusas he had some relationship with in the past.

Moreover, unlike Medusas, who lived in the forbidden parts beyond the Pirate Kingdom and could thus hardly be found, the Dryads lived close to the Dawn Kingdom—in the Amazon Jungle!

The chances of encountering them were way too high. Especially for someone like Aurelius.

’I’m afraid that the status of the Corrupted Dryad is extraordinary.’

’Just sealing her back into the coffin and preventing her from falling any further has already given me 100 Dryad Race Favorability.’

’If I were to purify the resentment and truly awaken her, wouldn’t I become the esteemed guest of the Dryad Race?’

Aurelius knew it made sense.

For the Dryad to be the loved one of the Undead Knight, she was bound to have been an extraordinary powerhouse during her lifetime.

At least Rank 5. Perhaps even Rank 6.

Even in the Dawn Kingdom, such a level of strength would be enough to win the King’s favor.

Beings of such a level were bound to possess a high status among their race, no matter what that may be.

But despite the Favorability’s value , Aurelius knew that this reward was perhaps the least important among them all.

Not because it was useless, but because the others were too valuable!

A new Title—The Friend of a Necromancer!

And most importantly...

The inheritance of a Rank 6 Awakener—presumably the Undead Knight!

When he thought of the latter and recalled that it may have exactly what he needed the most at the moment, Aurelius could not remain calm.

The advancement requirements of Rank 3 flashed through his mind.

He needed to synthesize ten skills and create a more powerful skill.

To do so, he needed to upgrade Synthesis and collect ten skills that had a high synergy with each other.

The inheritance of a Rank 6 Awakener was likely to contain them.

Just thinking about it made Aurelius’ heart beat faster.

Still, he forced himself to calm down.

He didn’t rush to take stock of the inheritance. He had always had the habit of leaving the best reward for last.

He first focused on his new Title.

Soon, an interface hovered in his field of vision.

...

[The Friend of a Necromancer (Rare): You’ve fought side by side with a powerful Necromancer. Although death tore you apart, you still bear the mark of Necromancy in your body.]

[Effects: ]

[Demonic Prodigy: Learning new demonic skills is far easier, as is upgrading them through practice. The cost of upgrading them through the consumption of Skill Points has been halved.]

[Dominion of Evil: Your Favorability with evil creatures has been enhanced. Evil creatures that are significantly weaker than you may obey your commands.]

[...]