367 - Collecting the Cursed Treasures

Jack floated through the gray, stagnant air of Despair Valley. He didn't bother using his power of invisibility. Only undead creature existed in the valley. None of them would bother or be bothered by a specter like him.

The valley lived up to its name. It was a graveyard of despair. Filled with the groans of restless spirits and the rattling of ancient bone. The trees were gnarled and lifeless. The ground was barren. The water, when there was any, was bubbling green with corrosive poison.

To a living human, this place was a nightmare. To Jack's specter incarnation, it was just another place of vacation.

Rune glowed in a soft, golden hue in front of him. Guiding his path. Her wisp form didn't speak with words, but her glow gave Jack enough information. It signaled him that she had located the first of their targets.

"Good girl, Rune!" Jack’s whisper echoed with an eerie vibration. "Lead the way!"

They soon reached an eerie, dead forest. A place where the twisted trees were thicker and their skeletal branches interwoven.

Here, the mist hung heavier. Thicker. Making visibility a challenge. And there were more undead creatures. But Jack ignored them.

He was aiming for the loot he had been forced to leave behind when he first came here. Back then, he lacked the means to handle cursed artifacts. Now, his human incarnation had the [Mysterious Fish Box] that could recycle those things.

Rune stopped before a truly ancient-looking tree. Its mottled, purplish-black trunk was extremely wide. With roots like great pythons coiling out of the ground. It was a dead tree without any leaves. Yet, it possessed a perverse, unnatural vitality.

Embedded deep within its purplish bark was an amber-like orb about the size of a baby fist. One that was translucent and gleamed faintly. A strange, swirling currents seemed to be trapped within its depths.

This was the first cursed treasure that Jack targeted. The [Cursed Amber Eye]. A cursed object which previously provided him with his [Itch Curse].

Jack used the telekinesis aspect of his [Mysterious Anomaly]. He felt the curse tried to latch onto his spectral touch. But as a specter, he wasn't affected at all.

He quickly created a puddle of water with his [Water Splash] cantrip. And then, using his [Mythical Mirror Realm] power, he tucked the amber inside his Mirror Mansion.

Next, he followed Rune to recover the [Nightmare Candle Holder]. The source for his [Nightmare Curse] spellcard.

He found it exactly where he had left it. Lying on the rubble, near the skeletal remains of an ancient structure. Around it was collapsed walls and shattered foundations.

The candle holder was forged from dark, tarnished metal. Three arms branched from its central stem. Each ended in a cup to hold a candle. But the candles were long gone. Replaced by an oozing residue of black, viscous wax.

Like what he did with the amber, Jack immediately threw the cursed object to his Mirror Mansion.

And then, Jack and Rune moved to reclaim the [Cursed Blood Dagger], the source of Jack's [Bleeding Curse]. It was located in a small stone shrine, nestled between two craggy teeth of rock.

Like most other places in the valley, a congregation of undead monsters wandered nearby. But all of them ignored the specter and the wisp.

The dagger itself was broken. Laying in two pieces. The jagged blade snapped near the hilt. What remained of the hilt was wrapped in brittle, dark leather.

Jack immediately threw both pieces into his Mirror Mansion.

"Alright! Those three were secured." Jack noted. "Rune, find any other valuable things. Anything that can be considered treasures."

Rune's wings fluttered rapidly. Her glow shifted from golden to a deep, inquisitive violet. She spun in a tight circle before darting toward the north. Toward the deeper, more concentrated zones of a ruined town.

Jack immediately followed. His cape was trailing behind him as he glided behind the wisp to the chosen direction.

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They reached an ancient, withered stone building that looked as though it had been scorched by fire centuries ago. Inside, worn by an undead skeleton, was a [Cursed Black Monocle]. The glass was dark. Swirling with a mist that looked like trapped souls.

Jack easily dispatched the lone undead skeleton and grabbed the monocle with his telekinesis. He threw it immediately into his Mirror Mansion once his [Eyes of Judgement] detected its terrible effect. The monocle sharpened eyesight of the wearer for three days before cursing them with permanent blindness.

After that, Rune led him to an alcove at the edge of the valley. It was a place so isolated that no undead creatures could be seen lurking nearby.

In that place, they discovered a bone-white bowl. It seemed to be carved from a monster skull. Jack's appraisal showed that this was the [Cursed Ghost Bowl]. Another cursed object. This one was filled with the terrifying aura of hunger and starvation.

Jack immediately put it inside the Mirror Mansion, just like the other cursed treasures before.

With all five cursed items secured, Jack didn't linger. It was almost midnight. And, the atmosphere of Despair Valley was suffocating even for a specter like him.

He opened the gateway to his Mirror Mansion and stepped through. Inside, he immediately used his [Incarnation Shift] to transform into his human avatar. Jack Night.

The transition was instant. The mist-like specter skin receded. Replaced by solid muscle, warm blood, and the familiar weight of his human body. He adjusted his leather coat. Feeling the heartbeat in his chest once more.

"Let's deal with the cursed things." He muttered while observing Rune.

The fairy had transformed together with him. She was no longer in her wisp form now. She was back to his mechanical fairy appearance.

Jack approached his two newest acquisitions. The monocle and the bowl. Before converting them into useful tokens, he planned to draw spellcards from them first.

He extended a finger and touched the monocle. A jolt of dark mist shot up his arm. The visual was unpleasant. Like being sprayed by polluted smoke. But he didn't flinch.

[NEW SPELL CARD ACQUIRED!]

[SPELL CARD: BLINDNESS CURSE]

The message flashed as a grim tarot-like card appeared. Hovering on air in front of him. It had an obscure drawing of eyes and dark, swirling smoke. Jack immediately activated his [Eyes of Judgement]...

[Spell Card: Blindness Curse]

[Type: Curse]

[Effect: Curses the targets, causing them to lose their sense of sight. Severity scales with caster's Mysticism and target's resistance. Regular potions and curse dispelling spells will not work against the curse.]

[Requirement: Usable by any transcendent. Caster must possess a minimum Mysticism of 20.]

[Maximum Duration: 12 hours]

[Cooldown: 5 minutes]

Jack nodded with an approval. This would be a useful spellcard in many situation. Most humans, and a great number of creatures, were highly dependent on eyesight. Robbing their eyesight would be significantly weakening them.

He turned his attention to the [Cursed Ghost Bowl]. Again he extended his fingers. The bone instrument vibrated under his touch. Letting out a low, mournful groan.

As another card appeared out of nowhere, the system notification flashed again...

[NEW SPELL CARD ACQUIRED!]

[SPELL CARD: STARVATION CURSE]

Jack observed the card. It was another tarot-like card with gloomy picture. The drawing it had was of skinny undead with bloated stomach. And his appraisal showed...

[Spell Card: Starvation Curse]

[Type: Curse]

[Effect: Curses the targets, causing them to experience insatiable hunger and unquenched thirst. Severity scales with caster's Mysticism and target's resistance. Regular potions and curse dispelling spells will not work against the curse.]

[Requirement: Usable by any transcendent. Caster must possess a minimum Mysticism of 20.]

[Maximum Duration: 7 days]

[Cooldown: 2 days]

Jack frowned. This one was less practical. He could only imagine a few situations where he would need to use this curse.

It would be too cruel against most of the people he deemed 'slightly guilty'. As for those who were unforgivable... killing them was his preferable choice of action.

Jack sighed. It was another additional spellcard. Better than nothing. Now, he was left with five troublesome, cursed artifacts to handle.

He pulled out the [Mysterious Fish Box] out of his [Spatial Backpack]. This was one of his artifacts with unique abilities. This one mainly functioned as a recycler. Turning high-value, dangerous magical items into a unique currency.

He dropped the [Cursed Amber Eye], [Nightmare Candle Holder], [Cursed Blood Dagger], [Cursed Black Monocle], and [Cursed Ghost Bowl] into the shoe-box sized artifact.

As he put them in, the space inside the box seemed to stretch. The objects went inside effortlessly. As if falling into an abyss.

Clink!

Twelve small, bone-like tokens popped out of a slot on the side. Each of them featured a crude carving of a trout.

"Two to three tokens for each eh? Quite decent exchange rate." Jack muttered. Pocketing the tokens. These could be used later to purchase things from the black cat merchant.

He checked his pocket watch. Midnight was approaching. The cooldown on his [Nine-Anchor Portal Ring] was about to reset.

Once midnight passed, Jack stepped out of the Mirror Mansion. Back into the desolate edge of Despair Valley. He could feel the [Yrenlobeng Pearl] far in the center of the valley started to throb as it sensed his 'living' status.

Jack didn't wait until the pearl unleashed its black hole. He quickly activated his [Nine-Anchor Portal Ring].

The space folded. The smell of rot was replaced by the scent of night-blooming wild flower. The gloomy sight of the valley disappeared. Replaced by the sight of starry night sky and the distant smoke of a city in distress.

Jack appeared in the meadow on the outskirts of Sweetmoon City. The extended backyard of the Grandmoon Palace.

The grass here was damp with evening dew. Some distance away, he saw the flickering light of a campfire. He could feel his crew members were there. Waiting for him.

Jack immediately walked toward them...