Too bad the inverted curse's bonus Attribute Points were on the plus side and not on the actual value. To a normal person, it didn't matter but the actual value carried over from one life to the next so the latter was better for me. But the difficulty to break a curse depended on the difference between Magic Attributes between me and the caster (Loki) and the rarity. {Random Speciation} was orders of magnitude easier to break because I gained twenty-six points of Magic and it was two steps down on the rarity scale. While I didn't know the formula, I suspected it was squared for the rarity and cubic for the difference in Magic. Each point had a huge impact.

Thus only a day and a half after I started eroding {Random Speciation}, it was unraveled and inverted as more mages answered the summons once the bracelets were proven to be the real deal.

> > You inverted the curse, Random Speciation (rare).

>

> > You earned the Perk, Species Paragon (unique): Your species is considered one step higher on the rarity scale. You still reincarnate as a random species.

>

>  

Even when I thought I was out of his influence, I was proven over and over it was not the case. I grunted with annoyance at the sight of what Loki set to be the inverse of the curse. It was the curse with a species improvement attached. That's why I refused his offer to make me his [Valkyrie]. I knew it had too many strings attached. As wise Ackbar said on his white chair, "it was a trap!"

Maybe my Joker wasn't Wyxnos but Loki. Eww.

But I felt something change in me. The Species change affected me and improved some of my Attributes. It was five on base, then five on ranks one and two, then ten on ranks three and four, to a total of thirty-five Attribute Points across the board. This time, those went on the base Attribute, meaning it was a stacking bonus that would be carried over to the next life. However, I was already at the cap for several Attributes so most points were dumped on Faith. It also changed my basic resources, finally pushing me over the 1 billion Energy threshold.

> Level 100

>

> Strength*: 175+97 (272) / 188 - Dexterity*: 175+128 (303) / 188 - Endurance*: 175+115 (290) / 188

>

> Mind*: 175+96 (271) / 188 - Willpower*: 188+116 (304) - Charisma*: 188+105 (293)

>

> Magic*: 193+123 (316) / 940 - Faith*: 136+38 (174) / 940

>

> Ego*: 188+108 (296) - Luck*: 150+120 (270) / 188 - Soul*: 150+120 (270) / 188

>

> HP 869.126.750 (13.103.420 HP/s)

>

> Energy 1.001.076.875 (1.844.984 E/min)

I checked the list of curses I still had to see which one would be next.

* Blocked Status (very rare): Your status can only be viewed with divine magic.

* Major Decrepitude (ultra-rare): The Attribute cap for your Physical Attributes is 20% of the maximum.

* Major Feeblemind (ultra-rare): The Attribute cap for your Mental Attributes is 20% of the maximum.

* Major Faint Soul (ultra-rare): The Attribute cap for your Spiritual Attributes is 20% of the maximum.

I was pretty sure {Blocked Status} would be the same as Random Speciation. It would give me some bonus then keep the status obfuscation. It wasn't a gamble I was willing to take. Masking my status was ridiculously useful. It was between Physical, Mental, or Spiritual Attributes.

I chose the latter. The effects of Spiritual Attributes were less tangible than the others but overall stronger. And people struggled to increase those Attributes. In a contest, the wider the gap, the better. I should be strong where others' weaknesses lie.

From my previous experience, I estimated it would take around twenty-one days to break this curse. My Magic Attribute was higher and we had more mages crowding the colosseum. That would greatly enhance the time to erode and convert the curse. If it was the same, I would gain another twenty-six on the Spiritual Attributes, a huge benefit.

Sometimes I also gained one point of [Musician] and [Enchanter] Proficiencies so I was also improving myself in other ways.

Ten days of performing, crafting, and curse-breaking passed when someone interrupted my pleasant session.

> > You gained 5 points in Enchanter.

>

> > You gained 21 points in Musician.

*

*

----------------------------------------

*

*

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

The interloper was none other than the [Emperor]. Clad in his not-golden battle armor and with a scowl across his face, he walked toward me with heavy steps. Despite his terrible mood, I didn't sense any hostility from him. I stopped playing the lute and stowed my tools. Madge and Mona straightened themselves as we turned to bow respectfully.

"Father, welcome. Is something the matter?"

"Percival, my son!" He shouted so everyone in the Colosseum could listen. "You were right. Our scouts sighted dragons flying from the mountains five days ago. The border fiefs are already under attack as we speak."

I felt a lump in my throat and a bitter taste as if my liver wanted to jump out of my body. My fists balled so fiercely my hands yellowed from the lack of blood. I hadn't received the message but I knew it would come anytime now. I glanced behind me at my wife and sister. So little time to spend together. I had no delusions I would come out alive from this fight. One of my strategies was to challenge the entire dragon species then use {Last Stand} from the get-go.

"We will fight, father."

"I expected no less," he smirked. "All of you, [Mages], [Priests], [Sorcerers], and spellcasters in general. You are all subject to an {Imperial Draft} as of now.

> > The [Emperor] has drafted you to the army. You are already considered an officer. Do you wish to resist?

I chose no. But this ability astonished me. And the spellcasters on the bleachers. In one fell swoop, he had gained thousands of mages for his army. It wasn't without a price as I could see his MP plummeting. The [Emperor] took an MP potion but I handed him one of my MP recovery pills.

"This is better and without as much toxicity," I said.

Without doubting me, he popped the pill in his mouth and swallowed it. He chuckled at the effect. "Enchantments, alchemy, and what else. You have access to quite the cadre of specialists, my son."

"I made all of that myself, father. But now we need to…"

Then it happened.

> > Beware, your ancient foe has been banished from the heavens. Fight well, for only one of you will remain.

I didn't need the message although I noticed the slight change. A swirl of angry energy and light washed over the sky and the earth shook. A primal roar rang in the sky and I felt the birds and insects dying from sheer fright.

"ANOMALY!" The Broodmother roared. "I came to avenge my husband!"

Pandora came out halfway in my solar plexus, the tip of the golden orb shining through my clothes. My blood boiled. The outrage the previous me felt at the hands of these gods demanded reparation.

"So it is true. The time of the prophecy has finally come," The [Emperor] said as he closed his eyes. "Two deities shall battle in the skies above the Empire, and no Imperial Citizen shall be left to witness it. The daughter the [Emperor] could not kill shall see to it," He recited.

My Affinity to Fate magic stirred. The Mad Empress' final words weren't the ramblings of a madwoman with a frostbitten crotch. They were primal Fate magic, a sacrifice of her lifeforce to bring about the demise of everything she despised. The Empire, the fairies of Theirian, and me.

"We were forced to kill our daughters," He explained, guilt showing on his face for the first time in centuries. "Out of fear, it would trigger the prophecy. You're her, aren't you? When my troops sacked Raswaria, we found evidence that the mage who tried to maim you were a [Fleshcrafter]. But by the time they returned with this news from the long trip north you were already recognized as a [Prince]. When I sent the doctor to check on you, you handled the situation in a way no woman would."

I wouldn't reveal Rhiannon's secret to him. I had no benefit in telling him I wasn't his daughter. I shook those concerns away. Only one thing occupied my mind now.

"It doesn't matter. We are here and we have dragons to kill."

The shadow of the Broodmother loomed over us making our existences feel like flickering shadows cast on a dark wall by a dying candle. We were one strong gust of wind away from oblivion.

"The dragons are hurrying our way," he said. "I can feel the border fiefs falling one by one. They will devastate a large portion of the Empire if we wait for them here."

"Then we shall bring the fight to them."

"{Edmund! Come to the Colosseum with your brother Murdock. I conscripted the mages Percival was entertaining, sort them into fighting units}," He said as he used {Imperial Summon}.

The [Emperor] was formidable but most of his Perks weren't focused on personal power. Regardless, it made me envious. He noticed it.

"Wanna seize the throne now?" He asked seriously.

"No. The Empire needs not a power shift at a time of crisis like today. You know how to rule this place better than me, so I'll dump the responsibility on you, old man."

I created a platform of Force magic. "Madge, Mona, let's go."

When flying in a straight line, a dragon could make good time traveling. Especially if boosted by magic. I could see flocks of dragons flying in the horizon but the sight didn't bother me as much as it should. In my dream, they clouded the sky from horizon to horizon. We were halfway between the capital and the mountains when we clashed with the first dragons. Small and nimble, they were the scouts and frontliners of the force, adolescent wyrms who lacked the temperance and self-control of their forebears.

"{M.I.T.H. Force Javelin Volley}" I drew the circle in the air in front of me and held it in a place like Marlowe taught us. Scores of spears of pure Force magic shot from the circle and multiplied as they flew and homed in on the dragons. Haru would have struggled with the mental strain to keep this circle in place but she didn't have three hundred Willpower. The slain wyrms vanished into the item box as we went.

"Impressive magic," my father remarked. "What's your [Spellcaster] Proficiency score?"

I chuckled ruefully. "It was seven hundred before it was reset to zero two lives ago," I replied. "Five hundred and sixty right now. Too low, I know."

"I feel the urge to punch you, Percival."

"I can totally relate to that," Mona quipped.

"Your brothers never stood a chance, did they?"

"Probably not," Madge added with a hint of relief in her voice, now that Mona broke their vow of silence.

"Pleased to meet you, ladies. People believed you to be mute," The [Emperor] politely nodded.

While they chatted on the flying Force platform, I concentrated to keep us moving and shooting down any dragons that entered the range of my artillery spell.

*

*

----------------------------------------

*

*

That went for an hour before we sighted the Broodmother. The Dragon Goddess was as huge as in my dream, with a wingspan of more than four hundred meters, the equivalent of seven Boeing 747 airliners side-by-side. Lengthwise, she had half a kilometer from snout to the barbed tip of her tail.

The [Emperor] cackled. He sounded a bit unhinged. "I don't envy you, my son. Although that one is a mighty adversary, I have an [Empire] to keep alive."

Behind her and her flock of dragons, the land burned as far as the eye could see, the angry orange-reddish glow of Dragonfire masked by the rising clouds of smoke. It felt like doomsday had come.

"What a curse," Mona bemoaned. "They'll reach Seyham soon. I fear for the girls."

"And your precious werewolves," The [Emperor] rambled. "They too will be caught in this."

An idea came to me like a flash of inspiration. I checked and one use of {Four-Leaf Clover} had been spent.

"Father, you just gave me the key to saving the Empire. Brace yourselves, we are changing course."