Jean woke up with a start. Whispers assured her that only 10 seconds had passed, but she still checked her body. She was lying on the ground without an arrow stuck, and her surroundings also looked safe.

[The curse continues to modify your whole being, increasing your communion with the plane of souls.]

[You have learned Flesh of my flesh— Level 1. Unique Skill.

Those who have fallen because of you and crave revenge will have a new chance. You can create a body linked to you to host a soul.

⸰ One or more soulless corpses are needed to create it.

⸰ You need a soul connected to you and detached from the plane of souls. This will give the body its appearance.

⸰ Upon creation, its level will be the same as that of this skill.

⸰ If you die, they die too.]

“[Mission »Find Nuehm Relic!« completed. Flesh of my flesh has been enhanced.

⸰ You can now modify its base appearance and attributes.

⸰ Its level will be that of the corpse used, but will never be higher than 60% of yours.

⸰ Its skills will be the ones it has before dying. The link will allow you to share some of your skills as long as they are compatible with its initial class.]

Jean couldn't restrain a broad smile. However, it didn't last long; doubts overwhelmed her. Why had they given her the relic after attacking her? Why did they have it? Who were these dark elves and what were their intentions?

Jean looked with disgust at the path behind the waterfall and raised her voice in disdain. “I love people who abandon me to my fate, shoot me in the neck, and then seem to want something from me!”

“[Why don't you better check your new communion with the plane of souls?]”

“Here?! Why?!”

Jean reluctantly agreed. An incompressible wave of whispers bombarded her from all sides, as if the regrets of dozens of lives tormented her. However, that wasn't the most disconcerting part. In the distance, on the other side of the waterfall, she could now see five light blue vaporous figures. Something the whispers identified as the souls of the dark elves.

The female dark elf raised her voice, startling her from above. "You may be a monster, Cursed One, but that doesn't mean you should act like one.”

Leaving while gesturing to her companions to retreat. “Good luck, Jean! You will need it!”

The dark elves moved away as a group to some extent, but two stayed behind to stand guard. The same two that had attacked her. They really don't trust her.

"Why did they keep calling me monster?”

“[You are according to the rules. Besides, after seeing your marks, anyone would attack you without hesitation.]”

“What do they see then?”

“[The information that can be obtained about you with Cursed Search is:

»Cursed Aspirant«

Level 25

Name: Jean

Marks: [Cursed One], [Chosen One], [Human Killer], [Undead Scourge], [Rat Exterminator]]”

[Cursed One]: Aspirant who has embraced the curse allowing him to use the cursed skills belonging to an ancestral being.

[Chosen One]: You have been chosen by an entity of great power to complete a mutual goal.

[Undead Scourge]: For killing more than 100 undead.

[Rat Exterminator]: For exterminating more than 50 rats.

Rolling her eyes. “Really?! The last two are kind of unnecessary.”

“[Don't underestimate them! They appear as marks, but they are titles. The more creatures you kill of the same type, the higher the damage and defense bonus against them.]”

“That’s awesome!”

The sound of bones breaking startled her from behind. It was nearby, from the passage where the paladins were.

“Be careful, you idiots!” It sounded like a woman's voice, though she wasn't quite sure. The waterfall made a lot of noise.

Jean hid and approached stealthily, taking advantage of the darkness.

There were three individuals near the hole she had obstructed. Their eyes were red, like the spawn she had previously defeated, but they weren't exactly tall. They looked like children of strange proportions.

“What are they? Gnomes?”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Creature: Spawn.

Level: 39

Name: Zorkhas

Marks: [Thief], [Traitor], [Killer]

Details: This opponent's attributes make him an exceptional opponent. Beware of…

Highest Attribute (Willpower): 66

Two of the spawn began to gather magic in their hands, and turned in her direction as if her hiding attempt meant nothing to them. The third accelerated his crawling along the passage, eager to attack her too.

One raised his hand and a small flame appeared. The other conjured a lightning that circulated between his hands.

“You're gonna pay back, bitch!”

The woman spoke again. Jean heard her clearly this time, though she was nowhere to be seen. “Reveal yourself! You're not the only one with a score to settle!”

The woman laughed out loud. “I hold the whip hand!”

The woman was behind her, but before she could attack, her feets were frozen up to her knees. The third spawn was to blame.

She activated the armor's magic barrier before the whispers warned her, but that couldn’t stop the lightning strike that followed.

Her body refused to react no matter how much she asked it to. She couldn't stop shaking and the loud ringing in her ears didn’t help concentrate either. She didn't even know she was lying on her back.

By the time she managed to lean on her elbows, her vision was fully illuminated. A huge fireball slowly advanced in her direction, passing inches from her face. Jean thought the spawn had failed. How wrong she was.

A whirlpool of fire preceded. A devastating explosion that smashed her to the ground. This time, the pain instantly took away her consciousness.

««◊◊◊« »◊◊◊»»

An unexpected bump on the head woke her up. Someone was holding her feets and dragging her through the cavern. Her skin tearing from contact with the uneven floor was terrible, but it was nothing compared to her burns.

It was a shock to discover that her armor was connected to her being much more than she thought. The excruciating damage it had endured felt as if it were her own skin. Of course, her body hadn't avoided the damage. It was seriously injured, barely responding, but she had to endure it. Her senses were clouded, but she recognized the footsteps of 5 individuals. The 3 spawns, that bitch, and who else?

A male voice spoke. “Ma’am, why do you always have to put yourself in danger?! What if something happens?! The Cursed One isn’t exactly weak!”

“You expected me to miss the show after she destroyed my favorite twice?!”

“I just don't understand your twisted tastes. What's so funny about watching her burn?”

“It's not just the view, the smell of barbecue is the best part!”

“Do they know I'm alive?”

“[It's very likely they want you alive.]”

“I need to heal myself without being noticed! How do I do that?”

“[You have to focus on the parts you want to heal. Don't lose concentration or it will activate all over your body.]”

Jean followed the instructions, but it was like trying to put 5 threads in the eye of a single needle at the same time. She was used to activating it at full power. It took a lot of effort to keep her skin from barely repairing, directing the bulk of her efforts to her muscles and organs.

Although her eyes were completely burned and couldn't see a thing, she could see their souls. That together with Cursed Search allowed her to know where they were quite accurately.

Without wasting a second, a chain wrapped around the woman. The thought had crossed her mind, and the chain was already acting. Her communion was increasing by the second. All that remained was to activate Cursed Binding and infest the woman with corruption. Slowly. Very slowly. She didn't want her to notice prematurely.

“Hurry up, you brainless bastards! I want to get back! I'm tired because of this bitch!”

Jean wanted to pounce on her, but restrained herself. It wasn't the right time. She had to suck it up and wait. Facing them all at the same time wasn't an option. The only thing left to do was to surprise them, but first she needed to wait for them to separate.

“I know I'm new and don't really understand what all this cursed stuff is about, but ... why did you help her level up?”

The woman replied coldly. “Shut up, rookie! Don't question your orders if you want to keep your head in place! If they tell us to do something, we do it, period. Or do you want to die?”

“No, no! Of course not! ... Excuse me!”

Hearing that was a hard blow for Jean. It was true that they had had a lot of opportunities to kill her, but to realize that everything had been plotted for her to survive was insulting. She felt weak, but above all, infuriated.

Decided, she was going to kill them all. But how was she going to do it? They were all more than 15 levels above her, and her weakening skill only worked on one at a time.

“Cough, cough!”

“Are you alright, Ma’am? You look bad!”

She leaned against the wall. “Cough, cough! I feel terrible! Cough, cough, cough! ... The corruption in this area is low, it shouldn't be affecting me that much.”

“Ma’am!”

“Don't touch me, you idiot! I can get up by myself!”

“Excuse me! I just wanted to...”

She turned to her spawns. “Hurry up, you useless piece of shit!”

As they slowly passed one by one through the narrow passage, Jean calculated. Transporting her to the other side would be a difficult process, and it didn't look like she was going to help. That damned bitch would stay behind for two reasons. First, if she controlled the spawn as she had implied, surely she wasn't good at fighting or she wouldn't stay invisible all the time. That woman must be weaker than her creations. Otherwise, she would have come for her personally.

Which led her to the second point. Her unique quality had to lie in her magical abilities. If Cursed Binding continued to affect her, the situation would soon change in her favor and a single attack from Cursed Punish would be unbearable for her.

“It's time.”

She waited for everyone except her to pass and healed at full speed. The moment one of the spawn grabbed her by the legs, she kicked him so that he collided with the others.

Jean was trying to stand up when the woman attacked. She moved her left arm to block a dagger heading straight to her throat, but in the end the attack barely pierced her skin. As she guessed, she was quite weak.

“Ma’am! What the hell is going on?!”

Jean punched the woman's side with the usual combination, easily breaking her ribs. The woman released the dagger. Jean pulled it out of her arm before the armor began to dissolve it, and delivered three stabs that brought with them an agonizing scream that echoed throughout the cavern.

The guy on the other side sounded desperate. “MA’AM!”

“B-bitch! Y-you don't know who you are fucking with!” She managed to say while coughing blood.

She raised her voice, coughing even more. "HELP ME, IDIOT!"

Whispers shouted, instructing her to protect her legs; a powerful yellow light illuminated the cavern. It came through the passage. One spawn was conjuring another mobile barbecue from the tunnel, and everyone was invited.

"Stop, you brainless fuck! I'm next to her!... DO SOMETHING, AHAM!"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO? IT'S YOURS!" He blurted out as he walked away.

“I can't control them without concentrating! If only they were in sight...!”

A single punch was enough to knock her out. There was nothing the woman could do to stop Jean from grabbing her by her clothes and shielding herself with her body. The explosion wasn't as devastating as the first, but it was enough to lift her off the ground and throw her against the cave-in about four meters away.

Silence reigned for a few moments, broken only by their coughing. "Damn brainless...!"

The woman's voice sounded fragile and very close. She had crashed into the wall one meter away. Jean hurried to heal her arm and back.

Aham limped over. He had also suffered the consequences. "Shit! Are you ok, ma’am? Your spawns may be powerful, but they're good-for-nothings!

The woman began to heal, or so Jean sensed as she watched a strange green mist surround her. It was an aura that treated her in a different way than divine magic.

“How do you expect me to be okay, dammit?! … “Come and help me kill this bitch!"

"Are you sure?! We have orders!"

The woman spat out a lot of blood. "I don't give a shit! JUST KILL HER!"

When she spotted the head of one of the spawns peeking out, she knew she had to act. She charged at him, dagger in hand. His frost-covered hands began to peek out of the gaping hole by the time Jean conjured Enchain.

Her other chain quickly wrapped around his torso, extending to his arms and head. Upon anchoring him against the floor and walls, his movements were drastically reduced. The restraint wasn't as powerful as she expected, but it didn't let her comrades through.

Without wasting a second, she applied Cursed Punish to Enchain. A blue green fire spread from her hands to the spawn. He didn't scream, but writhed in pain as the flames engulfed him.

Jean brought the dagger close to the woman's neck. “Freeze! Don’t underestimate me!”

The woman laughed out loud as a sharp trickle of blood ran down to her clavicle. “Same here, bitch!”