Gabe

I keep my eyes closed while I read the status message. I don't actually have to open them, say anything aloud, make any motions, or do anything at all except think to browse the menu or interact with the system, something I wish I had known early in the game.

So my visualization of a curse is "laughable." Yet some small part of it was on. "Teacher Hector" would probably know which one. Not knowing which part is most useful means that making any changes could easily make the entire image useless. So I keep the image going inside one part of my head, and I try overlaying something different. Something totallydifferent.

Instead of interacting with sound and physics, let's use magic imagery. I'm aware of another skill - Mana Sense (internal)- and maybe trying to use that skill, or the stuff that led me down that path, might be a better image.

I keep the black, inky shadow magic color. That part at least should be accurate. But instead of having a billowing cloud of ink emanating from the gem, I have the gem as a liquid storage for black, inky mana. I envision it sloshing around inside, a black well of power, bleeding out through tiny imperfections in the gem. Even if these are supposed to be "perfect" gems, there's gotta be tiny, tiny flaws. Or, if there aren't, there are structural weak points, where the mana can slowly diffuse out. Not into the real world. But into the mana dimension. The badge itself I imagine as a weave of threads, a code that takes the black mana and braids it into something. No. Uses it as ink. That feels better. The ink turns into letters, characters, runes that drift around the inside of the badge until they form into a set, a larger rune that then leaves the badge. But instead of rising from the badge and drifting through the open air to my head, this one diffuses through the mana barrier around my body - the intrinsic resistance that all living things have towards external magic. It goes through easily, but part gets stuck, and instead of slowly pushing in, it rams its way through, ripping off a piece of the mana structure, which slowly begins to reform. The rune hits a mana stream and rides into my heart, where it shimmers, and then dyes my entire mana pool black. Cursed. The black mana flows like ink through my mana structure, yet again leaving behind tiny little stains, marks, rubbings that won't wash away just with a little bit of clean water or mana. At the tips of the dimension, tiny parts of it interact with the real world. Little sharp shards that poke out around my eardrums, freezing the tympanic membrane in place, as well as interfering with the nervous system that interprets sound itself. So that if sound were able to somehow be communicated without the eardrum there, it would still not be heard. Physics is still real in the game, even if magic affects it somehow. Well, I'm assuming that's the case. It could be a laughable mistake. I start, as I realize that this curse of Silence likely does exactly that - makes it impossible to hear anything. Except system sounds. I most definitely heard a ding as the status screen appeared, which means that the sound processing portion of my brain isn't compromised, just the eardrum and portion that takes sound to my brain.

As time goes on, the vision of ink flowing through my mana gets ever so slightly clearer - the mana somehow cleaning itself of the stain over time. But this charm, this curse, is different from the one at the other enchanter. This one is powered by a "perfect" gem, which means that instead of being cast once, it's being cast over and over and over again. Hector is making sure that I get hit by his curse, over and over and over again. There's another pulse from the gem in my mind. Another rune overlaid, with more ink flowing, and the gem begins beating like a quickly beating heart, ripples of runes flowing out in inky waves.

"Ding."

[Congratulations! You should stop pretending that you have any idea how magic looks or works. But your continued exposure to high-level curses, a small portion of your imagery, and more extremely low-possibility random events have combined into something miraculous! You have gained the passive skill Curse Resistance at a Level 0 proficiency!]

[Pacify additional effects: 3x cost for skill progression. Passive skills do not have a resource cost. Curse Resistance is unable to cause harm. Passive skills are always available. Level 0 Curse Resistance cannot be used in a way that would normally cause harm.]

[Passive Skill: Curse Resistance Level 0 (3.2/100)]

[Grants a chance to resist the application of a curse.]

This popup doesn't come with any information. But the difference between a "negligible portion" of my imagery and "a small portion" of my imagery sounds pretty influential. I drop the secondary visualization that I was trying to hold, of ink splashing on my eardrums. Yeah, come to think of it, it does seem sort of childish. But give me a break! No one ever told me how mana works. And no one definitely told me how mana works in Dungeon Quest. All I know is that Spark gives off some kind of suction effect for mana, that mana isn't stored in tissue in the body, and that mana itself moves, albeit at an extremely fast speed, to places where spells originate.

I look back at the skill explanation.

[Passive Skill: Curse Resistance Level 0 (25.6/100)]

[Grants a chance to resist the application of a curse.]

Grants a chance to resist curses. That means it's based on luck, right? If Level 0 Curse Resistance grants a super small chance to resist curses, then my insanely high tendency to have weird things happen might actually help in this case. That said, I have no idea how to practice Curse Resistance except for someone casting a curse on me. From the text of the skill, Level 0 Curse Resistance doesn't actually allow me to resist curses that have already taken effect, just to resist the application of a curse. Which means someone would need to constantly be casting a curse - one that doesn't cause me huge amounts of damage, and one that hopefully doesn't turn out to be awful when it stacks - for me to actually learn the skill.

I open my eyes, keeping the visualization going. No idea if it helps with the skill growth, but it's worth a shot, right?

I'm surprised. It seems like very little time has actually passed. Hector is returning to his desk, returning from the direction where Maribel is sitting. She is wearing the badge, a frown on her face as she touches it lightly. I realize that these badges actually put us at a major disadvantage here. They're cursed. Which means we can't take them off. Maribel might be able to uncurse something - I wouldn't put it past her - but it's possible that one aspect of the Silence curse would keep her from being able to cast spells. That seems like a huge potential point of damage... but Silence always was the bane of mages in games. I could see that being a thing in Dungeon Quest as well. If Hector ends up not having our best interests at heart, he could totally leave the gem-fueled badges on us and turn us in. Not sure who to, but I'm guessing that this sketchy guy actually works with a large diverse clientele. If he got wind of my skill somehow, or felt like there was enough money involved, I'm guessing it wouldn't take much to turn all the red dots on the ceiling our way, let alone leave us unable to hear or speak. I start to sweat a little bit.

[Passive Skill: Curse Resistance Level 0 (52.9/100)]

[Grants a chance to resist the application of a curse.]

Wait. This skill is growing really quickly. Like... really quickly. If he doesn't take the badge off, or have some crazy thing up his sleeve, it's going to class up before he's even done enchanting. And I really don't want to get on his bad side.

Hector returns to the workbench as the skill growth passes 70. He glances over in my direction, and pulls my gloved hand on to the table, where he gestures to my fingers.

Oh. I try to remember which fingers have rings on them underneath the gauntlet. Left middle finger and ring finger. Let's do middle finger. Since ring finger sounds more meaningful, and this is a charm that I'm hoping I can grow out of. Somehow. Someday. I point at my middle finger. Hector rolls his eyes.

I glance back at the skill.

[Passive Skill: Curse Resistance Level 0 (92.4/100)]

Hector waves his hand over the mortar filled with shimmering black shards just as I hear a "ding."

[Curse Resistance has leveled up 0->1]

[Curse Resistance is now level 1. Curse Resistance may now be used in combat situations including those where it would usually cause harm. This application of Curse Resistance causes dissociation of any affected curse. Choose a new attribute.]

Oh. Yeah. Skills level up, with level up bonuses unlocked based on how the skill was used. I am not expecting anything awesome here.

1: Curse Resistance grants an extremely small chance to automatically gain permanent immunity to a given curse on success.

(Unlocked by being the target of 10,000 high-powered curses of a single type)

2: Curse Resistance gains the ability to be turned on and off at will.

(Unlocked by leveling a passive skill in under 30 seconds while under duress)

3: Curse Resistance gains a small increase in efficacy when applied towards static spell structures, such as those contained in items, wards, or other automated casting.

(Unlocked by being the target of 1000 static curses)

I read them all. Being able to turn on and off a passive skill would be really, really nice in some cases. Like a passive waterbreathing skill that also denies you the ability to breathe in the air. Assuming that other passive skills have the same unlock abilities, I would just need to figure out how to level a skill in under 30 seconds, under duress. Not an easy thing, but really, really good information to know. The last one could also be nice, since it makes Curse Resistance more effective against anything that automatically casts curses. And there are lots of things that do. Though I'm assuming that the gem powers the casting, and many items cast a single, high-powered curse - in which case having a higher chance to resist the single cast would be the major benefit from Curse Resistance, and make it into a more effective skill altogether. If I didn't have access to the first choice, I would take that one for sure. But the first one says something that spoke to me. It was also unlocked by what seems like an absolutely ridiculous amount of curse casts. My "rapidly beating heart" motif was way off in its speed if I was the target of over 10,000 curse casts. That's gotta be what... a hundred times per second? More, since 100 seconds definitely hasn't passed since I put on the badge. Maybe 1000 times a second? Either way, unlocks with bigger numbers and more specific conditions tend to be more powerful. At least that's the usual case. And it's in bold. Immunity. Immunity means that I could go into combat... well, be targeted by... a witch who casts a curse on me and my friends. I somehow intercept it, and Curse Resistance triggers, causing me to be fully immune to the effects of the spell on that and every future cast.

Moreover, it might make it possible for me to gain an immunity, right now, to Silence, and to listen to whatever Hector is doing. I choose the first option, and a new skill screen appears in its place.

[Passive Skill: Curse Resistance Level 1 (0/10000)]

[Grants a chance to resist the application of a curse. Upon a successful resist, grants an extremely small chance to automatically gain permanent immunity to the given curse.]

Now we wait.

It doesn't take very long.

"Ding."

[Congratulations! Your exploitation of the system, due to your ridiculous luck, has born fruit and you have gained the passive skill Curse of Silence* Immunity. Good thing they decided not to ban you. Hopefully this doesn't change their mind.]

[*This skill grants permanent immunity to Curse of Silence as cast through any material with mana conductivity of {mithril} (99.95%) or lower, directly cast by or via any gem of quality {perfect} (99.95%) or lower by the Legendary Enchanter ShadowChant profession.]

"Access Hidden Class: ShadowChant."

[You have become aware of a Hidden Class! Hidden Classes hide in plain sight by looking like normal Classes.]

[Congratulations! You have unlocked a hidden stat! +1 Truth! Positive values of Truth increase your ability to see the truth. Negative values of Truth increase your ability to hide the truth in plain sight.]

[Your passive skill Curse of Silence* Immunity has changed!]

[*This skill grants permanent immunity to Curse of Silence as cast through any material with mana conductivity of {mithril} (99.95%) or lower, directly cast by via any gem of quality {perfect} (99.95%) or lower by the ShadowChant or Legendary Enchanter profession.]

"Magnum arcanis petris. May this gem take hold of magic power."

Sounds flow back into my ears. I glance down at the badge, which is still shimmering. I'm guessing that this badge has a different structure itself. The last badge was connected to the curse itself, and when it broke, the badge broke. With this one, the gem continually casts Curse of Silence, potentially thousands of times a second. Hopefully I don't level it up again. I'd rather have a little more ability to direct my skill growth, though having immunity already (albeit to something pretty insignificant) is cool. The hidden class thing is slightly concerning though. I'm hoping this turns out. I turn to watch Hector, trying to be as suave and smooth as possible. Not sure how well that's going to work. Lol.

I watch as, mesmerized, as Hector's hands move in a complex pattern. He turns and sees me watching, then rolls his eyes slightly. Perhaps in a show of superiority, he turns so that I can see better, slows down the hand motions, and makes them larger. I realize that he's waving his hands in a pattern - a sideways figure eight (infinity symbol) by his right hand, rounding down through the center of the symbol, a rounded teardrop / isosceles triangle with the left side vertical and rounded by his left, both hands moving to the right and to the left together. I practice with my hands, mirroring him slightly. Hector rolls his eyes again, and chants while dancing from one foot to the other, still waving his hands.

"Blah blah cis-doom-bah. This is rhyming blah blah blah.

No one cares. No one cares. Blah blah blah.

Mithril makes the magic work. Blah blah blah.

Massage, mirage, montage, collage, garage, corsage, barrage.

Make what's seen not seen or heard by any in your entourage.

Status Status can't be seen. ShadowChant: Status Camouflage"

"Magnum arcanis petris."

Hector grabs a tiny glass test tube filled with what looks like black ink, and screws the mortar into a funnel before dumping it summarily into the test tube. He shakes it up for a few seconds, then pops it open, and screws the test tube into what looks like a long pen. He grabs my hand, separates my middle finger by standing it straight up (I roll my eyes as he looks at me with a smile), then whispers as he touches the base of my finger with the pen.

"ShadowChant: Remote. ShadowChant: Permanence. ShadowChant: Bypass. ShadowChant: Hidden Curses: Silence, Stun, Sleep - Trigger "Red Camellias in half bloom." Hide Hidden Class: ShadowChant."

Hector waves his hands around a little more, moves his mouth without saying anything, and then dances around for another minute. I'm absolutely floored by the presence of hidden curses in the item he just enchanted for me, but I guess it's understandable given how sketchy he is. And how focused he seems to be on money. Sounds like he definitely keeps as many avenues open as he can, though going against Sister Maribel's trust is deplorable at the very best. Setting me up to be easily kidnapped if someone says a trigger word? Not cool, Hector. Not cool at all. I'm going to have to figure out how to take the curse off the item, hopefully without him knowing. And without him learning that I just watched and listened to his entire enchantment. For now, I try to be as aware as I can be, since a sudden loud noise would be the death of me and Maribel. Hopefully if I'm showing shock on my face, it can be easily wrapped up as awe for his dancing and magic. Since, with the status screen that just appeared, I realize I'm only barely aware of how dangerous a situation we are actually in.

[Congratulations! Your personal tutelage by a Legendary enchanter, using perfect materials, using metamagic skills of ShadowChant: Remote and ShadowChant: Bypass, creating a layered enchantment, creating a permanentenchantment, creating a personal enchantment for you, creating a triggered enchantment, while you focus on his actions and personally experience the effects of one of his enchantments, has born fruit! All skill progress during the enchantment process has been redirected! As a result, you have directly gained the active skill Enchant (ShadowChant) at a Level 0 proficiency!]