I walked to my friends, sheathed my sword behind my back, and settled in to get healed. A long and heavy sigh escaped my mouth as the healing energies suffused me, and then I told Moonwash and Granuel to prioritize everyone else as I sat down and healed myself with the nature mana trapped in my mouth.

Once I began to feel a bit better, I unsheathed my sword and examined it. I threaded some wrath mana through the weapon to create a circuit between it and me. This was a cursed item, and there was still a lingering menace about it. A part of myself worried if I was only washing it away by connecting it to my wrath like this, so I retracted my weave and went back to Moonwash to tell her of what I’d realized.

“That makes sense. This weapon was cursed back when all you had was menace magic. It’s a reasonable worry to presume that the curse might change with exposure to your new magic, but there’s nothing much to be done about that. We don’t really know where to get more menace mana. Curses just kind of blend together, and it can be hard to tell them apart. The cursetaceans too probably have some sort of vengeance magic, but we can’t really know since it’s near impossible to identify them somehow.”

“So do you think I can just use this sword to try and tease out the menace magic that has remained in my body? Or is it better if I just treat this greatsword like an heirloom that must never be touched again? There was our plan to reforge this into a new sword that would keep the curse too…”

“I love keeping heirlooms for sentimentality’s sake, but my advice would be to risk it and try to discover something about the current condition of your curse-aligned magics. It’s too valuable to pass up. We can always make a new sword. You’ll curse it good in no time.”

“...Yeah. You’re right. You’re absolutely right! I’m fucking phenomenal at cursing!”

~~~

Along our journey back home, I continued to explore what powers my cursed greatsword might hold. I did not coat it with my wrath mana yet, to confirm what abilities it had retained by itself. The weapon definitely still had an anti-healing effect, if weak, which I confirmed by stabbing some bulky monsters like an armozard or a boar, and then having Moonwash heal them. We’d also come to theorize that my sword might have a weakening effect, but it was difficult to be sure because creatures generally became weaker the more you stabbed them. So, did I curse the bear with weakness, or were they acting like they were about to die because they were about to die?

Who could say?

We came across other adventurers at some point, and I had to sheathe my weapon once Granuel informed me of them. They were very impressed with the big snake Angerly was dragging behind her, and they had plenty of questions about the glorious fight that had occurred. I did not begrudge them that, they were right that we were fucking awesome, so I just stood menacingly in the background while my friends explained how we were able to fell such a terrifying beast. With some major details removed or obfuscated, of course.

Once they were gone, away from even Granuel’s sight, I returned to my fun and ethical experiments. This time, I allowed my wrath mana to envelop the sword, weave through its material, before forming a circuit that came back to my body. I felt a connection to this weapon that had followed me this far, and I used it to kill the creatures of the forest just as I had many times before. The flavored wrath flowed along the blade, but I did not notice a significant improvement to the menace effects that the sword naturally possessed.

I chose to focus on this aspect for the final leg of my journey. My wrath magic contained traces of menace, and I wanted to bring that same element out in my precious greatsword. I believed that doing so was my bridge to being able to use menace magic once more.

~~~

I and my friends left the city of Latarus to go to the town of Trosti. The trip was largely uneventful, and we disembarked from our ride once we crossed the stone walls that surrounded the settlement. Inside was a normal town filled with homes and apartments, businesses, tall and efficient farms, and small pockets of dense trees for those belfegors who wanted to stay in their home environment and could afford it.

But there was one thing that was different here, one thing that we could not find in our home city of Latarus.

Domesticated draft animals.

We went straight to the local stables upon our arrival, and already I could see the more violent-looking horses staying in their pens and enclosures. They were called the horreks, and their bodies looked largely equine, but with thick bristles of white-grey fur. Their faces also appeared to be more violent than their horse counterpart, becoming almost boar-like.

“Hello there!” Granuel greeted cheerfully, upon which the workers of various species called upon their manager.

A human man in simple tunics and leathers came up to talk to us. “Hello… adventurers?”

“That’s right. We’ve made an appointment.” The smile did not leave Granuel’s face. “We are The Harvesters party, and we traveled here because we’ve heard about what you do, and we had need of your expertise.”

“Ah. Yes, yes. I’ve received the message. It’s nice to meet you all. I am Adil, and I’m the one who runs this place.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Adil! I’m Granuel, and these are the rest of my party.” He introduced the rest of us, with the full knowledge that the other person likely wouldn’t remember all our names. Although people did have better memories here than back on mundane Earth. “May we come in?”

“Of course. Please, make yourselves at home.”

We stepped into the stables, and a beastly stench immediately reached our noses. I felt it even through my armored mask, but I was unfazed for I regularly waded through blood and guts. I was stricken my the magnificent beasts that were the horreks, so I walked towards them while Granuel and the rest talked.

I reached out my hand to the first of such beasts, and it huffed in alarm. The horrek’s eyes were full of fear and panic as it tried to back up in the small space of its enclosure.

“What…?”

“Oh, Limbert. Calm down!” A centaur woman came up to the enclosure as the caged monster kicked behind it and dented high-quality wood. “Oh… It’s okay. It’s alright. No one is here to hurt you…”

The beast continued to buck and whine, until Adril came over to see what was happening.

“What is going on here?” He asked with an inquisitive gaze. “Limbert. Limbert, down.” His voice turned authoritative and strict, and for a moment it seemed like the animal might finally follow, but it freaked out even harder once its panicked gaze had turned back towards me.

Adril too looked at me and frowned. “I think… you’re the problem? I’m sorry, I’ve never had them react to someone like this before. Please, let’s try with another one. Limbert here might just be a bit moody today.”

“Sure…” I stepped away, unconvinced, but I did not remain unconvinced for long as I saw the workers finally succeed at calming the thrashing horrek down once I was out of sight. I followed Adril’s instructions, and the next horrek I approached reacted with the same fear. So did the next, and the next one after that. Some even began to take notice of me and run away in fright before I could even get close to them.

Not a single one wished to be my friend.

That was sad.

“This is… incredible,” Adril mumbled. “I don’t know what came over them. This has never happened before. How could someone be so universally bad with animals? They have different temperaments, so at least one should click with you!”

I laughed.

Adril realized what he had just said and tried to backtrack. “Ah! No offense meant! It’s our failure!”

“It’s fine. Relax. It can’t be helped.” I shrugged, though there was a frown underneath my mask. “Is it really not possible?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know… I just followed what my grandmother taught me, and she’s never spoken about how to handle this problem!”

Raising draft animals like this was incredibly rare and unprofitable here in Grandera because this was the home continent of the centaurs. Those jobs were commonly relegated to them, instead of relying on the unpredictability of monsters and animals.

I for one would more easily trust the latter. They were not cunning in the same way that sapients could be.

“Let’s just move on to see if they can bond with my friends, yeah?”

“Right!” He immediately latched onto the olive branch extended. “Yes. Let’s do that. Please.”

My friends did the same thing as me and tried to pick out a horrek for themselves, to varying results. Moonwash was able to somewhat connect with some of them, but either she was not conveying the orders well, or the animals could not understand, because she had a hard time getting them to do anything. The horreks were already trained prior, of course, but my girlfriend found herself unable to really make use of the training.

Granuel and Berry tried next, but they were just not respected by the animals at all. The horreks were barely willing to follow their instructions, and often flung dust or mild kicks at them.

Therick did not have this problem, as the horreks were willing to precisely follow his orders once they had gotten to know him over an afternoon. Angerly on the other hand, was very quickly able to gain the acceptance and respect of the horreks. She wasn’t as efficient at ordering them around, but the monsters followed her instructions with great fervor once they understood.

In the end, we decided that Therick and Angerly should take two horreks each, making for a total of four Level 20 monsters. They were the best and most expensive ones for sale here, and we brought them all back home.

~~~

I visited the orphanage, and found a lot more crustecar children there. Luine and Salaire had taken in quite a few from those we brought home, and they were also actively helping the other crustecars who had settled here with our help. Human clerks had been hired by Granuel to sell their artworks and accessories, and it made them money they desperately needed. The people of the tree wall were also a lot more open to their products, and I was happy to know that they would at least be well-fed once I was gone.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“It’s unfair! They’re too good at dodging!” I heard a human girl complain about the crustecars during a game of dodgeball, which made me laugh. I challenged the kids to a game of tag and utterly trounced the crustecars before everyone else because they were not very good at running in a straight line. I didn’t try to lecture them, I didn’t want to be that person, but I knew they were smart enough for the message to get across.

My friends soon arrive, alongside even more crustecar kids. They were the ones who lived with their parents or guardians near the workshop.

We all had a nice afternoon just playing with them, from Granuel teaching them math, then realizing that his magical trickshots were still overwhelmingly more popular; to Berry taking them on imaginary treasure hunts, where the prizes were things she and Moonwash had created. Moonwash herself used valuable materials to draw rituals, awing and teaching the children both. Therick and Angerly ran off, then brought back a horrek each, which they paraded around the children at a distance. Therick rode one, but Angerly did not, because while the beast could carry her, it would be an uncomfortable process for both of them. The kids were fascinated by the tamed animals, because they were just not a common thing here.

I could have shown them something even more interesting and amazing if I could just take out my wings, but I knew I couldn’t, so I did not dwell on it. Instead, I focused on just playing games with them, from various kinds of sports, to board games and the creation of paper airplanes which were called paper birds here.

They laughed, and I smiled, in this one joyful and innocent moment. It was a relief and a breath of fresh air after everything we had been through. Even the crustecar children were noticeably so much happier now, and I was happy to have been a part of that.

~~~

An armored wagon rolled across the road, pulled by two horreks from the front. Moonwash had finished her first prototype of the vechicle, and the inside was a mix of cushioned seats, a door at the back akin to a drawbridge which was usually kept open, and plenty of space for cargo. The ride was comfortable, it shook a lot less than other lesser wagons, and neither did it break down as much.

Eventually, we came to a stop, and the carriage planted itself along the side of the road with breaks that made it nigh immovable. I went into the forest, and found an armozard that would make for good prey. Memories of a time long past came back to me in a flood through the help of my memory core, and I remembered in vivid detail what it was like to use menace magic. From that sense of mischief that went far beyond evil, a pride that made me want to dominate everything, and that desire to make sure that it hurt.

I recalled that old demon, and walked towards my prey. The armozard arose from its slumber, just as I began to charge. I poured all my power into my next slash, using a mini-ritual to boost my physique, and saturating my greatsword with greater wrath.

The blow connected, the monster roared, and then its head lolled to one side. I was impressed, just as I had known, that the level 20 creature wouldn’t instantly die from my strongest strike, but it would still succumb shortly from its wounds.

I side-stepped the animal’s attempt at retaliation, watching as rivers of blood flowed freely from the wound. It wasn’t just one clean slash, but the creature’s flesh was twisted apart by an evil force, for my wrath magic had participated. Its rot was suppressed and poured out instead to the organically destructive effect for the sake of this next part.

I showed mercy, for I was a merciful demon.

Flowers bloomed, nature arose, and my victim’s wounds began to heal. I sensed that I wouldn’t be able to preserve its life alone, so Moonwash helped me nurse it back to health, and a raw anti-healing effect was indeed present, but we concluded that it hadn’t been significantly enhanced by my wrath magic.

That was the goal for today, and the next days, and I did not stop until it was over. From the armozard, to a murdle, and plenty of other creatures; I sliced them all up until I could finally improve upon the anti-healing and weakening effects of my sword by feeding it with my wrath.

I had succeeded.

~~~

“Haell!”

We were just going back to the city when a familiar voice called upon us from the forest. Granuel glanced warily through a slit in the wall, ashamed for not having noticed the presence at all.

“Should I stop, or speed up?” Therick asked.

“Stop, it’s all fine.” My friend followed my advice, and I jumped out of the carriage. Outside, I found exactly who I’d been hoping for. “Elfrafim! Astan! Where’ve you been!?”

Astan circled around, and landed on my shoulder. I could tell that he was inching closer to level 40, and would soon be at the level where a suprasoar would be considered sapient, though it really felt like he was already at that point.

“Oh, here and there. I went to see the capital of Gardine, then I went to the Infinite Twisters, and then I visited the Curse Parade! I almost got attacked by Evel in that last one, which could’ve been bad! Good thing I had to foresight to leave Astan behind for that one.”

By Evel, she was referring to the second angel on this continent. A being who had a bow for a left arm, and a bunch of arrows for her legs.

“Yeah, no shit that would’ve been bad!” I laughed. “I saw one too. An angel. And I get it now. They’re fucking terrifying.”

“Right!? And holy shit, that’s a story! You gotta tell me more about it!”

“I will, I will.”

I patted my friend’s shoulder and led her back to our new wagon. Moonwash told her all about her new creation, and I talked about our recent expedition to Orila.

I did not like it, and it was shit, but we learned a lot.

~~~

“So there’s a sister element–your previous menace magic–that’s sort of maybe connected to your wrath magic… and now you’re trying to gain access to it? I thought we had the best understanding of magic here, save perhaps for those angels that came from another world, but I don’t know where to begin with that!” Elfrafim exclaimed as she cradled her drink. I and Moonwash were drinking with her, with varying strengths of alcohol depending on our physiques. Moonwash had been learning more about brewing recently, and mine was always weaker just in case.

Astan was perched on a nearby chair, snacking on the grapes that would’ve created the wine we were drinking.

“What do you think I should do then?” I asked. “There are no wrong answers.”

Astan squawked.

“Not you! I meant Elfrafim over here!”

“Regress back to imp!”

A pause.

“Nevermind. Astan, can you elaborate on what you meant by ‘squawk’?”

“Squawk. Reee.”

“No way!” Elfrafim laughed. “It’s a serious suggestion though. You have your memory core, right? Just look back through your memories of that time.”

“Ah. I’ve already done that.”

“It’s nice that you listened to my advice before I can even give it.”

“Fuck off.” I chuckled.

“There’s something I’ve been thinking about recently,” Moonwash said after a pause.

“Oh? Pray tell.”

“I like all your thoughts!”

“Well, I think I might have some menace mana left, which could help you, Haell.”

“Oh? Well, why didn’t you say so sooner!” My voice admittedly had a tiny note of offense and hurt to it. I’d been trying really hard to discover my magic here!

“Because I can’t find it.”

“What?”

“Do you remember when we tried to collect your blood in balloons?”

“Oh! You mean when we’ve just left and destroyed the secret base for good? I remember that. Good times.”

“Yes. I believe there should be more, but I cannot find it anywhere. I’ve looked.”

“Huh. Well, shit. Let’s go find it then.” I looked around the living room, as if searching for it already. “We really should’ve saved a lot more of my blood before I evolved, huh?”

“Yes. It was a major oversight. Let’s not make the same mistake again.”

“Agreed.”

~~~

“Ahhh! It is here! Sorry about that!” Mom shouted as we rummaged through her things. We had gone through the basement, through an inconspicuous door in a corner, and beyond a tunnel corridor, to find a second smaller basement filled with my mom’s things and her own experiments. Right now, she was very embarrassed because she had accidentally grabbed our last drops of menace mana, and had just left them here to rot.

“It’s fine, Mom!” I reassured her. “We found it and that’s what matters.”

“It’s good that you kept it for safe-keeping,” Moonwash added. “I might’ve used it for something or another if it was still in my workshop, and then we would be truly out.

“...Right. Just as planned. Here you go!” Mom handed me the bag filled with the stuff. There was actually a little bit of decay in the bag and the organic ‘plastic’, but it should still be usable. “Good luck with getting the menace back, Haell! I know you can do it!”

“Thanks Mom!”

~~~

With a supply of menace mana now in hand, Moonwash lent me her old menace staff. I was just with her, Elfrafim, and Astan today, out on a small stroll in the forest, and I used the opportunity to refamiliarize myself with the magic used by my impish self.

I spotted a small pack of barkbarks between the trees, and I thought them to be the perfect targets.

(Barkbarks are white-furred dog/grasshopper hybrids)

Menace mana flowed out of the staff according to my command, at first awkwardly, like a baby taking its first steps, but soon I was swirling the very small amount around with the practiced elegance of an expert practitioner. I made a tiny, bullet-sized bullet out of it, and I hit one of the barkbarks… but its desiccation wasn’t even enough to kill the poor sub-level-10 dear.

I had poked the hornet’s nest with my actions, and now the barkbark’s came for me in force.

“Uhh, a little help, please?” I asked of my friends. I could very easily slaughter all these measly enemies of course, but I needed them restrained as my test subjects.

Moonwash and Elfrafim complied, and the charging army of tiny little barkbarks were stopped in their tracks and bound by many powerful vines.

“Okay, thanks! Now, how to do this…” I focused on the one I’d already attacked, and I finished it off for good this time by desiccating its heart in full using a little bit more mana. The next barkbark I attacked died instantly after that, and so did the next.

I smiled at the small success, and summoned a ball of wrath mana in the next moment. I felt my undying hatred, but I tried to focus on the menace that hid within it instead. From the envy I felt towards those that I loved, to that overbearing desire to deprive. I gently placed the resulting magic on the next monster in line, and it was torn apart by powerful biomantic forces.

“No! It’s not right at all! That’s not what menace magic is supposed to do! That’s still wrath!”

I did not let that deter me, but instead, I resolutely used the small amount of menace mana I had remaining. I alternated between menace and wrath magic, for my thinking was that I could somehow create a connection that way, or that I would metaphorically forget what I was using and succeed in using menace magic while I was handling wrath.

My idea turned out to be right.

“WOW! It’s working! You actually made it work!” Elfrafim shouted excitedly as she held her wand and healing light over the mangled flesh of a whimpering bear.

“Yeah, I know!” I said, just as happily. I had used only wrath magic for that, yet clearly my prey was suffering from raw anti-healing!

“Do you think I can use it too if I used your blood and wrath mana?” Moonwash asked.

“I have no idea. We’ll find out!”

The anti-healing effect shown here was still weak, but I had my foot in the door, and all I needed was to improve upon it.

I used all of what remained of my impish blood not for that purpose, but to relearn the confusion and weakening effects.

The process was a lot easier than what came before, which was good because I was running out of the blood I had shed an odd three years ago.