“Dammit!” I shouted out loudly as the Book Of Curses was held by a humanoid skeleton in a gray and silver robe let out a black wave of energy. The monster holding it was just a place holder for the true power of the monster in its boney hands.

The real monster was the Book of Curses, but it was anything but simple to fight. Killing it would have been simple. Or as simple as a level 6 monster could be. I pushed out my energy and backed away. The attack was countered.

Our plan was struggling to work. The first part had been to get away the Book Of Curses from the skeleton. We had already wiped out the level 5 monsters, the Cult of Curses. They weren’t that hard to kill. One of the more easy level 5 monsters in the desert.

The Book Of Curses was an entire headache by itself. I moved in again for a third attempt. Air Burst. Air Burst. I went high as the sand erupted from the arrival of ethereal tentacles coming out. Air Burst. I shot down at the skeleton.

A circular barrier of ethereal flesh formed in my path. Air Burst. Air Burst. I maneuvered around it and moved in on the monster. My heavily null enchanted boot slammed into the Book Of Curses, sending it shooting down the sand on the ground. I then body slammed the skeleton which stumbled back. I quickly moved the box in my hands to scoop up the monster on the ground.

Air Burst. I quickly retreated as the skeleton let out a piercing shriek. It was just a summon made by the real monster, the Book Of Curses. Trying to capture it before had gone poorly when the book was separated from the skeleton. This time we were ready.

The capture box enchanted with passive null enchantments. But it wouldn’t hold for long. I tossed the box into the capture room made by the Infinite Block. The opening closed off. The book would rest on the sand and Michelle, wouldn’t let her monster touch it. Doctor Katz would be capturing it while we dealt with the headache that was about to come. He wouldn’t look at it directly while touching the rod through a small hole that had been made for it in the fortification that the Infinite Block had formed.

I ripped off my boot that had touched the monster and tossed it away as tiny tentacles began growing out of it, overcoming the weak null enchantments on the cloth.

The skeleton summon was slowing approaching. Its black eye sockets clearly radiating hate. Whatever happened, it couldn’t be killed no matter what. If it was killed, then the capture attempt would fail. If the skeleton was killed, immobilized the Book Of Curses would go berserk right away. We would then have to kill it or retreat.

I rushed in with Joyo at my side. His beat stick had null enchantments on it, but it would only last so long. The skeleton touched it and channeled the power of the Book Of Curses, a chunk of the sword turned into tiny wiggling tentacles. I pushed out my energy to form a shell around my body as I began to dodge blows, trying to avoid being touched.

Joyo would occasionally support with a sword swing to push the skeleton back. I had to remain between the skeleton and the Book Of Curses. It would go right for the book no matter what. If monsters were used, and the skeleton touched them, they would be screwed. We weren’t about to test this with level 6 monsters if at all possible.

The Rod of Taming would reject any of the curse tentacles or other techniques that the Book Of Curses unleashed. But even looking at it for an extended time could do curse damage to a person’s brain and eyes, which was my Doctor Katz wasn’t looking at it. Michelle was handling the Cult of Curses skeletons in the surroundings and getting ready to intervene with disposable level 4 monsters we had prepared for this capture attempt.

Joyo’s blade began to look worse and worse, before he finally chucked it away and quickly retreated to get a replacement blade. I was left alone with the skeleton as it struck out and advanced with its boney hands and feet. Its loose robe swirling around in the bright light and heat of the desert.

I almost missed it, but my boot was crawling back over, and I almost tripped over it. Acid Shot. I melted it. I dodged another punch. Acid Shot x10. I melted Joyo’s beat stick he had tossed aside just to be on the safe side.

The skeleton wasn’t that strong or difficult to dodge. It was a level 5 monster at best. The trick was understanding the Book Of Curses was the real threat in the duo. Joyo came back and we continued to hold off the skeleton.

There was no capture berserk state with this monster thankfully. I had been ready for it, but it never happened. “Captured!” Doctor Katz shouted as the skeleton crumbled to dust. The dust quickly disappeared. I let out a sigh of relief. I was sweating heavily from the intense heat of the desert zone. I moved back towards the book. Michelle didn’t remove the Infinite Block as she took the Rod of Taming from the doctor.

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She frowned and got a focused expression. “How annoying,” she muttered.

“What?” I asked.

“All its skills are imbue type skills. It doesn’t posses anything more direct. Still, the Book Of Curses has its uses. Everyone, give me some space. Michael be ready to separate me. Doctor Katz get ready with a flask please,” Michelle said. I adjusted my footing while Doctor Katz pulled a life flask free. We trusted her enough with monsters, that we didn’t question her.

The box that the Infinite Block had formed around the Book Of Curses moved away. Michelle held the Rod of Taming in one hand as she approached it and poked the monster with a finger. She let out a sigh of relief. She flipped it open. I felt energy try to get through my eyes but resisted.

She quickly closed it. “Flask,” she said. Doctor Katz handed it to her. She took a long drink and then poured the rest of the water infused life energy over her eyes.

“See anything?” I asked.

“No, there is nothing written inside, but it has passive curse damage to anyone who tries to look inside. But I can pick it up safely as long as I have the Rod of Taming. The moment I let it out, it will passively curse any non-terrain surface.”

“You think it will be useful against a level 7 monster?” I asked her.

“Yes. It is a nonstandard attack method. I can also imbue its various curse attacks into other monsters. Also, it has a unique trick like I expected.” The energy of the book became static and inert. “It can go dormant as long as I command it, in order to allow it to go into a lower level zones without decaying which is the most important consideration long term.”

I nodded at that. We weren’t going to be capturing any more level 6 monsters any time soon. The cost, effort, and time to capture these three monsters had been immense. With the capture done we began to the trek to the edge of the zone where the Crystal Vortex was waiting.

We reached the darklands that had been cleared and got on platforms made of the Infinite Block. We were floated up onto the airship. “Successful?” Captain Francis asked.

“Yes, we managed well enough. Now we just need to pick a level 6 zone to take the fight to,” I replied.

“I think we should go East of here and fight the Hell Lord in the lavalands,” Michelle said.

“The moltenlands next to it has the Giant Centipedes. They are a pain,” I muttered.

“But there is a shatteredlands nearby to base out of. Unless you plan to take the Crystal Vortex into the engagement?” Captain Francis asked. I shook my head at that.

“I would prefer to not do that and use it as a fall back point. But we need to discuss a plan of attack first. That level 5 zone has a tower?” I asked just to be sure.

“It does, we will have to swing out far away from it,” Captain Francis said, and I nodded at that. Getting close to towers with airships was a good way to trigger a lot of powerful flying monsters at the same time.

“We will depart tomorrow, and then make the attempt the day after, using as much daylight as we can get. The real issue will be the level 7 monster. You set?” I asked Michelle.

“I am fine. I will need to think on combination moves and our general strategy. I will work that out tomorrow. For now I need to run tests with the Book Of Curses,” she said.

“Will you need to do that off airship? I don’t want the Crystal Vortex cursed or damaged,” I said sternly. She had messed up before.

“I will need to. We need to do it in a level 4 zone,” she explained. I nodded at this, there were energy constraints.

“Then we need to call a halt an hour before true dark hits the darklands. Otherwise, we won’t be able to confirm we are safe in this location without any aggression,” Captain Francis said, and I nodded at this.

“You have full authority regarding safety procedures for the airship Captain Francis. That gives us some time to run some tests. A couple of hours. If we need to wait another day we can do it. I would rather we are prepared, rather than rushing into this fight,” I said.

“A couple of hours should be more than enough. But I would like you to keep an eye on things Michael, in case I need cursed items contained,” she said, and I nodded at this.

“That is fine. Let me get something to drink first. Deserts make me thirsty and then we can start testing,” I said, and she nodded at that. I got some water from the kitchen with a smile on my face. It had cost quite a bit, but we were finally ready to tackle a level 6 zone and face a level 7 monster. I knew it would be a nightmare.

We might lose all the level 6 monsters. But the knowledge would be invaluable. I considered it a necessary expense to understand how dangerous level 7 monsters were and if there was another power jump. I also wanted to test myself. To push my limits and understand if I could take one. If I could kill a level 7 monster, I would be a lot less worried about running into one.

I couldn’t let myself become complacent and a fat cat just taking in passive points. I needed to fight and constantly improve. There were threats out there. I didn’t want to meet another Divine Empress and think that I had slacked off excessively.

That was something I told myself every day. I had to keep pushing or I would end up in a fight where I would die one day. I sweat now to avoid bleeding later. Damn, the desert zone type was boiling hot. I felt like my blood was boiling. The soldiers would have it even worse if the airship had to remain in the third layer with environmental effects.

At least it was good mental preparation for the hell zones of level 6. Those were even hotter. It was going to be a tough battle coming up, no matter what. Just the terrain was a nightmare.