Noticing his wife and son had dozed off, Alwin lowered the radio volume and gazed at his wife's exquisite and serene sleeping face with a subtle smile on his lips. Despite their occasional disagreements, she remained the blessing in his life.

Believing himself to be the luckiest guy alive for marrying the love of his life, he continued driving to his brother's ranch at the suggested speed limit.

Through Dame Wasp's senses, Ace observed his father's subtle gestures. Knowing that his parents' love continues to grow to this day filled him with joy and hope that he could experience the same with his significant other. As that thought crossed his mind, Ace shook his head, thinking it was still too early for him to be tied down by love, and asked Dame Wasp, 'Rose, did you mention that a human was controlling the Gremlin Cursling we defeated?'

Dame Wasp confirmed, saying, 'Yes, master.'

With a worried tone, Ace asked, 'Rose, was it truly a curse master? Since curse masters don't leave behind curse cores when they pass away because their curse core resides within their innate curse tool. Could it that you have mistaken?' Even as he spoke, Ace trusted that Dame Wasp had a valid reason for her assertion.

'Master, she wasn't a curse master but a curse slave,' Dame Wasp corrected him, her voice firm yet respectful.

'A curse slave?' Ace inquired, his curiosity piqued. 'How do they differ from curse masters?' It was the first time he had encountered the concept of curse slaves.

Before Dame Wasp could respond, Ace interjected, instructing her, 'Hold on a moment. Let's start from the top. Provide me with a detailed account of the events in the trailer. Also, explain how you came to learn all this information.'

'Yes, master,' Dame Wasp agreed and began to narrate, 'After I located the trailer oozing faint curse energy and entered it while searching the area for clues, I spotted the curse core lying on the ground. When I went to pick it up, I found two books wedged behind the cabinet. One was a plain old diary, and the other was a grotesque human skin book. Going through their contents, I learned about curse slaves and that the trailer belonged to the mechanic's estranged mother, the Curse slave controlling the gremlin curseling. Understanding that the information in the diary and the human skin book could be used to harm others in the wrong hands I destroyed them after copying their contents.'

After a small pause, Dame Wasp continued, 'According to the books, in a twist of fate, the mechanic's mother was dragged into the world of curses by a curse master who took a fancy to her beauty. He not only repeatedly raped her but threatened and forced her to leave her family and follow him as his slave.

But the mechanic's mother was clever. She knew the curse master would keep her alive until he got bored of her or she lost her charm with age. So, she slowly gained his trust and convinced him she could be an asset to him. As such, the curse master helped her become a curse slave.

Curse slaves are those who practice the Curse Slave Art—a lifeline for those lacking aptitude for curse energy. This art enables them to perceive the world of curses while helping them ensure their survival. However, it comes with a heavy price.

To master this cruel discipline, one must embed a curse core deep within one's heart, fueling it with raw negative emotions. This process allows the curseling of the curse core to regenerate as a whole in their heart. It is a tormenting process and those with a weak will die in mid-process. When the curseling regenerates it turns the curse slave's heart into its vessel, forging an unbreakable life bond between them. If one perishes, so does the other, safeguarding the Curse slaves against their Curslings.

The curse slave can use the life bond to communicate with their curseling and command it to fight on their behalf. The drawback is that they only establish a life bond with one curseling unless they find a way for humans to have multiple hearts.

Once completely tamed, the curseling aids in refining the curse slave's negative emotions into a curse core. With their curse core, the curse slaves can wield the curse energy, arts, and tools akin to traditional curse masters. They can even allow their tamed curseling to possess them, granting them superhuman and curse abilities of their curseling.

However, a curse slave's strength and growth are ultimately tied to the tier of the curseling they have a life bond with. But a single human's negative emotions can only help regenerate a mortal-tier curseling after a long period of accumulation at best.

So, despite all the pain they suffer trying to form a life bond with curseling, they can only grow to the mortal tier. Because of this limitation, curse slaves are a cannon-fodder-like existence in the world of curses. But they gain partial immortality, allowing them to live past their natural lifespan thanks to their life bond with the curseling. Yet they age at a regular rate. So, their body gives up before they turn 150 years old.

This was why the curse master did not think twice before helping the mechanic's mother become a curse slave. He was not worried about her backstabbing him but happy about gaining a capable bottom bitch. However, last year, the curse master was killed by his enemy.

Finally free, the mechanic's mother returned to her family to learn that her husband, until his last breath, never believed she left them and searched for her. But her son resented her for everything their family had been through, yet he grew a respectable family man.

Unable to find the courage to tell the truth to her son, she watched over him and his family from the trailer behind the diner. Learning that his son's garage was barely making any profit with new cars that could only be serviced and maintained in the dealerships, she decided to use her identity as a curse slave to help him.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

She commanded her Gremlin Curseling to cause minor issues in passing cars, such as sticky gas pedals or faulty brakes, to attract business to her son's garage.

Today, she was out of luck as she messed with the wrong car. Once her gremlin was killed, she died in her trailer. Her corpse dissipated leaving behind her curse core.'"Ace repaired the juicer? I don't believe it. How did he know how to repair the juicer," Ace heard the voice of his elder sister as he headed downstairs. Seeing him arrive, his mother turned her phone toward him, saying, "He is here. Ask him yourself?"

"Ace, how did you fix the juicer?" Ace's older sister exclaimed

"With a little help from YouTube, of course," Ace replied casually, heading into the kitchen to find his father making a new pot of coffee. He asked, "Are you working from home, Dad?"

"Yes," Alwin nodded and asked, "You looked shaken up earlier. Everything alright, son?"

"Yep," Ace nodded, fetching a soda from the fridge.

"Good. By the way, if you have some free time, the mini-fridge is in the basement. Check if you can repair it. My home office could use a mini-fridge," Alwin mentioned casually, more interested in seeing if his son could fix the mini-fridge than needing it.

"I am busy with something right now, but I will check on it later, Dad," Ace replied, feeling his dad's intention could not be more obvious. Besides, he did not want to summon Dame Wasp until absolutely necessary.

"Mom, I'm heading out to grab breakfast. Let's continue our conversation in the evening," Walking past the living room, Ace overheard his sister hanging up on their mother.

Ensuring everything was fine downstairs, Ace got ready to head to his room. However, a sudden loud thunderclap abruptly disrupted his train of thought. Its booming noise rattled the windows and echoed through the walls. But that wasn't the end. It was soon followed by a series of equally loud thunderclaps. It felt like the house was going to collapse.

Soon, a loud siren sounded throughout the neighborhood. It was the storm siren. Listening to it, Mary yelled, "Ace, don't just stand there. Head to the bunker in the basement. Your Dad and I will be down there soon."

The area they resided in frequently experienced storms and tornadoes during the spring and early summer months and wildfires during the late summer and early fall. A year without any storms and wildfires was considered a good year. So, around here, having a safe room in the home was given.

"Local weather news said it would be a warm sunny morning. There was no warning about a thunderstorm," Alwin shouted as he rushed out of the kitchen, carrying the coffee pot.

"Al, forget your damn coffee. Go turn off the main breaker of our home and hurry to the safe room," Mary yelled at her husband while dragging her son to the basement.

"Just take the coffee pot with you. I will be you down there soon," Alwin passed the coffee pot to his wife, hurrying to turn off the home's main breaker.

Entering the safe room, Mary glared at her son and asked, "Okay, what's going on with you? You have been acting weirdly since the morning."

"Nothing, I was just startled by the thunderclap," Ace replied, avoiding his mother's eyes.

"Boy, please. I have seen you light the bottle rockets in your hand and do stupider stuff. Do you expect me to believe that you got startled by a few videos of mountain lions roaming the streets and a couple of thunderclaps? Tell me what's really going on, son?" Mary locked her eyes with her son, wanting to force the truth out of him.

"I am telling the truth," Ace did not budge. After all, how could he tell her that the thunderstorm was two Sky-Tier curse masters clashing?

When the first thunderclap sounded, Dame Wasp used the status screen to inform Ace that Steal Song Society's chat group was active again. But since Ace was not in a position to use the skill 'sense share,' she summarized the chat and reported it to him,

[ — Status Screen —

> The Steal Song Society's chat group is buzzing.

> MountainOfSwords has arrived in our neighborhood.

> Crimson-eyed Curse master has killed Bane1.

> MountainOfSwords wants to retail by destroying the entire neighborhood.

> MountainOfSwords and Crimson-eyes are both in Sky-Tier. It's hard to tell if Crimson-eyes could protect the neighborhood from MountainOfSwords' wrath.

> The Steal Song Society's chat group has no eyes down here, so now they are speculating.

> Master, I will update you if something important pops up.]

"Honey, get Ace. We are heading out now," Alwin called urgently, rushing to the basement in a panic.

"What about the thunderstorm and mountain lions?" Mary exclaimed in concern.

"Forget about the thunderstorm and the damn mountain lions. I saw a forest fire break out in the hills. We have to get out of town now," Alwin hurriedly explained as he grabbed the disaster preparedness bags in the safe house, planning to move them to the back of his old but trusty Toyota Camry. Then, turning to his dumb-struck family, he said, "I could use a hand here."

"Yes," waking out of her stupor, Mary rushed to help her husband, asking, "Where are we heading to?"

"To my brother's ranch. We should be safe there," Alwin replied, then turning to his son, he said, "Don't just stand there. Go pack what you need."

"The go bags have my clothes, underwear, and extra toiletries," Ace answered while keeping in touch with Dame Wasp using the status screen.

"A thunderstorm and a wildfire occurring together should convince your brother that global warming is real," Mary made a joke to lighten the mood and ease their nerves.

"Nope, knowing him, he would just think this is another one of the government's conspiracies," Alwin played along, carrying the go bags to the garage.

"Al, what about the neighbors? We should inform them," Mary suddenly remembered.

"Who do you think told me about the forest fires in the first place? We owe the Johnsons a dinner. They are waiting for us outside. We decided to leave the town together," Alwin said, placing all the bags in the Camry's trunk. Then, he prepared to open the garage door, but Ace stopped him, saying, "Dad, I don't think it's safe outside with the thunderstorm. Let us wait for the authorities to make an announcement."

Listening to Ace, both his parents were surprised to see him dare to put forward a different opinion now of all the times.

"Son, the hills are a few miles from here. We need to take the risk despite the odds and get out of here before it's too late. Trust me, son. Go get in the back of the Camry," Alwin explained how bad the situation was to his son and assured him.

"..." Ace remained silent, not knowing how to tell his parents that with two Sky-Tier curse masters fighting in the sky of their neighborhood, nowhere in the neighborhood was safe. However, with the CIB curse masters doing their best to keep the damage to the neighborhood minimum, they had a better chance of survival by staying put in one place than running around. After all, with all the curse abilities at the disposal of the CIB, they would not let the wildfire spread to the neighborhood.

Honestly, Ace couldn't make up his mind. Because right now, with MountainOfSwords planning to destroy the neighborhood to make up for his failure to rescue Bane1, be it outside or inside, they can only count on their luck.