24 Bloodline curse

As Xander continued to eye Faykes, the latter was becoming more and more nervous as time passed.

Although it seemed that Faykes was fearless, it was more of being able to take things in stride, as well as 15 years of practice taught by the family.

As someone born in a prestigious family, their actions determine the face of the family, and thus, it is ingrained to them how to act in public properly fitting to their status: In public speaking, in front of friends, talking to one's superiors, etc. All these were taught from an early age.

Faykes, contrary to what Xander thought of him, was actually scared outof wits with the power Xander displayed. It was beyond an Elite magician. Although in his family, such a thing would occur every hundred or thousand years, they weren't as powerful as what he had just seen.

Rather than focus on the power disparity, he wholeheartedly focused on establishing a good reputation to Xander, for both his and his family's future. Although, murder and assassination wouldn't be out of the discussion, it doesn't seem worth it now.

First, Xander is considered to be a national asset. At the same time, he has his parents' backgrounds protecting him as well. Even if the Cloverfield family seemed weak and scattered on the outside, every ancient family still surviving till today knows that major figures in the family hold key positions in different countries, making their political, economical, and social power quite remarkable and even comparable to 2nd-rate countries. With the presence of Rosa and Esta, it seems the influence of the Cloverfield family would be quite extensive in Eta.

Second, Xander seems too powerful that even a Legendary rank spell would be ineffective. If they wanted to kill him discreetly, they had to hire someone at least at the Mythic or for greater chance of success, a Demigod magician. The problem is, why would a demigod even deign to do such a thing? Mythic mages were similar as well; they had resources coming from their respective organizations; it would be time-consuming and expensive to find a lonesome Mythic magician. Although his family was not lacking in resources, they weren't going to waste their rare ones just to kill a potential enemy.

It would be more economically viable for the family to establish a good and stable relationship with Xander than kill him.

These were the thoughts the quickly passed through his mind, allowing him to come to a conclusion and calm his emotions, and focus on things that would allow him to naturally approach Xander.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard Xander say, "Ok." Faykes momentarily blinked out of confusion, before clarity appeared in his eyes.

Yes, if Faykes had a flaw, it would be that he is too curious for his age and status. He can ask questions or demand answers about things that genuinely strike curiosity, causing the ire of people. At the same time, one can say it is also his asset.

Xander gestured Faykes to follow him to the garden area. After reaching the garden area, there was a white, billowing mist in front of them, unable to be seen through or even blown by the wind.

Faykes saw this as well and wanted to ask, before he did so, Xander's voice interrupted him.

"Stand back. I'll show you my sprites."

Immediately, Xander immediately called forth Sam and Pan, who were currently resting in his spatial storage in the form of the crystal rose and the jade rock.

Immediately, the temperature began fluctuating in the area, and the earth trembled. Instantly, two figures roughly half the height of Faykes appeared on both sides of Xander.

One of them had a humanoid appearance, closely mimicking that of an elf. instead of hair, it seemed that the sprite's head was covered in bundles of petals.

The other was a huge turtle whose back was covered in deep green jade, with different types of metal sticking out randomly.

Upon their appearance, the elements became agitated in the area, causing earth and plant elements to flourish.

"Welcome back, master!!" Sam said to Xander joyfully, before jumping at him. The turtle on the other hand grunted at Xander and began to eye Faykes curiously. Xander, upon seeing Sam, evaded the tackle hug, because he knew it would be quite bothersome to remove Sam from him.

Sam didn't want to continue, but Pan stopped him, and he could only look at Xander pitifully. Xander rolled his eyes and began to introduce Faykes.

"This is my classmate, Faykes. He was curious about your existences so I allowed him to come to the villa and meet you. Faykes, these are Sam and Pan. They are sprites. Sam, Pan, greet Faykes."

Sam quickly came close to Faykes and began eyeing him warily. After doing a sniffing action at him, Sam's face fell and hurriedly retreated.

"Ew! Master, this person has the smell of a curse! I don't wanna talk to him. Ugh!" Sam snifled, obviously annoyed at Faykes.

Faykes, upon hearing this, had his eyebrows raised. Curse? I feel fine though. What curse is he talking about?

Pan trudged quietly to Faykes and began eyeing him as well, and sniffed at him. Pan also wrinkled his face in distaste.

"Master, this person seems to be inflicted with a blood curse. It's been in him for a long time, roughly 16 years?"

Xander's curiosity was peaked. He had heard of curses before, when he was reading research articles and books relating to magic types.

A curse was basically a magic spell circle, or an accepted configuration of the rules (the elements), that has been set to be unstable.

When it was first cast, it looked like a normal magic spell, with all the runic writings and the magic circles interacting properly. But as time passed, structures of the magic circle would deteriorate, or in other cases, the runic writings would suddenly change with no warning, causing untold damage to the magician.

According to the book he read, curses were generally categorized in two main categories: A fast-acting one, and a slow-acting one.

A fast-acting one would mean that the spell would have no problems nor will cause any immediate effect on the target, but a few seconds, or minutes even, the curse would activate, wrecking havoc in the body of the caster.

A slow-acting one would mean the spell can be activated only after a set amount of time has passed, or if the conditions have been fulfilled successfully.

Under each category, they would have similar subcategories: Physical and Immaterial. Under these two, would be whether the curse is self-sustaining or non-self sustaining. Under these two would be whether it can be inherited or not, and under these two were different categories of curses, ranging from different elements to different ailments caused.

"Sam, Pan, can you identify what type of curse it is?" Xander asked the two. Sam and Pan nodded, but Sam had a gross look at Faykes before responding.

"Master, we need a drop of blood from that guy so we can identify what type of curse it is. But I don't want to taste that guy's blood... ugh."

Xander pretended to think for a moment, before smiling at Sam. "If you do guys do it, I'll give you both 1 reward each."

Sam and Pan looked at each other, before Sam looked at Xander, his eyes hopeful.

"Master, can we request to go back to that "place" again? For 7 days? As our reward?"

Xander acted like he was thinking about it, even frowning, causing Sam and Pan's face to be etched with worry. Of course, Xander was just joking with the two of them.

"Hmmm... Fine. Just 7 days."

Sam and Pan's eyes dazzled, before nodding.

"Hmph, hey, big guy! Give us a drop of your blood!" Sam said condescendingly at Faykes, who didn't know whether or not he should laugh.

He didn't even know he had a curse in his body; how could the magic physicians and the doctors miss the curse in his body then?

He was still wary but since he signed Xander's contract, he knew he would be safe until the point he attempted to reveal Xander's secrets and the villa's events to others.

he bit his thumb and blood blossomed, and immediately, a vine appeared near his hand and coiled at the bleeding finger. The vine seemed to suck the leaking blood, before it retreated towards Sam, who then broke a piece of the vine and handed it to Pan.

Immediately, Pan swallowed it, while Sam absorbed the vine back to his body. After a few seconds of chewing, Pan stopped and looked at Sam, who looked back and nodded.

They both turned to look at Xander and nodded at him.

"It's done?"

"Yes master."

"Pan, what are the findings?"

"It's... a bloodline curse master. It's the type of curse that amplifies the body's affinity to certain elements, allowing them to easily breakthrough the ranks of Mundane to Elite class. Upon reaching Elite class, it begins to artificially increase the understanding of its host of their primary elements. Upon reaching Master class, it boosts all magic circles created, but leaving a part of the curse in every spell created. Upon reaching legendary, it then infects the life essence doll that is connected to the Magic Sphere of the user. It uses up slowly the life essence to hasten the speed of their comprehension of the rule they have embodied in the Magic Sphere. Upon breaking through the Mythic class, the curse would fully activate, binding the host to the person who cast it in the first place, determining their life and death, as well as their actions."

Upon hearing it, Faykes was frightened; he didn't know that he had such a terrifying curse in his body. Wait, since it's a bloodline curse, could it be everyone in the family has the same thing? According to the turtle... er, Pan, the curse has been with him for 16 years. If not counting the years he was in the womb, it means that he only received the curse after he was born, meaning... he was plotted against? Or could it be because my talent reached a certain standard that they placed the curse on me? Who, then, is my designated controller? Faykes' hyperactive mind began to work, thinking of reasons why he had the curse in the first place, as well as countermeasures he could place.

Xander asked Pan, "Do you have any solutions to solve the curse?"

Pan nodded and replied to Xander in a grave voice, "Yes, I have two methods: eradication and assimilation. Eradication can be done within the Elite class or below, as long as the target has not linked any pseudo-magic circles in their magic seeds. Another method is assimilation. Simply put, the body would let the curse continue its function until Legendary Class. However, at the peak of each class, a special ritual must be held to remove a part of the runic binding writing in the curse. Meaning, at every class, the runic writing emphasizing on "control", "binding", "command", and "death" will be wiped out, but the benefits of the curse remain the same."

"One problem of the first option is that whoever cast the curse, would manage to detect if it was forcibly removed. On the other hand, two problems rise at the second option: Faykes has passed the Mundane stage, so the ritual cannot be done. The second problem is that every removal of runic writing will actually make the curse more unstable, and if it collapses on itself, there would be severe consequences to the host, ranging from demotion in class rank at the very least, to certain death."

Xander looked at Faykes pitifully. Although he could solve the problems the second option carried, why should he? Not only is he not someone who he trusted, he has no obligation to deal with the matters of the other's family.

Faykes, upon hearing the situation, had his hopeful expression fell. He knew he had no other choice then. He either had to follow the commands of the person in charge of him or he will die, even if he was in the Mythic Class.

Looking at Faykes, Pan paused for a moment, before hesitatingly saying, "There is, however, a third option to forcibly remove the negative effects of the curse. Upon reaching Legendary-9, the target must kill the one whose control over the curse was transferred to. Since it could be their parents, their relatives, or even their ancient ancestors who might still be alive and reached frightening levels, they must have an unyielding resolve to eliminate him/her, while at the same time, having the ability to kill that person."

Faykes, upon hearing this, had life return to his eyes. Although hope was faint, it was still there in his time of darkness. Upon hearing this, Faykes bowed in gratitude to Pan, before turning to Xander, his face solemn.

"Xander, thank you for helping me discover the hidden problem I have. No matter what, I owe you a favor, and I will do the best of my abilities to fulfill it upon your request."

Faykes paused, before looking in Xander's eyes, his eyes full of resolve and gratitude.

"You have no worries about your abilities or the information about the villa being leaked. I hope however, at the end of the day, we can become friends. Once again, thank you."

Faykes turned around and headed out of the villa. Xander didn't bother with greetings or baseless farewells. He knew he would be meeting Faykes again in the future. Hopefully, not as a slave of someone. He would rather die than have his future constrained.

He activated [Heavenly Divination] and looked at Faykes' most probable future where his interference was reduced to a minimum, with him as a branching point.

Immediately, a scene showed up; it was in a mountainous valley. Faykes was lying on a pool of his own blood, the energies of his body disappearing. In front of that body, a middle-aged man looked pitifully at Faykes, before shaking his head and turning around to leave the body. Before he completely left, however, he suddenly stopped, and turned to look at where Xander was at and unleashed a blast. Of course, the power directed at Xander was easily resolved by his Time and Space elements, making sure none of it harmed him.

Xander was surprised at this development. It seems that this person, who looked a bit like Faykes, was stronger than it seemed. He estimated by the aura released... someone above the Demigod class! Could it be someone at the Divine class, or probably higher?

Seeing that his attack has dealt no effect, the man was a bit puzzled, before quickly leaving. He did not know who was peaking at that moment, nor their power level. He wasn't even sure if someone was there, but he did notice a slight disturbance in that space, so he launched an attack. Seeing that the person behind it wasn't even affected, but decided to continue watching where his descendant had been slain, he decisively left.

After ending the divination, he then divined the future wherein he decided to interfere and resolve Faykes' problem today. Damn it, it was blank.

Meaning, he was too much influenced by my actions to the point that even time and space couldn't predict what he might become. It's also possible he would die, but it's hidden in the eyes of the will of the world.

Xander then attempted to predict his future. It was hazy, but he could see figures appearing on the vision, but everytime he attempts to focus on them, it felt like his mind was going to burst. He had a hunch that the figures he was seeing in the far future were actually above Divine-class, and were at the very least, God class, or probably similar to the God that sent him to this universe. Huh, that god never gave him his name, though.

Xander was worried though. Although he could still blurrily see his future now, what happens if his comprehension of space-time continued to increase? He believed the uncertainty to his future was highly linked to his abilities in the Space-time elements.

What actually happens if he reaches 100% comprehension on these two elements?

Xander has no answer to it, no matter how long he sped up time just to think of the possibilies. Even the System granted to him was dead silent about the topic.