Chapter 276: Ahead

Chapter 276: Ahead

Leland pursed his lips and looked off to the side, hoping the gesture would make Captain Curtain stop staring at him. It was the age-old notion of “if I can’t see him, he can’t see me.”

This, of course, didn’t work.

“What happened to Seer?”

Shifting his gaze to his friends, Leland knew he had to take charge. “I... killed him?”

“Is that a question?” Curtain asked, his entire body stiff like a board.

He sat behind his desk, a few bandages wrapped around his wrists and knuckles. Leland had offered, like he had for everyone else in the bastion, to heal him, but the Captain declined on principle. His injuries were his own, stupid mistakes that would heal in time and serve as a reminder of the mortality of war. His wounds were nothing that some of his men hadn’t also experienced, those that lived, that was.

With a suffering sigh, Leland turned to the man and said, “My parasite killed him—"

For a brief moment, Leland felt Lodestar stir across his back. The parasite rolled, spinning against his skin in a way that felt like a crawling beetle.

Curtain held his gaze. “Uh huh.” He made a note on a sheet of paper. “And what about the pillar of purple flames?”

“That I will refrain from answering.”

Silence filled the office. Even Isobel, who was standing guard over Leland by way of lounging on the couch in the corner, kept her lips sealed.

“Your answer will go down in my report,” Curtain said, his voice like a flat line. “Are you fine with that?”

“Who is the report to?”

“The Queen—”

“Aunty P,” Isobel interrupted. “All reports go through her first. Although, I’d bet this particular report will cross the Queen’s hands sooner than later.”

“The ‘Queen,’ huh?” Leland asked, eyeing her.

She replied with a shrug, glancing at the Captain.

He turned back. “And how about this: write ‘Leland will talk to you about the purple pillar of fire in person at a later date.’”

“If you are going that route, may as well kiss the paper,” Isobel snidely whispered, causing both men to look blankly at her.

“Ignore her.”

“I have tried to since she arrived in my bastion.” Curtain scribbled on the paper. “What might I write for your arrival date to give your verbal report?”

Leland thought for a moment. “Well, I have to head to the Gru Triumvirate when we leave here. Got to deal with some more Tears—"

“You are not going to the Gru Triumvirate,” Isobel said plainly.

When the request for help came to him, she had long been gone, missing the original drama surrounding the situation. But Leland was glad to know that everybody he knew hated the Triumvirate one and the same. The consistency was refreshing.

“I am,” he replied.

“Do you know how many people get assassinated there? Trust me—”

“Yeah, yeah. Save your speech. I’ve heard it from my parents, Jude’s parents, Glenny’s dad, Aunty P, and Sybil. I’ve already promised I’d go, and we both know why I feel the need to.”

“And why is that?”

“It has something to do with a pillar of light blasting into an eternal storm and a sapphire being that just wanted to go home.”

Isobel’s eyes quickly went to the side. “Oh that...”

“You should come,” Leland casually said. “It’s partially your responsibility as well.”

“Should...” Curtain began, “should I add that to the report or not?”

“Aunty P and Sybil already know the details about our journey into Gru territory. Although, resolving an age-old war between two alien races from another world may take some time.”

“That’s what you are going to be doing in the Gru Triumvirate!?” Isobel screeched. “What kind of—”

“That’s what we will be doing, yes.”

Her hands went out in front of her like she was strangling a cat. “I— Of all the stupid reasons— I cannot believe Aunty P is allowing this. Do you even know how many Palemarrow citizens are killed in the Triumvirate a year? Nearly enough to start a war!”

“Aunty P actually barred me from going... but I’m vetoing that. I’m my own person and can make my own decisions—”

“Clearly, you need to be shackled—”

“Isobel,” Leland snapped. “I’m an adult. The others are adults. We know the issues surrounding the Triumvirate and don’t care. Innocent people are going to die, and my name was given by a Lord to help. How can I ignore that?”

She recoiled slightly. “Which Lord— Nope! Doesn’t matter. Do you really believe that you of all people are not going to have assassination attempts on your life!?”

“Good thing I have a fearless hunter as a bodyguard who can sniff out all ambushes and plots on my life before they even start.”

“I think I’m going to quit.”

Leland rolled his eyes. “Come on, don’t you want to meet some alien races from other worlds—”

“And stop them from going to war.”

“Yeah that.” Leland then added, “One of the races has been described as ‘turtle people.’ Don’t you want to know what that means?”

Isobel shared a look with the completely bewildered Captain. “No,” she said. “I’d rather not.”

“Okay fine, don’t come.”

He finished going through his grimoire.

Name: Leland Silver

Legacy: Curses

Archetype: Apprentice of the Curse Lord

Specialization: Pact

Overall Rank: 3

Fracture is now rank 25.

Crow Massacre is now rank 29.

Curse of Collapse is now rank 24.

Harbinger Halo is now rank 28.

Fracture:

Type: Curse

Rank: 25 (B)

Call upon the Lord of Bone to shatter those in your way.

For a single target, break a random bone and the bones it is connected to.

Crow Massacre:

Type: Curse

Rank: 29 (B+)

Call upon the ethereal familiar of the Lord of Curses.

Summon a full murder of 15 ethereal crows to attack targets for up to 3 minutes.

When all crows are present and attacking the same target, their beaks and talons are enhanced.

All resultant damage dealt by the crows bleed the target for an additional amount over 300 seconds.

Promote a single crow to lead the murder. The leader is larger, faster, stronger, and more real. If permitted, the leader can stay summoned for any given length of time.

Abuse of summons will not be permitted.

Curse of Collapse:

Type: Curse

Rank: 24 (B)

Pull the target towards the end, bringing them one step closer to the Lord of Death.

Exhaust the target for up to 3 minutes, lowering their speed by 50%.

Targets under this curse deal 20% less damage to you.

The Lord of Death smiles on the cursed, increasing your damage on the cursed by 20%.

Harbinger Halo: Pact

Type: Curse (Self)

Rank: 29 (Specialization: S)

Strike a dark accord with a presiding Lord, calling their aid.

Contracts last up to 59 minutes. If concluded early, the cool down period is decreased

Up to 4 contracts may be acted upon at one time.

Contracts that produce direct spells, curses, abilities, incantations, and/or passive effects that deal with mana, may have lifeforce partially supplemented. Effects may vary.

The pact specialization allows the creation of pact-contracts thus opening new routes of power once deemed unreachable.

Soul Fire:

Type: Curse

Rank: Max

Ignite a lost soul.

Soul Fire’s strength directly correlates to the strength of the soul used. You are the Calamity.

Soul Fire’s description all but confirmed Leland’s observations, but only new questions came to mind. Most notably, all of the extra pages in his grimoire. Ether Circle of Souls got its own new page, did that mean all ether-spells would get their own as well? If so, he hoped the Lord of Curses had plenty of ink.

But all of that was for later. Right now, Leland closed his eyes, allowing sleep to take over.

Still, he questioned just who had written in his grimoire. That was a true mystery.