Chapter 17 Cursed Ring

Asher did get his vision back, but he was seeing everything in shades of green, dark to light, or in between.

But what shocked him more was the place he was standing in. He was no longer standing in his room or even the castle but in a strange hellish, deserted, rocky place that was hot enough to melt iron instantly.

However, Asher was not at all bothered by the heat and instead looked around with a stupified face. There were no skies above but only an endless mirror that reflected the hellish land below, which was littered with raging volcanoes that spewed green lava, black trees with no leaves but only green flames on their branches, and lakes of green lava over this endless land.

Asher couldn't figure out where he was, let alone make out how large this place was.

But what caught his attention was when he saw his own reflection up in the sky. His clothes were the same as before but what shook him to the core was the appearance of his own body.

He didn't look like a night elf or any demon at all. All he could see was his own skeleton, top to bottom, which was continuously blazing with eerie dark green flames. His eyes were dark and hollow, just like that of a skull. He had no nose, ears, lips or skin, or anything that resembled his true appearance.

It was as if his flesh had entirely burned off, leaving behind only his skeleton, which was lit on fire, yet he didn't even realize it. Even the color of his skeleton didn't seem normal and was pitch black, as if it got charred by the flames. He was feeling beyond horrified by what he was seeing.

"No…what kind of sick joke is this…" He mumbled in a deep, husky voice that had low tones that scraped like knives on metal as he clutched his face, only to feel his solid, bony face.

This was enough to make him realize that this was not only real but a nightmare as well.

[ You have successfully activated the Hellbringer form -> +150% INT ]

[ You are now in the Dimension of the Damned ]

[ You have gained two Passive Ability ]

Passive Ability : [ Forged in Hell - Your bones were forged from cursed flames and cannot be destroyed by ordinary means. Even if dismembered, you won't lose any HP and can reattach dismembered bones at will] / [ Dimension of the Damned - You can enter this dimension at will to punish your foes and scorch their souls for eternity. In this dimension, you are invincible. ]

[ You have gained two Talents ]

Talents : [ Vengeful Lifestealer - When your HP falls below 30%, any successful attack from you will leave a cursed burning effect on your enemy, dealing 1% of your HP as damage and letting you steal the HP they lost (0/8)] / [Hell Master - You can enter the Dimension of the Damned once in a day (0/10) ]

[ You have gained a Skill ]

Skill : [ Resentful Slash - The cursed blade will try and cleave your foes on its own with a burst of flames. Upon successful attack, they will suffer bleeding effect of 2% of your HP for 6 seconds (0/6) (Cost: 50 MP) ]

"No shit…This can't be…" Asher was at a loss for words as he saw all these notifications pop up one after the other in his mind. If he had his eyes, he would literally be blinking non-stop.

He tried to take a deep breath to calm himself down, only to realize he couldn't even breathe or didn't need to.

"I should check my stats," Asher thought with suppressed exhilaration to confirm things,

Level : 1

Rating : 10

Life Crystals : 4

HP : 95 / 95

MP : 246 / 250

STR : 19

DEF : 38

INT :50

DEX : 20

"It is fucking real! I can feel my mana…" Asher roared in elation since not only he no longer had to feel despair about being manaless because not only was he able to use mana again, but his mana stats got a significant boost of 150%.

He looked at the stone ring glowing with dark green light and pressed it against his bony teeth as if trying to kiss it. He knew there was no point in wondering why or who gave him this ring. All that mattered was this beautiful ring paved a path for him forward.

This ring also gave him amazing abilities, talents, and skill. He never thought he would get this lucky.

He realized this hellish place he was standing in was the Dimension of the Damned. He found it quite surreal that he had personal access to such a unique and dangerous dimension where he was the Master. But he inwardly smiled, thinking about how such a place would suit him. He could make his enemies literally rot in hell before snuffing away their lives.

For all these advantages, he no longer felt bothered about his harrowing appearance. As long as he got what he wanted, he was willing to let this be permanent.

He flexed his ring finger as the ring transformed into its dark green ring blade form, and he took a look at its stats,

[ Weapon Name : Blade of Damnation || Enhanceable]

[ Grade : ??? ]

[ Status : Linked || STR +0% || DEX +0%]

[ "Forged from a soul filled with resentment and hatred, it shall feed on any dark emotions of the bearer's enemies to condemn their souls to eternal damnation and bestow strength on the one who deserved to wear this cursed ring" ]

"Huh…I really got a cursed artifact?" Asher didn't know if he should feel lucky or not, but in the end, he felt that it was better to have a cursed item as long as it gave him more benefits than losses.

He knew the description of the ring he had just read about was actually left by the one who forged it. Still, he didn't really understand the true abilities of this ring or how it would bestow him strength since he considered himself deserving after the ring chose him.

And as if to tease him, it was showing 0% stat bonuses, yet at the same time, Asher felt there had to be some reason behind it.

But he felt this ring blade was perfect for him, especially considering how much resentment he was carrying within him. And since it was 'Enhanceable', it only meant he could further upgrade this weapon to keep up with him, though he was not sure about its limit.

He decided to take a look at its other stats,

[ Level 1 ]

[ Damage : 50 ]

[ Range : 5 meters ]

[ Durability : 230 / 250 || Blood Sacrifice Required ]

Asher's brows raised as he finally understood why this ring was cursed. He would have to sacrifice his own HP to make sure this weapon won't become useless, which was unlike any other weapon he had used in his past life. So if the durability came down to 0, he would have to sacrifice 250 to get it back to its top shape.

But the problem was he had only 95 HP in total. To satisfy this bloodthirsty ring, he would have to sacrifice almost his entire life at least twice over.

​ [ Durability : 230 / 250 ]

Asher also observed something strange. The durability of this soul artifact and his MP had the same value, and it seemed to be decreasing by 1 every three seconds! Was it because he was in his Hellbringer form?

Doesn't that mean he would run out of MP within 12 minutes or so? What would really happen once he runs out of mana?

The only good thing he could see was this weapon would never need a replacement nor a blacksmith to fix it. It was basically indestructible as long as he kept feeding it his blood.

But he was pulled away from his thoughts when he suddenly received a quest!

[ Quest Available ]