Arad looked at the paper, confused. He then quickly pulled any extra object from his stomach.
DING! A silver ring fell on the ground, rolling with a spark. Lydia instinctively pulled her sword, "This thing, what kind of curse is this?" She growled, ready to swing at it.
"Wait, don't break it," Arad gasped.
"No, this ring holds more curses than you do. It's better to destroy it before it harms anyone," Lydia growled, swinging her sword down as hard as she could. [Divine Cleaver]
CLANG! The sword hit the ring, flashing with a brilliant light strong enough to blind anyone. But the ring didn't budge.
"Damn it," Lydia growled, pushing down, "This thing is hard,"
CRACK! Her sword shattered into pieces, blasting her back.
The ring remained in its blade, sparkling with its curse oozing out like bloodlust.
"No way, it survived a divine cleaver?" Jack gasped, glaring at Arad. "What kind of monster did you meet inside?"
CLING! The ring sparkled, flying toward Arad's left hand and latching on his ring finger.
"AW!" Arad grunted, grasping his palm, "That's hurt," he tried to pull the ring off but couldn't.
[Arad, look at your stats,]
[Name: Arad Orion][Race: Void Dragon][Class: Draconic Mage]
[Level: 17/20][Exp: 7600/270000][Sub-class: Void Knight]
[Age stage: Very Young] [29 years.]
[Available stat points: 0]
[Available skill points: 0]
[Strength: 24] [Agility: 22] [Constitution: 28]
[Magic: 27] [Intelligence: 24] [Wisdom: 24]
[HP: 544/544][MP: 569/569][SP: 527/527]
[HPreg: 1/h][MPreg: 1/min][SPreg: 1/s]
[Cursed Ring of Doma] A one-pf-kind ring created by the witch Doma, it hosts her contract with the destroyer Arad Orion.
As per the contract, the ring will provide its power to the destroyer in exchange for feeding the witch.
[Accursed] The holder find it easier to survive curses.
[Soulbound] The witch feeds off the host.
[Special curse] The ring cannot be destroyed or removed by normal means.
[Deathbound] The witch will do her best to keep the ring bearer alive.
[Doma's Bane] Locked by the witch.
Arad tried to pull the ring off again but failed. It was stuck to his finger.
"It's stuck," Aella looked at Arad, "If Lydia couldn't break it, then we need something stronger than a divine cleaver,"
Arad shook his head, "No need for that," He grabbed his finger, "I have my solutions."
CRACK! Arad ripped his finger off with the ring, throwing them away. "I can just heal from this,"
CLACK! The moment Arad healed his finger, the ring grew with it as if it was a part of his body, and the torn finger evaporated.
[Special curses cannot be applied without the consent of the target. That means you agreed to this,]
"I didn't agree to anything. What happened yesterday?" Arad glared back at the forest.
[You're speaking aloud. And I don't remember as well.]
Arad turned toward the forest, "The witch should be inside," His eyes flashed purple, "I will ask her directly,"
"Wait!" Jack tried to catch Arad, but he failed as Arad didn't wait to blast forward, running as fast as he could.
"Let's follow him," Lydia pulled a spare sword from the carriage and rushed after Arad without waiting for a second, and soon everyone followed her.
Arad ran between the trees, keeping his eyes open for an attack, "Witch! Show yourself!" He shouted, but something looked off. There was no magic in the trees or ground like yesterday. The forest seemed far too normal.
Arad looked left and right. There was no magic to follow. ^Fine, I will find you another way.^ He squatted, the muscles on his thighs bulging, ^From the sky,^
BOOM! With a single jump, Arad flew into the sky opening his black draconic wings and looking down, "It should be easy, but I could find traces from up here,"
Arad stopped mid-air, staring down with a dumbfounded face. ^It shouldn't be easy, should it?^ He scratched his head, seeing a massive tree with a house on top in the middle of the forest.
[The barrier should be hiding the witch's house. The fact it's visible means the barrier has fallen.]
^That explains the no magic around here?^ Arad flew toward the large tree house, landing in the massive garden at its feet.
"This place," He looked around. Over-grown bushes, fallen trees, crumbling houses that got over-run with veins and dust.
[It looks abandoned, as if no one set foot here for decades.]
CRACK! As Arad looked around, the ground started shaking as magic swelled from the depth of the garden.
BAM! Arad jumped back. ^Something big is coming,^
A large stone hand burst from the ground, oozing with curses, "Mistress Doma!" CRACK! A large stone golem rose from the ground, glaring at Arad, "Finally, he came back," He glared at Arad with glowing purple eyes.
"Who are you?" Arad growled, cracking his fists.
"You almost hurt my feeling, Arad the destroyer." The golem conjured a stone claymore. "As per my contract with Mistress Doma, I'm to do my best to kill you and stain the garden with your blood."
"Wait! Why?" Arad gasped, "I came here to ask her to remove the ring she stuck to me last night."
"Mistress has been dead for decades," The golem glared at Arad, "She knew you will come here one day to seek the ring's removal, and so she instructed me to try and kill you."
[Something isn't adding up. You met the witch yesterday for the first time. You're a few months old, and could in no way have met her if she's dead for decades.]
"Then, let the show begin," CLANG! The golem stabbed the ground with his sword, "Beat me and explore the house, or die as mistress wished."
The moment the golem released his curse, Arad could feel a heavy lump stuck in his throat. He could barely breathe,
Jack, Aella, and the rest who followed Arad into the mansion fell on their knees, throwing up.
Lydia grunted, barely gazing at the golem, "A cursed soul. A humanoid cursed for eternal life as a stone golem. What horrid witchcraft the witch here was involved in."
BAM! Arad landed in front of the golem, pulling his sword out. "I wonder if a sword is a decent weapon to use against a stone. Should I keep a hammer or a pickaxe in my stomach?" He smiled as the void engulfed the blade.
"It doesn't matter," the golem growled as Arad's arms started turning into stone, "Be cursed to death,"