Mephit gently hugged him.
Rod smiled, "No need to thank me, we’re good partners after all... But what about your curse? Why did they take so long to release you?"
Mephit replied, "I don’t know why, but my curse lost the ability to encase my characteristics. Taboo Armament tried many methods but failed, and in the end, they were forced to use a suppression imprint to release me."
Rod was startled, "Your curse stopped working?"
Mephit shook her head slightly.
"The curse is essentially part of my soul, originating from three of my soul traits: Cold Ice, mental control, and Dark Soul. The soul master of the Royal City manipulated these curses to encase my characteristics; however, since that day, they’ve lost the ability to do so and became..."
She paused, as if searching for the right words.
"Became... controllable, like an extension of the characteristics."
Rod immediately became determined and joyfully exclaimed, "Isn’t that even better?"
"Yes, I can now freely control when the curse activates, expand its range, enhance its effect, and shut it down whenever I want, so the kind of uncontrolled episode from last time won’t happen again."
This was simply the best news he had heard that day,
Rod’s smile was so wide he could barely open his eyes, "Great, that’s fantastic! You’ve evolved again, my worthy partner! I was worried that without your curse, my grand plan would fall apart..."
"You have no idea how long I’ve waited. The Isone ruins to the west of Star Town and the Black Water Swamp to the north should have been cleared long ago. And yet that idiotic captain dragged you back, delaying my plan for so long. I was close to wanting to kill him..."
Mephit was silent for a few seconds before asking softly, "You only value what I can do, right?"
Rod, immersed in the ecstasy of his brilliant plan resurrecting, replied offhandedly, "Of course, I’ve always said that we’re the best partners, our abilities perfectly complement each other, there’s no one more suited to be together than us."
For the next while, Rod went on and on nonstop.
But Mephit became distant again, barely speaking.
Rod wasn’t worried; she had always been .
What mattered now was that he was about to move on to the next phase. If he could take back the areas around Star Town before the shining of myriad stars, his plan would culminate perfectly.
And Mephit was an essential part of this plan.
Her superior ability to attract monsters was unparalleled.
That day, she had nearly drawn all the monsters from half of Star Town, allowing him to clear the field with a single blast of Void’s Fury.
Because of this, Star Town was able to be reclaimed so quickly and move toward prosperity.
In the current situation, Mephit’s contributions were indispensable.
What was most commendable was, for some reason, Mephit could resist Void’s Fury. She could stand by his side after luring the monsters, skipping the step of running away, greatly increasing the efficiency of the explosions.
This secured her irreplaceable position as his number one partner, with Centaur Anna relegated to second place.
Of course, Rod had more than just Void’s Fury in his repertoire.
The million Thunder Stones in Star Town were already more than half charged.
If this super bomb could achieve the desired effect, Rod would delve deeper into this feature.
At that time, explosions would become the only art in this world.
The beautiful paradise Molly spoke of would indeed descend.
Rod laughed heartily, continuously talking about his grand plans and asking her about the other eleven curses and their potential uses, to see if they could develop new monster-killing strategies.
He also paid particular attention to her soul traits.
He knew about "Cold Ice;" it could freeze monsters, and it was said to extinguish fires, so it was highly feared by the Royal City.
"Mental control" sounded disturbing, and in the Royal City, it was an absolute taboo characteristic.
But Mephit told him that "mental control" could only affect souls that had a mental connection with her, and strong-willed souls could exempt themselves from her control.
"How is a mental connection established?" Rod inquired.
"By infusing my spirit runes."
Mephit lifted her hand, and a transparent rune appeared on it.
It appeared like numerous intertwined tubes—chaos and mystification were Rod’s only impressions.
Mephit dismissed the spirit rune on her hand.
Rod then asked, "And what about Dark Soul?"
Mephit replied indifferently, "It’s a characteristic that darkens the soul, granting immense power."
"Darkening" is short for "soul darkening."
It is an irreversible regressive change, and once a soul darkens, it becomes a monster.
Such individuals are referred to as "Fallen."
Prolonged negative emotions, extreme stress, excessive anxiety, agitation, and the like, can all lead to the soul darkening.
Therefore, the Royal City pays particular attention to the psychological welfare of combatants.
They established the Service Department specifically to serve combatants, made it a special requirement for all medical and logistical personnel to be skilled in alleviating psychological stress, and even employed dedicated psychologists, while consciously fostering a relaxed and happy atmosphere.
All these measures aimed to prevent one thing: soul darkening.
And this trait actively darkens the soul.