Chapter 84

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Chapter 084: Evil Curse

Returning home at noon, the imp was still diligently copying, and the papers copied by Saenor had piled up in a big stack.

Jesse sat on the bed watching the imp writing rapidly, watching the ink level go down, "This ink is so expensive… How long will it take to copy a whole book?"

Thinking about the huge pile of books in the Wizard’s Sanctum library, could they all be written by magic?

Just thinking about having to spend money on ink makes my head ache.

The sword is still broken, and 5 silver coins are not as good as buying a bottle of ink.

Right, I should have gotten a sword back at Stonewatch Keep. I wonder if they will give me one, they should. It’s too late to say anything now.

The chance to communicate in Orcish must be obtained, or else it will cost money to go to Dalaran. During The Feast of Winter Veil, there will surely be more people coming and going, like dwarves and humans returning to their hometowns. If there is no reimbursement from the Wizard’s Sanctum by then, the cost of the boat ticket will definitely be more expensive than now. How much money will one have to spend at that time?

Jesse let out a deep sigh.

Looking down, Jesse saw a tattered, rolled-up book peeking out from under the bed, with only a spine and a few torn pages left.

Why does that Orc Warlock treat this tattered book as a treasure? Now, Jesse has learned quite a few Orcish words. With someone nearby who understands Demonic, they should be able to figure out roughly what is written in this book, right?

The runic symbols on the spine were so worn out that they were barely recognizable. After flipping it open, the remaining pages were relatively intact, with only a small burnt area.

Jesse took a quick look and found several Orcish symbols that he recognized, such as death, vitality, and magic.

Realizing that he couldn’t figure out what was written based on his current vocabulary, Jesse noticed some Demonic words and asked the imp beside him.

"Saenor, come and see what is written here."

The imp leaned in to take a look and read, "Lukhravnekta, Lueralakipta… This is a spell, a very evil spell, master."

Jesse blinked, he remembered how this spell described shadow and dark magic – not Black Magic, but a shortcut to success, a truly powerful force.

How evil must a spell be to make this guy feel evil?

"This spell will harm your vitality, hurt your life as a cost… to restore magic, the pain the spell brings will also bring more shadow power, master."

Jesse slowly looked up, then nodded, isn’t this Life Tap?

This is the Life Tap spell? Jesse felt his hands starting to shake.

No wonder that Orc Warlock treasures this thing so much, so this is the Life Tap spell?

Who needs mana potions? Just tap it!

Wait, Jesse suddenly realized that this isn’t a game, and the cost of Life Tap isn’t as simple as a few numbers.

The imp just said, the spell will bring pain, and that pain will turn into shadow power.

Harming energy, harming life – what does that mean?

This is a form of self-harm, because even imp says this spell is very evil, which means even demons are unwilling to use this curse.

"Luhelavintak, Lu’alaki…"

Jesse originally wanted to silently repeat this spell to familiarize himself with it, but he stopped himself as he remembered accidentally causing a fire with a spell at Malin’s place.

Normally, most spells don’t work instantly like that, as Malin mentioned, there are usually many conditions that need to be met.

However, dark magic doesn’t follow the usual rules, perhaps those dark entities are always nearby, waiting for you to call upon them, maybe even bursting out impatiently before you finish chanting.

Ever since hearing Malin’s "energy awareness talk", Jesse feels like he is constantly being watched by tons of Shadow Power.

After sensing his body and the air around him, Jesse felt relieved when he realized that chanting like this didn’t trigger any Shadow Power fluctuations.

"Can you see if there are any instructions written on it for casting the spell?"

"All the other runes are in a language called Orcish, master," Imp shook his head and said, "I cannot understand it, master. Whether you understand it or not, please do not misuse this spell."

"Why?" Jesse asked, "Do you know anything about it?"

"If this magic is used too much, even demons will be tainted by the shadows," Imp touched his face and said, "Their skin will darken, the flame in their eyes will dim little by little, turning into a deep red. Ultimately, they will step into the realm of shadows, being assimilated by the void. There are many types of spells like this, and this one is the easiest to learn. Demons are the least influenced by Shadow Power, our flesh is made of fel magic, our power is the chaotic fire of destruction, our nourishment is untainted Arcane. These powers are enough to repel the irreversible effects of shadows, but if you invite the shadows into yourself, they become a part of you. Once they are inside, it’s difficult to get them out!"

Somehow, Jesse suddenly remembered the times when warlocks in games refused to sit on the ground to eat and drink for sustained gaming sessions, running around frantically exchanging health for mana, eventually causing healers and leaders to get mad at them.

According to Imp’s explanation, if one were to continuously cast spells like that and exchange health for mana like game players, they would either turn into a Shadowfiend on the spot or drop dead.

The Orc Warlocks in the Shadow Council may have cast similar spells too often, leading to their skin darkening and their eyes having strange colors.

In this case, Jesse must keep his distance from such spells because he must constantly interact with humans. If his appearance changes too much, it would be difficult not to reveal his true nature.

Thinking about it, this book really does seem to contain interesting spells as expected, but he cannot use them.

If there is a chance to fully understand this spell, it could be used as a life-saving trick, but it must be combined with the powerful magic he has already mastered to fight back fiercely.

In the most urgent moment, sacrifice a part of life in exchange for magic power, release a trump card powerful enough to reverse the situation.

Fear doesn’t seem to be too effective at the moment.

Especially considering Jesse’s experience, an elite warrior is enough to resist Fear with their willpower, not running away after being affected by Fear, and regaining consciousness from the dark magic influence in a few seconds.

This means that his Fear power is far from enough. Since the spell is fine, maybe there’s an issue with the pronunciation, just like Demonic pronunciation Saenor mentioned last time.

If his Fear can scare a young dragon to the point of not daring to move, and he can use Life Tap as a last resort, it can be considered worthwhile.