As Grone and Tyler walked, Tyler discreetly checked his stats. He was surprised to see his HP200

  Grone, noticing Tyler's pensive silence and the constant glances his way, asked, "What's wrong?"

  "I was just wondering," Tyler said, "since this potion heals minor wounds, if it could heal your eye."

  Grone shook his head. "Hmm, I don't think it could. You said it's for minor wounds, right? Well, this cut is really deep. I was just lucky to survive; her sword grazed the bone. Which is strange… it implies she used, or maybe someone used, light healing on me. And even if I drank it, I don't think it would heal. It was a cursed attack. You can't really heal from those kinds of attacks, even with magic skills."

  "I don't understand what exactly cursed attacks are," Tyler said.

  Grone explained, "Cursed attacks are used by people who are level 100 and above. If a cursed attack hits you, you can't use any healing skill to regenerate your wounds for a long time—hours, usually. So if it's a fatal wound, you could bleed out in those hours, obviously leading to death. Cursed attacks can be used by anyone above level 100, any kind of hunter, really. But they can't use it all the time. Think of it as having a cooldown; it only lets you use it once or twice a day. Specifically, every 21 hours, but only once or twice depending on your luck, I guess. My sister could use it twice, and some heroes could use it twice, but there's never been anyone who could use it three times. The place a cursed attack hits corrupts the person's cells. They won't regenerate, and mana won't flow to that area. It's a type of skill we also call dark magic or dark-based skills because it originated from the Demon God."

  Tyler frowned. "Wait, but I thought you said only the Goddess gave humans magic? What do you mean it originated from the Demon God?"

  Grone looked at Tyler as they walked. "Tyler, you need to understand. That when the Demon God's aura spread across the land, and monsters started spawning. But it didn't only affect the animals; it affected us too—and not in a good way. People started getting sick, and they couldn't do specific things. It was very strange."

  "What do you mean by 'specific things'?" Tyler asked.

  "Strangely," Grone explained, "they couldn't do specific things. For example, someone couldn't work in the fields; whenever they did, they felt uneasy and sick, but as soon as they stopped, they felt fine. And some people died because of that—some couldn't eat, some couldn't drink water, some couldn't do both, some couldn't sleep, some couldn't walk. It was very tragic in those years. Those were the years before I was born." He paused, his voice somber. "Those were the years the Goddess gave people magic, and hunters and saints started to emerge. You have to understand that not everyone was cursed back then. There were many people, but nowadays, those who were cursed are very few. But you also need to understand that the aura affected every single human being, but nothing happened to some. Saints had the power to heal these curses. Oh, and once a person exceeds level 100, the curse disappears if they were cursed and turns in to the skill Cursed strike or otherwise know as cursed attack."

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  "Huh," Tyler said, "I didn't know anything about this. So if saints can heal curses, why are there still cursed people today?"

  "Well," Grone replied, "some of them don't actually want to get rid of the curse."

  "But why?" Tyler asked, genuinely confused. "Wouldn't it be bothersome? I mean, they won't be able to do some of the things they want."

  "Well," Grone explained, "some hunters don't want to get rid of the curse because they want it to turn into a dark skill. And saints nowadays charge a lot of money to remove a curse."

  "They charge a lot of money to get rid of a curse?" Tyler repeated, surprised.

  "Yes," Grone confirmed. "And if *I* had a curse, I'd want to get rid of it."

  Tyler looked at Grone intently. "What if you already *have* one?"

  "What do you mean?" Grone asked, a hint of unease in his voice.

  "I mean," Tyler said, "is there a kind of curse that…"

  Grone interrupted. "No, I know what you mean. You think there's a curse that prevents someone from leveling up, right? But I was already healed by a saint. Even before healing me, they said they couldn't sense any aura of a curse, but they healed me anyway. It still did nothing for this problem of mine." Grone lifted his hand, examining it. "It's something no one could figure out. It's very complicated. I've tried to figure it out myself, but I couldn't."

  "Oh," Tyler said, acknowledging Grone's explanation as they arrived at the waiting wagons. They boarded and rode out of town. Tyler continued to look at Grone thoughtfully as they traveled.

  Meanwhile, at the Crossroads base, Gary and Steven stood near the quest board. Steven was studying a flyer, then glanced at his older brother, who looked back with an annoyed expression.

  "I thought you said he'd be here," Gary grumbled. "We came here yesterday, and we still couldn't find him. I went through every room in the inn, and we still couldn't find the bastard you were talking about. Did you just make this up?"

  "No!" Steven protested. "Why the hell would I make this up? Don't you remember? Even that man knew about him. What was his name again? Oh, yeah, Bernardo. He's still around the tent. If I made that story up, nobody else would know him, right?"

  Gary stared at his younger brother for a moment before turning his attention back to the flyer.

  "Hey," Gary called to Serena behind the counter, "have you seen a guy wearing a blue long robe recently? They said he's an E-rank hunter—black hair, blue robe, and unusual shoes."

  Serena tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Oh, you must be talking about Tyler. And no, he's not an E-rank anymore; he's actually a D-rank."

  Steven's eyes widened. "Wait, he's a D-rank?"

  "Yeah," Serena confirmed. "I was actually surprised. He jumped from E-rank to D-rank overnight. Well, he must have been an E-rank plus; that would explain it. Anyways, the person you're searching for is Tyler, and no, I haven't seen him today."

  "His name is Tyler, huh? I'll keep that in mind," Gary said, then looked at his brother. "Come on, let's go." He took one quest flyer, and Steven grabbed another as they headed toward the Crossroads exit.

  "Are we leaving Bernardo behind?" Steven asked.

  "Of course not," Gary replied. "You thought he was behind the tent, but he was actually outside the Crossroads base."

  As soon as they reached the exit, Bernardo was waiting by the wooden walls. "Did you find him?" he asked.

  "No, we didn't," Gary said. "If we found him, you would have known. But we do know his name now, but we can't just wait around. I need to get this brat to level up first," Gary said, looking at Steven.

  "What do you mean, so you're going in there?" Bernardo asked.

  "Of course," Steven said. "And who knows, we might find him in there."

  "Yeah, but I'm not a hunter," Bernardo protested. "And remember the deal; we agreed I'd help you guys."

  "That's why you're coming with us, aren't you?" Gary said.

  "Wait a minute! What do you mean by 'coming with us'? I'm not a hunter! I'll get killed as soon as I get in there!"

  Gary moved closer to Bernardo, looking him directly in the eye. His voice was low and dangerous. "I don't think I made myself clear. You're going with us whether you like it or not."

  Bernardo visibly trembled. "Yes, of course," he stammered.

  Gary turned and started walking, Steven following close behind. Bernardo watched them go, a knot of anxiety tightening in his chest. *What the hell is he thinking?* he thought. *I'm just going to drag them down at this point. And what if I get killed before I even find that bastard? This isn't good.*

  Meanwhile, Grone and Tyler arrived at the Crossroads base, disembarked from the wagon, and paid the driver. Tyler walked alongside Grone, heading towards the quest tent. *Oh, damn it,* he thought, *I forgot to craft some more armor. I better do it now. I don't think this thing is going to last long.*

  Grone broke the silence. "We're here. Let's go take on some quests quickly. We'll eat when we get back, right?"

  "Yes," Tyler replied. "I'm not really hungry right now. Let's go take on some quests first. Plus, I need the money."

  "Alright," Grone agreed.

  As they approached the quest tent, Serena spotted them. "Oh, good morning," she greeted them cheerfully.

  SPECIESHuman

  NAME: Tyler Evans

  RANK: D

  LVL: 40

  CLASS: Craftsman

  HP: 215/215 MP: 158/158

  STR: 152 AGI: 150

  DEF: 204 STM: 148

  STATUS: Healthy

  Skills: Armour Craft, Weapon Craft, Weapon Mastery, Alchemy, Accessory Craft

  Equipped Skills: Rush - MC 17