Alya was still in combat with a warrior as I was getting my bearings, while Rhea was drawing runes around one of the eldir I pushed back with my last blast that got stuck on one of her traps. The other was coming at me for the kill. I was about to engage it when I saw the two who were in the circles throw one of their swords at Rhea. My curse screamed in my chest to act.

  I sent my last two empowered darts to the two monsters, killing one and injuring another, then I pushed the limits of my range as I cast a barrier around Rhea; the swords flying at her clanked off, deflected, but the eldir in front of me took the chance to strike.

  I raised an arm over my head, empowering my barrier as much as I could; it cracked, but one blade got deflected by it, and the other shattered it as it stabbed me in the abdomen.

  I felt my strength leave me as the blade I was blocking with my arm opened a deep cut into it, scraping the bone and sending me to the ground while freeing me of the other blade in my belly. I was bleeding out from everywhere. Fuck… FUCK!!

  The monster went for the kill as I was trying to cast again; the pain and the shock were so much that I had trouble reaching for my mana. It was only the practice I got that allowed me to cast a basic dart; it got deflected with one blade as the other came down to finish me.

  No… I won’t go down to some fodder piece of shit because of my curse, never.

  I blasted it away, but I couldn’t put too much power into my spells for some reason. I managed to push it back only a step, but while it was stumbling, I reached for the wooden totems tied to my belt.

  I let the curses slip free as they tried to attack me again, all of them. The curses seemed eager to latch onto something, anything that wasn’t those little wooden objects. One by one slipped into it as the flow of golden-green energy failed to protect it. I blasted it again, this time managing to put more mana into the spell; the eldir flew on the ground five or so metres away from me.

  I started casting hexes on it to reduce its strength as much as I could, and then I used Drain the Accursed and directed that flow of sweet life force to the wound in my abdomen as I tried to get back on my feet. As strength returned to me and my wound mended a little, stemming the blood, I cast a barrier tightly, covering the downed monster and preventing it from getting up or doing anything. I used too much mana, and lost too much blood.

  The monster was shrivelling as more and more of its life got sucked out of it. Around me I could see that Rhea managed to kill her own foe and was helping Alya with her own. Only another of the warriors remained, the one I wounded with my empowered dart but didn’t kill. It was recovering; the flow of energy from Mary was mending the big hole I put into it, so I transferred two of the curses from it to the still-healing one.

  The healing didn’t stop, but the curses attached, allowing me to drain it too. As I was taking control of the lifeforce to heal myself, suddenly the flow slowed to a trickle.

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  “Two can play this game, cursed one.” Mary said, 'As the two elders got drained faster, in just six seconds the monster died, leaving me with half-healed wounds and a low mana pool.' I was sweating and breathing hard. The pain was still intense, but we had bigger problems at hand. Quinn managed to distract the big guy thanks to his incredible speed, but he got wounded multiple times by something, probably stone chips, as the monster had the tendency to smash the ground with its big-ass sword, sending cracked tile fragments everywhere.

  The curses reluctantly returned to my wooden figurines; I nearly wanted to reassure them, They will get to see some use soon. “Quinn! Retreat!”

  The teen didn’t let me tell him twice; in a blink, he disengaged, cursing loudly.

  “If I could hide, I would have bled that bastard on steroids dry!” After he came back to us, he looked over, and a worried expression crossed his face. We didn’t look good, especially me.

  “Can you go on?” He asked me.

  “Yes, but not for long.”

  It looked like we were at an impasse; masked Mary and her giant protector were approaching slowly. Wasting time maybe, but I didn’t have time. I was bleeding out, and Alya wasn’t in much better condition; her legs and arms were cut too. It was a miracle she didn’t lose a limb from what I was seeing. Rhea was sustaining her on her feet. I had to do something, or we would all die here.

  “Quinn, help me up for a moment…” I asked him.

  He came to my side, and as he put my arm around him, I slipped a bead into his pocket; he looked at me quizzically. ”Smash it into her face when you have the chance.” I whispered to him.

  “Rhea, is the ritual in this place disabled?” She looked confused for a moment, then looked around at the pedestals and at the walls.

  She returned to look at me, and an expression of shock was clear on her face. “Can you break it?” I asked her.

  “Something like this… you should destroy the whole cavern to stop it completely, but… I think if you give me a minute, I can disrupt it for a short while.”

  Good… good.

  "Do it," I told her as I regarded our enemies; they stopped not far away. Masked Mary was apparently happy to stall; she knew time was on her side.

  “Don’t you see the futility of your struggles?” The mask’s voice was cold; the flames in the three eyes burned slowly.

  “It looks to me that you lost the majority of your forces, and we are not yet done. I still have tricks up my sleeves.” I told her if she wanted to stall, I was fine with it; Rhea was busy scribbling on a section of the floor near an alcove, and I had to give her time.

  “Preposterous! You are mere insects before my champion, and only through your trickery did you manage to defeat my warriors. You are weak and dying.”

  “Maybe, but I can still curse you and your champion. You can resist my hexes, but those are another thing entirely; you won’t like it when they’ll take root inside that pretty mask, I assure you.” I was totally bullshitting here; I had no idea if she, or it, could resist the curses or not, but they managed to trample her power already. Maybe they could do it again.

  “How you came into possession of such foul magic at your lousy level is the only thing that astounds me, but I suppose the first generation have always been blessed by the System, even when they didn’t deserve it.” She took a step forward. “Enough with the chatter. You are not in a position to negotiate, but I don’t need your death, just the essence of the corrupted. Give it to me now, or perish.”

  I was feeling lightheaded; I had lost litres of blood. If not for my stats, I would be already dead by now, for sure. I just needed to stall a bit longer, just a bit.

  “I can accept your deal, but I have a condition…”

  20 chapters ahead!