The Strongest Curse Master - Chapter 370

Chapter 370: Rusted Blood, Memory Mirror, & Devil’s Puff
Lyra focused on the table before her, following Janice’s gaze and waiting for the prized curse items her brother had spoken so highly of. She didn’t have to wait long. Five items suddenly appeared on the coffee table, neatly arranged in a row as if placed there by an invisible hand. There was a small oval ornamental mirror, most of its decorative jewels missing; a rusted Victorian kitchen knife; an antique brass incense burner; an ice cream scoop; and an old Codd-neck glass bottle that recently became famous as the Goli soda bottles.

Despite everything her baby brother had told and shown her, Lyra still couldn’t get used to seeing objects magically appear out of nowhere. A cocktail of anxiety and excitement rushed to her head, sparking euphoria and anticipation in her mind.

“These five curse items are the most suitable for the Curse Core Awakening Ceremony among all the items in my possession,” Janice began, her voice steady and confident. “I guarantee that any one of them can be used to forge a powerful Innate Curse Tool—”

Before Janice could continue, Ava cut in, asking, “Is that rust or blood on the knife?”

Janice’s expression didn’t even have time to change before Matthews shot a glare at her daughter, effectively silencing her. She then turned back to Janice with an apologetic glance, silently urging her to continue and to ignore Ava’s ignorant interruption.

Janice had no issue making new friends, regardless of their background or status. But when it came to business, she was uncompromising—because in her line of work, it was literally a matter of life and death. The moment she showed even the slightest crack in her professional mask, opportunists would line up to exploit her without hesitation.

“It’s both,” Janice said. “The bloodstain and the rust on the old kitchen knife have mixed to form a unique compound. That compound is the actual curse item—not the knife itself. I call it Rusted Blood. If someone were to be cut by this knife, they would be infected by the Rusted Blood and die within a few seconds.

If you choose this curse item to forge your Innate Curse Tool, your Curse Core will fuse only with the Rusted Blood compound, not the knife itself, since the knife isn’t inherently cursed.

Based on my analysis, if you use this compound to forge your Innate Curse Tool, it would most likely awaken poison-related curse abilities, likely producing and manipulating an advanced version of the Rusted Blood compound. Because this compound was formed from extremely strong negative emotions, I believe that once it merges with your curse energy, it could evolve into something powerful enough to threaten or even kill both Curselings and Curse Users.”

She paused, then glanced at Ava and Lyra. “Either of you girls interested in poison?”

She didn’t expect either of them to choose it without hearing about the other options, but she couldn’t resist testing them—and neither one wavered.

“Moving on,” Janice continued, picking up the small mirror. “I call this ornamental mirror the Memory Mirror, because it remembers the last person who looked into it. If you use it to forge your Innate Curse Tool, it will most likely awaken a psychometry-related curse ability. If I am correct, it would make an exceptional support-type innate curse tool, and any powerful force would welcome you with open arms.”

As she spoke, she demonstrated: even though she wasn’t standing directly in front of it, the mirror still reflected her face to the crowd, proving its memory-based curse.

These objects were called curse items because of the bizarre and often terrifying curses they carried. Even though the curse on the mirror wasn’t harmful, it was enough to scare the life out of any ordinary person. Figuring out the rules and limitations of these curses was tricky, even for skilled curse crafters. But they kept trying, because understanding these rules could help them craft powerful curse tools, narrowing down the nature of the curse tool they were crafting.

This was one of many areas where Aurelian Eyes truly outshone her peers and even her elders. That’s why EAD Matthews sought her out instead of the numerous curse crafters and scientists—the C.I.B.’s nerds—who were more than willing to use their expertise to please the EAD and increase funding for their research.

Seeing that the mirror hadn’t provoked any reaction from either of the girls, Janice subtly pointed toward the antique brass incense burner with her eyes and began, “As for the incense burner, I call it the Devil’s Puff. Honestly, I really didn’t want to sell it. But since you two are close friends of mine, I decided to include it.”

She paused, then picked up the incense burner by its handle. As she did, it began to emit an eerie scented smoke that quickly filled the room. Everyone was forced to breathe it in, and as they did, they started to feel mentally exhausted and drowsy, as though they had been binge-watching TV for days without a break and were desperate to just lie down and sleep. But at the same time, they couldn’t shake this unsettling feeling forming a pit in their stomach.

Meanwhile, Janice looked cheerful and energized—almost high—but her eyes were razor sharp, unnervingly focused. A little too focused. However, noticing Ava and Lyra’s lethargic state and ashen complexions, she quickly set the incense burner back on the table and explained, “The incense burner burns negative emotions and relieves the mental fatigue of the wielder, making them energized and focused. But the smoke it produces has the opposite effect on those who inhale it. If a devil had a hookah pot, this would be it—hence the name Devil’s Puff.”

“I believe it has the potential to become the ultimate support-type innate curse tool, with both Buff and Debuff capabilities. I was planning to use it to craft a curse tool that would burn away my distracting thoughts and mental fatigue, increasing my focus and allowing me to work longer hours. Therefore, whichever one of you uses this item to forge an innate curse tool must agree to work 10,000 unpaid hours for me. Yes, I fully intend to use you as my nanny,” Janice made sure her clients understood that this unique curse item came not only with a hefty price tag but also with an unconventional condition: anyone wanting to buy it would have to slave away for 10,000 thankless hours under her.