[Get a “Curse Breaker” (Artifact) or ask a powerful exorcist to break it. No other way.]
The first one was impossible right now, but the second might actually be doable.
“You won’t succeed. You might as well leave while you can,” Eleonora sighed, brushing a wing against the crystalline surface.
“Hm…” but Alex was mainly scrambling his mind to remember if his solution might actually work.
In the end, he had nothing to lose, and so he spoke.
“Actually, I might have a way to break it, but I’m not sure.”
“?!” both Eleonora and Alphox looked at him with confused eyes.
That kid had a way to break a high-level curse such as this one, placed by a [Grand Magus]?
“You’re delusional, human,” Eleonora sneered, not enjoying these jokes.
Alice, after seeing that Eleonora wasn’t aggressive anymore, approached, and gasped as she saw the woman inside the coffin.
“Alice,” Alex eyed the girl, “Stay here for a bit, I’ll come back in less than ten minutes if I find what I wanted.”
“O-Ok!” Alice nodded, confident that Alex could resolve this situation.
“I will be staying here too, someone needs to keep an eye on her,” he pointed at Eleonora with his claws.
“L-Lord Alphox, it wasn’t of my intentions to offend you, I just truly believed that you were here to eliminate the princess!”
“How can we eliminate her if the coffin she’s in is indestructible, idiot?” Alphox replied, annoyed, and Eleonora couldn’t really answer that.
“Well, maybe she thought we had some sort of item to do it?” Alice intervened.
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Leaving these three arguing between one another, Alex opened up his [World Map] and selected the dot with the text [Dawn City] above it.
Once he did, much like with [Bell City], a few specific sections appeared, since he had visited them.
[Tolkien’s Blacksmith Shop]
[Church of the Dawn]
[Door of Destiny Chamber]
“Nice!” Alex was pleased, since it meant he wouldn’t have to actually waste time by walking.
He selected the blacksmith shop, fading out in a flash of blue light.
“What the?” Eleonora was baffled, “Spatial magic?!”
“I am surprised too, don’t worry,” Alphox sighed, “I could count on my claws the amount of people who could use that.”
“Well, he did tame you, so I wouldn’t be so surprised, and the [World Map] is pretty powerful,” Alice laughed.
“Hey, he didn’t tame me, kid,” The primordial dragon groaned, though he couldn’t deny that he quite enjoyed the company of the human named Alex.
…
Alex materialized in front of the shop, only to find a sign hanging on the locked door:
“The church has asked me for my help regarding some secret matters. I will be back soon.” freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
“Great,” Alex grumbled, glancing around. Time was precious, and he couldn’t waste it waiting.
He reopened the [World Map] and selected the next location: [Church of the Dawn].
As Alex materialized before the grand church, he was immediately met with resistance.
Two armored guards stepped forward, their halberds blocking his path.
“Halt! State your business!”
Alex rolled his eyes. “I need to see Tolkien. Now.”
“No one enters uninvited—”
Alex didn’t let them finish.
He didn’t even bother using his dagger or spells, he just used his bare hands, and the guards were sent flying, their weapons clattering against the stone floor.
“Where is he?” Alex demanded, stepping over the groaning guards.
“In the basement! With Aldritch!” one of them stammered, clearly intimidated.
“Thanks.”
Alex smirked, reopening the [World Map] and selecting the [Door of Destiny Chamber].
Alex materialized in the dimly lit chamber, the oppressive atmosphere heavy with mystery.
As expected, Aldritch was already there, his piercing eyes locking onto Alex the moment he appeared.
A shadowy hand extended from Aldritch’s back, stopping mere inches from Alex’s neck.
“Oh, it’s you,” Aldritch muttered, withdrawing the spectral limb.
Alex exhaled slowly, eyeing the towering man.
Behind him, Tolkien, the massive blacksmith, was hammering away at the golden door adorned with intricate engravings, five glowing chains anchoring it in place.
“What’s going on here?” Alex asked.
“He’s inspecting the door,” Aldritch replied, neutral.
Aldritch seemed really obsessed with this door for some reason, as if he knew that something important was in there, but didn’t tell anybody.
Alex would obviously never tell him about the fact he had gotten a quest related to the [Door of Destiny], otherwise he might get tortured to give answers.
Tolkien struck the chains with his hammer again, sparks flying but leaving no mark.
“Ugh, nothing. These chains are impervious to everything I’ve tried, I’ve dealt with high-level curses, but that door and chains are stronger than that.”
Aldritch’s jaw tightened.
“There’s no real way to open this door without receiving a panel or finding the appropriate items,” he informed him, “This is all I could find.”
“Seems like the door needs to choose someone, and only that person will know which items it needs to bring,” Tolkien added.
And a sweat dropped from Alex’s brow as he heard that: this meant he was the person the door chose.
“Why are you here?” Aldritch asked, breaking Alex’s train of thought.
“Need Tolkien to help me with something,” Alex said casually. There was no harm in sharing this particular detail.
As he heard his voice coming from someone else, Tolkien straightened, finally noticing Alex.
His work-focused trance had made him oblivious to everything around him. “Oh, you’re back, kid. Got anything new for me to forge?”
“Not today. Just need your help with a curse.”
“Hmm…” Tolkien scratched his beard. “Depends on the curse. If it’s fresh, I might not be able to do much.”
“Couple hundred years old,” Alex replied with a small grin.
Tolkien’s eyes lit up. “Ah, then that’s manageable. But I’ll need to head back to my shop, since it’s probably far from here.”
As Alex raised his reputation with Tolkien to the max, even such a request would be accepted, this was the importance of having good relationships with NPCs!
“No need,” Alex smiled, grabbing Tolkien’s wrist then opening up the [World Map], “Hold tight.”
A new dot named [Mystical Temple] appeared, and so he just had to click on the [Mysterious Hall] subsection to teleport.
‘Hopefully he can do it,’ Alex prayed as they both teleported right in front of Aldritch’s eyes, who didn’t even seem to be surprised.
“Stupid door…” he mumbled over and over, “I’ll open you at one point… and I’ll finally be able to reach Godhood…”
…
Alex and Tolkien materialized in the [Mysterious Hall] of the temple, the cursed aura immediately noticeable.
Tolkien’s brow furrowed as he took in the sight of the [Ice Coffin] and the oppressive energy radiating from it.
“This… is powerful,” Tolkien muttered, stepping closer to inspect it.
The blacksmith didn’t even seem surprised to see two dragons just standing there, and he approached the coffin without any fear.
Eleonora flinched at his presence, her wings twitching nervously. “Who is that?”
“He’s going to help,” Alex said firmly.
Alphox, who had been sitting idly, perked up at their arrival. “Finally, someone competent.”
Tolkien ignored the chatter, running his hands over the surface of the coffin as if inspecting it.
“The curse is deeply rooted, but I’ve dealt with worse. It’ll take some time, though.”
“How long?” Alex asked.
“Around ten minutes.”
“WHAT?” Eleonora shouted as he spoke, “There’s no chance such a curse can be dealt with in 10 minutes!”
“If it’s truly been hundreds of years since it was cast, then it must be weak, meaning that even I can deal with it,” the ginger blacksmith smiled, “Just keep the area clear,” he added, already pulling out a set of tools from his inventory.
Alex nodded, stepping back to give him space.
He wasn’t the Legendary [Exorcist Blacksmith] for no reason!
As Tolkien began his work, Alex leaned against the wall, his mind drifting to the looming mystery of the [Door of Destiny].
He still needed to find the 5 tokens, but he had no idea where to get them besides by their names.
[The Token of Wrath, The Token of The Abyss, The Token of The Undead, The Token of the Tower, The Token of Nightmares.]
For now, though, his focus was on saving the princess.
Tolkien worked meticulously, his movements deliberate and precise.
The tools in his hands glowed faintly as he channeled energy into the curse, unraveling its complex web.
Eleonora watched in silence, her expression a mix of hope and skepticism.
Alphox, meanwhile, seemed genuinely impressed by Tolkien’s skill.
Alice sat nearby, her eyes darting between Alex and the coffin. “Do you think it’ll work?”
“It has to,” Alex said simply.
Minutes ticked by, the room silent save for the hum of magic and the occasional scrape of Tolkien’s tools.
Finally, a faint crack appeared on the surface of the coffin.
Tolkien grinned, “Done, now the rest is up to you, kid,” he smiled at Alex, “It seems that there’s not only a curse, but some other strange force that stops anyone not worthy from opening this coffin.”
The blacksmith tried several times to lift it up, but it wouldn’t budge.
“That’s more than enough,” Alex bowed out of respect, teleporting Tolkien back to his shop then returning to the [Mysterious Hall].
He arrived in front of the [Ice Coffin], eyeing the sleeping girl inside.
“Come on,” Eleonora was more nervous than anybody else, “I-I never expected something like this to ever happen,” tears welled up in her eyes.
“Yeah, yeah,” Alex smiled, placing his hands underneath and pulling it upward.
Would he be worthy enough to lift it up, though?