Leon examined the curse mark closely with his <Spell Weaver> skill for the next couple of minutes. After a bit of pondering, he stepped back.
“This thing would have killed you eventually… Did you know that?” Leon asked slowly as he gave Nasir a strange look.
“Yes, I know. But it was worth it if I could exchange my life for billions of others.” Nasir said with a resolute tone of voice.
“What about the boys? How do you think they would feel?” Leon folded his arms with a neutral expression on his face. “You should be selfish at times. Even if the Demons did attack unannounced, then I believe the powers of this continent would be prepared to ward them off. What do you think they have been doing for so long? While I admit that many might die at first, it is only a normal thing in war for people to lose their lives.”
“…” Nasir looked down for a moment and shook his head. Leon was actually speaking sense. He loved Lance, and he was glad that Lance did not take on the attitudes of his his people, but even still, what remained of his sense of duty towards the people of the Central Continent did not allow him to simply stand by while an attack was coming like this.
“Come here, let me check it out.” Leon sighed and pulled over a stool for Nasir to take a seat. When Nasir had taken a seat, he pulled off his shirt so Leon could have clear access to the back of his neck.
Leon leaned close and activated the <Spell Weaver> skill, and at once, the basic make up of the spell was revealed to him. It was not so simple, though. Although he could see all the threads and knots that kept the spell together, that did not mean that he could easily decipher and undo them. It was just like a child having access to a high level mathematic formula, but not being able to do anything about it.
However, Leon did not think that he would be unable to do anything about this. In fact, he had already thought up a plan just in case this happened. This was an insurmountable challenge, and one that he was determined to pass!
p [Your Title, <Overcomer>, had taken effect! Your base stats have been boosted by 100%!]
Leon felt the capabilities of his body and mind bloom like a flower. As his Intelligence jumped by leaps and bounds, it became much easier to comprehend the complicated weavings of the spell. Leon spent a couple of minutes examining the make up of the spell before he finally found the thread that tied it all together.
“Brace yourself, Nasir. This will hurt.” Leon said and after a moment, he used his mana to grab onto the thread of mana that started the mark. He pulled, and Nasir felt as if his body was being pulled apart from the inside out, while simultaneously being stabbed in every place, and burned over a fire.
“Argh!!!” His eyes instantly went red, and sweat broke up all over his skin. The mana in the atmosphere around them was being whipped up into a frenzy by Leon’s attempt to unravel the spell.
The sudden flare of mana was unfortunately not restricted to this room, which caught the attention of the others, but before they could do anything, a petite, white haired girl appeared with a smile.
“Please stay calm. Everything is under control.” Nedra waved her hands to appease the startled people.
“What is happening?” Rodius remained standing and demanded.
Nedra paused as she contemplated what to tell them. Leon was completely occupied with unravelling the spell and he did not have the leeway to reply any of her messaged, but she knew what he was doing. After a moment of thought, Nedra just decided to pick a page out of Leon’s book of honesty and tell them what was really happening.
“Leon is removing a curse that was placed on Nasir to kill him if he revealed any sensitive information about the Demons. He took a big risk by leaking the time of the invasion, and he would have probably died at any moment if the curse mark was not taken care of.” Nedra said seriously, and it felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over their heads.
“Of course, I was stupid to think that it would be that easy to reveal such information.” Rodius held his hand to his head. Such classified information would not be randomly spread, and there was a good chance that there would be precautions taken against spreading it.
But something did not add up. For such a sensitive topic, the spell should have been something that would kill Nasir instantly.
As if reading his mind, Nedra addressed that point. “He had been eroding the spell’s base for a long time, so it would not have killed him instantly, but the pain he would have to endure until his death would have been excruciating.” She explained.
As she said this, a silence fell over the room before Lance spoke up.
“Can you take me to them?” The boy asked with an unreadable face.
“No, I’m afraid I can’t do that. Leon is in the middle of the process of removing the mark. Any distraction can be disastrous.” Nedra shook her head, dashing Lance’s expectations.
“I see…” He turned away with a disappointed look, and Nedra could clearly see his hurt, but she did not really care at the moment. What she really cared about right now was the storm of mana that continued to brew not far away. With each passing moment, the storm grew more and more turbulent. She fear that this rising storm might end up blowing in their faces.
“I hope you know what you are doing, Leon.” Nedra muttered underneath her breath as she looked around. She hoped that nothing would spiral out of control.