Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 010
Chapter Title: Infinite Power
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‘Curse Magic unlocked...!’
Startled, I quickly checked the new skill tree.
Just like the Fire Magic tree, the top part was blurred out, but the bottom square box was crystal clear.
‘Looks like dying to test it out was the right call after all.’
I’d suspected as much with Fire Magic, and sure enough.
It seemed I could gain new abilities depending on how I got killed.
‘This is a total game-changer.’
And on top of that, skill points.
‘So that’s why I didn’t get any when I first leveled up.’
When there was no dedicated ability to unlock, the reward came as skill points instead.
‘Which means there are more levels where I’ll unlock dedicated abilities.’
And when that didn’t happen, I could invest skill points in whatever skills I wanted.
It was cheat-level good no matter how you sliced it.
After escaping the corpse-filled hall and returning to the pile of rubble, I gently set down Jackson, whom I’d dragged along with great effort.
“Hoo...”
Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I stared at the skill tree and pondered.
‘So, which skill should I invest this point in first?’
The currently unlocked skill trees were Fire Magic and Curse Magic.
I could acquire Basic Fire Magic from the former and Baal's Minor Curse from the latter.
And naturally, without mastering these bottom-tier skills, higher ones would remain locked.
‘Which one to level up first...’
First up, Basic Fire Magic.
Creating and throwing a small fireball didn’t seem all that useful right now, honestly.
‘But...’
I couldn’t help recalling the insane firepower I’d seen at that factory before.
‘That must be the true power of Fire Magic.’
Basic Fire Magic was just the starting point. Developing this tree further would let me unleash devastating power down the line.
It’d definitely make life in the penal unit a whole lot richer.
‘That said, Curse Magic is no slouch either.’
It hadn’t worked on me only because I was immortal.
A skilled curse mage’s spells were brutally potent.
‘The problem is...’
I couldn’t help but grimace a little.
‘It’s kinda gross on a gut level.’
The inherent陰鬱 vibe of curses aside, the real issue was the ‘cost.’
‘If using powerful curses requires human sacrifices or something, that’d be a hassle.’
But I couldn’t ignore the suspicion, especially since even Baal's Minor Curse demanded it.
‘Demanding life force as an offering right off the bat...’
And even then, the effect was temporary.
‘For a minor curse, isn’t the efficiency kinda trash?’
That’s what I was thinking when—
‘...Hold on.’
A sudden flash of insight hit me, and I looked back at Baal's Minor Curse.
‘Sacrifice life force?’
Surely not, but...
‘Does it have to be my life force specifically?’
It was like a bell ringing ding! in my head.
‘Think about it. Why wouldn’t it be?’
Curses didn’t picky-eat life force, so surely I could offer someone else’s if I wanted.
‘But if it is possible...’
I blinked.
‘Wouldn’t this be infinite power...?’
Because I’m immortal.
I could offer up my life force to my heart’s content without a care.
It regenerated infinitely every time I died, after all.
I pondered for a moment.
‘...Should I test it out?’
It didn’t take long to decide.
‘If it flops, oh well.’
I could always earn more skill points by leveling up.
With that in mind, I boldly invested the point into Baal's Minor Curse.
Ding! A message rang out.
‘Boost my stats, and next it lowers the enemy’s...’
This one looked useful too, but it still required sacrificing life force.
Ultimately, whether Curse Magic was viable came down to testing Baal's Minor Curse.
“Alright then...”
Taking a small breath, I cast the curse on myself.
“!?”
The instant I did, my heart clenched like a vice!
Then, as my life force drained uncontrollably, realization dawned.
‘This is it...!’
It worked!
The moment it hit critical, my heart stopped.
But only for an instant—upon revival, a surge of immense power exploded within me.
“!!”
The curse had activated.
To test it, I tried lifting a heavy boulder in front of me.
It floated up light as a soccer ball.
“Whoa.”
And that wasn’t all.
My whole body felt as light as a feather.
‘Massive boosts to strength, agility, and toughness, right?’
Strength and agility made sense.
But what was toughness?
Right then, a new message appeared.
I let out a small groan.
‘The description doesn’t give me a great feel for it... Does it just make my body harder?’
Right then, I felt my energy drain away like a dead battery.
“Ah.”
It wasn’t just fatigue.
The curse effect had simply ended.
‘Even if it’s temporary...’
Wasn’t the duration way too short?
Typical minor curse.
But for me, it didn’t matter.
‘I can just use it again.’
Sacrifice my life force completely once more.
Die, revive, and the curse buffs apply again.
“This is way better than I thought.”
Best of all, I now had a discreet kill switch I could trigger anytime.
No more needing to obviously blow my head off with a pistol.
This would make hiding my immortality even easier going forward.
‘In that case, time to learn some higher curses too.’
A bit excited now, I kicked the rubble pile hard.
Boom! A scream echoed out.
“Eek!”
“...?”
Blinking, I approached the source of the noise—and sure enough.
Walter was there, pretending to be unconscious.
“...”
“...”
“Mister.”
“...”
“I heard the scream.”
“...”
Scratching my head at his continued silence, I added,
“Your body cam’s off.”
“Oh, it’s you~?”
Only then did he open his eyes and sheepishly get up.
The guy was thorough to a fault.
“What are you doing here?”
“Huh? Oh, right.”
Walter pointed to his detached left mechanical arm.
“I was gonna go with that Jackson guy, but the impact knocked my arm off. So, uh, no choice but to hide and wait for backup.”
“Then why fake fainting?”
“Ahem...”
He cleared his throat awkwardly before explaining.
“Hey, couldn’t tell if it was you or an enemy.”
“Ah.”
In other words, he’d chickened out.
“You’re gonna live forever, mister.”
I’d wondered why he’d vanished—turns out he’d been hiding under the rubble the whole time.
“Jealous?”
“Nah.”
His survival instincts were worth studying.
This guy would cockroach his way through anything, anywhere.
“So, what’s the situation?”
“It’s over.”
“...The others?”
I pointed to Jackson, who unlike the rest was actually knocked out.
“Only saved that guy.”
“No way... You handled it all by yourself again?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Wasn’t the enemy a curse mage?”
“Just shot him and he died.”
“Well, yeah, bullets kill people!”
Walter clicked his tongue in disbelief.
“What the hell are you, anyway?”
“Just... sturdy.”
“Yeah, sure, real sturdy.”
Dismissing it, he reattached his mechanical arm to his shoulder.
Click!
“...”
Now he wasn’t even hiding his bullshit anymore.
Just then, noises came from the hole above.
Looking up, I saw familiar tactical gear and stark white lights peering down.
“Isn’t that 3rd Squad down there?!”
“Hey! 3rd Squad!”
I waved at them after making eye contact with Walter.
“3rd Squad survivors confirmed. Repeat, 3rd Squad survivors confirmed.”
“2nd Squad’s there too?”
“No way, two more alive.”
“Lucky bastards.”
Walter let out a sigh of relief.
“Survived another day unscathed.”
“Yeah. Productive day.”
“...”
He stared at me like I was nuts.
Right on cue.
*
An hour later.
Back at the camp, Kyle headed to Joseph Howard’s office again and found himself in a bizarre situation.
“Coffee, right?”
“Yes.”
So far, it seemed the same as last time...
Except his hands weren’t cuffed.
And no officers were watching him from behind.
Joseph had sent them all out of the office.
‘What’s going on?’
Even Joseph’s expression seemed softer than before.
‘Did I rack up enough merits again for special treatment?’
As Kyle wondered, Joseph set down the coffee cup with a smile.
“First off, good work on this mission. Watched the footage—impressive as hell. You’re probably the first inmate getting consecutive sentence reductions.”
“Oh, really?”
Joseph stared at him intently before sitting on the opposite sofa.
“Especially... shrugging off those curses back-to-back. That stuck with me.”
‘Knew he’d bring it up.’
But immortality wasn’t a conclusion anyone jumped to easily.
Kyle had his excuse ready.
“Ah, I’ve got some resistance to curses. Got kidnapped by black mages as a kid, and back then...”
“Sure, something like that.”
“...?”
Kyle blinked as Joseph cut him off without listening.
Joseph chuckled.
“Think you’re misunderstanding something.”
He continued.
“I’m not demanding explanations or digging into your past.”
For one, Joseph loved the current setup.
Whatever the reason, Kyle—who hailed from a magic tower—was more proactive on missions than anyone.
No point ruffling feathers by poking at his secrets.
‘That’d just hurt me.’
He’d investigate Kyle on the down-low, but he’d never show it upfront.
The probe was just to see if there was more to motivate him with.
To Joseph Howard, one thing mattered: Kyle Clark’s ability to neutralize heretical mages. That alone.
Unaware of this, Kyle was just confused.
After rolling his eyes a bit, he asked,
“Uh... so what’s this about?”
“Reason I’m bringing it up? Just... seeing your skills made me want to propose something.”
“Propose?”
Joseph nodded.
“What if there was a job with even more sentence reductions and extra pay? Interested?”
Kyle’s eyes widened.
“More reductions?”
“Yeah. Plus bonus pay. Citizenship’s not the endgame—you need cash for a new life.”
“True...”
He’d heard admin districts beyond the 8th Special District had sky-high prices and rent.
‘And school tuition if I’m going.’
Joseph wasn’t wrong.
“That’s why I’m offering. Might as well earn while you’re at it, right?”
“It’s not some shady gig, is it?”
“...You, a criminal, asking that?”
Joseph answered dryly.
“It’s legit. Don’t worry.”
“Then I’d like to hear more.”
“Good call.”
Joseph grinned.
“Before we get into details...”
He pulled a file from his bag.
“Ever hear of a terrorist group of heretical mages?”
The cover read Moonlit Path Incident Report.
“...Moonlit Path?”