"...That’s basically it."
Jiu’er finally finished narrating the unexpected event that occurred at Roth Fort.
The incident quickly caused a stir on the forum. Players also realized the importance of the issue and promptly sent Jiu’er to inform Annan.
After all, the players who stayed in Frostwater Harbor were the ones who had a close relationship with Jiu’er and Annan.
Luckily, neither Annan nor Salvatore cared much about the players having some sort of remote communication method, and they both trusted the message Jiu’er brought. Otherwise, it would have taken the players a lot of effort just to explain the existence of the forum and convince these two NPCs.
"An ability that can manipulate the hearts of people?"
Annan furrowed his brows lightly.
He propped his chin with his left hand, while his right hand, slender and fair, unconsciously tapped on the tabletop gently.
Annan still found this sudden enemy somewhat troublesome.
If Dr. Gerald indeed possessed an ability to manipulate the hearts of people at will—especially if it could be used on multiple people—then Annan could be certain that an enemy of this caliber was simply not something he could deal with at the moment.
So Annan turned to Salvatore and asked,
"What do you think, senior?"
But unexpectedly, Salvatore did not seem very anxious.
A strong emotion had already completely overwhelmed that trace of anxiety.
Anger? Hatred? Passion?
It was not very clear.
But one thing was for certain.
There was indeed an inexplicable flame kindling in Salvatore’s eyes.
He just pursed his lips and pondered for a while before asking Jiu’er in a low voice, "Are you sure the curse bindings on your two companions are these three?"
"It’s one of them; the other was not cursed."
Jiu’er corrected him.
"Yes... I mean, they are indeed these three, right?"
Jiu’er nodded affirmatively.
After all, she had seen the screenshot directly on the forum; there could be no mistake.
"An acquaintance of yours?"
Annan asked Salvatore.
He had already realized something.
Salvatore was very familiar with this person...or rather, with his hammer.
The young Wizard with a haggard face nodded and replied in a low voice:
"You could say that..."
He immediately continued to ask Jiu’er, "Miss Jiu’er, did your companion mention the heretic’s profession? Is he... a dentist?"
Jiu’er looked at him with some surprise.
She had initially thought this to be relatively unimportant information, so she did not bring it up right away in case it served as a red herring, confusing their thoughts.
But now she realized.
There seemed to be something hidden in this message... Fortunately, Salvatore himself had keenly guessed it.
She recognized that both men were indeed smarter than herself. So she abandoned her messy thoughts and relayed even more seemingly meaningless information:
"Also, after being brainwashed, they were woken by a companion after walking down a street. He asked some perplexing questions, one by one, and woke up. The other person was woken up by being hit."
"That they could be woken up by being hit is a good thing..."
Salvatore breathed a sigh of relief, and his serious tone relaxed slightly.
He stopped mid-sentence and glanced at Jiu’er, then looked toward Annan.
"You can speak, Senior Salvatore."
Annan nodded, "Jiu’er is trustworthy."
As he spoke, Annan looked at Jiu’er with seriousness, "The matter we are about to discuss is very important, and you better take it seriously and jot it down."
-- Although I haven’t enabled the live streaming function on the forum, you should remember to start a thread and note it down.
Jiu’er also nodded seriously and solemnly.
To Annan’s satisfaction, she indeed opened up the forum and began to prepare notes, ready to record important mission intelligence—
"You ask me if this person is an acquaintance of mine... I would say yes. Because I know him, but he might not know me."
Salvatore answered, "By seniority, he should be considered our senior... as well as our teacher.
"He is a black wizard from Heath Tower of Black, David Gerald. A graduate of the Soul Snatching School, he briefly taught students for three years before I enrolled. Later... he betrayed Heath Tower of Black and stole an important cursed object. This hammer, to be precise."
As he said this, Salvatore’s expression became slightly serious, "It looks like a palm-sized iron hammer, officially called the [Bloodbone Trigger]. I can’t say its full name in Frostwater Harbor... So I simply call it the [Bloodbone Trigger], hoping that by saying this, you can roughly guess what I am not mentioning."
"...Is it that one we just mentioned?"
A chill went through Annan’s heart.
There was only one answer.
An object cursed with the name of a god—
"What exactly is its power?"
Annan couldn’t help but ask further.
It wasn’t just out of caution; he was also curious.
Salvatore glanced at Jiu’er, hesitated, but still answered frankly, "Well, it’s not much of a secret anymore... It is entangled with six Curse Bindings.
"They are [Cardiac Paralysis], [Inhibited Speech], [Forgotten Secrets], [I Am Not Here], [Claustrophobia], [Bookbind Shackles]. You already know the effects of the first three... Let me tell you about the last three Curse Bindings.
"The effect of [I Am Not Here] is equivalent to the spell of the same name from the Idol School—when the bound person’s true identity and secrets are unknown to others, they are invisible to them... like the ’invisible and unheard gods’ of mythology, until a divine sign is shown.
"The effect of [Claustrophobia] is equivalent to the spell of the same name from the Disabling School. It is triggered when the bound person is in a ’designated area’ of enclosed space, causing an intense sense of fear and anxiety. After three minutes and three seconds, hallucinations and auditory illusions preset by the bound person manifest; three minutes after the hallucinations appear, the bound person begins to feel a strong urge to kill as their body undergoes mutant-level enhancement; after thirty-three minutes, the bound person dies on the spot.
"The effect of [Bookbind Shackles] is equivalent to the spell of the same name from the Decree School. It can make all ’carriers of knowledge’ such as books and newspapers within a certain range of the bound person become animated and bind the person in place—the more secret the knowledge, the harder the chains are to break. If one tries to break free, the pages will be damaged. The maximum duration of immobilization depends on the total word count of all chains and the reading speed of the bound person. In general, it’s about ’one-tenth the time it would take to read all the books.’ After the effect ends normally, the bound person is deemed to have read all the content of the books that bound them."
After finishing, Salvatore looked at Annan, "Do you think this is a very powerful cursed object?"
Annan exclaimed, "All extremely practical Curse Bindings!"
"Then I have to tell you... it’s called a ’trigger’ because it can ’shoot out’ the Curse Bindings."
Salvatore answered, "Using a person’s bone and blood as ammunition, it can fire three different Curse Bindings into a person’s body for 24 hours, recycled daily; or any number of Curse Bindings can be fired into another cursed object for a month, tangling anyone who touches the object with curses—The latter usage causes the Curse Bindings to temporarily disappear from the trigger as they return.
"The bone and blood, like bullets, must be loaded through the back of the hammer in small quantities... The only requirement is that it must be used once a week. And each usage’s offering must be ’bone and blood’ from different individuals. Whether the offering is repeated or the trigger goes unused, it will randomly fire three Curse Bindings into the wielder’s own body for twenty-four hours..."
Salvatore continued to speak, but Annan’s thoughts had already drifted far away.
He suddenly remembered something.
In the first nightmare he had in this world... Annan had seen a mirror—
[Type: Material/Miscellaneous (Blue)]
[Description: A damaged cursed object, it has lost its original function]
[Effect: The holder will be affected by the Curse Binding "Inhibited Speech"]
By now, Annan understood that so-called cursed objects... are items entwined with Curse Bindings.
If a "damaged cursed object" has lost its original functions...
Then why has the effect of the Curse Binding "Inhibited Speech" not disappeared?
"Inhibited Speech" was not an innate property of the mirror but was added by someone?