Justin suddenly felt a wave of chill seeping out from deep within his skin.
Like someone stricken with a severe cold, his body began to shiver unconsciously.
From the outer side of his left calf, a sharp pain spread to his knee...
Justin was all too familiar with this sensation.
It was the hallmark of the "Curse Hunter" profession.
Only those who had ingested a special potion and applied a lethal ointment to their skin without disfigurement could acquire this trait... the prerequisite trait for the job change to Curse Hunter, namely "Cursed Sensitive Skin".
Mere proximity to a Transcendent would cause a tingling pain on the corresponding part of their body; and when struck with an inconspicuous "Curse Binding" or targeted by a ritual, they would immediately feel the agony.
Through extensive training, they developed a new sense.
With this novel form of touch, they interacted with curses, sensed curses... and hunted curses.
Thus, they were called "Curse Hunters."
The moment he felt pain, Justin wanted to retaliate.
Instinctively, he kicked out with the pained left leg.
It was then that he realized—
—this might be exactly where Annan was standing.
Had Annan attacked him?
Thinking of Annan’s noble status, Justin subconsciously held back a third of his strength.
But the moment Justin came to his senses, he felt a tinge of regret.
No, holding back a third of his strength was nowhere near enough!
His near full-force kick, aimed at the face of an underage wizard from this angle, was mighty indeed. If it had connected with Annan’s chin or the back of his head, it might have been lethal...
He was just a commoner and couldn’t possibly withstand the wrath of Duke Winter!
Moreover, he now realized that what Annan had just suddenly cast on him was not some deadly "Curse Binding".
The curse in the binding did contain pure malice, meaning it would only have negative effects on him. But this malice had only caused him a chilling sensation, not even a burning pain.
This meant that the concentration of the curse wasn’t that high...
Annan didn’t back away but instead reached out to firmly block Justin’s fierce kick, steadying himself against what Justin had thought would be an uncontrollable powerful counter.
But this only made Justin’s heart sink.
A fourteen-year-old wizard...
Even if he hailed from the Winter Principality.
Could he really handle his casual strike?
Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
Justin’s full-force strike was strong enough to send an adult’s head, along with half a spine, flying.
Transcendents were called such... because they surpassed ordinary people in stature.
A solid tree trunk thicker than an adult man’s waist could be toppled with just two kicks from Justin; he could break open any locked room door in the Viscount’s mansion with just a shoulder bump.
If Annan could block his attack without breaking any bones, it was clear he must still be hiding a combat profession of at least the bronze rank!
"...Brother Justin, why did you suddenly attack me?"
Contrary to Justin’s expectations.
After blocking Justin’s counter, Annan did not retreat cautiously.
Instead, he looked up at Justin with a puzzled and somewhat displeased expression, "If it wasn’t me standing here... an accident might have already occurred, right?"
Seeing Annan’s expression, Justin couldn’t help but feel hesitant as well.
...Could it really be that I misunderstood?
Impossible. My intuition is usually so accurate...
—But everything was just as Annan analyzed. Based on Justin’s character, when facing someone of much higher status like Annan Winter, his clenched fists still hesitated.
He subconsciously wanted to apologize but instead cautiously turned back and crouched down.
At this distance, his hand could directly reach Annan. He wouldn’t be so passive when attacked.
"Sorry, I might have..."
Justin hadn’t finished speaking when he saw
Annan’s right arm swing, and unexpectedly, a punch swept toward the inside of Justin’s knee—
It wasn’t until then that Justin finally saw the hammer in Annan’s palm.
It was a small, delicate, and somewhat comical white hammer.
It looked just like a toy. It was probably even hard work to hammer a nail with it... more like a slightly larger hammer used for pulling teeth.
Could this thing really hurt someone?
Although such a thought flashed through his mind,
once Justin confirmed that Annan was indeed an enemy, the hesitancy of whether to advance or retreat instantly faded.
In its place was the combat experience he had garnered from successfully hunting down numerous Transcendents—
Almost instinctively, his left hand tried to intercept Annan’s hammer.
Meanwhile, his right hand shot straight toward Annan’s slender neck, his knees bent, abdominal muscles taut, his entire body poised like a leopard ready to pounce, planning to leverage his grip on Annan’s neck and bring him down to the ground!
—But something happened that Justin had completely not anticipated.
The left hand Justin thought would intercept Annan’s attack was no match for the toy-like hammer.
Simply because the hammer carried an irresistible force—
It easily shattered Justin’s strength. A cracking sound of bone fracturing came from his wrist, and without delaying the hammer’s swing by even a second, it carried on with Justin’s hand toward his knee!
However, the force when the hammer hit the knee was far weaker than the fierce blow that had broken Justin’s wrist.
It was merely the normal strength of a full force strike from a mortal Swordsman... there was no way it could have broken Justin’s wrist directly!
Justin immediately realized he had been subjected to some kind of Curse Binding—
—It was "Inhibited Speech"!
Its properties were subtly different from what Salvatore had told him, but mostly the same.
Only after seeing its properties did Annan finalize the plan for tonight—
[Skeleton Lord’s Bone Blood Trigger]
[Type: Tool/Ritual Prop (Gold)]
[Description: Can use "Cardiac Paralysis LV34," "Forgotten Secrets LV28," "I Am Not Here LV1," "Inhibited Speech LV8," "Claustrophobia LV1," "Bookbind Shackles LV14," each once per day. The curse carries effect only when the hammer strikes a part of the body with bones, and each person can be struck with up to three curses per day.]
[Effect: If bone is struck, the curse will cling to the person until they die, after which the curse will return and gain strength. The improved curse level is equal to the total Transcendent level of the cursed victim; if the curse does not return within twenty-four hours, a new incarnation of the curse is born, and any previously applied curses cannot return.]
[Effect: If bone is not struck, it counts as a failed use. The curse will linger on the object struck for a month. During that period, the curse will not regenerate.]
[Cost: Each use requires the "bone" and "blood" of a different human, and must be used at least once a week, otherwise, the holder will be subjected to three random Curse Bindings. The level of the Curse Bindings will be considered the current stored curse level; humans used as materials will have their lifespan reduced by one year.]
The only difference from what Salvatore said was...
That he didn’t mention that the weapon was actually a "murder hammer."
If the cursed person were killed within twenty-four hours, then the difficulty of escaping the curse would keep increasing. Only after a curse was released and did not return after a day would the level reset to zero.
Of course, according to Annan’s judgment of Salvatore, it wasn’t that Salvatore deliberately kept this from Annan. It was just that Salvatore himself was unaware of its specific capabilities...
But realizing that "Inhibited Speech" was already usable, the reason he hadn’t used it on Viscount Barber was in order to reserve today’s once-only use of the Curse Binding for the fight with Justin!
A lethal ability like Cardiac Paralysis may not be effective on a Transcendent of the same bronze rank.
But Inhibited Speech was different...
Just for breaking his defenses... that should be manageable, right?!