Target: Mudwax (Slimoid Form)
Info: The Mudwax resembles a dirt-brown humanoid clay figurine of a rotting corpse, usually standing between 7 and 9 feet tall. It has no eyes or teeth, a very flat nose with two wide nostrils, and earholes instead of ears. Its entire body is composed of a clay-like substance, which it uses to mimic the appearance of the corpse it has recently ingested. The creature possesses incredible strength and defense but lacks agility. Its clay body can absorb physical damage and reform to avoid attacks.
Mudwaxes typically attach themselves to corpses buried in the ground that are imbued with strong negative emotions or lingering thoughts. They swallow these corpses whole, feeding on the negative energy while adopting their appearance. However, the Mudwax only assumes the likeness of a clay figurine of the consumed corpse. If the corpse is rotting, the Mudwax's mimicry will also appear decayed.
Due to their eerie resemblance to zombies, Mudwaxes are often mistaken as such during the night. They are visible only to mortals who had a deep emotional connection—whether love or hatred—with the ingested corpse. When spotted by the living, they are easily frightened and retreat by burrowing into the ground, leaving no trace of their presence. Because of this behavior, many who encounter them dismiss the experience as a hallucination caused by unresolved emotions for the deceased.
Mudwaxes are harmless to the living since they specifically feed on the negative energy of the dead and avoid human contact. Interestingly, their curse cores make ideal candidates for embedding into a mortal's heart to create a curse slave. Unlike other curselings, which often fail the curse-slave transition due to their greed for negative emotions, Mudwaxes use only what they need to regenerate their forms. This significantly increases the chances of a successful transformation into a curse slave.
Due to the nature of the Mudwax's behavior, there is an ongoing debate about whether it should be classified as a curse spirit. However, this proposal has faced strong resistance, particularly from those who hold the remains of their ancestors and loved ones as sacred. These individuals argue that Mudwaxes desecrate the peace of the dead, subjecting them to eternal agony within their forms.
Although Mudwaxes lack eyes, they possess the ability to use Curse Location. This ability functions by emitting short, high-frequency curse waves that bounce off objects in their surroundings and return as echoes. By processing these echoes, Mudwaxes can create an accurate mental image of an object's shape, distance, and other characteristics. This skill allows them to navigate flawlessly underground when they burrow to escape.
Mudwaxes use curse energy to emit waves that help them navigate underground and locate corpses imbued with lingering negative emotions.
Mudwaxes can assume the current appearance of a corpse they have ingested, manifesting as a clay figurine version of the corpse.
Mudwaxes can travel through the ground by burrowing tunnels. They seal the tunnels behind them seamlessly using a wax secreted by their bodies, leaving no trace of their passage.
The wax produced by Mudwaxes allows them to weave mud and other related materials into various forms. This unique ability has earned them the title "Mudweaver."
i) Curse Masters are advised not to kill this curseling unless it is absolutely necessary and unavoidable. Because they keep the cemeteries around the globe clean of negative energies which can accumulate over generations and attract curselings or give birth to a curseling.
ii) Source: Cursepedia (Curse Web), Curse Investigation bureau archives, Steal Song Society archives.
iii) This data is created for human convenience by humans. Curselings don't assess to this.]
"This explains why the curse-user trio didn't care about bombarding the road and damaging it beyond repair, even though they needed it for their next hunt. With Mudwax's corpse wax, it must have been relatively easy for them to fix the road without triggering any landmines surrounding the area they had planted using it."
This realization dawned on Ace as he reviewed the detailed information about the Mudwax curseling that Dame Wasp had shared with him through the status screen.
"Yes, Master. I believe so too," Dame Wasp agreed. The Mudwax could rebuild the entire road to look as good as new using its corpse wax. While asphalt wasn't mud, the corpse wax acted as an adhesive, binding the debris of the asphalt closely enough to resemble a repaired road. With this insight, they understood how the curse-user trio had managed to set up their ambush so effectively.
"This curse core alone makes our trip to the winery worth it," Ace remarked. Then, turning to Emi, he ordered, "Emi, turn it into your shikigami. While the world is still debating whether it should be considered a curse spirit instead of a curseling, I say it's a curse spirit. Its methods might be too unconventional for curse masters to accept, but its abilities and contributions to nature are undeniable."
"Um, Master, are you sure about this? I think this curse core could be used to animate a resourceful toy summon," Emi said, double-checking her master's decision. She wanted to confirm that he wanted the Mudwax as a shikigami and not as an animated toy summon. After all, they still had an empty spot in their toy space apart from the one reserved for Doctor Druid now that they had failed to procure the curse core of the phantom paint.
"Yes, Mudwax will make a handy shikigami. We can never have too many curse spirits with us—they're nature's cleaners of negative energy," Ace replied, asserting his decision as final. Then, he added, "From now on, I'll summon you once a month to clean the negative energy around our estate using your scavenger spirit and the Mudwax shikigamis. This will ensure that no curselings are attracted to or born on our land. Additionally, it will be good for the orchards, as they will thrive in a more positive environment."
"I understand, Master," Emi replied, nodding in agreement. She realized that a toy summons animated using Mudwax's curse core wouldn't have the ability to feed on the negative energy of the dead—a quality her master seemed to value most.