"Help her condense two curse cores? What have you been smoking?" Jason teased, raising an eyebrow at his younger sister. He leaned back with a smirk, clearly thinking she'd lost her mind. "As a curse crafter, you should know better than anyone that one Knight-tier core isn't the same as two Mortal-tier cores."
Janice's eyes narrowed, and her lips curved into a sharp, humorless smile. "You dimwit," she shot back, her tone laced with irritation. "I never said that." She folded her arms and leaned forward, her gaze drilling into him. "Listen carefully, because I'm only saying this once. If a curse core is 0.01 unit away from becoming a Knight-tier curse core, it's still a Mortal-tier core. And if someone condenses a curse core with the bare minimum curse energy, it's still classified as a Mortal-tier core."
She paused for effect, letting her words sink in, then arched an eyebrow. "Do you get where I'm going with this, or is your brain too dull? Should I dumb it down for you?"
Jason blinked, caught slightly off guard by her brutal tone, though he tried to mask his surprise. Janice didn't care. She wasn't about to spare him just because he was her older brother. Mocking her intelligence and her craft as a curse crafter? Oh, no. He wasn't getting away with that.
"But how is she going to pull that off?" Jason asked, leaning forward slightly, his brows knit in thought. He understood Janice's plan clearly enough, but he couldn't wrap his head around how she intended to help Lola execute something so unconventional. After a moment, he added, almost to himself, "I wonder why no one's ever tried condensing two curse cores at the same time before."
Janice let out an exaggerated sigh, rolling her eyes at him. She knew Jason wasn't just speculating aimlessly. Sure, the World of Curses was full of strange, borderline insane practices, but even it had its natural rules and limitations. Most people with an aptitude for curse energy weren't guaranteed to condense a curse core in the first place. Experimenting during such a critical process? That would be like daring death to come knocking.
But Lola wasn't like most people.
Thanks to her innate curse master physique, she was unique. According to myth, those with such a physique naturally gathered negative emotions in their hearts. If they managed to survive the overwhelming buildup, they would eventually condense a curse core naturally once the negative emotions reached a critical threshold.
Historically, many notable figures with innate curse master physiques had condensed mortal-tier curse cores. This meant they'd gathered enough negative emotions to form a mortal-tier curseling in their hearts before the curse core naturally condensed on its own, with no outside intervention.
But Lola? She was an anomaly. She had accumulated enough negative emotions in her heart to give birth to a Knight-tier curseling, yet she showed no signs of naturally condensing a curse core. What's more, she seemed to function as though the immense burden wasn't even there.
This was why the McSuile siblings believed Lola was a rare genius, even among those with an innate curse master physique. As long as she maintained her current mental stability, she could potentially condense a higher-tier curse core naturally without anyone's help.
But if her mental state wavered, even for a moment?
Janice's expression darkened as she considered the grim possibility. If things went wrong, Lola wouldn't just fail—she'd die, leaving behind a powerful curseling in her place.
Her brother had wanted to nurture Lola, to see just how far her innate physique could go. But life had other plans. Now, their priority was ensuring Lola didn't end up as someone's pawn in a twisted game or, worse, a lab specimen.
Helping her become a curse master as early as possible was their best bet. Sure, it was a shame they'd never get to fully explore the limits of her talent, but given her current situation, it was still the only way forward. Otherwise, her fate would likely involve ending up on either a chessboard or an operating table.
Getting an innate curse master to condense a curse core early was uncharted territory—nobody had ever attempted it before. It was risky, even for someone with Lola's extraordinary affinity for curse energy.
To complicate things further, their plan wasn't just to help Lola condense one curse core; they intended to have her form two. With the Knight-tier level of negative emotions built up in her heart, a regular curse core initiation array formation wouldn't work. However, if they divided the energy into two Mortal-tier curse cores, the standard formation would suffice.
"Is she going to condense the two cores at the same time, or one after the other? And how exactly are we supposed to divide the negative emotions in her heart?" Jason asked, his tone sharp with curiosity as he stared at Janice.
But Janice was too deep in thought to respond.
Frustrated, Jason flicked her forehead to snap her out of it. "Hey! Pay attention."
Janice jolted, blinking back to reality. "What the heck?!" she snapped, rubbing her forehead and shooting him a glare.
"I asked you a question," Jason said coolly, ignoring the threatening look she gave him.
Without a word, Janice reached up to her earring, and with a subtle touch, an emerald ring materialized on her middle finger. She clenched her fist, her lips curling into a mischievous smirk. Before Jason could react, she delivered a swift punch to his gut. The moment her fist connected, a tiny spark of energy shot out from the emerald and bypassed all of Jason's defenses.
Jason dropped to his knees, groaning in pain and his hair stood erect as though he'd just been struck by lightning.
"Ahh!" Lola exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock as she covered her mouth with both hands. Her gaze darted nervously between the two siblings. She didn't have any siblings of her own, so this level of roughhousing felt extreme to her.
But for the McSuile siblings, this was just another casual spat. If anything, Janice was holding herself back—her brother's bachelor pad was small and fragile compared to the sturdy grandeur of their family mansion.
"I'll get you back for this," Jason muttered under his breath as he got to his feet, brushing off the lingering sting in his gut. He made his way back to the couch, sank into it, and grabbed a pillow to place on his lap. Oddly enough, the aftereffects of Janice's spark had left him with a strange, almost too comfortable sensation in his balls—causing little Jason to stir awake.
Janice and Lola trailed after him, exchanging confused glances. Neither could make sense of his odd behavior.
"Is he hurt?" Lola asked, her voice tinged with genuine concern as she hesitated by the arm of the couch.
"Nah, he'll be fine," Janice said, waving a dismissive hand. "He's survived worse. Trust me."
"But he's so quiet," Lola pointed out, furrowing her brows. "The only time I've seen my dad or uncle go that quiet is either when they're holding in pain or talking about some woman who isn't their wife."
Janice snorted at that, but Lola however quietly relived a memory. One time, her dad forgot to use mittens when he was taking out cookies she made. He thought her mother baked them before heading to work. He burned his hands so badly, but he didn't make a sound—not even a yelp. He just walked over to the sink, ran them under cold water, and let her put ointment on them.
Lola's eyes misted over slightly as she remembered the sight of her dad's red, blistered hands. She wanted to cry just looking at them, but he didn't say a single word. He just kept his mouth shut the whole time like he was holding something in.
Janice raised an eyebrow at Lola's concern for her scumbag of a brother, glancing back at Jason, who was uncharacteristically quiet, staring blankly at some random point in the room. She shook her head, thinking Lola was far too kind for her own good. Still, Janice knew she had to focus on ensuring this kind soul didn't end up as yet another tragedy in the 'World of Curses.' As if there weren't enough of those.
Feeling a sense of urgency, clearing her throat, Janice turned to her brother and said firmly, "I'm going to modify the curse core initiation array formation so that Lola will not only be able to control her negative emotions despite being a mortal but also have it help her split those gathered negative emotions in her heart into two. That way, she can focus on condensing one part into a curse core first and then move on to the second. Unfortunately, apart from modifying the array and giving her some good curse items, there's not much else we can do to help her successfully form dual curse cores."
Jason finally shifted his gaze from the void and gave his sister a skeptical look. "Do we really need to provide her with curse items? She's already made two on her own—though accidentally— she's clearly attached to them. Honestly, there couldn't be a better fit for her innate curse tools than the ones she's already created."
Lola, who had been quietly listening, blinked in surprise. She clutched the plush in her hands together nervously and glanced at Janice, trying to understand their conversation.
Janice paused, tapping her chin in thought before shrugging. "You are right."