"Teach me! Teach me!! Teach me!!! Come on!" Marcel whined. Allan was tired. How long has Marcel been at it for? Five days?  

Yes, Marcel has been at it for five days, asking him to teach him that. The only thing keeping him from caving in to his request is the possibility that Marcel might become better at it than he is. He wasn't even an expert at this 'thing' Marcel wanted to learn. His knowledge was meager compared to many others. He never even bothered to learn those skills on his own. He wasn't sure he was the right teacher for that topic. 

"Fine! I'll teach you but compared to others, I might be considered a novice on curses. I'll teach you!" Allan finally caved in. The guy was too persistent. Marcel wanted to learn about curses for so many days and he hasn't been left to rest in peace since they came back from dealing with the giant 'Ancient Chicken'. Some days to do research and work in peace would have been nice, Marcel! 

"Great! When can we start?!" The cause of his unrest asked eagerly with sparkly eyes. He figured that the earlier the guy got what he wanted, the faster he'd leave him alone. 

"Why not right now?" He answered. 

"Excellent! Let's do it now then!" The other answered with joy. Finally, he’ll get to learn how to curse power. Ah, how he’d like humans from his world to see him now? They’d think he was either a god or monster from how many skills he’s already acquired. Adding curses to that list seems just about the right way to go. 

"Yes, but promise me! If I give you what you want, you... LEAVE ME ALONE TO WORK!!!" Allan yelled. 

"Yes! Yes! Sorry..." He apologized, his presence slowly shrinking. He realized that he might have come on too hard. Allan looked ready to snap at any moment. Better not push him over the edge any further. 

"Let's begin! After that, get out of my workshop. Understand?!" 

Marcel nodded, "Got it! Again, sorry..." He was going to leave right after they were done. 

"Ok, first... I think what’s a curse? Is there a definition of what a curse is? To what extent can something be regarded as a curse and how do you use it?" Marcel already had a lot of questions he couldn’t wait to get answered. 

Allan began,  

“Well, a curse is sort of like an enchantment of sorts, except, its users are determined by bloodline, racial class, or even the individual itself. What can be considered a curse is very broad and narrow at the same time, sort of very hazy.” He tried his best to explain. Now that he was thinking about it, he realized something. 

“Huh? I don’t understand!” Marcel voiced his thoughts. Without a clear explanation, how will he get it? Allan is starting to show that he’s a bad teacher on curses already. 

“Um... actually, I don’t get it either. Just know that a curse is very powerful. Don’t use them recklessly or you might face the consequences. Their energy source is kind of unknown, except for the fact that they have something to do with the darkness in elements.” Allan tried broadening Marcel’s knowledge on the subject. 

“The darkness in elements?” Marcel asked. Does such a thing even exist? He’d always thought that the darkness element was the only dark one of the bunches, well, if one excludes the ambiguous nature of the rare Poison element possessed by a few races. 

“Don’t think too much about it! I don’t know what that is either. I just know that curses work because of them. It’s sort of how you shouldn’t think too much about how you develop a connection to magic if you’re born with the gift. Virtually anyone has the power to access the darkness in elements, and curses draw upon that power.” Allan told Marcel. He nodded and went back to listening but then suddenly, he had complaints. 

“Actually, I need that knowledge to be able to create new curses. I can’t really do that if I don’t understand the basics of curses.” That’s how he’s learned stuff from day one when he entered the demon realms. First basics, then take on much harder, complicated stuff. 

“I’m sorry! Curses have always come naturally to me, specifically the ones passed down to me via bloodline. Also, witches use various types of curses, but the ones I mainly use are divided into three types. 

“The first is the one added to my spell [Ifrit]. It’s a special curse called a ‘Burning Curse’, one that has you reliving pain even after the spell carrying it is over. It tortures the body with an almost illusional effect where your victims continue to think they’re suffering through excruciating pain when they aren’t.  

Witch curses tend to have a lot of destruction and torture as purposes, so you need to be careful who it is you decide to prank with them. You might end up taking their life.” Allan warned. 

“Understood! Then what about the other two?” Marcel listened attentively as he asked the question. 

“There’s one added to an ice spell passed down in my family called [Glacier Prison]. The curse’s called ‘Soul Freeze’. Similar to Burning Curse, it’s also designed to torture the enemy, but it targets their soul and not the body. It slowly pervades their soul as it tortures them with chilling hell-like illusions until their very soul freezes over and becomes as solid as ice. If someone is hit by it, then they’re as good as dead unless they have a special constitution of fire or are at a higher level than the curse’s caster’s skill.” 

“Hmm... I see!” Marcel said, nodding his head. In his head, he was contemplating how cool the curses Allan mentioned, sounded. It was a good decision to take up the art of curses, he thought. 

“The last one is probably the scariest. It’s called ‘Wither and Decay’. It’s quite the powerful curse. It initiates the laws of causality and is considered one of the most powerful curses ever developed by witches. Just like its name implies, when one is afflicted with this curse magic, there’s only one possible outcome and it is death. After the curse is initiated, the witch’s target dies, and is their body begins eroding at an incredible pace. They lose all their vitality at the start, then their body shrivels up and then begins crumbling, whereby they turn into dust and floats away without a single trace left.” Allan finished explaining the type of curses. Marcel had another question. 

“How are their method of operation any different from enchantments? They sound like very high-level enchantments which can take your life. Nothing special except for maybe its different power source. Then again, is that even any different from the power used for enchantments?”  

Marcel’s words raised questions inside even Allan’s head. He really didn’t know how to answer some of the questions Marcel had just posed. 

"I’ve never really questioned what a curse it, but yes? A curse is, sort of um... an enchantment except, unlike enchantments, they disappear after some time.” Allan tried answering one of those questions for himself. It was to reaffirm how much he could try to explain the knowledge engraved into his soul via the various gifts inherited from his parents. 

“Then what about the second witch curse you talked about: ‘Soul Freeze’? Doesn’t it slowly drain freeze your soul until there’s nothing left? If the target manages to live for a very long time, then won’t the spell lose effect according to your explanation of curses?” Marcel wondered. It felt like the more Allan tried to explain, the more confused he became. Oh well, I guess learning them is the only way to understand further. 

“Now that I’m saying it out loud, I’m confusing myself too. If we look at curses in the physical sense, I’d say a curse is taking your intentions and borrowing the power around you to exercise your will. I can’t give any better explanation than that. Wait, that’s, sort of, what every spell is. Woah!” Allan was shocked.  

The more he talked, the more Allan realized how lucky he was to have been born a witch whose family deviled in curses longer than he could try to date. Their knowledge passed down to him made his use of witch curses as simple as breathing; so much, he never needed to find out for himself what a curse even was. He thanked whichever ancestor of his who thought of passing down delving in curses. 

Allan wanted to finish this as quickly as possible so that Marcel can leave him. Also, his head was starting to hurt from trying to explain things. 

“So, how do you use the curses?” Marcel asked. 

“Um, you just do?” Again, Allan was unsure of what answer to give Marcel, so he hurried along with his demonstration. He conjured up a small ball of flames before continuing, 

“These flames hold another witch curse called ‘Burn to Ashes,’ which functions almost like a booster to any kind of flames, no matter how small it is. As its name suggests, it makes the flames capable of singeing its victims to dust. It’s a very gruesome curse, but at least, it doesn’t cause much pain compared to ‘Wither and Decay’. Since you’re a witch too, the knowledge of curses should be embedded somewhere inside you. Try it and it might work.” 

As Allan instructed, Marcel tried using the ‘Burn to Ashes’ curse by first applying it to a ball of flames. Guess what? Nothing happened. 

The flame ball was the same as it was before. Throwing it at a test dummy revealed that it was still as strong as the magic power put inside the spell with no additional effects attached. No curse at all! 

"Well, now what?” Marcel asked. Allan was just as clueless as he was. Why wasn’t th--  

Allan already had a roughly drawn answer up in his head. It probably has something to do with the freak’s body. Marcel’s body was the problem.  

Since it’s been partly proven that Marcel’s body kind of washes out or purifies any foreign power that enters his body, knowledge about certain aspects of witches might have been deemed too bothersome or impure and washed out. The freak’s body has essentially taken away the shortcut he was going to use.  

Looks like this is going to be harder. He was going to have to teach Marcel the curses from scratch but, ha, he can’t even explain the damn things accurately. How is he supposed to teach them? This will be difficult! 

* * * 

After Allan’s discovery regarding the lack of a shortcut to teach Marcel about curses; knowledge most witches have, he tested various methods to teach the little guy. 

First, he tried handling them like normal spells; as in imagine, materialize. This tactic failed epically as it was the first and also, Marcel didn’t have any idea of what the core of the curse was like. After that, together with Allan, they delved into the knowledge of a curse’s core via telepathy, brief sensory unification, and the knowledge of magical scripts, books, and grimoires. They were of no use, however, as everyone’s experience and perception of the curse’s core varied. It was like looking at an image that changed based on its viewer. Very impractical. 

The second method they tried was to help Marcel use the spirits around Allan when he cast the spell to aid Marcel in learning. This method also proved to be a failure as, even though Marcel could see the spirits, he couldn’t see any around the curses. Yes, he learned something from this experience. It was that spirits and curses don’t go well together. Unlike other spells, they didn’t aid in the transfer of such spells into the physical world. It just sort of appeared out of nowhere from the Dreamscape without any aid when Allan cast it. 

The third method was via Spiritual Body Merging, as in, directly uniting their souls where Allan would then pass on the knowledge to Marcel while they were united in that brief period. This method was quickly done with as their psychic wavelengths and spirits didn’t take very kindly to their meddling, especially Marcel’s. Even though the two shared a strong connection via the wings insignia on Allan’s back, Marcel’s body refused the merge, making their plan unsuccessful. 

After this attempt, they tried a whole bunch of things including having Marcel feel it; create his own idea of what a curse should be, which just created an enchantment spell, directly praying to the Spirit of the World for the skill necessary for their endeavor, etc.  

Vitalis never answered because she’d already fulfilled their wish long before Marcel came to Allan. It was very weird watching the kids beg her like she was some kind of evil deity who seldom heard their prayers when she did it every day, trust me! She was partly sorry that someone aided her in granting their wish before this day after they were done with her. They looked so pitiful and depressed. Her guilt was even worse than when she bound Marcel and the Demon Lord together. It was terrible. 

After using every method, they could think of on their own, which included literally begging an overly partial System Administrator who couldn’t help, it was time to resign. Marcel would never be able to learn witch curses, or at least, so they thought. Fortunately, stalking saves the day! 

After watching in on what they were doing by accident, including their pitiful begging, Claude decided to pitch in some help. He was especially sorry for Allan. Watching the poor guy suffer as he failed to meet Marcel’s high expectations, was too much for his heart, so he decided to relieve him of his duty.  

With Claude, was a special gift that would help Allan where he failed; a true expert whose livelihood revolved around the special power of curses. It was Kensuke, their Oni friend. 

“Claude brought me here to help Marcel learn curses. He said that Allan needed leave from his pitiful suffering.” He said to the two who looked mostly burned out.  

Allan looked ecstatic to hear that someone else could do this. He wanted to hug and even kiss Kenny for taking away the hopeless burden he’d forced himself to bear. Now that a true curse expert was here, he could just go back to work, right after he got some rest, of course. 

“You’re welcome! I’d like to help you anytime.” The silent Oni showed a slight smile to Allan after the latter thanked him. It was a rare expression that none of the two saw frequently. Allan’s mood brightened like the moon while Marcel’s slightly dampened because Allan was acting like he was some kind of burden. How rude! Humph! 

Allan and Claude left immediately after confirming that Kensuke will be fine on his own with Marcel, though, Claude kept a faint eye on them, not literally, of course. 

Beginning the purpose for his summoning, Kensuke asked his first question, 

“Why do think I was called here to help you?”  

“Because your race is famous for your expertise in curses?” Marcel answered. 

“Half-correct! Our race revolves a lot around curses. We, Oni, have special constitutions bound to curses and their source. We, almost always, have two elements: the darkness and special curse element, atop our others.” Kenny answered. After that, there was a brief, awkward moment of silence before he continued. 

“How much do you know about our race?” He asked. 

Marcel answered honestly, “I know that it’s a race of warrior giant men belonging to different clans considered very powerful in terms of combat power. Your people also produce one of the best wines I've ever had.” Their alcohol really left a strong impression on him. After all, it was so strong that he managed to get drunk from it and then got tricked into picking a fiancé. If such a thing doesn’t leave you with an impression, then nothing will. 

Kensuke smiled slightly, his smile affirming all that Marcel had said was right. He asked his next question. 

“How do you think that a race of warrior men can progress and thrive as a race when they’re just, well... men?”  

This question left Marcel contemplating silently as he tried to find an answer. Sure, he knew that powerful people could cross natural boundaries and have children together, like Kenny’s parents, for example. He, however, didn’t think the entire race could do that. The Spirit of the World probably isn’t generous to provide the entire race of men with a gift like the ability to conceive children. He didn’t think she would do that. Look what she did when he asked her for something as puny as a skill for learning curses. 

Even after a while, Marcel still couldn’t come up with a definite answer. Kensuke had to answer his own question. 

“It’s a long story! Would you like to hear it?” He asked. 

Marcel’s eyes flickered with excitement at the chance to listen to someone’s story once again, “Do I?”  

Kensuke nodded and began telling the story. 

 

Kenny’s POV 

My race still exists today, because of our primogenitor. We owe him our existence.  

You see, unlike the other primogenitors, our race’s primogenitor was born with a flaw. It was a great flaw that made him different from the other primogenitors. Unlike the others, he wasn’t given the ability to bear offspring like the others. His creator had simply forgotten to give him that gift before sending him to fulfill his mission. 

After he came into this world, he watched the other primogenitors begin building their foundations to start various races while he couldn’t even populate the world he chose. He was the only one who couldn’t.  

After years of trying hard with all of his power to be like the others. He prayed to his God and asked for his aid in completing the mission for which he’d been created. Sadly, however, the window in which his God could offer assistance... had already been closed. The gods could only interfere with the primogenitors during their creation. The heavens and the world they found themselves in wouldn’t allow it. 

His God failed to help, as did everything around him. The spirits, demons, the mystical and natural forces couldn’t help him. He was brought to the brink of despair as he realized that he was destined to never fulfill the mission that he was made for, so he cursed the heavens, or at least, he was about to. 

In the moments before he opened his mouth and cursed everything around him with his mouth, it came to him. 

If he couldn’t do it naturally, then what about if he sought help from nature to aid him in his quest to fulfill his mission. Wills have power. Surely, there must be a power out there which will allow him to bring those wills to life in this world, he thought. Apparently, a mysterious being aided him in making this realization. 

After that, he worked tirelessly for many years, and then finally, he gained the power to turn the natural laws over its head. This power used the darkness behind the elements; a form of unused, formless power that could take any form one desired, even the elements themselves that they came from. Incorporating it together with magic, he created a new power, the Curse element. 

The power he gained from using the new element, could make the impossible possible. He wasn’t very gifted in the art of spirits or the demons; thus, natural magic wasn’t something he could freely use. However, this power, a discarded power born from natural magic, was one he discovered that he could. The art he created was strangely like natural abilities that the creators of the primogenitors had given them, and this newfound power... was his.  

After learning further about what he could do, he used his new ability to curse himself, finally fixing his flaw of infertility and having his first child: the Ogre. While his child was still developing, he successfully altered its body, granting it the power to have descendants as well. 

After the safe birth of his firstborn and further perfecting the technique, he had several more children, thus completing his mission of starting a new race. Everything was good at the beginning, but eventually, he was forced to change them.  

After some years into their development as a race, he realized another flaw in his children as they grew. Eventually, they were immensely overpowered by the other races, with the natural gifts his creator had given him to bestow on his offspring no longer being inadequate to establish their future growth.  

The Ogres he birthed were physically strong, granted the ability to overpower their opponents with their superior physical abilities. Albeit this, they were unable to stand against the magic of the other races, so their end was inevitable. Magic developed quickly and soon; physical strength alone was useless. Only the fittest races could survive at that time, thus the fall of the Ogres was inevitable.  

Our primogenitor stepped in and recreate the entire race once again by birthing the ancestors of a new, more powerful race: the Oni.   

Our Oni race is the empowered Ogre race, a combination of the Creator’s gifts of immense physical capabilities passed down through our father and the hard-earned gift of the Curse element. By bestowing parts of his new power into his recreated children, he opened up a vast array of new abilities for our race.  

His source of power could be molded into virtually, any power, thus we got the darkened elements created from the other side of natural power. Via this power shaped like the natural elements, we learned various magic, crafting, and soon, Weapon Wielding when the 'Grand Sword God' appeared. Our path to becoming a formidable race was paved and thus, our primogenitor’s mission was complete until something threatened to bring about their extinction again.  

With all that he’d done, he could finally leave in peace, though, he ensured that extinction wouldn’t come so easily to his race. Like the other primogenitors, he left us in the hands of the Protector of Races, commonly referred to as the Demon Lord, and vanished. 

Thanks to his blessings, or curses, our race was able to successfully establish itself without having to worry about how to make offspring. By stimulating our specially-cursed constitutions, we can birth new generations of Oni. We’ve even able to successfully produce offspring with other races apart from our own.  

Others might consider curses, inherently bad or evil-natured because of their inherent darkness and how many outside our race use them today, but to us, curses are a literal blessing. We exist thanks to them and we pay homage to it by using it in everything we do. 

Curses aren’t enchantments like most people think it is. It draws power in a similar way to Rune magic, an ancient form of magic that utilizes every portion of natural power without separating them. Curses are wills given form and purpose. What one can do with such power is as endless as the distance one decides to reach for.