This young master truly has the ambition of a hero.

At this stage, it would be quite simple for Dick to help her break the curse, but if he couldn't understand the characteristics and mechanism of this curse, he wouldn't be able to find an effective way to counter it, and there would be no way to lift or prevent it.

So Dick came up with a rather unethical idea: she had Qigant continue to absorb the curse, using herself as a vessel to accelerate the curse's evolution and formation, so that she could study its complete form.

Anyway, with Dick as the last resort, at least Qigante's safety is guaranteed... probably.

Qi Gante: "I'm so sad..."

In the following days, Chigan began his preaching tour through local villages and towns.

To avoid causing public panic, Dick did not announce the discovery of the transmissible curse for the time being. Since Chigant was a nun, it was perfectly normal for her to travel around preaching and spreading the word. She could secretly absorb the curse power attached to the people without leaving a trace when she baptized believers with holy water.

After absorbing more than two hundred people, the curse on Qigante began to change, entering the later stage as expected, but the effect of the curse was very subtle.

What's wrong with her?

"I don't want to move."

Is it an effect of numbness or paralysis?

"No, simply...lazy."

"what?"

Inside the castle's living room, Dick looked at Qigante, who had been carried back by Lucoa, and asked what was going on.

Lucoa tossed the person onto the sofa and then shrugged, indicating that the person was probably done for.

"It's a very strange curse. It doesn't harm the body, but it makes people depressed. Specifically, as the curse deepens, people become increasingly lazy. The complete form turned out like her (referring to Qigante), so lazy that she didn't even want to turn over by herself."

Qi Gante: "I'm so sad..."

According to Lucoa, this curse has no direct lethality, but in exchange, it possesses extremely strong concealment and transmissibility. Based on her observations over the past few days, the curse likely began spreading from local villages and towns, and then gradually spread to the cities. The curse itself is not a fully formed vengeful spirit, but rather a specialized form of resentment, a contagious negative energy.

"So, my territory... has been hit by a case of laziness?"

"Fortunately, it was discovered early and is not too serious yet, but if it is allowed to continue to develop, then it is hard to say."

"Has the source been found?"

Not yet.

Every curse has a source, namely the wizard or sorcerer who cast it. Theoretically, if you can't break the curse, killing the caster is just as effective. And even if such strange curses can spread from person to person, the person initially cursed must have accidentally come into contact with an object tainted by resentment somewhere; that object is called a "medium" in the curse ritual.

However, Lucoa and Qigant went out for several days but did not find any items that resembled the medium in the villages where the curse was more severe.

However, regarding the characteristics exhibited by this curse, Dick vaguely felt that he had seen similar descriptions in some books, but perhaps because he had read too many books and it had been too long, he couldn't recall them at first glance.

So Dick decided to consult Behemoth, but before he could, he had to break the curse on the lazy Chigan.

Seeing Dick approach, the cursed Chigante panicked inside, but was too lazy to move. She had shrunk her body many times before, sneaking into Dick's room to observe and cram in the physiological knowledge of the sex world, so she subconsciously thought she was about to be violated.

But Dick simply cupped her face and gently kissed her red lips. The feeling was unexpectedly comfortable, and her stiff body felt as if it were melting. A warm power was flowing into her body, quickly dissolving the negative effects of the curse.

The two kissed for a while until Chigan regained her mobility and reached out to hug Dick's neck. Only then did Dick separate from her, but a strand of glistening silk still clung to the corner of his mouth.

Qi Gante was breathing slightly, his green eyes seemingly revealing confusion.

Is that all?

"This curse isn't that powerful against a single target, much weaker than I initially thought, so a kiss can dispel it. If the resentment is stronger, then I'll have to take further action."

"I see..."

Qi Gante lowered her eyes, and a thoughtful expression appeared on her beautiful but always dejected face.

Chapter 171: The Source of the Curse

Unfortunately, Behemoth was not cultivating in the hot spring cave. When Dick arrived, he heard the message specifically left for him from the magical puppet that Behemoth had left behind.

Although the old magician liked to travel around, he was still nominally a contracted gold-medal lecturer at the Imperial Magic Academy and a professor at the National Magic Academy, and thus held a position. So, not long after the beginning of spring, Dick's teacher, Grandor, wrote to his senior, asking him to return to teach in the new semester, at least to make up for the missed class hours; otherwise, the Magic Council would consider revoking his professorship.

Behemoth doesn't care much about titles and positions, but without the title of professor, he can't enter the Grand Archives, the highest level within the National Magic Academy.

So, in order to keep his "reading pass," Behemoth temporarily returned to the capital to become a teacher.

Although Behemoth was not present, the magical puppet took out a heavy, large rosewood box and handed it to Dick. A note was attached to the box, which read "Dragon Bone Powder".

During a previous expedition against the orcs, Dick and his companions killed a Saint-level orc warrior and seized his weapon, a dragonbone greatsword.

The main body of this dragon bone greatsword is a finger bone of a giant dragon. It is slightly curved, just like a sharp blade. So the orc swordsman simply attached a handle to the bottom of the finger bone and used it as a weapon.

As a weapon, this dragonbone greatsword is indeed powerful, because the bones of pure-blooded dragons are the hardest biological material in the world, but at the same time it is also an astonishing waste.

Pureblood dragon bone powder is the most top-tier dream material in alchemy. Whether it's metal or potion, adding just a little bit can greatly enhance the material's performance, instantly turning a blank item into an orange-quality item.

With the pure-blooded dragons having migrated away from this world, dragon bone powder is becoming increasingly scarce, with each use bringing its own depletion.

So when Dick confirmed again and again that it really was the finger bone of a pureblood dragon, he felt that this expedition had already made a huge profit!

Since those who besieged the orc warrior were all Dick's men, the sword, as a trophy, naturally belonged to Dick's side alone, and the other allies were unaware that Dick had obtained this great treasure.

However, to properly handle this dragon bone weighing over two hundred pounds, a top master of alchemy was needed. So Behemoth, who was present at the time, volunteered to take on this big job, but he asked for one-tenth of the finished bone meal as processing fees.

Clearly, his master had completed a portion of it before leaving. He had mentioned that two-thirds of the dragon bone remained, and the already processed parts were in the box. He would finish the rest when he returned.

Having not seen Behemoth in person, Dick could only take the bone powder back home. As soon as he got home, he saw Chigante lying motionless on the sofa in the lounge, just like yesterday, while Resentment was devoutly praying next to him, looking as if he were keeping vigil.

"This is?"

"You've been smoking too much."

"..."

Although everything appears calm on the outside, the curse is indeed spreading. However, the initial symptoms are not obvious, and many people are unaware that they have been cursed. By the middle stage, they may only feel tired, lethargic, and lacking energy. By the time they realize that something is wrong, it is already the late stage of paralysis. This is what makes this curse so insidious.

Currently, more than twenty students at the school have been cursed, and their families have also been affected. Qi Gante didn't even need to leave the city for inspection this time; he just walked around the city and became paralyzed again, this time being carried back by Yuan Qiu.

Seeing this, Dick couldn't help but sigh and stepped forward to help her break the curse.

Seeing this, Yuan Chou was immediately shocked and his eyes widened.

They...they kissed?!

Since Dick didn't like to emphasize his succubus bloodline, this was the first time Yuan Qiu had learned that Dick also had the ability to break curses with his body.

Yuan Chou was stunned for a moment, then spoke to Qi Gan Te with a serious expression.

"Sisters Qigante, from now on, transfer all the curses to me, let me bear this sin!"

"..." x2

Unfortunately, Qigante can only absorb curses, not transfer them (?), so Revenge's hopes were dashed. Dick ignored the abacus beads that had already hit his face and told Qigante to be careful, and that when absorbing curses, she must have a companion by her side, and someone must be responsible for carrying her back.

In the following days, the number of people cursed within Lagug continued to increase, and the growth was no longer something that Qigante alone could stop. At the same time, some minors and adults with weaker resistance began to show early symptoms of the curse, becoming depressed and lethargic.

If it weren't for Qigante's early discovery of the curse's power, Dick might not even have realized his territory was under attack. After all, it's currently spring planting season in Lagug, and with numerous infrastructure projects underway, it's perfectly normal for some people to feel exhausted.

Fortunately, at this time, Dick's mentor Grandor in the capital replied to him.

Before Dick set off to find Behemoth a few days ago, he also used magical communication to seek advice from his mentor. Although Grandor was in the capital, thousands of miles away, as an academic, his theoretical knowledge was more extensive than that of the practical Behemoth. Moreover, he had the backing of the National Magic Academy's large library, so he might be able to find something.

As it turned out, the teacher really delivered; just three days later, a giant owl, a special messenger owl raised by the Magic Academy, arrived in Lagug. This owl, over a meter tall, wore a specially made breast pouch containing Grandor's reply and the items he had brought specifically for it.

Based on the symptoms described by Dick, Grandor quickly found a curse that was extremely similar to it.

The Inertia Curse is a curse invented more than 1,500 years ago by an elven sorcerer whose name was so incredibly long that it was shortened. Its original purpose was to curb the growing power of the human race.

Fifteen hundred years ago, at the end of the Elven Dynasty, the Elven race was no longer able to suppress the human race through war, so they tried to dismantle this stubborn opponent through other means.

Some of the elf leaders with rather peculiar thought processes considered whether they could make the human race collectively lazy, thus becoming so decadent that they no longer posed a threat to the elves.

Elves, with their long lifespans and generally obsessive personalities, are not only inefficient but also prone to getting stuck on trivial details, striving for perfection in meaningless areas. They have plenty of time, and decades don't seem long to them. Therefore, they see the short-lived humans as unbelievably diligent, which they see as the main reason for humanity's rise to power, and thus believe they must be made lazy.

Unlike plagues caused by viruses, curses are more controllable. They can be spread covertly in the early stages under the control of sorcerers, and then manually detonated once they have spread to a sufficient extent.

However, the elven sorcerer entrusted by the higher-ups was a severe procrastinator. Before he could complete his research, the elven dynasty sent it first.

The National Magic Academy's Grand Library was originally the Royal Library of the Elf Dynasty, so there are related records in the books on curses.

Dick finally remembered why the curse seemed familiar: he had indeed read the book, but he hadn't taken the seemingly absurd and incomplete curse to heart.

Grandor not only found records about the curse, but also unearthed the unfinished manuscript from over a thousand years ago from the Great Archives, and sent a copy to Dick.

Dick couldn't help but marvel at his teacher's extensive knowledge and prodigious memory. It wasn't until much later that he learned it wasn't that Grandor had a photographic memory, but rather that he had used his status as a Grand Magister to mobilize a large number of students to conduct a "human search" of the entire library of cursed books, which was how he was able to find these records so quickly.

Among the original documents sent by Grandor was the most crucial model of the curse, including the operational logic of resentment and the mode of transmission. Even though this original document was incomplete, it was enough for Dick to use it as a clue to reverse-engineer the curse and find its "source".

Chapter 172: Rebound

Is this the place?

"According to the map, this is one of the three locations that best fit the criteria for 'source point'. The assault teams at the other two locations should also be in place. We will launch an attack simultaneously."

"Let's do it."

Located at the confluence of waterways 40 kilometers north of the main city of Lagug, Dick personally led his team to quietly approach a cleverly disguised cave.

With his Saint-level mental strength and magic control skills, Dick easily deactivated several magical traps at the entrance, and then Black Gunner took the lead and rushed in.

However, the expected battle did not occur; apart from the still-functioning cursed altar, there was not a soul in the cave.

Soon, the other two assault teams also sent reports that they had also come up empty-handed.

Seeing that there was no fight to be had, Black Gun sullenly put away his weapon and pointed to the altar in the center of the cave, asking a question.

"Master, should we destroy it directly?"

"Don't rush! The curse won't disappear just by destroying the altar, and many sorcerers will hide traps on the altars they build. If you destroy the altar directly, it might cause the curse to go out of control, which would play right into the sorcerer's hands."

Having stopped the impetuous Black Gunner, Dick cautiously circled the altar, using his eyes and mental energy to investigate. Sure enough, he discovered some subtle clues.

Dick remembered that back in magic school, his defense against curses teacher had said that curses were a form of magic that involved gambling with one's life, and that one of the necessary mediums for a sorcerer to cast a curse was their own soul.

Of course! Not all of the soul, just a little is enough. And the more skilled the sorcerer, the clearer they are about how to use as little soul as possible to cast more powerful spells, while concealing themselves as much as possible.

These souls are like stakes placed by the sorcerer at the card table. A successful spell means winning the bet, recouping the initial investment with interest; a failed spell means losing the bet, and the lost souls will cause the sorcerer to suffer a backlash of resentment. A trap, on the other hand, refers to a second curse that may be encased in the altar, causing the person who destroys the altar to bear the consequences of the sorcerer's actions.

Just like those damn gravity sensor ads, you can easily spin them without even realizing it.

Dick observed for a while. The altar was written in a mixture of Elven, Demonic, and more than a dozen other unknown ancient scripts. The caster was a highly skilled practitioner, whose own strength was probably below the Saint rank, but whose experience was extremely rich. It was clear at a glance that he was an old elf named Deng, who was no less than 1,500 years old.

The tricks these old devils pull are sometimes more troublesome than facing a Saint-level expert head-on.

Seeing Dick's solemn expression, Black Gunner, who was standing next to him, reached out and touched his ear and asked.

"Let me handle any dangerous operations. I'm a Heroic Spirit, I should be able to withstand it."

"Don't panic, I can handle it."

Dick wasn't being arrogant; he genuinely had some ideas.

Thanks to his experience of being cursed on average every two weeks during his school days, Dick has a wealth of experience in dealing with curses. He's survived curses ranging from accidental death or disability to illness and diarrhea, and forced estrus; he's truly a veteran of countless battles.

Although spells and magic are two different categories, they share some common principles. For example, the logic behind spell formation is something that Dick, who was a seasoned programmer in his previous life, is very familiar with.

The key point is that he also has the "original manuscript (low-level code)" that his teacher sent him, which makes it easier for him to crack it.

It's likely that the elven sorcerer never imagined that Dick had such a wide network of connections, and that Archmage Grandor valued him so highly. Upon receiving his apprentice's letter, he immediately took action (an efficiency unimaginable to a procrastinating elf), quickly finding ancient materials related to the inertia curse in the Great Archives, all in just three days.

Dick deciphered the spell quickly, completing the reverse derivation in no time.

This spell may be complex, but once you understand the logic, it's quite easy to break.

However, Dick did not immediately begin to crack the code. Instead, he took out the items that his teacher had specially mailed to him from his spatial bracelet. It was a potion formula first developed by the National Magic Academy and a scroll to be used together. The combined effect of the two was to reflect the curse!

Arrogance and prejudice have always been the greatest weaknesses of elves, especially those elders who are 1,500 or 1,600 years old and lived during the late elven dynasty. Even though a thousand years have passed since the dynasty's fall, they are still immersed in the illusion of past glory and cannot extricate themselves. They look down on humans from the bottom of their hearts and are even less interested in understanding the achievements of human mages, firmly believing that their own things are the best.

Just like the cursed altar in front of us, no matter how complex and complicated its form is, the underlying logic of the incantation is still the same old thing from one or two thousand years ago, which has long been thoroughly studied by the magic elites of the human race.

Since the potion to break the curse needs to be prepared on the spot, Grandor sent the raw materials and preparation instructions. Dick set up a portable alchemy table on the spot and started stirring the large pot. Then, with a sinister smile, he took out a small bottle of dragon bone powder from his pocket and added it to the potion ingredients.

This thing has a 100% MAX enhancement effect. The anti-curse potion made with it will not only reflect the curse, but will reflect it even more strongly.

The curse is still spreading within Laguge, and the number of victims is conservatively estimated to be over a thousand. Although most of the cursed individuals have very little resentment in their bodies and have not yet reached the stage of activation, as the saying goes, many grains of sand make a tower. The resentment gathered by so many people should not be underestimated.

On the cursed altar, the sorcerer's own wisp of soul is like his leaked IP address, allowing these resentful forces to flow back precisely to him across time and space, even though they are separated by thousands of miles.

Meanwhile, in the Orcish Capital, thousands of miles away, Neg, appointed by Ramon as a "diplomat," was specifically responsible for receiving the elven delegation currently residing in the Orcish Capital. He often had to suppress his temper as he negotiated with those arrogant elves.

Although orcs are indeed calmer than pure-blooded orcs due to their half-human blood, they can't stand the jerky mouths of these pointy-eared bean sprouts. Even though Nege has experienced many setbacks and his temperament has been tempered to be more stable than other orc princes, he is almost at his limit after half a month of perseverance.

However, no matter how much he disliked these elves, Nege couldn't deny that the orcs could indeed gain a lot by cooperating with them.

Since the formal alliance was formed, Ramon has been constantly asking the elves for material and technical assistance under various pretexts. He was certain that the Dead Tree Party wanted to use the orcs to take revenge on the humans, so he asked for things with a clear conscience. The two sides have been arguing a lot over this in recent days. Ramon would vent his anger at the negotiating table, and then Nege, who acted like a son, would have to play the submissive role to appease them.