Chapter 282: Cursed Item?

“This style of weapon is only common in the Pamir region across the entire Western Continent. However, it is truly rare to see an Assassin who can force you, George, into such a desperate situation!” After looking at the weapon before him, Knight Val reached this conclusion.

He held the Scimitar in his hand, then casually shook it before placing it back on the silk cloth where it had been wrapped. Yet, George saw a dark and cold glint in Val’s eyes. The face, which had looked as smooth and bright as the Mid-Autumn moon, seemed to have frozen into a canvas painted with oil. The slightly downturned corners of his mouth, the slightly clenched jaw, and the clear wrinkle between his eyebrows almost perfectly conveyed his anger to anyone watching.

After a moment, when he had returned to his usual self, he spoke in a slightly stiff tone, “Luckily, you did not touch this Scimitar directly. Otherwise, you would have felt weak for several days. If your luck was bad, you might even have needed to find a Priest to cast a Restoration spell.”

“Are you saying this is a Cursed Item?” George began to feel grateful for his caution earlier. Although Knight Val said that the supernatural power on it would not kill him, becoming weak and helpless would still be a troublesome matter for George. Especially since they had just survived an assassination attempt, this added many unnecessary risks out of nowhere.

“A Cursed Item?” Knight Val paused in surprise, and then his frosty expression finally began to melt a little. He shook his head with a bitter smile and said, “No, it is not a Cursed Item! The term ‘Cursed Item’ is a general name for items with negative effects. Basically, they do not distinguish between friend and foe. Almost no one would use such things as their main battle weapons. Not to mention Assassins who walk on the edge of life and death…”

In George’s mind, the most famous Cursed Items must be the Ring and its accessories that were thrown into a volcano by a short, hairy-legged Dwarf!

In the Middle-earth world, when the Gods created the Elves, they gave the Elves wisdom, Magic, and immortal bodies. The price of their immortality was to watch the kingdoms they created slowly be invaded by time and destroyed by external dark forces. To delay the invasion of time and preserve beautiful things, the Elves used their wisdom and Magic to craft some Rings.

The Dark Lord Sauron discovered this intention, so he disguised himself as a wise man and claimed he would use superior Magic to help the Elves craft the Rings. The Elves fell for the trick and let him lead the crafting process. In total, 19 Rings were crafted. At the same time, Sauron secretly crafted one “One Ring” using his own blood and Magic. This Ring could gather the power of the other Rings and secretly control the thoughts of those who wore them.

However, the Elves and Dwarves were not controlled. Only the nine Human Kings with weak wills, hoping for more honor and status, used the Rings for a long time. In the end, they became nine “Nazgûl” who obeyed the dark forever.

Generally speaking, there are two sources for Cursed Items. One is a flaw in the Magic Item itself, and the other is the harmful Magic Item created by someone with malicious intent, as mentioned just now.

The process of creating Magic Items in this world is very delicate and complex. Sometimes, mistakes are inevitable. After all, this era does not have a standardized quality control system.

Moreover, regarding quality control, it is not very realistic in the field of Magic. After all, Magic itself is still very mysterious. In many cases, even the most knowledgeable Grand Archmage finds it difficult to truly understand the full workings of Magic.

Therefore, when crafting Magic Items, even with extreme caution, some unexpected errors can occur. For example, in a certain “Nana” Mage’s Magic Wand: because a rat’s Soul got inside during the forging process, this Magic Wand could not cast spells when it heard a cat meow.

Even if the manufacturing process is perfect, it does not mean the item will not have problems. Time can change everything, and Magic is often no exception. With the changes in Magic power, especially when a Magic Item is under the influence of a powerful Magic Force Field, a realm passage, other Magic Items, or creatures for a long time, it will often undergo strange changes.

For example, various Magic Potions found in ancient tombs might have lost their original Magic or undergone subtle changes. As a result, a Potion for Minor Wounds might instead cause damage, and a Potion of Bull Strength might turn a person into a real Bull.

There is also a quite famous item: a tin can found in a Dragon’s Nest. The tin can in a Dragon’s Nest refers to the human tin cans that were used to attack the Black Dragon’s nest. Generally, the humans with the courage to attack a Black Dragon’s nest are Dragon-slaying Warriors. Their armor, even if the Black Dragon does not care for it, is still quite good armor.

However, after such armor was soaked in the Dragon’s energy field for a long time, the powerful protective Magic added to it underwent an irreversible change. This Magic no longer protects the wearer but instead causes others who see the wearer to feel inexplicable hatred toward the wearer. This is the famous “Smite Armor,” which first appeared before the eyes of the world.

Even more strangely, neither the wearer nor the affected enemies can clearly feel these effects. That is to say, the wearer cannot confirm that there is a problem with the armor, and the person attacking them cannot explain why they suddenly feel such inexplicable hatred.

This other Magic Item was finally revealed by the Mage Obadiah Hargrave 400 years ago, who lifted its mysterious veil. Later, terms like “Hargrave’s Smite Armor” or “Hargrave’s Taunting Armor” came to be used in its name. It is unknown if the Mage, who is now dead, would become a Lich and rise from his grave to settle the score if he knew about this situation.

Even among intentionally crafted Cursed Magic Items, some are made with the creator’s unique intentions. For example, a certain fat Mage, determined to lose weight, created a Magic Spoon. As soon as you start using that spoon, you will involuntarily only be able to eat a tiny bit of food, and you might not even be able to use other tableware.

Of course, the most dangerous ones are those made by creators with evil intentions, just like the One Ring mentioned above. Generally, these crafted items might control the thoughts of others, or they might tempt the wearer to fall into corruption, such as the famous “Alignment Reversing Helmet.” “In fact, those Cursed Items specifically made usually have a very clear purpose, and they are not common,” Knight Val said. As he spoke, he seemed to have forgotten his earlier discomfort, and his face relaxed considerably. “In fact, the most common Cursed Items are actually those counterfeits in the non-typical sense.”

“Counterfeits? Or in the non-typical sense?” Now George was completely confused.

Knight Val waved his hands as if giving a speech and continued talking: “That’s right! Those counterfeits also emit a Magic Spirit Light. Although they have no corresponding Magic power, they can make people feel that they are fine. The holder will completely believe in the Magic effects of the item. It is only after the ‘Remove Curse’ spell is cast that they regret it bitterly.”

Sir Fukna, who was always known for his steady image, also made a joke at this moment: “Those guys are really unlucky! Even at a low price, any Magic Item is not cheap. I think those who discover they have been cheated might be so heartbroken that they want to vomit blood.”

“I think their pain is probably not something that can be measured by money alone. If they face danger, those ineffective Magic Items will often take the user’s life,” George added, not forgetting to join in at this moment, as if he had already forgotten the assassination attempt he just suffered. In fact, he did not want to make the news of his assassination attempt public.

Although it was not a crisis of troops pressing at the border, the tug-of-war with the Dark Elves had filled the hearts of the residents within a radius of over 100 kilometers near the passage entrance with unease. Although it had not reached the point of being overly suspicious of every shadow, even a slight wind or rustle could trigger a round of rumors.

Why? Because those Dark Elves are experts at “stealing chickens and dogs”! Suppressed on the front lines, they might not hesitate to use asymmetric warfare methods—such as assassinating famous figures in nearby towns or setting fire to crowded places like Taverns and Markets to create panic.

If news of George’s assassination attempt spread at this time, the resulting scene would be predictable. It might even be exactly what the enemy wanted. Although the assassination failed, it achieved some strategic goals. Therefore, George did not plan to conduct a large-scale search. At this time, maintaining the stability of the situation was more important.

Of course, George would not let go of those who attacked him so easily. In a world with Magic, finding a person using a human wave tactic is not an effective method—although it is often the cheapest. However, the Prophet by Knight Val became George’s best choice. Although the price was expensive, George believed he did not lack money in this regard, or rather, the investment here was worth it.

However, since such an accident happened, pretending to be indifferent in front of the world is not an easy task. Although George had acted for many years, he did not think he could handle this situation with complete ease. The actions of the two Knights just now, while answering George’s questions, were also helping him adjust his mindset.

“In fact, for many people, their experiences make them feel it would be better to have lost their lives. Remember a few years ago in the Commercial Republics in The South, there was a merchant with a strange hobby who used a counterfeit Invisibility Ring to spy on the public bathhouse for women in the citizen district. I don’t need to describe what happened next,” Knight Val said, winking at the two of them. “The merchant who became the laughingstock of the entire city, although he offered a large reward for the Adventurer who sold him the Ring, everything was already too late.”

“That is true. But I hope that unlucky pervert does not go bankrupt because of this,” George said with a smile. However, both his tone and expression were full of schadenfreude. In fact, such a reputation was enough to destroy a small or medium-sized Merchant Guild with a not-so-long history. Because almost all Merchant Guilds have competitors, and those people would never let go of such a good opportunity.

“There are also some Magic Items that have the opposite effect. Usually, they apply spell effects that should have targeted others onto the user themselves. Even the effect of a simple Weakness spell might tip the scales of battle.” As he spoke, Knight Val suddenly thought of something. He clapped his hands and said, “There are also some Spell Items that are classified as Cursed Items, but they are not unusable…”

These types of Cursed Items are usually called Defective Items. Some are unstable and may not work when used. Others depend on the situation; they are only effective or ineffective under certain conditions—like the Magic Wand that fears cats mentioned earlier.

Another situation is Chaos. These items will start up on their own at irregular times. The most serious case is a Fireball Magic Wand suddenly exploding among teammates. Or there might be extra requirements; besides the activation command, stricter conditions must be met. Of course, there are also Magic Items with side effects. Usually, they are still beneficial to the user, but they also come with negative effects.

“But, do not think that all Cursed Items are useless. Although most people do not specifically make Cursed Items to harm others, human imagination is infinite. These Cursed Items will always be used in unexpected ways.” Knight Val said with a hint of mystery.

This never-heard-of statement immediately aroused George’s great interest. Of course, in front of Knight Val, he did not hide it at all. After satisfying his curiosity, the latter spoke up to answer: “Take the famous ‘Frenzy Sword’ for example. It allows the user to enter a frenzy state as soon as they fight, attacking those around them with infinite power. For ordinary people, this is a dangerous weapon, but for some bloodthirsty people, it might be considered a treasure. If used with reasonable tactics, it is a sharp blade in small-scale conflicts. Of course, it must be used in combination with spells to stop the frenzy to prevent harming one’s own people. And that ‘Smite Armor’ can be worn by the Skeleton Warriors summoned by Mages or other humanoid projections from other worlds. This often causes some enemies with weak wills to chase the person wearing that armor relentlessly. This can easily reduce the pressure of the battle and lead the enemies into a trap for a decisive victory.”

It can be said that Magic Items are infinitely powerful, and everyone hopes to get them. But once you get a Cursed Item, sometimes it can only make the user cry and laugh, or even cost them their life. How can one avoid becoming a victim of a Cursed Item? It is useless to find a Consumer Association. Users usually need to have the ability to appreciate Magic Items.

Although for consumable items, Cursed Items might be very ordinary, making it hard for users to distinguish them. As an inducement, most Cursed Items specifically made have gorgeous appearances, powerful functions, and can give the wearer great power. Just like “Frostmourne” in Warcraft, it promised Arthas great power but wanted to control his consciousness and guide him to corruption. So remember, there is no free lunch. If you get a powerful Magic Item one day, first check it carefully to avoid being tricked while the seller counts their money.

However, for a big spender like George who buys things with money, the best choice is to find a supplier with guaranteed reputation. Of course, having a Mage around who is not necessarily very strong but is knowledgeable enough is also good. Only with this double guarantee can the Nobles feel a little more at ease.

For Adventurers, the first thing to learn is how to use Detect Magic. For example, a Protection Cloak might emit a Conjuration Spirit Light when detected. In this case, you must be careful; does it carry poison? Of course, this is useless for intentionally made Cursed Items, because the creator will definitely add a disguised Spirit Light to the item. So you need to use stronger identification Magic to study it. Even before using it, it is best to perform divination, such as “Will I be unlucky if I wear this thing?” This is when the Divination Magic comes in handy.

Listening to all this, George let out a long sigh: “It looks like my choice to require signing an Arcane Contract when I bought Magic Items before was correct. Otherwise, if someone had ill intentions, it would have been a trouble.”

“An Arcane Contract can only stop those malicious people who actively sell Cursed Items. For merchants who do not know their goods have problems, even if you punish them using the power of the Contract after problems arise, I am afraid that is not what you want! I know you, George, have a hobby of buying failed works, but for safety reasons, it is better to avoid those things as much as possible in the future. Although the possibility of this happening is extremely slim, you, who bear the responsibility of a Lord, had better not take such risks,” Knight Val reminded him kindly.

George’s heart tightened: ‘Is there such a big loophole in this? Although it is a low-probability event, I should be more careful in the future.’

Seeing George’s expression change, Knight Val knew that his purpose of taking this opportunity to lecture had been achieved. Although playing mind games with a junior like George felt a bit low, some things had to be done for the other’s safety. However, for advising a very independent young man like George, sometimes the technique of speaking is more important than the content itself. Therefore, to avoid counter-effects, Knight Val had to take a roundabout approach.