Blessed Curse of Lust

The group was standing in the grand hall. It was a massive, mostly empty space, originally designed to hold events, important announcements, and speeches for all the students attending the academy. I also had another purpose. This was a place where students from all years could gather, meet, and discuss things with each other, and the main reason they tend to gather here was the job boards.

Along the walls on both sides of the hall, large boards were placed, each displaying countless job listings for students to inspect and take on. Each board was clearly marked with a number, indicating which year it belongs to. The jobs were categorized by difficulty, so lower-year students would get access to easier jobs, while higher-year students would get more difficult ones.

To make things easier and more accessible, there were several boards for each year, spread around the hall, with duplication magic cast on them. Once a new job was posted on one, it appeared on all. When the students took one, that job would vanish from the others as well.

The girls were standing near the entrance, making sure they were not blocking all the other students who were flowing in and out of the hall. They were waiting for their newest member before proceeding to one of the boards.

“Don’t even say it!” Yelena sternly told Lily, who was wearing a rather smug expression.

“Why? I think it is nice, you really know how to choose your members. I mean, you said you didn’t want to create a harem or whatever, but come on! Have you seen her? I mean, huhuh.” Lily was making rather inappropriate gestures above her breasts, indicating the rather large size of Eris’ breasts.

Yelena rolled her eyes and groaned. She already expected Lily to jump on this. Her decision, of course, wasn’t based on the girl’s looks, but rather her capabilities. Despite how easy Yelena made it seem to defeat her, Eris by no means was a bad fighter. Sure, she did have some bad habits, but Yelena was confident that they could be overcome easily. Even with those habits, Eris was likely one of the top students in their year.

“Stop playing around! I told you, it is nothing like that. We needed a fighter; she is good enough and didn’t have a team. Stop trying to turn everything into your fantasy.” Yelena scolded the redhead.

Lily shrugged. She already knew where things would end up in the future, even if Yelena was trying her best to deny it, Lily would make sure of it.

After like 20 minutes of waiting, Eris arrived in the hall. She looked around, her face scrunched up, still upset about how easily she lost that fight. It didn’t take long before she noticed Yelena and the rest of the team.

The elven girl walked up to the group and stood in front of the white-haired girl. She bit her lower lip and narrowed her eyes as she looked at the person who just mercilessly defeated her.

“What was that magic you used? There is no way that was a simple level 1 spell.” She said.

“You are not wrong. Level 2 Thunder infusion.” Yelena replied.

Eris’ eyes opened wide; she had a feeling there was something off about that spell. Now, Yelena herself confirmed it.

“So you cheated! The rules state that no spell above level 1 is allowed. I can’t accept this! I want a rematch!” She said, her voice oozing with anger.

“No, the rules state that no combat spell above level 1. Utility spells such as Thunder Infusion or your Wind Step are exempt from this rule. You should pay more attention.” Yelena grinned.

She was right. The rules only applied to magic that would cause direct harm. The reason was to ensure the students wouldn’t be seriously injured or sustain fatal wounds during these duels. Spells that were designed to give some sort of utility, enhance speed, or strength were exempt from this rule.

Eris still had a hard time accepting her defeat, but she had no other excuses. She clearly was somebody who was proud of her strength and abilities, yet she stood no chance in that duel.

“Fine, whatever! I still want a rematch sometime.” She wasn’t letting that go. “This is your team, I assume?”

The elven girl looked through the other members. Her eyes stopped and lingered on Valerie longer than they should have. There was some concern in her eyes, but she quickly moved on.

“Yes, let me introduce myself. This is Thea Lumera, Lily Renla, and Valerie Tartos. I don’t think I introduced myself either. I’m Yelena Hellag, nice to meet you.” Yelena introduced the team one by one.

Eris raised an eyebrow after hearing Yelena’s name. It was odd that she reacted like that about her, but not about the third princess, who she should have recognized if by nothing else, but the name alone.

“Hellag? Like House Hellag of the North?” Eris asked back.

“Exactly! Is that a problem?” Yelena asked.

“No… not a problem. I had a feeling when I first saw you, but I wasn’t sure.” Eris replied.

“So you do know me. Not a surprise if you came from Ura’ya. I’m more surprised that we don’t know who you are. Yuvelire, far as I know, isn’t a major house over there. I don’t know why you need to hide your identity, but I won’t pry. Can’t say the same about Lily, so be careful.” She pointed at the redhead.

Lily puffed her cheeks up and pouted at the insinuation.

“What does that supposed to mean? I’m not that bad.” The redhead protested.

Yelena shrugged; she was aware by this point that Lily always had an agenda. Usually, it was something lewd, but who knows what she will do when there is a mystery to untangle. Combined with her exceptional ability to read people, Yelena was worried she would actually manage to find something out about Eris.

“Either way, if she gets too much, let me know. I don’t know the reason why you're hiding your identity, but I don’t really care. As long as you have our backs while we are out there completing the jobs, I don’t care who you really are. I think the others can agree to that too.” Yelena looked over to the rest of the team, each one, even Lily, nodded in agreement.

“Why do you think I’m hiding something?” Eris asked back.

“You are not exactly subtle. The sword technique and magic you use are not exactly something a commoner would know. So, you are high-born for sure. The gem in the circlet you are wearing is a Typalos crystal. Only found in Ura’ya, and even there, it costs a huge amount. That would mean you are likely a high rank even amongst the nobility.” Yelena explained her reasoning.

Eris wore a deeply concerned expression as she thought about what Yelena had just said. Looks like she wasn’t able to hide herself as well as she thought she did.

“I see… Well, I will have to reevaluate my approach, it seems. Thank you for pointing it out.” Eris replied politely.

“It is pointless. By now, most others likely came to the same conclusion. Besides, your name really gives it away. It is fake, no doubt about it. The academy wouldn’t let you enroll under a fake name unless there was a good reason. So, you are someone really important. Either way, as I said, I don’t care. Let’s just move on from this topic and focus on what we really came here for.” Yelena pointed towards the nearest board with no one around.

The others seem to agree; everyone had had enough of waiting around, and it was getting late, too. Eris was still troubled by how easily Yelean saw through her, but still, she looked relieved since her real identity hadn’t been revealed just yet.

They all walked over to the board and started checking the available jobs. Since their party is shaping up nicely, they could take on something more difficult. They still were missing a support mage, but with an almost full party, Yelena was sure they would find someone very soon.

“Take this one. I’m sure it will be interesting.” Lucia pointed at one of the papers on the board.

Yelena was surprised to see herself being directly involved in this. Lucia mostly spoke when she had some information to share or when she was trying to tease the white-haired girl. Yelena was obviously curious and looked at the job listing.

Undead extermination in some cave? Not really uncommon. Why would it be interesting? Yelena couldn’t understand why Lucia would be interested in this.

“You will probably find out. Just take it.” The goddess insisted.

****

The newly formed team of five stood outside the entrance to a large cave. In the end, Yelena went with Lucia’s suggestion, and she took the job. The rest of the group didn’t object; it was a decent job offering a good reward.

They had less than a day to prepare, but Thea had already gathered all the information they needed.

“Okay, based on the scouting party’s report, we have to deal with some minor undead. Skeletons and zombies, low rank for both. They only checked around the entrance, so we don’t know what the situation is deeper in the cave. Keep your eyes open!” Thea started going through the important details of the mission.

“Now, based on the magic levels in the area, it seems to be a natural awakening, no indication that any foul play took place here. It should be relatively simple to deal with it.” She continued.

“Yeah, that was pretty clear. If someone was intentionally raising the dead, they wouldn’t send a bunch of first-year students to deal with it.” Valerie offered her thoughts on the matter.

In general, there were two ways the dead could walk again. The direct way would be using necromancy to awaken and control them. This was a highly complex type of magic that was heavily forbidden on the entire continent. If a necromancer’s involvement was suspected, the job would likely never have even appeared on any of the job boards in the academy and would have been dealt with by higher authorities. Such a crime was not taken lightly.

The other way, which they were now facing, was what they called naturally occurring awakening. In such cases, lingering magical energies could cause a phenomenon where the dead would rise again. They would have little autonomy, no intelligence whatsoever, with the only instinct to kill any living being that got close enough.

In these cases, the dead would be unlikely to leave the place of their awakening and would wander around there aimlessly. As long as nobody got close enough, they were harmless, but obviously, even in a remote location like this, it was impossible to say that nobody would ever accidentally come across it and meet a gruesome end. Because of that, it was a perfect task for a group of first-year students to deal with.

Weird! Why would remnant magical energies in this place be strong enough here to raise the dead? Did something happen here? Yelena was pondering.

Normally, these things occurred at places where a higher concentration of magic was used in the past. The lingering energies could disrupt the world's natural balance and create various phenomena, such as raising the dead. It often happened around old battlefields, where countless spells were cast during the battle, or places where mages gathered to practice their craft and research the mysteries of magic.

This place looked like neither of those. It was just some random cave. Nothing stood out in the area that would indicate anything special about this location. Yelena was confused how it could even happen.

Do you know anything? She asked Lucia.

“I’ve had a hunch when I saw the job listing. Wasn’t sure, but I’m now. This place will be interesting. You will see.” The goddess remained cryptic and smiled.

“As I mentioned, we will be dealing with skeletons and zombies. The former is easier. Break their bones, and they will start falling apart. The most effective way to break their spine or their skull. Other parts might slow them down or make them less effective, but they will still be able to move and fight. Spine and skull, on the other hand, tend to destroy the entire being almost immediately.” Thea continued.

Yelena stopped her discussion with Lucia and looked back at her friend, who was giving her a speech. She didn’t have much time to prepare, but Thea had already gathered all the information they needed. Yelena was really grateful to have someone at the party who could plan things so thoroughly.

“Zombies are a bit trickier. They don’t have a weak spot in one or two specific spots like skeletons do. They are slower, but much more resilient and tend to be physically stronger, too. Ideally, you should be able to see faintly glowing symbols on their bodies. It is pretty much the magic that keeps them animated. Destroy the symbol, and the magic will cease as well. Not too hard, the only issue is that they tend to be in different places, so first you will have to look for them.” Thea explained the two types of enemies they might encounter.

The other girls nodded along; it was pretty clear now how they would deal with any enemies they might encounter inside. After Thea finished her speech, they formed up and took their positions.

Yelena and Eris took the front, with Thea staying on the back of the formation, Lily and Valering in the middle. This way, they were covered from both front and back, in case they ran into any surprises.

Once they were all ready, they walked inside the cave. It was dark and damp, and water was dripping slowly down from the ceiling. There must be a source of water somewhere above them that found its way through the cracks.

Inside, various mushrooms and other fauna were growing along the floor and walls. As they walked farther inside, it grew darker and darker. Valerie cast a spell, and a small wisp of light appeared above their heads, circling around the group and following them as they walked. With the path now well illuminated, they could move around much more easily.

It didn’t take long before they faced their first enemies. A group of five skeletons blocked the passage. As soon as they got close enough, the undead turned towards the group and approached menacingly. In their hands, they held old, rusty weapons and tools to use to fight off anything that got close enough. They had no armor; some had pieces of fabric hanging down on their bones, but that was the most they had for any sort of coverage.

“Get ready!” Yelena instructed the group, and everyone readied their weapons and took up a fighting stance.