WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 261

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Magical power curses were bound to the soul. In that sense, their structure resembled a contract. That was what I had realized while studying magical power curses without end.

I sat cross-legged and focused my mind. Then I clearly sensed that there was not a trace of magical power around me.

Perhaps because I felt that absence of magical power, I could sense the flow of magical power through my body even more clearly. It was probably not just my imagination. I had focused my mind like this countless times over the past while.

I sent out my will and began examining the inner world deep within my inner image, beyond my chest. Before long, I found my tree standing there silently.

I gave a bitter smile as I looked at it.

It had been around ten years ago that I became certain I had considerable talent for puppetry. That talent could also be called the power held by my tree.

If I had wanted to cultivate only my tree, it would have grown without restraint. I might even have received notice of an evaluation for the fourth floor.

But I had not wanted to go in that direction. Far from nurturing it, I tore away its stems nearly every day. Naturally, it had been very difficult for it to grow.

Even so, the tree had never expressed any resentment toward me. It knew that the path I, no, we pursued was the path that would let us move forward.

Yet seeing it now made me feel a little sorry.

I had torn away parts of the tree all this time, but it had always stood tall toward the sky. It constantly regenerated itself atop firm roots.

But now, even that regeneration seemed difficult for it. I scratched my head and approached the tree. Then I saw how badly it had twisted.

The tree was twisted like that because of the black spots embedded in its body. An eerie flow I could not control seeped from those spots.

That flow was not limited to the tree alone. A tree was the symbol of the soul, so naturally, my soul also contained those spots.

Perhaps that was why the tiny soul Saplings that had surrounded my tree had left my foundation and crossed into the shadow tree's territory.

I watched that strange flow and reached out my hand. Those spots were the curses I had planted. I had come to examine my tree so that I could restore it to its proper form.

I slowly stroked the flow of the twisted tree. Then, under my control, the tree began to straighten its warped body once more.

At the same time, I felt my body being cleansed as well. The soul was the center of life. Thus, the foundation where the tree took root, the physical body, naturally became warped too.

My body had also contained that distortion, but as I forcibly straightened the tree, the magical power circuits and foundation of my body gradually began to fill again.

I smiled at the sensation of an empty area being restored. Yes, success was close. If I could raise the tree completely like this, that strange flow surely would not be able to affect it anymore.

But my smile vanished moments later. I suddenly felt as though something had collapsed.

It was not merely my imagination. I opened my mouth at the violent current surging within me. Dark blood flowed from my lips.

I had suffered an internal injury. It was probably because the tree I had forcibly straightened had reacted against me. Just as I had expected, the moment the tree tried to bloom anew, the magical power curses all released their strange flows at once.

They burned away the magical power contained within the tree and twisted its form again. At the same time, I felt as though something were forcibly cutting away my soul.

I vomited blood again. Raising the tree meant touching the soul. Since I had been interrupted halfway through, it was only natural that my soul would suffer such a shock.

The flow of magical power curses carved into the tree surged as it tore apart part of my soul.

So much for success. I had failed again. This was how curses forcibly controlled the flow of my magical power. That was why the trees of those who bore magical power curses could not help becoming twisted.

I examined my body. The circuits I had refined over a long period were twisting as well. I could only click my tongue.

It seemed things would not end with internal injuries alone. Just as I expected, the magical power curses raged as though I had stirred up a hornet's nest. Unable to endure the aftermath, not only my soul but my body began to collapse.

I closed my eyes slightly. No matter how much Professor Irian had trained me, this pain was still rather unpleasant.

Did everyone who carried magical power curses live with this kind of pain? It struck me anew just how remarkable it was that they could build trees and keep living.

Of course, their pain surely was not as severe as mine. Unlike them, who carried only one magical power curse, I had carved ten curses into myself. The pain had to be far more than ten times worse.

The curses continued to rampage, and I felt cracks beginning to form in my body, which could not withstand the aftermath. As the curses rejected magical power, my body, refined through magical power, began to break apart under the backlash.

I gave a bitter smile at the sensation of my body collapsing. As expected, the body of a mage from a lowly bloodline like mine could not withstand such powerful magical power curses.

It seemed I would have to wait for another chance. With that final thought, a dizzying pain engulfed me, my eyes naturally closed, and a dark silence descended.

Death had come for me.

The moment I felt it, I abruptly opened my eyes again. Beyond my hazy vision, I sensed someone approaching. I tried to rise, but my muddled mind made me stagger for a moment.

“Master, are you all right?”

A gentle voice accompanied by the faint scent of sunflowers, as though warmed by sunlight for a long time, brushed the tip of my nose. It was undoubtedly Isabella.

Isabella approached me and draped a robe over my new body. Then she lightly supported my unsteady body and slowly helped me stand.

I gradually steadied my magical power. After some time, I felt as though my body and soul had joined into one.

Soon, my blurred vision became clear as well. I met Isabella's eyes as she wore a soft smile. Holding a large mirror bug, she scanned my body with magical power and nodded.

“It doesn't seem like there are any problems.”

Isabella carefully let go of me and stepped back half a pace. I dipped my head slightly, inspected my new body, then headed toward where I had been sitting cross-legged just moments earlier.

A massive magic circle came into view. The circuits filled with dense magical power clearly showed that it was a magical power erasure array.

And in the center of that magical power erasure array lay a body shattered into pieces. It was my previous body, the failed creation that had collapsed under the magical power curses. I glanced at Isabella and held out my hand.

“Ms. Isabella, could you give me the Score Sheet? I should look over the data to see how this experiment went.”

At my request, Isabella handed me the mirror bug she had been holding. Its screen was as large as my head, and it was filled with writing.

[-Physical score: 80 points. Though you adapted quickly to the new body, a small amount of shock from the previous body's collapse has been transferred.

-Mental score: 42 points. Part of your mind was damaged in the process of your soul and body breaking apart.

-Soul score: 90 points. Your soul is filling in again. Still, its rate of regeneration appears much slower than before.

Overall: You should rest for approximately six hours before resuming the experiment.]

Six hours of rest. I stroked my chin. I was terribly short on time...

After considering it, I shook my head. If the Score Sheet had reached that conclusion, my condition must be that bad. I needed to follow its recommendation.

“Based on my assessment, magical power efficiency improved by around twenty percent compared to the previous experiment. However, as you can see, the backlash was difficult for an ordinary body to endure.”

Isabella spoke from beside me. I tapped the mirror bug, and a screen appeared beneath the words, depicting what seemed to be my body.

The image then began to show in detail how my body had collapsed moments ago, expressing the flow of the curses and the backlash of magical power in lines.

I nodded as I watched. As expected, my body had begun collapsing below my chest and around my neck. Looking at it this way, I could clearly understand how this experiment had failed.

At the end, the mirror bug bluntly displayed another message.

[The 1st and 7th curses clashed, causing backlash. The flow that began from there gradually caused the “unification” to collapse. In the next experiment, it would be best to proceed by affecting the 5th, 6th, and 8th curses simultaneously.]

After checking it, I returned the mirror bug to Isabella. She began writing something on it, probably entering reference material for the next test.

That was Score Sheet 3.0, the result of repeated improvements. It was the product of Isabella's own intuition, just as it was now.

The first Score Sheet had merely shown the completeness of a body, while the second had displayed a life's score. The new Score Sheet compiled information and predicted the path I should take.

That was why the tower's students also made great use of that function. The more people used the Score Sheet, the more information flowed to me.

I scratched my head. The curses I had carved into my soul numbered ten in total, and they were all magical power curses I had received from different people.

What I was attempting now was to make the arrangement of magical power into one within a situation where those curses acted together. In other words, I was conducting an experiment to combine the curses into one.

Though I had failed again.

Looking at the Score Sheet's analysis, I could clearly see why. The 1st and 7th curses had clashed. I clicked my tongue softly.

The 1st curse, commonly called the Sinking Shadow, was a curse that stayed in the roots of the tree below the chest and contaminated magical power. It was the greatest reason the tree became twisted.

In contrast, the 7th curse, called the Silent Barrier, stayed in the neck and repelled magical power. Once it accumulated, it blocked the circuits in the neck and left the bearer unable to speak.

This time, I had tried to bind the remaining curses into one based on those two magical power curses. They were the strongest among the ten curses.

The process of raising the tree while enclosing the curses had proceeded quite successfully. But when the two curses met at the end, they reacted against each other. The flow had collapsed.

Thus, this experiment had failed as well. I frowned slightly at my body, which was still stiff as the Score Sheet had said. Isabella approached and placed her hand on me.

“Master, let me loosen you up.”

Isabella filled her fingertips with magical power and slowly began to massage me. Beneath her soft hands, my rigid body gradually loosened.

I gave Isabella a small nod. Normally, I could have easily dealt with this using my own magical power, but the magical power curses were currently eating into my tree. Using magical power was rather difficult.

Of course, that did not mean I needed to fear using magical power like others did.

The problem with magical power curses was that, as I had just experienced, the soul and body could not withstand the power of the curses.

That was why many people failed to overcome their curses and died. Growing a tree was also meant to adapt to the power of such curses.

But I did not need to adapt to curses as they did. I placed my hand over my chest and traced the remnants of my twisted tree.

At the end of it, I could feel that my damaged soul had recovered to a certain degree. Even now, it continued to fill in and return to its original form.

This came from the nature of my soul. Unlike other people's souls, which formed a whole, my soul was made of extremely small fragments.

Thus, having my soul cut away as it had been just now was not a problem for me at all. I only had to fill in what had been removed and twisted with new fragments.

My body was the same. Was this the thirtieth time I had lost my life since coming to the Council? I glanced beneath my feet. A silver liquid rippled out from my shadow and revealed itself.

“Thank you, Myeongyeong. Thanks to you, I can continue the experiment.”

I lightly stroked the silver liquid's body. At my praise, it rippled as though delighted.

It was both my reserve of lives and my guard. It had helped me greatly in the previous puppeteer competition as well. That was why I had continued pouring so much into it afterward.

I had given it the name Myeongyeong with that intention in mind. I wanted it to hold tightly to my lifeline. True to its name, it continuously made new bodies for me.

As I stroked its body, I roughly gauged its remaining size. It had shrunk to about half its original size, so it seemed I could continue the experiment around twenty more times.

“Hmm... Now that the Score Sheet has been organized, how about lifting the curses for a while and resting?”

Isabella asked as she set down the mirror bug. The mirror bug left her hand, flew through the air, and attached itself neatly to one wall. I watched it for a moment before shaking my head.

“I plan to take my time lifting the curses. It is no longer possible to tear away any more tree branches.”

The original owners of the curses carved into my tree no longer bore magical power curses. The moment I straightened their trees in yesterday's lecture, they had immediately treated their curses.

Their lifting of the curses had let me conclude the lecture successfully, but it also meant their tree branches no longer had any value. I could no longer obtain the branches needed for my experiments.

I smacked my lips in disappointment.

Ugh, if I had known this would happen, perhaps I should have raised their trees only halfway. I considered it, then shook my head.

Whether I had raised them halfway or completely, the outcome would not have changed. They likely already knew how to lift their magical power curses.

It was only natural. The fact that the council members had brought them as guests meant the library contained all the knowledge concerning their curses. As with every other curse I had researched, they had surely found a treatment method as well.

The reason they had not lifted their curses despite that was the concern that treating them might also erase their own unique traits.

There was a saying in the world. When someone lost one sense, their other senses became sharper.

Likewise, each person with a magical power curse had an area in which they specialized. Oga, who carried the 1st curse, had a soul specialized in absorbing magical power in order to resist contamination.

Though Oga's tree was twisted, its growth had been twice as fast. If the curse vanished in such a situation, the traits it possessed would naturally be lost as well. That was why they had not wanted to treat their curses.

It was an unavoidable choice. A tree that had already grown could not easily be altered. If handled incorrectly, both soul and body would surely collapse, just as mine had.

They had no choice. Even if the curse disappeared, they could not restore their already twisted trees. They could only live while bearing the curse.

Then I appeared and began to understand the curses in their place. I carved the magical power curses obtained from their tree branches into my own soul and sought to experience their flows directly.

Thus, I lived alongside the curses while identifying the limits of my body and soul. Then I experimented with the possibility of overcoming them and straightening the tree.

Had I died eight times while unraveling the 1st curse? It could not be helped, since it was the first time I had borne a curse. Still, I eventually succeeded in discovering how to raise the tree without damaging either soul or body.

After that, it became a little easier. I died seven times from the 2nd curse and four times from the 3rd. I lost a total of thirty lives while straightening all ten curses.

During the previous lecture, the Chairman raised all of their trees. Then they immediately severed the magical power curses they possessed. That was the result of my warning that their trees would become twisted again if they kept their curses.

I narrowed my eyes as I recalled the Chairman. In truth, I had not expected the Chairman to succeed in tending to all ten trees. I had thought one or two would fail, allowing me to tear away their tree branches again.

But the Chairman had cultivated every tree perfectly. That was rather strange.

The process of researching magical power curses was tied to the nature of my soul. That was why I had not told the Chairman the details of my research.

I had only explained that I was staining my soul with curses and shared the results I obtained through that process. Thus, the Chairman had learned only how to adjust each tree without knowing the details of the research.

And yet, the Chairman cultivated the trees with great skill. In a way, the Chairman had been even more skilled than I was at conducting the research.

How was that possible? As I considered it, I looked toward the door when I sensed someone approaching the workshop. The mirror bug attached to the wall seemed to sense it too, for it approached me and displayed a screen.

The screen showed the Imperial Prince standing silently before the workshop. When I looked at Isabella, she hurried over and released the workshop's seal.

The Imperial Prince entered under Isabella's guidance and stopped before me. He silently looked me over and tilted his head slightly.

“I heard that you called for me, Mr. Evron. Hmm... For some reason, Mr. Evron feels a little familiar.”

“Perhaps it is because I bear curses as well. Come this way.”

I shrugged and led Imperial Prince Beral to a seat prepared on one side of the workshop. After seating him, I made a cup of tea and placed it before him. The Imperial Prince took a sip and met my eyes.

“So, has the research made any progress?”

“I failed once more today, but... well, it is better than before.”

I clasped my hands and looked over the Imperial Prince. Then I continued with a smile.

“It appears Your Highness has improved considerably as well. You seem pleased with the tree that was adjusted before.”

“Yes. Both my tree and my curse have become much less uncomfortable now that Father and Mr. Evron are both looking after them. Though it is still not as comfortable as when I am in the snake's body.”

Imperial Prince Beral opened his mouth slightly. A slender snake emerged through it. The snake climbed onto the Imperial Prince's shoulder and flicked its tongue.

I met the snake's eyes. The Chairman had placed a simple seal upon it and suppressed its curse, stopping its growth. Though it could no longer boast the same size as before, the power of the curse it held remained strong.

No, it undoubtedly contained an even more intense curse than before. I nodded after confirming it.

When I first began understanding magical power curses, I clearly realized my own limits. If Isabella had been able to handle my magic, she would likely have solved the problem easily.

But I was not that exceptional. Perhaps that was why the magic I created, the Snake of Curses, could not advance beyond primitive magic, merely imitating curses.

Therefore, I had no choice but to choose a method to develop the spell. I would carve curses directly into my own body. I would not merely know them as knowledge. I would experience them myself.

Thus, I successfully accepted magical power curses into my body. I sought to delve into their essence at the cost of my body and soul.

Why did magical power curses bind the soul? Why did they reject magical power? As I explored those questions, the Snake of Curses spell gradually developed.

Together with the Chairman, I had also researched how to bleach patchwork trees based on the Snake of Curses spell. As a result, the patchwork trees had become sufficiently stable.

But it was still not enough. I had not achieved perfect bleaching. I could clearly understand the reason. I glanced at the snake. I could sense the presence of a dense curse.

-So, why did you call for me?

“Um, it seems I need Your Highness's help.”

-My help?

The snake narrowed its eyes slightly, as though puzzled. I lowered my voice a little.

“Yes. As Your Highness can feel as well, the patchwork tree has not yet been completely bleached. It is probably because the number of curses I can control is insufficient.”

I stroked my chin. I had carved ten curses into my soul, but they were ultimately only a small part of the broad category of magical power curses.

That was why I was combining magical power curses. It was an act meant to create a greater magical power curse. But even this could not be called a perfect curse.

Then what did I need? As I pondered that question, my thoughts eventually reached the curse the Imperial Prince possessed.

The Imperial Prince bore a magical power curse so powerful it could not be compared to anyone else's. What would happen if I planted it within myself?

The reason I had not planted the Imperial Prince's curse within myself until now was that his soul had not settled perfectly into his body. The soul of a weed could collapse at any moment, so I could not tamper with it carelessly.

But now, the Imperial Prince had gained sufficient ability. He had adapted perfectly to both the patchwork tree and its curse.

I explained that entire train of thought to Imperial Prince Beral. Then, meeting his eyes, I slowly opened my mouth.

“What I want is Your Highness's soul. I would like to plant a part of it within myself.”

The snake's eyes glimmered quietly. It likely knew the stories of those who had participated in the previous lecture. It knew that I had received part of their trees and that, in the end, their curses had been lifted.

Likewise, if the Imperial Prince provided part of his soul, I might be able to determine what structure his magical power curse possessed.

As I met the snake's eyes, I suddenly recalled the Chairman. The Chairman had observed the Imperial Prince for ten years. Then what had the Chairman seen in the Imperial Prince? I felt that I could somewhat guess what it was.

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