The return to the capital brought no celebration.
Although the soldiers had technically survived the mission, the atmosphere within the palace was tense rather than triumphant. Word of the strange creatures discovered in the forest had already begun spreading among the royal officials, and the arrival of the injured soldiers only confirmed that something deeply troubling had occurred beyond the kingdom's borders.
Within hours of the group's return, the palace scholars and royal mages gathered inside the research chamber beneath the royal library. Ancient shelves lined the walls from floor to ceiling, each filled with carefully preserved texts recording centuries of magical research.
At the centre of the room stood a large stone table.
Resting upon it was the object that had brought them all together.
The black crystal.
The cloth wrapped around it had been removed, allowing the scholars to examine it under the light of several suspended magical lamps.
Even under the bright illumination, the crystal remained unnaturally dark.
Its surface reflected almost no light, as though it were swallowing everything around it.
The head mage stood beside the table, surrounded by several researchers. They examined the crystal with a mixture of fascination and concern as faint pulses of corrupted energy flickered within its depths.
"This level of concentration shouldn't be possible," one of the scholars murmured as he leaned closer.
The head mage nodded slowly.
"Corrupted energy rarely stabilises into a solid form," he explained. "Even in the deepest regions of the Cursed Lands, it remains unstable and chaotic. Something like this should not exist naturally."
Another mage adjusted a small floating instrument hovering above the crystal. The device emitted a soft hum as it analysed the energy within.
His expression tightened.
"This energy is compressed," he said slowly. "It's not just gathered in one place… it has been forced together."
Silence followed.
Someone had created it.
Someone had deliberately compressed corrupted energy into a physical form.
The head mage's gaze darkened.
"Which means the monsters we encountered may not have formed naturally."
The implication settled heavily over the room.
Across the palace, in a quiet medical chamber, Lucius lay on a narrow bed beside a window overlooking the inner courtyard.
His body was still recovering.
Although his wounds had closed due to Reversal, the strain of absorbing so much corruption had left him weak and exhausted.
His skin remained pale.
Even breathing felt heavier than it should.
But that was not the worst of it.
The headaches had begun shortly after he regained consciousness.
At first, they were dull. Faint. Easy to ignore.
But they grew.
Lucius slowly sat up, pressing his fingers against his temples as another sharp pulse of pain spread through his skull.
Then
It happened again.
"Aha…"
The world around him faded.
For a moment, the chamber disappeared.
And something else took its place.
A cage with metal bars and small animals trembling inside.
It looked like an ordinary forest wolf, but its body was bound by strange symbols carved into the ground. Several figures in dark robes stood nearby, forcing glowing black energy into the creature.
The wolf screamed.
The sound echoed through Lucius's mind
Then
The vision vanished.
Lucius gasped, his breath uneven as reality returned.
"What… was that?"
Another pulse of pain struck.
The vision returned.
More cages.
More animals.
Some are already changing.
Their bodies twisted unnaturally as black veins spread beneath their fur. Their eyes glowed with something violent.
Hatred.
Directed at the humans standing outside the cages.
Lucius clutched his head tightly.
The pain sharpened, as if something was forcing these images into him.
But these memories were not his own.
Why am I seeing these memories and how come he said to himself confused.
Another flash occured.
Screams.
Chains.
Corruption forced into those animals.
Lucius fell back against the bed, breathing heavily as the visions finally faded.
"It seems to be worse than I thought"
Lucius froze.
The shadow stood in the corner of the room, its form barely visible within the dim light.
"You… again," he muttered.
The shadow tilted its head.
"The corruption you devoured carries more than power," it said.
Lucius frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Its voice remained calm.
"The curse energy of those evolved creatures carries the emotions of what they once were."
Lucius went still.
"The memories…" he whispered.
"You are seeing what they experienced," the shadow confirmed. "Before they became monsters."
Silence followed.
Lucius clenched his fists slightly.
Fear.
Pain.
Hatred.
He had felt all of it.
"You absorbed their curse," the shadow continued. "So now you carry their echoes."
"We will see if you can handle it"
What do you mean? Lucius heard no answer from the shadow before it disappeared.
When he closes his eyes, the headache fades, but the memories still burn. But he doesn't know that this is only the beginning of his troubles
Meanwhile, in the research chamber, the scholars turned their attention to the notes recovered from the abandoned house.
Ancient books from the library's restricted sections had been brought forward.
The symbol found in the notes had been carefully copied onto parchment and placed beside the texts.
One scholar suddenly stopped.
"I've seen this before."
The others turned.
He pointed toward a symbol within one of the ancient books.
It matched exactly.
"The mark appears in records describing regions where corrupted energy once gathered in unusual concentrations."
The head mage leaned closer.
"And what does it say about those regions?"
The scholar hesitated.
"It says the corruption did not form naturally."
Silence.
"According to the text," he continued, "someone was attempting to create artificial manifestations of cursed energy."
The room grew heavier.
Someone had tried this before.
The head mage looked at the symbol again.
"If this mark identifies locations tied to such experiments… then the house we found may not be the only site."
The scholar nodded.
"There is another location mentioned."
He turned the book.
A map had been drawn beside the text.
The mark was clear.
The head mage studied it carefully.
His expression hardened.
"Prepare the investigation team."
His voice lowered.
"If someone is repeating those experiments…"
His gaze remained fixed on the symbol.
"…then we may already be too late."
Far away, inside the quiet chamber, the headache affected Lucius's mind once more.
The echoes remained, and deep within those memories, hatred still burned, and Lucius had no idea what the headaches would make him do in the future