Chapter 36 It's A Curse To Exist Without Magical Abilities

Chapter 36 It's A Curse To Exist Without Magical Abilities
💦 Seraphina 💦

The realization, conjoined with the happiness sent a tremor through me…..it was triumph for a minute then the dread hit me. We had reached the said Still City. Magic could be felt in every part of this place, the air carried around magic that pricked my skin and tugged at my veins. The energy was concentrated at us as if the desert had been awaiting our presence.

No… it wasn't a desert anymore.

Behind me came a voice— more like a muffle which I recognized to be of Elias's.

I turned back, only to see something strange hanging on Elias's body.

It knelt beside Elias’s body, it was a huge, distorted, figure whose shadow stretched long over the sand. Just like the Shade Beast.

It wasn’t human. I knew. I recognized it. The energy it carried with him.

The appearance told it off.

Its body was broad, veined with veins that glowed faintly gold, as though molten fire ran beneath its skin. Its head was… wrong. Triangular. Its hair, long and dark, swayed though there was no wind.

And it was leaning close — exhaling a faint, silvery mist into Elias’s mouth.

“What are you—!” I ran forward, sand spraying under my boots. “Get away from him!”

The creature turned slightly, and for the first time, I saw its eyes — hollow, yet burning faintly from within, like lanterns smothered in ash. Its voice was soft but deep, vibrating through the ground.

“You called me,” it said simply.

My steps faltered. “What?”

It smiled faintly — or what passed for a smile — and tilted its head toward my hand.

I looked down.

Without realizing it, my fingers had been stroking the side of the lamp, tracing its carvings slowly, rhythmically. My breath hitched.

The rubbing. I’d summoned it. This was the exact act The Curse Bearer had me do. He told me to rub on it, which led us to the transmigration from the village over here.

So this thing over here…should be?---- The lamp Spirit?

The same soul that goes around to grant people's wishes?

No wonder the energy around here was so concentrated. Judging from what I have before me, the lamp spirit had tricked me into calling him here. And I can't deny that I had called it here.

“I didn’t mean to,” I said, stepping back. “I didn’t—”

“You always mean what you do, little flame,” it said, interrupting softly.

I hated the way it said that — little flame. Like it knew me. Like it had always known me.

Elias groaned louder then, his hand twitching in the sand. The creature looked down at him, the glow in its eyes dimming slightly.

“Oh,” it murmured. “It’s time to go.”

My heart jolted. “Wait! No—don’t!”

It began to rise, its form starting to blur into the heat — like smoke unraveling.

“Stop!” I ran forward, clutching the lamp tighter. “Don’t leave!”

The being paused.

💥ELIAS💥

The first thing I felt was the heat. Wet dripping into my skin and clinging to my skin like a second layer of armor. My throat burned, my mouth felt filled with sand. For a moment, I thought I was still in that Garin man's house. I rubbed my head feeling a little pain from it and when touched, I knew it was sore.

What did I miss? I asked, still closing my eyes. There was no visible light that penetrated. Was the day closing in?

I grunted and then cracked open my eyes. When I did, I saw nothing, void…emptiness. But I knew I was laying on the sand. What is going on?

And then came the sound — Seraphina’s voice.

“Don’t leave!”

I snap my head to the direction I heard her yell from. Who was she speaking to? Was that shout meant for me? It definitely wouldn't be. I was still laying lifeless— helpless. She stood several feet away, her hair wild, her hands clutching that damned lamp to her chest as if her life depended on it. Her voice trembled, not from fear but desperation.

Who was she yelling at? The lamp…wasn't it the same color of the lamp in Garin's house? Why did I feel like I've missed an important aspect of this journey?

I pushed myself up, my elbows sinking into the warm sand. The dizziness hit first, ringing in my ears, a blur that made my eyes dance to no music — but when I finally steadied myself, I saw it.

A figure.

Towering. Wrong. Its body shimmered like a mirage — veins glowing faintly beneath pale skin, a triangle-shaped head bowed in eerie calm. Its long hair swayed even though the air was still.

It was standing right before her.

My instincts sharpened instantly. My hand went to my dagger, though I wasn’t even sure when or where I had lost my blade. The figure’s presence felt heavier than anything human. I could feel its energy crawling against my skin, thick and metallic, humming with something I didn’t understand.

It looked up at me, its hollow eyes catching me whole.

Every muscle in my body tensed.

This thing wasn’t from the world I knew. It wasn’t from any world that should exist. But Seraphina — she wasn’t afraid.

That was the part that cut deepest.

She wasn’t terrified, not like when we faced the bandits or when she saw the Shade Beast. No. There was awe in her expression — something I couldn’t decipher.

“What the hell have you done?” I rasped. My voice came out raw, the dryness burning my throat.

Seraphina’s head snapped toward me, her eyes wide with relief. “Elias— you’re awake!”

I ignored her joy. My eyes flicked from her to the creature, to the vast temple rising behind them.

The temple…

It stood massive and jagged against the horizon, its white stone gleaming faintly. Runes glowed faintly along its surface — symbols of protection, or sealing, I couldn’t tell which.

Recognition hit me like a hammer.

The Still City.

Or rather — its border. This was the temple from Seraphina's map

My stomach turned cold. Our journey was supposed to take weeks. The Still City was half away from where we had last been. The realization set in slowly, painfully.

We hadn’t traveled here by road.

We had been moved. Yes! I got it! It's coming back. We were arguing on what option to choose. I chose the safest, she chose the fastest.

She knocked me out…and this was how I found myself here. Is it fury…I clenched my fist hard, enough for me to feel the pain of my nails curling into my palm.

“Seraphina,” I said quietly, each syllable a warning, “what did you do?”

She flinched — just slightly, but enough for me to see it.

Every move Seraphina had made since I met her had proven me worthless as a king and as a human with no magical abilities like them. She's told me indirectly that one shouldn't exist without any powers.

“I… we made a choice,” she said hesitantly. “The lamp— it—”

“The lamp?” My voice cut like steel. I took a step forward, sand shifting under my boots. “You mean that cursed object you were holding like a child clings to a doll? You used it?”

Her lips parted, but she didn’t answer. Her silence was answer enough.

My fists clenched tighter at my sides. Rage burned behind my ribs — not just anger at her recklessness, but at myself for letting this happen. I should have known better. And now we were here, wherever here truly was because she couldn’t resist curiosity.

“Do you even understand what you’ve done?” I demanded, the fury I had been holding in since the house spilling through my voice. “You could have trapped us in another realm. You—”

“Stop!”

The word came not from Seraphina, but from it.

The creature straightened to its full, unnatural height, the air around it rippling as its shadow stretched over both of us.

For the first time, I met its gaze directly.

Its eyes were endless — hollow yet burning faintly, like the echo of a star that had died long ago. I felt its voice rather than heard it; it reverberated through my chest, commanding, ancient.

“Do not scold a lady,” it said.

My words caught in my throat.

It took a step closer, the sand humming under its weight, though it left no prints. “That she follows you,” it continued, its tone dark and silken, “does not make her your possession. That she listens, does not make her your servant. And that you are her Master…”

Its head tilted, eyes narrowing with quiet disdain.

“…does not grant you the right to break her with your anger.”