Chapter 79: Genesis of the curse II

Augusta felt the texture of the soft mattress once again, within her grip was the divine spear Apeiron still pulsing with that majestic light.

She slowly adjusted herself until she was sitting upright.

“Why did you stop the vision there?” She asked, her voice hoarse.

“Your mind was already unstable,” Apeiron replied. “I couldn’t risk it, your consciousness could have been lost in the past events.”

Augusta snarled.

“Who asked you to—”

She paused abruptly, then sighed.

“Nevermind… just tell me what happened.”

Apeiron lingered for a moment, perhaps judging Augusta unfit to hear the whole history but after a few seconds it yielded.

“Krepin was an ambitious man, one who would do anything for his country, both he and Nirva were close friends, you could practically call them brothers. They were both groomed from a young age as candidates fit to wield me but fate played a cruel game on the young ones.”

It paused.

“The birth country Krepin hailed from fell under siege when their prince, Milodinas summoned an evil god. At that point Kretus himself had already designated Nirva as his heir, by logic a mortal couldn’t possibly hope to injure a god through mundane means and Krepin was getting desperate, since he was also a candidate meant to wield me, he grew impatient unable to wait for the bonding process between Nirva and I. His intentions were not made with malicious intent, the naive lad simply wanted to defend his country and return me once he had fulfilled his task but he managed to garner Kretus’ ire.”

Hearing this Augusta couldn’t help but frown.

“Couldn’t the war god tell that his actions were not made with any dark intentions? Why did he go through with it, why did Kretus curse him!”

“Because…” Apeiron said. “He defied a heavenly law.”

“What?”

“A mortal who has not been chosen by a divine weapon cannot wield it, doing so forcefully would expell his existence from reality itself, not just him but everyone who saw him wield me would perish, so Kretus made the most logical choice, he chose to punish Krepin alone and with a curse that equally balanced that which the heavenly law would have administered, that was how the curse of your bloodline came to be. The war god chose to save others over a candidate worthy enough to become his champion.”

Augusta didn’t know how to respond to such a reveal.

It would have been better if she could spite any of them but she had no justification, one simply wanted to protect his country while the other chose one man to bear the fall rather than an entire nation.

Who could she possibly hate?

It wasn’t Apeiron’s fault and she couldn’t loathe Krepin even though his actions led to the curse that caused the death of her family.

She still didn’t understand Kretus’ perspective, and while she couldn’t blame the war god, it didn’t mean that she didn’t loath him.

“Then tell me…” she decided to ask after a few minutes of reluctant silence. “Does the curse have anything to do with the family head not loving his family?”

She lingered for a second before adding.

“I know you understand what I’m asking about, don’t think I don’t remember the fact that you’ve been in the Astraea family treasury for years.”

Apeiron vibrated subtly within her hand.

“Well I would not say it does, that method started as a way to delay the inevitable, and it was founded by an ancestor of yours, like the rest of your family he lost his wife and kids, leaving only a single heir behind to continue the lineage, his mental fortitude unlike the rest was fragile and he was driven to madness, he became a completely different person who saw little value in the lives of others.”

Augusta could’ve been imagining it but for a second she noticed a hint of sadness in the spear’s tone.

Apeiron continued.

“He remarried not long after, his wife was a nice woman but your ancestor had no love left in his heart, somehow by a miracle she lived, at least longer than any woman in the history of the Astraea family, the rest just believed that if they did the same, their children and partner would be spared the torment of the curse, even I do not understand how she remained unaffected.”

Augusta exhaled slowly.

“I need a drink…”

“You’re underaged lady Augusta.”

“Screw that.” She sighed. “At times like this I wish I could enjoy a smoke or something.”

Hearing this Apeiron thrummed aggressively.

“You shouldn’t smoke lady Augusta, it bears no merit to your health, not to mention it could ruin your innate ability.”

“Ah, of course you know about that.”

“But lady Augusta if I may ask, why don’t you like using the Astraea family’s innate ability?”

“Oh that…” she averted her gaze then replied with a somber expression. “I tried using it as a child, got a backlash so severe it put me in coma for a few months.”

She scoffed.

“It was a suffocating feeling, hearing everything around yet never being able to do anything.”

The divine spear replied almost immediately.

“The backlash… that’s because your family’s innate affinity originates from a dragon’s will, it’s among the few celestial abilities existing in this world and it cannot be mastered through normal means.”

“Celestial magic you say.” Augusta repeated, not surprised by the revelation of her family’s ability. “Then under what category would you place those monsters?”

“By monsters you mean—”

“That redhead bastard.” She snarled.

Apeiron resisted the urge to laugh, instead it pondered on it for a while before answering.

“The spawn of Loki… his affinity originates from the god of chaos himself, it is a calamity class magic capable of destroying worlds.”

It paused.

“But such an ability cannot be without cost, I’m sure he pays a devastating price for it.”

“Then what about the legendary grade creature will you said he had? Does that mean he will get an affinity from it? Or is it what gives him those bizzare martial arts he uses.”

“He will most likely get an affinity from it…” Apeiron said, “as for the martial arts, I have never seen such techniques before and as you said, it truly is bizarre.”

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