“She did stop me,” Ace revealed, causing Janice to roll her eyes. His statement confirmed that Ace had himself to blame for pissing off someone he shouldn’t have.

“Everything said, if not for my part in the chain of events, the Void-tier curseling would never have been infected by Elinor’s curse spell. She didn’t even know her curse spell had incapacitated a Void-tier curseling. If she can get credited with killing it, then I should also be credited for my part in infecting the Void-tier curseling—” Ace defended himself, trying to justify his demand for his share of the core. But Janice’s patience had run out. So, she cut in, asking, “What are you trying to say, Ace? Just get to the point.”

“All I’m trying to say is your uncle could have tried to talk with me. Instead, he went and put a target on me and everyone I care about. That’s not right, and I can’t believe you two are making it seem like I was asking for it,” Ace said, appalled to see that Janice and he could not see eye to eye on this, especially when he had trusted her with his family’s security.

“Because it was you, Ace!” Janice snapped. Then, rubbing her brows, she began, “I don’t mean to sound like a snob, but why should my uncle, a reputed and renowned Void-tier curse master, lower himself to talk with you? Who do you think you are? Actually, how dare you make a demand of a Void-tier? Do you have Deathwise?”

“You know what I think? I think you did that on purpose. Observing the dynamics between Delores and my Uncle, you decided to take advantage of it. Ace, you gambled and lost. Now you are paying the price for it. Just get over it while you still can, or you will end up losing much more.”

Janice glared at Ace with her hands crossed tight while Elinor nodded.

“You are right. I know what I did you don’t need to remind me. I still waiting for when this will lead to you helping me solve things with your uncle?” Ace remind Janice that the whole point about this was not to criticise him but to help him ease relations with her uncle.

“I am doing just that. I can’t speak on your behalf if you continue to have an entitled opinion about this incident. Because I bet you my uncle will want to talk to you after Elinor and I speak on your behalf. So, you need to behave,” Janice explained to Ace why she was so hard on him about him knowing what he did wrong.

“Yeah, alright. Don’t worry, parents love,” Ace said, trusting the effects of his Apex earring to help him smooth things over with Elinor’s father.

“Should I be worried about your confidence?” Janice asked in doubt. But recalling how Ace managed to get Delores to care for him, she thought he might actually pull this off.

“No worries. So, when do we start?” Ace asked, eager to ease things with Elinor’s father before they announced his title ‘Samsara Slayer, ‘ crediting him with the destruction of the cult.

“Slow down, cowboy. My uncle is a busy person. I need to make an appointment and—” Janice informed how she could just talk to her uncle and needed to go through a serious of hoops just to set a meet with him, but before she could finish, Ace cut in.

Listening to Janice, Ace lost all hope of salvaging things with Elinor’s father because someone who can treat his own family like that wouldn’t spare a stranger a second glance. That was to say what was coming was inevitable, even if Ace was willing to throw away his pride and shame.

Shaking his head, Ace cut in, saying, “I understand. Call me when you need me.”

Janice frowned, feeling the coldness in Ace’s tone, but after a pause, Ace continued, asking, “Can you sell me a few crafting materials from your stock?”

“Crafting materials? I heard about your deal with the Cyclops from Delores. You serious about this,” Janice asked, a little surprised to learn that Ace was taking the Curse Crafting root. But then, when she gave it some thought, she realized his fighting style was similar to hers, but he was more prepared and cautious. Not to mention, his rifle-shaped curse tool was very versatile in terms of power.

“Yes. So, are you selling or not? I just need a few things,” Ace asked her again.

“Sure, what materials do you need? Maybe I have extras that I can spare to you,” Janice nodded,

“I have shared a list to your email, check it out,” Ace informed once Dame Wasp sent the email containing the list of material they need to commence practicing the curse crafting arts they got from Cyclops.

Janice nodded and went through her email while Elinor eyed Ace and said, “You are right. You have a share in the void-tier curse core. I will talk to my dad about it, but I don’t think I can get you five sky-tier innate curse tools, but one might be doable.”

“Are you stupid?” Ace snapped at Elinor, but seeing her clueless expression, he shook his head and explained, “You will do nothing of that sort. Don’t even meet him. Just go and randomly curse stuff that he cares about. Take them hostage. Tell him that if he doesn’t give you back your Void-tier curse core, you will destroy things he holds dear and call it even.”

“What? I can do that, no I could never do that…” Elinor was shocked to learn about the route, she didn’t even know it existed. However, she could not decide if she should take it or not.

“Elinor, I will be honest with you. Your dad is a bully. No matter how you argue your share in the void-tier curse core with him, he will find a way to deny it all. So, you don’t argue or try to prove your claim. You just declare your claim. Others can’t take this route, but you can because your curse spells are not only lethal to void-tier curse users but you are his daughter. He might not cave to your threat. No, he will definitely not cave to your threat. So you should be prepared to destroy the things you took hostage with your curse spell. Don’t hesitate; just destroy them. Show your father that he is not above consequences. If he doesn’t play ball, you are not afraid to crush his balls. Just go crazy, and enjoy it. Let out all that frustration you have been feeling and vent it. Besides, it’s just stuff. He can buy more of them with the Void-tier curse core he stole from you,” Ace rallied up Elinor against her father.

Janice lifted her head and glanced at Ace, knowing exactly what he was up to, but did not stop him, because not only was he right about her uncle being a bully and not planning to give Elinor her share of the void-tier curse core but she felt that it was about time her cousin stood up to her dominating father and freed herself from his shadow.

“What about you share in the void-tier curse core? I can’t afford a Sky-tier innate curse tool.” Elinor once again was worried about the wrong thing. Well, that was her charm. Also, it meant she had decided to teach her controlling and manipulative father a lesson.

“Don’t worry, if you manage to pull this off, that alone is payment enough for me,” Ace said with a malicious grin. If not for Elinor and Jaince watching him, he would have let out a loud villainous laugh, seeing the seed of chaos he planted take root.

Elinor glared at Ace, seeing him take pleasure at the fact that she would be getting back at her father, but then understanding his side, she thought it was to be expected. After all, her father went overboard when he got the entire curse community of the country to turn Ace into a patsy.

“Ace, I no longer use the materials and equipments you listed. They are all very basic, used to get started in curse crafting. Fortunately for you, when it comes to curse crafting, I am a hoarder,” Janice suddenly informed Ace after thoroughly going through the list of crafting materials and equipments he shared with her in his email.

“Does that mean you have everything I need?” Ace asked eagerly because with the crisis looming over his head, he felt unprepared, and these materials were needed for him to feel otherwise, even if only a little bit.

“Yes, I do. But the equipments you listed are going to be costlier than the ones you can find in the market because mine are all custom-made using the best of the best materials. I know you are not short on cash, but I don’t want you getting the idea that I am ripping you off,” Janice said, making it clear to Ace that her initial crafting equipment were all very expensive as they were of high quality and custom-made.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep