5 Curse Of Misfortune

I slowly opened my eyes as sunlight peeked through my room's curtains. Yawning and stretching, I slowly sat up, still sore from the day before, and slowly blinked a few times, trying to wear my drowsiness off.

'It's always hard to wake up...'

Standing up from the bed, I looked at the nightstand. The sunglasses that I wore were on top of it, shattered and slightly burnt. Picking them up, I threw them in my pants pocket. I hope to get them repaired someday, maybe replace them.

Stretching my arms and back one last time, I left for the Knights of Favonius headquarters.

There are some things I wish to discuss with Jean, well, just one thing really. Compensation for my efforts, of course. I'm not broke or anything, but more money is always welcome... Besides, wanting to live luxuriously isn't a sin, right?

'Hmm... Maybe it is...'

Arriving at the headquarters, I walked through the hallways, politely nodding and waving to passing knights. 

Knocking on the door of Jean's office, I opened it. Lumine was already there, and she seemed to be discussing something with Lisa and Jean.

"Am I interrupting something?" I asked, closing the door behind me.

"Not at all. We were already finishing up," Jean was sitting at her desk, stacks of documents on its corner.

'Seems she's quite busy with diplomatic affairs...'

"You woke up late," Lumine commented, an uninterested expression on her face.

"Late? What time is it?" I'm sure I woke up pretty early...

"It's a bit past noon," Lumine responded.

"It's not that late."

"Yeah, sure. Why are you here anyway?" Lumine asked, tapping her foot slowly.

"None of your business, shortstack," I blurted out, without thinking.

"What?!" Lumine exclaimed, blushing a bit

Ah. I said I wanted to be friendly with her... I hope she doesn't get too mad.

Leaving that exchange behind, I turned my attention to Jean.

"Say, Master Jean, I was wondering whether I could be... recompensated for my work so far? I mean, I am in need of some money..." That technically isn't the truth, but it's not like she's going to know.

With my peripheral, I could see Lumine staring at me, a pout present on her face.

Jean simply sighed. "Yes, of course. After this crisis is resolved, the Knights of Favonius will reward you handsomely for your efforts."

"Great," I said, a smile appearing on my face. "That was all, thank you."

"Wait a moment," Jean halted me in my tracks, standing up from her desk. "Now that you and Lumine are here, I have a favor to ask of you, on behalf of the Knights of Favonius."

"What is it?" Lumine asked.

"Please, accept the title of Honorary Knights, and of course, my own gratitude as the Acting Grand Master."

"Honorary Knights... of Favonius?!" As always, Paimon chimed in with an useless remark.

"Well, that's not really a favor, but... I'll still take it, thank you very much," I said. Always have to be cordial... Being on nice terms with important people can only bring benefits.

Being an Honorary Knight will serve as a boost of reputation no doubt. Maybe I'll get some more attention on the streets now... Well, I certainly don't mind.

After our titles of Honorary Knights were granted, me and Lumine both left the headquarters.

"Where are you going now?" I asked.

"...I'll probably go rest. It's been a hectic past few days," Lumine said.

"Wow, I didn't expect such a courteous answer," I mused, a smirk plastered on my face. "I thought you disliked poor ol' me."

"Well, I guess you're alright. Don't let it get to your head though," she said, a smug expression on her face.

Thankfully, it seemed my comment on her physique didn't really affect her that much.

"Of course not."

"Hmph, Paimon still dislikes this guy!"

"Yeah, I don't really care what you think," I said.

I bickered with Paimon for a bit, before Lumine perked up at something.

"I have to go," she said, seemingly chasing after something.

"Lumine, wait!" Paimon just trailed behind her.

I stood there for a while, before realizing that what Lumine probably saw, was Venti. If I remember correctly, she chased him after spotting him running along the street on the quest...

Realizing this, I chased after Lumine, trying to catch up with her. Unfortunately, it was too late. I lost her, and I ended up on the main plaza, close to the Adventurers' Guild.

Suddenly, my stomach started churning inside out, and I felt my body going cold. There was a strong presence that exuded complete malice.

I turned around and saw someone at the Adventurers' Guild desk. A short boy with messy ash-gray hair, and a big cheery smile on his face. His bright green eyes brimmed with life. In contrast to what was behind him, following his every step, he was a bright light in a dark void.

A being that couldn't be described easily. He was almost amorphous, if not for the two completely pitch black arms that stuck out of it. Smoke came out of the creature and it had two big red eyes, that out of nowhere looked at me. His stare brought me a feeling of malaise. I didn't know if it was because I was nervous, or if that thing was causing it...

Bringing up one of his arms, it put one finger to what I assumed was its mouth. It was signaling for me to stay quiet. It didn't want me making a scene... Who knows what it would do then?

'That can't be... a cursed spirit, right?' I was a bit incredulous at first, but the flow of cursed energy coming from that thing was enough for me to know that it was in fact, a cursed spirit.

The boy with that monster is Bennett. Don't tell me... he's cursed? That'd explain his horrible bad luck, but... why? That thing shouldn't exist in this world!

"Yes... I tried escorting the goods, but... I accidentally tripped and... all the wine barrels fell off the cart..." Bennett said, deflating with each sentence.

'What should I do?'

As the only person capable of seeing that cursed spirit, it should be on me to exorcise it, right? But, how do I go about it?

For the time being, I decided to approach Bennett. That cursed spirit seemed to want nothing more than to torment that poor boy, otherwise, it would have already attacked me, instead of signaling me to be quiet.

Approaching him with the best smile I could muster, I introduced myself. "Hey! You're an adventurer, right? I'm Dani, I'm kind of a rookie here, nice to meet you."

"Oh, nice to meet you! I'm Bennett, leader of Benny's Adventure team!" He had an excited expression, almost as if I was the first person to approach him in a long time.

"Cool. What do you say we team up? We could do some commissions together."

"Really?!" His eyes were almost sparkling from the excitement. He coughed, and said, "I mean, if you want to, it'd be my pleasure!"

"Of course!" I approached the desk, and put my hand on my chin. "Let's see... Katheryne, you got any S-class commissions?"

"Huh?" Bennett seemed surprised but didn't complain.

We eventually chose a few hilichurl camps clear for our commissions. They seemed to be pending for a few days now, with no one daring to complete them. Well, they are S-class for a reason.

We started our walk toward the camps, chatting in the meantime.

All this time, the curse just watched silently and kept doing so. I'd like to just exorcise it, but I need to take Bennett to a more secluded space to do it, I wouldn't want to cause destruction in the city.

'I have to be patient...'

While on our way to the camp, Bennett tripped quite often. Not only that, but squirrels and other small animals seemed to torment him just as the spirit did, landing on his face and biting him. Tree branches seemingly appeared out of nowhere only to hit him. The forest itself seemed to have a bone to pick with Bennett.

I was left mostly unaffected, but I still felt bad for him.

"Doesn't it get tiring?" I asked.

Bennett looked at me with a puzzled expression, apparently not knowing what I was asking about.

"Being this unlucky, I mean."

There was a brief silence, after which Bennett answered, "I'm used to it. Sometimes it gets hard. I'd wonder how life would be without this misfortune, but..."

In contrast to his usual bright and positive personality, he seemed quite deflated.

"My bad luck will follow me no matter where I go." Suddenly, Bennett perked up, a smile on his face. "But as I said, I'm used to it! I won't let some bad luck bring me down!"

Being this optimistic is quite refreshing. If I had the same problem, I don't know if I could live with it. Sometimes, I felt as if life itself was against me, trying to screw me over. I can't imagine feeling like that all the time...

'All the more reason to exorcise that little bitch...' I thought, glaring at the cursed spirit.

He stared back, and his eyes contorted to a cheerful shape, smiling at Bennett's misfortune.

Losing my cool, I clenched my fist, and threw myself at the curse, striking it with all my strength. Even though it seemed otherwise due to its amorphous nature, I managed to physically touch the curse.

A groan escaped the creature, an unnatural one, almost a snarl with how distorted it sounded.

We are in the middle of the forest, and I'm done being patient. 'Let's exorcise this curse.'

"What's going on?!" Bennett exclaimed.

Separating itself from Bennett, it tried reaching for me with its dark hands. Taking hold of one of its arms, I repeteadly struck the curse's midsection, finishing with a kick to its sides.

The curse dissipated suddenly, dodging my last kick. Thinking it may have escaped, I lowered my guard, only for it to appear behind me.

Fortunately, I could react accordingly. Intending to once again strike the curse, it extended its hand, and suddenly, I lost my footing and tripped.

I could hear a manic, distorted laughter coming from the creature, before it picked me up and threw me across the forest.

Landing against a tree, I shrugged off the pain and stood up immediately.

I exhaled, refining my control over my cursed energy, turning the anger I felt against this creature in my favor.

In comparison to when I first arrived in this world, my control of cursed energy was miles better. Before, I struggled to even coat my entire body with cursed energy. Now, I could spread it throughout my body without much trouble.

With newfound confidence, I rushed to the curse, intending to finish it off once and for all.

Once again extending its arm, I heard behind me the sound of wood cracking. I immediately halted my rush and turned around. But it was too late, the tree I crashed against landed on top of me.

"Urgh..." I powered through the pain, managing to get off the tree.

That thing... It probably has some kind of luck-based cursed technique or something along the lines.

'I have to be alert...' Taking a deep breath, I focused my attention completely on my surroundings and the cursed spirit.

Rushing toward it once again, he made a hand gesture, and once again I tripped. This time, I was prepared for it, as instead of falling to the ground, I used my hands to support my weight, propelling myself forward thanks to the strength granted by cursed energy.

Landing a knee on the cursed spirit, I didn't relent with my attacks. Not letting him breathe even for a single moment, I threw a barrage of punches in multiple directions, overwhelming the spirit.

Between my attacks, he made a hand gesture, and I tripped once again. With my concentration at my peak, almost instinctively, I punched the ground, propelling myself upwards. I landed on my feet and continued my offensive.

Being overwhelmed by my barrage of punches, he tried counter-attacking with strikes of its own, out of desperation. My concentration prevailed, however, and I managed to dodge them all.

I was completely in the zone. I was focused solely on defeating the curse. And then, I felt something from deep within me, like signaling that something momentous was about to happen.

From the deepest parts of my being, something came.

'Black Flash!'

With one final punch blessed by the sparks of black, the cursed spirit was thrown several meters away, destroying various trees on its way.

Its eyes seemed to waver, its smokey amorphous form shattering bit by bit. Eventually, the cursed spirit closed its eyes, seemingly accepting defeat, and dissipated slowly, leaving this world behind.

I wiped the sweat off my forehead and took a deep breath.

I feel like my eyes have been opened to a new possibility. It was said that the difference in cursed energy understanding before and after landing a Black Flash was massive, but this is something else...

I fiddled around with my cursed energy for a split moment, a slight smile on my face.

'It's as natural as breathing now...'

Cursed energy came and go across my body. I spread it to my limbs, to my entire body, to certain, diminute parts of my organism.

It was now easier to understand... Before, I always had to think about manifesting my cursed energy, about controlling it a certain way, to spread it throughout my body, or to a certain limb. But now... it's almost second nature, like an instinct. Just like how you don't think about how you walk, or how you breathe, you just do it... 

'I hope this is permanent...'

"Hey, Dani! What... What was that?" I was broken from my trance by Bennett, who was right in front of me.

Huh, almost forgot about him...

"You were fighting against something, right? But... I couldn't see it at all! I wanted to jump in and help you, but I just couldn't..."

"Ah... Yeah, something like that." I scratched the back of my neck. "Let's say it was an invisible spirit. I have some ways of dealing with them, I guess."

"No way! So you're some kind of exorcist?" Bennett's eyes sparkled with excitement. "I've heard they're all around Liyue. I never thought I'd meet one myself!"

I just chuckled and followed along. "Yeah, something like that."

Bennett bombarbed me with questions, which I tried to answer vagely. Eventually, he cooled off.

"Well, let's go clear those commissions, shall we?" I said.

But I have some things to think about. Why was there a cursed spirit here?

And is it related to the fact that I'm here in this world? What brought me here? Why are my abilities not working as intended?

So many questions...

I hope that as my journey progresses, I at least learn some of the answers.