Turning around, Zeal felt the world shift beneath him in a soft, warm and unnaturally gentle.
The mattress cradled his body like a memory he didn't recognize, coaxing breath back into his lungs and thought into his bones.
His eyes quickly snapped open as he sat up fast, heart thudding, gaze sweeping the room like a blade.
He unnaturally found himself lying atop a pink bed, its surface impossibly plush, as if spun from silk and sleep.
Around him stretched a chamber so lavish it bordered on absurd; walls painted in blushing hues, curtains that shimmered like starlight, and furniture carved with delicate, floral filigree.
Everything gleamed. Everything glowed, and most of them were pink.
It was a shrine to softness, a temple of comfort, and this somehow unsettled him.
The air smelled of roses and sugar, cloying and sweet, like a dream trying too hard to be kind.
Plush toys watched from polished shelves, their glass eyes too still.
Even the chandelier above him dripped crystals shaped like hearts, catching the light like a frozen tear.
"How did I even end up here?" He thought while looking around, eyes tracing the soft curves of the room, the shimmer of silk, and the glow of crystal.
It was too perfect. Too gentle. Too far from the pain he remembered.
He tried so hard to recall how he ended up in here. Was this his heaven, or just a hell in disguise? And that's when it struck him.
Like a floodgate torn open, memory surged through him.
The spears.
The frost.
The betrayal.
His breath caught, chest tightening as the truth clawed its way back into his mind.
Irine.
The girl he had loved since childhood.
The only one who ever saw him and yet, the one who nearly killed him.
His heart twisted, a wound deeper than the spears she'd thrown. But he still couldn't tell how he survived
"Wait… that sha..," he muttered, eyes widening and pulse skipping.
He tried to recall everything, but nothing just made any sense to him.
He remembered the marble formation, the pain, and just before he could pass out, he saw something even more strange
"Was that… a system interface?" he whispered, voice barely audible, but suddenly, in that moment, the air shifted.
[Congratulations! You have successfully teamed the Stone of Trinity Hex Curse.]
A dark black background computerized screen with crimson writings suddenly materialized in front of his eyes.
He tried to understand what was happening, or the words displayin, but he certainly couldn't.
His mind was too chaotic to make sense of what was happening but still, the system didn't disappoint as more text came displaying.
[Note, the Trinity Hex Curse is a unity of three different mother Curse]
[1.The Curse of the Whispering Root]
{Locked}
{Conditions for unlocking is blocked by a witch-warlock bond}
[2.The Curse of the Crimson Veil]
{Locked}
{Condition for unlocking: The user must die}
{Caution! The user has a 1% chance of triggering the curse. A failure to a curse trigger leads to a permanent death.}
[3. The Curse of Hollow Fang]
{Partially unlocked}
{Limited by the Witch-warlock bond}
{Suggestion: The user should terminate the Witch-warlock bond to receive the maximum potential benefit of this curse}
[Caution! Terminating the Witch-warlock bond will lead to permeant disconnection from the previous witch and her magical attributes]
Zeal had to pause for a moment after reading what was displaying. A witch-warlock bond was something too sacred among the witches and warlocks, so how could he possibly just terminate it?
It was something of great benefits to both of them, and Zeal knew it.
Normally, a warlock is bound not to perform any elemental spells.
Not that they are disconnected from magic, no. They can still perform some spells and rituals to a certain degree. But this had always made them weaker than witches, and forcing them to submit to witches uncontionally.
However, for a warlock to perform an elemental spell, they must first form a sacred binding bond with a witch, which is typically known as the Witch-warlock bond.
This would enable them to cast elemental spells of the witch they are binded to.
Like for instance, since Zeal is binded to Irine, an ice witch, Zeal can cast an ice elemental spells, but then, it still wouldn't be as strong as that casted by Irine.
It isn't like the bond is only of benefits to warlocks though. Witches also benefits from this as this enables them to tap on to the strength of the next rank, and help them breaking through the ranks at a rapid speed.
Normally, there are Fourteen different ranks created based on a witch strength, and are as follows.
1. Ashling
2. Whisperkin
3. Glimmereye
4. Threadwitch
5. Frostchant
6. Gravebloom
7. Thornshade
8. Wyrdcaller
9. Duskscribe
10. Myrrhveil
11. Starbloom
12. Dreamthorn
13. Netherbrand
14. Cindralith
The Ashling rank is the weakest while Cundralith being the strongest. However, this ranks does not affect a warlock as a warlock is just a warlock and their strength is determined by the witch they are bound to.
Now lets say, if a witch from an Ashling rank has formed a witch-warlock bond, it's guaranteed for them to cast a spell as strong as that of the witch at the Whisperkin rank. And that's not the end of it, they are also able to break through the ranks at a rapid speed, especially when dual cultivating with the bonded one.
That's why the Witch-warlock bond is sacred among witches and warlocks, as it mostly leads to marriage. So yeah. Forming A witch-warlock bond is like being betrothed to someone.
....
After digesting everything displaying and trying to understand it as much as he could, Zeal finally proceeded with what was displaying in front of his eyes.
[Name: Zeal Imoh]
[Race: ???]
[Class:???{ End the bond to select a class}]
[Grade:??? {End the bond to receive a grade}]
[HBT: Normal]
[Level: 0]
[Exp: 0/50]
[HP:10/10]
[Strength: 10]
[Durability: 10]
[Dexterity:10]
[Stat points: 0]
[Savage points: 0]
Zeal looked at the screen, its crimson glow painting his face in war and wonder.
A thrill surged as he this provided him with a path, a purpose, a power. But joy tangled with grief like silk wrapped around thorns as a single thought crossed his mind.
The system offered strength, but at the cost of something too sacred to him.
He felt like a man standing at the altar of his own undoing,
blessed, cursed, and utterly torn.
But the system didn't stop there.
[Elemental magic]
{Ice spells- Limited}
[Quest Screen]
[Main Quest: Taminate the Witch-warlock bond]
[Quest Reward:???]
After going through system and learning everything that he possibly could, Zeal had to just think about closing the system and it did disappear from his sight. And when he thought of opening the system again, the screen would automatically come displaying in front of his eyes.
Its mechanism, how he teamed him left Zeal utterly confused. Especially the stone and he knew he could only find answers at the academy library.
But he was still left at a conflicted state as his mind churned, the system's demand echoing like a curse: Terminate the bond. But how could he?
To sever it meant betraying Irine, yet to keep it meant shackling himself to the one who had already betrayed him. His chest tightened, torn between rage and longing, between survival and loyalty.
But for now. He decided to force the thought aside, desperate to understand where he was, when suddenly—
"You are finally awake."
The words drifted into the room like a melody, soft and sweet, yet carrying an undertone that made his skin prickle. Zeal spun around, heart hammering. And at the doorway stood a girl his age.
Her beauty so disarming it struck him like a spel that for a moment, his breath faltered, his pulse stuttered as blood trickled from his nose as if his body itself rebelled against the sight.