(Ken POV)
"You want me to read this?"
Miabi nodded and placed her right hand on her hip while her other hand pointed at the piece of literature resting on my hand.
"Yes. I want to confirm in person, to witness the full extent of your curse, so I may get a better idea of how to fully deal with it. Try learning the spell that's indicated in it."
I did as she instructed and my eyes focused on the title of the book on its cover.
Even if it was nighttime, the moon shone brightly upon its majestic light. Thus, reading even in the dark should be of no issue.
If I don't have any fucking curse, that is.
And as expected, something began obscuring my mind, as if preventing me from even grasping what the book was all about.
Putting as much effort as I could muster, I managed to decipher the words, but it has put a great toll inside my head.
It was a simple D-rank fire spell called Ember.
It was like darkness gradually engulfed my vision, foggy, like a ship navigating at zero visibility.
Yes, even my curse applied to the front covers of a spell or magic book. So I would instantly know if the book was anything related to magic.
While Vivian was capable of removing any foreign substance invading my mind, the same can't be said about the curse that has been engraved at me completely for as long as I can remember.
As mentioned before, Master sadly possessed no knowledge in eradicating the curse since it was a magic that's new to her. Even with her vast experience 500 years ago, never once had she encountered a curse like this, so I understood her inability to lift it.
Opening the book, it was naturally all the same, with the haziness of my mind still at work. As I tried my hardest to read the words of a single page, a tinge of great pain eventually invaded my head, causing me to clutch my head in anguish and kneeled myself to the ground while dropping the book.
"Ken, are you okay?!"
Phil conveyed his concern as he attempted to approach and console me out of pity.
Well, there was a reason why I said "attempted" since he never had the chance to do so.
In an instant, a barrage of overwhelming emotions descended upon my every being.
Grief at my incapability.
Irritation at the pain caused by this curse.
And most notably... Rage.
Rage at this shitty reality at how I was doomed to not learn magic ever since I was a kid and to the one who was responsible for casting this curse on me. If I ever find the fucking bastard responsible for this, then I'll make sure that they will regret cursing the wrong man.
"Ken, calm down. You're not acting like yourself."
Vivian's plea has fallen to deaf ears and my anger never ceased.
(Miabi POV)
Hmm, this was getting out of hand.
If this kept up, then I'm not so sure if the academy staff would appreciate the holes on the ground caused by a rage-induced Ken Bruce.
Because of his unadulterated resentment that he was feeling right now, the flames of Dragon involuntarily were conjured at his both hands, with his eyes turning slit like a reptile. This was a clear sign that he was unconsciously entering Half-Dragon form at its early stage.
He began pounding his Dragonfire ignited fists at the ground repeatedly and in his moment of weakness, tears threatened to pour from his draconic eyes.
"Damn it!!! Damn it!!! Damn it!!! Why!? What have I fucking done to deserve all of this!?"
The sight of his clear contempt was something that I don't desire, not even a little bit.
True, while I love messing with people's heads and fool around since I simply find it funny, seeing one's sorrow in person was something that I incredibly abhor.
Well, to the ones who don't deserve it at least.
And someone had the gall to play God, trampling with the life of another and cursing him ever since he was born.
Like I'm one to talk.
I too am guilty of playing with people's lives to an extent, all for the sake of advancing my magic and research.
And also, for the sake of rescuing her, one day.
Anyways, if I leave Ken Bruce wallowing himself in self-pity, then it would be only a matter of time before his draconic rage took over and might cause unnecessary destruction all over the vicinity.
The Magus of Infinity, reduced to this pitiful state, a broken young man engulfed by the purity of rage at his incapacity.
I supposed that its time to end this troubling crisis. Left with little choice, I decided to cast a certain dark spell of mine, to temporarily take control of him and command him to ceased that unrelenting emotion of his.
My intentions were halted however when someone beat me up to it.
As Ken was about to bore another of his flaming fist to the ground, something abruptly stopped him, as if a wave of soothing energy invaded his whole body.
"P-Phil?"
And the culprit was none other than our girlish-looking male classmate as he touched Ken's back and cast a magic of his, causing a pink glow of light to appear at that spot.
Ken effectively calmed down as a result and reverted fully to his human form, with his draconic flames dispersing as well.
"Are you feeling well now, Ken?"
Phil smiled gently at him and his resentment about his curse seemed to be disappearing gradually with each passing moment.
Hmm, interesting. It appears that Phil has quite a useful magic if he's capable of calming down even an enraged Dragon of all people. Despite having the looks of a timid girl, he's more than meets the eye. I'm sure that such a feat can't be performed by an average mage alone since I've heard that a Dragon's rage is something that can't easily be extinguished by normal means.
Fufufu, the class of 1-S are all a bunch of intriguing individuals indeed. I'm so pleased that the Headmaster had assigned me there. And yes, even such a sentiment extended to our homeroom instructor, Paul Travis, despite his drunken quirks that are rather unbecoming of him as a teacher of a prestigious magic academy of the Wessoria Kingdom.
When the whole situation finally hushed down to reasonable serenity, I slowly approached Ken and told him of his curse dilemma.
"I apologize. While it's not my intention to bring up some old wounds from the past, I deemed that it was necessary for you to go through this grueling ordeal for a final time."
Ken looked at me, hurt evident on his face. Nonetheless, his willpower remained strong and asked me-
"Why? For what reason did you have me read this book?"
I sighed deeply and gave him my answer.
"As I said before, I wanted to witness firsthand of your curse, to make my clear and concise assessment about it before performing the ritual. And if I managed to end your curse tonight, then you will immediately know the result by reading that spell book again. As any self-respecting Mage who values research and science like myself, it's simply the basic notion of an experimental process, or in a simpler explanation... Seeing the outcomes before and after."
After giving my explanation, Ken and Phil appeared to be convinced as their expression softened ultimately.
With that said, Ken then inquired me with a look of expectation, like a loyal hound anticipating some treats and pets from its master.
"So, does that mean you can really cure my ailment? By the Gods, I'm so tired of having to deal with this shit."
My usual smile returned and I braced myself up, as a sign of exuding my unadulterated confidence for them all to bear witness.
"Of course. After my initial examination of your curse, I deduced that it's something that can easily be taken away, for someone of my abilities and experience at least."
Phil chose the moment to interrupt and asked his own question about the matter.
"You also mentioned that you encountered something similar in the past. May you kindly elaborate?"
I see no harm in fulfilling his request and I gladly gave my answer.
"I was about to go over that particular topic as well. Ken Bruce's curse is an extremely rare condition known as Heimrich's Curse of Shrouding Knowledge or simply Heim's Shroud for short."
I then regarded them with a serious look and made myself comfortable by sitting at a bench that was nearby. I gestured them to follow shortly after and they sat as well at another bench.
"For you to know about the nature of this curse of yours, allow me to give you a brief tour on history regarding the Mage... The Warlock who made it all possible."