A few chores or errands shouldn't be an issue, but I didn't do a few chores or errands. Master Giles told me to volunteer my time at the closest stable and work there for half a day.

It's a privately owned stable that rents out horse beasts. They seem receptive to my offer, almost like master Giles does this with his other students. The place appears well-kept, and the horses seem content with their living arrangements. Since I'm a volunteer, I get the crappy jobs. It wouldn't be that bad if they were normal-sized horses, but these things were massive. It wasn't all shoveling shit, but that spoiled the entire interaction with this stable. At least I'll get a discount if I rent a beast from them. Probably because I'm a student to master Giles rather than charity work I did for them.

Master Giles needs a few days to prepare everything for Flash Gordon. He has to prepare four sets since I have four beasts that need the ranking correction. So I cracked open my book of curses and started afflicting myself again. Out of the 1001 curses, I can utilize less than 100. Most of those curses are just weaker versions of normal ones that I managed to downgrade enough to cast. A curse of magnetism is supposed to be life-threatening on a battlefield of bullets and swords, but when I conjure it, it's a party trick that keeps me from using my computer.

Since I can't ramp the intensity of the curse, the growth rate of my resistance tapers off the higher it gets. At the end of the week, it'll probably barely reach 100. I read this book front to back, trying out the different curses that don't need crazy components or requirements, so I realized something was wrong with the book. There are only 974 curses in this book, not 1001. I don't know what they think about that. False marketing? Should I email Dr. E. Deathmen and see if he can supply the last twenty-seven curses? I wait for my magnetism curse to run its course so I can get on my laptop.

In the room master Wang provided for me, I looked online for any mention of Dr. E. Deathmen, and I came up short. I did find a small newspaper article about a person called Edward Deathmen, but this person was never once referred to as a doctor. They are in prison due to reasons unrelated to curses or illegal writing material. That reason is tax fraud. I guess I'm not emailing him. I do a once-over on the book to see if the publishing company is on here, and sure enough, it isn't. Did this guy go around with handprinted copies and try to sell them door to door?

I decided to multitask by training my beasts at the same time. I gave Duchess a copy of the curses, minus the memetic hazards, and got Flash Gordon, Khan, Rob, and even Prometheus out with me to go to master Giles' yard. I had thought about the new skill I picked up at the auction house. [Master's Hand] can be a great offensive tool to mess with my enemies and open opportunities, but I can also use it to nonverbally direct my beasts. I had Duchess experience the skill and give me feedback. She had a few things to note.

[It is not like mind control... Although thisss one is not proficient in magic to achieve mental domination, thisss one feels that this is not an affliction towards the mind. Its limitation of not forcing the victim to harm themselves indicates that this ability is more of a suggestion than domination. There is always the possibility that if you overpower the target enough, you can order their suicide.]

"Would this help your magic in any way?"

[Perhaps. It might help thisss one reinforce certain mind magics once thisss one gets that skilled. Since spirit is the indicator of resistance, it might be more of a soul prodding than a mental one. 'tis unfortunate that a big book of mind magic wasn't one of the forbidden books you were given.]

"How do you feel about the curses?"

[Thisss one cannot adapt cursed magic to thisss one's arsenal in the traditional sense. It's not an affinity that thisss one can strive towards without great sacrifice. It would not be worth it. Thisss one can incorporate some of the foundations and functions to other spells in the future, but it would not be one-to-one.]

'Updates on the wind magic and the new affinity you have to gain. I've been leaving you to your own devices, but if it's a burden, I will continue to help."

[Wind magic is something thisss one can gain after a longer-than-average study session. The only hold-up is the 'life affinity' this one has to grow. The reagents and magic instruments are helpful, but thisss one would prefer a vat of blood and a [Life Stone].]

"I can do both."

[Examing your healing and the energies off of the one called Flash Gordon helped thisss one out so far.]

I give Duchess the dormant [Life Stone] and Flash Gordon to help her. The fact that the stone requires a spark of life to activate can indicate how far she is progressing. A test or something. I give her some of my blood, and Duchess claims it's saturated with healing. Rain has a vial of that stuff, so I wonder if she came up with the same conclusion.

She might not have noticed yet since last I heard, she was opening a shop. She wanted cheap labor in the form of me, but I declined since I'm busy. Speaking of, my [Master's Hand] solves many problems I had as a combative tamer. I couldn't direct Khan besides the most basic commands, and telling Rob to assassinate someone ruined the surprise. A gesture or a snap is all I need to issue an order, but I can hold their hand and tell them exactly how I want it done.

My white satin gloves stay on my hands as I move them up and down. Khan is floating around, made of clouds, using his armor's abilities for the first time with my commands. I can also use this to train him with more complex commands since he'd understand what I mean, maybe.

~

It's the end of the week. I missed the last get-together with the two teams, so I should probably make it this time. My curse resistance has gone along well, and I even unlocked a new one. I don't know what to make of it, but filling up my system window brings me unique joy. It almost makes the week of being majorly inconvenienced worth it.

[Resistance: Curse 2 > 101]

[Resistance Gained!]

[Resistance: Body 0 > 1 (101)]

The one thing I could correlate to "body resistance" is my body's resistance to change from unnatural means. I tried to do a blood curse on myself to prepare myself for the future, and not only did that make my curse resistance surpass 100, but it also unlocked the new resistance. I tried to turn my blood blue, but it stopped working after I got the resistance. It's hard for me to increase this resistance since the curses I can cast to train it are getting doubly weakened, and it's practically doing nothing.

I finally freed my prisoner from my dungeon. I gave him one task and a plot of land. Dylan, the tamer of the undead, is going to construct a graveyard. I got him bricks, fences, grave dirt, dead gnolls from master Wang's fracture, and some miscellaneous items. Rob will act as a warden, but he has express orders that should trigger my [Thralldom] ability if he does anything that could harm my beasts, my items, or myself.

I had to give him his items back, but his demeanor hadn't changed since the last time I saw him. I was secretly hoping that his claim of not needing food or water was a bluff and he'd die in my dungeon from natural causes, but oh well. Free labor is free labor. I did give him an out. He didn't have to do the work, and I'd hook him up with books or food if he was so inclined, but he'd really wanted to impress me with his work.

His displays of passion were almost enough for me to put him back underground and do the work myself. But I managed to persist. He's not a necromancer, but he knows enough from his time at the death cult to accelerate the process. Miasma has to generate for the undead to reanimate and be considered a graveyard appropriate for Rob. He also claimed that he could confine it in an area, but he might be licking my boots with that claim. Is that a saying?

I went to the institute alone since all my beasts were doing their own thing. Flash Gordon is helping Duchess, Rob oversees his graveyard, and Khan is Khan. Prometheus 'sleeps' and eats all day, and it's his nap time right now, so Duchess will keep watch over him for the time being.

Dean Palmer still has an institute to run, so he can't stay here and babysit us any longer, same with Albert. The people overseeing our training are some of the best teachers in the Auroran Institute, and I'm not interested in meeting a single one of them. If I need to learn something from a book, I have my [Lexicon]. If they want to teach me how to fight or anything about my beasts, I have two masters. They should be aware of my existence. That should be good enough for them. Or at least I thought so.

Two professors oversee the students, both in their education and their training. A man and a woman. Both professors seem relatively young to be professors, but with how higher levels slow down aging, it would be hard to accurately guess age based on appearance alone. Maybe I'm surrounding myself with too many old/bald people.

The female professor reminds me of an instructor back in Bluefield, the woman who gave me detention, Professor Carmichael. They seem like they could be related, with similar dress attire and general appearance, but I don't want to pry. Maybe my brain is defaulting 'pretty teacher' to the same person since I don't fully remember what Professor Carmichael looks like. The dude has spiky gray hair but looks like he's in his twenties. I didn't catch either of their names since they didn't introduce themselves to me.

The students had to do a double take when they saw me again since It looked like I doubled in weight with just muscle. I'm also slightly taller after gaining [Battered Bones]. It wasn't intentional, but the aftermath of breaking my body and healing myself was gaining height. This could be an opportunity to learn about cosmetic surgery. I might bring it up with master Wang. Don't I have an almost surgeon doing manual labor on my manor grounds?

"It's good to see a new face. Where were you for the past week or so?"

I look down at spikey hair, who singled me out before anything could happen.

"I only have to be here once a week. There isn't even a scheduled day to come by. Something, something, team bonding."

"Who told you that?"

"It was a request from my dean. I wouldn't be here otherwise. I'd prefer not to go out, but since this is the institute recognized as the greatest, I'm assuming it's safe here."

"Safe? Safe from what? If you don't want to be here, you can leave."

"Oh, thanks."

I turn to leave, but spikey hair guy backtracks on his declaration.

"Turn your ass back around. You're unlucky that today's a field day. I'll judge whether or not you need my training."

It's not that I don't need your training, but I'd be better off training under someone else. I have two masters that I can... why can't I talk?

[Resistance: Curse 101 > 102]

"I'll repeat what I said the first time I was brought on to teach you kids. This isn't only about learning your ABCs or how to hit harder with a weapon but learning about respect, diligence, and discipline. I used to be a combat instructor for some of the finest soldiers in our military, but now I'm babysitting you twelve. My partner here will fill in when needed, but I'm running this show. At least on the field."

I walked away halfway through his speech. Something about this entire situation turns me away from it. Once my speaking ability returned, I called master Wang to tell him I could continue his training.

"Master Wang. This disciple will return for training."

"Sure. What are you doing right now?"

"Uh. I'm walking back from the institute. Do you want me to pick you up food or something?"

"Perhaps. How is training over there compared to mine? Probably involves fewer broken bones, huh? Hehe."

"I ditched since I don't like the instructor."

"Oh? Well, disciple, how much worse can they be compared to me? I beat you daily. Go train with your friends, and hang out with people your age before it's too late. You'll have to deal with people you don't like at some point anyways."

"..."

"When you're done, bring me something with that auction money you got. I deserve a gift or two."

"How did you know?"

"I forced Rain to tell me where you took her and where she got the money to buy a shop so quickly. Turns out, it's the same answer."

He hangs up on me with that final note.