Hitman with a Badass System
chapter-601

After Michael paid twenty thousand badass points, the system scanned Eve's body with invisible rays that Michael's eyes could only see. Eve slightly felt a warm sensation running throughout her body.

[The system scan is complete]

[The system has found several curses in Eve's body]

[The current system version cannot find the origins of the curses]

"What's the nature of these curses?" Michael wasn't surprised as he expected the elves to put some curses on Eve's body. What Julien said about Filvendor's parents agreeing to marry their son to a human girl was too good to be true. Michael hadn't met a single elf who could be branded as good. Even Elidyr had an ulterior motive to help Michael. Many novels Michael read back on earth portrayed their elves as oppressed, weak, and enslaved by the other races. However, in this world, elves were anything but oppressed, weak, and enslaved. On the contrary, the elves were racists, powerful, and extremely power vicious, especially the elves who were born and grew up in noble families.

[The curses prevent her from breaking through to the Soul Refining stage, causing her to hallucinate and slowly corroding her from the molecular level. As a result, she only has a year to live if the curses aren't lifted]

[The current system version cannot lift the curse. The system needs to be at level 9 to lift curses]

[However, the system can locate an artifact that could break the curses for a price]

"How much?" No matter how many badass points the system asks, Michael will pay it. Eve was not only his friend but also a valuable asset to have. Besides, lifting curses could always come in handy when the elves tend to curse people so much.

[250,000 badass points. The system can absorb the item and turn it into a skill that would enable the host to lift even the powerful curses]

As soon as Michael heard the system, his lips curved upwards.

"I might sound like a teenager, but this shit is dope," Michael smirked devilishly. With this skill, he could cure Christopher, Claire's grandfather. Thinking about Christopher, Michael remembered to gather information about Claire's mother and her family. According to Gaya, Claire's mother belonged to a powerful noble family in Gondolin, the capital kingdom of Awor, where the empress resides.

Gondolin was also the most powerful and prosperous kingdom in the entire Awor. Even the dwarven kingdom couldn't hold a torch to Gondolin in terms of beauty and prosperity.

[Why does the host show no interest in saving Claire's mother?] Surprisingly the system questioned Michael while he was thinking about Claire's mother.

"First, there is no rush. Second, it's the most powerful kingdom in the whole world. I need more time and resources at my disposal before visiting them," Michael answered the system and checked his status to see 320,000 badass points at his disposal. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't see any downside to locating the curse-lifting artifact and turning it into a skill.

Hence, Michael agreed to let the system take a quarter million and give him the item's location.

[The item is hidden deep within the domain of the treacherous ocean] The coincidence surprised Michael. Since Michael had two more weeks before returning to Mazeroth, Michael planned to go to the treacherous ocean to harvest its resources. He never thought there was an item that could give him a legendary skill. Now that the system revealed its location to be the treacherous ocean, traveling to the treacherous ocean took priority.

"It's settled then," Michael took a deep breath and exited the system to see Eve and Gaya staring at him.

"Eve," Michael smiled as he ruffled Eve's head which caught Eve caught off guard,

"What are you doing?" Eve miserably smiled,

"You still don't get it, do you?"

Eve looked bewildered, hearing Michael. As he moved closer, Michael put his hand around Eve's neck. Surprisingly, she didn't move away or swat his arms off.

Michael then looked at the kingdom before them together,

"I can do whatever I want, Eve. You saw when I came up with a cure for the plague when the most genius minds in Awor couldn't. As a matter of fact, I challenged your father," Eve turned her gaze towards Michael as he continued,

"I challenged him that I will make you breakthrough to the Soul Refining stage and lead House Voldigard into a golden age,"

Eve was speechless, and Michael didn't give her any time to react. Instead, Michael revealed a shocking truth to her,

"Do you know why you can't break through to the Soul Refining stage? You're cursed by the elves Eve,"

"Huh? Wait, what are you talking about?" Eve's heartbeat began to increase as she shuddered. On the other hand, Gaya just rolled her eyes and joined them in sightseeing the gloomy city through the open window.

"I am not surprised at all. Cursing people is one of the many things those evil sons of bitches are capable of. That's why everyone hates them, and don't even get me started on the dark elves,"

"No, I don't believe it," Eve's eyes watered as the memories of Filvendor started to flood her mind. However, Michael did not stop. Instead, Michael let Eve know about the wickedness of the elves. Things like this would undoubtedly make a person strong, and Michael wanted Eve to be stronger than ever. Only then could she become ruthless enough to lead the Voldigards and probably fight beside himself against his enemies.

"They cursed you because they didn't want a human girl to marry their son, Eve. They planned everything and cursed you with several curses. That's the only reason, you couldn't break through to the Soul Refining stage and hallucinate,"

Eve was utterly taken aback by the shock and surprise. On the one hand, the memories made her eyes water; on the other, she had no idea how Ghost knew about her hallucinations when she hadn't told a soul.

"I don't know the full story, but if he's telling you, you're cursed. Then you are cursed. And you're freaking lucky to have met him," Gaya declared sternly.

"It's shocking, I know. Take your time to process everything. But be cool. I have a way to break those curses. You will ultimately believe me when I do that and make you breakthrough to the Soul Refining stage,"

Michael kept patting Eve on the back to calm her down. At that time, tears had already started to gush out of her eyes. To be honest, she couldn't believe Filvendor would do that to her. However, her brain told her otherwise.

As Eve was staring at the distant horizon, Michael quickly bought a potion from the system, instead of brewing it himself.

"Here," Gaya saw a glistening white pill in Michael's hand. The pill itself radiated a sweet fragrance like no other.

"Take this tonight. It will stop the hallucinations and give you a good night's sleep. If anything, you need good rest," Michael lifted Eve's hand and placed the pill on her palm.

"Why go to all this trouble to help me?" Eve couldn't help asking Michael. Although she felt like Michael was her best friend and could trust him with her life, Eve wanted to know why he was helping her. After all, Eve didn't have a clue that they were best friends once, and she died protecting the Dark Lord.

"No matter how many times you ask this question to me, my answer will be the same. You're my friend. To be honest, I feel like you are special, like my guts telling me you are my best friend. I always trusted my guts, and it never betrayed me," said Michael.

For a while, the place was haunted by silence as no one uttered a word. But the silence between Michael and Eve revealed a lot more than words to Gaya.

"Master Ghost, Miss Aelia," suddenly a gentle voice called out for them from outside.

"The feast is ready. Everyone's waiting for you in the great hall," The female maid softly spoke these words.

"Why don't we go out there and enjoy a nice meal? We deserve it, Eve," Michael said to Eve as Gaya also placed her hand on Eve's other shoulder.

He wanted to take Eve's mind off of Filvendor and the curses. She had a year to live, and Michael was optimistic he could go and come out of the treacherous ocean within a year. This time, he wasn't going there as a Core Formation cultivator but as a Fusion Stage cultivator with the system online, unlike the last time.

"Stop sulking, Eve. Let's go eat. I'm fucking hungry. You two can get me up to speed later," Since Gaya was hungry to the point her stomach started to grow, she couldn't care less about Eve's tantrum. Instead, she wanted to drag the both of them to the feast.

"We'll be there in a minute," Michael told the maid waiting outside and pulled Eve by her hand on the way to the door.

"Does Filvendor know about the curses?" Eve stammered, failing to believe Filvendor had betrayed her. Of course, she shouldn't believe Ghost, but Eve's heart trusted Ghost more than Filvendor.

"I don't know, but if i have to guess, I'd say yes," Michael didn't sugarcoat but told Eve what he felt. For him, it was too hard to believe a guy who truly loves a girl left her just like that because she can't break through to the next level. If he had truly loved her, he would have tried to find a way or atleast spent time with her until her time came. Atleast, that's what he would have done.

"Where is he now?" Gaya asked Eve while opening the door.

"Lord Julien said he was in Mazeroth?" Michael raised his one brow,

"Is it Eve?" asked Gaya as Eve took a few minutes of time before slowly nodding. It was evident to Michael and Gaya that Eve was deep in thought. How can she not after Michael had revealed the truth to her? As far as Michael was concerned, Eve handled the news pretty well.

"I heard the Filvendor somewhere in Mazeroth. Anyways, until I break the curses, I won't break his bones,"

"What are you talking about?" Eve creased her brows, wiping off the tears from her face.

"Okay, I won't do anything to him," Michael shrugged, but Eve didn't believe him, not even for a second.

"Master Ghost, Miss Aelia, Lady Eve," maids standing a few meters away in the corridor greeted them. Then, the maids led the three to the great hall where Lord Julien and Ingrid had prepared a lavish feast for Michael and Gaya.