I Can Copy Curses

'I will only absorb the four cores and will keep the last one when I need to upgrade.

Orion thought as he put his hands on the cores.

[Does the host want to absorb the mutagen?]

'Yes.'

[Does the host want to absorb the mutagen?]

'Yes.'

[Does the host want to absorb the mutagen?]

'Yes.'

[Does the host want to absorb the mutagen?]

'Yes.'

He absorbed the mutagens from the four cores but didn't feel any difference, like how he would feel stronger when he absorbed the core as a whole.

'It seems I'll only get the benefits when I complete my upgrade process.'

He thought as he took the fifth core in his hand, and again, the notification to absorb the mutagen came, but Orion rejected it and put the core inside the shirt he wore.

After that, he went back into the wall and continued to explore the different rooms he found along the wall.

***

After spending an hour or so searching all the rooms he could, he didn't find anything like the Space Tear. While most of the rooms were occupied by the guards, the rooms that didn't have anyone living appeared as empty as a blank piece of paper.

But Orion did scout the whole castle, and from that, he got the basic structure of it. There were three sections of it, and he only checked the middle one. There was the top section and the bottom section.

Thinking of the bottom section, he recalled seeing a staircase leading deep underground when he escaped from the prison. Now that he thought about it, the probability of finding Space Tear at the bottom is high.

'It's a precious thing—a cosmic wonder, so it shouldn't be in a place where everyone can see it.'

He didn't know what cosmic wonders were, but if he had the Space Tear, he would definitely hide it in a place where nobody would find it.

'I wonder why she was searching like an idiot in plain sight.'

He thought, but he felt glad about that because of her, he also searched the other rooms and found himself those precious cores.

"Who is it?"

At that moment, Orion heard a shout, prompting him to turn to its source.

He saw a man about eighteen years old with deep red hair neatly combed, wearing clothes that reminded him of the dream he had where everyone wore prince-like attire. Aside from that, the man appeared pretty thin, as if he were malnourished or something.

"I know there is someone inside the wall. I can sense the blood oozing out of you."

Oriom frowned as he heard him. He hadn't thought that there would be someone here who could detect him.

However, he didn't make a sound or reveal himself. He felt that even if the red-haired guy could sense him around the wall, he might not know his exact location.

"Don't make me repeat myself. Come out, and I will spare you; otherwise, you will regret it," the red-haired guy said, looking at the wall.

He then waited for Orion to reveal himself, and after not seeing anyone coming out of the wall, his face turned gloomy.

"Guard, come here," he quickly summoned the nearest guard he could see around him.

However, the moment the guard heard him called by the red-haired guy, he started trembling as tears welled up in his eyes.

"Y-young Master, I-I have a family to feed," the guard stuttered. "Please choose someone else."

"Are you defying my order?" The red-haired guy frowned.

"No, no, Young Master," the guard said hurriedly. "It's just that my daughter is still only a year old, so I can't die right now. I need to feed her and my family. Aside from the death sentence, please punish me as you want."

The red-haired man lowered his head as he heard him.

"You can go now," he commanded, his head still lowered. "I will forgive you this time. Remember not to defy my order next time."

"Thank you, Young Master," the guard said before he ran away from the hall.

"All of you," the red-haired guy said, looking at all the other guards whose faces appeared pale as paper. "Leave at once."

All the guards standing in the hall nodded to him and fled as quickly as possible.

"You can come out now," he then said, looking at the wall, his eyes locked at the exact position Orion stood in. "I can perfectly sense your existence inside that wall. No point in hiding in front of me."

Orion didn't know what to do. He could tell that the red-haired man was looking at the exact position where he stood, so he understood there was no point in hiding against him. But he didn't want to reveal himself either.

As he was pondering what to do, the red haired guy lost his patience.

"You want to keep hiding?" The red-haired guy said it in frustration. "Fine, I'll just have to lose some blood anyway."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he bit his right-hand thumb, causing blood to drip out of it.

Drip! Drip! Drip!

The sound of blood dripping to the floor sounded when, miraculously, all the blood around his finger and the one that dropped below started to flow up and gather together to form a condensed ball of blood.

"Arrow."

An arrow was released from the mass of the ball of blood, and it went straight at the position where Orion stood.

Seeing that blood-red arrow zooming towards him, Orion quickly moved along the wall, but to his surprise, the arrow followed him.

'Whatever, since he already knows I am here, there is no point in hiding.'

He gave up trying to dodge and stood there as the blood-red arrow came and destroyed the wall and then passed right through him.

As the walls got destroyed, the red-haired guy finally saw that the one who hid in the wall was a fourteen-year-old kid.

"A kid?" He exclaimed in surprise. He had thought that a person who could sneak into this castle and move around without anyone noticing would be an expert, but after seeing that person was a kid, he felt surprised.

"How did you get in here?" He asked. "The restricted space should also work against your ability. So, it's impossible that you can come here."

"I guess I am a mysterious guy," Orion shrugged. "But what about you? You seem pretty chill for a guy talking to a person who is invading your own house."

The red-haired guy blinked at Orion's words. He then shook his head vigorously, as if coming to his senses.

"How dare you invade this Young Master's castle?" He said this, his head held high, looking at Orion as if he were looking at an ant. "You shall be punished to death for this."

Orion titled his head in response. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this.

'This guy is too funny.'

He thought, smiling at him.

"You know that was super cringe-worthy and edgy," he said, looking at him. "You should try to lower your threat and work on your posture a bit."

"I see." The red-haired guy nodded in understanding. "I have been working on this since I was a child, but I just can't perfect it like my brothers and sisters. They appeared as though they were born with this arrogant and haughty look, unlike me."

"You could also become one," Orion said solemnly. "You just need more practice."

The red-haired guy nodded, and at that moment, he remembered the main problem.

"Seriously, though, what are you doing here?" He asked, looking at Orion.

"It's a long story," Orion sighed.