Yor sat quietly on the roof, feeling the evening wind brush against his skin. His thoughts were heavy, but his eyes remained calm. He reached into his pouch and took out the cursed weapon.
He held it and carefully felt the grip. This was the same weapon that had killed its own users after the fights ended. The reason it was called "cursed" wasn't because it killed enemies—it killed its own wielder after some time.
But Yor didn't feel fear. His mana was already poisonous, and this weapon seemed to match him perfectly.
He slowly pushed his mana into the weapon.
Suddenly, he sensed something inside. It wasn't a spirit or monster, not even a consciousness. It was like a seed. A very small existence, still asleep. It had never been nurtured or accepted anyone before. But now, it had received Yor's poison mana. The seed accepted it quietly and showed no resistance.
Yor felt this and smiled a little.
He named the seed Pok, from the words "Poison" and "King." Then, he stored the weapon in a pouch that was normally used to keep monster cores.
Yor returned to Pice's house.
There, Pice was drinking and laughing.
"Hey, Yor! I saw a powerful masked man in Sector 12. He was really fast and skilled! I want to recruit him into our faction."
Yor calmly replied, "That masked man was me."
Pice froze, looking shocked.
"You… were him?" he asked.
He looked at Yor with wide eyes and said, "So, you've already surpassed me."
Pice sighed and smiled slightly. He poured himself more alcohol and said softly, "Well done."
Then, he passed out on the couch.
Yor left him to rest and walked outside. His heart felt strange. He didn't know why, but he felt something pulling at him. A quiet urge led him to a storage room inside the house.
There, Yor saw two paintings.
One was of Pice's great ancestor.
The other was a portrait of Yor's own grandfather.
He stepped closer, surprised. Just then, a glowing light appeared in another room nearby.
Yor followed the light.
Pice also woke up and followed him sleepily, still drunk.
In the glowing room, there was a giant white egg.
Purple spiral energy swirled around it.
The moment Yor stepped near, the egg began to crack.
Pice's face turned serious. He said, "This egg has been here for 130 years. It only reacts to someone with the true bloodline."
The egg opened slowly, and a small creature came out.
It had a body like a lion's, four legs, and a horn on its forehead. Its skin color was like that of a lion.
The creature looked at Yor with innocent but majestic eyes.
Yor's right hand started glowing.
The creature walked forward and touched Yor's hand with its head.
A mark appeared on Yor's hand.
Pice dropped to his knees and said with respect:
"You are the king."
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