Argus released the creature, and it fell into a lifeless heap, slowly disintegrating into black vapor.
Ophelia still had a sour expression on her face, glaring at the stolen prey as it returned to nothingness.
Pandarus leaned on his blade and threw out a weak laugh.
"What a fight that was." He said. "That bastard got mighty slippery at the end there, but it was a real handy throw of the spear that finished him off. Good job, lad."
"It was mostly luck. My body moved by instinct, and it just happened to hit the bullseye." Mathew replied.
"No need to be modest. The spoils should go to you, after all."
"Spoils?" Mathew echoed.
He turned his attention back to the corpse, and noticed that after it had disappeared, it had left something behind, pinned to the ground by the very spear that Mathew had thrown:
A human face.
The item was made of the same inky black substance as the Nightspawn, and resembled what someone's face would look like if it had been forcibly peeled off and used as a mask.
Mathew shivered.
Pandarus pointed to it and stated: "You dealt the final blow, so you should be the one to take the item."
"Me? Take that thing?" Mathew said. Pandarus nodded.
A low rumbling sound, almost a growl, drew both of their attention to Ophelia. Her eyes were narrowed to slits, and she was clenching her fists so hard that her arms shook.
"Dread… belongs to me," Ophelia said. "Therefore, any spoils he might earn belong to me as well."
Mathew folded his arms tightly against his chest. He wasn't sure he wanted the strange face leftovers, but he hated the idea of Ophelia squeezing an iron fist around his life even more.
If he spoke out now, though, he was sure she would simply order his silence through the contract.
"Come on now." Pandarus reasoned. "Doesn't it make sense to motivate your followers now and again? Perhaps he will be more eager to serve you that way."
"I have no need to do that. Dread is bound to me by contract. His joy is not needed in order for him to obey me."
It was Argus who replied next: "My lady, I think it would be best to strengthen him now. You have more than enough Numens yourself already."
Mathew was surprised to hear the large man speak in his defense. Ophelia looked down, and for a moment he thought she would listen to his words, but then she released an auditory "hmph," and her face turned stern.
"You are my adviser and trainer, but you are not my father." She said to him. She then pointed a finger at Pandarus. "And do not forget who you serve, guide. You will assist me, but you will not advise me. Is that clear?"
He sighed in response but nodded.
Ophelia reached down and gripped the bizarre face with a gloved hand, and pulled the spear out of it with the other.
"If Dread is to receive a gift from me, that is my decision to make as his master." She said as she held both items in her hands. She then looked directly at him and said:
"He is nothing but a loyal dog, after all."
…..
A short time later, the crew of four walked right past a startled city guard.
"Um… Excuse me… What happened?" Stella asked them.
Ophelia lifted up the grotesque face-like remains of the Nightspawn creature in response.
"After you report to the lord that the monster was killed by my hands, tell him he is free to reward us as he sees fit."
"You killed… It's d-dead?"
"Is that not what I just said? Do your eyes not work clearly? You ought to pay more attention when people speak to you, girl."
She emphasized the word 'girl', even though Mathew was certain Stella was the older of the two. Her words proved effective, however, because the guard allowed them to pass with no further complaint, with her eyes wide and her jaw dropped.
How would Lord Aventinos respond to the news of their deeds?
As it turned out, Mathew did not need to wait long in order to discover the answer.
When the group awoke the next day, Ophelia and Mathew left early in order to find an alchemist to sell Blessings to. Mathew himself was contemplating whether or not to get rid of the wrench-flamethrower when he noticed a familiar guard pacing outside the inn.
Stella's arms were folded as she walked back and forth, her breath turning to mist in the chill morning air, and a large bag was slung over one shoulder.
She quickly snapped to attention when she saw them exit.
"Lord Aventinos sends his gratitude." She said, her tense voice echoing loudly in the empty street.
"As he should," Ophelia replied with a yawn. "But I hope gratitude is not the only thing he plans to send us."
"U-um, of course," Stella said, her face red, partially from the cold and the rest from embarrassment.
"Well? Out with it."
"Oh! Yes. You plan to do some shopping in the city, right? Lord Aventinos has offered to pay for any and all purchases or supplies you might need while you are here."
"All purchases?"
"Y-yes. Anything at all." Ophelia closed one eye in thought.
"We are in search of an alchemist right this moment. You can guide us to the best in town?"
"Alchemist? For what reason?"
"We have blessings to sell. You know what a blessing is, right?"
"Yes, ma'am," Stella said, nodding her head really fast. "If that's what you need, I can take you to the alchemist Nikolos. He is the best in town."
"And if we have need to purchase blessings, you have the funds with you to comply?" Ophelia asked. In response, Stella removed the large sack from her shoulder, pulling it open to reveal the contents.
It was filled with a massive amount of silver beads.
"Will this be enough?" Stella asked.
Ophelia responded with a wolf-like grin.
…..
"Hmmmm… What a bizarre weapon… and you claim it returns to your hand after being thrown?"
"More or less," Ophelia replied.
The alchemist, Nikolos, squinted at her from beneath bushy black eyebrows.
"And if an obstacle were in its path?"
"It would cut through it." She said with a shrug.
"Is that so… well, I suppose Blessings of Avarice are doing quite well in the market these days. The red flames often granted by the Lord of Greed are very handy when faced against an opponent wielding Blessings themselves."
"What amount are you able to give for this?" Ophelia asked.
"Perhaps 100 silver?" Nikolos said.
"I find myself quite low on gold as well. Why not throw in 20 gold?"
"You wish for me to double my offer? Ridiculous."
"What if I asked for 50 silver and 20 gold?" Nikolos smirked.
"You've no talent for bartering, girl. 50 silver and 10 gold, equal to my original price." Ophelia's face twitched, and Mathew half expected her to throw a tantrum right then and there.
"Fine." She said quickly.
"Anything else you need from me?" He asked. For a moment, Mathew considered stepping forward and offering to sell his own Blessing, but he changed his mind.
Who knew if the money would even go to him? According to Ophelia, everything he owned belonged to her anyway.
"I would like you to forge a Curse for us," Ophelia said, and forcefully dropped the black mask on the small work desk in front of the alchemist.
"The remains of a Nightspawn? Excellent! It has been a while since one entered my workshop. May I inspect it?"
Ophelia made an impatient gesture. The alchemist's hands shot into his desk drawer and brought out a few small objects: A long metal stick, a set of oversized tweezers, an object that appeared to be a small wrench, and a bizarre pair of goggles.
He strapped the goggles to his head, and in front of the right lens were a series of smaller lenses stacked on top of each other, each one smaller than the last.
He flicked the strange lenses in front of his eye, using them as a magnifying glass in order to get a much closer look at the subject before him. He then took the stick in his left hand and the tweezers in his right, and spent a few minutes poking and prodding at them.
"Most remains that are left over from magical beasts, including Nightspawn, can be used raw as ingredients. However, for an excellent piece such as this, it would be better if crafted as a curse of the 3rd tier," He said.
Ophelia watched with her arms folded, her middle finger tapping at her bicep.
"So?" She finally asked. "Can you do it?"
"Of course I can." He replied. "But can you afford it?"
"It is no issue at all. That one will cover it." Ophelia gestured toward Stella, who had been spacing out in the corner. She shook her head quickly when she realized she was being addressed.
"What? O-oh yes. I have been instructed by Lord Aventinos to pay for this Lady's requests."
"Aventinos?" Nikolos echoed. "Well, I suppose there is nothing to worry about then. I will get to work immediately."
He set his tools on the desk, then walked over to a rack that held various items, ranging from weapons and tools to strange sculptures and geometric shapes. He selected what appeared to be a white ceramic comedy mask, and carried it back to his seat with him.
"How long is the crafting process?" Ophelia asked as he sat down.
"It shouldn't take me long. A few hours at most."
He picked up the strange wrench-like object, and Mathew realized it was quite similar to his wrench-flamethrower blessing he had. This was only strengthened when the item was activated, and a small and concentrated flame appeared between the teeth of the wrench.
It looked like a blowtorch.
Was it a blessing created by the same god?
He watched closely as Nikolos placed the strange face-shaped remains on the ceramic mask and began to slowly prod at it with the flame of his tool. Every time he did, the Nightspawn remains sizzled and released black vapor, but it looked as if it was being welded to the mask at the same time.
Mathew was so mesmerized, he didn't even realize how much time had passed before Nikolos was finished.
The flame of the alchemist's tool was extinguished, and he held the mask up to the light of a lantern hanging from his ceiling.
At first, it appeared to be made of a transparent crystal, but then it began to fog up and darken, until it was more like black-tinted glass.
The Curse was complete.
"I am quite proud of how this one turned out." He said, stroking his beard with his free hand while he turned the item in his other hand to look at it from all angles. "It seems to have gained an interesting power. When one wears this, they can change their face to appear as anyone or anything they desire."
"How can you tell what it does?" Mathew asked
Nikolos pointed to the goggles he wore. "These are the Lenses of Truesight." He explained. "Much like my Gasburner, these are Blessings from Alchemy herself, passed down to me by my master. With the Lenses I can peer into the Divine Realm and read many secrets about the nature of Blessings and Curses. With the Gasburner I can bind the divine to the physical, crafting Curses."
"Peer into the Divine Realm? You mean when you look at blessings and curses, you can also see how they appear there as well? What do they look like?"
"Well, it takes years of training to read them as precisely as I do. When I was just starting out, however, they just looked like a bunch of glowing lights. Eventually, though, I could not only see which god the blessing came from, but what exactly its powers were."
"You don't say…" Mathew said.
Ophelia was impatiently tapping her foot, and she would probably snap at him soon, but he didn't care.
A new understanding was sparking to life in Matthew's mind.