The Strongest Curse Master

"Did it accept it?" Ace asked with great concern after his sister fed Vyasa's Womb the curse tool Fumetsu, which she had just cursed with her innate curse art: Myriad Cursed Incarnation Tattoo. After all, his sister's future as a curse master was dependent on this.

"Yes. That's a load off my mind," Lyra replied, her voice filled with both relief and excitement as she watched Vyasa's Womb not reject the curse tool imbued with her innate curse art. She felt a surge of anticipation at the possibilities of using her curse art and curse tool in combination.

"How long is the gestational period now?" Ace asked, curious to know whether combining her curse art with the tool had affected the timing.

"No change. It's still two years. But now I can use half of my total curse energy during the gestational period instead of just one-third. Also, I can now pause or cancel the process without worrying about losing the curse core or curse tool used. It seems your guess was right—using my innate curse art alongside Vyasa's Womb gives me more control over its abilities," Lyra reported. Then, unable to hide her impatience, she extended her hand and demanded, "Alright, give me a dozen of those changeling curse cores from earlier."

"Considering curse tools are more complex than curse cores, I actually thought the gestation time would increase. But it seems Vyasa's Womb doesn't differentiate between them. I wonder if the same is true if you try using higher tier curse tool or cores," Ace said, thinking aloud as he handed her a dozen changeling curse cores. One by one, the cores were immediately absorbed by Vyasa's womb as soon as they came into contact with Lyra.

Soon, Vyasa's Womb began flashing and pulsing with a bright red light, like red lightning trapped in a bottle. Even before she popped it open, Lyra exclaimed, "I can feel it! I can share my thoughts and memories with it. Ace, your guess was right—using my innate curse abilities in combination did turn the spirit born into my cursed incarnation. Ace, we've hit the jackpot!"

"Awesome! Hurry, release it. Let's check it out," Ace said excitedly, eager to see his sister's first true curse spirit / cursed incarnation—and also curious to witness a curse tool spirit for the first time.

"Alright," Lyra said, piercing her right thumb into the mouth of Vyasa's Womb. With a thunderous pop, the red lightning burst free from the bottle and materialized before the Lander siblings in a humanoid form.

To their shock, the Curse Tool Spirit—now her cursed incarnation—resembled a taller, more muscular version of Lyra. She lacked Lyra's curves and softness, instead boasting well-defined muscles like a female bodybuilder. She wore a kamishimo with colors matching Fumetsu's red and black hilt. Her black kimono top hung loosely around her hips, where her wakizashi was sheathed within her red shimo (skirt), while her chest was wrapped tightly in white bandages. Her fists, too, were bound in tight layers of bandage, like a Muay Thai fighter's.

For a curse spirit of a sword-shaped curse tool, she looked far more like a brawler. Her presence was domineering and intimidating—and it absolutely freaked the siblings out, especially the older one.

"I always wondered what you'd look like if you were taller, into MMA, and not a nerd," Ace commented, admiring Fumetsu's spirit form. Her muscles were bulkier than his—and more defined and toned.

Suddenly, Fumetsu moved with ghostly speed and attempted to flick Ace's forehead, but instead caught a punch square in the face from him. To Ace's surprise, she not only took the punch head-on but withstood it without flinching—living up to her name.

"Stop!" Lyra shouted. Instantly, Fumetsu retreated, and Ace lowered his fists.

Seeing both of them stand down, Lyra turned on her brother and thundered, "How could you punch a lady in the face?"

"Then where should I punch her? Her chest?" Ace shot back, having figured out that Fumetsu only tried to flick his forehead because Lyra had told her to.

"Argh!" Lyra groaned in frustration at her baby bro's not-so-innocent comeback. Then she warned him, "Just you wait. I'll show you I'm still the older one."

She glared at him, irritated by how unfazed he looked. Seeing him so unaffected, she couldn't help but miss the old days—when she could easily overpower him, and just one glare would send him crying to their mother. Considering the combo of her innate curse art and tool, Lyra felt that day might not be far off.

"Take this one too—it's called Fujin, as in wind blade," Ace said, handing over the second Wakizashi curse tool Emi had created. He figured that with two curse tool spirits serving as her cursed incarnations, his sister would be unmatched in the Mortal-tier. Tomorrow, he planned to buy a few powerful Knight- and Hero-tier curse tools from Janice to test whether Lyra could use her innate curse art and tool combo on those as well. If it worked, she'd dominate the upper tiers too.

"Alright," Lyra nodded, taking Fujin from Ace. Unlike Fumetsu's dull and bulky blade, Fujin featured a sharp, thin blade with a blue and black hilt.

Before feeding Fujin to Vyasa's Womb, Lyra retrieved Fumetsu, and a small tattoo of a Wakizashi resembling Fumetsu appeared on her right wrist. Nodding in satisfaction, she prepared to make it invisible—it didn't suit her aesthetic taste. Honestly, she'd rather have Fumetsu's spirit body as a tattoo than the blade itself.

However, to her surprise, she discovered that the cursed incarnation tattoo of cursed incarnation born from Vyasa's Womb could actually be transferred onto the womb itself. Curious, Lyra tried it—and sure enough, a small Wakizashi tattoo appeared on the black diamond body of Vyasa's Womb.

Lyra wasn't just curious about Fumetsu's spirit body—she also wanted to test a number of things. However, considering the adult nature of some of her doubts and the specifics of her experiments, she decided to save them for later when she was alone. For now, she'd stick to following her brother's lead.

"Woah, your innate curse art is turning out to be really handy, sis," Ace praised, watching her transfer the cursed incarnation tattoo onto Vyasa's Womb. He knew the sword tattoo wasn't to Lyra's taste. Even if she could make it invisible, she'd still know it was there. And while that discomfort might seem negligible compared to the convenience it offered, Ace understood his sister well enough to know that something so small could linger in her mind, bugging her until one day, it might just boil over. But this way, it was no longer on her body and wouldn't bother her. Sometimes, it's the little things that can knock or keep someone off or on the right track.