Lady of Curses

''This necklace lets you curse someone from a great distance.'' Carl took a glance at the necklace and then returned his gaze to the two ladies. ''If normally you can cast a curse only on those who you see, with some exceptions as rituals, then with this necklace you can cast your curse on anyone from anywhere.'' 

''So how does it work, do I just imagine who I want to curse, and then it happens?'' Aella was still a little confused about how it operated, but it sounded great that she didn't have to worry about the distance.

''No, you need some kind of material from that person you want to curse.'' Carl almost instantly shot Aella's idea down. ''You need something like blood, or hair or nail, anything from a person's body and you're good to go, you just need to put that material in the wooden skull's mouth and then activate your curse, while holding the skull.''  Carl opened the wooden skull's mouth as he explained how it worked and how to use it. 

''Well not as amazing as just imagining the person, but still pretty impressive.'' Aella was happy that she got such a valuable item. Although in normal fights it won't give her that much advantage, but if she gets her enemies material without them knowing she could easily get rid of them without them even knowing who did it. 

''Indeed it's impressive.'' Carl agreed with Aella that this item was quite good. 

''So how much do I owe you?'' Aella wasn't naive enough to think that she would get her necklace appraised for free. Even though Carl was Suira's friend she herself met Carl only now, so she was ready to pay. 

''The first appraisal for new customers is free.'' Carl gave Aella back her necklace as he said that. ''But the next one will cost you.'' 

''Thanks.'' That was a little unexpected but Aella won't complain, after all, she just got something for free. After taking the necklace from Carl she put it back on her hip, but this time she was a little bit more careful and made sure that it was tightly bound to her hip. 

''Now then if you don't have any more business with me, please leave so that I can continue with my research.'' The little man got off the chair and started ushering Aella and Suira out of his lab.

Aella and Suria didn't resist and let him lead them to the door. Suria opened the door and walked outside, and Aella followed her. 

''Well, it was nice meeting you, and do come again if you need something to apprase, or if you need some potions.'' After saying that Carl closed the door, leaving Aella and Suria outside the warehouse. 

''He's one interesting fellow.'' Aella voiced her thoughts about Carl out loud, while looking at the door he just closed. 

''He is, isn't he.'' Suria smiled as she agreed with Aella. ''But he isn't a bad guy, just a little unique.'' 

Aella had to agree with that statement, she didn't know if she could judge someone just by meeting them once, but the first impression she got from him, was that he wasn't a bad guy, maybe just a little eccentric.

''Thanks for introducing him to me, how can I repay you?'' Aella was grateful to Suria for introducing her to Carl because now she knew where to go when she needed something to appraise, and she felt obligated to somehow thank Suria for that. 

''Cach!'' Suira didn't say anything but just that before she threw something at Aella. Aella fortunately had good enough reflexes so she caught the thing that Suira threw at her. 

Opening her fist, Aella saw a green ring with what looked like hair in the middle of it. It looked like a transparent green jade ring, with some golden hair in the middle of it. 

''What is this?'' Aella picked up the ring with two fingers and angeled it at the sun so that she could have a better look at it.

''Some of my hair enveloped by the ring.'' Suria answered Aella's question with a smile. But Aella was still confused, and it probably showed on her face because Suria continued her explanation. ''By my knowledge, you're getting summoned a bunch, so if you ever need some help, please summon me.'' 

''Sure.'' Aella didn't mind Suira's request, it even helped her, because if she couldn't do something or was just too hard, now she could summon Suira to help her. It was a win-win situation, Suira gets to be summoned and Aella has a backup. So with that in mind, Aella put the ring on her left hand's middle finger. 

''I'll make sure to summon you if I need help.'' Aella turned to Suria and showed her the ring. 

''Thanks.'' Suria still had her usual smile as she nodded. 

''It looks like I have to go.'' Suria pulled out a familiar green crystal as she said it. Aella saw that her smile wavered a little bit as she said it, but it might be just Aella's imagination. 

''How unfortunate.'' Aella wanted to spend some more time with the golden-haired friend, but it looked like it wasn't meant to be today. 

''Indeed.'' Suria agreed with Aella, she too wanted to spend some time with the black-eyed lady, but duty called so she could only hope the next time they will have more time to hang out. 

''Goodbye.'' Suria went for a hug as she said her goodbye to Aella.

''Goodbye.'' Aella returned the hug. They hugged for a moment before separating and going their own way.

Aella decided to make her way home because she had something she wanted to test. It was about growth crystals, she wanted to see if she could absorb them, and if she could, how much would they fill her growth pool. 

The reason she wanted to do something like that, was because she was feeling close to advancing, and she was getting a little impatient. The last time she advanced she felt amazing, so if possible she would like to advance again as soon as possible.

Aella made her way to her house, she didn't pay much attention to the city or things around her. She was more interested in getting home and testing her thing. 

It took some time, but in the end, she finally got home. She put the necklace and her pouches on the table and sat down near it. She took one of the growth crystals, and observed it, before closing her eyes. 

Aella tried to absorb the crystal, and it didn't take long before she got a reaction. She felt how the mana from the crystal slowly got absorbed by her. Slowly the mana in the crystal dwindled and soon Aella had absorbed all of it. When the last drop of mana got absorbed from the crystal, it shattered into light particles, that soon after dissipated into the air. 

Aella was a little amazed by the spectacular, but her mind didn't linger long on it because she was more interested in how much the crystal gave her. Looking inside her Aella could see that after absorbing the crystal she had gotten a nice amount of mana. So that confirmed that she indeed could absorb these crystals.

Happy with this knowledge Aella took the next crystal and repeated the action. She smiled as she felt the mana flow into her, the sensation was satisfying to her, and if she wasn't careful she might get addicted to it. 

She absorbed the crystals one after another until it finally happened. She felt how she broke her limits, she felt the mana moving inside her. Slowly she got engulfed into a cocoon, and Aella fell into a state of trance. It felt warm and comfortable, and Aella got into a fetal position as she closed her eyes, and happily waited for what will happen next.