Jacob knew he couldn't use his hex mana without revealing his true form in front of Elia and her father, but he really wanted to examine Elia's curse.
So, he decided to choose the most effective and safe way; looking at Elia and her father, he said, "Wait here. I'll be back." The next moment, he jumped off the tree and vanished into the forest, leaving the baffled wood elf and his daughter in shock.
"Is that uncle going to cure me, Daddy?" Elia suddenly asked her father with an expectant look in her big, round eyes, and she didn't take the dark elf's action as strange.
Her father pulled a pained expression, seeing his daughter's hopeful gaze, and smilingly nodded, "I think he will; let's wait and see. Even if he can't help you, I'm sure we'll find a cure for you in the Cardinal Spirit Chru…"
Suddenly, the wood elf's eyes were shut, and he started to fall off the tree as he fell unconscious mysteriously. Elia was startled and panicked, seeing her father suddenly starting to fall and was about to cry in alarm when she also lost consciousness the next moment, and she started to fall off the tree as well.
However, at this moment, before she could crush on the ground, a giant bone hand grabbed her while her father directly smashed on the ground and lay there in slumber.
It was naturally Jacob's doing, as he used his slumber hex on his father and daughter so they wouldn't find out his true identity. This way, he can also examine Elia as much as he wants without her father's interference.
Jacob, without wasting any time, placed his bone finger on the curse marks around Elia's neck, and crimson mana started to coat his finger. The moment his hex mana touched the dark web around Elia's neck, an unexpected reaction occurred.
The dark web of the curse suddenly lit up in dark light, and his hex mana suddenly started flowing into the curse at an alarming rate. Consequently, the web of dark lines started to spread all over Elia's body and face!
Jacob was astounded when he felt his hex mana being greedily absorbed into the little elf girl as if she were a bottomless pit. For some reason, he started to feel strange reasoning with her, or, more accurately, he felt as if his hex core was forming a strange connection with Elia.
As more of his hex mana was absorbed in Elia, the web of dark lines shimmered strongly, and those lines spread profoundly around her face.
'What is happening? Does she have some kind of affinity with curse magic? I really wish that damn book wouldn't be in its cooldown period, and there are still around twenty days left before I could summon it. Should I continue without knowing what's going to happen? Or should I just abduct her and keep her into my pedant until I got an answer out of Immortika?
However, at this moment, he ran out of hex mana, and thereafter, the dark lines on Elia's body started to dim down, but Jacob could now feel that those dark lines still wanted his hex mana and were far from done.
'What is happening? Does she have some kind of affinity with curse magic? I really wish that damn book wouldn't be in its cooldown period, and there are still around twenty days left before I could summon it. Should I continue without knowing what's going to happen? Or should I just abduct her and keep her into my pedant until I got an answer out of Immortika?
'But it's quite clear her curse isn't normal, and my hex core seemed to have some kind of connection with her. As for her father…' He looked at the unconscious wood elf coldly.
In the end, Elia vanished from his hand, and then he used his water mana to write something on the tree and place something on the wood elf's hand before he walked away, leaving the unconscious wood elf behind. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but since it might benefit him, he wasn't going to hesitate to do what was necessary, even if it meant abducting someone's daughter!
After six hours, as the sun was about to set, the wood elf finally opened his eyes in confusion. He was alarmed and cried, "Elia!?" He instantly searched for his daughter.
He didn't know what happened, but he was more afraid about Elia's safety than his own. Then he noticed something metallic in his hand. When he saw what it was, he was bewildered because it was a spacer ring.
However, he didn't have the mind to pay it any heed and called loudly, "Elia!!" But what replied to him was an eerie silence. He started to freak out and looked around frantically.
At this moment, he finally spotted something unusual on the bark of the same tree where he found the dark elf; there was something carved on it. When he read it, his expression warped, and he was horrified because what was written on the tree was.
"I'm taking your daughter because her condition is very special, and no one but I can help her. Once I'm done with her, I'll send her back. You don't have to worry about her safety, she's safer with me than you because if she remained with you'll get her killed eventually.
"I know you're going to hate me for what I'd done is wrong, and you should be hating me. But know this: if you try to find me or your daughter, only misery awaits you. It's a warning and my advice to you. If Elia doesn't return to you in 10 years, then I would suggest you move on and forget about her.
"I left enough treasures for you to live like a King in the Unique Plains. I hope it'll give you some solace until we meet again… 'J'!"
The wood elf's eyes opened wide as the dark elf's face suddenly appeared in his mind. His body started to shake with rage, and his eyes shimmered with dense hate and killing intent.
He then looked at the space ring in hand and wanted to throw it away, as it instantly reminded him of this humiliation. However, it also increased his hatred for this 'dark elf' who took Elia as if she were some kind of commodity and then left those words as if he was doing him a favor. He started to regret his decision even more.
At this moment, he clenched the ring in his fist and threw a punch at the writing on the tree bark, blasting it into smithereens, and roared furiously with hatred and resolved, "Bastard! You fiend, how could you do this! I'll kill you for taking my daughter, even if it's the last thing I do!"