Veilbreaker! Oops I Bleed Again

Draven removed his shirt and handed it to the elven woman.

She hesitated before taking it, quickly covering herself.

Then Draven extended a hand and helped her stand.

"Thank you," she said softly.

Draven noticed the blood strain on her neck and wiped it with his fingers.

"Sorry about that."

The elven woman glanced at him, a subtle blush crept in her face.

One of the remaining Lycans stepped forward, still confused.

"How did you manage to break the curse? And... who are you?"

Draven simply grinned. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"It’s just my ability."

Without wasting time, he removed the curses from the rest of them.

Each one returned to their true forms.

Elves.

Hidden for who knows how long.

When it was over, the elves bowed deeply.

"Thank you," they said in unison.

Draven offered to let them come along, but they refused.

"We can’t be seen by other humans," one of them explained.

Draven understood.

The world wasn’t ready for elves to exist again.

Not yet.

The elven woman he had saved first turned back to him.

Her blue eyes met his, and her eyelashes fluttered.

"M-My name is Yena."

Draven smirked.

"Draven. This is Gil, and my Babe Naisha."

Naisha shot him a sharp glance but didn’t react to the "babe" comment.

Yena smiled, bowing slightly. And she gave Naisha a snobbish sideglance.

"Again... thank you. Soon I will repay you for your kindness."

With that, the elves vanished into the forest.

As Draven, Gil, and Naisha turned back, Naisha suddenly rushed ahead.

Draven frowned.

"Hey, what’s wrong?"

She didn’t answer.

She just kept walking faster, refusing to look back.

Draven and Gil exchanged looks.

Gil shrugged. "No idea."

Draven exhaled.

’Women...’

As they returned, they immediately continued on their journey.

Mother Venice, Naisha, Deka, and Draven walked together, discussing what had happened.

Mother Venice exhaled.

"So... the myths about other species besides humans are true?"

Draven glanced at her.

"You had an idea about them?"

Mother Venice nodded.

"It’s not written in history, but I heard it from our elders. Even though most never believed it. Even me. Since... well, it wasn’t in the records."

"If they aren’t myths, then does that mean that what they said is true? That humans and other species once lived together?" Mother Venice continued and shifted his gaze to Deka.

"Do you have an idea about elves in town?"

"There’s no trace of it in the towns. Even about talking Lycans or any talking beasts," Deka answered.

Draven raised an eyebrow.

"No slavery involving talking Lycans? No elves?"

Deka shook his head.

"Nope. If those elves really existed, we would’ve seen them among the captured Verdants or in the markets. But there’s none."

Draven clicked his tongue.

"Then they really have been in hiding for a long time."

As they walked further on their journey, he looked around.

The deeper they went, the fewer Etherealblooms he saw.

Draven frowned.

"By the way, I haven’t seen many Etherealblooms around here. Are you sure, Madam, that this destination of yours is as good as you say?"

Mother Venice smiled slightly.

"Don’t worry. By tomorrow afternoon, we’ll be there."

Eventually, night came.

Draven was in his tent, resting.

"Status!"

[ Draven Faulx, 27, Male.

Identification: Verdant

Race: 100% Human Blood

Class: Paragon, Rank S

Abilities: Cleansing/Purging Ability S+

Skill:

Veilbreaker S+ – Destroys any curse, barrier, debuff, and magical restriction regardless of strength. However, using this inflicts pain upon the user, depending on the curse.

Verdant Blood F – When lifting the verdant curses, the afflicted body regains the ability to use skills. You can use one of the lifted skills. As his experience in curse lifting grows, the number of skills he can use increases.

Additional Slot: 2/5

Available slot: 1

Selected Skill: 1 slot available.

Available Skills: Phantom Mirage A, Shadow Fade D, Blink Frenzy D, Hawk’s Eye A, Skypiercer Shot A, Stormburst Arrow F. ]

"What the heck is this?" Draven muttered, eyes scanning his system screen.

"A lot changed."

New information flashed before him.

Draven frowned, reading carefully.

"Okay... so I can pick and use one skill now?"

His gaze moved to the available options.

"Alright, I’ll go with this one."

The moment he made his choice, a notification appeared.

[Skill Selected. Available Skills Locked Until Further Notice.]

Draven clicked his tongue.

"Tch. So once I pick, I can’t change it?"

He sighed, leaning back.

"Maybe I’ll have to wait for another unlock... gotta pick carefully next time."

Then, realization dawned.

"So, the more curses I lift... the more skills I can use."

It wasn’t free power.

It came at a cost.

Draven exhaled.

"Damn, this isn’t gonna be easy."

With that final thought, he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

---

Early in the morning, Draven opened his eyes, ready to start his daily training.

But the moment he moved, his body felt heavy.

"Why do I feel..."

Something bumped against him under the blanket.

His gaze dropped.

And there, sleeping peacefully against him, was Yena.

Draven’s mind froze.

Just as he was about to speak, Yena’s eyes fluttered open.

She stretched, her blue eyes meeting his, before she ran her hand across his chest.

"Good morning, Draven."

Draven’s thoughts were a mess.

’How the hell did I not notice when she got in here?!’

Was it because he wasn’t fully healed?

Or was it because...

’Damn it, women are soft.’

Draven sighed, looking at the ceiling.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. "I didn’t know you were like this. Yesterday, you seemed... innocent."

Yena shifted closer, their faces now just inches apart.

"You still don’t like it, hmm? Yesterday I noticed that you don’t like the innocent type." Yena said, "Anyway, I just came to return your clothes."

Draven looked at her body.

"You’re returning my clothes, but you’re still not wearing any."

Yena looked to the side and saw that her clothes were there.

Then she explained.

"Honestly, when I was leaving, I saw one of your companions; it was G-Gil, right? He kept staring around like a hawk. He looked so sharp, so I hid here and I fell asleep."

Draven exhaled.

"Tch. That guy is too damn diligent."

But before he could push Yena to stand, he sensed that someone was outside the tent, hesitant to enter.

It was Tiara.

She had come early in the morning, as Draven told her.

But as she reached for the linen door, she heard a girl’s voice inside.

"Is that... Naisha?" She wondered.

Then, she took a deep breath.

"I think they’re waiting for me. I’m coming in."

She slowly pulled open the tent flap before she completely froze.

Draven.

He was lying down.

And a woman was on top of him.

The blanket was only half covering them.

Tiara’s entire face turned red.

Before she could even move, Yena saw her too.

Her eyes widened in panic.

"Humans!" she gasped, realizing a stranger had seen her.

Without hesitation, she rolled off Draven, yanking the blanket with her as she scrambled to grab her clothes, wrapping the fabric tightly around herself.

She buried her entire body and face under the blanket, hiding completely.

But in doing so, she took the only thing covering Draven with her.

For a second, there was silence.

Then Tiara’s entire body froze.

Her wide, terrified eyes locked onto one spot.

Draven’s middle part.

Draven’s junior.

Fully exposed.

Draven’s soul left his body.

"FUCK! WHY AM I UNDRESSED?!"

He instantly covered himself, but it was too late.

Tiara’s face went beyond red now.

It was burning.

Her mind shut down.

And before Draven could even explain, she let out a tiny, panicked squeak and bolted out of the tent.