March 4, 1990.
England – London.
St. Mary Orphanage.
In the dimness of the night, the pale moon in the starry sky emitted its glow through the window.
Gentle footsteps echoed in the long corridor of the orphanage, when suddenly a figure passed in front of a window. Hair as black as a raven's feathers and a pair of eyes resembling beautiful rubies, extraordinary and bright.
Asterion glanced at the moon in the dark sky with an indifferent gaze and continued walking down the orphanage corridor. His steps continued until a door blocked his path.
Approaching the padlock securing the door, the nine-year-old boy gently moved his slender fingers near the padlock, and as if by magic, the lock opened with a soft clicking sound.
Crossing the door and then closing it, Asterion walked along the stone path to the entrance and jumped lightly over the pointed metal fence that surrounded the environment of the old 20th-century building. He landed gracefully with the tips of his toes on the other side of the fence.
Now, walking alone through the illuminated streets of London, Asterion couldn't help but reflect on his new life in this world.
When he awakened the memories of his past life, he was a five-year-old boy living in St. Mary Orphanage in London, a delicate-looking boy with a quiet and serene temperament. Then, on that same day, he saw for the first time the monsters that plagued this world. It looked like a grotesque red caterpillar with a mouth covered in hundreds of teeth and a long, disgusting tongue.
The creature hovered over the shoulder of the orphanage's headmistress, Mrs. Morgan, seemingly causing pain in the shoulders and back of the gentle fifty-year-old woman.
Asterion naturally exorcised the cursed spirit; it wasn't difficult. The cursed spirit was lamentably weak, even with poor control over its magical energy. He managed to exorcise the monster with just a release of the dark blue energy against the creature, causing it to explode instantly.
But to his surprise, the next day, he had encountered other cursed spirits in the orphanage. Naturally, he exorcised them, and the cycle continued for three days until he realized he was in an orphanage full of children who would likely never be adopted. Fear, anger, resentment, hatred. The orphanage was a breeding ground creating cursed spirits every day. An endless cycle of hatred.
Asterion felt helpless about it; he couldn't solve the orphanage's situation. He couldn't simply make all the orphans get adopted or become happy with their miserable lives. The only thing he could help with was dealing with the cursed spirits. It was then that he used, for the first time, his innate technique — [Creation and Manipulation of Cursed Spirits].
He created a cursed spirit whose sole mission was to kill all the other cursed spirits generated in the orphanage. In the following week, he expanded its reach to cover the entire street.
With the issue of cursed spirits resolved in the orphanage, Asterion did what anyone would do in a dangerous world: he trained. He trained to the point of exhaustion, whether using his innate technique or manipulating his magical energy. When he wasn't training, he was sleeping, resting from the exhaustive regimen of his training.
But there was one thing he never got used to, and he wholeheartedly agreed with Suguru Getou. The taste of a cursed spirit was incomparably disgusting. It was like eating a cloth soaked in vomit, feces, and any disgusting thing you could imagine.
The first time Asterion swallowed a cursed orb, he vomited so much that blood had mixed with his saliva, as there was nothing in his stomach but saliva at that moment.
After that experience, he was only able to swallow another cursed orb the following week. Naturally – he vomited again, though a bit less than the first time. It took six long and exhausting months until he could swallow a cursed orb without vomiting.
Asterion assumed that a forty-year-old prostitute, despite her years of experience, might not have as much expertise in using her own throat without vomiting as he did.
A somewhat unpleasant realization for him…
The training left some scars on his mind, whether due to his innate technique or his rigorous regimen. Combined with the fact that he was isolated in the orphanage, Asterion became more indifferent to his own feelings.
Time passed, and three years and six months had gone by. Nine-year-old Asterion was now ready to truly create a second powerful cursed spirit that would grow with him in this messed-up world.
…
Facing the gates of the empty school, Asterion easily leaped over the wall and landed on the ground with his hands in his pants pockets. He lifted his head and gazed at the enormous building with his serene and icy eyes.
To any normal person, the school appeared perfectly normal, with nothing out of the ordinary – but in Asterion's eyes, remnants of negative magical energy were scattered everywhere. It was a miracle that a powerful cursed spirit had not emerged in the school.
Hospitals, schools, cemeteries, and any place with a large number of people generated a significant amount of negative magical energy, which in turn formed cursed spirits. It was like an endless cycle of hatred and resentment.
This school was one of Asterion's targets for today's operation.
Walking through the empty corridors of the school, only his footsteps echoed in the particularly silent environment.
Asterion could feel it — the cold atmosphere hanging in the air, the greedy, cold, and sadistic gaze lurking in the shadows. It wasn't powerful; he estimated Grade 3 or Semi-Grade 3. He could kill with a wave of his hand and paid no mind to the ant lurking in the shadows.
Reaching the center of the school, where the negative magical energy was strongest – the cafeteria. Asterion stopped and extended his arm forward. He began using his innate technique — [Creation and Manipulation of Cursed Spirits].
The dark blue energy quickly began to mobilize throughout the entire school, converging in one place—the cafeteria. When a substantial amount of negative magical energy gathered in one spot, blue lights began to flicker around. Asterion's hair gently fluttered alongside the blue sparks, floating like fire sparks in the air.
Interestingly, unlike the Innate Technique, which could be easily used as an extension of a limb, magical energy was different; you had to learn to control it. The control of one's magical energy reflected in the Innate Technique. For example, it was like plugging a 120 Hz device into a 240 Hz socket. Naturally, the device would fry due to the high voltage.
The Innate Technique operated similarly. If you couldn't control your magical energy, what would be created was a monster entirely different from what you envisioned during the creation of the cursed spirit. It often turned into an amoeba without any distinctive features, power, or personality.
Translated by AI.
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Author's Thoughts: In this chapter we only saw the prelude to the wizarding world, as well as the idea of Negative Magical Energy, an appropriate choice of words from my humble opinion, but you can help me too, tell me what you think, what would be best for improve this fanfic. Constructive criticism is always welcome.
In fact, I finished the third chapter, I just have to translate it, which will happen tomorrow!