Keep waiting my friends, keep waiting
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"Okay Ron, you put those planks in this area and then go help Ramirez with the kitchen finish."
"And you, Marcelo, you're going to finish constructing the remaining part of the roof."
"Where did Kyle go? Oh, there he is. Come here to see what you're going to do. You'll be working on the foundations."
"Great, now that you all know what to do, let's get to work."
Everyone let out a shout of excitement and went for their tools—axes, hammers, chisels, picks, all kinds of tools that help build a house. There are 30 people full of energy ready to work. They divided into several zones, and each one started their task. Satoru approached his father, who was watching each worker begin their job.
"So, what do you want me to help with?"
"Well, son, carry those wooden planks to everyone, and then you can go cut more wood."
"Is that all?"
"Yes, unless you wanted more work."
"No, thanks. The last 15 days were more than enough."
Saying goodbye to his father, Satoru started carrying several wooden planks and began delivering them to each worker. Every worker thanked Satoru for bringing the materials. He had to make several trips to deliver the wood, even though he could have made it easier by using his power, but his father forbade it, saying he needed to know the real work and sweat like a man.
"Here I am, working from a young age to earn my bread."
Though he complained about having to help his father build houses, he was also grateful because he could train manipulating cursed energy to strengthen his body. Despite being almost 11 years old, he was quite tall for his age and had some muscle hidden beneath his clothes.
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The day went on, and soon it was almost dark, so everyone stopped working and stored their tools, materials, and all their belongings. The workers went back to their homes to have dinner with their families, while Satoru and his father headed to the church to sleep and have dinner. When they arrived at the door, they were greeted by Sister Lily and Father Orsi. They entered the church and left their things in a room they were using to sleep. After leaving their things, they went to the dining room where everyone took their place. Soon, a child full of energy arrived at the dining room and sat down immediately.
Another quieter, more nervous, and shy child appeared. This child was thin, with amber eyes and messy black hair, wearing a necklace with a rather beautiful stone. This child was Asta's brother, and his name was Yuno. Like Asta, Yuno had arrived at the church the same day as Asta. They got along well, and although they were not related by blood, they were very close brothers.
Sister Lily arrived at the dining room with some plates, a basket of bread, and hot potatoes. Soon, Father Orsi came with some glasses and a jug for everyone. Once everyone was gathered, they gave thanks for the meal and began to eat. It was a very pleasant and joyful atmosphere where everyone shared stories, either about their day or some story they had heard.
Soon, dinner came to an end, and everyone picked up their plates to leave them in the kitchen. Satoru offered to wash the dishes, although Sister Lily didn't want him to. Satoru ignored her and started cleaning all the dishes. Asta and Yuno were very sleepy, so they went to bed first. Satoru's father and Father Orsi were organizing some things, and Sister Lily helped dry the dishes Satoru had just cleaned. Once everything was done, everyone went to sleep to rest.
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The next day, Satoru woke up early along with his father, and they both went out to exercise a bit. This became a routine; they took advantage of the day to exercise and then went on to do their activities. But what they didn't know was that someone else had woken up and was watching them from the church window. Satoru and his father went out to do various speed, endurance, strength, agility, and other exercises.
Once they finished exercising, Satoru's father went to change clothes before starting to work. Satoru told his father he was going to do a bit more exercise and take a walk before helping build houses. After his father left, Satoru turned to look specifically at a tree.
"Come out, you can relax now. My father didn't see you, so he won't scold you for leaving the church so early."
There was silence for a moment, but then a little head peeked out from behind the tree, and soon the hidden person emerged. Satoru knew someone was watching them from the beginning but decided to ignore it. However, once they were exercising together, this person kept watching. Satoru knew who it was and still tried to prevent his father from seeing this person to avoid a scolding.
"Brother Satoru, why do you get up so early?"
"See, it's a routine I'm used to doing with my father. Besides, Asta, why do you sneak out so early?"
This boy was Asta, who woke up due to some noises in the church and, out of curiosity, saw Satoru and his father doing some movements before exercising. This caught Asta's attention, and he decided to follow them. He did not regret his decision because he was very excited to see them exercising.
(This boy is excited about exercise, a kid with a muscle brain.)
"So you want to exercise?"
"Yes!!!!"
"...."
"First, talk to Father Orsi. If he gives you permission, come with me, and I'll give you an exercise routine because building houses does take quite some time."
"Okay, thank you, brother."
Upon hearing Satoru's words, Asta immediately ran back to the church to talk to Father Orsi. Satoru stood there watching as Asta ran as fast as he could. He simply shook his head and started a series of stretches. Once he finished stretching, he showed an amused smile, clasped his hands, and disappeared from the spot.
The next moment, Satoru appeared on a hard surface, white with some gray. But this surface seemed strange to be a mountain. Satoru looked around and fixed his gaze in a specific direction. He began walking in that direction, and after a few steps, a figure appeared in his sight.
This figure was a person, but once closer, you could see that this person was still in one position, covered in stone all over their body. Satoru approached this person, who was actually a stone statue.
A statue in the shape of a noble person, with a crown and a book in their left hand, had some plants around their body and some grass at their feet. Satoru got closer and looked at the statue, soon taking off his glasses and placing them on his shirt. He began to circle the statue, looking at it with determination. He did this for several minutes before standing in front of the statue.
"It has quite strong magical power inside, with very weak vitality, but extremely weak. It's like they were frozen seconds before dying."
"If I'm not mistaken, it's the first wizard king by the shape of his four-leaf grimoire. I don't know what happened to you, friend, but seeing as you have dark mana and cursed energy, it makes me wonder what happened."
"Strong mana concentrated in the center, but trapped, surrounded by dark mana, which is boosted by cursed energy. But why cursed energy?"
Placing his hand on the statue, Satoru began to separate the cursed energy from the mana and extract as much as he could. This process lasted a few seconds, and he removed his hand. Satoru saw the dark mana weaken a bit, and the mana concentrated in the center began to move and seemed to start releasing some power. But soon, the cursed energy Satoru had extracted began to reappear in the statue and started boosting that dark mana, causing the pure mana to weaken again and concentrate in the center.
"It seems like a curse or some kind of safeguard. I don't want to do crazy experiments with cursed energy and end up affecting my body if I can't handle that amount."
*Sigh*
"Better come back when I have better control or learn the reverse technique, so I don't worry if my hand turns purple or black."
Putting on his glasses again, he gave one last look at the statue before lifting his head and looking at the sky. He showed a small smile, clasped his hands, and disappeared from the place. Silence fell the moment Satoru left, but it only lasted seconds because the flapping of a bird's wings was heard.
A very small bird with a pair of elegant wings, a pair of tails forming an arrowhead, and a black beak, with black feathers on the back of its body, white on the front, and red on the face, appeared at that moment, flying.
Soon, it went to the statue and landed on the ground, looking at the stone statue. It turned its head to look at the place where Satoru had been and then looked back at the stone statue.
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Satoru appeared in the same place he was before and moved his body a bit before starting his walk to the church. On the way, he saw the whole village, the atmosphere, and the people of the village doing their daily activities. Upon arriving at the church, he was greeted by Asta, who told him that Father Orsi allowed him to exercise, but only light exercise. Satoru let out a small laugh at this but then saw his father coming with several logs. He approached Satoru and handed him all the logs.
Satoru took all the logs, but the weight got to him for a moment, causing his knees to buckle, but he managed to recover. His father saw this and let out an amused laugh, then turned to go to work. But not only did his father see this, but also Asta, Sister Lily, and Father Orsi. They were all surprised by this.
A 10-year-old boy, who shows no mana or magical power, carried ten logs with some effort. Asta's eyes sparkled with excitement at seeing his strength, while Sister Lily and Father Orsi were startled for a moment but were now shocked by this event.
Satoru could see everyone's reaction and only let out a nervous laugh, feeling a bit embarrassed. He thought he could handle them all effortlessly, but apparently, that wasn't the case when he felt the weight of the ten logs. His knees buckled, but he recovered thanks to the cursed energy. He thought his physical strength would be enough, but apparently, it wasn't.
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