Chapter 12 - Chapter 11

Any suggestions or something you have in mind, :p

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*Pov Satoru*

Life is full of interesting things; you might have very fun and joyful moments, or you might experience sad and dark times. But not everyone has to deal with their father using them like a pack mule, asking them to carry 30 to 45 logs of wood daily, with the simple excuse of, "But you can handle it, son. If you can't, then try again."

What kind of logic is that?!

*Sigh*

I thought I had escaped the exploitation of my previous life, but now I'm stuck transporting logs of wood. Sometimes, I think he does it because he knows I have magical power. Well, that's what he thinks, because I know I don't have any—not a drop of mana. But I believe he thinks I have at least a few drops that allow me to enhance my body. Although this is done with cursed energy, it's the same. I don't want to shatter his illusion.

Leaving aside my anger over carrying logs of wood, it seems I've become a gym teacher. I have one energetic child who gets excited about everything, and I wonder when he'll run out of energy. It's been almost two months, if I'm not mistaken about the date. I just turned 11 years old. We returned to my village to celebrate with my mother and stay there for a few days, but then we came back to continue the work.

Actually, it's my father's job, but I have to admit I'm killing two birds with one stone. First, I'm constantly training, whether physically or in controlling my cursed energy. Second, I'm getting paid, although it's only 1/8 of my father's salary. But something is something; it's not much money, but at least it's something.

During this time, I sometimes sneak away in silence to train a little or to enjoy the scenery or simply to test if I can develop new techniques. But I'm still stuck and can't progress with Gojo Satoru's other techniques.

I mastered Blue faster than in the manga or anime, as well as teleportation. It was simply about mapping the place, creating coordinates, and that's it. In simple words, but it is a laborious and long process. I'm trying to use the Red technique, but I need the Cursed Reversal technique, which I have no idea how to do. The book only says:

[To obtain the cursed reversal technique, you need to use your cursed energy and multiply it by cursed energy, and that's how you get the cursed reversal technique.]

Simple and easy, right? It's obvious that it's quite easy. Simply multiply cursed energy by cursed energy. TOTAL LIES. IT'S THE HARDEST THING I'VE EVER DONE. And it says nothing else. For this reason, now I'm at a bottleneck. I wonder if obtaining my grimoire will change this, or if I have to wait years, live a moment of desperation, or have a moment of inspiration and my mind will light up.

*Sigh*

I just have to keep waiting to see what happens.

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*General POV*

Behind the church, a few meters away, Satoru is sitting on the grass under a tree that shields him from the sun's rays. Satoru is playing with some stones in his left hand, making them float in the air while he stares into space. One might think he's resting from all the work he does.

In reality, that's what he's doing, but he's also thinking about what to do now. He has a new life in a world of magic but has no mana. Instead, he has cursed energy, which is more complicated than mana, not just because of its control but also in how to obtain spells.

With mana, you just have to break your limits, and you'll get new spells. On the other hand, Satoru has to think about how to make his spells, although he can also apply the method of surpassing his limits or facing a life-or-death situation where the protagonist's aura will save him and make him very OP.

"What a hassle."

Resting his head on the tree trunk, Satoru feels drained because his progress is slowing down. Looking at the stones in his hand, which are floating and surrounded by a blue glow, he glances to his right, where there's nothing, and throws the stones with cursed energy.

They shoot out with considerable speed due to the cursed energy and the Blue technique that boosts their launch. You could see these stones releasing a gust of air around them, and other stones disintegrating after reaching a certain distance due to air friction.

"Oh, I thought I had cursed energy on all of them."

"Well, let's get back to work."

Getting up from the ground, he stretches his body and walks towards the church. He enters through the back door and passes through the kitchen, then through the dining room, the living room, and exits through the front door. Upon stepping outside, he sees two kids running: a boy with ashy blonde hair and another with black hair, Asta and Yuno, playing tag.

Asta was running away from Yuno while he was trying to catch Asta. But seeing Satoru come out, they stopped for a moment, then approached him excitedly.

"Brother Satoru."

"Brother Satoru."

"We're going to train."

"Not today, Asta. You also need to rest your body."

Passing by them, he places his hand on Asta's head and ruffles his hair, letting out a small laugh at how messy Asta's hair is. Satoru then looks at Yuno, who is still a bit shy, but it's not because he's afraid of Satoru; it's just his personality. Yuno looks at Satoru with curiosity, wondering why he's looking at him.

But Satoru wasn't looking at him; he was looking at what's inside Yuno, a strong magical power that's growing and won't take long to manifest. But there are also certain details that he has no idea about. Putting aside his curiosity, he looks at the two kids.

"Well, kids, I have two pieces of news, one good and one bad. Which one do you want?"

"The good one."

"Of course, the good one."

"Well, the good news is that the village houses are almost finished, and you'll be able to visit them, along with the new area where you can have fun with other kids from the village."

"That's awesome!!!!"

"And what's the bad news?"

"The bad news is that since the houses are almost finished, I'll soon have to leave for my village. But that's not the bad part. The bad part is that when I leave, you'll have to do a hellish exercise, and Father Orsi will be monitoring you. Understood?"

Upon hearing the bad news, Yuno turned a bit pale and trembled slightly, while Asta was excited by the news and was already eager to start training.

"Well, keep playing, or do you want to carry several kilos of stones?"

"No!!!"

"Yes!!!"

"Hahaha."

Seeing Yuno's scared face and Asta's excited one, Satoru started laughing heartily, clutching his stomach. He laughed for a while and wiped an imaginary tear, said goodbye to the two kids, and walked toward where his father was.

Several minutes later, Satoru found his father giving instructions and small details for the construction. He stayed to the side, grabbed a chair, turned it around, and sat down with his arms resting on the back of the chair. Looking around, he could see the workers putting the final touches on the construction.

Painting the houses, placing furniture, fixing windows, cleaning the floors, final details so that the houses could be sold at a low cost. But since Satoru's father is a perfectionist in his work, he made every effort to ensure everything was perfect.

While waiting for his father, Satoru immersed himself in his thoughts about what to do next. He knows he started before the initial plot, so many things will likely change, or they might stay the same. It's a matter of waiting to see those changes. While he was thinking, a bird, either black or navy blue, started flying and landed on Satoru's head. He had noticed this a long time ago, but since the bird showed no negative intentions, he simply let it perch on his head.

Several minutes, possibly an hour, passed. Satoru's father finished talking and giving instructions. He turned around and saw his son sitting with his arms resting on the back of the chair, looking at the sky as if thinking about something, and a bird on his head that seemed to be sleeping.

"Satoru."

"Huh?"

Coming out of his thoughts, Satoru responded to his father's call and turned to look at him. His father approached Satoru and soon showed a smile and a small laugh.

"And that bird, son? Don't tell me you've made a friend."

"Oh, the bird. Actually, no. I always see it around, but I didn't expect it to land on my head."

"Haha, it seems to like your head a lot."

"Yes, it seems so."

"Have you thought of a name for it?"

"A name?"

"Yes, because seeing how comfortable it is, maybe it's taken a liking to you."

"A name... A name... I got it, Nero."

"Are you sure? Because Nero sounds like a..."

"Yes, that's why. Nero, because it's a girl. She said so herself."

Carefully placing his right hand on the bird's head, he starts to pet it gently, trying not to wake it.

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