4 Chapter 03 - A World in Darkness
April 1, 1990.
England, London.
Heavy rain covered the entire city of London.
Asterion stood before a dark alley, a stream of water flowed from the alley carrying a thin red flow that emptied into the street sewer.
Entering the alley, only the sound of his wet footsteps hung in the air, the smell of rain masking the foul scent of blood and garbage around.
A shopping bag was randomly thrown on the ground along with the daily groceries from a day of shopping. The walls, slippery with moss, were stained with a sickly shade of red.
The disgusting sound of chewing was carried through the air amidst the sound of falling rain.
Asterion's red eyes fell upon the dark creature devouring a corpse at the end of the alley. He murmured as he reached out his arm towards the creature, "Exorcise."
A blue glow bloomed in the dark surroundings, forming a large blue sphere. In the next instant, the cursed spirit that was still devouring the corpse began to decompose into a blue radiance, transforming into a completely blue orb in Asterion's hand.
"Disgusting." Swallowing the cursed orb, Asterion murmured as he walked towards the corpse, stepping into puddles of water contaminated with blood. From the figure of the corpse, it was a woman.
He crouched down beside the corpse and gently moved the long, wet brown hair sticking to the young woman's face, and then, he saw. A woman around twenty years old, very beautiful, with lovely freckles on both cheeks.
"So young..." Asterion's eyes darkened slightly. He wasn't a sociopathic killer without emotions; he felt a sense of sorrow for the young woman lying on the cold, wet ground of the alley. She had a whole life ahead of her but died in this dirty alley.
Caressing the cold, lifeless face, he couldn't help but think that one day he would die like her, alone and without anyone around.
Closing the still-open eyes of the young woman, Asterion looked at her and whispered gently, "Miss, I don't know your name or if you believe in any gods, but I hope you have found peace in death." He stood up and left the alley, leaving the young woman who appeared to be peacefully sleeping at the end of the alley.
As for the body, he wouldn't destroy it. If she had any family, they would want to bury their daughter. It was the least he could do.
-
Sitting on top of a building, Asterion deeply reflected on the world he was in. It was cruel and cold, without any distinction of race, class, or power. Death was so common in his everyday life that the young Asterion couldn't help but be alarmed by his own feelings; it was as if he treated death as something commonplace.
"What a messed-up world," he murmured, looking at the rain bathing the city. It seemed as if God had sent the rain to cleanse this dirty world.
Asterion closed his eyes and removed the magical energy cloak that covered him, allowing the rain to wash away, or at least attempt to purify, the dirt on him.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes and looked at a desperate man seeking help from passersby and neighbors. A crowd began to gather around the man.
The man entered the house again, while some men followed him with nervous and panicked expressions. It didn't take long for the desperate man to come out again, but this time, he was in complete silence. Lifeless eyes as he carried a small body in his arms—a girl, perhaps around eight years old. Wet blonde hair clung to her pale face; she appeared as if she were merely sleeping and would wake up at any moment. Unfortunately, the grotesque twist in the girl's neck told a different story.
Narrowing his eyes, a cold and fleeting glint passed through Asterion's eyes. The girl exuded a faint residue of magical energy. He clenched his fists tightly while gritting his teeth. It was a cursed spirit that had killed the girl, who probably had recently awakened her own magical energy.
It was a phenomenon he had discovered; when a child awakened their magical energy, cursed spirits were drawn to the magical energy emitted by that particular child.
Asterion berated himself a bit for not having the Six Eyes at this moment; he could have noticed given the current distance between him and the girl's house.
Taking a deep breath and then exhaling the air from his lungs, Asterion calmed himself as he regained control over his emotions. "In the end, I don't even know why I'm dwelling on this so much, maybe because I've seen too much death recently..." He dried the water on his clothes and covered himself again with the cloak of magical energy. Giving one last glance at the child who seemed to be sleeping peacefully in her father's arms, he leaped from building to building while a thought crossed his mind.
Can I create a cursed spirit capable of devouring all magical energy in the world?
…
29 de Abril de 1990.
Since he had that momentary thought, Asterion tried and tried, but he discovered that it was impossible to create a cursed spirit capable of devouring all magical energy in the world. He encountered two main limitations that prevented him from succeeding. The first limitation was the amount of magical energy he had. No matter how absurdly large his magical energy reserves were, it was a drop in the ocean compared to the vast amount required to create something so grandiose. This was because, to create something powerful, you needed an equally powerful energy source. It was a basic principle of the laws of physics.
The second limitation was his own body, which wouldn't withstand such an exhaustive process. Even the mere attempt would cause his body to collapse instantly. This made his idea of creating a cursed spirit capable of purifying this world entirely futile.
Lying on the bed in the orphanage, Asterion stared at the ceiling in silence. 'I need to start systematically learning the knowledge of this world and stop trying to understand everything blindly. The knowledge of the Black House should help...'
There were many things he hadn't learned because of being alone and without knowledge, whether it was barriers or domain expansion, he possessed none! However, Asterion hesitated; he didn't want to approach the wizarding world until he could gain the power to protect himself. Specifically, he sought the power of a Special Grade Sorcerer. Also, he didn't know how the Ministry of Magic or any other organization would react if they became aware of his existence. The life experience of Gojo Satoru was still on his mind.
Currently, he was nine years old and was likely a Grade 1 sorcerer, bordering on the power of a semi-special Grade Sorcerer. If he combined the 334 cursed spirits he possessed, he was a semi-special Grade Sorcerer.
As for this "small number" of cursed spirits, Asterion was still defenseless. He wasn't omnipotent; he had to focus on training or hunting cursed spirits. In the end, he chose to train and hunt only in the spare hours he had throughout the years.
"Try summoning a House Elf connected to the Black House. If that fails, I must discreetly infiltrate Diagon Alley." Releasing a sigh, Asterion closed his eyes and fell asleep; the weight of his experiments was beginning to take its toll.
Translated by IA
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Author's Thoughts: In this chapter we saw that the constant experiences of witnessing so many deaths began to affect the protagonist. Honestly, I was undecided about posting this chapter, but in the end, I chose to post it, because it showed how bad the world was and how much this world was affecting Asterion.
Next chapter, House Black will finally realize Asterion's existence!
Did you find something wrong? Tell us your criticisms and I will read them all!
