Chương 3: the test
The door to the test room swung open, revealing a grand staircase that led down into the room.
The door stood about 4 meters above the floor, imposing and forbidding, serving not only as an entrance but also as a barrier to contain whatever lay within.
It seemed to be designed to prevent any curses from escaping, adding a sense of dread to the already ominous atmosphere.
Upon closer inspection, intricate runes and symbols were etched into the door, hinting at the powerful sorcery at work within the room.
The walls were shrouded in darkness, with only the faint glow of lantern illuminating the space.
White pillars stood sentinel in front of the walls, dividing the room into smaller sections, each filled with cursed beings ranging from grade 2 to grade 1.
As the boy and the old man entered the room, the air grew heavy with anticipation, the weight of the impending test hanging palpably in the air.
The old man led the boy down the grand staircase to the bottom floor, the cursed beings within the room instinctively backing away from the intense pressure emanating from both of them.
"This is your test, Asahi," the old man began solemnly, his voice echoing in the cavernous space. "As the new heir of the Zen'in clan, we expect great things from you. You will stay here until you figure out your cursed technique. Food and drinks will be provided to you three times a day if you take longer than a day to figure it out."
He paused, his gaze piercing as he imparted his final words of wisdom. "Remember, cursed techniques are natural talents born within you. Do not try to force it. Let yourself find your own power. Do you understand?"
The old man continued to lecture the small toddler, his words falling on deaf ears as the boy remained fixated on the other cursed beings within the room.
They cowered in fear, their past experiences as training dummies for the Zen'in family evident in their submissive demeanor.
Seeing that the boy was not paying attention, the Zen'in clan head decided to leave him alone in the room and observe the outcome from the viewing room above.
With a final glance at the boy, he turned and made his way back up the grand staircase, leaving Asahi to face the test on his own.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mom, am I bad?" That moment, had I not asked that question, maybe I wouldn't be the person I am today.
I remember that day—the day I was tested by the clan heads to find out my cursed technique.
As I stepped into the test room, I quickly noticed the curses all backing away in fear of me.
Of course, at that time, I was just a toddler, not even 2 years old, so the concept of fear was still foreign to me.
Even though the curses looked scary, with their sharp, giant teeth, four arms, and horns, none of them struck me as "scary," but rather as "interesting."
With my small body, I stepped forward, approaching the scared and trembling curse that stayed in their corner, completely terrified of me.
"𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵" my mom's words echoed through my mind, remembering our conversation just a few minutes before the test.
"𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶"
"𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥? 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘺"
"𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵" at the time, my innocent mind couldn't differentiate between curses and humans. So when I was in that room, all I saw were a bunch of frightened children all being afraid of me because of my 'power'.
So when I see them cowered in fear, I aproached them with a big smile of my own and I run straight towards them
"FRIIIEEENDS!" And I leap for a hug
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Unbelievable," the elders of the Zen'in family all stood in the same dimly lit room, their faces illuminated by the glow of the screens displaying various camera feeds.
They watched intently as the footage showed a child, barely out of infancy, fearlessly approaching the morbid-looking curse without a hint of fear.
And then he leapt towards them, engulfing them in a tight hug with a giant smile plastered on his face.
"Is he trying to squeeze them to death?" Jinichi asked while he watched the screen.
"As if, that boy is just hugging them," Naoya pointed out, as it had been quite a while since the boy hugged the creature.
And yet, none of them were dead. They were scared shitless but not dead.
The boy finally let go of the curse, focusing his eyes on another set of curses and hugged them as well while screaming "Frieeeeeends!"
This continued for a while, until finally the boy had hugged every single one of them and effectively tamed them all.
The room now looked like a daycare filled with dogs.
A very morbid looking dogs but dogs nonetheless
"What do we do now, brother? Neither the boy nor the curses look to be fighting each other," Ogi meticulously explained the scene that everyone could see with their eyes and asked the clan head for his opinion.
The clan head stood in silence, contemplating a way for the boy to push his limits in this trial.
Little did they know, for the boy to be pushed that far, he would need to face at least two special grade curses.
The clan head lean towards the microphone Infront of him, he finally formulated a plan to make the boy took the test seriously
The clan head leaned towards the microphone in front of him, finally formulating a plan to make the boy take the test seriously.
#Asahi!# the booming voice of the clan head could be heard from inside the trial room.
#The test has changed. From now on, you have to kill every curse in the room or we won't let you out. You can try to break through the door by force, but your mom will stand right in front of the door, so do so at your own risk.
From here on out, we won't ever open the door unless every curse in the room has died. You will starve to death and leave your mother standing outside the room for eternity. Good luck#" he finished up his announcement.
"Go get the boy's mother, tell her to stay in front of the door for as long as he is inside," Naobito commanded the person next to him, who happened to be Jinichi.
The rest of the elders stayed in the room, watching how the boy would break through this new challenge.
-
Kill? What is kill? At the time, I think the clan head overestimated my comprehension ability.
I was one year old. I didn't know what the word kill meant.
And I honestly didn't care. I just continued playing with my new friends for hours and hours.
We laughed, played tag, snuggled—everything you do with a dog.
It all seemed so perfect. I never had the opportunity to play with children my age because of my status, but now I could do that with the curses.
Until that moment.
Grrrr
My stomach growled. I had been playing for quite a while now, and I was starting to feel hungry and exhausted from all the fun I was having.
"Mama." Just like any other kid, I called out for my mother for food, but I noticed she wasn't in the room.
No one was in the room. It was just me and my new friends, and they didn't seem like humans, so asking them for food was like asking a dog for food.
"Yes, honey?" I heard a muffled sound coming from behind the door, it was small as the sound was traveling through the thick layers stone wall
"Mama!" I immediately ran up to her. I missed her, even though I was having fun with my new friends just a minute ago.
When I approached the door, I noticed that the stairs were very high. Each step was about 2 feet tall, and I was no taller than 3 feet back then.
So, I had to climb them using my arms and everything I had, going higher and higher with each step.
Finally, I reached the door. I tried to open it, but it was too big and too hard for me to push through.
"Mama! Open the door, pleeeease," I pleaded to my mom from the inside.
"I can't do that, baby," she replied, refusing.
I felt shocked that my mom would refuse to open the door for me. In fact, I was shocked that anyone would refuse me at all.
I was the young master; everyone feared me and did what I said, even though most of the time I said dumb stuff.
But hearing that from my own mother? That was quite the surprise.
"Why not?" I asked, my tone filled with confusion as I stared at the giant stone door separating us.
"I'm not strong enough, sweetie. The door is far too heavy for me to push," I heard her answer through the door, and even as a baby, I kind of understood.
The door was big, far too big to be a normal door, and even I couldn't push it myself. So if I, who was supposedly stronger than my mother, couldn't do it, then there was no way she would be able to do it.
Anxiety began to fill my heart. What if I can't get out? Will I never see my mom again? What about food? Will I be hungry forever?
I was one year old back then; I didn't know what death was, so I thought I was just going to be hungry forever.
But then I remembered something.
"The grandpa! He can open the door!" I thought out loud, as if trying to inform my mother about my plan.
But that plan was short-lived as the speaker was heard again.
#I will not open the door until you have exorcised every curse in the room. As long as there are still curses in that room, you will never be let out.#
I panicked. After hearing the announcement, I began to sweat heavily as I hit the door a couple of times to try and brute force my way out.
But it didn't budge, even with my enhanced strength from my panicked state, the door still wouldn't move.
"Open the door!" Back then, I think this was my first time ever demanding something rather than asking.
Probably because most people who took care of me always asked for my permission before doing anything to me.
Even when they spoon-fed me, they would say, "Please open your mouth, Asahi-sama."
I hated it when they called me that.
But no one answered. The door remained locked, and I was still trapped inside the room while my new friends stayed on the bottom floor.
They were trained to never leave the room. They knew the consequences of leaving, so they stayed on the bottom floor, not even climbing one step of the stairs.
"I am sorry," I heard my mom's small voice through the door.
My heart clenched. Feeling helpless as I was trapped inside, I began to put all my strength into pushing the door.
My cursed energy flared, and the curses began to hide as they noticed my cursed energy level suddenly rise to a ridiculous degree while I tried to push the overly big door.
But they still. wouldn't. open.
Nothing, nothing that I did could open the door.
"Why don't you just exorcise the curses?"
Because I didn't know what that meant!
What exorcise?! What is kill?! No one ever said anything to me, and they expect me to just understand!
They told me to do stuff without telling me how or why and expect me to just... figure it out by myself!
It was... frustrating.
Tears began to well up in my eyes. I wanted to cry, but I knew that crying was bad.
It had been told to me that I can't cry, or shouldn't cry if someone was near me, as it could lead to their death.
One of my caretakers almost died back then. I cried, and the building collapsed from the pressure. She pushed me away from the falling rubble.
Of course, at the time I just thought that I hurt her pretty bad since I have no idea about death back then
"Open it... Please..." After several hours of pushing the door, banging it with my small hands, and sending countless shockwaves from the impact.
I just... don't know what to do anymore.
It did nothing. All of my strength that everyone kept hailing me for did nothing to the giant piece of stone wall trapping me in the room.
So I just... sat. I sat in front of the door, feeling powerless, unable to do anything no matter how hard I tried.
The curses were not sentient; they were just curses. They didn't have feelings; they cared not about me. When we were playing together, they were just... happy that I wasn't trying to kill them.
So they didn't help; they stayed in their quarters as they had ever since they were captured.
Minutes turned into hours, hours turned into days as I sat in front of the door, unable to do anything to open it.
At the time, I thought, "This is it. This is where I will be staying for the rest of my life."
And I was..... fine with that. I accepted that this giant room was where I would be staying forever.
But the grumbling in my stomach never stopped. The pain, the feeling of helplessness, and the lack of energy kept torturing me while I was there.
It was cruel, very cruel, considering that I was barely a toddler back then.
All I had was my mom. She stayed in front of the door the entire time I was inside.
She sang me lullabies when I was about to sleep, told me stories, and kept me entertained the whole time I was there.
But every day, she sounded weaker and weaker than the last.
She coughed several times, and her stories even stopped by day 3 as she said she was too tired to think of a story.
I too was getting weaker. The fat on my body started to fade as I stayed in the room for three days.
Until the next morning, on day 4, she stopped talking.
I called her name, yelling from the top of my lungs, trying to wake her up, thinking she was simply sleeping.
#Your mother has fainted. If you don't leave soon, she will die and leave you forever.#
The "die" part I didn't understand.
But the "leaving forever" part was something I could understand.
"Mama!" I began to panic once more. After four days of imprisonment, I started to feel the urgent need to get out once again.
Living here forever I could accept. My mom leaving me alone I could not.
I banged, punched, and pushed the door with all my might.
But just like before, nothing happened.
My cursed energy flared once again, this time to its full potential. The whole building began to shake, and cracks appeared in the walls surrounding me.
The thought of living here alone, the thought of my mom leaving me forever is something that I simply could not accept.
"Open! Open! OPEN!" I screamed, yelled as I pushed the door again and again, but still to no avail.
My fingers started to get bruised as I clawed at the door to try and open it. It left dark blood marks on the door, as if someone had been clawing at it.
I was desperate, I didn't know what to do so I tried anything.
But nothing, nothing I did ever done anything to the door right in front of me
I was desperate. I didn't know what to do, so I tried anything.
But nothing I did ever made a difference to the door right in front of me.
"OPEN!" But suddenly, as I commanded the door one last time, something happened.
A hole appeared right in front of my hands as I tried to push the door open. I stumbled forward as the door disappeared from my hands.
A hole almost twice my size suddenly appeared in the door, giving me a way out as I stumbled into the outside world..
I saw my mom lying on the floor, her bones visible through her skin as her fat had also disappeared after four days of starvation, much like myself.
Finally, the test was over.
[On the screen in the room]
"Finally," an old man could be seen sitting in front of a computer.
His body frail after watching the screen for four days straight without any food or drinks.
He breathed a sigh of relief as he smiled at the one-year-old boy on the screen.
[To be continued]
-
Hello! Nice too meet you all, how do you like this chapter?
I am not really that Good at making stories as I never write one
But I guess that changed today isn't it? I did it! Let me know in the comment if I did good.
The next chapter might come out late as I also have a job and from what I see. I made this 3 chapters in 4 days soooooo maybe I can make 1 chapter per 2 days?
Yeah that seems plausible
Current known cursed technique : Stone manipulation?
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO 
Nadwritters
Nadwritters I AM TIRED OF THIS SH*T! Is there a way for me to copy and paste an Italic sentence here on this app?! if not then I am moving to place that will let me do it.
everything, the Headings, the scene breaking. everything. none of them goes through as I copy and paste them
it just become a regular words and the scene breaking become this → -
that's it. just -
"oh why don't you just edit it here?"
Because this app sucks! it is too laggy I can't write 2 words here without it freeze
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