It was morning when Edmund heard movement in the house, and he quickly woke up.

His mother placed food on the table for him. But this time, she was there when he woke up - she appeared exhausted, with sleeping bags under her eyes. But, when she saw him awake, her heart fluttered.

“Good morning, sweetheart. I haven’t seen you awake in a long time; you usually sleep like the dead at this hour.”

‘That’s probably the effect of the headache from the curse.’ he thought and then greeted her back.

She got closer to him and then hugged him tightly. “I’m sorry I don’t have more time to spend with you. I just need to work a bit more until your dad comes back.” she took a deep breath and prepared to leave “Now, be good today, and I hope you will be awake tomorrow morning as well.”

Edmund had conflicting feelings toward his mother. He felt distance, but he also felt love. But he didn’t overthink it.

He lived many lives, and in each life he treated those around him as he was treated. He had over 300 years of experience, and he had learned many techniques in many fields, and it was time for him to start his new life. Every new life started in a similar way. His existence caged him. Initially, it took him a few lives to be born as the son of a magician who helped him over power the curse, and he lived life after life trying to outlive the curse. Finally in his last life, he accumulated enough experience to overpower the curse, and live out his life to achieve his goals and conquer kingdoms. He believed the curse was over, and was surprised to see that it had followed him to yet another life.

But, unlike past lives, he now can handle the curse. He only needed power. Power to fight the universe. He thought about his situation, and decided to start practicing right away.

He took a deep breath, sat on the floor, then closed his eyes. He started circulating his mana within his body. This Ancient martial technique was not known to people; it was forgotten in favor of manifested mana or magic.

He circulated his mana within his body, he could feel his power and strength leaving his body. It was his first time, and his body was very young. He tolerated it, and with willpower, he continued until his body couldn’t deal with it anymore and fainted.

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It was a new day after waking up, and the food was left for him to eat.

He got up and started circulating his mana again, which was easier for him this time. Unfortunately, it was still early in the morning when he had already broken through the first phase. In ancient times, this would've taken an adult a few years to achieve. This is why it was a forsaken art. But, he was already enlightened, he already knew what to do and how to do it and so it was easy for him.

He continued to train for the next few months. He achieved the second phase and then third phase. The curse was very powerful, but he was finally even to take a step outside of the house. He felt proud and accomplished, and within 2 steps away from the door, a bird pooped on his head.

"So it begins!"

He took 10 steps forward, and suddenly a horse came through the street, eratically, almost hitting him.

'Of course this is happening'. He took a quick step back and jumped straight back to his house.

Behind the house, a few kids slightly older than edmund appeared. They gave him a look, but continued to run after the horse. A few moments later, a soldier appeared and saw Edmund standing in front of his house.

"WHERE IS THE HORSE THEIF?" the soldier asked with anger and prejudice in their voice.

Before Edmund could say anything, the sound of the horse could be heard and the soldier went to run after it.

Edmund then felt ready to continue walking outside, but decided to go inside and continue training for a bit more. But, in the distance someone saw Edmunds interaction with the soldier and they quickly informed their bosses about it.

***

Inside the bar at Eden Street, many men were getting drunk in the middle of the day. The bartender, was not happy. He had promised his client a fine horse, but his recruites failed to steal one successfully. Instead, they were caught by the guard.

A man with a scar on his hand looked at the bartender, and then spoke "Don't worry boss, these children have good potential, I'm sure this experience will toughen them. I doubt they will say anything even if they are new"

Soon after, a 17 year old boy ran to the bar to report what he had seen. He thought that the boss would not be aware that the recruites were caught, but the news had already reached him. The boy however, added a fine detail that was missing from the report the bartender received earlier. There was a child in the slum who told the guard where he can find the horse and the recruites.

The bartender was pleased to hear those words, but he showed an angry face. He then looked at the man with the scar and gave him an order

"Go, find that child and teach him a lesson - make sure the lesson is very loud so that no one else would dare ever speak anything about us to the guards"

The man smiled with a bit of indifference "Ayy Boss. You boy, lead the way - you and I have garbage to clean"