13 Chapter 12 - Asterion And Narcissa

October 4, 1990.

Asterion watched as Narcissa entered the training hall wearing black leggings and a matching sports bra, proudly displaying sizable breasts. Her toned, sexy stomach gently contracted with each step, her long, slender, powerful legs carrying her confidently. In one hand she wore UFC gloves while she put on the other glove with the help of her mouth.

Asterion, nearly ten years old, had the body of a thirteen-year-old youth, wearing only gray sweatpants and gloves on his hand; he was shirtless, displaying a body starting to develop muscular lines. 

"Ready?" She asked. 

"Yes!" He replied.

Narcissa, with her fists clenched near her face, swiftly approached and threw a right punch. She used magical energy to bolster her body, causing that punch to almost exceed the speed of sound. 

Asterion dodged the fierce punch, leaned to the side, and countered with a left punch with the same amount of magical energy.

*Crash*

The punch hit Narcissa's arm, which she had skillfully defended, anticipating the boy's attack. She was pushed back several meters, but before Asterion could get excited, she spun around and mercilessly kicked her cousin's ribs. 

Asterion only had time to reinforce his body with magical energy before being forced to step back several paces, feeling a sharp pain in his ribs. Apparently, the blow had fractured some of his rib bones, but nothing that a healing potion couldn't fix.

But before he had time to recover, Asterion saw Narcissa coming at him, and he realized how bad the situation was when several punches relentlessly struck his face. Despite the beating, Asterion attempted to defend himself by raising his arms. He endured five seconds of blows capable of puncturing tanks and then kicked his tutor in the stomach.

Narcissa smirked sadistically and grabbed Asterion's shin, despite the strong impact. Asterion knew he was in danger in that position and attempted to free his leg. However, before he could succeed, he found himself airborne, with Narcissa's elbow hitting him squarely in the center of his chest. 

"Urgh!" He opened his mouth and spat out a small amount of saliva. 

Asterion felt only the air painfully leaving his lungs as he fell hard to the ground. Nausea and dizziness left his brain blank for a few moments as he breathed heavily.

"You're improving for someone who's only been training for a few days. You managed to react and counter despite the blows, which is commendable, Asty," Narcissa commented, wiping the small beads of sweat from her forehead. 

Although the fight lasted less than three minutes in total, the amount of effort from both sides was significant, as they were using large amounts of magical energy to reinforce their bodies. This was something many wizards avoided doing for too long, as it could overload the body. During a fight, it was especially fatal to become too quickly fatigued.

"Still, I took a beating from you, Cissy," Asterion replied, still lying down, gradually regaining his breath and sitting up on the floor. He reached out his hand towards Narcissa, seemingly asking her to pull him up. 

"Don't underestimate yourself. You've only been training for two days. I have extensive combat experience fighting Cursed Wizard's, unlike you, who've only fought unintelligent cursed spirits," Narcissa responded, taking his hand and pulling him up to his feet. She gently touched the purple bruise below his right eye, where her punch had first landed.

Asterion knew she was right, but he couldn't change the fact that he hated losing. To him, it meant weakness. However, the defeat didn't discourage him; it only fueled his desire to become stronger and overcome his own weaknesses.

"Again?" Narcissa asked, noticing the determination in the boy's eyes.

Asterion nodded and got back into his fighting stance.

This time, Asterion didn't wait for Narcissa to attack. He threw a punch with his right hand, his dominant hand charged with a large amount of magical energy. Narcissa naturally defended against the punch, but she wasn't expecting a barrage of extremely powerful punches raining down on her.

Each punch from Asterion carried a substantial amount of magical energy, making it feel like her bones were about to break at any moment. Knowing she couldn't endure this for much longer, Narcissa kicked Asterion's right leg, causing him to lose his balance.

Narcissa seized the opportunity, spinning and kicking the boy's chest. However, Asterion was expecting it and caught the powerful kick, ignoring the impact, which made him lean back slightly.

"I think I got you, Cissy," Asterion showed an excited look in his eyes despite the intense pain in his hands. While holding onto her leg, he kicked her in the abdomen, hitting her, causing her to grunt from the blow.

But before he could feel triumphant, Narcissa managed to break free. Like a lithe snake, she swiftly grabbed Asterion's shoulders and wrapped her legs around his neck, locking him in with her thighs. Then, she spun her body, causing both of them to fall to the ground.

Surprised by the infamous move, Asterion found himself unable to escape from Narcissa's soft yet powerful legs, which held him firmly in place, rendering him immobile. He tried to break free, but each attempt resulted in the air in his lungs becoming increasingly scarce, dangerously close to suffocation.

Realizing he couldn't escape, he tapped three times on her thigh, signaling his surrender. Naturally, Narcissa released the boy, who breathed rapidly, trying to recover the lost air in his lungs.

"This round was better than the last. You used my weaknesses against me, but I felt that you relaxed when you kicked me, allowing me the chance to escape and counter-attack," Narcissa praised Asterion, standing up and lightly touching her slightly bruised abdomen.

However, she didn't hesitate to reprimand him. "You must not relax at any moment during the fight, Asty! But I can see why you did. You probably only fought weak cursed spirits that never put pressure on you. That's subtly influencing you. I have to beat it out of you even more to make you forget that bad habit."

Asterion knew she was right. He slapped his face with both hands to snap out of it and stood up again, ready to take another beating.

"Again?" Narcissa asked.

"Let's do it," he replied, with seriousness in his voice.

Asterion took a deep breath and focused entirely. He got back into position, fists raised near his face, ready to attack or defend at any moment.

Narcissa was right, Asterion knew it. He had never moved much during fights. Baskerville always did his job perfectly, which made him lazy and careless. He was lucky not to have fought against an intelligent humanoid cursed spirit; otherwise, he would be dead.

Translate by IA.

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Author's Thoughts: I tried to create a pleasant training scene; let me know if it turned out well, or at least, I hope it did. 

Seeing Asterion's mental and physical growth is making me satisfied. I'm really trying to give him development, not just for him, but for all the members of the Black House. The next two chapters will cover this, and I'll wrap up this little arc – Asterion and Narcissa. 

I've created a Patreon, so if you want to support me and see the next chapters early, come and support me! 

P-atreon.com/HPSCB

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