Outsider in this World - Volume 1, Chapter 1

This story starts with the birth of a boy. This boy is half demon and half human. He is the son of a man of nobility, named Lucius Antecia and a female demon, named Ava. The man took this demon as his mistress and the result of this affair was the boy. Since Lucius didn't want to take responsibility for Ava and her child, he discarded them both. This angered the female demon, since she had been swayed by the sweet words of Lucius and thought he really loved her. She felt betrayed and had a strong feeling of wanting to take revenge. So she sneaks into his mansion at night and kills him in his sleep. Once the morning came there is a uproar in the mansion since Lucius had been found with his throat slit and cuts all over his body. This way of killing is typical of demons, who are a very prideful race and are quick to act violently if they feel wronged, so it is pretty obvious that Ava is the culprit. Having to flee, she leaves her son behind in a closet at the mansion.

Ignatia Antecia, the wife of Lucius Antecia, who had just lost her husband was mourning his death, when she heard the cries of this boy. She searched everywhere and found the boy where he was placed by Ava. After contemplating over what she should do, she decided that it would be for the best if she raised this strange boy. After all it would take her mind off the fact that the love of her life has just died. Obviously she didn't know about the affair or that this boy was the result of it or that this is the son of the woman who killed her husband. Otherwise who knows what she wouldve done. Nevertheless Ignatia then named the boy Nero, since he had two black little horns poking out of his forehead. This only could happen because Ignatia is a strange person herself. She was unable to see the differences between the different races of this world and treated everybody with the same kindness. She then lives the next years with her newly adopted son Nero Antecia. The two could be considered a fairly normal family, Nero loved Ignatia and Ignatia loved Nero. Despite for the fact that Nero had two black horns on his forehead he was a fairly normal child as well, if not you could even say that he is gifted with above average intelligence. When he turned four years old he was already able to write and read since he was tought by Ignatia. One day Nero was looking outside the window of his room when he saw two children playing with a ball. Looking to join in the fun he went outside to them. Nero tries to greet the children, but they immediatly get scared of him and run off.

He then asks Ignatia about this, since he realized that not only the children but also the servants of this house are scared of him: "Mom, why are people scared of me?". She answered him with a pained expression: "It is because you are cursed, Nero."

Ignatia told him that he is cursed but she didn't really understand it all too well since this was the first time she saw such a curse. In this world there exist the Blessed and the Cursed. Blessed have special abilities, like extraordinary strength or regeneration. Meanwhile the Cursed are hit by a certain ailment from birth. This is because of an imbalance in the distribution of life-energy which means that some people get more and some people get less, resulting in Cursed and Blessed. He however is still one of the lucky Cursed. There are cursed that are born without one of the 5 senses or with missing limbs. There are however ways to reverse such a curse. You could either kill a Blessed that recieved the life-energy that was taken or force him to relinquish his powers and return the life energy, therefore restoring the balance in the distribution. But since you need to be powerful most Cursed never get to lift their curse since they can never get stronger than the Blessed.

Since Ignatia at least knew that it had to be a curse, she hired an expert in Curses to fix the condition that Nero is in. The expert was called Nightbringer and he had a slender appearance with snow white skin, red eyes and grey hair. He was wearing a tophat and a black suit with a red tie complimenting his eyes. Something definitely was off about him but Ignatia immediatly was infatuated with this expert.

Nightbringer: "You have requested my assistence, what seems to be the problem Miss Antecia?"

Ignatia: "Umm... m- my son Nero, I think he must be a cursed child."

Nightbringer: "Alright let me take a look at him."

Ignatia calls Nero to her and Nightbringer so he can take a look at him, but as soon as he enters the room Nightbringer is shocked and immediatly starts trembling.

Nightbringer: "I see so that seems to be the problem... , I'm afraid i cant help you with your problem yet."

Ignatia: "Why can't you?"

Nightbringer: "The conditions of Nero's curse for me need to be met before I can solve his problem."

Ignatia: "Conditions? What do you mean?"

Nightbringer: "His curse is a pretty complex one, compared to one where you only lose a limb or something similar. His curse states that everybody is afraid of him unless they truly love him. The fact that he has a demon's horns doesn't make things easier for me too. He will have to exorcise at least 100 Blessed if he wants to be cured."

Ignatia: "100?" Ignatia gasps in shock not able to believe him "Is the curse truly this strong?"

Nightbringer: "I'm afraid it is, but I believe if I could train him that he can become strong enough, since he is half demon."

Ignatia: "Alright then, what do you say Nero?"

Nero: "I'm still a little confused, but I don't want others to despise me and tremble just because of me so i'll do anything just to cure this curse."

Nightbringer: "Alright, then it's settled Nero, I shall teach you how to exorcise Blessed."