June 20, Year 42
Clusius was a child born with blindness in his left eye due to a congenital defect, and within that eye there was a mark believed to be a curse.
Since news about Clusius, the child of Axel and Mareley, spread throughout the entire chora¹ of the Polis of Blue Stone², everyone began to distance themselves from his family.
Some stayed away out of fear, while others did so because they were told to by others.
This made it difficult for Clusius to find friends. Every day, he stayed alone at home and played only with his mother.
Occasionally, when he felt bored, he tried to talk to other children and make friends, but he never received a good response.
"Why did you come here, demon child?! Go play somewhere far away!"
shouted a boy while throwing a handful of dirt at the face of the still-young Clusius.
"Never come near us again! You'll only bring misfortune!"
cried out a red-haired girl as she threatened him, making Clusius nearly burst into tears.
"I-I just wanted to play with you… Why do you hate me? What did I ever do to you?!"
Clusius shouted in frustration, unable to hide the pain in his heart.
"That's enough! Leave, or we'll throw stones at you!"
they shouted, then began pelting him with pebbles they found nearby.
Clusius immediately ran home while holding back his tears, his body aching from the stones that struck him.
He hugged his mother tightly as soon as he arrived.
"Mother… why does everyone hate me…? I didn't do anything wrong… but they threw stones and dirt at me…"
Clusius sobbed loudly, pouring out all of his emotions.
His mother hugged him tightly and spoke gently,
"That's enough… don't cry anymore. If mother ever meets them, I'll hit them one by one so they won't bother you again."
"They only judge you by your appearance, my child. They don't know that Clusius is a good boy. But mother knows, and mother believes you will grow into someone great."
"Even if everyone hates you, your mother and father will always be by your side. So don't cry anymore, alright…"
Clusius finally felt a little calmer. He was grateful to have parents who were ready to protect and support him no matter what happened.
—–—
June 28, Year 42
Clusius's parents bought him a Status Book, a book with a cowhide cover, adorned with a hexagon-shaped gemstone in its center known as the Hazard Stone.
They gave this book as a birthday present to Clusius, who had now turned five years old.
To activate the book, the blood of the person who would become its owner must be dropped onto the Hazard Stone.
After the blood touches the surface of the stone, the Hazard Stone will shine brightly. When the stone shines, lazuli powder must be sprinkled onto the book. If the process is successful, the contents of the book will change and display the owner's statistics.
This book has several functions, such as displaying physical strength, magical power, mana amount, stamina, agility, and reflexes.
In addition, the book can also show magical elements, talent magic, physical health, experience level, as well as the equipment used by the book's owner.
In this world, every person is born with different magical elements.
For example, someone born with the fire and water elements can only use fire- and water-element magic for their entire life.
To be able to use magic, everyone must fulfill certain requirements.
Sometimes, to activate a spell, a person must first have a high level of experience with magic.
However, this does not apply to talent magic.
Talent magic is a type of spell that can be mastered immediately from birth without the need to meet any special requirements.
Clusius was born with very unusual statistics. He possessed extraordinarily high potential physical strength, but was severely lacking in magical power and mana capacity. This showed that Clusius had no talent in the field of magic, but greatly excelled in physical strength.
In addition, Clusius was born with only two magical elements, whereas humans generally possess three to four magical elements at birth. To make matters worse, the two elements he possessed were light and darkness, two elements considered the weakest among all human magical elements. This was one of the reasons why Clusius's magical potential was extremely low and considered unpromising.
Furthermore, Clusius appeared to lack talent magic, a unique ability usually possessed by every individual. While others were born with great magical power and special abilities that defined them, Clusius instead had almost no magical power at all. The absence of talent magic further emphasized just how unfortunate Clusius's fate was in the world of magic.
—–—
¹ Chora = a rural region in Greek.
² Polis = a Greek term for a city-state.