The street was unusually quiet that night.
Not the peaceful kind of quiet,the kind that felt hollow, like the world itself was holding its breath.
A traditional house stood beneath dim streetlights, its tiled roof darkened by shadow. A wooden board hung above the entrance.
Corvinus House.
Inside, a sixteen-year-old boy stood near the window.
Damon Corvinus.
Rain traced faint lines across the glass as he stared out into the empty road. He was thin but carried a strange strength in his posture. His silver-black hair fell loosely around pale features, and on the left side of his forehead sat a spiderweb-shaped mark,something he had carried since birth.
He lifted the landline phone and dialed.
The call connected to Sunfish Hospital.
After a few rings, a woman answered "Hello, Sunfish Hospital."
"This is Damon Corvinus, I called earlier." he said quietly
"Oh—Damon. You again?" inquired the chief nurse seriously.
"Yes. I'm sorry to keep calling... but how's my grandpa doing?" Damon asked.
There was a pause.
The chief nurse sighed, then softened her tone.
"Hold on. I'll check myself." she said.
Damon waited in silence as she hurried down the hospital corridor.
Inside Tom Corvinus's room, two nurses stood nearby.
"That old man never presses his call button," one whispered.
"It's creepy," the other replied.
Then the chief nurse entered.
"Mr. Corvinus, your grandson is on the line. He was asking if you wanted to bring him". As she kept saying.
Before she could finish, Tom Corvinus erupted.
"I said leave me alone! Tell him not to come! He should go to his school club,his club!" he shouted, slamming the call button.
Damon heard everything.
Yet instead of anger, a faint smile touched his lips.
The nurse returned to the phone, embarrassed.
"I… guess you heard that." she asked
Damon nodded to no one.
"It's fine, thank you." Damon replied calmly.
He hung up gently.
The Old Armory
Far from the city center, beyond abandoned warehouses and rusted fences, stood an old armory forgotten by time.
A black car idled outside.
Inside, darkness ruled.
Flickering tube lights revealed endless corridors, dust-covered weapon racks, dismantled machines, and cobwebs hanging like dead banners of ancient wars.
Footsteps echoed.
A sixteen-year-old sorcerer walked alone.
Rodolfo Zenith.
His jet-black hair stood wildly, as if shaped by restless wind. His sharp eyes scanned every shadow. He wore a dark blue high-collar uniform, it's simple, clean, practical, no armor, no ornaments.
One hand rested in his pocket.
The other hung loose, ready.
He moved with quiet control.
Then his no techniques active, no cursed energy released, just calm.
"This is supposed to be hidden, but the traces are obvious." he muttered.
He slipped through a narrow steel door concealed behind collapsed shelving.
A hidden chamber awaited him.
The air instantly grew heavy.
The room was carved from ancient stone. Bones littered the floor. Dark stains marked the walls. Whatever had happened here long ago had not been merciful.
At the center stood a stone platform.
On it rested a small box.
Etched into its lid was a spider web symbol.
Rodolfo froze.
He recognized it from forbidden archives and half-burnt spellbooks. Relics sealed during the First Age of Curse. Objects too dangerous to destroy.
Cold spread through his chest.
"These skeletons...they weren't victims. They were guardians." he whispered.
He approached carefully.
The symbol glowed faintly.
The room fell silent.
Even the dripping water seemed to stop.
Rodolfo reached out.
The moment his fingers touched the lid, ancient pressure surged.
He opened the box.
Inside lay a traditional doll pierced with metal ornaments.
It is not ancient, not what he came for.
His jaw tightened.
"Damn it." He grumbled in anger.
He searched the chamber, every corner, every crack.
But there was nothing.
The true cursed object was gone.
He called his contact.
"Did you find it?" a cheerful voice asked.
"No, something else was left behind." Rodolfo informed
"That's hilarious." The man laughed and said
"I'm going to punch you." Rodolfo shouted angrily
"Recover it, no excuses." The man finally said seriously.
The call ended.
Rodolfo stared at his phone.
"I swear I will." Rodolfo thought firmly.
Morning at School
The next morning exploded with noise and motion.
Students sprinted across the grounds.
A discus flew through the air farther than anyone expected.
"Damon threw that?!" A student asked in surprise
"He didn't even try!" complained another student in disbelief.
Damon Corvinus stood casually, hands in his pockets, laughing awkwardly.
Coach George shouted, "Corvinus! Join track, basketball, something! You're wasting talent!"
"Sorry, sir, I already have a spot." Damon replied cheerfully.
He walked away.
Damon was known as a bright, friendly student with ridiculous physical strength.
But trophies meant nothing to him, only time.
Paranormal Research Club
Inside a dusty classroom, Damon sat with Harry and Julie.
Urban legend books cluttered the table.
"So we're opening it tonight, you're not scared, right?" Julie said.
A strange object wrapped in red cloth rested between them.
Harry squinted. "It looks old."
Damon leaned back.
"You really think it's cursed?" Damon asked.
"That's the fun part." Julie teased.
He shrugged.
"Don't get kicked out. I'm leaving soon." Damon sneered in response.
The door slammed open.
The school president glared at them.
"Occult club out." the president shouted.
Damon smiled and called. "Hello, president."
"You don't have activities, you lose the room." he said as a notice.
July slammed a file on the table.
Julie assured him that we had been investigating students hospitalized, strange sounds, a missing businessman and doing our activity.
The president scoffed.
The recent hospitalization was caused by ticks, rare insects." president explained
Damon spoke calmly"Even in this modern world, some things don't obey science."
The president snapped at the table.
"You're registered for track, not this nonsense!" the president said.
Then Coach George appeared.
"I changed his club." Coach George said with a smile
Damon blinked.
"What?" he asked in shock.
"I need you to win nationals." Coach George said.
Damon refused.
Coach George challenged him if you can win me the iron ball competition I will accept your refusal.
Damon agreed to coach challenge.
Then the empty basketball field, Rodolfo sensed something wrong.
Then the ground split.
A curse spirit rose apelike, twisted, red-eyed.
Rodolfo studied it.
"Grade two… influenced by the missing object." he guessed and muttered.
He walked away.
The curse stopped there without continuing.
He pulled out his phone, staring at the image of the wrapped relic.
"Where are you hiding?" he asked himself.
The iron ball competition was going on at the nearby track field.
Coach George threw first.
The iron ball went fourteen meters and fell.
Students cheered.
Then Damon stepped forward.
He tossed the iron ball like it weighed nothing.
It screamed through the air.
It fell thirty meters.
Then silence fell.
because Damon shattered the national record.
Damon simply said, "I won."
Coach George stood frozen.
Later, Damon returned to Harry and July.
"I like this club, because you're my friends."Damon said softly.
They smiled.
Rodolfo watched from afar.
"That strength…" he whispered something.
Then he felt it.
That presence was of an ancient, special grade.
It came from Damon.
Rodolfo turned but Damon was already gone.
A few hours later:
That evening, Damon crossed the road holding fresh white flowers.
A little girl stared at him.
He smiled back.
Then he got to the hospital, went to his grandfather's room,
"I told you not to come! And why are you wasting money buying these flowers?" Tom shouted.
"These aren't for you, They're for the nurses, "Damon said
Tom scolded him about school why did you join that kind of school, it's not the right place for you.
Damon calmly filled a glass pot with water and arranged the flowers with simple and perfect.
Tom sighed to start talking"I need to tell you something, about your parents"
Damon raised his hand and said "Please don't."
Tom stared.
Damon spoke quietly, "Don't try to be cool before you die."
"Every man has the right to try to go out with a little style… get a clue, you useless grandson," Tom Corvinus muttered angrily from his hospital bed.
Damon stood quietly beside the window, evening light fading behind him.
"Quit complaining,you don't have to put on a show for me."Damon replied calmly.
Tom turned his face away.
"You had it too easy," he grumbled.
Silence filled the room.
The heart monitor beeped steadily.
Outside, the last orange of sunset bled into deep blue.
Tom slowly closed his eyes.
Minutes passed.
Then, in a voice far softer than before, he spoke "You're strong, kid... so try to help others. Save the people you can... even if it's only those closest to you."
Damon froze.
"It's okay if you lose your way, don't worry about whether they thank you or not. Just save as many as you can. Even if it's only one." Tom's speech continued weakly. "
His breathing grew shallow.
"When you die... you should be surrounded by people. Don't end up like me." Tom said as a piece of advice.
The monitor's rhythm slowed down.
Tom finished speaking.
And then there was silence
The screen went flat.
The sound became a single, endless tone.
Damon's lips parted.
"…Grandpa." He called out in great anguish.
Then he pressed the call button immediately.
In the nurse's room, the phone beeped.
The chief nurse blinked in surprise.
"Mr. Forbes? Do you need anything?" the chief nurse asked
But no answer, only quiet breathing.
"Mr. Forbes? What's wrong?" she asked now in panic.
Damon swallowed.
"My grandpa is dead." Damon said in deep anguish.
Night fully claimed the sky at that exact moment.
Within minutes, two nurses wheeled Tom's body away toward the morgue.
Damon packed the few belongings in the room without trembling hands.
After that he signed the documents at the reception.
A receptionist asked gently, "Are you okay?"
Damon paused.
"I don't know, but if I stay sad forever... my grandfather would be angry." he admitted.
He forced a faint smile.
"I'll send him off properly." Damon said with a fake smile.
She nodded respectfully and walked away.
Footsteps approached.
Damon turned.
A tall boy with sharp eyes and dark uniform stood before him, it was Rodolfo Zenith.
"Are you Damon?" he asked.
"Yes. Who are you?" Damon countered
"Rodolfo Zenith from Udine School." Rodolfo replied
Damon stared blankly.
"I need to talk to you." Rodolfo said
"Not now, I have a funeral to prepare." Damon replied calmly.
Rodolfo's eyes hardened.
"That's not your only problem, the curse object you have is extremely dangerous. Hand it over." Rodolfo spoke out loud.
Damon frowned.
"Curse object? What are you talking about?" Damon asked in confusion
Rodolfo immediately pulled out his phone and showed a picture.
The object in the picture was wrapped in red cloth.
Damon's expression shifted slightly.
"Oh,That thing? I found it." Damon agreed.
"It's a sealed curse relic, keeping it puts everyone around you at risk." Rodolfo said firmly.
Damon pulled a small wooden finger-sized box from his bag.
but it was empty.
"I don't have it anymore." Damon said
Rodolfo's eyes widened.
"Where is it?" Rodolfo asked very seriously.
"I gave it to my friends, they wanted to open it tonight." Damon said casually.
For the first time, Rodolfo lost his balance.
"You what?!" Rodolfo stammered.
Damon blinked.
"What's so dangerous about it?" Damon asked, confused.
"If they open it, they will die." Rodolfo said darkly.
Damon's heart skipped.
The crescent moon rose silently into the night.
That night, only a dim light was shining in the school's fourth floor occult club room.
Inside the dark classroom, only a candle flickered.
Julie and Harry sat opposite each other.
Between them lay the red-wrapped object.
Julie struggled to peel the cloth.
"It won't open…" Julie said with a frown.
"Did we really have to sneak in for this?" Harry whispered nervously.
"We need atmosphere,It's part of the occult experience."Julie insisted.
Suddenly one end of the cloth peeled off by itself.
Julie's eyes widened.
"It's opening!" she said happily.
Slowly… layer by layer… the wrapping fell away.
A mummified finger lay inside.
It was black nail, dry skin, ancient.
Harry whispered, "That's… a human finger."
Before Julie could respond the candle extinguished.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Both of them trembled.
From the ceiling, something shifted.
A wet, unnatural sound.
Multiple eyes opened in the dark, hands crawled along the walls, and something descended.
Outside the school, Damon and Rodolfo ran at full speed.
"Are cursed objects easy to open?" Damon asked urgently.
"No, not without cursed energy. But if the seal weakens, it can unravel on its own." Rodolfo answered sharply.
Damon felt uneasy.
"Shortcut, this way," he said.
They vaulted over a side fence.
Rodolfo's voice grew tense.
"This relic is ancient, Its seal may as well be paper now." He said very tense.
As they approached the gate, both felt it.
A suffocating pressure.
"What is that?" Damon whispered.
"I'll handle it," said Rodolfo.
He stepped forward.
"I'm coming too, they're my friends." Damon insisted.
"Stay here," Rodolfo ordered coldly.
He dashed towards the building alone.
The building's fourth-floor door exploded inward.
Darkness pulsed.
Inside, Julie hid behind a broken pillar, clutching her finger.
A donkey-faced spirit with a twisted spine searched the room.
Harry stumbled towards her but something clung to his head.
An insect parasite spirit sucked his blood.
"Help me…" he whispered weakly.
Julie froze in horror.
The donkey spirit smashed the pillar, grabbing both of them.
They were paralyzed instantly.
The elevator dinged open.
Rodolfo stepped out.
"Damn it… it's fully manifested." Rodolfo thought seriously.
Multiple curse spirits rushed him.
He formed a sign with his hand.
Shadow expanded beneath him.
Two demon wolves emerged, one black, one white,each bearing an eye symbol on their foreheads.
They tore through the smaller spirits instantly.
Rodolfo advanced.
But the donkey-faced spirit had caught hold of Julie and Harry, and was using them as a shield.
He saw the finger in Julie's hand.
"If I exorcise it now, "they'll die with it" Rodolfo thought.
He clenched his fist.
Suddenly glass shattered.
Damon crashed through the window.
He leapt midair and slammed a fist into the spirit's head.
Green blood sprayed.
Rodolfo stared.
That strength… Rodolfo whispered in surprise.
Damon was thrown aside with his friends.
Then the finger fell.
Damon picked it up.
The spirit's head regenerated instantly.
More curses flooded the room.
Rodolfo's wolves destroyed them swiftly.
Moments later there was silence
The spirits were gone.
"I told you to stay outside,but… thank you."Rodolfo said quietly.
Damon pointed at the wolves.
"What are those?" he asked.
"My demon wolves, normal humans can't see them." Rodolfo explained.
"Well… I can." Damon smiled and said.
Rodolfo narrowed his eyes.
Damon held up his finger.
"This what you're after?" Damon questioned.
"Yes, the legendary sorcerer's finger." Rodolfo replied quietly
"Why would spirits want to eat it?" Damon asked another question.
"It amplifies their power." Rodolfo answered without hiding.
At that exact second the ceiling exploded.
Dust rained down.
After a few moments the dust cleared The ape-like spirit from emerged, which had previously been a basketball field but now massive.
It attacked instantly.
Rodolfo was slammed into a wall.
As he fell his wolves vanished.
Damon then shielded him.
The spirit roared.
With its roaring impact the building collapsed.
They were thrown onto the neighboring rooftop.
Rodolfo lay injured, unable to form hand signs.
The giant spirit landed before them.
"You can't win, Run!" Rodolfo warned.
"I'm not a coward," Damon replied immediately.
He charged.
The spirit targeted him, the finger's presence attracting it.
Damon moved swiftly, dodging massive swings.
He struck repeatedly.
It has no effect.
The spirit was overwhelming.
Rodolfo realized he couldn't cast.
Damon glanced at the finger.
"If eaten... power increases," Rodolfo had said earlier.
He made a decision.
So he swallowed it.
"Don't eat it, you idiot!" Rodolfo shouted.
but too late.
The spirit grabbed Damon.
It pulled him towards its jaws.
Then his hands exploded, red blood sprayed.
Damon landed silently.
The moon disappeared behind the clouds.
Something changed.
The spirit attacked again.
Damon lifted two fingers casually.
A thin invisible slash cut the spirit into countless pieces.
It dissolved instantly.
Then the moon emerged, and moonlight revealed him.
Rodolfo froze.
Because Damon was no longer human.
Damon Corvinus is no longer the frail sixteen-year-old boy who once stood alone by the window of the Forbes house.
He has left behind a memory older than his youth.
His skin shone with a cold, marble-white glow, as though carved from moonlight and frost. It held no warmth of humanity,only a still, divine chill, veins of faint silver light pulsed beneath the surface, echoing the slow rhythm of an unknown power awakening within him,from his head rose two curved horns, smooth and dark as obsidian, curved backward like the crown of a fallen god, they were neither rude nor cruel, they were elegant, deliberate, as if carved by an ancient hand that understood both beauty and terror,his hair, once dark and curling, had transformed into a cascade of long, pure white strands that flowed down his back like drifting snow, even without wind, it moved softly, stirred by the violent aura spiraling around him, that spiderweb-shaped mark on his forehead,his birthmark,now burned with a radiant crimson glow. It no longer looked like a scar of fate, it looked like a seal that had been broken, his eyes opened halfway,crimson irises gleaming like twin eclipsed suns, they held no emotion, no recognition,only depth, endless depth, it was not Damon looking out anymore, it was something ancient… something that had waited in silence for centuries,dark energy coiled around his body like living smoke. It pulsed outward in waves, cracking the air itself, red markings spread across his body and right arm, intricate, flowing shapes like living symbols etched into his flesh, they shimmered faintly as if written in blood and power, they weren't wounds, they were declarations.
"The legendary system… awakened…" Rodolfo whispered.
The air was deflected by the dark energy surrounding him.
And then the ground shook, and except for the building where he and Rodolfo were, the other school buildings collapsed under an invisible pressure, windows shattered without even touching them, and the world seemed to retreat from his presence.
Then chains of power formed and dissolved around Damon's wrists, dripping bright crimson drops that disappeared before they reached the ground. Behind him, something shimmered like silver in the dim darkness, the reflections of a being not fully bound to this world.
He was not yet unconscious but something was.
The head was slightly lowered. The arms were open. The body hung between a fall and a rise.
Rodolfo forced his injured hands into a summon sign.
"According to Mystic Organization rules… I must consider you a curse." Rodolfo warned, bound by the law.
But he hesitated.
A massive pressure slammed Damon backward.
He shattered the school bridge and fell into the riverbank below.
Rodolfo staggered.
A familiar cheerful voice echoed.
"What a defeat. It's real." A male voice said cheerfully
Rodolfo turned.
A tall sorcerer stood there, eyes covered by a blindfold.
He looked strong even at 7.5 feet tall,his hair is sharp and white, rising like frozen flames, a black blindfold covers his eyes, giving him a mysterious and untouchable presence, his face is calm, cheerful, yet powerful,he wears layered robes of black and white, detailed with sacred patterns, beaded ornaments and long tassels hang from his shoulders, moving slightly with the air, a silver pendant rests at his chest, glowing faintly,around him, glowing magical circles float in the mist, symbols of hidden knowledge and immense power, he stands still, but the energy around him feels unstoppable.
"Arkanis Heavenius…" Rodolfo called out in surprise
"Yes, my student,stop your summon"Arkanis replied calmly.
Rodolfo obeyed, stopping his summon spell.
"You came for him?" Rodolfo asked
"You found the Corvinus heir for me,and he swallowed the finger"Arkanis said softly.
Rodolfo lowered his gaze.
"I should have realized sooner…" Rodolfo said guiltyly.
"well,I'll handle this," Arkanis assured.
"But Damon" Rodolfo asked urgently.
"He is as important as you," "Nothing will happen to him."Arkanis replied with smiled faintly.
In the next moment, Rodolfo disappeared with a flash.
Arkanis stepped onto the riverbank.
Damon lay unconscious there.
There was no dark light, no sign of light, nothing but silence.
Arkanis knelt beside him.
In that moment, his expression softened.
He understood Damon's truth, he had always known it.
Slowly, he lifted the boy and disappeared into the night.