I sucked in a cold breath as countless helpless, confusing guesses flooded my mind.
For now, I decided it was best not to touch them again. I forced myself to hold back, no matter how badly my hands shook with anger.
One reckless move could put my family—and myself—at risk. Still, this would not end here. They would be reported to the village head, and this matter would be handled with the harshest punishment possible. I would make sure something like this never happened again.
"Is it because he was born as their so-called greatest enemy? Their self-acclaimed ’Cursed child’?" Elina’s voice trembled beside me.
"Has he ever hurt anyone? Was it his fault to be born this way? How can they be so heartless to treat an innocent child like this?"
Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes.
"What did my poor, innocent child ever do to deserve such hatred from those villagers?"
Her words pierced straight through my chest.
I felt hollow, and heavy. Depressed beyond words. I hated the villagers—every last one of them—and their twisted beliefs. No matter what we did, we were always treated unfairly, bullied time and time again.
If their hatred had been directed only at me, I could have endured it. I always had.
But when it came to the people I loved—my wife, my children—I would not bear it. I would never take it lying down.
I could never blame my child. This society was the one that was sick—warped by strange myths and baseless fear. I couldn’t understand how they could believe such lies and still be cruel enough to mistreat an innocent baby no different from any other.
After things finally settled and we had taken care of what needed to be done, Gustav—who had earlier lost consciousness soon woke up.
What I didn’t expect was what followed.
The moment he opened his eyes, he began to panic. His gaze toward Ragna, and he began to scream accusations—calling him a misfortune, blaming him for everything.
That was the moment I snapped.
My hand moved before I even thought.
A sharp slap echoed through the room.
When Elina tried to calm him, he shoved her hands away violently, his voice filled with harsh words like venom.
"Don’t you dare touch me! And don’t you dare call him my brother! He’s nothing but a four-eyed freak—trying to suck away my life and my happiness!"
Disappointment crushed us.
Ada and Oge had mentioned odd behavior before—subtle complaints, strange attitudes—but only now did we truly understand how broken Gustav and Ragna’s relationship had become.
When Gustav used to feed him, Ragna was always hungrier than usual. Now, looking back, I could feel the malice we had missed.
Something had to be done.
The next day, I gathered everyone and made my decision. Elina would take over feeding Ragna. Gustav would take over her duties and remain confined.
From that day on, Ragna was rarely left alone. Fear still lingered in our hearts after what had happened. Elina, Ada, and I stayed close to him at all times. If we couldn’t, Ada or Oge would watch over him.
We gave him extra pepper soup and milk, a small compensation for everything he had endured. Slowly, he began to gradually regain his weight.
[Ragna’s point of view]
The system interface hovered in front of my eyes.
[Host Attributes]
Level :4
Name: Ragna Ringwood
Title: Cursed One
Race: Unknown
Exp: 500 / 12,000
HP: 100 / 100
[Attributes]
Mana: 17.5
Strength: 15
Perception: 15
Vitality: 15
Agility: 15
Mana Sensitivity: Null
{Attribute Points: 285}
Something felt... off, I squinted, staring at the panel longer than usual. It took me about ten seconds to realize what was strange.
My Mana.
I was certain it had dropped earlier—down to 17.5. But now it had recovered back to 18.
Surprise flickered through me.
I remembered that strange, unbearable pain. The pressure in my head. My eyes burning as if they were being torn apart. Going through my earlier notifications, I realized something shocking.
At that moment of danger, I had subconsciously activated cursed Intimidation.
I didn’t know how I had done it. But the system must have reacted to the threat against my life.
For the first time... the system had acted for me.
I was grateful—truly—but so much of that day was still a blur. All I knew was that the energy surging through me had felt overwhelming. Different from anything I had experienced before.
Usually, power rushed through my body like adrenaline.
But that time—it went straight to my head. To be precise my eyes.
Now I understood why the pain had been so intense. That wasn’t ordinary Mana. It was something unique, something terrifying, flowing directly from my Mana core into my eyes.
When the feeling faded, I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t even remember how.
Seeing my Mana recover made one thing clear: activating cursed Intimidation must have consumed nearly 13 Mana points.
And more importantly...
Attribute points I have in an attribute didn’t directly equal the Mana stored in my core.
The only way to confirm it would be to activate the ability again.
But the thought made me hesitate.
I had no one to test it on.
And the memory of that hellish pain made my eyes ache just thinking about it.
Unless I could activate it without the pain—which felt unlikely.
For the next few days, I kept thinking. My eyes were still sore, but deep down, I could feel it. If I could truly grasp control of my Mana core... maybe I wouldn’t have to suffer like that again.
Maybe next time... I could control it.
[Author notes: Thank you for reading the novel if you want more Chapters please support the novel, we need golden tickets, powerstones, comments and reviews to increase the novel novel, yet I haven’t seen any of it. It gives the me motivation to write more, thank you. Also, normal upload Chapter will resume, for extra Chapters please support my novel, there will be continuation from previous Chapter added, in order not confuse pov]