Grown to hate

Chapter 4: A promise

Asta was currently hanging up the wet clothes. He had washed all of them and was about to head to his usual training spot, but a man had come in to talk. "Asta my boy! You know what day today is right?" Asked father Orsi. "The grimoire ceremony." Asta answered. "Right you are my boy. You excited?" He asked. "No." The teen answered. Orsis smile faded and he put his hand on Astas shoulder. "Just because you don't have magic doesn't mean you can't get a grimoire. Who knows, maybe you'll get your magic once you get a grimoire." Said the old man. "It's not about me not having any mana. A grimoire is only a tool to make one stronger. Either way if I get one or not, I'll become the strongest man to ever set foot on this world. No one should be excited for having a tool. Tools are used only for ones benefit. I find all this excitement to be childish." "There's nothing wrong in having a little fun. You shouldn't have the mindset you have right now, it'll only be bad for you in the future." "I don't care too much about my future anyway. I only care about one thing, and you know that." "Asta. As a priest I have told you that revenge isn't right. It's a sin. As a man who cared for you, I still will say that revenge isn't the way." Asta tensed when hearing that, but he couldn't be angry at the father. The teen knew Orsi was right, but Asta believed that his life only had one purpose; to kill Lucifero. "Soon I will be my own man. I will make my own decisions. Eventually, I'll do as I please. I love you as a father, Orsi. However, nothing will stop me from killing that scum who isn't even worth sticking to the bottom of my shoe. You know it more than I do." Asta removed Orsis hand and began to walk away. "I'll be training. You know what spot. I'll be back for the ceremony, so don't bother looking for me." Father Orsi looked at Asta who didn't even look back. The man really needed someones help on this matter, but he couldn't get it. Only he knew that Asta desired revenge. Orsi wasn't even supposed to know about Astas ambitions, he had found out due to sheer luck. The man remembered the moment when he interrupted in one of Astas training sessions. At the time the boy was yelling to himself and repeating the phrase "Kill Lucifero." If anyone else had seen him they would think the boy had lost his mind, but Orsi connected the dots and later confronted the boy about what he saw. To his surprise, Asta decided to tell him how his mother had died. A devil named Lucifero had killed her, and that's all Orsi knew.

"It's almost time. Where the heck is Asta?" Asked Yuno. "He should be coming back soon." Orsi said. "I swear he's tak-" Yuno was interrupted by a familiar voice. "Shut it crybaby. I'm here." Asta said. "I'm not a crybaby." Yuno said while gritting his teeth. "You sure about that?" Asta asked. Yuno decided to ignore Asta and began to walk. The rest followed while Asta stayed for a moment. He looked at the grimoire he always carried and decided to leave it at the church. "There's going to be a lot of people there, so I can't afford to lose you." Asta said to himself. After leaving the grimoire, he quickly caught up with his family. Lily kept a smile on her face while Orsi was being all excited to see what grimoire Yuno would receive. Asta paid no attention to what his family was doing. Rather, he was paying attention to all the people gathering up in one tall tower. "There's more people than I expected." Yuno said. "It's a grimoire ceremony, you'd normally expect this many people." Asta said. The teen looked around and found well dressed people his age boasting about their magic. "Tsk. Nobles." Asta said with disdain. "Just ignore them." Yuno said. "I would kill them if I wanted to, but unfortunately there are laws in this kingdom preventing me to do that." Asta said. "Was that supposed to be a joke?" Yuno asked. "No." Asta answered. Yuno sighed and kept walking. Eventually everyone had arrived into the tower and an old man gave a speech. Asta had been lost in his thoughts until he noticed grimoires floating down to their owners. Many teenagers were excited having their own grimoire, but everyone went quiet when a elegant yet strong presence emanated the building. "It's a- a- four leaf clover!" Shouted a boy. "The same grimoire as the first wizard king!" Orsi shouted. "With this, I'll become the wizard king!" Yuno announced. Asta noticed he didn't receive anything, something that didn't surprise him at all. The teenager left without anyone noticing and went back to training spot. "All that time wasted. I could have been training instead." He thought.