There are 2 types of evils personification in this world.

One is a species called Demon, which is a being with many different forms and a conscience. The devil is the name for the other evil, which is an ethereal being that can't usually be seen and has no shape. It will pull you down to hell without you even realizing it.

Some people might say they are the same, but they are actually very different.

Like humans, elves, or dwarves. Demons are still irrational and random beings with some kindness in them.

While those devils, are a very rational being that only seek for mortals’ doom.

Why do I bring this up all of a sudden?

You might be wondering this, but there was something that happened a long time ago, about 4 years after Rudeus was born.

Near the areas of conflict, there are a lot of nobles who have their own land there.

In a place where demons roamed around and killed everything they saw, there is a fief lord who wanted his territory to do well.

He doesn't want his fief to be lost and forgotten all of a sudden.

He read and looked at the books he got from who knows where.

Human sacrifice.

This is plainly written on the book, and it's a way for him to keep monsters from attacking his land.

He can just use an adult as the sacrifice. The fief lord is sure that many people would be willing to die for the territory, but the owner of the tome refused to accept the sacrifice.

In the end, the fief lord had no choice but to sacrifice his unborn child without telling his wife.

Then, these invisible beings showed themselves.

They look at the fief lord with joy because they can see that the line of destiny around the child is thick and rich. This means that they will be able to stay in the world even longer than before.

No matter how happy they are, those devils are just low-level ones that an Emperor-grade practitioner can easily deal with. But with the help of destiny, no one in the world can beat them. So, they could live however they wanted until they went back to the lower world.

Not long after, the wife of the fief lord was born.

But what came out isn't something that anyone ever sees.

A baby with no arms, legs, or skin.

He didn't have any skin, so his muscles moved around without any protection.

He had no arms or legs, so he looked like a caterpillar.

He had no eyes, no tongue, and no ears. This means that the baby never sees anything that makes him cry, never sees anything that scares him, and never tastes anything strange.

The fief lord throws away the baby because he is afraid of what people will think if they see what kind of abomination his wife gave birth to. He tells the people that she had a miscarriage.

The baby will surely die if it is left to float away in a river.

But, even without being able to cry.

The baby was saved and cared for by an old man who used to make puppets.

The baby had no skin, so he felt nothing. So, the old puppeteer makes the baby's skin. A shield made of thinly sliced wood that will keep insects from crawling on the baby.

The baby didn't have any limbs, so he made them out of magical wooden limbs.

The baby didn't have any eyes or ears, so he made some to help the baby get used to them. He prays that they will come back someday, so that when they do, the baby won't feel strange.

Even with all his years of experience, the old puppeteer can't make a tongue that will fit in the baby's mouth.

So, years went by.

At age 7, the baby has turned into a fine young boy.

“Muddy, come back and eat!”

Since he can't hear, he learned to send his mind to the other person by reading their wavelength with mana.

‘Understood, father’

He is what people call a telepath.

In some ways, he's even better than those Migurd telepaths. Since he can do things better than them, normal people can't depend on Mana to do a lot of things they can do on their own.

A prodigy.

An insanely genius prodigy.

At age 7, he already has more mana than a Saint-ranked magician just on its own. This comes naturally to him because he had to use his mana to deal with everything.

Born with disabilities won’t make you a disabled.

God is fair, so no matter what kind of test he gives you, there will always be a way to pass it.

This is what happened to little Mud, who was found in the mud near the river. He was given the name Mud by the old man.

"Come here, Muddy Boy, and eat. You need to remember to eat, or you'll pass out again like before"

The little boy got closer to the old man by tottering on his little wooden leg. He nodded as he got closer.

He is blind, but he can use mana echolocation to see, telepathy to talk, and mana nerves to move his limbs.

This is all something that not even adults can do, but the little prodigy can do everything by self-taught.

When the old man found out about it, he couldn't help but be amazed.

Still, his only flaw was that he couldn't get his own body parts.

"Oh, it looks like you need have new limbs. Those wooden legs and arms made of magic were already too small for your mana nerve. Then, it's better to be safe than sorry, so wait here while you eat those. I'll go get some wood and show you how to make them..."

Mud did what he was told and ate his bread as he moved his legs under the table.

He was already a little uneasy about his body, but since his father seems to be busy, he didn't want to talk to him about it. He doesn't want to bother him, so he'll just change the mana nerve himself so that he can feel better.

Mud is being patient because he knows that a little bit of trouble doesn't matter at this point.

The old man brought the pile of black wood with him and set it down near their table. Using levitation magic, he grabbed a bunch of crafting knife and enchantment tools.

The old man asked Mud to use his mana to watch him make the limbs by tapping on the table.

"Well, look, Mud. To create a good artificial limbs you need to use a good tree, although it’s called unnecessary by some people. But as someone who knows how it feels. You should be able to tell which one makes you feel better and which one doesn't."

He gave a reason.

"Like you, I used these fake limbs too..."

As a former wizard squad member from a country that has fallen, he taps the fake left leg while thinking about the past.

“Oh my, forgive me for dozing off so suddenly” Mud shakes his head, showing that he had no problem with it.

The old man couldn't help but pat the boy on the head when he gave him a small smile.

Since he didn't have any skin on his body, of course. The boy had no hair, and his head didn't have any receptors. He didn't even know what a receptor was, so he couldn't use his mana nerve to make it work. However, he liked it when the old man patted him on the head.

It feels good.

Seeing he look happy, the old man caress him more.

"Since you're the one using the item, you should know which one will help you move better. You had a better idea of what was going on and didn't fall behind on what you wanted to do. There are many trees in the woods, but I thought this black tree was the best one in our area, so I used it. Well, you might get more help if you use a different architecture, but I don't know much about that. so you can fix it yourself, but first use this plan to make a hole and this plan to..."

The old man shows the little boy how it's done because he wants the boy to see what he's done with his mana. Putting together shapes and making things one after the other.

A hand was made up of two shafts and three joint balls. Then, you need to enchant them to make them more useful. It's easier to make a few different enchanted pieces and put them together to make an artifact than to make them all at once.

Claude and Alfred however, think different than the old man.

The old man made the palm after making the hand.

Hand and Leg are inherently the same thing, but had a different scale and usage. So, the old man told the boy about the difference in ratio and how should he add them since the boy is still growing up.

"Since you were the one who used these prosthetic limbs, it should be easier for you to figure out the best size. But first you need to know the basics... do you get them all, Mud?"

‘Yes, father. I can understand them all perfectly!’

The boy told the old man through telepathy as he pumped his fists and looked excited.

“Hahaha! Good, good, good! Then, you can try making one and tell me if anything is unclear."

Mud nodded and used levitation to move the crafting knife and plan and bring the enchantment tools closer to him.

"Great, now, this part needed more carving. Then scrub them to make them a bit smoother..."

The old man taught Mud patiently as he stood next to him. The boy's amazing control of the flying tools didn't really surprise the man. Since he already knows that he's done more amazing things since he was a baby.

“Cough, cough”

The old man coughed all of a sudden.

When Mud heard the noise, he looked at the boy and asked how the old man was doing.

"There's nothing wrong with me, go practice."

The boy agreed with him and kept making his first body parts.

***

Time passed like nothing, as suddenly.

The little one is crying.

“AAAAAAAAAA!!”

It sounds more like a roar than a scream.

Something that never happened to the kid that have no vocal cord since the day he’s born.

The sudden roar scared the old man, who ran in the direction of the sound. As if in response to the kid's pain, the mana around him was wreaking havoc.

Even though there is a lot of chaos in his mana, the Old Man does his best to keep running toward the child and hug him tightly. He did everything he could to keep the child safe from the mana disturbances around him. Mud hugged the Old man back tightly.

Even when the child's roar turned into a gurgling sound and blood started coming out of his mouth, the old man kept holding Mud.

Soon, he stopped bleeding from his mouth, but then he started bleeding from his scalp.

Once protected by a thin layer of mana, the scalp burst out as skin and hair.

The Devil's curse has been broken.

Neither the old man nor Mud knows what happened that day, but of all the things that are missing from him on the day he's born, the most important is his mother.

On that day, he got four things back: his voice, tongue, skin, and hair.

He still doesn't have any of his limbs, but this event told them both things they didn't know.

"Does that mean that my situation is out of the ordinary?"

Mud said as soon as he heard the old man's explanation. He has been used to talking and feeling his surroundings for a while now, even though he still can't see or hear. He can use his mana sensor like his eyes and ears.

"indeed, I have never seen something like yours. What really happened to you before I found you? You should also know that the world isn't just this hut and forest now that you're 13. There are a lot of things outside that might surprise you. You will always see both bad and good as long as the world is there. But I've never seen a curse like this before..."

“I… does this mean that my parent cursed me?"

"I think so, but Mud, we can't really tell for sure. First, you should know that there might be something that made you this way, and that you can get back what you've lost. Then there must be a way to get what belongs to you back..."

“but…”

"It's okay, you've got me. We can go on a trip together and look for something that might help us figure out what's going on."

“Thank you, father…”

Mud said as he walked up to the old man and gave him a hug.

So, the day went by, and all of their preparations for leaving are now done.

"Okay, Mud. Are you ready to travel the whole world?"

“Um, I want to see them all, father!”

Mud answered with a smile as he carried the bag and grabbed the old man's hand. Before going on to places he didn't know, he looked back several times at their old hut.

Hopefully, they can reach their destination safely…

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