As the fight between Man and Curse concluded. The barrier that was set around them began to dismantle itself, revealing Jason's degrading corpse and the boy who killed the curse.
The faint heat from my maximum output forced rotation still lingered in the air. The dried out plants in the surrounding, the burn marks on Jason's body told a story about how the fight went.
Ignoring the results of my own battle, I came to look over and see the traces of battle from another fight. While I was killing Jason, it seems the other grade 1's dealt with the curses in the surrounding area.
"You achieved domain expansion?" Daizen was the first one to react to me. He rushed up to me and picked me up, raising me into the sky like a proud father.
'He is acting way too familiar with me.'
"Can you put me down please" I said while he seemingly didn't hear me, keeping me in the air.
"You see, this is the future of the Kamo clan" Daizen said to Mei Mei and Bunma before putting me down,
'Jesus that was embarrassing'
"Still it's surprising when did you achieve domain expansion" Bunma asked almost immediately, he seemed interested in my cursed technique, then again I didn't really explain it well.
"It was shortly after my fight with Kuroda, I learned how to apply my cursed technique to domains and 'copy' a domain"
"So then that domain, it wasn't your own domain it was just the domain of the curse Kuroda" Mei Mei asked, she seemed a little bitter. Then again I would be if I only had crows, and someone else could copy domains.
"Yeah, that's it I copied Kuroda's domain"
*You and I both know that's not what actually happened*
*I don't exactly feel like explaining the exact mechanics of the special grade Cursed Tool we have and how we can use a domain expansion thanks to it*
*While I can indeed use my cursed technique to copy the barrier that Kuroda used to bring his innate domain into the real world. I still didn't have the innate domain itself to engrave on that barrier. That's when I thought about it, and realized the true nature of the Holy Ichor.*
We already knew that the Holy Ichor and by proxy the Cursed tools formed by them contained the innate domains of the curse that was used to make them. When I realized that the hard part was learning how to engrave the innate domain from weapon onto the barrier that I copied
It took an entire month of work but I learned how to bring the innate domain of the Flux Cube to the real world and use Kuroda's domain. For now I have to waste a memory slot to use Kuroda's domain barrier. In time though, I'll learn how to use his domain barrier myself and I won't have to waste my third slot.
"Being able to copy and use domain expansion is perfect, it means you can get through the six eyes brats defense during the tournament. Futago, make sure you get one good hit on him" Daizen broke me out of my thoughts when he said those chilling words.
'Does this guy seriously think that getting through is the only hard part about beating Gojo.'
'Ignoring the fact that he definitely has better stats than me, Kuroda's domain isn't even the lethal type. Even if I take Gojo's cursed energy he could probably function at full power at only 50% of his reserves.'
'... But that's how losers think, I have already been thinking about my eventual fight against Gojo. I have everything planned out and I will be the one to win.'
"I'm sure that I will beat Satoru Gojo"
"Anyway you said this weapon was the weapon of the old Kamo clan right?" I asked while raising the Exsanguinating blade I took off Jason's corpse.
"Yes this was the cursed tool made by a former Head of the Kamo clan. The worst sorcerer in history Kamo Noritoshi. When he left the clan he took the cursed tool along with him. To think we would find this cursed tool in America in the hands of some curse"
"Maybe he stayed in America after being outed? With all of the Jujutsu Society hunting him, there is no way he could have survived" Mei Mei added from the side.
"That makes sense he probably lived out here for the rest of his life, as for how this curse got his cursed tool … There isn't really a way to determine" I added.
*So this is Kenjaku's cursed tool from 150 years ago … It's worse than the tools we can make* I remarked internally while playing with the sword, waving it around
"We will be taking this cursed tool back to the clan treasury." Daizen announced he wasn't taking no for an answer. I guess bringing back a lost special grade cursed tool to the clan would be considered a big achievement.
"No way that's fair. We all fought that curse together, you have no right to just take that cursed tool" Mei Mei immediately fought back.
"Fought together? I pretty much did all of that myself. All you did was get cut and make me have to finish the fight quickly. "
"... Wait did I say that outloud"
"It doesn't matter whether we all contributed equally. What really matters is that we all had the heart to fight together. As sorcerers we all stood against that wretched curse with our lives on the line. That alone should matter more than the contributions put forward!" Mei Mei declared heroically, so much so I almost forgot her actual personality.
'Mei Mei is like this? Maybe it's because she is younger but she seems less pessimistic and money hungry then in the show'
At least those were my thoughts till I saw her greedy eyes hovering over the Exsanguinating Blade, money signs replacing what should be pupils.
Her tone might be heroic but those eyes are filled with nothing but greed
'Tch she just wants to have the tool to sell it, or maybe force Daizen to pay for it'
"I agree with Mei Mei, we all put effort into that fight, and we did kill the curses in the surroundings stopping them from interfering and breaking your domain from the outside."
"Ok Ok we will obviously give you some compensation to make up for taking the cursed tool" After a very vicious argument between the 3 grade 1's Daizen eventually backed down.
"Now we should get you to a hospital Mei Mei, you lost a lot of blood" Bunma said, it's true even though I finished the fight as quick as I could she had lost a lot of blood.
"Their is a hospital around near the hotel we are staying at"
"Are you sure you want to go to the hospital Mei Mei. I heard medical bills in America are quite terrifying" I added somewhat maliciously on the side.
"... stop causing trouble for me kid, we will split the medical bill Mei Mei just go and get checked up" Daizen responded.
"..."
"You guys go ahead, I am going to bury Riku. It's the least I can do" Bunma said while looking at Riku's corpse. The grade 1 who died before the battle even started
"See you at the hotel Bunma, Everyone else let's go home!" Daizen yelled out, addressing all the other Kamo students who were watching us quietly.
__
2 hours later in the hotel lobby.
"It seems Mei Mei lost too much blood, it seems she will be in the hospital for the night. When she is released we will go back to Japan." Daizen announced to us earlier, and now I was trying to think of anything we should do while in America.
*... I think we should check up on that thug we used my cursed technique on* Tomogui asked. He was very hung up on that thug, I guess he really wanted to see his cursed technique in action.
*I agree, we won't be able to check up on him for a long time we should check now before go back to Japan*
*You remember his address right?*
*Obviously, lets go*
Those were the last internal words we exchanged before we left the hotel and started walking towards the address of that thug.
It wasn't hard to find him, and what we found was shocking. Some lowlife thug that shouldn't have had anything special seemed to be living rather comfortably now. He had a new television, new door, and his house which seemed old was getting a new paintjob.
He was sleeping in his bed helpless, but I could see the cursed energy flowing from him, seemed much more stable then when he first awakened.
The special part was the mark that seemed to grow on his shoulder, it was a spiral like pattern. The odd part was that cursed energy was flowing from there.
For a normal sorcerer, the cursed energy is generated and flows from the gut, but for him it was flowing from his shoulder.
*That probably has to do with the Holy Ichor*
*Is he using new sorcerer abilities to make his life easier? Probably robbing people with his newfound super powers*
*None of our concerns, but from how he currently looks there aren't any side effects from the Holy Ichor.* Tomogui added.
*You're right, still it seems the Holy Ichor hasn't completely finished integrating with him. I can sense the Holy Ichor in him. It will probably be another 2 days before it finishes integration.*
*I want to try it, I want to try and implant the Holy Ichor into myself.* Tomogui said, we didn't even finish observing this guy.
*Shouldn't we wait until the Holy Ichor completely finishes integrating with this guy, then see if their are any problems*
*I … don't want to wait, I haven't done anything special all this time, I want to use my cursed technique. We will leave America tomorrow, and we don't know the next time we will be able to come over to check on him, once the Ichor has fully integrated. I want to use my cursed technique to help us. I want to be useful*
'... I never knew he felt this way. Speaking of which, although Tomogui does share my memories of our past life, he isn't me. Rather than considering him an adult in a child's body like me, it's more like he is a child with an adult's memories on the side. He acts rather mature so I never bothered to understand how he feels like sakura.
*I think you're right, we have already been this cautious with the Holy Ichor. There shouldn't be any issues at this point, at some point you just have to take the risk*
Tomogui didn't respond as we both walked back to the hotel, to prepare the equipment.
He was deadset on using the Ichor today.
___
The door to our room clicked shut behind us.
Tomogui moved immediately.
The case we had taken during the heist sat untouched where we left it. He opened it without a word, laying everything out across the desk with practiced precision. Syringe. Sealed needles. Glass vials. Alcohol wipes.
*Tomogui*
*We're doing it now.*
He picked up the vial of grade 4 Holy Ichor. The liquid inside shifted unnaturally, slow and heavy, it had viscous flow.
The packaging tore open cleanly. The needle clicked into place. He wiped the vial, then his arm. His every movement clean.
*Your going rather quick*
*If I don't rush it, I might back out. Need to do this before I think about it to much*
…
The needle entered the bottle and extracted the Ichor.
It dragged into the syringe slowly, thicker than it should have been. The plunger fought back before finally giving way, filling the chamber with that unnatural liquid.
Tomogui rolled up his sleeve.
I took the syringe from his hand, and told him to lay down. I need to use the imaging device to find exactly where the gut is, and where to penetrate.
After a while of searching with the probe I found exactly where to penetrate and release my liquid into his guts.
I raised my tool, hovered it over his skin and paused briefly.
"Are you sure you want this"
"Yes, j-just be gentle"
Without any more words I pierced into his skin, and injected the Holy Ichor into his gut, specifically the Duodenum section of the small intestines.
From Tomogui's inherited knowledge on the technique, the first 4 levels of Holy Ichor should be injected into the gut. Specifically the Duodenum, Jejunum, Ileum and Large intestines. (In that order)
The following 4 levels should be injected into the brain, specifically the Cerebrum, Cerebellum, Brain stem, and the Prefrontal Cortex. (In that order)
__
Following the injection of the Holy Ichor …
Nothing happened.
Tomogui exhaled quietly.
Suddenly his cursed energy began to flare.
His reserves… our reserves were increasing. Something that should have been impossible in the Jujutsu World.
The new additions to his reserves were acting differently though, rather than collecting at the gut like cursed energy normally would, they were forming somewhere different.
On a spiraling mark that appeared on his chest.
The skin of Tomogui stretched slightly as something beneath it shifted. Slowly, a spiral pattern pressed against his skin, as if it was being tattooed onto his skin.
Cursed energy flowed from it.
It looks the same as the spiraling mark on that thug, so it seems that the additions to the cursed energy reserves don't get stored in the gut, but rather they get stored here.
*Looks like the procedure worked. Our cursed energy reserves and output increased by around 10%. I can even feel my soul and body strengthening.* I said to Tomogui as he began to get up.
*We both share the same reserve so I doubt we can both use the holy Ichor. Whatever benefits I get from the Ichor you get as well, and it seems you can use the cursed energy from this mark, even though it's not on your body.* Tomogui said he had a somewhat childish grin on his face.
Seeing someone with the same face as me make such a childish smile feels weird.
*Anyways we will be leaving America soon, now that we already implanted ourselves with the Holy Ichor, we don't need a subject to check up on. What should we do with that thug from earlier?* Tomogui asked, he still seemed a little out of it.
*We can just let him enjoy his new sorcerer abilities. Whatever he does with it, isn't our concern. Moreover, he shouldn't remember our faces; there isn't any risk letting him go.* I said, no reason to kill this guy, even if he is a thug he is still a person.
Little did our protagonists know …
Letting that thug go would come back to haunt them.
In ways they couldn't even imagine
Author Notes.
What's everyone's top 3 Cursed techniques (Favorites, not what you think is the strongest)
Mine are:
Sky Manipulation Puppet Manipulation Mythical Beat Amber
HM: Projection Sorcerery