Sin
The word reverberated through the classroom not as a spoken sound, but as a truth given substance. Kiniro's cursed energy flared, and a pitch-black mark suddenly appeared on Maki's hand, branding itself into her flesh in the shape of an eye surrounded by seven spikes.
Maki flinched, expecting a flare of pain, but instead the sensation was pleasant, almost cathartic. But after a second as she tried to lift her hand, Maki sensed a slight, marginal, almost imperceptible difference, 'Why am I moving slower?'
It was impossible to notice just by looking, and Maki imagined that had she not been so attuned with her physicality, she wouldn't have noticed at all, 'Is this his technique? A literal curse that slows down those affected by it?'
"Hey, hey, hey, what's with that face?" Kiniro questioned with a crazed look in his eyes and a lewd smile, "Don't get cold feet now, keep that same energy, hit me again! I want to feel your wrath!"
Maki recoiled as the disturbed aura rolling off of Kiniro intensified, almost coming alive as it reached out and tried to caress Maki's mind, whispering sweet promises and tempting her, 'Why the hell does his cursed energy feel like this?'
"Kiniro, that's enough." Saturo's voice cut through the air like a knife, "Students can't fight each other if they're not sparing, it's against the rules."
Kiniro blinked, and in the blink of an eye, his cursed energy vanished. "But she slapped me?"
Kiniro's tone wasn't accusatory; he was just stating a fact, like a naive child looking towards an adult for an explanation.
Saturo smirked, "That's because Maki thought you were insulting her. How would you like it if someone called you weak?"
"But I'm not," Kiniro refuted with the same oblivious look, "I only said that because she doesn't have a lot of cursed energy…though she probably makes up for it with that ogre strength of hers."
"What did you just call me?!" Maki screamed in outrage as her hands balled up into fists, which only made Kiniro grin excitedly, 'This guy is insane!'
"Both of you quit it, or I'll take away your off campus privalges," Masamichi warned, having reached the end of his patience.
Kiniro's eyes widened with sheer panic, and in the blink of an eye, he turned away from Maki to face the front of the room, his back ramrod straight and an attative look on his face, "I apologize for my outburst."
Maki and the rest of the room stared in disbelief at Kiniro's antics, but Masamichi just shook his head and quickly moved on to wrap up the meeting, "Your dimissed Classes start tomorrow, don't be late, and make sure to wear your uniforms."
Kiniro's well-behaved facade vanished in an instant, and he quickly stood up from his desk, ready to run out of the room, but Maki spoke up before he could, "Hey! Where do you think you're going?!"
Kiniro grinned, "To go check out my droom! I bought a bunch of stuff to decorate with!"
"I mean it rhetorically, dumbass! I just need you to get this mark off me!" Maki cursed as she held up her hand with Kiniro's brand still on it.
"Oh, I forgot about that," Kiniro muttered before his eyes flashed with a golden light, "Asmodeus."
The brand on Maki's hand lit up with the same gold light before vanishing, but when it did, Maki felt her body temperature skyrocket as a pleasurable sensation spread throughout her body.
Flinching, Maki fought to keep a blush spreading across her cheeks as she gripped the edge of her desk, "W-what the hell did you just do to me?!"
"Not entirely sure, but I think it might have been a heal of some kind?" Kiniro muttered as he scratched the back of his head.
"You don't know?!" Maki ground out between clenched teeth, fighting the urge to break a chair over Kiniro's head.
"Cut me some slack, alright, I'm new to all of this sorcery stuff, and I only discovered my innate technique a few minutes ago when you slapped me," Kiniro said defensively with a pout, making Maki stare at him in pure disbelief. "Besides, I had some vague feeling that it would turn out all right…at least compared to the other six."
Before Maki could berate Kiniro again, Saturo was suddenly standing between them, staring down at his pupil, "Well then, it seems like we should go test what you're capable of."
"Wait, I wanna move into my-"
Before Kiniro could complete his sentence, Saturo picked him up and ran out of the room while laughing like a madman.
"So that's the strongest jujutsu sorcerer," Maki muttered under her breath, "What a moron."
---
When the world stopped spinning, Kiniro found himself outside, standing in the middle of a track field that one would find at any high school. "Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick. Did you have to run so fast?"
"That was some show you put on there in the classroom," Saturo complimented ignore Kiniro's plight, who was bent over in half with a queasy look on his face, "Now you should have some idea bout your innate technique and what it's capable of."
After taking a series of deep breaths, Kiniro felt his dizzy spell pass, and he managed to stand upright. "I beg you, never do that again."
"Get faster, and I won't have to," Saturo replied with a grin, "Now focus, we're talking about your innate technique."
"Yeah, I got an idea of what it does, but it's weird," Kiniro responded as he looked off into space. "It's like having a dish put in front of you. You can guess what it might taste like, but I won't know for sure until I take a bite."
"Until you take a bite, huh?" Saturo stroked his chin in thought before snapping his fingers, "I'll be right back."
Before Kiniro could say anything, Saturo vanished, moving so fast that Kiniro couldn't keep track. After waiting for a second, Kiniro quickly turned and started to walk away, only for Saturo to reappear behind him. "What are you doing?"
Kiniro flinched before sighing and turning back around, "I definitely wasn't trying to go back to my…what the hell is that?"
Kiniro stared past Saturo to the massive creature behind him that Kiniro could barely make sense of. It looked like a massive spider with the head of a bull, a body covered in pink and white fur, and eight spindly legs that ended in spear-like bone tips. Fortunately, the creature was as still as a statue bound with thick lengths of rope and a talisman pinned to its forehead.
"This, my dear disciple, is a cursed spirit," Saturo replied as he patted the horrific monstrosity. "Based on their strength, they are given a grade with four being the weakest and one being the strongest. Also, in some rare instances, a cursed spirit might be evaluated as a Special Grade, but those are very few and far between."
Kiniro raised his hand, "Question."
"Yes, my dear disciple."
"Just how strong is the differential between each grade, and is there an equivalent ranking system for sorcerers?"
Saturo grinned, "Yes Sorcerers and most things involving cursed energy are ranked on the same scale as for general power level. If you think about the conventional weapons needed to kill a being of each level, a wooden bat is enough for a Grade 4, you can kill a Grade 3 with any firearm, Grade 2 is a bit trickier and needs some serious firepower, a Grade 1 can face a tank with little difficulty, and for special grade…anything short of a direct hit with ballistic missile isn't enough to leave a scratch on them."
Kiniro blinked with wide eyes, "Can cursed energy really make you that powerful?"
"If you utilize it the right way, it can," Saturo answered, "It's all about playing to your strengths and knowing your capabilities."
"Is that what the cursed spirit is for?" Kiniro asked, glancing at the sealed cursed spirit once more.
"You're quick on the uptake; that will help you survive," Saturo replied as he walked over to the curse spirit and, with a swipe of his hand, tore the sealing talisman from the spirit's forehead.
There was a brief pause before the cursed spirit's eyes snapped open, revealing two yellow orbs with a dark red pupil in each socket. The spirit's eyes widened with pure malice as it stared at Saturo and Kiniro, straining against the ropes binding its legs to its bulbous, grotesque body.
"Sensei," Kiniro asked calmly as a dangerous aura rolled off the cursed spirit, and, one by one, the heavy ropes restraining it snapped like twigs, "What grade did you say this cursed spirit was?"
"I didn't say, but now that you ask, I think it's a semi-grade 1," Saturo answered just as calmly as he scratched his chin, "Or maybe it's a full-fledged grade 1, I can't remember what the tag said."
"That means it can potentially survive a tank, right?" Kiniro asked, feeling his heart race.
"Yep, good luck, and remember, play to your strengths!" Saturo gave Kiniro a thumbs up before he disappeared, just as the cursed spirit broke free and rose to its full height with a deafening screech.