Ethan discovered early during his time at Kamar-Taj that he was unable to tap into energies from other dimensions to cast spells. The Ancient One explained it by comparing sorcerers of Kamar-Taj to teacups and dimensional energies to boiling tea—but in Ethan's case, his cup was already filled to the brim with cursed energy, which he naturally produced. As a result, he couldn't draw in any additional dimensional energy.
He had been disappointed by this revelation for a while. After all, his dream of using Sling Ring portals mid-battle to decapitate cursed spirits had been completely foiled.
Still, he didn't let that feeling linger. If he couldn't use eldritch energies, then he would master what he did possess.
He was surprised when the Ancient One told him that he was the first naturally born sorcerer since the era when Agamotto had reigned supreme.
Speaking of Agamotto, the Ancient One had provided Ethan with Agamotto's personal ledger regarding cursed energy. Most of it contained mundane knowledge he already knew, but one particular entry caught his interest.
A tale.
About how one of the strongest sorcerers of the Golden Era had died while fighting an Angel—a winged being with an eight-handed wheel atop its head.
Gulp.
Being the only sorcerer capable of using cursed energy naturally attracted a great deal of attention from fellow students and even Masters of the Mystic Arts.
Long stares.
Double takes.
None of them disturbed him during his studies or training—likely on the Ancient One's orders.
Previously, Ethan had compared Kamar-Taj to the Hogwarts of Marvel. However, there was a noticeable lack of Malfoys. After all, who would dare bully the adopted son of the Ancient One? Not that they could, even if someone were brave—or foolish—enough to try.
If Ethan had to rank himself, he would place himself at lower special grade, as he still lacked a proper Domain Expansion.
As Ethan performed the subjugation ritual for Tiger Funeral, he had expected a quadrupedal tiger shikigami—aggressive, direct, and swift—relying on brute strength and high-impact strikes.
Instead, he found himself staring at a bipedal shikigami.
If he had to describe its most prominent feature in one word, it would be intelligence.
The shikigami's amber eyes, with round pupils, gave it an intense, focused—thinking—look, unlike any of Ethan's other shikigami.
"Are you my summoner, child?" the bipedal tiger spoke in a deep rumble.
IT CAN SPEAK!?
Ethan was too shocked to respond. Seeing the stunned look on the child's face, Tiger Funeral stepped forward.
"What a foolish mistake—summoning me without supervision from your elders. You have only yourself to bla—"
He didn't finish his sentence.
Multiple cursed energy cannons were fired in his direction. He dodged them by a hair's breadth.
"Aah… you survived that, huh?" Ethan grinned. "So what's your technique? Judging by your speed alone, you're at least special grade. Can you use fire? That would be cool."
Thud! Thud! Thud!
That had been far too close for comfort.
Tiger Funeral had underestimated the child—but that wouldn't change the final outcome.
He looked up.
Birds!?
No—an attack!
He outran the incoming Raiju's Strike, but in doing so, failed to notice Ethan sinking into his shadow. He sensed a cursed energy disturbance behind him—but was caught off guard by another vicious bird-like shikigami attacking from the front.
RAIJU'S STRIKE LANDED.
The attack struck him squarely in the chest, temporarily paralyzing him with its immense electrical discharge.
That was enough.
Ethan emerged from the shadow behind him and unleashed a close-range Granite Blast, capable of killing a special-grade cursed spirit on impact.
BOOM!
Realizing he couldn't dodge the dual assault, Tiger Funeral poured everything into cursed energy reinforcement. For a moment, he thought he would be subjugated.
The child—no, the jujutsu sorcerer—landed a few feet away, studying him with analytical interest.
"You're definitely special grade," Ethan said.
"At least in speed and defense. Weaker special grades wouldn't survive either Raiju's Strike or a close-range Granite Blast—but you tanked both with simple reinforcement."
WEAKER SPECIAL GRADE!?
Wasn't special grade supposed to be the pinnacle of strength!?
What kind of era had he been summoned into—where children fought special grades!?
Why were the words weak and special grade being used in the same sentence!?
He didn't understand.
Tiger Funeral had served only one master during the Golden Era. Over centuries, he had participated in dozens of subjugation rituals. Every inheritor of the Ten Shadows Technique had possessed a unique personality—but all shared one fate.
They had died.
Except for him.
Looking at his future master—not even out of breath after all that cursed energy expenditure—Tiger Funeral realized this era would indeed be an exciting one.
But he had to fight with everything he had.
That was the rule of the ritual.
He clasped his hands together to activate his technique—
—and blinked.
The child was behind him.
He hadn't sensed him move.
Instant teleportation!?
No.
The cursed energy fluctuations felt like shadow movement—but far faster than before.
He had no time to turn.
Black lightning flashed.
He had seen this attack once before—used by his former master, one of the strongest sorcerers of the Golden Era.
BLACK FLASH!!
In the brief moment it took Tiger Funeral to regain his bearings, Ethan completed a binding vow.
BINDING VOW: ECLIPSEIn exchange for being unable to use shadow teleportation for one day, Ethan could perform it once, almost instantaneously—within a billionth of a second.
Tiger Funeral had previously proven capable of reacting to speed-of-sound attacks.
This one eclipsed that entirely.
Ethan's fists were already enveloped in cursed energy when he activated ECLIPSE. At the moment of contact with Tiger Funeral's back, space distorted, cursed energy flashed black, and the familiar euphoria surged through Ethan once more.
His understanding of cursed energy soared again.
But as he watched Tiger Funeral dissolve into his shadow, he felt a twinge of disappointment—he wouldn't get a second Black Flash this time.
The Ninth Shikigami of the Ten Shadows Technique, Tiger Funeral, had been subjugated.
Immediately afterward, Ethan interlaced his fingers into the shadow puppet of a tiger's head and poured as much cursed energy into the technique as it would allow.
He had noticed something during subjugation rituals—the shikigami appeared in a kind of "default state." In reality, their size varied drastically depending on the cursed energy input, ranging from small, agile forms to massive, building-sized beasts.
During the ritual, Tiger Funeral had been eight feet tall.
Now—
Ethan stood before a fifteen-foot-tall, muscular, bipedal tiger shikigami.
Tiger Funeral was black and white, with black claws protruding from each wrist and no tail. Bright amber eyes gleamed beneath black stripes along his shoulders, head, legs, and torso, contrasted by a white jaw, chest, stomach, hands, and feet.
"You certainly enjoy expending cursed energy, Master," Tiger Funeral remarked, observing his new form.
He admitted that his previous master hadn't possessed even half of Ethan's reserves.
Ethan, however, was thinking something else entirely.
Master…?
A cute café maid with cat ears calling him that? Any day.
A fifteen-foot-tall tiger man?
Hard pass.
"Please call me Ethan. I like that name," he said.
"Speaking of names—do you have one?"
Tiger Funeral hesitated. His previous master had reveled in titles.
Seeing the confusion, Ethan tilted his head and smiled brightly.
"You don't? Then from today on, you're Tora. Not very original, I know—but you'll grow into it."
Tora looked content.
It had taken Ethan a month to name Divine Dogs Kuro and Shiro. He wasn't doing that again.
He summoned the loyal duo to meet the newest addition, and soon all of them were playing along the island's shoreline.
"What!?"
While playing catch with Kuro and Shiro using a giant rock, Tora revealed his true ability.
Ethan froze.
He hadn't allowed Tora to use it during the subjugation ritual—and now he was glad he hadn't.
Tora could manipulate different energies.
He had sensed it from the strange pendant the Ancient One had given Ethan—energy unlike cursed energy.
Which meant—
Tiger Funeral could manipulate dimensional energy.
Did that mean his dream of killing a cursed spirit with a Sling Ring portal was finally possible!?
He would just have to convince the Ancient One to let a bipedal tiger shikigami attend Kamar-Taj.
…Meh.
Surely she wouldn't refuse an extra employee.
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