"Man, you really do get stuck with some weird nicknames during your student days, don't you? Good work today, Special Grade Sorcerer Okkotsu."
"Is that just how it is...?"
"That's exactly how it is. Even Gojo, Geto, and Naoya had one or two strange monikers back in the day. Stuff like 'Western White-hair,' 'Thirty-something Bangs,' or 'Boob-Worshipping Gundam'... Ah, please keep it a secret that I was the one who let that slip."
"I see... That's actually a bit of a relief. Oh, what about you, Ijichi?"
"Well, since my last name is a bit unusual, they called me 'Ajikan.' My name is a near miss for the band's name, after all..."
"Oh, I see. Weren't they the ones with the drummer?"
"Exactly, exactly."
While engaging in such conversation, moving in a black sedan driven by Ijichi, was the seventeen-year-old Yuta Okkotsu. His nicknames had finally started to fade, and people had reverted to calling him Yuta as usual.
During the month following the fusion, he had undergone various investigations. Having received a clean bill of health from Yuki and Shoko, who confirmed he was perfectly stable, his surveillance was finally lifted, and he was once again a free man.
Then, as if their business was concluded, Naoya Zen'in and Mai Zen'in left for Kyoto. Naoya had left with a crisp farewell: "Give me a call if you ever come to Kyoto. Well, you'll likely be there by September anyway." Mai added, "Well then, you two be happy together. Let's talk again sometime so you can brag about your relationship, okay?"
Just a few days ago, their homeroom teacher, Kusakabe, finally returned. Apparently, as a condition for Naoya's dispatch, Kusakabe had been forced to spend his time teaching New Shadow Style to the Zen'in clan's Kukuru Unit. He now stood at the podium with an exhausted expression. Meanwhile, Yuta, who was finally expected to perform his duties as a sorcerer, had arrived for his first official mission.
"Now, our request this time is to exorcise the cursed spirits within this 'Hapina Shopping District.' There is a plan to demolish this mostly abandoned district to attract a shopping mall... However, since this area is filled with the memories of the local people, a fair number of cursed spirits have been discovered. The goal is to clear away any lingering regrets so the region can make a fresh start."
"I see... Something similar happened in my hometown, too. It's sad when a familiar shopping district withers away. It's no wonder cursed spirits would appear there."
"Yes. Whether it is a school or a shopping district, buildings where many people gather are prone to harboring the thoughts of people as curses. Now then, Sorcerer Okkotsu, I will lower the Veil. Good luck!"
"Yes, thank you, Ijichi."
After those parting words, Yuta stood alone in the shopping district as the Veil descended. He circulated cursed energy through his entire body, creating a single katana using Construction while maintaining a vigilant watch on his surroundings.
The first things to appear in the shopping district were a swarm of low-level, fish-like cursed spirits.
'Cutting them down one by one with a sword won't be efficient,' Yuta immediately decided. He constructed a new megaphone in his left hand and prepared to mimic his classmate's technique.
"Die."
The moment Yuta whispered the word, it was amplified and diffused by the megaphone. The swarming cursed spirits were instantly slaughtered, vanishing into clouds of black soot.
"My focus is still pretty weak. Inumaki really is amazing," Yuta muttered. What he had unleashed was the Inumaki family's inherited technique, Cursed Speech.
Normally, such a technique would inflict significant recoil damage on the user depending on the weight of the curse. However, because Yuta had become a semi-cursed spirit, he possessed powerful regenerative abilities. He essentially bypassed the cost; his vocal cords would be severely damaged but would regenerate instantly. It was a specification that Toge was quite envious of.
Well, Toge could technically achieve a similar bypass, but the ability to recklessly widen the target of the technique was only possible because Yuta's total cursed energy output reached the absurd value of 'infinite.'
Conversely, Toge was better at narrowing down the target of a technique with precision, so Toge and Yuta maintained a good relationship built on mutual respect.
"Hmm, I've cleared most of them, but there seem to be a few more left. I think I'll do a lap around the district to check. What do you think, Rika?"
'Yeah, there are still a few left, Yuta. Three that seem a bit smarter, and some weaklings that just happened to be elsewhere. Which technique are you going to use next? I'll give you whatever you want.'
"Thanks, Rika. In that case—"
The moment he spoke, Yuta's figure vanished, leaving behind only a violent gust of wind caused by high-speed movement. Utilizing Projection Sorcery, he darted through the shopping district at extreme speeds, meticulously cutting down the remaining cursed spirits with his sword. His work was careful and cautious, true to his nature, without a hint of negligence in his actions.
There should have been no way for a cursed spirit to escape him—and yet.
"Wait, that's strange. The Veil isn't lifting...? Ijichi was supposed to set the clearing of the spirits as the condition for lifting it..."
'Yuta, this Veil isn't Ijichi's.'
"Does that mean—"
'Is this bad?'
Before he could finish the thought, Yuta felt a sensation that made his skin crawl and leaped away. Immediately after, the spot where he had been standing was struck by a cursed energy blast of incredible output.
Turning back toward the source of the blast, Yuta saw a single boy dressed in a military uniform, one of his arms hideously transformed.
"A child...!?"
'Yuta! It's probably a curse user like they mentioned in class! Be careful!'
"Ah, right, so that's... Thanks, Rika."
Even as he spoke, Yuta's hands gripped his sword with a stiffness born of hesitation at the prospect of facing a living human being.
Perhaps sensing Yuta's reaction, the young curse user flashed a distorted, mocking grin. With a theatrical gesture, he gave a salute and announced his name loudly, sneering at Yuta's perceived weakness.
[ILLUSTRATION DISPLAY]
"A pleasure to meet you, Special Grade Sorcerer Yuta Okkotsu! I am Bitz of the curse user group 'Q'! However, dear me, how disappointing! If you were the original, you would have attacked me by now, wouldn't you? I rushed here after hearing you were trained by the dear original, but it seems you're nothing but a coward!"
'Yuta, let's kill him.'
"Oho? I see, so you are Rika Orimoto? You are wonderful. Your spirit and killing intent are top-notch. But what about your host? He seems to be shivering pitifully while hiding behind a woman's skirts. With such a ball and chain attached, isn't it terribly difficult to move?"
Enraged by the succession of insults, Rika scattered cursed energy, manifesting a mouth on the surface of Yuta's body to fire a cursed energy blast. She was fully in combat mode.
But Yuta, having been a victim of bullying in the past, was surprisingly calm.
'Well, after all, I'm used to being told things like this.'
If it were the old Yuta who lacked confidence, he might have been hurt or frightened. But to the current Yuta, these provocations were transparent attempts to make him lose his cool and cloud his judgment. It was just noise that couldn't shake his heart.
Calmly and coldly, Yuta observed Bitz as he parried Rika's bombardment. He brought the megaphone in his left hand to his lips and quietly infused his words with murderous intent.
"Fall, be crushed, shatter, and die."
With that cold, cursed sound, the tiles of the shopping district splintered as Bitz was slammed into the ground. Rika followed up ruthlessly, pouring a cursed energy blast into the crater.
However, that lethal combination was met by a counter-blast fired through the dust from the center of the impact zone.
The sudden encounter with the curse user in the shopping district showed every sign of being a difficult struggle.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]