The streets of Kyoto felt strange.
Tetsuya walked through the morning crowds, duffel bag slung over his shoulder, aware of the stares.
A twelve year old kid, alone, carrying a bag almost as tall as his torso.
People glanced. Frowned. Whispered.
But no one stopped him.
Just another odd sight in a city full of them.
This was his first time completely alone outside the estate.
No escort. No Zenin shadow trailing behind. No watchful eyes reporting back to the clan.
Just him.
It should have felt liberating. It didn't.
He flagged down a taxi after twenty minutes of walking, climbing into the back seat with some difficulty thanks to the oversized bag.
The driver eyed him in the rearview mirror, but ultimately said nothing.
"uh...Where to, kid?"
Tetsuya rattled off the address he'd memorised from the mission scroll, then leaned back, staring out the window.
The money had been easy enough to get. A simple request to one of the servants before leaving. They didn't question it. Clan business was clan business.
The ride was quiet.
Kyoto's urban sprawl slowly gave way to industrial zones, then empty lots, then nothing.
The outskirts.
The taxi dropped him off near a chain link fence, rusted and sagging, surrounding what looked like an abandoned industrial complex.
Tetsuya paid, shouldered his bag, and walked toward the largest structure.
The warehouse loomed ahead, massive and hollow, windows shattered, roof half collapsed in places.
The cursed energy radiating from it was faint but present. A low, sickly pulse that made his skin crawl.
He pushed through the front entrance, corroded metal door groaning on its hinges.
Inside, the warehouse stretched wide and dark.
Broken machinery was scattered across the concrete floor. Shadows pooled in every corner, making the atmosphere even darker.
Tetsuya let the duffel bag slide off his shoulder, landing with a heavy thud.
He rolled his shoulders, cracked his neck, and stepped forward.
Silence.
Nothing moved.
He walked deeper, cursed energy reinforcing his body instinctively, eyes scanning the darkness.
Still nothing.
Then everything exploded into motion.
A massive clawed hand swept through the air, aiming straight for his head.
Tetsuya's body moved before his mind caught up.
He ducked, felt the displaced air rush past his scalp, and rolled hard to the left.
The curse emerged from the shadows like a nightmare given form.
Easily three meters tall, hunched and grotesque, limbs too long and jointed wrong.
Its skin was mottled black and grey, with eyes glowing a sickly yellow, its mouth split wide with rows of jagged teeth.
Grade one.
Tetsuya's stomach dropped.
'Fuck. Fuck. This isn't a Grade two like the report said! This is Grade one! Shit. I can handle this. I have to handle this.'
The curse lunged again, impossibly fast.
Tetsuya fired two Missile Fists mid dodge.
Both projectiles slammed into the curse's torso, violet energy detonating on impact.
The curse staggered. Snarled.
But didn't go down.
The fight became a blur of desperation.
Despite Tetsuya being a Grade two sorcerer, this was the first time he felt real danger.
Tetsuya ducked, blocked, and fired volleys of Missile Fists that curved and struck from unexpected angles.
But that wasn't nearly enough.
The curse was faster. Stronger. More durable.
Not just any Grade one. A grade one curse, towards the higher end of the scale.
A clawed backhand caught him across the ribs, sending him crashing into a rusted beam. Pain exploded through his side.
He gasped, forced himself up, fired six more missiles.
The curse tanked them, barely slowing and closed the distance.
Its claws raked across his left arm, tearing through cloth and skin. Blood sprayed hot across the concrete.
Tetsuya bit back a scream, pivoted, and launched another volley.
The curse grabbed a steel beam and swung it like a bat.
Tetsuya barely got his arms up in time, reinforcement flaring desperately.
The impact launched him backwards, slamming him into the far wall. His vision blurred. his ribs felt like jelly.
Cuts were scattered across his face, arms and torso, all from last second dodges.
Blood dripped into his eyes from a cut right on his forehead.
'I'm going to die.'
The thought hit cold and clear.
The twins' faces flashed in his mind.
Maki. Mai.
Bruised. Crying. Alone.
'How am I supposed to protect them if I can't even survive this?'
'How am I supposed to protect anything if I'm this weak?'
The curse lunged again, claws aimed for his throat.
Tetsuya's cursed energy exploded outward, coalescing something on a different scale than he had ever managed before.
Something else.
Something more.
His fist burned with violet energy, brighter, sharper, and denser than it had ever been before.
Before the cursed spirit could manage to land another hit, Tetsuya swung his fist.
The aftermath was silence.
The warehouse was gone for the most part. At least everything forwards to where Tetsuya had been standing.
A massive trench had carved its way through the concrete floor, through the dirt beneath, through everything in its path for at least thirty meters forward.
Rubble was scattered everywhere.
Steel beams had been twisted like they were made out of paper.
Tetsuya knelt at the start of the cone shaped destruction, chest heaving. His reserves felt hollow for the first time in his life.
Drained in a way Missile Fist had never managed before.
Even when he had trained, day to night, Tetsuya had never managed to really deplete his cursed energy reserves. Up until now.
Tetsuya stared at his fist, eyes wide, blood dripping down his face from a dozen cuts.
"...What was even that?" The word came out barely a whisper.
He didn't know what he'd just done.
But whatever it was, it had worked.
The curse was gone. Obliterated. Not even ash remained.
Tetsuya wiped the blood from his face with a shaking hand, winced at the pain in his ribs, and slowly, painfully, pushed himself to his feet.
His legs wobbled. His left arm hung limp, bleeding freely.
He staggered toward the edge of the destruction, eyes scanning for his duffel bag.
There.
Somehow, impossibly, it was intact. Sitting just outside the blast radius, untouched.
Tetsuya collapsed beside it, fumbled with the zipper, and pulled out the first aid kit with trembling fingers.
He pressed gauze to the worst cuts. Wrapped his arm. Splinted what felt broken.
His hands shook the entire time.
When he finally finished, he leaned back down, against a chunk of rubble, staring up at the sky through the shattered remains of the warehouse roof.
'I did it.'
'I survived.'
'But really. What did I just do?'
He didn't have an answer.
Just a hollow ache in his chest where his cursed energy used to be, and the faint, lingering burn of something new.
Tetsuya then tried to stand, only to promptly fall down. His vision was hazy at the edges.
Before passing out, though, he could swear he recognised the figure quickly approaching him.
[Author Note below.]
I wonder who it is, arriving to save Tetsuya. Anyhow. This is the last chapter of volume one, save for the intermission next chapter.
I want you, yes, you, to commenton what you want to see further down the line. Perhaps it is some kind of arc. Perhaps Tetsuya meets a certain character. Thoughts on how Tetsuya can manage to really develop such a simple technique further.
Just. Pass me an idea or two. Not because I don't have things planned, but sometimes readers see things an author doesn't.
[Author note over.]