Chapter 47: A Finger

I did previously state that I would only show new status screen messages when one would appear, and cut off any repeating ones you would have seen already. I am considering merging status messages to just one, doing all the calculations together. Would that be better?

As always, don't forget to drop some power stones!

*****

"Hahaha!", I let out some laughter, but didn't let it out too loudly. I didn't want to distract my neighbors, after all. I could see Lala's eyes currently on me, but from a distance this time. Some moments had passed. I was going to review the notifications in a bit, but I wanted to experience what little time I had that I could fly. All I had was a little over eight minutes before my ki ran completely dry.

When I first took flight, my body couldn't handle the sudden feeling of weightlessness someone would experience when flying up into outer space. It wasn't true weightlessness though. Earth still had its gravity, so I could feel a constant tugging that was being channeled against the use of my ki. It took a few moments to try and find the right balance to it. Seeing me in such a goofy fashion did cause Lala to giggle a few times. It was very similar to how a baby attempted to take their first steps in walking, I would stumble over in several directions, trying to get my bearings.

Ki control really was crucial at things like this.

But after a few of my minutes have been used up trying to get the weight situation under control, my body soared further upward. I glided around the terrace for another few moments. Each time I went in a different direction, Lala's eyes would switch directions, keeping her gaze on me. I could tell that she was happy though. Even Lala was capable of flight through one of her inventions. But that was bound by one form of energy, while ki could eventually be endless, as long as one became strong enough to fly around.

Enjoying the breeze hitting my face, I shifted my body's position sideways. Channeling my ki, I proceeded to push my body downward, entering a lying position. Propping up one of my arms to my head, it was as if I was now laying down on a sofa, but freely in the air.

"So, how do I look?", I asked with a playful smile, acting smug for once. After all, at least in the Baki-verse, it wouldn't be farfetch'd to say I was the first flying human, no? When I asked Lala that, it earned another giggle from her.

"Hehe, you can be silly sometimes, Baki-kun. You really are getting the hang of flying though. Shouldn't it take a while for others?", Lala responded, wondering how much time a normal person would need to gain efficiency in flying.

I recalled the second scene again of Videl trying to use her ki to fly through Gohan's training. Even with her martial art expertise, it still took some days to get the hang of flying. Goten, on the other hand, could float and fly around in mere moments. In the latter half of the Majin Buu Saga, since Videl hadn't practiced flying enough, the other Z Fighters had to reduce their flying speed. In the end, Videl ended up retreating halfway through because she couldn't keep up with how fast the Z Fighters could fly.

Flying speed is something I am hoping to improve over as I improve my ki. If I used my current ki amount and soared into the skies, there was a very good chance I would just plummet downward. And as if it sensed my intention, I heard another notification sound off inside my head, causing me to come to pause, literally.

[Ding! User Baki's ki has run out.]

"Shit.", I cursed. My body suddenly started to tug downward, creating a slipping feeling. I must say, it was a weird sensation. The weightlessness feeling returned, and earth's gravity began to pull me downward. The eight minutes had just run out. My back curled up a bit, and in the next moment or two it exited the lying position. Lala was quick to see I was falling, and entered a crouching stance. She quickly jumped my way, and caught me.

"Caught you~", Lala happily spoke my way, feeling her warmth spread through my body.

"Haha, thanks, Lala-chan. As you can see, I can fly, but not for long. Let's just say I can gauge how much ki I have. Keep it a secret alright?", I said in a playful manner.

"Ooh, got it. It's a secret.", Lala responded, nodding her head my way. She let me down, letting me recover from my loss of balance during that.

I remembered that a notification popped up during that fun. With the fun now over, I decided to have a look at it, and sure enough, it was another increase to my stats, causing me to smile.

[Ding! User Baki has successfully used Flight for the first time. User's ki has been replenished. Now rewarding bonus stat gain. Weighted Gain has triggered. 29 STR, 27 END, 25 SPD, 25 TEQ 210 HP, 50 Ki has been gained.] (A/N: Something like this)

A different, vigorous sensation began to wrap around my entire body, beginning to replenish the ki I had just lost. Nice. So milestones could even do that, huh? I had a quick glance to see what my stats increased to.

[Baki Hamna]

HP: 3190/3190 (+210)

Ki: 295/295 (+50)

STR: 777 (+29)

END: 492 (+27)

TEQ: 215 (+25)

SPD: 375 (+25)

Power Level: 485

Suppressed Power Level: 340

Seeing this, I inwardly smiled. Moreover, my Endurance stat was approaching the 500 range, as well as my overall power level. I knew there were milestones at the 500 mark, but seeing my Power Level approaching that level, I could only imagine there would be milestones for that too. I'll likely reach it during my next stat gain, so we'll see what happens then.

I took the time to pad off my knees a bit. Overall, that was a great Shadow Training session, and I was pleased with these results. I looked back toward Lala, who could now be seen standing in front of me.

"It is 3PM now, Master.", Aura's voice echoed inside my head, signaling the time.

"It will probably be a while before the two of us can take to the skies together, Lala-chan, but it is a goal to strive for. Why don't we head out and enjoy that date? I also need to pay Master Doppo a visit.", I said, immediately causing Lala's eyes to light up. Seeing her tail move around never gets old either.

"Yeah! Isn't it weird to call a person Master though? Haven't you only met this Doppo person once or twice?", Lala asked, confused.

"You see, Lala-chan, it is only proper to address someone who has reached mastery of whatever art they practice. In every way Doppo has perfected the art of Karate, so calling him Master Doppo is proper.", I said, answering Lala's confusion.

"I see. The world of martial arts is still foreign to me. Papa does have his combat expertise and the secret service under him, but he's just good at fighting. You said this planet has a lot of different ways people can fight, right?", Lala asked me with interest.

"Yep. Each culture has their own techniques to fight. I'm currently learning Karate myself, but that wasn't what I originally practiced. I'm a Grappler.", I said, pointing my finger my way.

"A Grappler..." Lala said, nodding her head, trying to understand what I had just said. It was combat that excelled in fast movement speeds, and latching onto an opponent, proceeding to immobilize one's joints, preventing them from moving. Speaking of joints too, wasn't there a crazy fighter who loved dislocating them?

"Well, showing is sometimes better to explain something, so just come along for the ride, alright? We need you to get used to the station too. No flying around with that tech of yours. Most folk don't know that aliens exist yet. You can hide that tail of yours, right?", I asked Lala.

"I can. Easy peasy!", Lala said. Lala reached out from who-knows-where, and brought out a flip-phone like device. It had a pink-purple aura covering half the device. It looked very similar to a flip phone, but was far from one.

"This is my D-Dial. I can store my inventions inside here. If you want me to make you one Baki-kun, I can!", Lala happily answered as she began to fiddle with it.

"A D-Dial? Isn't that equivalent to pocket spaces in those martial art stories? Man, tech really is such a nice thing.", I said, feeling a bit jealous at the device in Lala's hand.

"I'm not sure what stories you are referring to, but this lets me put things away into an extra dimension, bound by the D-Dial. I have many devices inside here. One of them, for example, is Bye-Bye Memory-Kun. If you really do reject me after tomorrow passes, I will likely use this, making you forget I even existed!", Lala responded.

"That sounds frightening...", I immediately retorted, remembering that Lala did have many different devices she invented herself. These inventions could contain endless possibilities, and just like Lala just said, she does have the ability to wipe memories away.

"Hehe, it's harmless. Anyways, this is what I wanted to bring out.", Lala said, bringing out a wand of sorts. "The Almighty Tool-Kun! This lets me adjust any object within range, including my inventions. I can just tweak Peke to hide my tail.", Lala said. Her magical-like wand flashed, and sure enough, when I regained my vision, her tail was no longer there. She even took this time to put her tools away.

"How convenient. Glad to see your clothes didn't strip this time. Let's go.", I said, doing a motion of my arms. I was still wearing the gray hoodie and dark pants. I flipped my head a bit, letting the hoodie cover most of my head. Doing this made me look like one of those gangsters, but eh, it's a look Baki likes to use, so I'm rolling with it. Lala seemed to disregard it, still having a happy look on her face. She even reached down and went for my hand, and began to spring back into my home.

On the way, we met some students returning home along the way. I saw Momo and her friends, and a particularly looking gloomy Ken. The atmosphere around him changed quite considerably, and he looked less like a nerd. Rito also waved hello before heading inside his house. I got a glimpse of Mikan, but it only lasted briefly. We also passed by Gojo-sensei as he walked to the left of my home.

Seeing him there, I took a moment to introduce Lala as a foreign exchange student to Gojo-sensei, which drew his interest. I was still suspended, but if Lala remains longer than her three days here, she'll enroll at Sainan High. He'd have to talk with the other faculty members to discuss a late enrollment, but he wasn't against it, which was nice to hear.

I could see a calm expression as Gojo-sensei walked by us, but for some reason, he was emitting a foreign feeling of danger, keeping to himself as we finished crossing paths. I could only shrug that feeling off for now. Lala and I proceeded onward to Suidobashi Station after a ten minute walk.

As I was beginning to introduce Lala to the subway system with several Japanese people going to and fro from the station...

Sainan High. Most of the school could be seen vacated for the day, but some faculty and students remained behind. Further inside toward one of the other ends of a school, an eerie golden sphere could be seen floating the hallways. It seemed to have no destination in sight, but anywhere it went, darkness would follow.

Inside a club room nearby, one or two figures stood that didn't seem to be of this world. The room was dark and vacated. They appeared very alien, but closer to that of monsters.

Further upward from this room was a connected roof that extended to another main building of Sainan High. A short black haired man sporting a full black collared outfit that was currently closed with a couple buttons could be seen with a bloodied face. Rubble and bits and pieces of torn concrete could be seen scattered around.

"Ugh..", This man said, laying flat on his back, trying to gain the energy to stand back up. He didn't appear to be alone. A weird creature started to crawl the side of this low rooftop with its four arms. It had a large, exposed mouth, and appeared to be a very mutated lizard of sorts.

"Damn.", The man continued. Struggling to stand up, the man made a weird gesture with his hands. Seeing this gesture drew the attention of the creature, and started to walk his way.

Before the man could do anything, a second figure came flying in, striking swiftly with a single punch. He proceeded to punch the side of the face of this weird lizard creature, knocking it down. It slammed hard into the ground, and its eerie eyes glistened brightly.

'What raw strength...', The man said, seeing a pink haired boy arrive, sporting a jumpsuit.

"You okay dude?", The pink haired boy exclaimed, arriving in front of him to act as a means of protection. This boy turned out to be Yuji, who was part of Baki's classroom, 1S.

"I thought I told you to run.", the man said, restoring Yuji after arriving next to him.

"Some crazy shit has been happening over school. It'd give me nightmares if I were to leave now. Besides, this is quite the curse, ain't it?", Yuji retorted the black haired man.

Yuji couldn't even react before the giant creature swiped his arm at Yuji, causing Yuji to turn the other way. Yuji proceeded to kick the creature, but it remained in place. It actually knocked Yuji down, and his head struck hard on the concrete. Blood spatters appeared.

"You definitely are an idiot. It's impossible to exorcise a curse without another curse. That's basic knowledge in being a sorcerer. Where'd you crop out of?", The man retorted, seeing Yuji collapse.

"You could'a told that sooner, jackass!", Yuji retorted.

"I told you to run away, didn't I? Someone with no cursed energy will just get in the way.", The man said.

Hearing that, Yuji just remained on the ground, with his head pointing toward the creature, and stared at it.

"Why is it targeting that finger anyways?", Yuji decided to ask.

"A lower-leveled cursed spirit will always try to gain power in some way, it wants to eat it to get stronger.", The man simply explained.

Hearing that, Yuji's eyes lit up, as if an idea struck him.

"You just gave me an idea to save everyone.", Yuji responded, proceeding to stand up. He then brought out a decrepit finger that had aged for years. It was dried of its blood for the most part, but still resembled that of a finger.

Before the man could do anything, Yuji drew the finger to his mouth, and opened wide.

"W-Wait--!?", The man tried to stop Yuji. But Yuji chomped on the finger, gulping it down in one go.

'That was a special-grade cursed object...!', The man inwardly retorted. 'There's no way he'll survive that...?', The man tried to continue, only to get distracted by Yuji just standing motionlessly.

The man just stared at Yuji, thinking that.

All of a sudden, Yuji did one wide swing of his arm, punching the cursed spirit. Strange markings began to appear over Yuji's face after pushing the cursed spirit backward. Yuji's lips grew wide, creating a crazed-looking grin. A bellow of laughter then escaped from Yuji's mouth. He almost appeared as if he was an entirely different person.

"Hahaha! I knew it. Being exposed to light is the best in the flesh. What a marvelous time it is to return. I'm back, bitches!", Yuji's voice yelled out, letting out a crazed laughter, appearing to not be Yuji at all. Yuji's figure with the weird markings turned toward one of the sides of the low roof, proceeding to look onward toward the neighborhood beyond...

*****

I decided to bring out Sukuna. There are more of his fingers out there, so the one closest to Yuji still belongs to him. If I took that away, Yuji wouldn't become a sorcerer. I do have plans in having Baki locate another one of Sukuna's fingers.