2 Chapter 2. Cause and Effect

A swift and harsh overhand strike sliced through the air, crashing into my face with a piercing whistle. My nose was broken, my jaw dislocated, and blood mixed with snot and saliva. In that very moment, my survival instincts kicked in, instinctively channeling Cursed Energy to strengthen my neck and stabilize my brain inside my skull, preventing me from losing consciousness.

"Well, it could be worse," I thought, "Some woman could have cut off my penis and thrown it out the window." That very thought crossed my mind as the old man continued to break my body time and time again.

"Distracted," he said, pausing for a moment, and then his left fist knocked all the air out of me, making my stomach contract and forcing me to spit out a mouthful of acid-tinged blood. "Leads to death."

Yami Kishibe was quite the sadist, and with his deadpan gaze, rare but pitch-black sense of humor, and the hardness of a veteran who had seen more than one war, he was probably the worst "parent" one could imagine.

On the other hand, I couldn't find a better teacher. My grandfather was straightforward, tough, and above all, unlike the vast majority of other teachers, he genuinely wanted me to surpass him. That was perhaps the main factor behind my rapid growth over the past five years. And he was a decent guy, albeit with his quirks, but who among Sorcerers didn't have them?

"We'll call it a day for now," the old man said as he wiped his hands clean of my saliva and blood, then turned and left, disappearing behind the door.

I collapsed on the concrete training ground, gazing at the light of a single star breaking through Tokyo's city lights.

It had been five years since my grandfather took me out of the orphanage, and in that time, I had reevaluated everything there was to reevaluate, broken every bone that could be broken, and probably even lost my sanity a couple of times. These five years had blended into a continuous cycle of training, pain, exorcising Curses, and more training. No exceptions! Even when I was sick or "out of shape," my grandfather couldn't care less about my complaints. He'd just grab me by the scruff, pull me out from under the blankets, and toss me into the perilous and cold world.

Did I want this life? At first, I regretted being reborn altogether. The only thing I genuinely wanted was to drink to relieve stress and smoke a cigarette to calm my frayed nerves. However, humans are amazing creatures, and most of all, they possess an incredible, hidden desire to live, or in my case, survive. So, it didn't take long for me to realize that, after a particularly grueling day, I just lay there, trying to ground myself to the cold concrete with my entire body instead of succumbing to hysterics.

After that day, the old man said something like, "This is your first step on the path to manhood - accepting reality. Now, all that's left is to fight." And fight, I did. Every damn day felt like a "twenty-minute adventure" where I knew that I would be beaten into the ground, and in the end, I wouldn't even be able to move a finger due to the pain. Yes, after a year of training with my grandfather, I stopped losing consciousness from intense pain.

What else can I say about this time? Perhaps that my views of this world changed significantly. All the boundaries of the character I had been reborn as in anime were erased, and I had changed too... Significantly enough to become almost a different person. I don't know if it was the constant beatings from the old man, which he called training, the regular exorcising of Curses, or something else. But one way or another, one beautiful day, I woke up, and I was incredibly grateful and realized that I had accepted and even, to some extent, fallen in love with my second life.

Stockholm Syndrome in the Flesh! After years of getting the crap beaten out of me by my grandpa and numerous clashes with Curses, I came to the conclusion that nowhere else did I feel as alive as I did during battle. Here, victory or defeat didn't matter; it was all about kill or be killed. It was something akin to drugs or self-gratification. It was indescribable. My muscles, which at first seemed to be made of dough, after six months looked like they were carved from wood. Along with possessing supernatural strength, I was sure I could handle anything. And, of course, my old man did an excellent job of knocking such nonsense out of my head and bringing me back down to earth.

"However high you climb, there will always be someone higher. The race for power never ends, right?" Sometimes, battered and with a muddled mind, I would talk to myself.

But this was only one part of my life; the other part was exorcising Curses.

As my grandpa once said, "All Sorcerers are crazy." What can I say about that?

"Neither here nor there," I said, clearing a lump of blood from my throat. "And it's precisely the accumulation of moments of despair that make you an adult... Nanami Kento, you wise man."

Turning my head to the side, I stared at the blood-soaked floor through a neon-blue screen.

Name: Yami Sukehiro

Path: Red Priest - Low Sequence 8: Provoker

Acting Process: 27%

Abilities: [Enhanced Physical Attributes - Average Rank], [Heightened Senses - Average Rank],[Traps Mastery - Average Rank], [Survival Knowledge - Average Rank], [Spirituality - Average Rank], [Sense of Danger - Average Rank]

New Abilities: [Provocation - Average Rank]

Before discussing the new sequence I transitioned to about a year ago, I'd like to point out one feature of the Acting Process scale, namely that the more the scale is filled, the stronger my abilities became. For example, with [Enhanced Physical Attributes], it was evident that at first, I became somewhat stronger, more agile, and enduring, but I was still within reasonable limits. However, once the Acting Process reached one hundred percent, my grandpa described the state of my body as follows:

"The strength of a bear and the agility of a cat, a good foundation for the future." 

And this was the case with all the other abilities. Although, in any case, the changes after transitioning to a higher-ranked sequence were much more significant. And not just for me, but also for the elder Yami.

As it turned out, [Spirituality] at an average rank was drastically different from a low rank, because overnight, the amount of my Cursed Energy almost tripled, jumping from the level of an average

Sorcerer of the third rank to the level of an average second rank Sorcerer. I was astonished. My grandpa was astonished. My body went out the window. After such an increase, how could my old man not intensify the training sessions? Especially with the addition of improved regeneration,

which didn't regrow limbs but healed a broken nose and internal injuries rapidly, provided good nutrition and rest.

I can't forget the proud expression on my grandpa's face when he realized that his grandson was an anomaly capable of increasing the volume of his Cursed Energy over the course of his life. And not only that... But let's take it one step at a time.

If [Enhanced Physical Attributes] at a low rank gave me the strength of a bear and the agility of a cat, then moving up to an average rank allowed me to shatter wooden combat dummies with a simple punch and move at the speed of a car. In fact, combined with [Heightened Senses] at an average rank and the old man's regular training, this allowed me to push the boundaries of human capability.

As the old man put it once, "Relying solely on your physical body, you can beat a third-rank Sorcerer without technique, but one who strengthens their body with Cursed Energy. With Cursed Energy, you can stand up to almost any second-rank Sorcerer." 

Yes, stand up to, not necessarily win against.

Considering how unpredictable the Cursed Techniques of sorcerers can be, sometimes you have to think about your survival rather than victory. Nevertheless, the levels of physical strength, reaction, and sensory development enabled me to react to shots from low-caliber weapons, dodge live rounds, or even catch non-lethal projectiles with my bare hands.

Moreover, [Sense of Danger] at an average rank made it look like my fights weren't street brawls but rather strange dances, where I could evade sudden attacks as if I had eyes on the back of my head.

Next were [Traps Mastery] and [Survival Knowledge], about which there wasn't much new to say. It's just that my knowledge in these areas had become much deeper. Now, after four years of experience as a Hunter, I automatically evaluate potential locations for setting traps and simultaneously model their structure and trigger time. In general, all the skills I mentioned turned me into a capable fighter, and when I combine them with Cursed Energy and my grandpa's fighting style, I can easily exorcise second-rank Curses. However, to deal with something as powerful as first-rank Curses, I would need the last two abilities.

Back when I was on the ninth sequence, I wondered about the nature of [Spirituality], why this ability allowed me to comprehend my Cursed Energy, and it was only when I transitioned to the eighth sequence that some answers began to unfold before me, naturally raising

even more questions.

Based on my research, which was more of a pastime than scientific, I concluded that if "Cursed Energy" is formed from negative emotions and has a clearly defined polarity, namely negativity, then Spiritual Energy, which I could sense thanks to [Spirituality], is generated

by the soul itself, which is why it was neutral, I would even say amorphous.

On the one hand, this property of Spiritual Energy didn't allow me to strengthen or heal my body with it, as with Reverse Cursed Techniques. On the other hand... it was the ideal binding and amplifying link in the mechanism of my abilities.

As it turned out, the volume of Spiritual Energy determined the volume of Cursed Energy. This is why I experienced such a sharp increase in this indicator in just one night, and if I was correct, as long as I filled the Actor's Process gauge, my [Spirituality] would continue to strengthen, resulting in a higher volume of Cursed Energy. Additionally, [Spirituality] amplified my Cursed Energy, making it denser and more substantial. Yami Kishibe himself said that my Cursed Energy would now be much more energy-efficient when used, and "rougher" compared to others, making attacks with it stronger and more penetrating into the opponent.

Second, [Spirituality] pleasantly surprised me with the ability to use Spiritual Vision. Spiritual Vision was a supplementary ability with a single function - to see souls. Of course, it wasn't Soul Manipulation Technique, but in terms of detecting and investigating an opponent's strength, there was no comparison. With it, I could detect the presence of any creature with a soul. 

Therefore: "Even Fushiguro Toji won't be able to hide from me," a sense of pride filled me as I realized that at the age of ten, I had surpassed the sixteen-year-old Satoru Gojo. Of course, not in strength, but still.

Third, at an average rank of [Spirituality], I gained the ability of [Provocation]. The description was straightforward and simple: using speech, provoke your opponent, causing them to lose self-control or act recklessly. Interestingly, [Provocation] worked in tandem with Spiritual and Cursed Energies: I used Spiritual Energy to activate this Technique, eliminating the need to form seals, and Cursed Energy regulated the strength and radius of the provocation. Thus, it could be noted that Spiritual Energy acted as an amplifier, allowing even words like "Damn dog!" or "Go to hell!" to ignite blinding rage.

Undoubtedly, this ability had what was called an effective radius - the more personalized the mockery or humiliation, the more effective the provocation would be. However, this ability didn't have a direct offensive potential, like, for example, the Cursed Speech of the Inumaki clan, although, on the other hand, I didn't have to use onigiri ingredients to communicate.

In general, it was a real trolling and trash-talk skill.

"I really enjoy playing this sequence," I said, getting up from the floor and wiping the blood from my face. I was thrilled at the thought of my future as a "Provoker."