32 Gains
Shuichi sat alone in his room, donning a simple t-shirt which held a strange talisman on the front. The talisman and the shirt seemed to pulse with an eerie blue light.
A strange Kanji letter was inscribed onto the piece of paper, "封", meaning Seal, or closing.
The entire room seemed to close in on itself as the surrounding cursed energy became restless. An ethereal bright blue flame set the entire room ablaze, and then it subsided.
Shuichi's own cursed energy began to grow tranquil and serene, undisturbed by any attempts to control it. Shuichi nodded to himself with a pleased grin.
The seal is complete, now, I just need to keep upgrading the seal and increase my cursed energy control through it. He mused.
Status.
{[Status]} [Skill Tree] [Inventory]
[Name: Zenin Shuichi
Level: 17
Class: Jujutsu Sorcerer
Cursed Technique: Cursed Heart; Hard to Kill; Hundred Armament Refining
Innate Skills: Cursed Technique Creation; Corrupted Mind
Skill Points: 120]
Hmm, the 120 Skills Points equate to 2400 proficiency points in any skill of my choice. And now that Black Flash has been unlocked, I feel like I could spend some on it. Shuichi scratched his chin in thought. While doing so, he had already begun to use cursed energy reinforcement and circulation.
Thinking for a bit, Shuichi decided to not put any points for now.
I'd like to see what the various skills I have yet to unlock are. Although Black Flash is so tempting, I cannot waste any points on it.
Nodding to himself, he decided to focus on his cursed energy.
His form of cursed energy reinforcement was unique, to say the least. In the first place, cursed energy of a being was concentrated from the stomach area, and from there, it 'flowed' to the different parts of the body. Something like a 'dantian' mentioned in many Chinese Martial arts practices.
But even that was a fallacy. Cursed energy was all about envisioning. The way one perceived the curse energy in their own body affected the overall performance of the energy. If one imagined the cursed energy to 'flow' it would react as such. But that was only for rookies, to start learning about cursed energy. An experienced sorcerer has the ability to 'envision' his cursed energy in a very specific way.
"The soul, the body and the cursed energy, everything exists in the world all at once. There is no flow, there is no separation. There is only wholeness, and there is only the 'I'." This was a phrase he had read in one of the books written by Homura Takamekasuchi, and some books from the Zenin family library.
It is quite different from conventional envisioning of one's state, like the stage Bruce Lee wanted to achieve where "I" does not exist. Instead, in Jujutsu, having a strong sense of self is paramount.
Anyway, Shuichi's cursed energy was completely different in that aspect. His cursed energy flowed throughout his body like blood pumping through his vessels, yet, it also simply existed due to his mindset.
The reality forcibly made true by his cursed technique, which was the flow of his cursed energy in the form of 'strings' stood in opposition to his 'envisioned' state of his cursed energy, which was his cursed energy simply existing as 'him'.
And strangely enough, both of those states could exist at the same time and not only work in tandem, but offer a strange synergic effect to make his reinforcement and control stronger.
It was something he had discovered when he was taken out of the chamber at Jujutsu High, as an after effect of performing a Black Flash. At that moment, he could not dwell on it too much, but here, he could accurately judge his own state and adjust accordingly.
He also felt as if he could somewhat touch his spiritual body with cursed energy, but it would require more work. Something was missing in the puzzle.
It's like a schrodinger's cat being in a superposition. The cat is both dead and alive at the same time, in the same way, my cursed energy is both flowing and whole. Only in my case, the superposition wouldn't collapse upon the observation from another person. It would continue to exist. Shuichi thought of an accurate analogy to explain his strange state of cursed energy.
Using his impeded cursed energy to improve his cursed energy control, he opened up the skills tab.
[Cursed Energy Manipulation(2714 -> 2854)]
[Cursed Energy Reinforcement(2107 -> 2371)]
[Black Flash(24)]
Both Cursed Energy Manipulation and Reinforcement are progressing smoothly. Going by the previous logics, at about 3000 in cursed energy manipulation and 2500 in reinforcement, I should get some pieces of 'enlightenment'. Perhaps that will help me further my understanding of cursed energy.
Cursed energy was more than just negative energy, it could distort the world, make destruction, usher in creation, and do all sorts of nonsensical things. It existed everywhere, stemmed from the mind and birthed cursed spirits; which were autonomously working creatures.
It was simply not enough to describe cursed energy as something that stemmed from 'negative emotions', it was so much more than that.
The adjusting of the world's balance, the change in the techniques of sorcerers in response to becoming more modern, the nerfing of cursed techniques by the world itself, and most importantly, Heavenly Restrictions, were all testament to the complex nature of cursed energy.
It was something more primal... more fundamental than anything else in this world.
Makes one wonder how the first generation of sorcerers saw the concept of cursed energy. Closing his eyes, Shuichi began to focus on cursed energy circulation.
~~~
After half an hour had transpired, Shuichi once again opened his eyes as a very familiar notification boomed in his ears.
[Your Cursed Energy Manipulation has reached 3000 proficiency!]
[You have gained some pieces of enlightenment!]
[You have gained more insight into the true nature of cursed energy!]
[Cursed Energy Reinforcement has gained proficiency! Proficiency will be boosted by 100!]
[Black Flash has gained proficiency! Proficiency will be boosted by 10!]
[Due to reaching 3000 proficiency, more applications of cursed energy manipulation will be unlocked!]
[Reverse Cursed Technique has been unlocked!]
[Domain Amplification has been unlocked!]
Immediately upon doing so, another set of notifications came flooding in.
[Cursed Energy Reinforcement has reached 2500 proficiency!]
[You have gained some pieces of enlightenment!]
[You have gained more insight into the true nature of cursed energy!]
[Black Flash has gained proficiency! Proficiency will be boosted by 10!]
[Cursed Energy Manipulation(2854 -> 3000)]
[Cursed Energy Reinforcement(2371 -> 2517)]
[Black Flash(24 -> 44)]
Immediately, Shuichi's mind cleared up from all distractive thoughts.
The surroundings quieted down to an abnormal level.
Lubb- Dubb!
Lubb- Dubb!
Lubb- Dubb!
Lubb- Dubb!
The sound of his heartbeat rang out in his ears, along with the light sound of breathing, the sound of blood gushing through his capillaries, even the 'sound' of cursed energy in the talismans, the 'sound' of energy strings in his body, the 'sound' of the beating of his cursed heart.
The pendant on his neck glowed again, as it had been for the last half an hour.
I can... 'see' it! Hundreds of thousands of shades of blue, red and black exploded in his vision, enveloped the entire room, the building it was in, and the entire city beyond it!
He could 'see' cursed energy! Not the effect of cursed energy which was expressed by the faint blue flame, but cursed energy itself! It was something close to the realm of impossibility!
However, as soon as the feeling hit, it disappeared from his eyes. It was as if it had never existed in the first place.
His breathing, heartbeat, blood pressure and the air around him regained their usual sensation.
And then, a surge of strength hit him. His eyes underwent a light change, so did his ears, skin, nose and every other sensory receptor in the body.
Hard to Kill had reacted to the transient experience provided by enlightenment, and had adjusted his body!
I feel... almost new. Shuichi thought in amazement. He quickly got up and took off the t-shirt. Having the suppression on his cursed energy removed, he checked his body once again to get a good sense of his power.
"God damn..." He muttered under his breath, feeling the rush of power that his reinforcement now brought him.
Such a sudden increase in strength made it a bit difficult controlling his strength. He felt as if he could lightly jump with top reinforcement and bust through the ceiling. Luckily, simply turning down the extent of reinforcement took care of that.
Senses have been dialed to 100, natural strength has increased at least 70%, cursed energy has been completely integrated into my very being and are existing in some sort of a superposition, the necklace got most of the information on infinity and is constantly monitoring my condition, Black Flash has gained 20 points. And finally, reverse cursed technique and domain amplification have appeared on the skills tab. All I need to do is perform them once to unlock them and increase proficiency. Shuichi summarized the key points and his power ups.
Feeling satisfied, he out on a normal shirt and took the final step for today. Which was...
Upgrading his necklace.
As it was right now, Shuichi could only 'record' the information into the necklace, there was no way to 'read' it, take it out, or make any kind of use of it using his technique.
To 'read' the information, I would need to make up an elaborate system of processing and association, in order to put the 'mystical' into 'numbers and letters'.
Shuichi's necklace had a flaw when he was about to design it. Which was... how would the information actually be stored? In the first place, the 'observation and analysis' part was difficult enough to figure out. Then, he had to figure out a way to actually store all the information it would recieve.
His first thought was naturally as letters and numbers. But it seemed to be improbable for his current mastery over the technique.
The 'information' was recorder in the form of cursed energy imprints. Any cursed phenomenon would be entire scanned and analysed, and then, the entirety of it would be 'transcribed' onto the necklace in the form of 'imprints'. That was the basic form of recording function that arose as the conception of the necklace. Shuichi felt as if he could transform the cursed energy imprints into quantifiable data, or make a mechanism that 'translates' all the information in real time.
But the problem was here again, his grasp of cursed energy at the time was nothing close to the understanding needed to attain it.
Creation of such cursed tools require deep understanding of the phenomenon they are trying to unravel and distort. He thought in enlightenment.
Then, his face held a smirk.
Which is why the necklace is such a pivotal aspect in my plans. Not only will it gather information about the cursed phenomenon and allow for maximum usage of my cursed techniques, it would also allow me to further my understanding and create cursed tools based off of it.
Taking the necklace in his hand, he activated his technique.
Hundred Armament Refining.
The necklace was enveloped by a surge of blue and black. A transparent 'flame' seemed to burn the entire necklace, sourcing it in Shuichi's palm.
The necklace floated in between his hands, all while he maintained a constant focus and a triumphant smile throughout.
With the new enlightenment he had received from the sparks of black, he was going to make one of the strongest cursed tools in history!
Heh, I wonder what would happen if I used Hundred Armament Refining on this thing for a few years. Shuichi mused.
The necklace lit up in a resplendent flame, even now, trying to take in and store the information it was getting from the surroundings; which was his Hundred Armament Refining.
After about 5 minutes, the curse energy fluctuations died down and the necklace settled in between his hands.
With a mental command, a complex set of arrays and words, comprising hundreds of Kanji letters flashed on the necklace one by one.
And then, it all opened up to a transparent holographic screen.
On the screen, standard Japanese words was written, with some strange drawings and diagrams of distorted lines.
Needless to say, the refining had succeeded and the hologram was the collective record of all of the information it had collected until now.
Which also included a complete analysis of the 'Limitless' technique.
Turns out, Gojo Satoru stealing the necklace had allowed it to completely monitor his cursed energy and technique, thereby, recording it as 'data'.
In the future, I should upgrade the necklace to inject the required information directly into my brain, otherwise, I won't be able to see the newly recorder info during battle.
Not to mention that there will be an inevitable gap in the overall expression of 'true' information through the usage of language and words.
Turning off the hologram, Shuichi prepared himself for a sleepless night. Although he wanted to sleep, he felt like it would be better to make some sort of 'search function' in the necklace, so he would only see what he wanted to, not an entire catalogue of information.
~~~
A/N: Throw some stones.
Cheers~
