13 Chapter 13
(A/N: I want to clear this up quickly, it is directly stated by Yuki that because Tengen's barriers are necessary for the optimization of cursed energy, there are extremely few curses and sorcerers overseas. Sure, Miguel is a sorcerer from Africa, but he is the exception, not the rule.)
A year passed by surprisingly quickly. Having cursed energy to play around with made everything 1000x times more fun. Despite mostly training for the entire year, I was still having quite a bit of fun, especially watching my Innate Technique get closer and closer to level 25. I eventually transitioned to exclusively training Cleave/Dismantle to make a more concentrated push for my second technique slot. Soon after my sixth birthday, my hard work paid off, and Cleave/Dismantle hit level 50, which raised Replication's level to 25 and open up a new slot for me.
I stood in the early morning light one spring morning. The light from the first rays of the sun glittered beautifully in the dew, clinging to the neatly trimmed grass within the clan compound. I took a moment to enjoy and take in my surroundings, breathing in the clean morning air a few times before activating my technique. I watched as the chains containing my second technique slot shook slightly. As I looked on, the shaking became more and more violent until the chain finally exploded into shards of light, leaving an empty slot available for me to fill.
Since Cleave/Dismantle was a heavily offense-oriented technique, I decided to fill my second slot with a more defensive technique that would also provide me with a lot of mobility. I didn't have to think hard about which technique to choose since I had already had one solidly in mind. I reached out and spoke the name of the technique I wanted, 'Sky Manipulation,' a card fluttering down from the rest as I called its name. I grinned slightly as I saw the picture of Uro on the card before placing it in the available technique slot. As soon as I did so, a notification popped up in front of me.
[New Technique - Sky Manipulation (Lv. 1): +2 Damage, +2% Power +1 Speed, -0.9% Cost]
I grinned as I considered all the positive aspects of the technique. For starters, it would make me pretty much completely immune to ranged attacks since I can just manipulate the sky to deflect the attacks like Yuta did during his battle with Ishigori during the Culling Games. Secondly, and the detail that had me the most excited, I can fly using the technique. On top of these two very good positives was the fact that the technique can actually do decent damage in the form of Thin Ice Breaker, which forced Yuta to heal after every time he was hit with it.
(A/N: If I could have any cursed technique in real life, I would choose Sky Manipulation. What would you choose and why?)
I shifted my attention away from my new technique and back to the cards floating all around me. I reached forward and pried Cleave/Dismantle out of its slot and looked at it closely before tossing it into the swarm of cards. The technique card now had a box with the words "Level 50" printed in bold on it. I reached out and called Idle Transfiguration down, putting it in the slot previously occupied by Cleave/Dismantle. Now, this wasn't going to be a permanent change. I planned to switch back to Cleave/Dismantle as soon as I was able to unlock my memories of the series. I was just thinking about the possible Divine reaction to my future actions when I was snapped out of it by two new windows popping up in front of me. The first was expected, but the second was new.
[New Technique - Idle Transfiguration (Lv. 1): +2% Power, +1 Efficiency, +1 Speed, -0.9% Cost]
[Warning: Choose your technique swaps carefully, only two more left for this year]
I fell into thought as I read the second notification. 'It seems that I have a limit to how often I can switch out my cards,' I thought, stroking my shin with one hand as I slowly paced around in a circle. In the end, I decided that it didn't matter too much since I planned to stick with my main four techniques and not deviate too far from them. Plus, I had no desire to level a bunch of techniques, especially if I couldn't use them due to the limit on swapping techniques. I let my technique drop as I finished organizing my thoughts with an excited smile. I was excited to test out Sky Manipulation as well as get to work on removing the lock on my memories of the JJK story that presumably resides within my soul.
I didn't know what to expect as I sat down and activated Idle Transfiguration for the first time. Heightened Senses immediately chimed a whole bunch, indicating a bunch of new levels in the skill, but I was too distracted to notice. I suddenly was able to view the soul dwelling within my body clearly, my soul. I had no words to describe it, it was a softly pulsating mass of golden energy that paradoxically seemed to be made of obsidian. I simply stood there, gazing at my soul for a long while before I started to inspect my soul more closely. After a moment, I saw a part of my soul that was different than the rest, it lay inert and didn't pulse with any light.
I immediately figured that this was the seal on my memories. Despite my impatience to quickly try to receive my memories, I took the process slowly. I wanted to spend some time familiarising myself with Idle Transfiguration before going straight to fixing my memory problems. I began by trying to increase my muscle mass subtly, which took a while, but worked just fine. The idea of modifying my soul so that my body could take on a stronger form quickly became my other main goal with Idle Transfiguration. I was fairly confident that if I manipulated my soul to a more perfect form before swapping out the technique, there should be no reason for my soul to revert to its previous form.
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More months passed as I continued to work on my project. Just as it was nearing the end of Satoru's second year at Tokyo Jujutsu High, I finally made a breakthrough. I finally felt confident enough to attempt the unlocking of my memories as well as the enhancement of my body. I had pretty much solely been practicing with Idle Transfiguration during this time. It had been a while since I was more or less turned loose by the clan head to train whatever I want whenever I want. I can request lessons, but it is no longer mandatory for me to attend any that I don't want to. I figured that I was only given this privilege due to my Innate Technique that the clan head requested I train by myself.
I pushed everything else out of my mind as I began to interact with my soul. I started by isolating the inert section that I assumed held my blocked memories. Once it was properly isolated from the surrounding normal soul "tissue" I began to slowly reintegrate it into the whole by reforming it to properly mesh and cooperate with the rest of my soul, which would effectively give me my memories back, or so I hoped. I worked long and hard to slowly manipulate my soul into rejecting the heavenly restriction that kept my memories bound. Just as I was beginning to tire, all at once, everything clicked into place. My nose, ears, and eyes erupted with burst blood vessels, and a cascade of memories poured in as I twitched on the ground.
It was then that I realized that the soul was never meant to be impacted by any amount of memory information all at once. Luckily, my Heightened Sense skill allowed me to ignore a lot of the sensory overload that would have killed me. 'Shit, that may have been a bad idea,' I thought as I sprawled back on the ground. A wide grin dominated my face a moment later as I was finally reunited with my lost memories. However, my actions didn't come without consequences, as the world around me froze completely. Not like froze in ice, but time itself froze as the same system screen that I had detailed my reincarnation on appeared before me.
"Hey," said awkwardly as the screen appeared before me.
[You found a way to escape part of the restrictions around your technique]
I had no way to tell what emotion lay behind the words, so I just sighed and said, "Yes, I did,"
[It seems you have outwitted me, human. That has not happened in a very long time]
"Are you upset and or going to punish me?" I asked neutrally, trying to hide the fact that I was hoping that all my work wouldn't be for naught and I could continue on in this world.
[Punish you? No, I will reward you. Being shown that one isn't infallible is an opportunity for growth, and any opportunities for growth for a being as powerful as me are very rare. I am grateful for you and thus offer one of these following rewards...]
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I'll allow you guys to vote on the ONE reward:
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1. One new full-powered perk
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2. A new skill of the MC's choice that will be instantly unlocked and gained
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3. Instantly max out any two skills or techniques
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4. Gain a new technique slot (So 5 in total instead of 4)
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