Mayoru’s other idea was simple.
If sensing another person’s cursed energy could improve his own control, then perhaps finely manipulating someone else’s energy could improve their efficiency as well.
It might be forcing their growth too quickly, but the circumstances were unusual.
Improving through ordinary trial and error would take far too long.
During the Culling Game, increasing their strength was the priority.
Even basic control over cursed energy would be better than remaining completely defenseless.
Furthermore, once Mayoru understood Kei’s technique, he might be able to simulate it with his own cursed energy.
That would benefit him as well.
He explained his idea to Kei.
She immediately opened her mouth in surprise.
“You can even do something like that?” “Theoretically, yes.
Everyone circulates cursed energy differently, but there should still be certain principles they share.” Sakiko naturally overheard them and began analyzing the idea.
The more she considered it, the more she realized how useful it could be for improving cursed-energy control.
However…
‘He awakened his technique less than a day ago, yet he already thought of something like this?’ ‘Isn’t he far too intelligent?’ Sakiko possessed excellent grades and could easily be called a genius among high-school students.
Even so, when it came to jujutsu, the gap between her talent and Mayoru’s felt enormous.
‘He’s practically the next Gojo Satoru.’ ‘No…
He might even surpass Gojo someday!’ Naturally, Kei did not refuse an opportunity to improve her jujutsu.
Her relationship with Mayoru was closer than Sakiko’s was.
Holding hands was still somewhat embarrassing, but this was hardly the time to worry about that.
The two immediately tested Mayoru’s theory.
The results proved that it worked.
Kei gathered her cursed energy, and Mayoru began making fine adjustments to its flow.
He could not instantly transform her control, and the process consumed far more cursed energy than Mayoru had expected.
‘Precisely controlling someone else’s cursed energy while letting them slowly memorize the sensation requires surprisingly high processing power.’ Fortunately, after only one attempt, Kei had already begun understanding how to summon and use cursed energy.
Ordinarily, that should have been enough to activate her technique.
However, Kei still felt as though she were missing something.
“I didn’t expect your technique to be more complicated than I imagined…” “Sorry, Konoe-nii.” Kei looked embarrassed.
Mayoru had helped her so much, yet she still could not activate her technique.
‘Doesn’t that make me nothing but dead weight?!’ “It’s fine.
This might actually be a good sign.” “I have a feeling your technique isn’t simple either.” After several more attempts, Kei should at least be able to activate her innate technique.
Mayoru naturally did not mind and immediately comforted her.
Truthfully, he was eager to try again.
However, they were still trapped inside the colony, so he needed to maintain a safe amount of cursed energy.
The next attempt would have to wait until his reserves recovered.
Cursed energy itself had become another problem.
Reflection alone was easy to maintain because it required almost no processing power.
Actively calculating and manipulating vectors was different.
It consumed a considerable amount of cursed energy.
If cursed energy were compared to electricity, then more complicated calculations naturally demanded far more power.
“Once my efficiency improves, the problem should become easier to manage.” “Alternatively, I could try connecting to an external source of cursed energy, but I can’t accomplish that yet.” After considering it for a while, Mayoru realized he could not solve the issue immediately and set it aside.
“By the way, Great Sakiko-sensei, you aren’t a modern awakened sorcerer.” “Why did you enter the Culling Game?” His question reminded Sakiko of her original purpose.
Until now, she had been constantly balancing on the edge of death and had no chance to think about it.
However, she had entered the colony to protect Mutsumi.
Mutsumi was a newly awakened modern sorcerer.
Not every sorcerer could be as abnormal as Mayoru.
Considering Sakiko had almost died immediately after entering, the Culling Game was clearly far more dangerous than she had imagined.
“I entered with Mutsumi.” Sakiko briefly explained Mutsumi’s situation to Mayoru.
“Mutsumi…” Mayoru recalled the delicate, doll-like girl who occasionally appeared near their apartment.
Had she become a player too?
Familiar faces seemed to be appearing throughout the colony like mushrooms after the rain.
“This is bad.” “I have no idea what might have happened to Mutsumi.” Sakiko’s voice carried obvious anxiety.
Mayoru had already realized that the more sorcerers he kept nearby, the stronger he could become.
Naturally, he had no objection to finding another one.
However, Tokyo No.
2 Colony was enormous.
“We can only start searching for her.” Sakiko had not expected Mayoru to offer his help so readily.
As far as she knew, he and Mutsumi were practically strangers.
Mayoru saw the situation differently.
‘Any modern player’s technique might help me become stronger.’ When Mayoru first realized he possessed Vector Manipulation, he had warned himself not to underestimate his enemies.
Even so, he still believed most sorcerers could never penetrate his defense.
He had undeniably grown somewhat careless.
Then he encountered Kenjaku.
The man might have fled quickly, but that also meant Mayoru had been marked as a threat.
‘He’ll try to kill me eventually.’ The sky was already growing dark.
Mayoru took a step forward, as though walking directly into the night.
‘Before that happens, I need to become strong enough to kill him first.’ ‘That means I can’t abandon a single opportunity to grow stronger.’ …
Before anyone realized it, darkness had fallen.
Night was normally far more dangerous than day.
After sunset, cursed spirits swarmed throughout the colony, while cursed energy reached its daily peak.
Yet within the darkness, one area resembled an empty vacuum.
Only a man dressed in Buddhist robes stood there.
Countless cursed spirits surrounded him, but not one dared to approach.
Instead, they remained nearby like lowly servants awaiting orders.
The man was naturally Kenjaku.
At that moment, he was thinking about Konoe Mayoru.
Kenjaku felt no shame over avoiding the earlier battle.
Fighting Mayoru would have offered him no benefit.
Ordinarily, he should not have treated a modern player with such caution.
However, his instincts warned him that Mayoru would eventually become a serious threat.
“This won’t do.
I still need to find a way to eliminate him.” Kenjaku did not believe any cursed technique was truly unbeatable.
Had he not managed to seal Gojo Satoru?
Mayoru’s technique might possess terrifying potential, but he had not yet matured.
That meant there was still a chance to kill him.
However, Kenjaku would not act recklessly before gathering enough information.
It would be safer to guide someone else toward Mayoru and have them uncover more of his abilities first.
As the administrator of the Culling Game, Kenjaku possessed certain privileges.
One was deciding which players initially appeared within each colony.
Among the players of Tokyo No.
2 Colony, only one had been selected as its expected powerhouse.
The strongest sorcerer from four hundred years ago— Kashimo Hajime.
“His technique might be unable to penetrate Mayoru’s defense.” “Still, he should provide me with far more information.” Kenjaku smiled as he murmured to himself.
“He’ll do.” “I hope you can bring me a pleasant surprise.” …