The next morning, Utahime intercepted me and asked me to follow her.
“I have something to give you, Nagi.
Gakuganji and the rest of the higher-ups have authorized me to give it to you,” she explained as she started walking.
“It’s nothing extraordinary, but I think it’ll come in handy.”
“I love surprises.”
I followed her through the school until we stopped in front of a medium-sized shed.
It had no windows, and several seals had been carved directly into the wood around the entrance.
The door itself was even stranger.
Or rather, the lack of one.
There was no handle, lock, hinges, or any visible opening.
Utahime walked over to one side and searched through the numerous seals.
That was when I noticed that each one had a name written above it.
She found hers and placed her palm against it, concentrated a small amount of cursed energy into the seal, and it reacted, glowing with a faint blue light.
Several lines spread out from the symbol and crawled across the wall, slowly tracing the outline of a door.
Click.
The wood swung inward, revealing the entrance.
“This is the armory,” Utahime explained as we stepped inside.
“We store all kinds of cursed tools and objects here, ranging from Grade Four all the way up to Special Grade.
Some of them are extremely valuable, so we obviously can’t let just anyone walk in and take whatever they want.”
“We developed a system that can recognize a person’s cursed energy.
Each seal is linked to the cursed energy signature of whoever created it.
The door only responds when it detects a match.”
“Wouldn’t a lock with, I don’t know, a fingerprint scanner have been easier?”
Utahime glanced at me from the corner of her eye.
“The seals also protect this place from attacks.
In any case, only certain people are allowed to create one of those seals,” she continued.
“Teachers, school officials, and sorcerers who have received explicit authorization.”
“Gakuganji has authorized me to lend you a cursed tool up to Grade One to help you during your first steps as a sorcerer, and as a reward for your part in recovering Sukuna’s finger.”
“Honestly, that was mostly thanks to Ino, but tell the old man I said thanks.”I asked.
Utahime stopped and gave me a disapproving look.
“Don’t call him ‘the old man.’ He’s the principal of this school.
Show him some respect.”
“…Fine.
Tell the elderly gentleman I said thanks.”
We continued walking between the first rows of shelves.
“By the way, has he tried recruiting you for his band too?
Isn’t he getting a little old for that?”
“Yes, he has,” she replied casually.
“But I’m more into dancing.”
I turned my head toward her.
“Are you a good dancer, sensei?
Can I see?”
She grabbed me by the ear and dragged me farther inside while calling me a little pervert.
“It’s part of my cursed technique: Solo Forbidden Area.
Through a series of rituals involving chants, hand signs, and dance, I can temporarily increase the cursed energy output of any sorcerer within my range.”
Once she finally let go of me, I was able to pay attention to the incredible place we had just entered.
The armory was much bigger on the inside than the shed made it seem.
Several rows of shelves filled the room, some protected by additional seals, while the walls were almost completely covered in weapon racks.
There were awesome weapons everywhere.
There were also spears, blades, chains, bows, firearms, and all kinds of strange objects, probably talismans or something similar.
Every single one of them gave off a faint trace of cursed energy.
“This is…
incredible.
It’s a shame I can only pick one,” I muttered, looking over the shelves.
Utahime smiled slightly.
“That was Miwa’s exact reaction the first time she came in here.”
“Miwa?
You gave her something from here too?”
“I gave her the katana myself.
A sorcerer named Kusakabe asked me to,” she explained.
“Kasumi is one of his most promising students, and she needs a sword to properly use the fighting style he taught her.”
While she spoke, my attention settled on a katana with a white hilt, black triangles, and golden edges.
I carefully brought a finger toward the blade.
I immediately pulled it back.
A small cut had appeared on my fingertip.
Ow, ow, ow.
I’m a fucking idiot.
I pressed a handkerchief Utahime gave me against the cut to clean it and keep it from getting infected.
“I gave Mai her revolver too,” she added.
“And Mechamaru?”
“He doesn’t need any of these weapons,” she replied.
“His technique already gives him access to an entire arsenal, so there’s hardly anything here that would be useful to him.”
Utahime stopped in front of a small display case.
Inside rested a pair of simple black gloves, apparently designed to fit tightly around the hands.
The only things that stood out were the white crack-like markings over each knuckle and a small seal drawn on each wrist, with a single word written in the center:
VOW
“From what you told me, it’s better for you to keep your hands free.
You need to form a specific hand sign to use your technique, so a conventional weapon would get in the way.
With these”—she pointed at the gloves—”you’ll be able to use Chronostasis without any restrictions.”
I slowly nodded.
She had a point.
“Long weapons would only get in your way, but you still need something to increase your offensive power, which is pretty lacking right now.”
She opened the display case and carefully took out the gloves before handing them to me.
“Grade One cursed tool,” she said, placing them in my hands.
She paused briefly.
“They’re called the Basalt Knuckles.”
“The name comes from their ability to harden and strengthen impacts, as well as their appearance: black, with white markings resembling cracks in basalt.
Try them on.”
The moment I slipped them on, a wave of cursed energy ran through my entire body, and I felt as though invisible chains had suddenly wrapped themselves around my hands.
“What you just felt,” Utahime explained, “is the effect of the binding vow placed on these gloves and anyone who wears them.”
“Okay…” I said.
“Start from the beginning, because I’m lost.
What exactly is a binding vow?”
“It’s one of the basic principles of jujutsu,” she explained.
“A contract established through cursed energy under specific conditions.
In exchange for gaining a benefit, you accept a restriction.”
“There are vows a sorcerer makes with themselves and others made between multiple parties.
They can also be incorporated into cursed tools like this one.
Once established, a vow has to be respected. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Breaking its conditions can have serious consequences.”
She paused for a moment, giving me time to process everything.
“In the end, the principle is pretty simple: if you want to gain something, you have to give something in return.”
“I think I get it.”
I should definitely start taking notes on this stuff.
Get a notebook or something.
“So,” I added, “what exactly do these gloves do?”
Utahime pointed at my hands.
“They were created by a jujutsu blacksmith over a century ago.
We don’t know much about him, but he did a good job.
The binding vow improves the way cursed energy is channeled into direct impacts, considerably increasing the power of your punches.”
Nice.
I like them.
“In fact, over the years, some sorcerers have used them to cheat at fairs.
You know, those machines where you have to punch as hard as you can.”
“Yeah…
I miss fairs.
I used to go with my parents when I was little.”
Like everything in life, nothing was ever perfect.
Nothing in this world came for free.
“But you said there’s a price, right?”
“Grip strength,” she replied.
“The vow specializes the gloves in direct impacts at the cost of considerably reducing their effectiveness at everything else.
While you’re wearing them, you’ll have more difficulty grabbing, holding, or restraining someone.”
She gestured toward the weapons surrounding us.
“The same applies to objects.
Wielding a sword, maintaining a firm grip on a weapon, or simply holding onto something tightly will be more difficult.”
I looked down at my hands.
“So…
I hit harder, but pretty much everything else I do with my hands becomes more difficult.”
“Exactly.
The increase in power is around thirty-three percent,” she said with a nod.
“The binding vow forces the tool to specialize in one type of offense…
at the cost of versatility.”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t grapple while wearing them.
They’re Grade One for a reason: the benefit outweighs the drawback.
You can still grab someone, but you’ll have to compensate for the disadvantage by using more cursed energy.”
“Of course, the vow is only active as long as you wear them.”
I adjusted them a little tighter.
The material felt surprisingly comfortable against my skin and barely restricted the movement of my fingers.
I formed the hand sign needed to activate Chronostasis and summoned one of my spheres, confirming that the gloves didn’t interfere with my technique at all.
“Thank you so much, Utahime-sensei,” I said suddenly, wrapping my arms around her, lifting her off the ground, and spinning her around a few times.
“Nagi!” she protested.
“Put me down right now!”
I set her back down, and she straightened her kimono while an angry vein practically bulged from her forehead.
“And take care of them,” she added.
“They cost a fortune.”
“Yes, sensei…”
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