Fight Cursed Spirits directly?
“Mei Mei-senpai, is that really okay?”
In response to Tōru Azuma’s question, Mei Mei simply nodded, an amused smile appearing on her face.
“It’s fine.
Before deciding on your training plan, I already discussed it with Yaga-sensei.
He also thinks it’s time for you to move on to practical combat training.
That way, when you start going on missions later, you won’t be completely inexperienced.”
As if remembering something, she added a deliberate reminder.
“I know you dealt with a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit once under Utahime’s guidance, but that was an unusual situation.
You can’t expect that to happen every time.
You need to start with lower-grade Cursed Spirits and build up actual combat experience.”
Tōru Azuma paused at her words, though not because she had said that his victory over a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit couldn’t simply be repeated.
To be fair, for an ordinary person who had known absolutely nothing at the time, defeating a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit in his very first fight with only a few simple instructions and a single Black Flash was certainly something to be proud of.
What caught his attention more was something else she had said.
Was Jujutsu High already preparing to send him on missions?
He could guess they would only be low-level assignments involving Grade 3 or Grade 4 Cursed Spirits, but even so, this seemed rather fast.
Had the talent he displayed put that much pressure on Jujutsu High?
Wait.
That actually made sense.
No one at Jujutsu High had brought it up yet, but they had to be curious about his Cursed Technique.
And if they wanted a complete novice like him to grasp his Cursed Technique as quickly as possible, or at least reveal some of its basic capabilities, then missions and real combat would undoubtedly be the most effective approach.
Thinking about that left him with a strange feeling.
He had also been considering when to reveal information about his Cursed Technique.
Keeping it hidden forever was obviously impossible.
But because of how unusual his Cursed Technique was, he could only reveal certain abilities selectively or exaggerate some of its restrictions.
That way, Jujutsu High wouldn’t place him under special scrutiny simply because his ability seemed too unbalanced.
Noticing that he had suddenly fallen into thought, Mei Mei paused before shifting the conversation in another direction.
“Of course, if you don’t want to fight Cursed Spirits yet and would rather work on the basics of hand-to-hand combat first, I can understand that.
It would just be less efficient.”
To her surprise, Tōru Azuma shook his head.
“No, Mei Mei-senpai.
I agree with your approach.
Starting directly with Cursed Spirits is a good idea.
After all, time is money, and efficiency is life.”
A flicker of appreciation appeared in Mei Mei’s eyes.
“If you already understand that, this will be much easier.
But before we begin properly, there are still a few things we need to prepare.
Follow me.”
Tōru Azuma was curious about where Mei Mei intended to take him, but he didn’t ask.
He simply followed her through the school grounds.
As they stepped onto one of the campus corridors, she gave him a warning.
“Be careful. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
The place we’re heading to is relatively secret from the outside world, so try not to touch any of the doors along the way.
Otherwise, you might end up caught inside a Barrier.”
Before long, they arrived at a storage room.
Mei Mei handed a document to the assistant manager stationed outside, who opened the door and allowed them inside.
Once Tōru Azuma entered and saw all kinds of weapons displayed along the walls and on the nearby shelves, he immediately understood what kind of place this was.
“This is basically a low-grade armory.
Everything stored here is among the most basic Cursed Tools.
They can be infused with Cursed Energy to slightly increase their damage.
I assume I don’t need to explain what a Cursed Tool is?”
As she spoke, Mei Mei walked closer to the wall, her gaze lingering briefly on a massive battleaxe.
“No.
So now we’re going to…”
“Choose a Cursed Tool that feels suitable or comfortable to use.
Over the next few days, your training won’t just cover combat skills.
You’ll also be learning how to use Cursed Tools.”
“So the higher-ups decided to give you one.
Consider it a…
new recruit benefit.”
Looking over the wide selection of Cursed Tools, Tōru Azuma thought for a moment before walking to the center of the far end of the room, where several long blades were laid out on a table.
Because he had always loved anime and novels, Tōru Azuma had a particular fondness for figures like martial heroes and wandering swordsmen.
But no matter how much he looked around, there wasn’t a longsword in sight, let alone anything like a long saber or a traditional Chinese blade.
He would just have to make do with what was available.
Among the blades on the table, the one at the very edge caught his eye immediately.
It was remarkably plain.
Its scabbard was made of worn wood, and the hilt was wrapped in nothing more than old, dark cloth rather than ornate silk or any expensive material.
Even the guard was a simple square with no decoration whatsoever.
Tōru Azuma picked it up and slowly drew the blade.
Two small characters had been engraved into the steel.
Immovable.
The blade looked worn and almost excessively unremarkable, yet for some reason it gave him an odd sense of reassurance.
So he slid it back into its scabbard and returned to Mei Mei with it in hand.
“Mei Mei-senpai, I’ll take this Cursed Tool.”
Seeing that he had made his choice, Mei Mei nodded.
She asked no questions and simply turned to lead him out of the display room.
When they went to register it with the assistant manager at the entrance, the man froze for a moment at the sight of the blade.
“I didn’t expect you to choose this Cursed Tool.”
“Why?
Is there some story behind it?”
Seeing the nostalgic look on the man’s face, Tōru Azuma had no intention of letting the subject end there.
He was quite curious about the blade’s origins himself.
“This blade is a Cursed Tool made by a senpai I know.
As for its special property…
I suppose the simplest way to describe it is that it’s extremely durable.
After finishing it, that senpai named it Fudōmaru.”
As the assistant manager explained, he filled in the information on the registration form.
Grade 3 Cursed Tool: Fudōmaru.
Granted to Tōru Azuma.
After completing two copies, he handed one of them to Tōru Azuma and spoke with a hint of nostalgia.
“From now on, Fudōmaru belongs to you.
I hope you’ll take good care of it.”
“I understand.”
Tōru Azuma accepted the receipt, thanked the assistant manager, and followed Mei Mei out.
On their way back, Mei Mei glanced at the Cursed Tool in his hand, a little more interest entering her voice.
“I didn’t expect you to choose a Cursed Tool with such a simple effect.
I thought you would pick one with some kind of offensive property.”
Tōru Azuma’s answer was just as straightforward.
“If I ever need a more powerful offensive Cursed Tool, I can buy a better one once I have enough money.
For now, this one is only for training.
As long as it’s durable and easy to repair, that’s more than enough, isn’t it?”
Hearing such a practical answer, Mei Mei gave an almost imperceptible nod, her opinion of him rising another notch.
Although the school had assigned her to supervise him, teach him, and probe him to a certain extent, Mei Mei had her own considerations as well.
As the number of missions she took on continued to grow, she had increasingly come to feel that she needed a reliable partner who could help handle certain matters for her.
She had worked with other Jujutsu Sorcerers in the past, but every one of them had problems of one kind or another.
Even Utahime Iori, her only real friend, was someone she got along with largely because their Cursed Techniques complemented each other well and because they were classmates.
As a friend, Utahime was fine.
As a permanent partner, however, Mei Mei would rather pass.
But if she stopped considering classmates or people from the same school, she had even less faith in the independent Jujutsu Sorcerers out in the wider world.
So when she heard that the school had suddenly taken in a special student with an enormous amount of Cursed Energy, someone who had known nothing during his first battle yet rapidly gained a basic grasp of Cursed Energy and even managed to land a Black Flash, she naturally had a few thoughts of her own.
Of course, those thoughts were purely about value and investment.
Ever since accepting this assignment, she had been wondering what kind of person Tōru Azuma would turn out to be.
So far, every trait he had shown suited what she was looking for.
He knew how to read the situation, didn’t create trouble for no reason, and favored practicality and efficiency over acting on emotion.
If he continued to grow and eventually reached the minimum level of strength she required, he might genuinely make a good permanent partner.
There was also Utahime.
Although Utahime had insisted, in her usual stubborn way, that she didn’t particularly like the guy, she had still gone out of her way afterward to tell Mei Mei to take his training seriously.
Apparently, the new student had developed a pretty good relationship with Utahime.
If the three of them ended up taking missions together in the future, there probably wouldn’t be much friction or unnecessary trouble.
Despite all those thoughts passing through her mind, Mei Mei’s expression remained unchanged, with only a faint smile on her lips as she led Tōru Azuma toward the mountain behind Jujutsu High.
“Now we’re moving on to actual combat.
Are you ready?”
“Yeah.
I’m ready.”
Tōru Azuma tightened his grip around Fudōmaru and fixed his gaze on the entrance to the mountain.