Diving deep

Despite the whole ordeal, Yoshi showed enthusiasm to learn more about Curses the next day when Kairi asked about it.

'It seems she still can't grasp the weight of death. For a child, this ignorance is a blessing'

In the vast yard, Yoshi is surprised to find her grandma with a Book for the first time. Bringing a book here of all places bothered Yoshi and the book was a cursed object for sure, she could feel it.

"Yoshi, the burden you will feel from now will increase even more but I promise you, you will thank me one day for being tough on you"

This does not discourage Yoshi though, she is even more excited to learn new things. honestly, Yoshi's constant complaints about how the barrier techniques and Cursed energy manipulation are so easy bothered Kairi to no end yet, she refused to teach anything more.

"You have to write your interpretation of my words in this book, write your name on it with your cursed energy" Kairi threw the book.

"How grandma?"

"Have you observed the residues you leave behind whenever you use a barrier technique of releasing your cursed energy?"

"Yes, you even taught me how to stop it, as it is a bad practice"

"leaving residues is a bad practice but the process of marking with cursed energy is useful in many ways. We will go about its ways later, for now, you will be doing something similar. Think of the symbol in your mind and place your finger just above the page while releasing a little cursed energy"

Yoshi imagined the kanji of her name and placed her finger just above the first page. Her name written with cursed energy appeared on the first page.

"This is a Grade 3 cursed object called 'Dowager's Journal'. Now that you marked it with your cursed energy, whatever you heard will be recorded and only you can see it."

"Grandma, but there are almost no pages"

"Don't worry, the pages will never run out "

"Then, Can I use it in school?"

"No, It's still a cursed object. If the cursed energy of normal children touched it. It will record their hearings too but they are ordinary children, whatever is written in the journal will turn into a nightmare for them daily. Your cursed energy on the other hand supress the book. So, you won't have that problem"

Understanding that her friend who is just one girl will have nightmares. Yoshi discarded the idea, otherwise she wanted to show off this awesome book to her friend.

"Anyway, Let's start today's lesson. This is an extremely important lesson. What's the first thing you did when you activated your innate cursed technique or cast a curtain?"

"Incantations and hand gestures?"

"Yes, it's the power of Kotodama from Shintoism and Mudras from Buddhism and Shintoism. Kotodama is the belief that Words, whether written or spelled with our mouth have power behind them, even mudras, the hand gestures we weave have power behind them. Ninjas of the past used the Mudras with their interpretation called Kuji-kiri. However, it is in the belief to increase their mental focus unlike us, who will obtain actual power from them "

"But, grandma, you didn't use them when you used your innate cursed technique"

"Yes, I'm getting there. Now, each innate cursed technique is unique however almost all of them require both incantations and hand gestures initially. Once the innate technique is mastered, just channeling the cursed energy into the technique is enough. However, if you use incantations and Hand gestures even after you mastered your innate cursed technique, your innate technique will receive a boost"

"Does that apply to all cursed techniques like non-innate techniques?" Yoshi questioned as she didn't use any words or gestures to cast a simple barrier unlike when she did with Curtain.

"It's not a definite yes, all cursed techniques, especially high-level cursed techniques need both of them. Cursed techniques are spells in the end. Low-level spells can be cast silently if you are extremely skilled however, high-level spells demand both hand signs and power of words"

Yoshi understood quite a bit but "Grandma, how do I know those specific words and gestures when I used the innate technique?"

"That's a mystery. So much is still unknown about Innate cursed techniques and how they came into existence, I theorized that words and gestures are related to memories but it's just a theory. Yet, you don't need to stick to those specific words and gestures, you can change them. The words and gestures don't hold the power, it's your belief in them, you can say a bunch of nonsense and if you believed in it while casting a cursed technique, it will work"

After making sure she understood the concepts once again. Kairi decided to teach Yoshi, the next important lesson.

"Yoshi, The thing I'm about to teach you now. You should be extremely careful with it. Binding vows, they are pacts in a sense. They are contracts created through cursed energy that an individual can make with one's self or another person. The act of abiding by the rules and restrictions agreed upon in these contracts can result in a greater power or the achievement of a goal, but breaking a binding vow has repercussions"

"But the binding vow I did in the ceremony doesn't pose any risk, Grandma. "

Kairi denied Yoshi's observation "No, it poses far greater risk than you think. If you and I die, the clan is over. This binding vow also limited the people who could utilize our technique. My husband doesn't know our clan's technique, your mother doesn't know them."

"Then, what is the power we gained, grandma?"

"We can create cursed tools with 100% certainty and this binding vow also protected us from those who covet our technique as a result."

"Oh~~, Binding vows are super powerful!"

"No, they are highly risky. You are essentially risking to get more power. Binding vows also have loopholes, they can be exploited. For instance, you made two binding vows on the day of the ceremony. The first is to use the technique and create only 3 cursed tools per year, 1 special grade cursed tool for every 4 years, and the second is to not reveal the technique. The first binding vow has a loophole, If you discovered something new and added to the clan's technique or modified the clan technique. The first binding vow will be void and you can make cursed tools without limiting to 3 per year. And also, the Binding vows have their limits "

Yoshi grasped the distaste when Kairi began to teach her about binding vows especially now. So, she curiously asked

"Grandma, don't you like Binding vows?"

As if confirming her, Kairi's expression distorted into hate.

"I hate the concept of limits. Giving something for greater power is just ridiculous. And It's not like you can forge any binding vows, the binding vows have to be meaningful and you shouldn't and can't demand more than you can handle. So, weak sorcerers gain little, and strong sorcerers gain even more. The same is applied to cursed spirits."

"Cursed spirits can do binding vows too?"

"Yes, Cursed spirits can do whatever we sorcerers can do except for the Reverse cursed Technique. However, only high-level special grades have the intelligence to comprehend the uses of cursed energy other than Binding vows. All cursed spirits regardless of their intelligence can enter binding vows if it means their survival but this phenomenon is observed rarely because of the cursed spirit's fundamental malevolent nature"

"Grandma, what happens if someone breaks a binding vow? You said repercussions will be there but what are those?"

"Binding vow with oneself is safer if you break the vow. You will lose whatever you would gain if the vow is active but even that is just a speculation. However, if a binding vow with others is broken, you will earn retribution far greater than anything. We just know this because those who broke a binding vow with others never lived to tell the tale. However, if you ask me, you should never break a binding vow no matter how dire the situation is"

After thinking about everything she learned until now, Yoshi got an idea which she discussed with Kairi who praised her for her ingenuity.

"That's a great technique. However, don't use a binding vow like that. Instead, use a binding vow like this..."

Kairi advised her granddaughter. She felt proud of her intellect, and the way she quickly utilized the knowledge to maximize her basic ability. She deemed that she taught her enough for that day and decided to end it with the words she's been holding back for a long time.

"Yoshi, you are born strong. You know that right?"

"Yes, Grandma. I know. I will be even stronger in the future. Then, I will lead our clan. "

Yoshi expressed her desire strongly. It is her only goal knowing how much her grandma loves her clan. Yoshi wanted to take care of it to make her grandma happy.

"Do you think by being stronger, you can lead our clan?"

To Kairi's question, Yoshi strongly said "Yes"

"No, Our clan will be trampled by someone even stronger than you. Despite all my experience and knowledge, I'm just a Semi-Grade-1 sorceress. That's why, our clan is declining day by day. Your parents also died because they are not strong enough"

It's been on her mind for a while, Kairi believed In Yoshi's potential. Be it her high-level cursed technique, cursed energy, ingenuity, talent, or skills, Yoshi is better than anyone in the history of the Shifuin clan or maybe in the entirety of the current generation of sorcerers if not for Two special grades. Even she or her son cannot match in terms of Yoshi's potential.

"So, being stronger is not enough. You should become the strongest. For that to happen, you should not limit yourself to just sorcery. Only the strongest people have the right to do whatever they want. If you want to lead our clan, reach your full potential and try to break even those limits of your potential. Human life, cursed spirits, pride, emotions, even our clan, they all are meaningless in front of true strength. If you want to lead our clan, be the strongest there is. I'm saying this because I know you can, you have the potential"

"Remember Yoshi, you are strong but you have the potential to be strongest. Reach it, no matter the cost, and you will have everything you will ever want"

Kairi reminisced in her heart the fateful day when she divined the truth about Yoshi's future and expressed it to her son and daughter-in-law, Which led to the present.

'That way, I don't have to worry about your cruel fate that awaits you, the reason your father hid you from the jujutsu society. If the cruel fate still came early, I will do everything in my power to save you but even then, I can only do so much.'