Chapter:43 Guessing

Gojo blinked, processing Renko's nonchalant explanation of the unusual sounds.

"... Right."

She shook her head, trying to clear out the mental images that Renko's brief descriptions conjured up and after a moment, she composed herself and continued with her explanation.

"Uh, anyway, where were we again? Ah, yes, the special techniques. Or rather the most commonly known techniques to be precise. For auxiliary beginners like you, two common techniques can be of help, namely the 'Curse Perception' and the 'Curtain.' The first one allows you to sense and track curse energy, distinguish curses from ordinary objects, and gauge their strength."

Gojo suddenly clapped her hands together,

"For the second one, it would be better if I show you instead."

She stood up and walked to the center of the room. With a snap of her fingers, a strange, black light shot out from her hand and melted into the room, covering the walls, roof, and floor in black color.

"So, what? Does it do an instant pain job? If so, then can I ask why? I didn't take you to be the kinky type."

No matter how casual Renko's words were, they still couldn't cover up the danger bells ringing in her head. The black substance was some sort of barrier, and it separated the inside of Renko's apartment from the outside world.

Gojo chuckled,

"No need to be defensive. This, my dear Kono-chan, is a 'Curtain,' or at least the easiest one of them."

She walked back over to her seat and sat down with a resounding thud, causing her 'bosom' to bounce a bit, drawing Renko's unshakable attention,

"It's a technique that creates a barrier between the covered area and the outside world, the more energy you pump in, the larger the area. It's not only useful in isolating our 'work' from public eyes but also helps draw out a cursed spirit from its hiding."

Renko nodded, impressed by the demonstration. The technique sounded... practical, or at least practice in hiding curses from outsiders. 

"Alright, I can see the usefulness in that. How do I learn it?"

Gojo stared at her in silence, her haughty chuckle suddenly stopping mid-laugh,

"You... don't have any questions regarding it?"

Renko shrugged,

"Oh, I've got a lot of em. Can this 'curtain' thing hide from infrared? If it can hide, can it imprison someone? Or does it restrict entry? Or exit? or maybe both? I've got a lot of questions, but I believe I will know the answer to them once I learn the skill."

Gojo blinked, seemingly taken aback by Renko's nonchalant attitude and the plethora of questions she had. She chuckled, her mischievous grin returning.

"Well, you're certainly straightforward, Kono-chan. I like that. As for your questions, the 'Curtain' can hide stuff from normal people's eyes, including infrared. It's not a perfect imprisonment technique, but with enough skill, you can restrict both entry and exit. Clever deduction, by the way."

Renko smirked, satisfied with the confirmation of her assumptions.

"So, when do we start? I'm guessing you're not here just to chat about sorcerer society and its quirks."

Gojo laughed, appreciating Renko's eagerness.

"You catch on fast. Well, we can start right away. The first step is to get a feel for your curse energy. It's all about controlling and shaping it. I'll guide you through the basics."

Renko nodded while Gojo stood up and stretched before waving her arm, causing most of the furniture to sweep to one side of the room,

"How did you-? You know what, forget it. Just start with the instructions already."

Gojo chuckled before waving her hand again, this time, two chairs shot out from the pile of furniture and she caught both of them before setting them down in the center of the room—face to face. 

"Alright, Kono-chan, let's see start with the basics of Jujutsu Sorcery. Since you can use your innate technique, then can I assume that you can freely move your curse energy?"

Renko nodded. She wasn't sure if she could manipulate or anything, but she sure as hell could feel it.

"Excellent. Then have you tried doing anything else with it?"

Renko once again thought about which technique she should expose. It took a few seconds but she finally decided which one to use, not like she had anything else to begin with.

"I can strengthen my body with it."

Gojo once again nodded, a delighted smile on her lips,

"Body enhancement is another one of the more basic skills learned by sorcerers. Although not many can learn it on their own, much less achieve a strengthening effect. Mind showing it to me?"

"Ok"

'Cursed Energy Reinforcement'

[Curse Energy Reinforcement Active]

[STR: +1]

[VIT: +1]

[DEX: +1.1]

[CP: -10/Per Min]

[CP: 190/200]

Gojo... sweatdropped at Renko's display of such... 'masterfulness.'

"Ok, Kono-chan, you can stop now."

Renko took a deep breath before canceling the technique, its strengthening effect still lingered in her body before dispersing in under a minute.

"I must say I am impressed,"

However, before Renko could feel smug about it, Gojo continued with her statement,

"I am impressed by the fact that your body hasn't exploded yet, and that someone can actually have such abysmal control over their curse energy and still use their innate technique."

Renko's eyes twitched as she heard Gojo's comment, her already growing irritation seemed to have received a growth spurt. She wasn't particularly fond of being mocked or made into a fool, especially when she was trying to learn something new.

"Look, it's been less than half a month since I could see the damned things. I just make stuff things in the air and make guns out of nothing, so spare me the condescension and get on with the training."

Gojo chuckled, seemingly unbothered by Renko's response.

"Alright, no need to get all prickly. Let's move on. Since you've shown that you can manipulate your curse energy to enhance your body, we'll build on that. The next step is to shape your curse energy more precisely."

Renko sighed, wondering if this training was really worth it. 

"Fine, let's get on with it. What's next?"

Gojo pointed at one of the chairs in front of Renko.

"Take a seat and focus on your curse energy. Visualize it, feel it. It's an extension of yourself. Now, try to shape it into a small ball between your hands."

Renko rolled her eyes but followed Gojo's instructions. She closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on her curse energy. After a few moments, she felt a faint sensation between her hands. 

"Good, now try to compress it further. Make it denser, but don't let it escape your control. Clench your fist around it!"

Gojo shouted the loud sentence next to Renko's ears, causing her to jolt and reach out to grab whatever was in front of her.

"Oh my, Kono-chan. I never took you to be the aggressive type."

Renko opened her eyes to see that her hand had, somewhat unknowingly, grasped onto Gojo's chest. It wasn't particularly embarrassing or anything, it's just that something with the sensation that bothered her,

'How come I can't feel any of that soft skin on my hand?'

But outwardly, she said something entirely different,

"I knew it! You were using pads, and quite a thick bundle too."

Gojo looked down at her in bewilderment until her eyes fell on Renko's hand that was latched to her chest. She chuckled,

"Nah, not really. It's because you aren't touching me, that's why you can't feel anything in your hands."

She pulled back a bit before continuing,

"How about we make it a bit interesting, hmm? I will give you three tires, do your best to guess what my Innate Technique is related to and I will let you have a treat. To put the cherry on top, I will answer two of your questions each time you guess incorrectly."

Renko couldn't help but feel that Gojo was enjoying herself at Renko's expense. She rolled her eyes at the proposition.

"Alright, fine."

Gojo grinned, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Alright, here's the first try. Guess away, Kono-chan."

Renko focused on Gojo's face, trying to spot any hint that might help her. At least that's what she hopped this woman was thinking,

'Observe'

[?#*?#*?#*?#*?#*?#*]

[Error! The distance to the object being appraised is too great.]

[Estimated time of appraisal: #@*]

[Error! The distance to the object being appraised is found to be impossible to calculate]

[Estimated Reasons: Object does not exist. The object is too far away but is large enough to be seen from such a distance. The object is surrounded by multiple space folds creating an isolated region.]

[Option 3 is most plausible!]

'Interesting, so the system can't calculate the distance? What's the maximum distance that the system can calculate?'

[Answer: Infinity]

'Well, that was rather underwhelming.'

"Your ability has something to do with space?" 

Gojo chuckled, her shoulders shaking from her efforts to stop herself from erupting in full-blown laughter.

"I don't know how you thought of that but no, my ability is not 'Space' manipulation. Ask your two questions."

'What? How come the system was wrong about it?'

[Note: System never stated that the individual 'Gojo Satoru' possessed the ability to manipulate space.]

'Oh, shut it. You made a mistake, admit it.'

[...]

[...

[Note: ThE SyStEm Is NeVeR wRoNg AbOuT aNyThInG.]

[Note! Calculating 1,910,288,901,191 possibilities. Please follow the system's instructions.]

This was quite the surprise, this system or whatever it was, never actually spoke to her upfront, much less showed emotions like annoyance or anger.

'Must have a really short temper.'

[Note: Please ask individual Gojo whether her ability runs purely on curse energy.]

'Alright, you're the boss.'

"Does your technique run purely on curse energy?"

Gojo tilted her head, a confused look on her face.

"What else would it run on? Petroleum?"

[Noted!]

[Please ask the individual 'Gojo' if she utilizes her curse energy through a catalyst.]

"Do you use something as a catalyst for your curse energy?"

Gojo chuckled,

"I don't know where you get these funny questions from, but no, I don't."

[Noted!]

[Likeliest Option at Present: Illusion~0.0029%]

'What's with the super low possibility!?"

[Most probable option at present.]

*Sigh*

'What am I? Some sort of fail-safe?'

She turned to Gojo who was eyeing her with an amused grin on her lips,

"Is it illusions?"

Gojo burst into a laugh, no longer able to hold it in,

"Oh, you are golden Kono-chan! Illusion!? Hell no!"

[Noted!]

[Please ask the individual 'Gojo' if she her technique requires extensive control over her curse energy.]

'Your call.'

She asked again,

"Does your innate technique require, I don't know, extreme precision or something?"

Gojo stopped chuckling,

"Hmm, yes it does."

[Noted!]

[Please ask the individual whether her curse technique manipulates curse energy at an atomic level.]