Chapter 21 The Council

Neo is standing in front of Gwen, looking at her with a serious expression, staring at her without saying a word. Gwen can't take it anymore and speaks up.

Gwen: Neo, can you stop staring at me like that?

Neo looks at her and responds.

Neo: I promised I'd teach you only if you managed to touch me, right? I'm waiting for you.

Gwen and Neo lock eyes for a moment before Gwen runs towards Neo, trying to land a punch on him.

But Neo simply steps aside and places his foot in front of Gwen to trip her, though she clearly jumps to avoid it.

Unfortunately for Gwen, Neo catches her mid-air and throws her to the ground with such force that she even loses her breath.

THUD!

Feeling the pain fill her body from the impact, Gwen gets up with some difficulty and sees that Neo has distanced himself to give her an advantage.

Seizing the opportunity, Gwen backs up and starts running with great speed, reaching a point where she jumps, attempting to land a flying kick with both feet on Neo.

Just as she is mere centimeters away from him, he takes a step back, grabs Gwen's leg, and lifts her up in the next moment.

Seeing what Neo has done, Gwen instinctively realizes that if he throws her the way he's threatening, something will break due to his strength.

In panic, she begins to think frantically about how to escape the situation she's in. She starts to feel herself being thrown toward the ground.

Realizing this, her panic spikes even more, and she begins to feel like she's running out of time, until an idea comes to her mind.

She remembers when Neo struck that curse at Harry's house, when he imbued his hand with cursed energy.

"Can I do it?"

That was the only thought in her mind at that moment. She begins to focus with all the strength she can muster.

Neo looks at Gwen, then starts walking into the house, answering her question without much concern.

Neo: Come on, your training will be with Alex.

Excited about the start of her training, Gwen eagerly follows him inside.

As she enters, she finds herself in what looks like a small convenience store, filled with various types of merchandise.

Behind the cash register, Natasha sits, looking completely bored.

The moment she sees Neo arriving with Gwen, she immediately rushes over and tries to seduce him once again.

Natasha: Oh, Mr. Neo, it's so wonderful to see you again! How have you been?

She purposefully leans forward, exposing her cleavage—deliberately.

Unfortunately for her, Neo simply responds,

Neo: I'm fine, Natasha. And I'll ask you again to follow the dress code I set, please.

Hearing that, Natasha's smile vanishes entirely as she adjusts her kimono.

Since Urahara's shop has a traditional Japanese aesthetic, most things here are Japanese—especially the products, which Neo recently discovered replenish themselves.

He also found out that all the closets in the house are filled with old Japanese clothing, so to complete the experience, everyone living there only wears the clothes found inside the house.

Natasha returns to her place, still upset that her charm didn't catch Neo's attention, but she secretly starts making mental notes about Gwen.

Seeing Natasha go back to her post, Gwen gives a quick greeting before continuing to follow Neo.

As Gwen enters the back of the shop, she suddenly remembers something and quickly asks Neo:

Gwen: Neo, who is Alex?

Hearing Gwen's question, Neo simply points toward Alex, who is in the backyard lifting weights while Adrian helps him with his stance and posture. Meanwhile, Carina is already lifting and using the weights effortlessly.

Seeing these three unfamiliar people, Gwen looks at Neo, confused and uncertain.

Neo notices Gwen's insecurity and simply tells her:

Neo: Don't worry, Gwen, they are my family.

Hearing this, Carina blushes intensely and tries to hide her face from Neo, while Adrian looks a bit confused by the statement. As for Alex… well, Alex.

Alex: I-I-I AM PART OF MY LORD'S FAMILY!

He drops his training and starts jumping around in joy and excitement.

Gwen is a little startled by Alex's exaggerated reaction and glances apprehensively at Neo, who already has his hand on his face, clearly embarrassed.

Before anything else can happen, Neo delivers a weak strike, making Alex fall to the ground.

Alex feels sad upon realizing that Neo hit him, but he soon accepts that he may have overreacted a little.

Neo then looks at everyone and begins giving his instructions.

Neo: Adrian, you will train with the cursed weapons that Alex has already created, and you will only stop once you have mastered all of them. Carina, later I want to see your progress in merging your powers with combat. Gwen, you and Alex will train your bodies until 5 PM, and after that, I'll teach you something.

Hearing this, Adrian simply nods and goes back to lifting weights to warm up. Carina begins meditating as currents of electricity course through her body.

While everyone continues training, Neo heads over to a weight and starts exercising as well—he's still weak in hand-to-hand combat.

Seeing this, Gwen and Alex also start training together, eager to learn whatever Neo has to teach them.

The moment the clock strikes 5 PM, Neo stops his workout and shouts.

Neo: Gwen, Alex, get over here!

Hearing this, Alex immediately stops what he's doing, rushes over to Neo, and stands at attention, while Gwen simply walks over casually.

Sigh.

Seeing this, Neo just sighs, looking at the two. They're almost complete opposites—the only thing they have in common is their genius-level intellect.

Neo looks at them and speaks with a certain tone.

Neo: Today, we're going to figure something out while I teach you how to use cursed energy properly.

The two exchange puzzled looks, unsure how Neo plans to determine whether or not they have cursed techniques.

Unfortunately for them, they find out soon enough when Neo suddenly throws a punch straight into Alex's face, sending him flying and leaving Gwen in shock.

Neo: That's how you do it, my friend. Usually, innate techniques have some sort of passive effect. Since I don't see any right now, that means one of two things—either neither of you has one, or it only activates in specific situations.

Gwen assumes a fighting stance, but unfortunately for her, Neo's punch is already inches from her face. Realizing she has no time to dodge properly, she attempts to evade at the last second. However, she's too slow. The blow connects, sending her flying.

Neo is already assuming neither of them has an innate technique—until Gwen, who was just thrown by him, lands effortlessly on her feet, as if she had never been launched at all.

This surprises her. It intrigues him.

Gwen is disoriented—she vividly remembers being hurled through the air, so how did she land perfectly without feeling a thing?

As she struggles to comprehend what just happened, Neo gets an idea.

Moments later, Gwen is still trying to process everything when she hears Neo shouting.

Neo: "LOOK OUT, GWEN!!!"

She doesn't even need to turn around—she feels an overwhelming sense of danger creeping up behind her. Acting on pure instinct, she whirls around just in time to see a trident speeding toward her.

Panic surges through her. It's too close—there's no time to dodge. Desperate, Gwen throws out her hand in a reflexive attempt to shield herself.

And then—

A web shoots from her palm, instantly ensnaring Hitan, binding it midair with an unnatural force. It stops completely, as if the laws of gravity simply don't apply to it. The weapon hovers, motionless, trapped in the web's hold.

Gwen freezes in shock.

Neo, on the other hand, takes a moment to admire her handiwork before calmly clapping his hands together.

Clap.

The moment the sound rings out, Hitan emits a pulse of energy, disintegrating the web in an instant. It then soars back toward Neo's hand as if it were Thor's Mjolnir.

Gwen is dumbfounded—for two reasons. First, because Neo can make his trident return to him like a damn boomerang. And second, because he just threw a trident at her.

Her confusion quickly turns into rage.

Gwen: "WHAT THE HELL, NEO?! WHY DID YOU JUST THROW A TRIDENT AT ME OUT OF NOWHERE?!"

Neo completely ignores her, examining the remnants of Gwen's web instead. He notices that it continues to float as if suspended in zero gravity. He even considers using it to craft clothes or armor, given how uniquely it behaves.

But that plan quickly falls apart as he watches the web begin to disappear.

Gwen: "NEO!!! STOP IGNORING ME!!!"

Sigh.

Neo lets out a long breath, finally looking at her with a serious expression.

Neo: "First of all, Gwen, Hitan was never going to hit you. And second—congratulations, you have an innate technique. I don't know what it fully does yet, but at least it doesn't seem to be harmful to those around you."

He isn't lying—he had ordered Hitan to miss at the last second.

Gwen wants to argue more, but Neo interrupts as he spots Alex approaching.

Neo: "We don't have time for this, Gwen. You need to head home soon, so I'm going to teach you both how to use cursed energy—and how to unleash something called Black Flash."

___________________________________________

Meanwhile, in a hideout in the suburbs of New York, Adam—the man who had saved Gwen—sat at a round table alongside seven other people.

???: So, Adam, you found another one like us, correct?

Adam, who had been lounging in his chair, distracted, was pulled back into the conversation by the voice addressing him.

Snapping back to attention, he glanced around at the others before nodding.

Adam: Yeah, she's a high schooler—around fifteen, I think...

Everyone at the table began nodding and murmuring among themselves until one of them, who seemed to be the leader, spoke up.

???: So, do we invite her to the council, or do we just ignore—

Adam cut him off mid-sentence.

Adam: There's a problem. She seemed to know more about our powers than we do ourselves.

Silence fell over the room. Everyone stared at him, wide-eyed, before shifting their gazes to the leader, who remained quiet for a moment before finally speaking.

???: Adam, get in touch with the girl. Find out how she knows so much about our powers.

Adam nodded, about to stand up when something came to mind.

Adam: Oh, right—she called people like us 'Jujutsu Sorcerers.'

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Hey, everyone! If you're enjoying my fic, please send Power Stones!

I also want to apologize for not posting these past few days—I wasn't feeling very inspired and ended up getting a bit discouraged. But I'll try to release more chapters without such long breaks!

If you're not enjoying the story, have any questions, criticisms, or suggestions, feel free to share! I'm always reading your feedback.

Also, I've been working on a new personal project called Era of the Ancient Nightmares. I started writing it while waiting for more ideas for this fic. This new project is a novel, so it's a bit different from this one. But if you're not interested, no worries!