Blood in the Lines - Chapter 63
Blood in the Lines - Chapter 63
Ren turned away, intending to walk off after his odd little exchange with Maki—but he didn't get far before a voice rang out behind him.
"HEY! Stop right there. What the hell did you mean by that, huh?!"
Ren froze as the sound of running footsteps quickly closed the distance.
He looked back, and—yep—there she was, charging toward him like he'd just said something criminal.
"What the—?!" Ren muttered, and without fully thinking it through, he turned and bolted.
Maki was chasing him. Actually chasing him.
Ren wasn't even sure why he was running—some combination of shame and surprise, maybe. Still, as he huffed and darted around the training ground, he called out over his shoulder, "Ah! Stop! Damn it, okay! I meant what I said—but in a different way! Not like that, okay?!"
Maki slowed, but she didn't stop entirely. Her strides became more deliberate, and the water bottle in her hand now looked far more like a weapon than a drink.
She walked steadily toward him, brows drawn, eyes burning.
"Say what? So you're messing with me?"
Ren raised his hands. "No, I mean, like, really—I would like to study your body. Not in a weird way, okay?! I just wonder how you're so strong without cursed energy, that's all!"
Maki narrowed her eyes. She stared at him for a second or two longer than was comfortable. It still didn't sound right to her.
But after a tense pause, she gave a little huff and finally responded, "It's nothing much. Just work out. And maybe actually work out to get your blood pumping!"
She turned around and began walking back to the shade where she'd left her bottle.
Ren muttered under his breath, "Yeah, it's almost like you have more blood pumping or something…"
That made Maki whip her head around.
"…Was that an insult?"
But Ren wasn't thinking about her anymore.
His mind had stopped on something else entirely.
Blood pumping… blood vessels… blood! BLOOD is the answer!
That thought hit him like a jolt of lightning. His eyes widened.
He looked at Maki with sudden clarity and a grin on his face.
"That's what I was missing! Blood!! Thank you, Maki! You're amazing!"
And before she could even respond, Ren turned and sprinted off—his footsteps fast and wild as he rushed back toward the dorms.
"…What the hell does he mean I'm amazing?" Maki muttered, her cheeks going just a bit pink as she stood alone. "He doesn't even know me!"
Ren burst into his dorm, slammed the door shut behind him, and dove onto his bed. He yanked open his notebook, flipping past pages of scrawled half-ideas until he reached a blank sheet.
He clicked his pen open and wrote one word in big, bold strokes:
Blood Vessels.
He laughed.
This was it.
This had been right in front of him the entire time.
Red Cursed Circuit—its greatest problem was that there was no stable path for it to travel in the human body.
He'd already dismantled the Level 2 spiral form. That was a mess. Right now, he'd been stuck at Level 1—the base. No clear path to progression. No structure.
He had tried using nerves. Too small. Too delicate.
Muscles? They stretched and tore too easily. The cursed threads broke.
Bones? It was a stupid idea—but it had worked. Wrapping cursed threads around his bones had been the only option that gave him some stability.
But now?
Blood vessels.
That was the answer.
The circulatory system reached everywhere. Not just stable—but flowing, dynamic. Perfectly mapped. Already accepted by the body. If cursed energy could ride through blood vessels like blood itself—then he wouldn't just have control. He'd have flown.
And it wasn't impossible either.
Blood Manipulation was already a cursed technique in the Jujutsu world. If that could exist, then what about channeling cursed energy along the same paths? Entirely viable.
He grinned wide.
Rika, chants, handsigns, binding vows… None of them had given him a real fix for the core issue of where to build the damn circuit.
But blood… blood was the wire.
The Red Cursed Circuit wasn't just a technique anymore.
It was becoming a system.