Chapter 4 The Good Sorcerer
---
"Those who fight evil should be good right?
Or are they?"
---
Outside the ICU room, Ryu could be seen luring and attacking the cursed spirit.
He tried to use Shadow Grasp, dark tendrils erupted from his shadow like an octopus. They tried to wrap around the curse's limbs but were too weak to restrain the creature for long.
"Now!" Ryu screamed towards the Sorcerer.
The sorcerer didn't hesitate. Seizing on the newcomer's distraction, he unleashed his technique, a beam of concentrated cursed energy smashing into the spirit. The creature shrieked, its form bubbling and dissolving.
But it wasn't finished yet.
With a sudden raise of its hand, the dying spirit gathered a torrent of cursed energy at its fingertip. In one flick, an invisible blade sliced through the sorcerer's leg.
Ryu saw his opening. As it's eyes were glued to the wounded sorcerer, Ryu lunged forward and sank his teeth into the spirit's neck.
The phantom slashes cut off mid air, and a foul taste of medicinal bandages tinged with rusty iron flooded Ryu's mouth.
"Ugh… this one's worse than the usual," he thought, savoring the unwelcome insight.
Information about the technique used by the curse came to his mind.
'Slice', a technique that uses cursed energy and air to cause damage in the form of slashes.
The sorcerer stared, stunned, as Ryu gnawed at the dissolving curse.
"What in..... are you eating that thing?"
Ryu rocked on his heels, feigning fatigue. "My power… it's hard to explain. Sometimes I can get aspects of defeated curses, completely at random."
"Random?" The sorcerer's eyes went wide.
"Yeah." Ryu straightened, offering a first-aid kit.
"I'm Ryu."
"Haibara Yu. First year at Tokyo Jujutsu High." He took the kit, limping over to a nearby chair and began patching his wounds.
"Need help with that?" Ryu offered.
"Thanks but I think I can manage it myself."
Haibara winced, adjusting the bandage on his leg.
"I've never seen a technique like yours. Random powers… that's rare."
"Yeah… I only just found out I could even see curses."
Haibara nodded with a grin. "That explains the reckless style. Most people scream and run."
Ryu shrugged. "Seemed easier to just… fight."
"Or the stupidest thing you could do."
Yu's smile faded. "Listen, if you're serious about this, come to the school. We've got classes for late bloomers."
Ryu's heart skipped.
'Perfect.'
"I'd like that. But I should warn you, my technique is unpredictable."
"That's what makes it valuable. Unpredictability in combat is a huge asset. The enemy can't prepare for things they don't know about."
"When can we go?" Ryu asked with a faint smile.
"Now's good. I've got a report to give anyway," Yu replied, tightening the last bandage.
---
Tokyo Jujutsu High didn't appear on any normal map. To outsiders, it was nothing more than a secluded school on the outskirts of the city, assuming they noticed it at all.
A powerful veil surrounded the grounds, repelling the curious and cloaking the building in fog.
As they passed through the outer barrier, Ryu shivered. The air felt heavier here, denser, like stepping into a world filled with water.
At the heart of the campus stood an old building with wide stone steps and thick pressure leaking from its walls. Haibara led the way inside, casual but limping slightly.
They entered a modest office cluttered with paperwork, and artifacts. Behind the desk sat a broad shouldered man with wild hair, his sharp eyes narrowing as they entered.
"Yaga Sensei," Haibara said, bowing respectfully.
"This is Ryu. He wants to be a student here."
Yaga didn't stand. His eyes flicked over Ryu like he was scanning a cursed object.
"And why would he want to be a student here?"
Haibara offered a tired smile. "Natural curse sight. And he helped me take down a Grade 3. His technique… is unusual."
"Show me."
Ryu glanced at Haibara, then stepped forward with a nervous exhale.
"Alright… It's called Shadow Grasp."
He extended his hand dramatically, focusing cursed energy into his palm. Thin black tendrils emerged from the floor beneath him, shaky, uneven, and barely ankle high. One of them flopped sideways like a dying eel.
Yaga blinked.
"…Is it supposed to do that?"
Ryu forced a serious expression.
"It's... work in progress."
One of the tendrils tried to latch onto a chair leg and missed, causing it to coil back on itself and tying a knot.
Haibara covered his mouth, barely containing a laugh.
"You sure it's not trying to strangle itself?"
Ryu muttered, "It's better in combat… sometimes…"
"This looks like something out of The Ring if it were directed by a high school drama club," Haibara added, snorting.
Yaga pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You dragged me out of a report meeting for this?"
Ryu stood taller, placing a hand dramatically over his chest.
"With training, I swear it can become terrifying.
Like… a tentacle monster, but scarier."
Haibara immediately burst out laughing.
"You sure you're not summoning something from the NSFW section of cursed techniques?"
Ryu blinked. "Huh?"
Haibara grinned. "Let's just say… some monsters don't fight you, they traumatize you differently."
Ryu's cursed tentacles wobbled liked they had been body shamed harshly.
"...Can you not ruin my technique while it's still emotionally developing? You hurt its feelings, look."
Yaga sighed, muttering something about needing more aspirin.
"Anything else?" Yaga asked.
"It's complicated."
"Sometimes when I defeat a curse, I can gain an aspect of it. But it's completely random, I can't choose what I get, and sometimes I get nothing."
"Like a cursed technique lottery." Yaga made notes.
Ryu shrugged. "It's not very reliable."
"Reliability isn't everything. Your energy levels are low but stable. With training, you could maximize whatever abilities you acquire."
"Interested in joining?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Good. You'll start as a first year. You will learn basic courses first, theory, combat fundamentals and technique development. The second and third years are about practical training."
As they left the office, Ryu felt a surge of satisfaction. He was in.
The "lottery" story was perfect. It explained multiple techniques and why they seemed curse derived.
---
That evening, Ryu returned to his apartment with fresh knowledge. Curse grades, sorcerer ranks, the jujutsu hierarchy, it was all starting to make sense.
More importantly, he now knew what he could safely hunt.
A Grade 4 curse drifted past the window, feeding on negative emotions from a nearby building. It was growing stronger by absorbing the fear and sadness of the people working inside.
"Time to hunt."
The battle was short, but demanding. The curse had more raw strength, but Ryu had watched Haibara's fight. He used 'Shadow Grasp' to bind its limbs just long enough to slip past its guard. One 'clean' Slice carved through its core.
As the curse weakened, Ryu consumed it. The energy surged through him, heavy, bitter, but empowering.
"This can work," he thought.
"Hunting at night. Training during the day."
A calm voice behind him made him freeze.
"You're improving fast."
Ryu turned sharply. A tall student leaned against a nearby railing, his long black hair catching the moonlight. His posture was relaxed, eyes curious.
"You're the new student, right? Haibara mentioned you. I'm Geto Suguru, second year."
How long was he watching?
Ryu straightened. "Just working on my technique."
Geto chuckled softly. "Yeah. Looked more like testing than practice."
He stepped forward.
"That cursed technique of yours… it's interesting. Getting something from defeated spirits?"
Ryu hesitated. "It's unpredictable. I never know what I'll get. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't."
"Sounds frustrating," Geto said, nodding slowly.
"But adaptable. That'll take you far."
Ryu eyed him cautiously. "You're not going to report me for using it unsupervised?"
Geto smiled. "What would be the point? You weren't being reckless. You were learning."
He paused, watching the dying embers of cursed energy float away in the air.
"We don't always get clean techniques. Sometimes cursed energy gives you chaos, and you shape it with practice and effort. That... is sorcery."
Ryu didn't respond right away, he stood there contemplating the words.
Geto nodded again. "If you ever want to spar, find me. I'd like to see how your 'power' grows."
And with that, he turned and walked into the night.
---
New Ability Acquired: Slice
Physical Enhancement: +35% Strength, +30% Speed, Enhanced Regeneration
Cursed Energy Reserves: Moderate (Grade 3 level)
Energy Control: Unstable but improving
Notable Traits: Shadow Grasp (low mastery).
{Example Comparison (for Readers)}
Normal Human: 0-10% No CE
Grade 4 11-20%. Weak CE
Grade 3 21-40%. Moderate CE
Semi & Grade 2 41-60%. Moderate CE
Grade 1 61-80%. High CE
Semi Special. 81-95%. Very high CE
Special Grade. >96%. Unknown
(A/N: Do you like the panel like summary in the end? It is for you the readers only, to better understand Ryu's abilities.
Also since Haibara's technique was never mentioned, so I gave him a range type technique like hadoken XD)
---