Chapter 7 Feeding Frenzy

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'To be born weak is not in your hands but to remain weak is your own fault.'

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The abandoned apartment complex loomed against the gray sky like a concrete shell. Five stories of broken windows and rusted balconies, surrounded by fencing that was barely holding. This Kind of place would be ideal for illegal gang buisness and playground for curses.

"This place looks 'alive'," Makoto commented as they approached the main entrance.

"Really captures that 'Serial Killer,' vibe'."

Despite his casual tone, Ryu could see the tension in his partner's shoulders. Makoto was nervous, probably because this was his first mission outside of training exercises.

"You okay?" Ryu asked.

His hunger was getting worse as they got closer to the building, like a beast scenting prey.

"Yeah, just... excited, I guess." Makoto's smile was a little too bright.

"First real curse hunt, you know? I've been training for this."

"Yaga Sensei said I should take the lead at attacking the curse, since my technique is better for close combat," Makoto continued. "You'll provide support with those shadow tentacles of yours.

"Sure. Just... don't get too close to the tentacles when they're active. They can get unpredictable."

"Good to know." Makoto pulled out a small device that looked like a modified compass. "Cursed energy detector. Should help us track our target."

The needle swung toward the building, trembling slightly. Whatever was in there, it was definitely present.

As they made their way through the broken entrance, Makoto kept up a steady stream of conversation.

"So, your random lottery technique," he said, stepping carefully over debris.

"That's really something, right? I mean, I've never heard of anything like it."

"It's... unique."

"Man, I wish I had something that versatile. All I can do is reinforce my body with cursed energy. Not exactly exciting."

"That too is useful," Ryu said.

"I guess. But I keep hoping my real technique will manifest soon. Something more... I don't know, special?"

"All techniques are special in their own way."

Makoto glanced at him sideways. "Thanks for the comforting words."

"These are not comforting words" Ryu said.

'Maybe Nanami's personality is rubbing off on me too much'

They climbed the stairs in silence, the cursed energy detector guiding them toward the third floor. The building was old and abandoned. The kind of place where years of accumulated suffering was comcentrated.

"You seem different today," Makoto said as they reached the second floor.

"Maybe you are pushing yourself too hard?"

The concern in his voice was genuine, and it made Ryu consider it for a while.

"I'm fine."

"It's just... you look kind of angry. Like you're mad about being paired with me or something."

"I'm not angry at you, Makoto. I'm just... focused."

"Okay, good. Because I was worried I'd done something wrong." Makoto's relief was instant.

"I know my cursed energy reserves aren't great, but I work hard to make up for it. I won't let you down."

"I know you won't."

The detector's needle began spinning more rapidly as they approached apartment 3 C. Whatever was in there, it was getting agitated by their presence.

"This is it," Makoto whispered, hand moving to the door handle.

"You ready?"

Ryu nodded, activating Shadow Grasp. The familiar tendrils emerged from his shadow, but they felt different, hungrier, more aggressive. He had to actively focus to keep them under control.

"On three," Makoto said, positioning himself by the door.

"One... two..."

The door burst open, and the curse was seen floating in the room.

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The curse was a writhing mass of bodies without heads and torso's. Its limbs bent at weird angles, and where its face should have been was a void. The accumulated anguish of everyone who had ever lived in this building took form together.

'Grade 4, as expected. Dangerous to civilians, but manageable for trained sorcerers.'

"Contact!" Makoto shouted, launching himself forward with cursed energy reinforcing his body. His fist connected with the creature's central area, sending it stumbling backward.

The curse shrieked, a sound like high pitched wailing people. It lashed out with elongated arms. Makoto ducked under the first swipe, but the second was about to hit.

"Shadow Grasp!" Ryu called out, sending his tendrils to intercept the curse's attack.

The dark appendages wrapped around the creature's limbs, and Makoto used the opening to land another enhanced punch. The curse's form rippled and distorted, but it didn't dissipate.

"Tougher than it looks!" Makoto panted, while observing the damage he caused. "But we've got this!"

'It's just a Grade 4. Why is it taking so long?' Thought Ryu.

But as the fight dragged on, Ryu began to realize the problem. His Shadow Grasp wasn't working at full power, he was holding back, afraid of what might happen.

The hunger was starting to increase again.

Every time the curse took damage, every time it bled that black liquid that was cursed spirit blood, the gnawing in Ryu's stomach intensified. His mouth watered, and he had to swallow hard to keep from drooling.

'What's wrong with me? Why do I want to...'

"Ryu!" Makoto's voice cut through his distraction.

"Little help here!"

The curse had broken free of his weakened tendrils and was advancing on Makoto with fury. Ryu snapped back to the fight, but his concentration was shattered. The hunger was a at its peak now, clawing at his insides, demanding to be fed.

'Hold on. Just a little longer.'

But he couldn't. The smell of the curse's essence, the sight of its form, the taste of power, it was too much.

Something inside Ryu snapped.

His eyes went completely black, not just the irises but the whites as well, turning his gaze into twin voids. A scream tore from his throat, something primal and terrible.

"Slice!"

The invisible cutting attack erupted from his hand without conscious thought, carving through the air with lethal precision. It bisected the curse cleanly, but it didn't stop there.

The attack continued, slashing across Makoto's raised arm as he tried to shield himself. The cursed energy cut through flesh and bone like butter, severing muscle and tendon. Makoto's scream of pain and terror filled the apartment.

"Aghhhhhhh..."

But Ryu wasn't done. His Shadow Grasp tendrils, no longer under conscious control, lashed out wildly. One caught Makoto in the leg with bone-crushing force, the sickening snap of breaking bone echoing off the walls.

"RYU! WHY ARE YOU---"

Ryu wasn't listening. Couldn't listen. The hunger had taken over completely, and there was only one thing that mattered now.

'Food'

He pounced on the bisected curse like a wild animal, ignoring Makoto's increasingly desperate screams. The creature was trying to regenerate, its two halves slowly crawling toward each other, but the process was sluggish, something was interfering with its natural recovery.

Ryu didn't care why, he only cared about the feast.

His teeth sank into the curse's essence, and the taste exploded across his tongue like fruit juice. This was what he'd been craving, what normal food could never satisfy. Pure cursed energy, raw, potent and perfect.

Behind him, Makoto was crawling across the floor, leaving a trail of blood. His dominant arm hung useless, cut so deep that white bone was visible through the wound.

His leg was twisted at an unnatural angle from where the shadow tendril had struck him.

"Ryu... please..." Makoto's voice was weak, fading.

"Help me..."

But Ryu was lost in the feeding, his black eyes gleaming with satisfaction as he devoured every trace of the curse's existence. Nothing else mattered, not Makoto's pain, not the mission.

Only hunger, and the sweet relief of finally satisfying it.

Makoto's vision was starting to blur from blood loss. He could feel his consciousness slipping away, and he knew that if he passed out now, he would die.

Either from his injuries or...

'Or from whatever Ryu had become.'

Desperation gave him strength. As his cursed energy spiked in response to being close to death, something clicked inside him. His technique, the one he'd been struggling to manifest for months, finally awakened.

Bandages began to materialize from his remaining good hand, flowing before solidifying.

'Cursed Creation,' the ability to manifest objects imbued with his cursed energy.

With his teeth and his one functioning hand, Makoto managed to bind his wounds, the cursed energy in the bandages helping to slow the bleeding. He knew they would only last as long as he remained conscious, but it might be enough.

'I have to get away. Have to warn someone.'

Using his one good leg and arm, Makoto began dragging himself towards the door, leaving Ryu to his horrific feast. Every movement sent fresh waves of agony through his body, but the alternative was worse.

'What is he? What has he become?'

---

The Tokyo Jujutsu High infirmary was a small but well equipped medical facility, designed to handle the unique injuries that came with fighting supernatural entities. Shoko Ieiri worked efficiently, her technique working softly as she repaired the worst of Makoto's injuries.

"Arterial damage, compound fracture, severe cursed energy disruption," she muttered, her young face set in concentration.

"What exactly happened out there?"

Makoto lay on the examination table, still pale from blood loss but stable thanks to Shoko's intervention. An old man sat in the corner, he was one of the shrine keepers who maintained the protective barriers around the school grounds. He'd been the one to find Makoto limping through the gates, barely conscious and babbling about monsters.

"I need to check on another patient," Shoko said, finishing her work.

"The bandages should hold, but don't move around too much. Your cursed energy reserves are dangerously low."

After she left, the elder leaned forward in his chair. He was thin and weathered, with the kind of eyes that had seen too much over too many years.

"Now then Makoto ," he said gently. "Tell me what really happened."

Makoto hesitated. How could he explain what he'd witnessed? Who would believe him?

"It was supposed to be a simple mission," he began slowly. "Grade 4 curse in an abandoned building. My partner was Ryu, new transfer student with a kind of lottery technique."

The elder's expression didn't change, but something flickered behind his eyes.

"Go on."

"The fight started normally. We engaged the curse, worked together. But then..." Makoto's voice trailed off as he remembered those black eyes, the inhuman hunger in them.

"Then what?"

"His eyes went completely black, and he attacked both me and the curse. Cut through my arm like it was paper, broke my leg with those tendrils.

Before he could continue, the old man left abruptly in a hurry.

"Wait, what is your name,"

"I was wasn't even able to thank him" Makoto said bitterly.

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Deep in an old archieve, scrolls existed, old, withered but still preserved.

"Impossible" muttered the elder while opening a scroll with an ancient symbol engraved into it. He

He'd spent 40 years as a Shrine keeper and was a sorcerrer before.

"Perhaps he is his spawn." He muttered while taking the scroll with him.

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Current Status:

Hunger: Temporarily Satiated

Mental State: Fragmented.

Ability Evolution:

Slice → Slice and Dice (Enhanced)

Healing Inhibition:

Cursed wounds resist natural regeneration

Energy Disruption: 15% chance to impair cursed energy output in struck areas

Range: Improved precision and cutting power

Physical Enhancement:Strength: +40%

Speed: +45% improvement in reflexes and movement

Cursed Energy Reserves:

Moderate → Moderate-High

Objective: FAILED

Partner critically injured

Casualties: Makoto Sato.

New Developments:

Makoto's Technique Manifested: Cursed Creation.

Current Condition: Unconscious

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