Curse Return: Swordsmith Start

Nanami, who was right behind him, also saw what was behind the door at first glance and frowned instantly.

It was a fairly large space, with a room at the far end.

However, before that, the first thing you notice is a strong smell of damp, moldy, and rotten firewood.

The entire space was enveloped in a dark, murky liquid, with thick blood seeping from the walls. There were also many human remains around, the cuts made by sharp weapons. The pungent stench of corpses, along with the putrid and damp smell, assaulted the senses. Just looking at this scene was enough to cause some mentally fragile people to collapse instantly. It seemed that the missing person had been found.

The second thing that came into view was the enormous humanoid semi-energy spirit.

A twisted humanoid figure made of shattered armor and a twisted warrior's helmet. It has no face, and there is bottomless darkness beneath the helmet. Only its hands are in a sword-wielding posture, and it has no lower body.

Even so, its size remained enormous, nearly ten meters tall, like a giant suit of armor supported by some unknown energy.

"Loyalty...righteousness...betrayal...anger..."

Shouting broken words, the massive figure turned around after hearing the voice behind him, but before that, the boy's flaming sword had already slashed down.

blah-

A sound similar to raw meat being suddenly placed on a barbecue grill was heard.

Although Yue Ren's sword was not yet able to sever concepts like "cause and effect" like that of Grandpa Muramasa, it was still enough to break through the armor of a cursed spirit.

The next moment, the boy's sword pierced through the armor's defenses, leaving a huge wound on the samurai giant's body.

The enemy let out a piercing scream, and Nanami, seeing this, was secretly shocked but also extremely satisfied.

The sneak attack was very effective. The enemy was indeed a powerful cursed spirit, but this attack had already dealt it a heavy blow, and the scales of victory were tipping in their favor.

He then focused his attention on the blade in the boy's hand. He didn't see the boy take it out, but it seemed to be formed by condensed magical power. Was it a spell?

Instantly summoning a weapon with a burning effect—a very powerful spell... or perhaps, not all of it?

The samurai spirit's first reaction to being ambushed was anger. Ignoring his own injuries, he found Yue Ren's figure and swung his several-meter-long sword down. The enormous force instantly created a trench nearly ten meters deep and one meter wide in the ground.

Unfortunately, to the Yue people, who could even clearly see the flow of energy within it, its attack, with its obvious intent, was naturally unlikely to hit.

He even used the smallest possible dodging motion, and the chasm was right at his feet, tearing the ground apart beside him.

Taking advantage of the attack's recovery animation, he flashed to the samurai's face in the next instant.

His gaze was fixed on the other's neck, where something resembling a core for generating magical power caught his eye; that must be its weakness.

--"flame"

The blade in his hand blazed with brilliant flames once more, and without the slightest hesitation, he swung it horizontally.

As a flash of light cleaved the heavens and earth, a sound like metal breaking rang out.

"Ahhhh..."

A scream of agony followed by the dissolution of the body; within a second, the armor and energy vanished, leaving only one thing lying on the ground.

"Mission Complete"

Skill points +50, attribute points +50

"Acquire card: Substitute Card"

The familiar voice told Yue Ren that he was not wrong; his attack had indeed shattered the opponent's lifeline.

The two focused their attention on the fallen object, a katana that had been shattered.

Through the information Nanami had recorded in his mind, he understood that it was the cursed artifact they were looking for.

So that's how it is. The blade struck a vital spot directly; no wonder it killed him instantly...

He was wondering why the first strike, despite its immense damage, hadn't killed it, but the second strike, a mere slit in the neck, annihilated the cursed spirit. Logically, a purely cursed energy-based enemy shouldn't have any human weaknesses. So, did it know the katana's weakness was in the neck? Was it also related to his supposed ability with his eyes...?

He also had an understanding of the Yue people's strength; they were definitely stronger than him—this came from his intuition.

Although I might be a little lacking in physical fitness, not very strong, and not incredibly fast, I would definitely lose if I faced him.

Eyes that see through weaknesses, and methods that deliver a fatal blow without hesitation... To be an enemy like this without knowing any information, he could almost imagine the bewildered look on the young enemy's face after being hit.

The man slowly walked towards the broken katana and spoke.

"Excellent, Kawasaki-kun. Your strength is undoubtedly at the level of a first-class sorcerer. I don't have much to teach you about combat, so let me tell you something else."

"Take this for example. The weaker a cursed spirit is, the more likely it is to attack in groups. Conversely, the stronger it is, the more likely it is to act alone. The one we encountered today, although you dealt with it easily, is undoubtedly a powerful cursed spirit. It usually acts alone, but please don't take this common sense for granted. It's best to make sure you're completely safe before letting your guard down, otherwise you might be ambushed by something in the shadows. After all, there are blind spots in vision, aren't there?"

Yue Ren listened attentively and nodded. Even someone as strong as Gojo Satoru could be exposed when he relaxed. A small Karami like him had no right to be arrogant; steadiness and caution were the only true principles.

Although he did do it that way, he was just sharing his experience as someone who had been through it all, so I just listened to him again.

Nanami breathed a barely perceptible sigh of relief when she saw that he was willing to listen. After all, powerful people often have strange personalities, and sometimes they might not listen to your good intentions.

Of course, if he encountered someone like Nanami, he would at most say something like "take responsibility" and there was nothing he could do if the boy wouldn't listen. Fortunately, the boy in front of him was not that kind of person.

"Alright, there shouldn't be any problems now. Today's mission is over. You don't need to worry about this knife anymore. I'll hand it over to the supervisor, and your portion of the payment will be deposited into your account later. Now, let's go."

The Yue man nodded and followed.

The cold and damp feeling has disappeared, but the scene still needs to be dealt with, otherwise ordinary people might think it's a crime scene.

However, these tasks are no longer the responsibility of these sorcerers; the suited figures in charge of logistics will handle everything.

Watching the figures bowing to them one by one before entering the scene, Yue Ren felt a sense of emotion.

Perhaps the only advantage of this job compared to the sorcerers like Yue Ren is that most of the time they don't have to face any danger directly, but this comfort will be quietly torn apart in the coming days.

Whether it was the upcoming Night Parade of One Hundred Demons or the subsequent Sukuna incident, these people with little fighting ability were not even cannon fodder, and their tragic state could even be vaguely recalled from the corners of their memories.

Stepping out of the building, the rain had stopped, allowing the Yue people to experience a long-lost tranquility in the big city.

"That's all for today. I should have explained some more things to you, but I have other things to do, so I'll have to leave now. I suggest you go home as soon as possible. The security situation here hasn't been good lately. I'll contact you if I have any missions later. Of course, you can also contact me. Here's my phone number."

With that, Nanami handed a business card to Yue Ren, who carefully kept it.

"Well then, goodbye."

Watching the other person leave cleanly and efficiently, Yue Ren smiled, shook his head, and turned to walk back the way he came.

He really is a handsome adult who keeps people at arm's length; it must be tough for him to have such a strong sense of responsibility.

For a respectable person who could possibly memorize the entire mission briefing, Yue Ren was naturally not worried that the other party wouldn't know his phone number, and Nanami Kento was indeed, as he remembered, a highly responsible sorcerer.

It was a pleasant surprise, actually. Judging from the current situation, he'll be partnering with this person for quite some time to come, which isn't bad at all.

As he expected, things turned out exactly as he had anticipated. Three days after the mission, while he was exploring new possibilities at the workshop, Nanami called, asking if he was interested in a level-two mission. With the intention of training himself, he chose to participate.

He was still the vanguard, and thankfully, through his observation, he discovered in advance that the cursed spirit was not level two, but a level one cursed spirit that was good at hiding. It can only be said that it was fortunate that the two of them took on this task, and in the end, Yue Ren solved it alone, which can be considered as avoiding a tragedy.

In the days that followed, the two continued to carry out missions together. Yue Ren also learned a lot about curse power and curse spirits from Qi Hai, and his attribute values ​​also accumulated a lot.

Just when he thought these fulfilling and peaceful days would continue, this day finally arrived.

It was morning again. Yue Ren and the others arrived at the classroom. Normally, they would all be busy with their own things, some training, some taking on missions. But today, everyone was summoned by a message. According to the message, our teacher, Gojo, who is always so busy that we can't find him, actually had time to teach them today.

Just as the group was getting a little impatient, the familiar eyepatch-wearing man arrived.

"Hey everyone, how are you all doing? Exciting news, right? We're welcoming a transfer student! Let's get this party started!"

Everyone was unmoved by his exaggerated actions, but Yue Ren was stunned when he heard these words, and then realized something.

As expected, seeing that everyone remained unmoved, the man let the newcomer in. Then, the next moment, something terrifying happened to the sorcerer.

A timid-looking boy walked in step by step, which in itself was not a problem, but all the students except Yue Ren instantly felt their hair stand on end.

Because in their eyes, the boy was surrounded by a monster that could be described as the ultimate embodiment of curses, and it even seemed to turn its head to look at them as if it had noticed their gaze.

"My name is Yi Gu You..."

Before the boy could even finish his self-introduction, the three people other than Yue Ren instantly appeared within three meters of him, entering battle mode. Maki's naginata was thrust into his ear, startling the boy.

"What kind of test is this? Hey kid, you're cursed!"

"This is a place to learn how to deal with curses, not a place for someone like you who's been cursed..."

Maki stared cautiously at the boy in front of her as she spoke. Panda and Dog Roll on either side were in a fighting stance, but they hadn't let them fire directly because of the boy's bewildered expression and their unreliable teacher's amused and appreciative attitude.

"Every year, more than 10,000 people die or go missing under mysterious circumstances in Japan. The culprit is almost always negative emotions emanating from the human body, namely 'curses'. Of course, there are also heinous cases created by curse practitioners. Only curses can fight curses. This is a place to learn curses in order to exorcise curses - the Metropolitan Higher Specialized School of Curses."

Listening to the teacher's explanation, whose eyes were wrapped in bandages, the boy didn't say anything, but his expression changed from bewilderment to confusion, then to shock, and finally he showed an astonished expression as if he had been tricked into coming to such a place.

The three who had just been on high alert were now speechless, and turned to look at their unreliable teacher.

"Are you only telling him now?"

"Feel sorry."

"Oh, right, you guys better get away from him as soon as possible."

The man's words startled the three of them. However, the next moment, a pair of monstrous, pale claws suddenly appeared out of thin air on the blackboard behind the boy and reached out to them, snatching Maki's naginata in the process.

The three, as if facing a formidable enemy, retreated simultaneously, and at that moment a feminine voice suddenly rang out.

"You are not allowed... to bully Yuta."

"Wait...Urika"

The boy wasn't surprised to see the large hand suddenly appear beside him; instead, he nervously tried to dissuade it, but clearly, it was to no avail.

Just as the giant hand was about to grab the three of them, Yue Rendong, who had been watching the show all along, intervened.

With a sword cry, "Yuanhong" was instantly unsheathed.

At the same moment, the Yue man who arrived in front of the three stared expressionlessly at the giant hand in front of him, and decisively drew his sword and slashed.

"Cen—"

With a crisp sound like steel being cut, the giant hand with a slash mark on its palm instantly retracted.

"ah--"

The boy heard his "girlfriend" let out a sharp, painful cry that he had never heard before. Stunned by this sudden turn of events, he instinctively began to care for his "girlfriend."

"Urika..."

"It's nothing serious. I didn't use any force. The injury is probably similar to being lightly pricked by something sharp."

Yue Ren's words, coupled with the fact that nothing had really changed, soothed the boy's worries. Although Rika had caused him a lot of trouble, she was still someone close to him (a demon), and he would still subconsciously worry if something unexpected happened.

Yue Ren cleanly and neatly sheathed his sword. Perhaps sensing that the person he was protecting was not in any danger, the cursed spirit Rika did not choose to retaliate again, which made everyone present, except for a certain irresponsible guy, unconsciously breathe a sigh of relief.