"So it's Seele's test?"
Amber had thought her own evaluation would come a few days later. Were Special Grade curses really this common?
"Higher-grade cursed spirits aren't exactly plentiful, but if you know where to look, you can track them down," Gojo explained casually.
"Just follow the local legends, or those creepy urban tales that make people's skin crawl—you'll usually find something lurking around."
"Generally speaking, mountain villages—especially remote ones steeped in religious customs—tend to harbor more curses. Some are pathetically weak, but others are strong enough to be classified as Special Grade."
"Is that what we've found this time?"
"Exactly."
Neither of them was the type to dawdle. Without further delay, they got into a car, headed to the airport, flew for the better part of a day, then drove again until they reached the foot of a mountain.
"There used to be a shrine here, halfway up the slope," Gojo began as they made their way up the path.
"It was worshipped by several nearby villages. One day, one of the villages skipped a ritual offering. The next day, a mudslide hit, damaging all the surrounding villages—but the shrine remained completely untouched. People interpreted it as divine wrath."
"After that, the villagers grew terrified of the shrine, convinced the gods were punishing them. Even though they eventually moved far away to avoid further punishment, that deep-seated fear kept festering… until it gave birth to a Special Grade curse."
"I see…"
Amber nodded in understanding.
"Seele-chan's mission is to exorcise this Special Grade curse and prove she has what it takes to be a Special Grade jujutsu sorcerer," Gojo said cheerfully as they stopped in front of the shrine gates.
"But… didn't Seele take down a Special Grade curse last time?"
Amber tilted her head slightly.
"According to your own testimony, and Miwa Kasumi's, it wasn't Seele-chan who killed that curse—it was the other you, dwelling inside her." Gojo pointed vaguely toward the faint red mark visible on Amber's chest. "This time, don't use her power, alright? After all, this test is for Seele-chan."
"Seele understands."
The girl gave a firm nod.
"Reaching Special Grade might bring some headaches, but it has its perks too. And I, your wonderful teacher, went through quite the effort to arrange this, you know~"
Gojo felt a wave of satisfaction at his student's obedient attitude. It had been too long—in all his years of teaching, he'd hardly come across a student who gave him so little trouble. Finally, he could properly savor what it felt like to be admired by a student.
Not that his own personality made it easy for others, anyway.
Amber didn't hold back her gratitude, her voice soft and clear. "Thank you, Gojo-sensei."
"Good, good~ Now then, let's see what Seele-chan can do."
Since they were far from any city, Gojo couldn't be bothered to deploy a curtain. He simply gestured for Amber to enter whenever she was ready.
Taking a deep breath, Amber stepped into the shrine grounds.
In her previous world, she'd fought plenty of monsters.
At first, their ferocity and grotesque forms had made her uneasy, but over time, she grew accustomed to it. But… cursed spirits were on another level of hideous and terrifying.
Next to them, any monster could be considered almost handsome.
She was genuinely worried something would jump out and assault her eyes with its ugliness.
Long abandoned, with no one to clean or worship here, the shrine stood dilapidated and desolate.
Unlike last time, although the Special Grade curse's energy saturated the entire area, it hadn't deployed a domain. Because its presence was everywhere, Amber couldn't immediately pinpoint its exact location.
But as she moved deeper into the shrine, the curse—which had been watching the girl for a while and had confirmed the other predator wasn't coming in—could no longer restrain its restless desire. It launched its attack.
The next moment, a massive claw large enough to shred the girl's body materialized silently out of thin air, slicing toward her with cursed energy.
But an attack like this didn't even warrant dodging from Amber.
A scythe as tall as she was appeared instantly in her hands. As she pivoted away from the strike, the weapon's momentum carried it smoothly through the claw.
Blood rained down in an arc. Amber's scythe had severed the claw without the slightest resistance. Watching the bloody shower, she let her body shift into a quantum state, evading the spray entirely.
Strange… cursed spirits were supposed to dissipate upon death, yet this one had blood?
"Kreeee!!"
A piercing shriek came from the direction the claw had attacked from. Following the sound, a massive fox-shaped figure emerged before Amber.
"A fox-type cursed spirit?"
Amber was puzzled. Weren't cursed spirits' forms usually shaped by human fears?
'Probably because this is an Inari shrine,' Dark Amber mused without surprise. 'Inari shrines are the most common in Japan. They symbolize the god of agriculture and commerce—anyone can worship here.'
That made sense.
The severed claw quickly dissolved into black cursed energy and vanished.
The large brown fox curse then channeled more cursed energy, regenerating the lost limb in moments. Its eyes burned with hatred before it disappeared from sight again.
Amber almost remarked, 'Looks like it uses the same technique as me.'
'Dealing with it is pretty straightforward,' Dark Amber observed, having already grasped its nature.
'A curse's foundation is condensed cursed energy. Energy forms the curse, but it only disperses back into energy after death. This one's technique probably lets it exist as pure cursed energy without dying.'
Now Amber understood. "So it saturated the whole shrine with its energy, effectively turning the entire area into its personal territory where it can fight or retreat freely."
'Not bad, you're catching on.'
Dark Amber nodded in approval.
As Dark Amber had said, this curse's technique was quite troublesome. Unless you had the power to obliterate the entire shrine in one go, you'd be practically helpless against it—only when it materialized would you have a chance to inflict damage.
But…
It just so happened to be perfectly countered by Amber.
The Taixu Sword Qi could absorb surrounding energy for her own use. This curse was basically serving itself up on a platter.
Plus, since Gojo had already interpreted her previous similar move as 'exceptional talent in cursed energy manipulation,' it shouldn't count as breaking character, right?
Thinking this, Amber activated her Sword Mind, rapidly drawing in the cursed energy permeating the shrine… and channeling it all toward Dark Amber.
'Don't dump this garbage on me!'
Dark Amber complained immediately.
'But there's nowhere else to store all this cursed energy…'
Amber felt a little guilty, but Fu Hua had always been firmly against her using cursed energy, let alone absorbing it. If she tried storing it herself, she'd probably be dragged into the Fenghuang Down for a brutal training session tonight.
After some thought, Dark Amber's space was the only viable storage option.
Dark Amber let out a mental 'Hmph.' 'Honestly, I don't know what you'd do without me.'
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.