While Hikaru rested, he was taken to his innate domain, Hikaru opened his eyes, looking around, the place seemed like something out of a bad dream, but that didn't bother him, as he walked around, he saw a tree in the distance, he approached, and when he arrived, he saw the jade dogs resting on its trunk, the tree, which had dark leaves, released a viscous black liquid that dripped onto the ground, it looked like water, but with a dark color and feel, seeming to reflect Hikaru's nature, but what was most important to our protagonist were the nine fruits resting on a different branch, and on the other branches, other fruits with color combinations of the nine main fruits, but at the very top, a Dharma wheel rested, floating with an oppressive presence, yet another presence caught Hikaru's attention, when he went to see, he saw it: Radiance, being held by the darkness like indestructible shackles.
- Look who we have here, if it isn't the dwarf who defeated me. It's good to see you, you annoying dwarf.-
Radiance saw Hikaru, his presence was the same as before, but not as strong as that object that had floated in the treetop earlier.
- What's wrong? Aren't you going to talk?-
Radiance looked at Hikaru, although his body looked different, Radiance could sense that he was the defective vessel that had defeated him.
Hikaru moved his hand, pointing to his mouth, Radiance looked at Hikaru, with the short time he had been there, Hikaru probably couldn't yet fully form words, since his vocal cords had never existed before with the function of speech, before, Hikaru had vocal cords, but they only served to produce the shriek of the abyss; they weren't really vocal cords, more like the screams of the previous defective vessels.
Just as Radiance was about to speak, Hikaru began to fade away, until he disappeared completely, leaving him in darkness once more.
Hikaru opened his eyes, feeling the sunlight on his face, he got up and went straight to the bathroom.
After taking care of his business, he went to a training field where Naobito was already waiting for him.
- Finally, you're here, kid, today you're going to learn how to properly manipulate cursed energy.-
Naobito looked at Hikaru, who simply nodded in confirmation, and the training began, it was difficult, without a doubt, sensing it and manifesting it were not the same thing, the fact that he had been able to manifest it before was because he concentrated, and even then, it only lasted a few seconds.
- Hmm... He's still only four years old, it's possible he can manifest cursed energy to a certain level, Naoya did it at eight, perhaps this brat has more hidden potential, I'll let him grow, mature, and evolve on his own.-
Naobito looked at Hikaru, a smile on the Zenin clan leader's face, Hikaru couldn't help but wonder silently what Naobito was thinking.
Two hours later.
Hikaru felt his body burning; he hadn't felt this level of exhaustion in a long time, yet, he was still able to walk away, Naobito's suspicions were correct, With more effort, Hikaru was able to access the cursed energy, one piece of advice Hikaru received from Naobito was to try to replicate the sensation of expelling something that will never come out, Hikaru was familiar with that; he always had been, so, when he realized it wasn't as difficult as it initially seemed, he was able to draw out the cursed energy, but because his cursed energy was so vast, it was difficult for him to control it, however, he was at least able to use a cursed energy reinforcement in his fists, unfortunately, unlike other things, he lacked the Screech of the abyss, his stinger was there, and he also possessed several amulets, such as: Carefree Melody, Grimm's Child, Unbreakable Strength, Unbreakable Heart, Heart of the Void, Monarch's Soul, and others, despite his limited understanding, he still couldn't achieve it, so he strove to try to improve.
Four years later.
Hikaru, now eight years old, could use the cursed energy more effectively, he had managed to tame other shikigami: Gama, the toad, the stampede of rabbits (whom Hikaru named after his sister), Hornet, Nue, and the great serpent Orochi, with these shikigami in his possession, he was able to obtain more amulets, in the eyes of almost all the members of the Zenin clan, Hikaru was the clan's rising star, seen as the next clan leader, this consequently made Naoya feel threatened, but something no one knew was that Hikaru secretly spent time with Maki and Mai when no one was watching over him, both sisters had grown accustomed to Hikaru's presence, thanks to his small size and the fact that they were both older than him, he almost always seemed to only reach their waists, and to a certain extent, that was true, but he had not yet reached his true strength, Right6 now, our protagonist is, finishing his training with Naobito, his body pushed to its limits in the four years of rigorous training.
His body was either too sore or too exhausted to even move, but he, accustomed to pain and fatigue, managed to move.
- No, it's not enough, i have to keep going, if I continue like this, I won't be able to defeat that being...-
With greater determination than ever before, Hikaru went to his room, his thoughts were on that eight-handled wheel, he had had a dream, something that spoke volumes about what that wheel possessed.
- Mahoraga...-
Just thinking about that shikigami's name sent a shiver down Hikaru's spine, that appearance, that presence, was worse than Radiance, Mahoraga was a humanoid shikigami, at least twice as tall as the average person, long wings protruded from the sides of its face where its eyes should be, and a long tail hung behind its head, floating above its head was a wheel with eight prongs, and chains hung from its chest, in addition to the sword attached to its left arm, even without the shikigami being near or in front of it, Hikaru could sense that a simple plan wouldn't be enough, it would require a meticulously developed, planned plan, down to the smallest detail, without any gaps, no matter how small, that shikigami had even managed to intimidate Radiance with just that wheel, that was more than enough for Hikaru to understand that taming that shikigami would require sacrifices, but those thoughts vanished when he felt a blow... His head.
He lifted his head and saw her: Maki standing in front of him, a smile on her beautiful face, a bokken in one hand.
- What's wrong? Why that expression? Did that old man give you lemons for breakfast?-
Maki gave him one of her usual mocking smiles, something even he had grown accustomed to.
"No, I'm just thinking about a shikigami..."
Hikaru replied with his usual blank expression; speaking was a little easier for him now, which forced Maki to listen to almost everything Hikaru said... for nearly two hours.
xxxxx