Curse of Ignorance Ch 4
After my first two days here, I settled into a comfortable routine of steady improvement. I wake up, eat breakfast, go do boring normal school stuff, eat lunch, train physically and magically, eat dinner, go back to my room and read my book on hand signs, then go to sleep in order to do it all over again the next day. Saying it like this, it seems simple and boring, but I haven't gotten tired of it yet, probably because everything is still pretty fresh and new. It's only been two weeks or so since I've arrived here and started training, after all.
Of my enjoyable new routine—well, except for the boring school stuff that I already know—I can say without a doubt that I enjoy reading the book on hand signs the most. It's not because the book is interesting—the book is very dry, boring, and actually quite confusing in some parts. I can definitely tell that whoever wrote it is not a professional author. So, instead of trying to slog through the book, I've been skimming through it, looking for diagrams of hand signs and trying them out on the only technique I had passable skill in, the method to stop the leaking of cursed energy.
It's fun to go through the process of trial and error, seeing how the hand signs affect the flow of my cursed energy and writing down each effect on a bunch of papers on my desk. It's much better than trying to suffer through the author's long-winded explanations on how this finger shape connects to this Buddhist idea or that Shinto myth, but actually, it intersects with some other symbol from some other school of thought and mutated over time or something like that. I'm sure that it's interesting to someone, but I would rather know how to do something rather than know why that thing works, even if it's magic.
It's because of this book and experimentation with hand signs that I achieved the ability to stop the leaking of my cursed energy in my sleep only a week and a half after I started trying! Just spin my cursed energy into a whirlpool while doing a sequence of two hand signs, a slight pause, and then two other hand signs, and voila! No leaking for eight hours! Without hand signs, my whirlpool only lasts around three and a half hours, so it's quite an improvement for such little effort.
Of course, I'm still working on improving my ability to move my cursed energy without hand signs making things easier. It's not just because it isn't good to treat them as a crutch instead of a helpful tool, but because hand signs inherently boost my base performance. Improving my base ability means that the result after using hand signs is even better.
And now that the urgent need to stop leaking cursed energy has passed, I have been moved to a new group for magic training. As a result of this, two things have occurred. First, I have been given a new technique to work on during magic training—cursed energy reinforcement. It's a skill that serves as the foundation of jujutsu sorcery, allowing one to imbue both themselves and weapons with cursed energy, strengthening whatever is imbued and allowing it to damage curses, even if it is completely mundane. Currently, I'm at the stage where I can perform the technique, but it's so weak that the effect is almost negligible. I haven't gotten around to actually testing the effects of the hand signs that I know on this technique yet, since I've only recently gotten the technique working. Theoretically, though, a lot of my previous research should carry over. Secondly, magic training slowed down in intensity and began to include some teaching about the theory behind how magic stuff works in general instead of being solely practical. It was during one such theory-focused session, where Juba-sensei was lecturing about binding vows, that something unusual happened.
There was a loud crashing sound, so loud that it threatened to deafen us all. It didn't sound like an explosion, or like the rumbling of an earthquake. It sounded distinctly like the sound of glass shatttering.
In the face of this sound, everyone stopped what they were doing. Before panic threatened to break out, the Juba-senseis took action, calling out in synchronicity, "Alright, everyone, nothing to worry about! I'll just go over there and check it out. In the meantime, continue what you were doing." One of the Juba-sensei clones that was previously roaming around the training field assisting whenever needed took off running towards the source of the sound, leaving nothing but dust in his wake.
For a moment longer, everything was silent, before we all hesitantly returned to our tasks. That resumed productivity didn't last long, however. A few minutes later, murmurs and whispers among the students started increasing in intensity. Some kids were pointing at something. Looking in the direction that those fingers were indicating, I found the reason for this new distraction.
It was a group of children, probably another class, walking towards our training field. That group was being led here by the Juba-sensei clone who left earlier. At the same time, Juba-sensei was supporting an adult figure dressed in a dark blue tracksuit, presumably this class's teacher, as he stumbled towards our field.
What's this? Why is Juba-sensei helping to support that teacher? Are we being attacked? Was that group attacked by cursed spirits? But that Tengen guy's barrier should be protecting us! I squinted, trying to make out clearer details about the group. It doesn't seem like anyone is injured, not even the teacher…. But that's not proof of anything! Maybe the teacher is just really good at fighting, and was able to kill the curses without anyone being hurt! I shifted my body from its cross-legged seated position on the floor to a position better suited to running away at the sign of any danger. On top of that, I moved cursed energy into my legs, preparing to use my weak cursed energy reinforcement to run away even faster.
As the group got closer, I had a realization. I recognize some of those kids! They're the group whose table I sit at during meal times! But … it seems like one of them is missing? Did the curse kill him? No, don't jump to conclusions, maybe he's being rushed to the infirmary right now!
Juba-sensei, likely seeing that everyone was getting distracted, decided to address us all once again. "Everyone, this is Shirawachi-sensei and his class. They had a small training accident that rendered their training field unusable, so they will be sharing with us for the foreseeable future. Please make some room so that both of our classes can continue as best as we can." With that, various Juba-senseis herded their groups, resulting in one half of the training field being occupied by my class and the other now being occupied by Shirawachi-sensei's class.
Juba-sensei continued his lecture on various common usages of binding vows, but I was only pretending to pay attention. Instead, I was sneaking glances at Shirawachi-sensei's class, as well as continuing to keep an eye out for danger. I wasn't sure if I believed Juba-sensei's explanation of a "small training accident". What kind of training accident renders a whole field unusable? What kind of training accident renders a teacher so weak that they need support from someone else in order to walk?
On Shirawachi-sensei's side of the field, two students separate from the rest. As they do, a transparent dome materializes and surrounds the two of them. As the formation of the dome is completed, the two children begin to spar, using cursed energy reinforcement, curse techniques, and a bunch of other stuff that I don't recognize.
While Juba-sensei lectured and most of the students were distracted by the flashy fight, I focused my attention on Shirawachi-sensei's students outside the dome who were spectating the spar. Something stood out to me. Or rather, someone stood out to me. It wasn't because he wore a pristine white kimono while everyone else wore casual clothing, or because he had strange white hair. No, it was because it seemed like everyone gave him a wide berth. While everyone else stood grouped close to each other, there was a clear distance between them and the boy wearing a kimono, both metaphorically and literally. I don't know why, but my gut told me that this person was related to the "accident" that occurred today.
I waited at the edge of the training field for Shirawachi-sensei's class to be dismissed. Juba-sensei dismissed his class right on time, but it looked like Shirawachi-sensei only intends to end class when this last spar comes to a natural conclusion, even if it means going over time.
While I waited, I went over everything in my head once more. My current mission is to find out more about the mysterious incident that occurred today. The first step is to question the key witnesses. What did they see? What do they know? Additionally, I can use that opportunity to have them point me to the training field they used to occupy, for step two. Step two is inspecting the scene of the crime. It's unlikely that I'll find anything new or unusual, given my lack of forensic training, but it's better to not blindly rely on the secondhand information I'll be getting from the witnesses. Going straight to the source is preferred. Besides, there's always the chance that I stumble onto something useful that the witnesses didn't notice out of sheer luck.
I was broken out of my thoughts by the sudden disappearance of the dome, making it easier to make out a kid lying down on the ground, possibly knocked out, while the other was standing, victorious. After some final words from Shirawachi-sensei, the class dispersed. My preferred targets for interviewing, the group that I sit with at dinner times, simultaneously took off running, quickly disappearing into the distance. Well, that's okay, any person in the class should be fine anyway.
I randomly chose a girl that was walking in my general direction and started walking to approach her. As I got close enough, I called out.
"Um, excuse me, I'm one of Juba-sensei's students, and I was wondering if you could tell me more about what happened earlier today?"
The girl's expression twisted, and I suddenly felt self-conscious. What was I doing, starting a conversation like that? Of course it would be weird to suddenly approach her asking questions! How could I be so stupid!? Before I could continue mentally berating myself, the girl I approached answered my question.
"Ah, sorry. I would love to answer your question, but I can't."
I quickly thanked her for her time, and moved on, trying to catch as many people from Shirawachi-sensei's class as possible before they dispersed too far from the training field. I had no luck getting any answers about what happened. Some people said similar things to that first girl, "I can't answer that'' or "I can't say", while others ignored my question completely. As more and more people failed to answer my simple question, suspicion grew in my heart.
There's no way that so many people are unaware of what happened, right? I mean, it's an incident that rendered a whole training field unusable! Something like that would probably be very big and easy to see! These people probably know what happened, but why aren't they telling me? My mind leapt to the phrasing of the non-answers that people gave. "I can't". They know, but they can't say. It's not that they won't say, but they can't say. There are circumstances forcing them to remain silent about the events of today.
I circled the training field on autopilot, turning over this new conclusion in my mind. As the blackboard that Juba-sensei wheeled out onto the training field for today's lesson caught my eye, I stopped still, struck by a sudden burst of inspiration. A binding vow! My mind instantly went back to the incident not too long ago, where I was bound into keeping the supernatural nature of this school a secret. It's just like that! The whole class was bound into keeping what happened a secret!
I felt validated. I was right that there was something suspicious about the "training accident" today! If it were something as simple as a training accident, why would they swear the students into secrecy? Anyways, it's time to progress to the next step of the investigation. I may not have gotten much at all from interviewing the witnesses, but I did get at least one bit of useful information: the location of the training grounds where it all went down.
I stood before a scene of destruction.
Based on my meager experience with this school, training fields are supposed to be simple but functional, little more than a flat rectangle of packed dirt. If I wasn't told that this area was meant to be a training field, I don't think that I would have been able to discern that just from the information I could gather visually.
What used to be a rectangular training field has been converted into a perfectly circular crater of churned earth, with some bits of pulverized vegetation along the edge of the pit, where the radius of the circle extended beyond the bounds of the original training field. Most eye-catching about this scene was the spire of what appeared to be stone rising out of the center of the crater, tapering as it stretched upwards, ending in a sharp tip. All along the surface of the depression in the earth, scorch marks of various shapes and sizes could be found.
I decided that the first step to investigating what happened here was to inspect the spire first. I tread carefully down into the hole, paying extra care to my balance as I walked down the steep decline. As I did, I was struck by just how shockingly tall it was. Standing at the base, I had to crane my neck in order to look at the very tip. Was it as tall as a three-story building? Or is it closer to four? Looking at the base of the spire more closely, I was able to tell that it is actually composed of soft dirt at the bottom. I took a couple of steps back and squinted at the middle of the spire. It looks like the spire gradually transitions to stone from dirt.
It seems like someone made this spike using some kind of earth manipulation ability on all the dirt that used to fill this crater. But who? It can't be Shirawachi-sensei, can it? Isn't his curse technique those dome barriers, not earth manipulation? Or are those barriers something that anyone can do, like cursed energy reinforcement? There's no way the spike was made by a curse. The only plausible reason that I can come up with for why you would need a big spike would be in order to impale a big monster. It would be way overkill to make this big of a spike from the perspective of a monster fighting a human. Even then, wouldn't this probably be way overkill on a big monster too, unless the monster was absolutely massive? But if the monster was that big, wouldn't someone have noticed it before it presumably attacked this place and caused that loud noise?
And I can't forget the scorch marks! Just walking from the edge of the crater to the base of the pillar, I saw many scorch marks. Wouldn't a hypothetical big monster do one big attack, instead of many little ones, like what the scorch marks seem to be signifying? So, accompanying this hypothetical big monster, many little monsters attacked as well? No, that can't be right. Having so many of these little monsters have some sort of fire-based technique is so improbable that it might as well be impossible. Curse techniques are supposed to be something unique and special, not something so common that you can amass an entire army of the same technique. Or are the rules different for curses? Do the same types of curses get the same technique? Are there even types of curses? Juba-sensei, this is the type of stuff you should be teaching me, not math or science or whatever!
I walked away from the ruined training field confused and disappointed. Even though I told myself that I wasn't a professional detective or forensic scientist, I held on to a tiny sliver of hope that I would walk onto the scene and everything would reveal itself in perfect clarity. Instead, it seemed like I had more questions than before. What's with the spike? What's with the scorch marks? Why did this battle happen in the first place, if Tengen's barrier is supposed to be protecting the school? Still, I had acquired more information than I had before. The fact that I knew enough to have questions about the spike and the scorch marks and the fact that I know for sure that there was no "training accident" today is a sign that I am taking steps in the right direction. I should eat some dinner and then sleep on it. Maybe I'll wake up and find the puzzle pieces in their proper place instead of in a scattered mess.
The next day, I hung back at the edge of the training field, waiting for Shirawachi-sensei's class to be dismissed yet again. Just as last time, I was waiting for the ongoing spar to end, so that I could progress on my self-imposed mission to find out the truth behind the incident that happened yesterday. Unlike what I hoped for yesterday, sleeping on the clues I gathered yesterday did not help. I didn't even have the opportunity to gather more clues at dinner by asking questions to the people I usually sit with, since they weren't there by the time I made it to the cafeteria. So, I have decided that the next step is to investigate the suspicious kid from yesterday. There has to be a reason why everyone else in the class is keeping their distance from him, and I think it relates to the battle that went on yesterday.
Based on my experiences interviewing people from yesterday, I came to the conclusion that directly approaching him isn't likely to be helpful due to that binding vow. Instead, I plan to follow him after class ends, hoping to gather clues from him indirectly. After all, a binding vow might stop people from divulging information to people, but there's no way that it will stop them from accidentally talking about the secret when they don't know that someone just so happens to be in earshot, right? I know that this is probably grasping for straws, but that's why this is just Plan A. Plan B is approaching him directly, asking him questions, and trying to put together the pieces based on what he doesn't say, just like how I put together that the whole class is under a binding vow. But that sounds like it would take a lot of brainpower, which is why Plan A, which will hopefully have the answer just fall into my lap, comes first.
The dome disappeared, marking the end of the class. The class dispersed, going every which way. Thankfully, my target walked away from me instead of towards me, which would have been a bit awkward. I waited for a bit before starting to walk in the direction that I saw my target go. I thought that since he was wearing yet another pure white kimono, which is pretty eye-catching, I should be able to spot him at quite a distance, which meant that I could follow from quite far away.
Sure enough, when I reached an intersection in the paths, I could easily spot the back of a white kimono to the left. I followed him for a couple more minutes or so, until I ended up somewhere that I wasn't sure I recognized. While I was caught up contemplating how I should figure out my way back to familiar ground after this scouting mission, I was caught off guard. My target had stopped and turned around, which meant that he saw me following him.
I played it cool, continuing to walk forward under his gaze. Hey, friend, fancy seeing you here! I just so happen to be going the same way, haha! Don't pay me any mind! I totally wasn't following you!
I thought I had gotten away with it too, until he took a step sideways in order to block my path. I took my own step sideways in order to avoid bumping into him and continued forward. In response, he stuck out his leg to trip me as I was about to pass him. I was able to catch myself with my hands and keep my face from hitting the ground, but when I tried to push myself back up onto my feet, something held me down. No matter how hard I pushed, it was like all that energy was spent without achieving any results. Twisting from my place on the ground, I spotted that the kid was stepping on my back and using one of his legs to hold me down. Was he reinforcing his body with cursed energy so much that he turned into an immovable object? No, if that were the case, I should be feeling the weight of his foot on my back. Instead, it feels like nothing is there, even though his foot is clearly on my back. Is this his curse technique? It goes without saying that this is a bad situation!
"I was going to complain about how assassins or kidnappers targeted me two days in a row, but you look a little young for that." Huh? Before I even had time to process this boy's comment, he continued. "Is this about what happened yesterday? Was this some sort of misplaced attempt at revenge for your friend? Well, whatever the case is, you should have known that it was pointless from the start. Stop following me, or I won't be as nice next time."
With that, he walked away, leaving me lying face down on the ground, confused.