That guest lol: "Hehe! I'm so glad that Adam adopted the triplet balls of mischief! How they punched Fushiguro too. Hilarious lol.

My question: How strong is Adam right now? I think he's definitely grade one material because he beat that grade one curse a chapter before (even if it was quite weak compared to most grade ones). Taking into account how he cleared a whole mansion of cursed spirits I'm quite sure he counts as grade one. Even if I feel quite sure about this estimate I wanna ask you guys."

To answer your question, it's a bit hard to rank. We know, based on the manga, that Kusakabe is the strongest grade 1 sorcerer; Adam is certainly weaker than that, but I also don't see him losing to Kusakabe in an all out fight. He is definitely nowhere near special grade right now, but he is stronger than Kusakabe and would win if they had to fight to the death (out range him and heal from his attacks).

Really, it depends on his opponent. Adam loses to a special grade curse, wins against Kusakabe, but loses to Todo in my mind; quite the fluctuation, no? But if I had to, and I mean really had to place him somewhere on the sorcerer scale; low grade 1 would fit perfectly. His strength is his versatility and survivability, his weaknesses are his personality, defense, and lack of skill; which means he wouldn't be grade 1, since they are 'perfect sorcerers' in the eyes of jujutsu society. Really, Adam is only at grade 1 level due to his glass cannon nature.

TLDR; Adam is low grade 1 level at best, mid semi-grade 1 at worst.

melone71009: "Erm what the sigma (this is the highest praise i can offer) thank you my lord"

Thank you for the praise! Really, I should actually be thanking you (and everyone else who has stuck around) for reading my story!

Sometimes I bruh: "I'm guessing Maki is going to form a bond with Adam due to both of them having family issues?"

Maybe, though if it does happen it will be explored far later on in the story; this does not mean it would be romantic in any way, I am not confirming ships until the end game, if at all.

Cookiemonstawastaken: "Fushiguro try not to summon Mahoraga at the slightest inconvenience challenge: impossible"

Now, usually I don't reply to reviews on older chapters (this was on chapter 9), but come on. I think summoning Mahoraga against Kenjaku and Dagon is perfectly valid!

ANYWAY, THAT'S ALL FOR THE REVIEWS THIS TIME.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 100 FAVORITES AND FOLLOWS, YOU WILL ALSO BE RECEIVING A CHAPTER TOMORROW AS A THANK YOU FOR REACHING THIS MILESTONE! (Double chapter week, baby! Next one is 500 follows/favorites, or probably Christmas, whichever comes first. Actually, would you all like holiday themed chapters? Like, non canon ones for halloween and such where you just get some fun stuff happening with the cast? If I see a review asking for one, I'll post a poll on my profile!


Adam walked into the dormitory with a small smile on his face, something uncharacteristic of him, in Fushigoro's opinion. "Did something good happen?" Adam's eyes locked onto Fushigoro's position at the table before he silently shuffled into the kitchen and began to cook; forgoing getting out of his usual outfit.

"Yes and no. I gained 4 levels, which is pretty nice." He began while pulling out a container of chicken. "I lost the bet, which isn't too nice." Adam continued, grabbing out a frying pan and a sauce he'd made a few days prior. "And my new level condition isn't looking like it's going to be very fun to complete."

"What is it?" Fushigoro asked. After finding out about this 'condition' rule for leveling up, he was keen to know what his friend had to do next in order to get stronger. Adam took several moments too long to respond, which caused Fushigoro to repeat his question.

"I'm not sure if I should tell you or not." Adam waved his spatula around in the air lazily. "I don't want you to worry or anything."

"Well consider me worried, because you not telling me is suspicious as hell." Fushigoro retorted immediately.

Adam snorted before activating the visual mode on his cursed technique and flicking it to the side of his vision. "I have to exorcize a special grade curse." The pen Fushigoro was using to complete his English assignment hit the ground with a sharp click. "I know right? Pretty hard stuff." Fushigoro barely picked up on the anxiety in his tone, something that was clearly being hidden by force.

"You can raise your stats by training, right?" Adam nodded in response. "Then can't you just train until you think you're ready to take one on?" Fushigoro reasoned while picking up his pen.

"That's the problem, I do think I can take one on. Call me arrogant or stupid or whatever, but I really do believe I have a chance depending on the spirit's cursed technique." Adam shrugged before flipping over the food in his pan.

"I'm more than happy to call you both of those things considering how not 2 weeks ago, you almost died to a high grade 1 spirit who wasn't using their shikigami." Fushigoro sighed, knowing that anything he just said was going to be deflected by the stubborn boy cooking in their shared kitchen.

"Ah, but you forget that I exorcized a first grade curse last night without any difficulties at all!" Adam replied with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"We both know that's not how it works. Just because it was ranked as a grade 1 curse doesn't mean it was as strong as one, case in point, what you fought last night." Fushigoro countered with a sharp tone. He knew his friend was strong, but against a special grade curse they both knew he had no chance. "Why don't you just get Gojo to soften the curse up a bit before you fight it?"

"That won't work. I need to do it completely alone, with the exception being that shikigami summoned by the curse can be defeated by others." He sent a knowing look Fushigoro's way while plating up their food.

"So that's why you leveled up after our fight with the vengeful curse, your requirement was to exorcize a grade 1 curse?" Adam shrugged.

"I don't know, I hadn't checked it at that time. It was probably something like that though." The boy sat opposite his friend at the table after placing down a fresh plate of food for the both of them.

Fushigoro played around with his food for a little while, thinking of what to reply with to try and stop his friend from going through with what would definitely be a suicide mission. "Let's do that subjugation you had planned today." Adam suddenly spoke. Fushigoro then realized he'd been silent for almost 10 minutes at that point and had barely eaten any of his food. The boy quickly scarfed down the meal before nodding.


'I don't want to insult him, but I also don't think either of us are ready for something like that.' Fushigoro grumbled mentally. Adam was currently taking up his usual seat on the bleachers while Fushigoro prepared for the ritual. 'I can't think about things like that right now though, I need to focus.' His hands curled into the sign of the shikigami that was next on the list to subjugate.

Orochi was placed right next to him, prepared to strike immediately while Nue flew up high above. His plan this time was simple, but also dangerous for any other shikigami he may have summoned.

Max Elephant was mainly used for its large mass and water based abilities, something Fushigoro planned to use to his advantage with a combination of Orochi's binding abilities and Nue's lightning ones.

A shroud of darkness encompassed the entire field, paving the way for Fushigoro's next subject to arise from the grass. Bright pink skin surrounding three black toenails met the ground with a large rumble, each of its feet leading up to wrinkled knees with swirling gold patterns covering the cap.

Two thick white tusks covered the shikigami's underbelly from view, the space in between them being occupied by a trunk thicker than Fushigoro's entire torso. Usually, elephants aren't the most frightening creatures one would think of, but this shikigami was in a league of its own when it came to sheer size and intimidation factor.

It had the height of a bus, and the weight of ten, but that didn't stop the creature from moving around in the slightest. With a loud cry, it shifted forward, throwing dirt and debris behind it with every step as it sped towards its summoner.

Fushigoro placed full trust in his shikigami as he leapt into the air; sure enough, his fingers wrapped around one of Nue's claws as the bird lifted him out of the way of the elephant's charge. Only a moment later, he was violently dragged to the right as the elephant shikigami shot a jet of water through the air behind it without even looking.

While it continued to fire its stream, Orochi took the opportunity to slither up one of its legs in an attempt to bind it. The attempt was futile however, as one of Max Elephant's feet slammed onto the snake shikigami's back end. Fushigoro clicked his tongue in annoyance as he commanded Nue to drop him from its grasp.

Nue swerved a final time before hooking one of its feet closer to the ground and letting Fushigoro drop down. The boy landed on the ground with a roll before immediately springing back up with his hands ready to summon his divine dogs. Before he could complete his summon however, he was blasted by a thick jet of water.

Fushigoro planted one hand under his back as he rolled, using it to spring himself back up into a normal standing position in time for him to dodge out of the way of another charging attack. As he slid to the side, Orochi snaked around his feet protectively, buying enough time for Nue to get the boy back off of the ground as Max Elephant prepared another charge.

Orochi's protective nature held it down at that moment, as its previous position allowed Max Elephant to wrap its trunk around the snake shikigami's body. Before it could do any real damage however, two wolves, one white and one black, raked their claws down the pink shikigami's front legs from above. A loud screech of pain was spat out of Max Elephant's mouth while Orochi used the opportunity to sink its fangs into the shikigami's face.

The elephant shikigami unfurled its trunk with a low cry, allowing Orochi free escape as it retreated slightly further out of the shikigami's range. Both groups enjoyed a brief respite before the action began anew.

Max Elephant's trunk swelled slightly, causing Fushigoro to send out a mental command to retreat. Orochi slithered back, and both of the divine dogs leapt further away while Nue glided through the air patiently. 'There's a good chance it fires towards Kuro and Shiro, but Orochi could also be a target from that last attack. But it also knows that I'm–'

The shikigami's trunk bulged again, but the time raised itself towards the sky. Not a moment later, what could only be described as a torrential downpour was ejected from Max Elephant's prehensile limb. Fushigoro's eyes widened in disbelief at the amount of water being shot out, his mind firing off several commands a second as Nue weaved out of the way over and over again, its hind feathers barely escaping the grasp of the liquid based laser being fired towards it. 'Nue's too occupied keeping up its speed to fire anything back, Shiro, Kuro, take its attention off of us!'

Each wolf shot from their previous positions like rockets, Orochi following close behind despite its unneeded presence. Kuro leapt into the air first, jaw poised to wrap around the rogue shikigami's trunk while its twin aimed for one of the elephant's uninjured legs. Orochi followed closely behind, preparing to wrap itself around Max Elephant's neck before the shikigami suddenly stomped the ground, forcing both Shiro and Orochi to stop in their tracks. Several more stomps followed quickly after the first, each caused by the pain being inflicted upon it as Kuro clamped down onto the shikigami's trunk.

With a strong twist, Kuro was flung off of the shikigami's trunk and sent sailing through the air, being caught by an outstretched Orochi only moments later. The jet of water slowly died down, the final droplets of water hitting the ground only moments after Kuro's abrupt retreat.

Now thoroughly coated in conductive liquid, Fushigoro ordered Nue to take advantage of the shikigami's weakened state. The bird swooped across the ground, letting its summoner escape the blast zone as it swerved into the air and let out a loud screech.

Violet colored lightning crackled through the air for barely a moment before wrapping around the wet elephant shikigami like a deadly binding. Max Elephant howled in pain before its skin began to dissolve into a shadow liquid.

Fushigoro sighed in relief as he watched the pool of shadows recede into the ground like it had never been there in the first place, the barrier for the subjugation following soon after. When the afternoon sky finally hit his eyes, he glanced over to the bleachers to see Adam nowhere to be found.


"And this couldn't have waited until after I congratulated Fushigoro on his subjugation?" Adam asked his teacher.

"Maybe, but I'm sure you can agree that Megumi would try to stop you." Gojo replied, guiding his student towards Ijichi's car with a soft frown. Adam noticed the man's expression and let out a sigh.

"Do you have a problem with it as well?" He asked, earning a nod in response from the man beside him. "You said you would find one on the weaker end, so there shouldn't be any problem. Also, you're the strongest sorcerer, are you doubting your ability to help me?"

Gojo smirked, "of course not." His ever present confidence was slowly replaced with worry once again as he continued. "But I don't think you understand the difference between special grade cursed spirits and all the others. You may be able to take on a grade 1 spirit with ease, but a special grade is a whole different ball park."

"Don't you believe in me? You're the one who said I was special grade material." Adam returned with a frown of his own. Gojo grumbled silently as they approached the vehicle. "Oh, how I missed this car." Adam said blankly. "That other manager, Nitta, wasn't nearly as good as you with this stuff, Ijichi."

The mentioned man glanced up from where he was cleaning his hood to see the pair. "Are you going out again?" He looked over to Gojo worriedly. "Shouldn't you be making him rest?"

Gojo replied by slapping his student's shoulder weakly, though it still sent Adam stumbling forward. "He's at 100% capacity, Ji! Sorry I didn't send a message beforehand, but can you give us a lift?"

Ijichi looked back towards Adam before sighing and checking his watch. "Just as I was about to get off, too." He mumbled quietly. "Sure, where's the location?" The man folded his cleaning rag neatly before stashing it in the kit to his side.

"I've got it on my phone." Gojo waved said device around lazily before skipping around the car to enter his seat. Adam took his own seat in the back while Ijichi shuffled into the driver's position and offered a phone holder to his superior. "Just the shinto temple over yonder." Gojo chirped with a smile, something Ijichi didn't reciprocate in the slightest.

Once the phone was slid in, and everyone had their seatbelts on, Ijichi began to explain his worry. "I've heard rumors about that place, are you sure you have the right area?"

"I'm sure." Gojo confirmed. The other occupants in the car could almost see Ijichi's heart drop at the confirmation. "Don't worry, I'll be there." The white haired man assured, which only served to alleviate Ijichi's worries the slightest bit.

Jujutsu Tech's Tokyo campus differed in several ways to the Kyoto one, but one of the biggest differences was the underground tunnels connecting to different outlets around the mountain it was based on. They were hidden from the public via Tengen's barriers, but anybody who was truly looking for them would be able to see the well worn trails leading out from the campus onto different roads in the area.

Between the 52 different tunnels running through the bottom of Jujutsu Tech's grounds, only 6 ended in the Tokyo area, each at a different dead spot that saw little to no traffic despite being in the city. The other 46 tunnels ended at various points across highways or mountain trails that would lead into different districts surrounding the greater Tokyo area; any further than that and it was simply more efficient for sorcerers to travel via airline. 3 of those 46 tunnels led to the main family grounds of each of the major sorcerer families in Japan, the Gojo, the Zenin, and the Kamo; 2 of the remaining 43 ended at special areas Principal had designated as private, and the last unique path out of the 41 remaining ended near Tokyo's main airport for ease of access.

It was via one of the underground routes Ijichi's group was traveling to the temple that would serve as their designated job site. Gojo was making idle chatter with his student in the back, who was reciprocating with short and bland statements while staring out of the window.

'I'm glad he's worried at least.' Gojo thought as he asked another nonsensical what-if that left Adam sighing. 'Ever since Sunday, he's been relying on his cursed technique too much. Hopefully this trip will nip that in the bud.' Adam gave his answer to Gojo's previous statement and the man shot back another question that forced Adam to think. 'He needs a balance between them. He needs to train to improve himself rather than his skills given to him by the technique.'

"I guess I like early evening the most. The sky is nice at that time, and it just kind of has an atmosphere to it." Adam gestured to his window as the sunset began to peek through, a sign they were exiting the tunnel they'd been making use of.

"Early evening is pretty specific, but I get what you mean about the atmosphere." Gojo replied. "Personally, I enjoy the day. Way more fun stuff is open."

"I thought adults liked the night? Like, drinking and smoking and stuff." Gojo could almost see the image of the school nurse floating around his head. "But I guess you do act like a child most of the time, so your answer makes sense." The white haired man squawked out something nonsensical in reply before being interrupted by Adam's first return question. "If you had to choose a position in a family that fit you the most, what would it be?"

Gojo looked back at his student, surprised at the sudden question, only to see the boy leaning on the car door while looking outside. A blank look sat on his face, but someone as inexperienced as him couldn't hide the slight creasing of his features. Gojo hummed in response to his student's question, mulling over his thoughts for a few moments before speaking, "I think I'm most like a family friend if anything." He finally answered.

Adam's eyes widened minutely, before his expression returned to the forced blank one he was trying to keep up. "Really? I thought you'd say something like 'the fun uncle'." Gojo laughed quietly before turning to his coworker in the passenger seat, who had a thin film of sweat covering his face. The man's anxiety was almost palpable in the vehicle, which was one of the reasons Gojo had begun his abrupt game of 20 questions to begin with. "What about you, Ijichi?" Gojo wasn't sure if Adam had noticed the man's prior state, but the question had seemed to have a slight positive effect on his current mood.

"A position in a family?" Ijichi laughed anxiously while his eyes stayed focused on the road. "Maybe an uncle? I can't really see myself having any kids."

Adam laughed joyfully at the man's reply. "I was thinking the same thing. You seem like the type who'd be too tired or busy to have kids, but would always jump at the opportunity to babysit when you could." The boy relayed happily, which caused a small smile to appear on Ijichi's face.

"That wouldn't be so bad." Ijichi replied. "What about you, Adam? Where do you think you'd fit in a family?" Gojo internally winced at the touchy topic, but was surprised when Adam responded normally.

"Hmmm, well I know I have 2 younger half brothers, even if I haven't met them; but I think I fit more in the position of a middle child." Adam had a small smile on his face as he stared across the orange dusted treeline to their right. "I wonder what everyone else would say?"

Gojo smiled softly at his student's quiet question, happy with the progress he was making in terms of connecting to the people surrounding him. "I guess you'll just have to ask them." He replied, making Adam blink in surprise that his voice was heard. "So what's your favorite snack so far? You tried a bunch when we were talking earlier."

Adam took several moments to reply. "I guess I really liked the Fujiya ones, the squishy things."

"Gummies?" Gojo asked. Adam nodded at the confirmation. "I guess you still have a few words you need to learn."

Adam snorted, "I'm doing better than Fushigoro is doing with English at least." Gojo hummed in amusement before remembering the tests he'd given out to the two the previous week.

"He actually did better than you on that last one." Gojo corrected with a smirk.

"What? Are you for real?" Adam asked in surprise. Gojo merely laughed in reply while nodding. "Damn…I gotta start studying again."

"Hmm, if you had to choose one drink for the rest of your life to drink–"

"Coffee." Both Adam and Ijichi replied simultaneously. "You too, Ijichi? I like the taste."

"I like the energy." The man replied with a sigh. "What about you, Gojo?"

"Ooh, maybe Calpis? I don't know which flavor though." The man replied happily. The other two occupants of the car watched the man babble on about the pros and cons for each flavor for several minutes before he suddenly snapped back to his senses and continued the question game. "What's the best flavor of Pocky?" The entire group stayed silent to think for several moments before answering, a pattern that would continue for the rest of the car ride to the temple.


In the depths of a mountaintop temple sat a curse. 2 pale white arms crossed over its chest as it sat atop one of the charcoal colored tiles covering the entire roof space they were sitting on. Another pair of arms served to prop up its back, each one sprouting from either shoulder blade on its back and folding backwards. It was alone, now, a stark difference from the one bustling temple it'd taken up residence in months prior.

Once upon a time, when it first arrived, cursed spirits were as bountiful as stars in the night's sky; they each hunted and preyed on humans that would cross their threshold to explore the 'abandoned' shrine. Of course, that wasn't enough to feed them all, so some had to go.

Cannibalism wasn't rare among curses, in fact it was quite common. For every curse out there who had the instinct to hunt humans, there was one who had the instincts required to hunt both. If a cursed spirit ate one of its brethren, that spirit would serve as fuel for its hunter's power. That was what this cursed spirit made use of.

It had originally come in as a mere third grade spirit, but quickly rose in strength after consuming spirit after spirit. Two short months was all it took to reach special grade, and that event had occurred four months prior to this point in time.

The sorcerers that had tread upon its domain were killed swiftly and brutally, but that didn't stop their comrades from sending out messages regarding its strength. 'The Shrine Curse' they deemed it, a moniker that had no relation to its abilities or power, merely its chosen hunting ground.

New curses had long since stopped coming to the shrine after their lure was removed, something the spirit was both thankful for and annoyed about. Thankful, because it meant it was peaceful, but annoyed because it also meant there was no extra sustenance to be had. Spirits couldn't starve, thankfully, but they could get hungry, and this one was very hungry.

It wouldn't leave its temple though, because the mountains surrounding its abode were home to those far stronger than itself; it would be a death sentence to intrude upon another's grounds, especially when it came to stronger curses like themselves who tended to be rather possessive over their personal space.

The spirit wouldn't have to wait much longer though, as its next meal was being delivered to it at that exact moment.


Reviews are greatly appreciated!

Make sure to tell me if you want holiday themed chapters or not!

Subscribe to the Pa-treon for early chapters and the like!

Special thank you to StealthKug, Vishnu224, Trace Dickens, Matthew Hurt, Omer Boz, and Stanley Seymour, my wonderful paid members!

You can join for free to get notified whenever new chapters are posted there, which is definitely a nice plus. That can also be seen if you just join the discord though, which is in my profile! Also located there (my discord) is a relatively loose schedule I try to keep.

Woohoo for 100 favorites and follows!