[Quest: Nature of the Night!

Mandatory Goal: Survive until dawn! - Reward: ???

Optional Goal: Kill a Curse Spirit x #! - Reward: ??? x #

Optional Goal: Don't take any damage all night! - Reward: ???

Optional Goal: Don't use Cursed Energy Reinforcement! - Reward: ???

Time Limit: 11 hrs - Difficulty: C - Failure: Death]

The moonlight still illuminated the sky, but pitch black shadows had consumed the ground, and Denji could feel an overwhelming amount of Cursed Energy emanating from the forest surrounding him. The new Quest had made it clear that his life was in danger, he might die tonight.

A surge of panic ran through his Core, making his CE spike up. The sickle blade trembled in his grip. 'W-what? Calm down already.' He tried telling himself, but to no avail. Something was different with this fear he was feeling, it clung to his bones and it refused to be used as fuel.

A few seconds passed before he realized he couldn't blink, he couldn't breathe, his entire body was frozen stiff with fear. His confusion only served to multiply the fear pinning his body in place.

An imaginary hand formed and reached for an imaginary ripcord, however an imaginary shackle clamped down on his wrist and kept it out of his grasp.

His eyes were beginning to feel dry and irritated, and his head felt woozy from a lack of oxygen. The fear began to fade, slowly being replaced by death. And as he felt his life slipping away, he was able to recall the sensation of already having died once before. He had crossed the boundary line of life and death.

He couldn't accept a peaceful death, not when he hadn't experienced something that would have made his life one worth living for. He didn't want to die, he wanted to live. These desires were granted, he had survived and yet in his new life he was simply thinking about how to avoid death once more. Now he would die again, having never experienced something worth living for.

'Live.' A single desire burned through his bone chilling fear as his restrained imaginary hand formed a fist. 'Venomous Fire: Ignite!' A green flame exploded through his Core, Coils and Circuits, burning away all his CE, fear and death in his body.

"HHAA!" Denji desperately gasped for air after regaining control of his body, he also began blinking rapidly.

"SKIASKISHKI!" An ear-piercing screech rang out. He looked behind him and saw a bundle of thin tendrils writhing on the ground engulfed in green flames. It took about a minute for it to fade away as ash.

Denji felt around at the base of his neck where blood was leaking from a thin hole. 'Fuck, if that thing didn't mess around, it could've killed me. Ah, but there goes an Optional Goal, though I supposed I could make up for that reward by killing another Cursed Spirit.'

He wanted to hide away, to curl up into a ball and wait for the sun to rise. As long as he didn't use Reinforcement, he would still get three rewards. He wanted to live, but for what? What would he even be satisfied with?

'I'm already running away by using my Core to burn up all my concerns, that's why I'm currently lost in the woods, because I fled from everything that scared me.' Denji tightened his grip on his blade. 'I need strength, that way I won't be crippled with fear and could actually try to sort out my thoughts and feelings.'

There were a mountain of issues he needed to address, but when he was using his Core he didn't care, and when he wasn't, he just couldn't handle it.

He felt at his belt loop, where he had made small pouches from the scraps of his clothes, his lighter and egg were still firmly secured. He bent over and picked up his severed arm, while he had been planning on eating it if it came to that, now he planned on using it as bait.

"Cursed Energy Perception! Cursed Energy Reinforcement!" He had held back a bit because he didn't want to tire out in a few seconds, but even then he still felt his awareness and capabilities rocket up.

He walked straight into the dark forest, he at least needed to clear out a safe area.

…

…

For how deadly the forest felt, Denji hadn't expected he would have to be the one chasing down CS. Perhaps it hadn't been the best choice to activate his CTs so early; he was clearly scaring away the weak spirits. At least none of the mountain CS seemed like they were smart enough to trick him, so when they ran he knew they were weak.

Most of the ones he killed were rodent-like or just really ambiguous deformed blobs of flesh.

He was also weak, so when he felt a strong CE Aura, he also ran. Thankfully it seemed like he wasn't worth the chase. It had only been thanks to orally activating CE Perception, that he was even able to judge how strong an opponent was by sensing how their CE affected the atmosphere around them. 'There's probably a different name other than CE Aura, but I don't exactly have someone to correct me.'

After approximately a few hours, he could feel that his Core had gone into the red, so it might shut down at any moment. He refrained from pulling his imaginary ripcord; he was saving that in case of emergency, instead he started searching for a place to rest.

It was because it had been so dark, that he noticed an orange flickering light from a rather large distance. While waking to what was presumably a campfire, he also examined his Core.

'Unless I'm mistaken, it still uses all my NE even when it's only churning out pitiful amounts of CE. I think Gojo explained to Yuji that Sorcerers trained to bring out CE from even a spark of NE, which was why they weren't constantly a mess. But how exactly do I measure units of NE? How do I separate a single point of NE for testing purposes?'

Perhaps he had entered a mental lull, but even though all his NE were being drained, he didn't exactly have any positive emotions filling the gap. Then he realized that he never had an influx of positive emotions, he would simply feel relieved and excited immediately after activating his Core.

Regardless, he had gotten close enough to see the flames of the campfire now, and also a faint barrier that was almost unnoticeably distorting light from the fire. Denji supplied the Circuits in his eyes with a little more CE, and then he was able to see that a faint dome had been erected on top of the area surrounding the fire.

'A Curtain? No, that's wrong. There's no one normal people out here, unless it's hiding something from the mountain CS. Or maybe from Sorcerers— No, I was able to see it pretty easily.'

This barrier was clearly specialized, but he didn't know what for. There was no point in standing around, his knowledge was limited to what was explicitly explained, and then it had been explained by someone who knew what they were dealing with.

This was like showing a glass of wine to a teetotaller and telling them to guess what spices were used, without even letting them smell the aroma.

Denji wasn't exactly eager to cross into the unknown, he might get permanently trapped or even just die on the spot, so he began walking the outer rim. Even when he strained his eyes, he couldn't see past the distorted light, everything was just a blur inside the dome.

And then he stepped onto a dirt road, and the barrier was completely gone. Backing up a bit, he found the barrier was still in place, and crossing the road revealed it to be working fine over there too, so it was just the segment on the road that was missing.

'A road… Is it because it's an entry point? Or maybe it's a deliberate weakness to strengthen the rest of the barrier.' He still didn't know what the barrier did, but he had found a passage towards the fire.

Walking down the dirt road, he found a small black car parked off to the side. Since it was still in good condition, he would wager it hadn't been abandoned.

"—e can't!"

A raised feminine voice made its way through the trees and into his ears.

After carefully sneaking closer, he managed to peep into another conversation between a guy and girl. Both of them were sitting on a log near a campfire.

"C'mon, you said you put up a Perimeter Field, let's have a little fun before the sun rises." The guy wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders and pulled her close to him.

"No, it's set up to scare off weak Spirits and to weaken stronger ones while alerting me. We should've picked a better center, I could only find five trees that were in equilibrium." The girl helpfully explained the effects of her barrier.

"You're cute when you explain things."

From there the conversation devolved into flirting. The guy seemed pushy, and the girl seemed reserved.

'He'll probably end up cheating on her if she keeps it up, or maybe he'll push too far and she'll break up with him, either way it'll probably not end well for the,pm.'

The couple's conversation was mostly irrelevant, but the girl did explain that she was only a part-time Exorcist, so her skills weren't that great.

Denji walked around a bit, making sure to find a reasonably hidden spot still within earshot, and then he settled down. 'Thanks for putting up a barrier, ma'am.' His young body was definitely sore from running around all night, so he almost immediately fell asleep.

…

…

[Quest: Nature of the Night!

Mandatory Goal: Survive until dawn!

Optional Goal: Kill a Curse Spirit x 13!

Accomplished!]

[Rewards]

[Job: Wild Cursed Spirit Hunter (Rank: 1 Quality: 1): Deal 5% more damage to Cursed Spirits in the wilderness.]

[Hoodie.] [T-shirt.] [Gloves.] [Briefs.] [Sweatpants.] [Socks.] [Shoes.] [Backpack.]

[Cursed Hair.] [Cursed Stone Chunk.] [Cursed Wood Block.] [Cursed Reinforced Steel Rod.]

[Trait: Sickle Proficiency (Rank: 1 Quality: 1): Deal 5% more damage with a sickle.]

Denji wasn't sure when he woke up, but after reading the words in front of him, a pile of clothes and Cursed Items fell on him. Now fully awake, he crawled out from beneath the bush he had hidden under and peeked around a tree, the couple was gone. 'It would've been awkward to explain why I'm lugging around a third arm, if I was caught.'

The sun was bright and birds were gently chirping away, the entire atmosphere of a haunted forest was completely gone. He stood up, stretched, and changed out of his rags, then stuffed his remaining junk into his new backpack and walked over the camp.

The tent he had seen nearby the fire was gone, and after a little walking, he found the car was gone as well. 'Oh well, thanks for letting me safely rest.' He gave a light bow to the dirt road, and then he began walking along it.

He hadn't dreamt of anything. It had just been like blacking out, one second he was getting ready to sleep and the next he was awake.

'Man, what's up with these rewards? Did I seriously get some clothes for killing CS?' As a distraction from any building stress, he shifted his focus. 'And what do I even use these Cursed things for?' His body froze and he almost tripped.

[Cursed Item Creation (Level: 1): Grants the ability to create Cursed Items.]

'Oh yeah, I probably got this after that thing I did with my father's spirit. I could see why it slipped my mind.'

Denji retrieved the Cursed Item from his backpack, and flicked it open.

"Floooh." A bright yellow flame roared to life.

He was pretty tempted to just toss the thing away, but it was his sin to carry.

He swapped out the lighter with the Cursed Stone Chunk, it appeared as an utterly ordinary rock with some CE infused inside. However, it was a pretty massive amount of CE, it dwarfed his own current maximum but was nowhere near the amount he had seen during yesterday's fight. The rest of the items were about the same, overall it didn't seem to be a good idea to just have these out in the open.

Finally, the last thing he felt like examining was his own severed arm. He definitely had to ditch this before he entered a city, but he didn't know what to do with it. He didn't want it to be found and DNA tested, but he still wasn't in the mood to eat it.

As he was thinking about what to do with it, he noticed that the excess CE seeping from his body was flowing and lingering in the arm. After closing his eyes and sensing the path his CE took, he discovered that his arm still possessed some Coils and Circuits.

Denji took a detour off the open road and sat down behind a tree. 'Now what? I know I should use this somehow, but how?'

He spent a few minutes trying and failing to come up with any ideas. In his focus, he noticed that compared to the ones in his body, the Coils in the arm were tighter. Not smaller, but rather they forced CE against itself without leaking.

"Hmm…"

He took out his sickle and, with extreme focus, he dug and severed the Circuits everywhere except the palm. Then he rammed the Cursed Reinforced Steel Rod in the arm all the way to the wrist. He also used the Cursed Hair to tie his father into the palm, he placed the sickle along the fingers, and then he covered the entire arm in the scraps of his old outfit.

Then he revved his Core. "Cursed Energy Manipulation! Cursed Item Creation!" His CE skyrocketed and he felt his Circuits squirm as a real Cursed Technique was used. His hands gripped the arm tightly and squeezed, he didn't know what he was supposed to be doing, so he was just jamming CE in and hoping for the best.

'I need something else.' An artist's insight and inspiration struck. 'I swear on my life to never use this weapon against non-magical beings, and to never strike the same enemy three times in succession. It shall only be fired three times a day, with a 33% chance to misfire. If anyone other than me shall use it, then it shall break beyond repair. And I shall relinquish Sickle Proficiency!'

Denji felt faint as every bit of his CE was being sucked into the arm, he was on the verge of blacking out when his revved Core ran dry.

[Cursed Weapon - Haunted: Ignis Pugnus (Rank: 3 - Quality: 3):…

…

Binding Vow - Limitations:

1: It can be fired three times a day, with a 33% chance to misfire.

2: It will break beyond repair if used by anyone other than Denji.

Binding Vow - Restrictions:

1: It can never be used on beings unaware of Curse Energy.

2: A single opponent cannot be struck three times in succession.

Punishment: Death.]

It could almost be mistaken for a leather-bound steel baseball bat, or a large baton, but the sharp blade at the tip gave away its sinister nature.

A different flavor of euphoria was rushing through his head. 'This is it. Cursed Items, this is where I should be focusing my efforts. This way I won't need to risk my life unnecessarily, and I could search for my reason to live that life.'

Denji slumped against a tree, he was currently very exhausted but he was also relatively clear headed.

'I'm… living here, in this world now as a child. I can't keep ignoring that, I won't be able to survive here on my own. I'll find a police station and tell them my dad mysteriously died, and after that is when I'll worry about finding Sorcerers to align myself with.'

He could manage, but he really didn't want to live a life off the grid. If everything was eventually settled, then in order to live an ordinary life, he would need to be recognized by the government as a legal citizen.

'The characters of CSM are here in JJK, and the power system —at least mine— was different. That guy mentioned Cursed Gun Flesh, so clearly some blending is going on. Fuck man, did I screw up? Did I mess up meeting Pochita?'

As Denji was thinking about his new life with a level head, he felt something in his backpack wiggle. "Oh, sorry." He apologized as he took out the Cursed Womb, he was currently completely exhausted of CE to feed it. "Let's see." He removed the Cursed Stone from his bag and held it in his other hand. "Have some of this for now."

He casually flipped open a Circuit in his hand and swallowed up CE from the Cursed Stone, he flowed it through his Coils and then he flipped open another Circuit and transferred the CE directly into the Cursed Womb. Eventually the stone crumbled to dust, and the fleshy baseball grew a white shell. He gently placed it down as red spikes began to slowly protrude.

The last bit of remaining material he had left was a Cursed Wood Block. 'Really takes me back.' His mind drifted back to a workshop class he used to attend, he vividly recalled the whistle he carved for his mother, it had been the final gift he gave her. After opening his eyes, he found the wooden block had been morphed.

[Cursed Tool: Demonic Whistle (Rank: 1 - Quality: 1): It can only be blown with Cursed Energy and only heard by Cursed Spirits.

Cursed Technique: Cursed Item Creation has leveled up!

(Level: 2): Grants the ability to create Cursed Items.]

Denji gave the whistle a light blow, he truly didn't hear anything.

The sound of snapping echoed near him, at first he thought someone —a Cursed Spirit— had stepped on a twig while attempting to sneak up on him, but then he realized it had come from the Cursed Womb. The bone white shell was snapping and cracking as it shifted around, and then it sprung open like a child's toy.

"Gahaha! Tremble world, for the great Blood Demon has been born!"

A… cat-like thing declared suddenly after landing upright on the ground. Most of its body was interlocking bone plates, puffy intestines were sticking out its rib cage and neck. It had four arms, two legs, and its paws were made of flesh and blood.

"Ga-wah!? Unhand me at once, human!"

Denji picked it up and stared into its cross pupil eyes, it had blood red horns sticking back and everything. "Only the very name of Power itself captures your magnificence! I'm honored to have a little sister as wonderful as you!" He had been an only child, so it might be fun to play the role of a big brother.

"Very well, human!" The carnage cat, Power, gave off a smug air. "I, the embodiment of Power itself, shall take you on as my personal servant."

'Hmm, I wonder about her personality. She didn't immediately attempt to kill me, and she seems intelligent enough.'

AN:

Binding Vow: Resolution works by granting an immediate effect at the risk of suffering a punishment if the objective is not accomplished within the given time.