At present, there were a total of twenty-one registered special grade beings in this jujutsu world.
Among them, there had previously been four special grade jujutsu sorcerers, and with Riezel added to their ranks, there were now five.
As for special grade cursed spirits, there were a full sixteen, all of which were officially registered. Meanwhile, the special-grade cursed spirit from the Juvenile Detention Center had not been included on this list because it had only just hatched.
Setting the cursed spirits aside for the moment, there were currently three special grade jujutsu sorcerers at Tokyo Jujutsu High.
The first was Satoru Gojo.
The second was the newly admitted Riezel.
The third was Yuta Okkotsu, who had only enrolled at Tokyo Jujutsu High the previous year, had been rated as special grade immediately upon enrollment, and had only recently advanced to his second year.
"I heard Senior Okkotsu also participated in the Kyoto Sister-School Goodwill Event last year and won the whole thing by himself."
Inside the dormitory, Megumi wore a stern expression as he slowly revealed the information he knew to the dumbfounded Yuji and Nobara.
"Aoi Todo also participated in the event last year as a second-year student from Kyoto Jujutsu High, and he lost to Senior Okkotsu."
Needless to say, that was why Megumi had said that if second-year Yuta participated, their victory would be virtually guaranteed, simply because he had already defeated everyone on the opposing side.
"Of course, we have Brynhart this year. In my opinion, even compared to Senior Okkotsu, that guy is just as absurd, if not even more so." Megumi narrowed his eyes slightly and said without much tension, "If we first-years still gotta participate in the goodwill event this year, then it might as well just become his personal show, right?"
At this point, Megumi still seemed somewhat unable to believe it, so he turned to Yuji for confirmation.
"Did he really... learn Limitless?"
In Megumi's eyes, this was extremely difficult and absurd to believe.
"I don't know. I haven't seen him use it..." Yuji spread his hands helplessly. "Teacher Gojo said that unless he gets cursed energy control that can rival the Six Eyes, even if he gets Teacher Gojo's technique, he won't be able to use it."
If one listened carefully, there was a hint of envy in Yuji's voice.
It honestly couldn't be helped.
He did not even possess a cursed technique and could only learn how to refine and utilize cursed energy.
Riezel, on the other hand, was clearly the same as him and had no cursed technique, yet he could even learn other people's innate techniques, which genuinely made Yuji envious.
"I heard Senior Yuta Okkotsu can also copy other people's techniques, just like Riezel?"
Yuji threw the question back at Megumi.
"Yeah..." Megumi said with a frown. "Senior Okkotsu's technique can copy other people's cursed techniques, whether they're innate or not. But he has an innate technique to begin with, whereas Brynhart, according to what you said, doesn't even have one, does he? If that's the case, then how did he learn someone else's cursed technique?"
For Megumi, that was a point worth paying close attention to.
He could be certain that if the higher-ups of the jujutsu society learned about this, it would cause a tremendous uproar.
If the ability to learn other people's cursed techniques proved to be something that could itself be learned or copied, then he could already imagine how many covert plans the higher-ups would devise to test Riezel once they learned about the matter.
More than that, they might even directly move against Riezel.
At the thought of that possibility, Megumi's brows furrowed even deeper.
"Who cares about all that?"
Nobara, unlike Megumi, did not think things through nearly as deeply as she chimed in, pointing at Yuji and Megumi as she spoke.
"No matter how strong that second-year senior you two keep talking about is, or how mysterious and suspicious that Riezel Brynhart is, that's all someone else's business."
"Shouldn't we be focusing on our own business right now?"
"As I said before, I don't wanna be a side character. If we're participating in the goodwill event two months from now, then we're gonna win even if we have to do it on our own!"
"If we can't win right now, then we'll work hard and get stronger over these next two months. We'll beat those sorcerers from Kyoto until they're crawling on the ground!"
Nobara's declaration, which was hardly something one would expect from a girl, left Yuji and Megumi stunned. They looked at each other before smiling.
"She's right!" Yuji slapped his palm firmly and stood up. "I'm gonna work hard to learn how to use cursed energy and get stronger!"
"Yeah." Megumi's pupils narrowed. "I don't wanna go through what happened at the Juvenile Detention Center a second time."
They had not even seen the special grade cursed spirit, yet they had been completely unable to move, reduced to prey that could be slaughtered at will and killed at any moment.
No one would want to experience that a second time.
Just as Satoru had said, they had been lucky that what appeared that time was an incomplete domain and a newly hatched special grade cursed spirit. Otherwise, the instant they stepped into the cursed spirit's domain, they would have died.
An innate domain was the ultimate destination of jujutsu, the scenery that lay at the very end of the path. Whether they were jujutsu sorcerers or cursed spirits, those capable of deploying an innate domain were all figures standing at the very pinnacle of the jujutsu world.
'If what we stepped into back then had been a fully formed innate domain...'
At that thought, Megumi's narrowed pupils became even darker and deeper.
Hence, aside from Riezel, the other first-year students also decided on their plans for the next two months.
And those plans were none other than special training!
===
From the day Riezel began his training onward, the first-year students of Tokyo Jujutsu High also entered a tense yet fulfilling period of special training.
Yuji followed the grade 1 jujutsu sorcerer introduced by Satoru.
While learning to refine cursed energy, he also went on missions with the sorcerer, desperately training his practical combat ability and working to incorporate his newly acquired strength into his hand-to-hand combat.
Megumi and Nobara, meanwhile, met with the second-year students who had returned to school and decided to train alongside them.
Riezel needed no explanation.
Once someone like him set his mind on something, he truly became capable of forgetting both food and sleep. Just like his experiences back then, when he had repeatedly risked severe injuries to improve Sun Breathing again and again, that state had returned once more.
In terms of sheer madness, Riezel was on an entirely different level from Yuji, to the point that even Satoru called him a lunatic.
If the people from the Loki Familia had been here and seen Riezel in this state, they would not have found it strange at all.
In the eyes of his familia companions, he had always been this reckless. He never cared about his own safety, slaughtered monsters wildly inside the Dungeon, and returned every day covered in injuries.
Riezel was the same now.
In order to completely master Limitless, he had entered a state of complete disregard for food and sleep. If Satoru had not been there to order him to stop, he might not have eaten or slept at all, instead using magic to maintain his physical condition so that he would not need food or sleep while relentlessly honing his cursed energy control.
Unfortunately, there was no shortcut to this process.
Unless one possessed a special ability like Satoru's, the only option was to improve through painstaking practice over time.
Fortunately, Satoru was there to constantly provide Riezel with hints and guidance. As Riezel repeatedly attempted to use Limitless, his ability to control cursed energy rapidly improved at a visible rate, allowing him to steadily and quickly move toward his goal.
During this period, Riezel also met Megumi, Nobara, and the grade 1 jujutsu sorcerer instructing Yuji, and through Lost Truth, he successfully learned all of their cursed techniques.
Ten Shadows Technique and Straw Doll Technique—these two cursed techniques were fairly effective. In particular, the former gave Riezel a pleasant surprise after he experimented with it, and he was simply waiting until he had completely mastered Limitless before developing it further.
Time quietly passed under these circumstances.
Riezel continued to improve his control over cursed energy, gradually bringing Limitless completely under his control.
Finally, one day...
"Does this count as finished?"
In an open area of the forest, Riezel stood perfectly still and raised his eyes toward Satoru across from him, calmly uttering those words.
Several centimeters in front of him, several rocks were suspended in midair.
They appeared to have been thrown toward him, with Riezel clearly being their target, yet they had now stopped directly in front of him, unable to advance even an inch further.
Satoru remained silent for a long time as he watched this scene before the curve of his lips gradually grew wider.
"You really did it..."
At this moment, even Satoru felt a profound shock, as though his entire worldview had been overturned.
No one understood better than he did what kind of state Riezel was currently in.
Yes, his Limitless had been successfully triggered by Riezel—the magical concept of an infinite numerical sequence had now been brought into reality by him.
Under his control, his cursed energy was already capable of interfering with matter at the atomic level, allowing him to achieve control over space.
Now, the space around him was no longer finite but had become infinite, as the most basic ability of Limitless, the neutral power of stopping, could finally be activated by him. As a result, every object approaching him would become slower and slower until it stopped completely.
That was a spatial defense of absolute inviolability and physical invincibility.
Needless to say, the innate cursed technique passed down through the Gojo Clan for generations—the ultimate jujutsu that had originally been usable only by those who possessed the Six Eyes—had now been completed right here and right now by someone who possessed neither the blood of the Gojo Clan nor the Six Eyes.
"Hahahaha—!"
Feeling that overwhelming impact, Satoru was not shocked in the slightest. Instead, he laughed joyfully—the sensation was very similar to how he had felt when Limitless had completely awakened within him back then.
He did not grieve or rage over the deaths of others.
He did not suffer or despair over his own injuries.
He simply devoted himself wholeheartedly to experiencing the world and feeling the impact it brought him.
Back then, he had felt as though he stood supreme beneath the heavens and above the earth, the only one who reigned supreme, the only one honored.
But now, in his eyes, the young man standing before him seemed to be the only 'Honored One' beneath the heavens and above the earth.
'He will change this jujutsu world...'
Satoru instinctively arrived at this feeling, causing the smile on his face to grow increasingly unrestrained and uncontrollable.
"Teacher."
Riezel, having no idea how moved Satoru currently was, called out to him when he saw him standing there without moving.
"Sorry, sorry. I spaced out for a moment."
Satoru came back to his senses and laughed, speaking with great delight.
"Yeah, you've successfully learned the basics of Limitless. Although it's only the most basic stopping ability, just this alone means that even if you rely solely on jujutsu, you can make nearly 90% of the people in the entire jujutsu world helpless against you."
"But this is a very important step, and you've already taken that step. From here on, everything else will just fall into place."
"Next, you need to learn 'Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue' and 'Cursed Technique Reversal: Red,' gradually mastering the powers of attraction and repulsion."
"Also, you need to take the stopping ability one step further. As long as you can reach my level, you'll be able to automatically and continuously maintain the technique around the clock without any interruption."
"It'll automatically judge the cursed energy strength, mass, speed, and other properties of objects approaching you, determine their danger level, and activate the technique's effects based on that assessment."
"Anything capable of actually harming you will be prevented from touching you, while harmless matter will be allowed to pass through."
Satoru explained enthusiastically.
"Besides, the two abilities produced by Cursed Technique Lapse and Cursed Technique Reversal each have their own special derivative applications."
"As long as you can use them proficiently, you'll be able to use Limitless to achieve instant teleportation, high-speed movement, long-distance transportation, and so on."
"If you can combine the two, you can even create new abilities and new techniques."
Satoru pointed at his own eyes.
By this point, the blindfold had long since been removed, leaving his pair of azure-blue eyes clearly exposed to the air.
"Limitless represents an infinite numerical sequence. It means infinity."
"Naturally, its possibilities are infinite as well."
"Depending on how it's used, the effects this technique can produce are absolutely beyond your imagination."
Satoru grinned and laughed with immense delight.
"Don't worry. I'll teach you all of it, so you'll eventually become the strongest."
He no longer had any doubts about that.
Being able to train himself to possess cursed energy control skills comparable to those of a Six Eyes user and successfully use Limitless had already proven Riezel's ability and potential.
Even though Limitless had many applications, some of them were exceptionally difficult, especially Cursed Technique Reversal: Red. Even he had been unable to figure it out for quite some time back then, making it difficult for him to complete.
But with this boy's ability and potential, that certainly would not be enough to stop him, right?
"Well, there's still plenty of time. Before the goodwill event, you should be able to get through several more lessons, right?"
Satoru walked over to Riezel and patted him on the shoulder.
"Just remember to give the people over in Kyoto a good scare for me when the time comes, okay?"
Hearing Satoru's mischievous remark, Riezel smiled helplessly.
"We'll see..." Riezel replied, then turned serious. "Since there are still so many lessons, let's keep going."
"Okay~"
Just like that, the intense special training continued.
No one would know that during these two months, a monster was being forged here, one that was about to overturn everyone's understanding of what was possible.
===
[A bonus chapter for reaching 400 Power Stones]
[Support and get early access to upcoming chapters at: patreon.com/VALRRR]