I promise you, I'm trying my hardest to get these chapters across. I'll upload every day from now on, I swear it on my dignity. I've just been lazy but if we hit the power stone goals then we are good.
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Julian had been knocked to the ground by the mysterious man. His back hit the floor hard enough to knock the air out of his lungs. The figure standing over him was wrapped in a dark cloak that concealed nearly everything from head to knees, leaving only a faint smile visible beneath the hood.
"Gee, will you calm down, boy," the man said with a protruding grin. "I only came to ask a few questions."
Julian glared up at him, gripping his staff tightly. "You are far too suspicious for me to trust," he replied without hesitation.
"My, my. Your trust is understandable, but still annoying," the cloaked man said casually. "I did not come to hurt you or anything like that."
Julian let out a slow breath through his nose.
"Do you really think I would believe that?" he said. "The amount of countermeasures you set up just to stop me from leaving the room was concerning."
"I have no idea what you are talking about," the man replied, brushing the comment aside as if it were nothing.
Julian frowned. "Do I really need to explain the whole scene to you?" he asked. "First, you kicked my door down. Then you set up a barrier around my room so I could not escape. Defensive magic costs an enormous amount of mana. On top of that, you deliberately flared your mana, not only to intimidate me, but to make me think you could maintain that barrier for a long time."
He looked straight at the man.
"Do you honestly think that is a proper way to introduce yourself to someone?"
The cloaked man tilted his head slightly. "But I was not even looking for you," he said. "Why did you try to run away in the first place?"
"YOU KICKED MY DOOR DOWN!"
The man burst into laughter.
"Welp, sorry about that. Bad introduction, huh?"
Julian stared at him blankly.
"You are only realizing that now?" he muttered under his breath.
"Anyway," the man said, clearing his throat, "sorry for the intrusion. But mind telling me everything you know about Satoru Gojo?"
Julian narrowed his eyes. "I could not tell you much. Even if I could, do you really think I would give that information away for free?"
The man clicked his tongue. "I forget how greedy mages can be," he said, shaking his head.
"I have a magic spell right here," he continued, pulling out a rolled scroll from inside his cloak. "A pretty handy one, if I say so myself."
Julian hesitated. "What kind of spell?"
"Well, tell me everything you know first," the man replied.
Julian sighed. "I really do not know much. He is a mystery even to me. He is a good teacher, a bit silly at times. He is extremely proficient in magic, and he also has some secret type of magic he said he would explain later, but he left before I could ask. Not to mention he is strong in hand to hand combat. Honestly, he is good at everything you could name."
The cloaked man stared at him in silence.
"And you think that is enough to earn yourself a spell?" he asked.
Julian thought for a moment. "Well, he has this spell called Red. It destroys things."
"Wow," the man said flatly. "Very helpful."
.
.
.
As soon as I stepped out of the restaurant, my stomach full and my energy restored, the first thing I did was thank Helga for the meal. Not that I could not pay. I had hundreds of gold coins. They were simply too beautiful for me to part with.
Heiter had said to meet at dawn, but unsurprisingly, I was running a little behind schedule. That was fine. The strongest always arrived last.
Still, one thing bothered me.
The Bernard situation did not make sense.
I was certain I had put up a curtain. Normally, I would assume something simple, like cursed energy not interfering with magic. But that was not the case. Magic and cursed energy were fundamentally incompatible. If magic was a pencil, cursed energy was an eraser. They canceled each other out.
And yet, Bernard and the demon inside him had communicated. The only possible medium was magic. Which cursed energy should have nullified.
It did not sit right with me.
I would think about it later.
For now, I needed new clothes.
I had avoided buying any because fashion in this world was painfully underdeveloped. Comparing it to modern standards was impossible. Still, while their technology lagged far behind, their power system was far more intricate than I expected.
Magic was far more interesting to me
I was not discrediting cursed energy. But give me three years with magic, and I would become absurdly strong. Maybe not a universal threat, but close enough to make people nervous.
Cursed energy came with limits. Growth required binding vows, clever restrictions, and constant workarounds. Magic, on the other hand, rewarded imagination and understanding.
Did I miss Japan? Fighting curses? Dealing with the higher ups?
Meh.
Teasing Utahime was fun, sure. But this world had unknown powers, interesting opponents, and food I had never tasted before.
"But damn, do their clothes suck," I muttered.
As someone who was clearly into fashion, this was a serious problem.
It's not like I hated the outfit that I came into this world with, it's just that it becomes so boring after like a month straight of wearing the same thing. It's like being a teacher 24/7, the jujutsu outfit was kind of cool though, but it was nice to switch things up once in a while.
Now unto my third issue, I needed to find a reliable place where I could find some clothes, I wasn't going to have some weird clothes on me, they had to be fashionable and cool, well at least as good as the ones I have on right now.
A sharp voice cut me out of my thoughts.
"Hey Gojo! Where are you going, don't you remember what we said!"
It was Heiter. Well, there was no escaping this one.