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Four years have passed by since the day Naoya met his uncle's fiancée.
His life was going well, with him being busy with school during the day and with training at night. Progressing slowly and steadily, Naoya was now almost a grade 1 sorcerer. Though it was still unofficial since he was not assigned an official rank yet.
Most people only get their initial assessment for their ranks around the time they joined Jujutsu High School, except for the cases of special people called the Special Grades. Satoru, the Gojo clan heir, was one of them.
Naoya only felt worse for himself whenever he compared himself to his friend. A man who shifted the course of the Jujutsu world on the day of his birth. How was he supposed to be on that level?
Still losing hope and giving up was not his style. He was a believer that slow and steady wins the race, and his stats were indicators of that.
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Name: Naoya Zenin
Title: Body Stealer, Possible Zenin Heir, Busiest Elementary Schooler
Cursed Technique: Ten Shadows Technique (Active) / Projection Sorcery (Inactive)
Cursed Energy: 14360/14360
STR: 183 (+98)
DEX: 190 (+123)
VIT: 247 (+147)
INT: 201 (+108)
LUK: 101 (+67)
Extra Points: 0
Achievements:
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His stats were now leagues apart from the time he first started. His cursed energy control and the amount that he can utilise also increased a lot.
And not just the stats, the other perks that he got from the system were great as well.
The achievements hooked him with some incredible rewards
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>Have 2 stats reach 100 (+10% potential increase) [Collect]
>Have 3 stats reach 100 (+10% potential increase) [Collect]
>Have 4 stats reach 100 (+10% potential increase) [Collect]
>Have 5 stats reach 100 (+10% potential increase) [Collect]
>Have 1 stat reach 200 (+10% potential increase) [Collect]
>Have 2 stat reach 200 (+10% potential increase) [Collect]
>Increase STR to 100 (+10% strength while fighting, +10% strength boost when using cursed energy reinforcement, +10% increased muscle quality)
>Increase DEX to 100 (+10% mind-body coordination while using equipment, +10% strength boost while using equipment, +10% speed boost while using equipment)
>Increase INT to 100 (+10% cursed energy amount, -10% cursed energy consumption, +10% cursed energy output, +10% cursed energy and cursed technique activation)
>Increase LUK to 100 (+10% chance to increase all stats by 1 {once a day}, +2% chance to revive from death with recovery from the attack, +10% chance to avoid fatal injuries, +5% chance not to consume cursed energy for an attack)
>Increase VIT to 200 (+10% resistance to poisons, diseases, status conditions, -10% damage from physical attacks, -10% damage from cursed energy attacks, +10% regenerative power, -10% food requirement to survive, +10% fatigue recovery rate)
>Increase INT to 200 (+10% cursed energy amount, -10% cursed energy consumption, +10% cursed energy output, +10% cursed energy and cursed technique activation, +10% cursed energy recovery, +10% faster brain processing, -10% damage from mental attacks, Simultaneous cursed technique activation)
>Catch 151 P*kem*n (+500 cursed energy)
>Catch 251 P*kem*n (+500 cursed energy)
>Catch 151 Shiny P*kem*n (+1 in all stats)
>Catch 251 Shiny P*kem*n (+1 in all stats)
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He was not gonna lie, the potential increase and LUK awards were borderline cheating. But it's all okay if he was the one who was cheating.
A chance to ignore death and get stronger every day. He was really thankful for that, especially the stat part, since the more achievements he racked up, the harder it got for him to earn points from progressive quests, which were now getting relatively difficult to achieve in a short amount of time.
Because of this, his only choice was to delve into new activities and get points from there, but that too was not an easy way since doing multiple activities demanded time, which he simply didn't have much of. He was probably the busiest elementary schooler out there. School, Sports clubs, cultural clubs, jujutsu training, he was already very busy with all these.
Truthfully, he was getting a bit tired of grinding points, but if he gave up, then all would be for nought.
As for his cursed technique improvements, thanks to multiple potential increases, his Projection sorcery was also improved by 70% meaning he could theoretically go up to 40.8 frames per second and out of it, thanks to his daily training, he could now move at 36 frames per second, 38 if he is totally focused.
The potential increase also increased the duration he had to choose the set of movements and stop his opponents in frame, which meant that he now had 1.7 seconds to choose the movements and 1.7 seconds to trap his opponents in frames. It might not seem much of an improvement, but for Naoya, the unofficially fastest sorcerer, it was a very lethal move in his arsenal.
As for his ten shadows technique, he had unlocked more shikigami.
Great Serpent: The shikigami that Naoya gave up on the first time he tried to exorcise it. It was a giant purplish snake with horns and poisonous fangs. It was large enough to occupy almost half of the Zenin estate. A very formidable shikigami that can turn the tide of battle with its strength and poison. The snake's poison was not that effective on curses, but still, it seemed to make them a bit sluggish. Naoya named this shikigami Sir Hiss, which the snake seemed to like a lot.
He was starting to think that his dangerous-looking shikigami liked non-threatening or cute names, but still, he liked those names for them as well. Made him feel closer to them
His next Shikigami that he exorcised was:
Nue: A giant red owl-shaped shikigami. The shikigami was capable of flight, making it easy for him to strike air-borne foes as well as ride it too. The shikigami could also produce and fire electricity from its body, making it a strong shikigami to fight a long-range battle. Nue was also quite big, capable of carrying 2-3 people on its back. The name given to this Shikigami was Sparkles.
For his final new Shikigami, Naoya unlocked:
Round Deer: A huge greenish deer capable of using the reversed cursed technique, a healing ability only a few jujutsu sorcerers could master and here was a deer that could just spam it since it was oozing positive energy. It could also disrupt the cursed techniques of other sorcerers since the positive energy that it used disrupted the flow of the negative cursed energy of other sorcerers. This shikigami was named Senzu Bean or Senzu for short.
Naoya understood that the sizes of shikigami and their abilities varied from what he initially knew when he got his cursed technique, but with the potential increases that he received, the shikigami also evolved and got stronger.
Cupcake and Frosting could now increase their size if they wanted and were stronger than before. The two can also use a sort of cursed technique where they howl loudly and fire a sonic scream at their opponents. A very effective move on all accounts, it's just that it's omnidirectional and thus affects the allies as well.
Maou and the Rabbit army were effective and dangerous than ever. First of all, their numbers increased exponentially, and for some unknown reason, the rabbit army got the ability to go boom. And tough not strong individually, when the horde explodes simultaneously, it packs quite a punch.
Twister got a power-up as well in its legs. The toad shikigami could now jump very high. It also now had two tongues, and each tongue for strong enough to lift 2 tonnes. It might seem mild when compared to other shikigami, but Twister was dangerous in its own right. He once saw the toad grab a cursed spirit from two ends and tear it apart then and there without any difficulty. Definitely a brutal fighter.
The increased potential had made his shikigami far more dangerous than they already were.
And all this, coupled with the ability to use both of his cursed techniques simultaneously, made him a very serious threat to any jujutsu sorcerer. His versatility itself was something very difficult for others to overcome.
And that was all the improvements that Naoya achieved during these years.
Right now, he was in his training courtyard. Today was a weekend, so he was busy training himself.
His father's term as a tentative clan head was currently going on, making him busy and thus not focusing much on Naoya's training. Not that he needed to do much now. He had given Naoya a direction, and the boy was steadily progressing, shocking even Naobito. Noaya even surpassed him in the technique that he had been using longer than him. At first, he wasn't accepting of it since both the techniques were the same and thus their limits should be the same as well; however, he finally gave up when Naoya told him that his two cursed techniques were sort of synergising and thus enhancing each other for some reason.
Naobito accepted that explanation since he couldn't find any other reason for this to happen. He thought that it might be possible to overcome his own limits as well, but if the technique improved, because of synergising with the other technique his son possessed, then nothing could be done. The fact that even his shikigami go stronger solidified this proof as well, since the synergising effect was applied to both techniques.
That day, Naoya realised how convenient having dual techniques was in this world where people only had one. He could easily blame the system's doing on that, and no one could prove him otherwise.
Still, even if they didn't agree with his theory, what else could they do? It wasn't like they could make him go back to his previous limits.
Shaking those thoughts off his mind, Naoya focused back on his training.
Right now, he was doing pushups with a huge boulder on his back.
Sweat was dripping from his forehead, but the only way to naturally increase his STR stat was strength training. He had to do that to gain points. There was also the fact that his strength would increase as he aged, but that would just be a minor increase. This training gave more substantial results.
"Naoya-sama," called as servant.
"Yes?"
"Naobito-sama had asked me to fetch you at once."
Naoya's shadow darkened as a huge snake tail came out of it and wrapped itself around the boulder, and placed it on the ground.
"Thanks, Mr. Hiss," said Naoya with a smile as the tail descended back into his shadow.
The snake hissed in delight as a smaller version of the shikigami slithered its way and rested on Naoya's neck like a scarf.
Mr. Hiss seems to like this spot a lot.
The snake shikigami was also able to reduce its size to not to accidentally crush its summoner under it. What a thoughtful little guy.
"Is there some emergency?" asked Naoya, wiping the sweat off his forehead, followed by dusting his clothes.
"I don't know Naoya-sama, though he didn't look mad," replied the servant.
"Hm? Then I might not be in trouble. Should I rush there or do I have time for a quick bath?"
"You should probably hurry."
"Okay. Thanks for informing," said Naoya, and ran towards the clan head's office where his father was currently working.
"You called me father?"
"Yes, come in."
Naoya nodded and stepped closer to his desk and waited for him to finish what he was doing.
Once Naobito was done going through the file that was in his hand, he looked up at Naoya.
"Your time to join the Hei has come. Take a proper rest today. Tomorrow you will be undergoing the trial to be ranked in Hei," said Naobito with a smile.
"Hm? This soon?" asked Naoya.
"You are already 10. The Zenin family members are assigned to different squads once they reach 10 years of age. Yours got a bit delayed since you had that whole monthly trial shtick. However, now that you are done with that, you will officially undergo the clan's process. And let me warn you. Don't play around with Hei like how you did with Akashi and Kukuru," said Naobito in a cold tone, hearing which Naoya nodded.
"The Hei consists of people who will most likely compete for the position of clan head. It may be called a unit, but everyone in this squad has their own personal agenda. They won't show mercy, and if they get a chance to 'cut down competition', they will happily do so. Be careful and fight the best you can. The higher you rank, the fewer the number of people you need to answer and more authority in your hands," said Naobito with a smirk.
Authority was not something Naoya was obsessed with; however, not needing to answer the other clan members was certainly a worthy reward.
Naoya went through various scenarios in his head before he stood up and went back to his room to take a break, like his father told him.
A rare day off should be enjoyed to the fullest.