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Around midnight, Naoya finally stopped his training. The rest of the trainees were already gone around dinner time and were now resting.
Naoya, on the other hand, skipped dinner and decided to focus on the training. The 'light meal' he had with Toji and the others was enough for him to train without any issues.
"Haaah," loudly exhaled Naoya. His clothes and hair were drenched in sweat, and his legs and arms were screaming in pain.
Using excessive weight without the use of cursed energy reinforcement was difficult for him, and it took him longer than ever to finish his workout.
Still, he hoped that at the end of it all, the training would have been worth it.
'System'
Ding~
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Name: Naoya Zenin
Title: Body Stealer, Possible Zenin Heir, Busiest Elementary Schooler, Hei Rank 5
Cursed Technique: Ten Shadows Technique (Active) / Projection Sorcery (Active)
Cursed Energy: 14360/14360
STR: 188 (+3)
DEX: 193(+2)
VIT: 248
INT: 202
LUK: 105
Extra Points: 0
Achievements:
_____________________
Seeing the increase, Naoya smiled. Just a single training session gave him a 5-point increase. It was a very rare sight for him these days since he had improved a lot, and the growth had started to slow down.
He guessed that it was because his body had reached its limit for his age. His overall potential had increased thanks to the rewards, but there was a limit as to what could be achieved at a particular point in time.
Not that he could complain much. He was already defeating Grade 1 sorcerers, and he actually thought that he was strong for his age, but the jujutsu world was merciless, and he feared that a special-grade sorcerer or curse could pop up out of nowhere and, for some absurd reason, aim for his life. He even feared that Toji might come for him if the man was ever short on cash.
'God, please give Toji nii-san lots of people to kill,' prayed Naoya and finally unshackled himself.
His legs and hands were swollen, and it looked painful to watch them.
"Senzu," called Naoya and formed a hand sign.
His shadow rippled, and the deer shikigami came out of his shadow.
Senzu nuzzle its head against Naoya's, making him chuckle at the affectionate deer.
The deer then noticed Naoya's swollen hands and feet and immediately started its job.
A green hue emitted from its body, and Naoya's injuries started to heal.
Once he was completely healed, Naoya did a few light jumps and stretches to check his body condition and smiled in satisfaction.
"Thanks, Senzu."
The deer nodded contentedly and rubbed its face against Naoya's.
"There, there. One of these days, you need to teach me the reversed cursed technique as well," said Naoya and patted the deer.
The deer stood back and shook its head.
"Huh, why?" asked Naoya.
The deer looked away from him.
'If you learned that, what will be my role?' thought Senzu.
Naoya, who understood what the deer felt, smiled and walked closer to it and hugged it.
"You big dummy, you will still be my best healer around. I just need to learn healing myself during a fight or in emergencies; in all other cases, I will rely on you."
The deer looked at Naoya and lowered its antlers.
"Promise," said Naoya and shook the deer's antlers as if agreeing to a deal.
Senzu nodded and then jumped back into his shadow.
Naoya shook his head helplessly and then looked at the shackles around him.
"...I will return them tomorrow," muttered Naoya and formed a hand sign.
[Rabbit Escape]
The rabbit horde burst out of his shadow and towered over him immediately.
"Spread around and check if anyone is nearby," ordered Naoya.
The rabbits gave a salute and spread out to follow Naoya's orders.
Maou, the rabbit leader, jumped on top of his shoulder and waited for his soldiers to respond.
Soon, Maou gave a thumbs up, seeing which Naoya smiled and raised his hand to form a hand sign.
"Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure."
Dark liquid like cursed energy started dripping from the sky, and a barrier started to form around him
Binding Vow: Entry Restriction {The Binding Vow prevents entry from outside, and in exchange, those inside the barrier can't go out as well.}
A curtain barrier formed around him, almost a 100m radius was covered, and the barrier prevented the entry of individuals from outside.
Once Naoya confirmed that no one was near him, he called out the rest of his shikigami.
[Divene Dogs] [Toad] [Nue] [Great Serpent].
The five shikigami jumped out of his shadows and got ready to receive their orders.
"Guys, I was planning to delay it for a bit longer, but the situation is different now. We need to exorcise a new shikigami today. Are you guys ready?"
All shikigami, including Maou and the rabbit army, nodded in determination.
Naoya nodded and took out [Inverted Spear of Heaven] from his shadows as well and got ready to start the exorcism ritual.
"I will summon the [Max Elephant] today to exorcise, understood. We will start with the standard exorcism strategy," explained Naoya.
The shikigami nodded as Frosting and Cupcake grew in size. Their claws and fangs got sharpened, and they took their positions.
Sparkles took off to the skies, ready to strike the moment a signal was given to him.
Twister jumped away from his spot and stood at the opposite end from Naoya, ready to restrain the opponent.
Mr. Hiss shrank even further and stood in front of Naoya.
Maou jumped back inside Naoya's shadow while the rabbit army formed a circle around the centre of the field.
Naoya checked the positions of his shikigami and nodded in satisfaction.
[Ten Shadows Technique: Exorcism Ritual: Max Elephant]
Naoya formed a hand seal and started the exorcism ritual.
Soon, a chained figure of a giant elephant appeared in front of them.
However, before the elephant was able to be set free from his restraints, the rabbit horde grew bigger and towered over the giant elephant silhouette.
"Go Demon Army!!! Super Rabbits Kamikaze Attack!!!" yelled Naoya.
The rabbits, on command, jumped on the restrained Elephant.
The moment all the restraints around the elephant were removed, the rabbits started to expand rapidly.
*BOOM!!!!*
A massive explosion tore the ground apart.
Naoya protectively covered his eyes and waited to see the result.
Once the smoke and dust cleared, a charred black elephant stood there with multiple injuries around its body.
"Cupcake! Frosting!" yelled Naoya and ran forward.
*Awoo**Awoo*
The two giant wolves howled and jumped towards the elephant.
The Elephant, in return, gave out a loud trumpet towards the incoming Wolves.
Its snout got thicker as water gathered inside it.
Cupcake launched towards the elephant first, but the injured elephant still had the strength to take on the wolf head-on. With its tusks, it threw the black wolf up in the air and fired a water jet towards Frosting.
Cupcake shrank back to normal size and jumped on top of the elephant.
Frosting jumped over the water jet and pounced straight at the elephant.
Not missing a beat, the elephant raised its trunk to change its firing direction; however, Cupcake changed back to its big form and chomped on the elephant's trunk, making the elephant wince and bleed.
Frosting, who was just in front of the elephant, activated its cursed technique.
A loud burst of sonic waves came out of Frosting's mouth, making the elephant's ears burst from the loud voice.
The other shikigami and Naoya were already back in the shadows, protected from the ear-destroying sound.
The elephant, in a fit of rage, grabbed frosting by its trunk and slammed it into the ground.
"Aoo..." whimpered the wolf from the attack, but got back up to fight back, only to see the elephant's foot coming towards it, ready to stomp it.
"Not so fast," said Naoya, and he emerged from the shadows and trapped the elephant in a frame.
Frosting got back in the shadows, and immediately, a giant Mr. Hiss emerged from the shadows and struck the frozen frame, sending the elephant flying in the sky.
Naoya was already beside the airborne target, his spear was covered in cursed energy, and he swung it with full force.
"Sparkles, n-" started Naoya; however, the burst wave from his attack tore through the elephant, disintegrating into cursed energy.
Sparkles stood there flapping its wings, some electricity crackling around its wings. It tilted its head before flying towards Naoya and catching him on its back.
"Sorry about that, sparkles. You didn't get to fight today," said Naoya and caressed the owl shikigami.
"Hoot"
The owl hooted in disappointment, though he didn't mind much. As long as its master was safe, it was good.
Sparkles landed on the ground beside the other shikigami.
"Senzu, heal them," ordered Naoya as the deer shikigami emerged and started healing the wolves. Their injuries were minor and would heal in a few minutes, but Naoya was not willing to see the two cute dogs with wounds.
"It went better than I thought," muttered Naoya and looked around the training field. It was totally wrecked from the attacks of the shikigami.
"Whatever, I will be scolded by father anyway. For the time being, let's meet our new comrade," said Naoya with a smile.
The other shikigami gave way for Naoya to summon their new member and stood beside Naoya.
[Max Elephant]
A giant shadow started materialising in front of them, and soon the elephant appeared there, though now it looked vastly different compared to the form it had earlier, thanks to the potential boosts Naoya got as a reward.
Previously, the elephant was black and was around 4m tall.
Now, in place of an elephant, there stood a mammoth covered in black fur and over 6m tall.
The Mammoth gave out a loud trumpet in greeting.
"Woah! You got so big!!! And now you don't even look like an elephant. Should I call you Max Mammoth now?" asked Naoya.
The mammoth didn't mind anyway. It wrapped its trunk around Naoya and placed him on top of itself.
"Woah!!! Amazing!!! So soft!!!" exclaimed Naoya as he patted the Mammoth's fur.
The mammoth smiled in delight at the praise.
"So what all can you do now?" asked Naoya. The potential boost mostly gave shikigami some new abilities as well.
The mammoth demonstrated —• water that turned boiling• released steam• cold water and frost• gusts of wind• enlarged, hardened tusks
"Hmm...water temperature control, wind blasts, and tusk control. Both ranged and tank roles. A fine set of abilities," said Naoya with a smile.
"Now time for the complex part. What should I name you? You want a cute name or a strong name. Raise your trunk for cute and let it stay down for strong."
The mammoth's trunk hung down.
"A strong name...since you are a mammoth from the ice ages....How about Frieza?" asked Naoya.
The mammoth stomped its feet in delight and shook the earth around it, making the other shikgami fall.
"Oi!!! Calm down!!! I will fall!!!" said Naoya.
The mammoth, Frieza, still wanted to play around. He grabbed Naoya with its trunk and threw him up in the air, and made him float there with a stream of wind and some occasional cold water shots to surprise the master.
Naoya let it play for a while, since it was the first time he summoned the mammoth, and he wanted to get on a good start with his shikigami.
After a few minutes of playing around and some protests from the other shikigami, Frieza finally put Naoya on the ground, and immediately the shikigami huddle around Naoya possessively.
Naoya just laughed at the possessive shikgami and played around with them for a while before calling it a day