"What's going on?" Mai coughed, irritation bleeding into her voice as dust settled around them. "Wasn't this place supposed to top out at Third Grade? What kind of report was that?"
No one answered.
There were more immediate concerns than paperwork.
The curse answered for them.
With a guttural snarl, the massive lizard-like spirit tore a slab of concrete free from the floor and hurled it. The chunk was nearly the size of Ren's torso. It tore through the air with a violent whistle.
"New Shadow Style: Simple Domain—Draw!"
Miwa dropped her center of gravity, cursed energy expanding around her in a dense sphere. Her blade flashed.
The slab split cleanly in two.
The halves slammed into the ground behind them.
But the assault didn't stop.
The curse's claws gouged into the surrounding structure, ripping out fragments of flooring and shattered pillars. One after another, boulder-sized pieces of debris came hurtling toward them like artillery shells.
Miwa's sword became a streak of silver light.
Each incoming mass was cleaved apart the instant it entered her domain. Stone shattered. Rebar snapped. Dust bloomed with every cut. The air filled with the sharp scent of pulverized concrete.
From directly behind her, Ren watched closely.
"Impressive," he said quietly.
Miwa's breathing had grown uneven. Sweat gathered along her temple, trailing down her jawline. Her shoulders trembled almost imperceptibly with each swing.
"I've… got it," she insisted between breaths.
She knew Ren was stronger. Anyone with eyes could see it. But he was new. Unseasoned. Utahime had entrusted her and Mai with protecting him.
That responsibility mattered.
The curse roared again and intensified its barrage.
The impacts came faster now—denser, less predictable.
Miwa's blade continued to intercept everything within range, her movements precise, but the strain was mounting. Every automatic counter still required her body to keep up. Every cut demanded coordination between cursed energy flow and muscle memory.
Behind her, Ren tilted his head slightly.
"Do you want me to step in?" he asked.
Mai spun toward him, fury flashing in her eyes.
"Don't act like you're supervising us!" she snapped. "Just stand there and watch. That was the assignment."
She drew her revolver again and aimed for the creature's head.
Gunfire cracked through the hall.
Each bullet was infused with cursed energy. Each impact struck true.
Ren's enhanced vision tracked the shots clearly.
The bullets hit the creature's crimson-scaled skull and detonated against it, leaving shallow indentations and bursts of blackened smoke.
They hurt it.
But not deeply.
The curse snarled, shaking its head as fragments of cursed energy dispersed from its scales.
"See?" Mai muttered. "It's taking damage."
Another volley of debris came flying.
Miwa cut them down again, though her breathing grew sharper.
Ren remained silent now.
He had spoken enough.
He understood the tension. He understood pride.
He also understood something else.
They hadn't used their Innate Techniques yet.
Every sorcerer possessed one. A technique engraved into their very being. Something distinct. Personal.
Mai's sharp eyes and practiced gunplay. Miwa's disciplined blade and domain.
But those were still fundamentals.
Ren folded one arm lightly, resting his other hand against his chin as he observed.
If they revealed their Innate Techniques, the situation would shift immediately.
He wanted to see it.
The curse suddenly leapt high into the air.
Its massive tail slammed against the ground mid-ascent, sending one final wave of shattered metal and stone toward them.
"Draw!"
Miwa poured cursed energy into her blade, intercepting the last storm of projectiles.
Then the curse hung suspended above them.
Its jaws opened wide.
A red glow gathered in its throat.
Heat radiated outward in a violent pulse. The surrounding air shimmered. Metal machinery warped as the temperature spiked.
Ren felt it instantly.
This wasn't debris.
This was concentrated cursed energy.
A different class of attack.
Miwa braced herself, confidence flickering but not gone.
Simple Domain automatically countered intrusions within its range.
Whatever came, she would cut it.
Behind her, Ren spoke again—calm, measured.
"Miwa."
Her focus remained upward.
"Yes?"
"Can your draw cut fire?"
For a split second, confusion crossed her face.
Then the creature exhaled.
A torrent of blazing red energy erupted from its mouth.
It wasn't ordinary flame. It was cursed energy shaped into combustion—dense, surging, swallowing the distance between them in an instant.
Heat roared through the hall.
Miwa's blade moved.
But for the first time, there was hesitation.
Fire wasn't stone.
It didn't have a fixed trajectory.
It flooded.
And it was already inside the domain's perimeter.
Ren's eyes sharpened.
This was no longer a Third Grade situation.
This was something else entirely.