Chapter 19 - Destination: Sorcery School

It wasn't hard to understand that Gojo had been watching him since he left the building, and he had also noticed Aoki, who was his greatest source of information about the unknown world.

But Hisagi wasn't nervous. Gojo didn't seem like a bad man, and from the way he operated, it was clear that he didn't care about the rules at all.

With that in mind, Hisagi felt much better, and the idea of going to a Jujutsu school became more appealing.

"You're probably thinking that something impressive happened or something like that, but while I was buying my almond pancakes, I suddenly felt the presence of a powerful special-grade cursed spirit. Since it's my duty, I had to assist whoever was facing such a dangerous enemy before the entire city was destroyed." Gojo's nonchalant attitude made Hisagi think that he didn't care about the victims at all.

There was no doubt that Gojo fulfilled his duty as one of the world's strongest sorcerers, but he wasn't as dedicated as others might be.

"That explains a lot..." Hisagi muttered, his expression unchanged. His attitude was mostly reserved.

"That doesn't explain what I saw on the battlefield you were on. If I had arrived late, many innocent people would have died in the furious flames." After saying that, Gojo Satoru stood up and pointed to the food and extra bandages on the table. "I've already bought you food, and I even got you a set of clothes similar to the ones you usually wear!"

At this point, Hisagi was impressed, but after hearing what Gojo Satoru said, he remembered to repay him when he had the money. His gratitude dropped a few levels, feeling a bit of distaste.

He wasn't a sorcerer; he had no duty, but he killed cursed spirits without charging anyone for it. The least a powerful sorcerer could do was give him the clothes for free, but I guess some Jujutsu sorcerers are really stingy.

"Though you can call me Mr. Gojo, from now on, I'd like to be addressed as Sensei Gojo... I'm not sure how long you'll need, but I believe you'll soon officially become a special-grade sorcerer. Anyway, take your time to recover and come to the school in a few days. My other students will pick you up when they've recovered from their injuries. By the way, feel free to visit them and tease them a bit." Gojo Satoru smiled as he opened the door to leave the room where Hisagi sat in silence.

"Thank you, Sensei Gojo!" Hisagi greatly respected people, and his respect for the strong was even greater. He wanted to stand up, but the pain in his body made him abandon the idea and return to bed.

Only at that moment did he notice that his leg had been bandaged, his right arm was also wrapped in bandages, and as for the rest of his body, apart from some bruises and blood, he was more or less fine.

"Well, it was a special-grade spirit." Hisagi sighed, reflecting on how that battle had unfolded. That spirit had been incredibly strong, but to his surprise, the power of his sword proved effective against the enemy's domain.

After Gojo Satoru intervened, as he had mentioned, he saved the people in the building before it collapsed or sustained severe damage. But that voice he heard at the end gave him a slight chill, making him think that someone else had been watching the battle.

"By the time I return to the sorcery school, I should be fully healed." Hisagi smiled through the pain; his body really couldn't handle much movement.

Suddenly, Hisagi's right arm began to heat up to the point where he needed to remove the bandage. As he looked, a red mark appeared, spreading across his arm as if it had a life of its own.

"What's happening now?"

The lines of flames moved up to his right shoulder, and a sort of white vapor began to emit from it. Eventually, his right shoulder was marked with some black lines extending downward. The shape resembled a thin cap with many blades, but the lines were much finer.

"Is that the mark of the fire demon?" Hisagi hadn't expected this, but it seemed that now that it had stabilized in his body, the consequences wouldn't be too bad—or so he hoped.

Since his body screamed in pain and he couldn't do anything else, he turned off the light and rested, opening his panel and planning to use those six thousand soul points.

First, he promoted his Shikai to level nine, a level where his mastery and power were far beyond what they had been in the fight with the Special-Grade Cursed Spirit, and all his abilities, once his Shikai was released, leveled up to level five.

One thing that intrigued Hisagi was his magic level—or, in other words, his kido, which was his talent for learning cursed spells. Since he had the book with the 99 spells that couldn't be learned with soul points, he promoted his talent and skill up to level three.

On the other hand, his combat style had promoted him to level five, and he had spent six thousand soul points just on that, leaving his stats with the following numbers:

*[... Name: Shuhei Hisagi

General Attributes:

Strength: 7 [256/1300]

Speed: 7 [1150/1300]

Endurance: 7 [808/1300]

Spirit: 8 [1309/1700]

Combat Skills:

Zanjutsu (Swordsmanship): 3 [49/300]

Hakuda (Hand-to-Hand Combat): 5 [250/1300]

Hoho (Speed): 6 [790/1100]

Kidou (Magic): 4 [0/900]

Zanpakuto:

Name: Ryujin Jakka (All Things of this World, Turn to Ashes.)

Type: The sword with the oldest fire

Shikai Skills: 3

Shikai Abilities:

Jokaku Enjo: 6 [0/100] – (Blazing Fortress)

Taimatsu: 6 [0/900] – (Torch)

Ennetsu Jigoku: 6 [0/600] (Flames of Hell)

Shikai Level: 9 [18/3900]

Bankai:

Name: Zanka no Tachi

Description: Intense flames with a fiery aura

Bankai Level: 0 (Sealed)

Cursed Power Level:

Level: 2 [300/500]

Items:

Hollow and Cursed Spirit Hook: [1-time use]

Book of 'Bakudo • Way of Binding (A book with the 99 Kido spells. These cannot be learned with soul points, only through the apprentice's hard work.)

General Status:

Souls sent to eternal rest: [3901]

Eliminated Cursed Spirits: [184]

Soul Points: [336]

...]*

...

In the following days, Hisagi was able to move more, though minimally. He struggled greatly to complete his daily needs but at least had the strength to do so. Once he finished his daily tasks, he spent his days in bed learning a spell that was very difficult to master, focusing on one that was especially useful. When resting, he would use his cell phone.

At the same time, Hisagi had been exposed to a lot of information on his phone in recent days. There were many supernatural incidents in foreign countries, especially in the United States and Europe, but Hisagi didn't know how things were handled in those places.

The next day, Hisagi bandaged his shoulder, as the mark that now looked like a tattoo could attract certain people's attention. His knuckles were still broken and healing. Even though he was still injured, he needed to leave today. Besides, today was supposed to be the special meeting Gojo Satoru had mentioned, so he had to hurry.

After a few hours, Hisagi was already seated on a high-speed train. Many people paid special attention to his body. Although he was handsome by some standards, the reason everyone was staring was because of all the bandages and wounds on his face.

Everyone was curious. A boy who should have been in college—how did he end up so badly hurt?

Hisagi didn't care about the stares. At that moment, he was studying the book and relearning the fundamentals of the spell he had been working on.

The distance from where he lived to Tokyo wasn't far, so Hisagi arrived at his destination soon. Besides, once he got to the meeting point, he could head to the Tokyo Jujutsu School.

"The time is approaching. Why hasn't the person you mentioned arrived yet?" Maki, who had some bandages on her arms, leaned against a large tree while the others waited for him.

"Well, don't be so hard on him, Maki. He got seriously injured recently. If he fought in the school where we got hurt, then he deserves a little respect." Panda smiled slightly and suddenly pointed at a figure in the distance among the crowd walking with a cane. "Isn't that him?"

Maki, hearing Panda's words, raised her head and saw a tall, handsome boy walking toward their spot, holding a cane. The reason she recognized him instantly was mainly because the bandages on his body were too conspicuous.

"Hey everyone!" Hisagi politely greeted them with his uninjured hand raised.

"Come on, greet our new teammate." Panda looked at Hisagi with a wide smile.

"Oh, alright. Hi, my name is Hisagi, and I'm 17 years old. I hope we can be good companions." Hisagi extended his bandaged hand and looked Panda in the eyes, curious about hugging this giant panda. After some thought, he decided to switch hands.

Maki looked at Hisagi and shouted, "Were you the one who intervened in our mission that night?"

Hisagi, who was staring at the enormous talking panda in front of him, replied lightly, "Hmm, I saw you holding a spear. You looked pretty cool, by the way."

"What did you say?" Maki hadn't expected to receive such a positive comment, leaving her speechless.

Panda took advantage of this to wrap an arm around Hisagi's neck and muttered, "If you're going to court Maki, keep in mind that she's very grumpy. If you're expecting anything cute or feminine from her, I'd advise you not to make any hasty moves."

"Oh, that doesn't bother me." Hisagi looked at Maki curiously as she started hitting Panda while cursing him.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

"I'm impressed. I never thought I'd have such charismatic teammates," Hisagi said with a kind smile.

"Hmm," Maki stopped speaking.

She looked at the young man more closely. Hisagi was dressed in the school uniform, but it had some odd modifications that gave him a different appearance from the others.

Hisagi was tall and muscular, his clothes fluttering in the wind. Each of his movements was respectful, making it seem like he had been well-mannered all his life, a stark contrast to his different appearance when fighting cursed spirits.

"So, shall we go to school?" Hisagi's tone was casual, which irritated Maki a bit, as she felt this guy wasn't showing his true personality.

Then, stopping her teasing of Panda, she walked over to Hisagi and said, "Hey, I don't care how you usually behave, but if you want us to be real teammates, you'll need to be honest about how you feel. There's nothing I hate more than people who pretend to be someone else when risking their life alongside you."

"Maki..." Panda hadn't meant to phrase it that way, but he also felt that Hisagi's behavior was a little strange.

Hisagi just smiled slightly and said, "Alright, I'm sorry."