Chapter 53 — Maki's Change: Officially Begins Her Body-Training Path
"Master, I'm ready!"
High in the mountains not far from the school, Maki stood facing Zen'in Shinsuke, eyes shining with excitement.
Her master was finally going to teach her stronger techniques. What could be more thrilling than getting stronger?
"Don't get ahead of yourself. Let's see if it takes first—start with an extreme conditioning session," Shinsuke said, handing over the weighted gear he'd prepared.
Maki donned the weights without asking questions and immediately dove into training mode. She'd seen her master do this countless times; she knew the drill. She'd tried extreme conditioning before, but after a single session she needed several days to recover—she didn't have Shinsuke's miraculous regeneration. Overdoing it would slow her progress and risk injury while she was still growing.
Shinsuke watched closely as Maki sweat and pushed herself. Her body strength was already at a high level, but could she forge the elusive "kiketsu" that would let her develop a different kind of power?
After a few hours of relentless exertion, Maki hit her limit and began to pant heavily. "Keep your mind clear—feel the changes in your body," Shinsuke urged.
Steam rose from her skin; her complexion flushed crimson. Shinsuke's eyes sharpened. "There's something here."
"Master! I can feel it!" Maki gasped, overcome with emotion. "There's a warmth in my stomach!"
Her joy was short-lived—she spat blood.
"Hey—what's wrong? Where does it hurt?" Shinsuke hurried forward to support her.
Maki's face turned a deeper red; veins stood out on her forehead. "Master…there are two forces fighting in my body."
"It's…cursed energy," she realized. That faint, previously hidden cursed energy inside her had been awakened. Shinsuke understood: the newly-forged strand of kiketsu had awakened and was pushing against the tiny remainder of cursed energy she carried. Kiketsu and cursed energy are antagonistic—usually only one can dominate inside a body. In a normal person, the cursed energy would instantly crush and expel the nascent kiketsu. But Maki's cursed energy was unusually weak, which allowed the fledgling kiketsu to hold its ground for the moment.
Either way, the internal struggle was taking a toll.
"Maki, you have two choices," Shinsuke said quietly. "First: I can remove the kiketsu you just created. If I do that, your cursed energy will remain active—you could become a sorcerer, but your ceiling won't be high. Or second: I can erase the cursed energy inside you entirely. If I erase it, you'll be like me—you'll never be a sorcerer, but you could fully cultivate kiketsu-based strength."
Maki's answer came without hesitation. "I choose the second."
Maki's face twisted with determination — no hesitation. That cursed energy had chosen the worst possible moment to flare up, and she'd had enough of it.
"All right."
"Hold on tight. My power is coming."
Shinsuke Zen'in set a hand on Maki's shoulder. In an instant a thick, feral surge of energy poured into her like a beast forcing its way in.
"Pf!"
That single, massive wave shoved the lingering thread of cursed energy out of her body; it fled in a single direction. Maki coughed up blood and collapsed, utterly spent, into Shinsuke's arms.
"It worked. From now on, your path is mine," Shinsuke said.
The last trace of cursed energy had been expelled — from that moment Maki was a true non-sorcerer. But she did not instantly acquire some miraculous, superhuman body like Shinsuke's. Because of the twin setup, Maki and Mai shared a link: as long as Mai still harbored cursed energy, Maki could never be literally the same as Shinsuke. Still, Maki had now unlocked the ability to cultivate blood power.
"Master, was that power… unique to us?" Maki asked, weak but elated. For the first time she'd felt Shinsuke's force directly — so vast, domineering, brutal. This was the road she wanted.
"Yes. I call it qi-and-blood power — something a body-trainee can cultivate. What you felt just now is only the base." Shinsuke carried Maki to the base of a large tree and propped her against the trunk. "Feel the changes carefully."
He guided the tiny strand of qi-and-blood into the acupoint in her brain, letting it seep slowly into the meridian.
"Your training from here on is to fill that acupoint with qi-and-blood until it's fully opened," he instructed.
"I understand, Master!" Maki rested a moment, then pushed herself up. She couldn't wait to begin — the qi-and-blood felt as mighty as cursed energy, if not more savage. Cursed energy is corrosive; this qi-and-blood was all raw force. Because Maki's internal cursed energy had been so weak, she'd had the chance to feel it at all. For most sorcerers, abundant cursed energy would have smothered any qi-and-blood the moment it tried to form.
Watching Maki, Shinsuke realized something important: if his qi-and-blood was powerful enough, it could violently expel another person's cursed energy. But that clash would be lethal for most people — Maki's case was exceptional. And ordinary sorcerers could always regenerate cursed energy, which made such a purge impractical for general use.
Having dealt with Maki, Shinsuke called over his shoulder, "You've been watching long enough. Show yourself."
"Oh? I didn't want to disturb you — but I didn't expect you had this in you." Satoru Gojo swaggered out from behind a tree, grinning as he looked at Maki. "Huh — no cursed energy at all."
"How did you do it?" Gojo asked, genuinely curious.
"Mister Gojo?" Maki bristled. She hadn't expected her secret training with Shinsuke to be witnessed, and she wasn't thrilled.
"Not on purpose, I swear. I just came looking for this guy," Gojo said, nodding toward Shinsuke. He didn't press how the purge had been done.
"Those high-level elders were going to have me secretly kill you, you know?" Gojo's tone turned excited — he'd finally found a proper excuse to beat Shinsuke. "They ordered me to execute you."
"What!?" Shinsuke stayed calm, but Maki instantly snapped — the idea that those stodgy elders would dare sentence her master to death set her hair on end.