While Gojo is goofy and silly, he also has a great calculative mind and is capable of logical thoughts. This chapter is an information dump chapter. Enjoy!
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The second day in the village near Strahl was pretty uneventful. Well, not completely boring, but I didn't really learn anything new aside from my own experiments with magic.
Sitting on my bed, head resting on the pillow, I visualized both cursed energy and mana interacting with each other. It felt strange trying to control them simultaneously—the flow, the structure, the rhythm of both were completely different. The result, though, was disappointing. Cursed energy refused to properly mix with mana.
"So cursed energy is more powerful?" I muttered, frowning slightly.
It seemed that because of the imbalance between the two, I wouldn't be able to use them together, at least not yet. A perfect 50:50 ratio wasn't the answer. I tried lowering the cursed energy portion to 30%, then even further, but it didn't matter. Every attempt ended the same way.
No matter what ratio I used, cursed energy always overpowered mana, disrupting its flow entirely. It was like trying to mix oil and water, the moment they touched, cursed energy simply dominated and erased mana from existence.
(A/N: Foreshadowing)
I racked my brain trying to figure out why it didn't work. Was it because they were completely different power systems? But then, why didn't magic dispel when it came into contact with Infinity?
That's when it clicked.
"Ohhh," I said, a faint smirk forming on my face.
I had a theory.
Infinity isn't affected because it's neutral energy. Cursed energy, on the other hand, is inherently negative, it corrodes or cancels out other energies, including magic. That means, theoretically, only reverse cursed energy could work in harmony with mana.
To test it, I summoned a small flame at the tip of my hand. Carefully, I began feeding it reverse cursed energy. Instantly, the flame flared up, burning brighter and hotter than before. A faint wisp of blue mixed with the orange glow, and the pressure radiating from it was insane.
"Whoa," I muttered, quickly cutting off the reverse cursed energy. The flame shrank back to its normal size.
To think it had an effect like that.
It wasn't just amplifying the fire.
it was multiplying its power and heat at an uncontrollable rate.
"Interesting," I said to myself, leaning back. "But I haven't even nailed down the basics yet, and I'm already mixing jujutsu techniques into it."
Now that I'd confirmed I could combine the two, the next step was figuring out how to use mana efficiently.
As I'd learned, visualization is the key to controlling mana. The clearer your understanding of the process—the "science" behind it—the more powerful and efficient your magic becomes. For example, you can imagine a flame, and it'll appear, but it'll cost more mana and produce less heat. However, if you visualize how the atoms move and react, the flame becomes far stronger and uses less mana.
But for someone like me, who's been working with subatomic control for years, basically my entire life, this was child's play.
Even though cursed energy is vastly different from mana, I can still think of a few things I can replicate, like magic concealment.
In the jujutsu world, you can usually track someone by the amount of cursed energy they leak, or by the residual traces they leave behind if they don't use a barrier.
Well, in this world, it's pretty much the same. The amount of mana leaking out of me was... considerable, to say the least. The priest and mages I'd seen earlier were clearly concealing their magic, but not very well. I'm guessing people here aren't exactly fluent in magic concealment.
For me, it's easy. I'm Gojo Satoru.
All I had to do was observe where the mana was gathering in high densities and seal those points off. Then I manually adjusted the smaller flows until only a tiny, nearly undetectable trace of mana was being emitted from my body.
I got up from my bed, stretching my arms as I let out a long yawn.
"Time to eat lunch," I said, swinging my arms back and skipping down the stairs.
Looking over the railing, I spotted the bald innkeeper—fast asleep behind the counter.
So he did live here. And all that talk about "having a job" was just a lie, huh?
Oh, the great deceit! The betrayal!
Well, whatever. I wasn't about to disturb a man in his own home. I'd just grab some food and head out.
I also needed to get a change of clothes. I'd been wearing the same thing for too long, and someone as rich and fashionable as me couldn't possibly keep repeating outfits. But… that could wait for later.
As I walked through the streets, I could still feel the stares.
Come on, I've been here for two days! two!And they're still looking at me like I'm some kind of sideshow. I can see you guys, you know? Blindfold doesn't mean blind.
While I was wandering around, lost in thought, something caught my attention down a nearby alleyway. Two older kids were cornering a younger one, shoving him around and laughing.
Normally, I'd just yawn, tell them to knock it off, and move on with my day, but this time something was different.The kid they were bullying, he was radiating mana more than anyone I'd seen so far.
"You know, a two-on-one isn't really a fair fight" I called out to the kids.
They spun around, eyes wide with surprise.
"Oh, it's the weirdo with the blindfold and funny clothes!" one of them sneered.
'So it was both,' I grumbled in my thoughts.
"Whatever, man. We weren't even fighting this loser," the other kid muttered, trying to act tough.
I chuckled. "Right, so the bruises on his chest, arm, and cheek are just coincidences, huh?" I stepped forward, my grin widening.
"I'd appreciate it if you got lost," I said calmly, though my tone left no room for argument. "I need the kid. He seems… interesting."
The two bullies froze for a moment, then exchanged uneasy glances before backing off and disappearing down the street.
When they were gone, I turned my attention to the boy. He looked about ten, maybe eleven. His blue eyes were dull and tired, his black hair messy and caked with dirt. His brown shirt was full of holes, and his trousers were stained with mud. Bruises covered his body, and his right shoulder was clearly dislocated.
"Wow," I said, crouching down to his level. "Aren't you pathetic."
Back to old habits.