Chapter 77: The 'God' Behind Miko Yotsuya
After approximately three hours of playing around and sparring, the special training session concerning Cursed Energy manipulation finally came to an end.
Who would have thought that in response to Emiya's skepticism, Satoru Gojo would genuinely go and find the only stream within Jujutsu High and step into it without a word?
Relying on his precise manipulation of Cursed Energy, he effortlessly managed to cover the soles of his feet with Cursed Energy and stand on the water's surface. He could even do backflips without any problem, let alone just standing.
This seemingly magical scene was, in fact, not magical at all.
According to Satoru Gojo himself, even if Cursed Energy itself wasn't inherently repellent to the water's surface, one could utilize the repulsion between atoms to isolate oneself from the water. Moreover, Cursed Energy naturally does not dissolve in water.
These words were so overly scientific that Emiya instantly lost his composure.
But then again, Gojo Satoru, possessing the Six Eyes, can manipulate Cursed Energy precisely down to the atomic level.
Many things that are fantastical for other Sorcerers are quite easy for him. Gojo even boasted that he could easily fly freely, but the commotion would be too big, so it was better to use Cursed Technique: Bluefor high-speed movement in the sky. After all, humans are naturally not meant to fly.
Later, at Gojo's strong insistence, Emiya genuinely went through an entire morning of water-walking training, being forced to practice the motion of falling into the water no less than a hundred times.
That guy couldn't suppress his laughter and was frantically taking photos, yet he stubbornly insisted that even if Emiya couldn't learn to walk on water, carefully experiencing the contact between Cursed Energy and the flowing water would rapidly enhance his understanding of Cursed Energy manipulation.
And Emiya believed him.
What else could he do? His clothes were soaking wet from the very first fall anyway.
However, after three full hours of fancy falling-into-water training, Emiya did genuinely find a few tricks amidst the repeated failures.
Because even though he knew that this training was highly likely just Gojo's sudden whim and might not actually be effective, Emiya still took every step on the water very seriously.
By the end of the special training, Emiya not only successfully felt an increase in the precision of his Cursed Energy operation but also managed to stand on the water's surface a few times
towards the end... though it was only that. He still found standing quite difficult, let alone moving freely on top of it like Satoru Gojo.
But the most frightening thing isn't how difficult the road ahead is, but rather receiving no feedback after sufficient effort. As long as one can clearly see how much return each minute of effort brings, many people would instantly become self-disciplined.
After this water-walking training ended, Satoru Gojo successfully ended his long three-hour vacation and went back to exorcising high-risk Cursed Spirits in some unknown country.
Emiya, after returning to the dorm for an early lunch, also prepared an extra bento box before leaving. Miko Yotsuya had arranged to meet him today to deal with some very troublesome matter; the bento box was just incidental.
Hmm, although, the order of importance might be reversed, you never know.
"Sis, where are you going?"
At the same time, at Miko Yotsuya's home, she was just about to leave after putting on her shoes in the entrance hall when she was suddenly called out by her younger brother. Miko Yotsuya's body paused as if she had been caught red-handed, but she immediately adjusted her clothes with a very casual demeanor.
"I promised to go to the shopping center with Hana today to buy the new pastries that came out. I'll bring a portion back for you when I return.
You stay home and finish your homework, Kyousuke."
After briefly dealing with her younger brother, Miko Yotsuya pushed open the front door and slipped out without looking back.
Just a second before Miko Yotsuya left, her parents peered out of the living room simultaneously and said in unison: "Be careful on the road!"
Miko Yotsuya was rushing and likely didn't hear this advice.
But her younger brother, who was standing right in front of their parents, ignored this strange scene, merely staring at the direction of the front door and doubtfully stroking his chin.
"So suspicious..."
It feels like she's deliberately concealing something? She's also been coming home so much later recently.
After successfully leaving the front door, Miko Yotsuya made sure to find a spot where her family couldn't see her before finally letting out a sigh of relief.
She knew how tricky her brother was. If that guy found out she was going out with a boy, he would definitely immediately jump to the strangest conclusions.
Seriously! It hasn't reached that level at all! Wouldn't it be a huge loss if she was misunderstood just like that?
And more importantly, since her father passed away, her mother has been working hard to take care of them alone, and Miko Yotsuya didn't want to worry her mother.
Other things are fine, but if things related to Cursed Spirits were exposed, it would be terrible.
Actually, the night she left the assistant supervisors' temporary base last time, Miko Yotsuya immediately called Ijichi and learned a lot of information related to the Sorcery World from him.
This also made her realize how dangerous the profession of a Sorcerer truly is.
So, partly in order to help Emiya more and not be left behind, and partly because she herself has the Spirit Sight and would probably be inseparable from these things for the rest of her life, she requested that he teach her many things. Because of her Spirit Sight, Ijichi temporarily agreed.
Unfortunately, she has absolutely no talent in Sorcery. Techniques are completely out of the question; even now, she can only barely refine and apply a bit of Cursed Energy.
In fact, this is the norm for most Sorcerers. They are not like family-line Sorcerers, but rather self-taught with only ordinary talent. If they can independently handle a Grade 3 Cursed Spirit after two or three years, they are already considered very capable.
But the fear is not a winding road; the fear is not seeing any road ahead at all.
Miko Yotsuya was already quite satisfied to be able to feel a tiny bit of progress.
Emiya is busy, but they still have a chance to meet every two or three days, and she even gets to eat the bento he personally prepared—isn't that perfect enough?
Life is best when it is this peaceful and ordinary.
But just as Miko Yotsuya naively thought that this peaceful daily life could last for a long time, an accident occurred.
Because she had stayed very late with Hana Yurikawa the day before yesterday, Miko Yotsuya accidentally provoked a Cursed Spirit on her way home.
According to the rules of the Sorcery World, that Cursed Spirit was at least Grade 2 level, and definitely not something she, a complete rookie who had just learned to refine Cursed Energy, could contend with.
Just as the opponent was about to launch an attack on her, and Miko Yotsuya herself thought she might die, two Fox Immortal attendants, entirely covered in golden light, suddenly appeared behind her, and together they disposed of the Cursed Spirit.
After saving her, the two Fox Immortals extended their hands towards her, signaling the number three before clenching their fists.
The implication was that her three chances had been used up.
Only then did Miko Yotsuya remember that before she met Emiya, who could protect her, she had already visited a certain shrine and met the 'God'.
It accepted her wish to be protected and granted her three chances to be saved, with the price to be paid afterwards.
Before meeting Emiya, Miko Yotsuya had already used two chances... and the recent incident was the third.
This meant that she now had to go and fulfill her promise to that God.
But having gradually learned about the Sorcery World, how could the current Miko Yotsuya naively believe that was truly a God?
Yet, the contract had already been set, and the three chances were used up.
Miko Yotsuya clearly understood that she absolutely could not handle such a matter, which is why she tried to call Emiya. Ijichi-sensei had previously told her that even among Sorcerers, Emiya was now completely stronger than most people.
If she had a choice, she truly didn't want to be the one holding him back...
As Miko Yotsuya pondered how to explain what had happened to her to Emiya, she reached the vicinity of the agreed meeting spot, only to find that Emiya had arrived even earlier than her.
"Emiya-kun!"
The moment Miko Yotsuya approached, Emiya sensed her arrival.
But as Emiya responded to her call, he suddenly noticed some mysterious, autumnal yellow dead leaves appearing in the sky. Before Emiya could feel confused, those dead leaves converged behind Miko Yotsuya, transforming into two monstrous, sub-human figures.
"Watch out!!!"
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