Shrine Domain.
The various Sōjun Minamoto clones resumed their activities as before.
The one seated lazily on the stone throne raised a hand with a casual gesture, summoning both a swirl of cold air and a glowing orb that flew toward him.
The orb, unsurprisingly, was a source of Cursed Energy.
Since Uraume hadn't had time to unleash her technique, she had barely used any Cursed Energy, so the glow of the orb remained brilliant.
The cold air, on the other hand, was her technique—[Ice Formation Cursed Technique].
Sōjun Minamoto cradled the chill in his palm, observing the faint black threads swirling inside, their shape dynamically holding a crown-like form.
It looked like a black snowflake, flickering within the freezing aura, seemingly trying to break free of its restraints.
If this weren't inside the Domain, and he had killed the sorcerer with Cursed Energy instead of assimilating her, the technique would've vanished the moment she died...
But that was just a hypothetical.
After a moment's thought, Sōjun casually swallowed the snowflake, then slapped the glowing orb of Cursed Energy into his palm. He leaned his head on his hand again and closed his eyes.
He bore the heaviest task of all—
To endure the void itself.
...
Elsewhere, on the street.
A surge of frigid energy suddenly burst out from Sōjun Minamoto's body, but it was instantly caught by an invisible force and forcibly drawn back to the surface of his form.
The technique could now be transferred freely among his clones, even exposed to the outside environment, without being affected by any balancing mechanism.
He stood there in silence for a moment before fully mastering the [Ice Formation Cursed Technique].
Just as he was about to leave, a voice called out from behind.
"Uh, h-hello!"
Right after that came a massive wave of Cursed Energy.
Sōjun instantly recognized it—he turned around, and sure enough, it was the boy he had encountered before.
The boy stood some distance away, holding a small pouch. Half of a vengeful spirit emerged from the shadow at his feet, baring its fangs at Sōjun Minamoto.
"Rika!"
The boy shouted in panic.
Rika barely held back, but her eyes locked onto Sōjun, her aggression clear and ready to explode.
Seeing that, the boy sighed in relief and looked toward Sōjun Minamoto.
"Sorry... Rika never listens to me."
After a pause, he added,
"I never got to thank you for what you did last time. So... thank you."
Sōjun waved a hand, signaling there was no need for thanks, but he was a little curious.
"How did you find this place?"
The scene of the previous car accident was pretty far from this road. He hadn't had much interaction with the boy, and without knowing anything about him, tracking him down should've been nearly impossible.
"Well... I figured this was the direction you left in last time, so I kept coming here, hoping I'd get lucky. I didn't expect... I'd really see you again. I'm so glad."
Sōjun paused.
It had already been months.
Back when he was researching soul abilities, he had stayed in spirit form on his way home—completely invisible to others.
This child didn't seem to have any spiritual sensitivity, and the vengeful spirit clearly didn't either. That's why neither of them had noticed him.
And since he hadn't sensed any hostility, bloodlust, or other negative emotions, he hadn't been paying close attention to every person or event around him.
So they had just kept missing each other.
Now it all made sense.
Still... he hadn't expected the boy to be this persistent.
"I-I just wanted to thank you in person. Thank you for helping me and Rika," the boy said quickly.
"My name is Yuta Okkotsu. Thank you again for what you did." He stood straight and gave a small bow, then carefully placed the small pouch he was holding on the ground and stepped back a few paces.
"This is a small token of my appreciation. Please accept it."
Sōjun Minamoto looked at the little gift bag, then at the boy, a thought stirring in his mind. A warm smile spread across his face.
"I'm Sōjun Minamoto. No need to be so formal. I'd have stepped in to help anyone in a situation like that."
He gently picked up the gift.
Glancing around, he noticed a small park nearby and gestured for Yuta to follow him as he walked over.
At the park, several children around Yuta's age were playing. Sōjun sat casually on a bench.
Yuta trailed behind and stopped a short distance away. He glanced nervously at Rika and hesitated to sit down.
Sōjun understood immediately.
On the walk here, whenever anyone got too close, Rika had shown aggressive behavior. Yuta clearly avoided getting near others out of fear she might harm them—even Sōjun, he'd kept at a cautious distance.
With a small smile, Sōjun patted the space beside him.
"It's okay. Come sit."
"But…" Yuta still looked unsure.
"It's fine," Sōjun reassured him again.
Yuta slowly approached. The closer he got, the more restless Rika became. Just as she looked ready to lash out and Yuta began to stop in his tracks, Sōjun reached out and tapped the ring on Yuta's hand.
Rika immediately froze. Her body shrank rapidly, until she was only palm-sized.
Her Cursed Energy shrank too—reduced to something barely above a fly's.
But with that, her full form became visible. Her pale waist bore scattered black spots, and from there extended a completely black, coiled serpent tail that supported her small body.
"Rika!"
Yuta quickly crouched and gently cradled her, clearly relieved that she was okay.
Oddly enough, now that she was small enough to be held in his hands, Rika went quiet, no longer struggling.
Seeing that she was calm, Yuta finally sat down next to Sōjun. He looked like he had something to say but hesitated.
"What is it?" Sōjun asked. "If you've got something on your mind, just say it."
"Um… back on the street, I saw you with that girl. She used ice, and you… there was a black glow in your hand. That's the same kind of power as Rika's, isn't it?"
Sōjun gave a light nod, waiting for him to continue.
Yuta looked conflicted, but finally made up his mind.
"I know this might make my thanks sound insincere, but I have to say it anyway…"
"Please teach me how to control that power!" he said, loud and clear.
"Rika's already tried to kill my sister. They used to get along so well, but lately… I had no choice but to run away from home. I can't even get close to anyone anymore, or Rika might attack…"
"I—I want to break Rika's curse!"
He blurted it all out in one breath. It was obvious how much this had weighed on him.
But… Rika's curse?
Sōjun looked at him, then at the miniature Rika in his hand, thoughts running through his mind.
Yuta Okkotsu had the most massive Cursed Energy he had ever seen. If you visualized it, most sorcerers' Cursed Energy would be about the size of a fist—but Yuta's was nearly half the size of a person.
Right now, to Sōjun's eyes, Yuta's entire upper body—his head, limbs, everything—was glowing.
And this wasn't even his limit. Once he grew up, his Cursed Energy would expand even more. After all, a child's body couldn't compare to an adult's.
If Sōjun remembered right, Yuta's ancestry carried exceptional bloodlines. He had inherited that talent across generations.
Rika, on the other hand… Sōjun had looked into her background.
Rika Orimoto came from a completely ordinary family. Her parents and grandparents were all non-sorcerers. Even going back several generations, there wasn't a single person with sorcerer aptitude.
Her life had been rough—her mother died young, her father recently disappeared, whereabouts unknown. Knowing how striking her appearance was, Rika sometimes acted oddly to protect herself. As a result, her only remaining relative—her grandmother—saw her as a cursed child and despised her.
That kind of misfortune had forced her to grow up too fast.
The day she and Yuta made that promise to marry when they were older—Yuta might've been playing around, but she wasn't. She had secretly taken her mother's wedding ring and given it to him. To her, Yuta was the person she loved most in the world.
Rather than saying she cursed Yuta, it was more like… Yuta cursed her.
Love went both ways. All she had was that burning obsession. Everything else—Yuta had provided it.
That's what gave birth to a [Special Grade Vengeful Spirit].
And from that alone, you could see—Yuta, just by awakening, could unintentionally bring forth a Special Grade spirit. And it was Rika, no less—one of the strongest.
"Cursed Child" was no exaggeration.
Sōjun looked at the ring on Yuta's hand.
Only when he truly came to understand all this, and could fully accept and return that love, would he be able to lift Rika's curse.
But Sōjun had no plans to say any of that out loud. This was something Yuta had to figure out on his own. Outsiders would only cloud his heart.
He had already sealed most of Rika's power. Unless Yuta learned to control her properly—or unless Rika was pushed into extreme emotional stimulus—there was no way for the seal to break.
With that in mind...
Sōjun snapped his fingers. A swirling black vortex opened in front of him. He reached in and rummaged for a bit, then pulled out a notebook with a blank cover and handed it to Yuta.
"What's this…?" Yuta looked puzzled.
Sōjun gestured for him to open it.
Yuta flipped to the title page. Written there was:
[New Edition: Jujutsu Standard Guide – Beginner Level (Part 1)].