Chapter 3: Chapter 3
(A/N: The story is going pretty fast for now, but it will start to slow down soon)
I groaned as I woke up back in bed for the second time. The first thing I noticed was the feeling of my cursed energy flowing inside of me, it was much more smooth and manageable. I laid back in bed, feeling my overtaxed muscles relax as I sank into the soft mattress. However, before I could be too comfortable, I noticed Yuki sitting on a chair beside my bed. She was too absorbed in writing in a small journal to notice me stirring in the bed. It was only when I rose into a sitting position that she finally noticed me moving around. She snapped her journal shut and gave me an appreciative nod.
"Hitting a Black Flash on the first day, I wouldn't expect anything less from a student of mine," She said with a self-satisfied grin.
I rolled my eyes, before asking, "What's a Black Flash?"
"It's when a sorcerer is able to apply cursed energy within 0.000001 seconds of a physical hit. The distortion causes cursed energy to flash black, multiplying the destructive power of that hit," She said, "But, more importantly, it gives those who can hit one a deeper understanding of their own cursed energy,"
"Can you do it then?" I asked
"Nobody can do it on purpose, but I have hit a few before," She said with a chuckle.
I nodded in understanding as I held my hand up and watched the energy coat it much easier and faster than before, "So it is impressive that I hit one so soon?" I asked, unable to keep the pride out of my voice.
"Yeah, but it was only because I was guiding you toward hitting one that you were able to," Yuki said with a shrug and a chuckle at my confused look.
"What do you mean?" I asked, genuinely confused.
"Well, there were so many opportunities to take you down when you were wildly swinging at me, but I could see that your frustration started to sharpen your focus. Truthfully, I didn't expect a Black Flash, but with your insane amount of potential it was only a matter of time," Yuki said casually, rising from her seat and grabbing her journal. "Get ready to train, the morning is already almost over,"
I climbed out of bed soon after Yuki exited the room and got dressed quickly. Then I ate a quick breakfast before heading out into the courtyard. I quickly noticed Garuda, Yuki's shikigami floating lazily in the air, orbiting around her gently. Beside her stood a rack of almost every type of weapon imaginable. Swords, spears, scythes, nunchucks, axes, polearms, maces, flails, and many more I didn't know the name of lined the shelves of the rack.
"Today, we'll look at what weapon will suit you the best as well as cursed tools and shikigami," She said as she launched into her lesson as I sat in front of her and the rack, "First of all, this is Garuda. It is a shikigami manifested by my innate technique that can function as a cursed tool in addition to another combatant in times of need,"
"What is the difference between a shikigami and a cursed spirit?" I asked.
"Shikigami don't have the same weaknesses as cursed spirits and are manifested mostly by sorcerers and curse users since they are easily controllable and versatile," She said as Garuda condensed into a ball that she tossed back and forth, "For example, most cursed spirits die immediately when brought into contact with positive energy, but shikigami don't, in fact, some are even capable of using positive energy,"
I nodded and stood as Yuki gestured toward the rack of weapons, wondering which one I should test out first, "Any suggestions I asked as I walked by Yuki?"
She shrugged, "Swords are versatile and common, but they also require quite some time to get good at but so do most weapons,"
I proceeded to peruse the racks of weapons. I considered just grabbing a katana and calling it a day, but I held off on that. I paced back and forth for a while until my eyes finally settled on a weapon that I didn't think looked too complicated while remaining versatile. It was a mix of brass knuckles, an arm wrap, and a whip all mashed into one. It was made of leather and rope studded with beads of metal that would enhance the power of my punches while also providing some protection to my arms. It also had the ability to unravel to form a whip which would provide me with an option for attacking at range.
Yuki looked somewhat surprised at my choice of weapon once I took it off the rack, "Most people immediately go for a sword, spear, or ax," she said as she studied my weapon approvingly.
"I feel like learning to fight with my fists will be important, so I didn't want to choose a weapon that requires me to do something entirely different. With this, I can still learn hand-to-hand combat techniques and still apply them to my weapon of choice," I said, causing Yuki to grin broadly.
"Your fists are your greatest weapon, no matter what other weapons you want to master," She said as she cracked her knuckles, "You made a good choice,"
"Is this a cursed tool? I don't feel any cursed energy coming from it so I guess not," I said seriously, since my knowledge of cursed tools was iffy at best.
"No, it's not a cursed tool. However, it can become one over time. The more you infuse an ordinary weapon with cursed energy, the more it transforms into a cursed tool over time. That usually takes years and years of constant use, but with your technique, I'm sure that process can be sped up," She said with a grin as she moved the weapon rack out of the way.
I quickly readied myself as Yuki began to teach me the basics of fighting with my fists. I quickly noticed that with my talent, I was able to absorb and perform most of the moves she showed me in the first few tries. Once I had a technique down, we quickly moved on to the next one. After a few hours, she had already taught me all the hand-to-hand techniques she knew, so we began to spar. I gripped the bands of leather in my fist tightly as I watched Yuki disappear from the spot where she was standing and appeared behind me. I barely had time to dodge before her fist carved out a crater in the place I had been standing a moment before.
I turned and began to engage her in awkward close-quarters combat since she was a grown woman, and I was a six-year-old. Every time a kick of hers connected with me it nearly took my head off or shattered my neck, requiring her to heal me. The pain of the blows was nearly unbearable at first, but after a while, I began to grow accustomed to them. I was still nowhere near completely used to them, but I could feel my pain tolerance growing with time. Every time I was knocked down, I sprang back to my feet and was able to swear that I felt like I had improved ever so slightly each time.
Those slight improvements didn't make any difference in my ass getting beat by the end of the day, but the feeling of improvement lifted my spirits. After all, I would have years to improve and learn under Yuki. Plus, I hadn't even crafted my enhanced body yet, which would allow me to draw out and realize even more of my potential. I wasn't sure what I would do from there, but I knew that I would figure it out eventually. I felt content to go with the flow for at least a few years and just be happy to learn to manipulate cursed energy while developing new techniques and cursed tools.
Suddenly I felt something flying toward me, so I grabbed it out of instinct and looked down at the bottle of water, "Make sure to stay hydrated," she said before taking a slip from her own bottle, "We may be sorcerers, but in the end, we are still human,"
I opened the bottle and took a large sip of water, savoring its flavor like you can only do when extremely thirsty or after working extraordinarily hard for a while. I sighed in contentment as I wiped off my head with a towel and followed Yuki into the house to eat dinner. I walked into the kitchen and sat at the table as she went to the fridge and pulled out some leftovers for us to munch on. After she sat down on the other side of the table, she said something that caught me off guard.
"We need to give you a name," Yuki said suddenly, completely out of the blue, "Since you can't remember it, we might as well make a new one for you. Plus, it will help me have something to refer to you by and to get put on official documents,"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone