The night wind howled over the rooftops of Shinjuku.
Moonlight slid across metal and glass, painting the city in shades of silver and shadow.
High above it all, Gojo Satoru sat cross-legged on the edge of a rooftop, his blindfold fluttering lazily in the wind.
Below him—
Kael Eidric moved.
He moved like liquid steel.
Every motion was too fast, too fluid, too precise—like the world bent to his rhythm.
Blood sang in his veins, ancient and volatile.
The Ackerman blood that once guarded kings.
The Kaguya blood, savage and proud, born for battle.
Two legacies of violence fused into one body.
…
Kael leapt from the roof, landing with a crack that shook the alley. His breath steamed in the cold air as the scent of curse energy bled through the dark.
They're close.
He clenched his fists. The bones beneath his skin groaned, reshaping, hardening until his knuckles glowed faintly white beneath stretched flesh.
[Cursed Technique: Bone Strengthening ]
His arm trembled—not from weakness, but from the surge of raw energy.
Each step he took left shallow prints in the concrete.
The first curse lunged from the shadows—a crawling mass of faces and claws.
Kael met it head-on.
One strike.
Bone met flesh.
The creature's skull imploded under the blow, scattering black mist across the alley.
Another shriek echoed. Then another.
Kael turned, eyes glowing faint red.
They keep coming.
He wiped the dark ichor from his face, jaw tightening. Gojo's voice still echoed in his mind.
"Clean up this sector. Don't die. I'm too lazy to explain to the higher-ups what you are."
Why Gojo sent him here—Kael didn't know.
A test? A warning? A game?
It didn't matter.
Kael's lips curved.
"So, this is my trial, huh?"
He dropped into a stance—one knee bent, one arm drawn back. Bone spines coiled under his skin, humming with restrained power.
The ground trembled.
The air thickened.
From the ruins ahead, a new cursed presence slithered forth—stronger, hungrier, older.
Kael grinned, whispering to himself,
"Good. Let's see what this world really has to offer."
Kael's smile thinned into a line of quiet anticipation.
His bones shifted under his skin with a grinding whisper, reforming into curved edges along his forearms.
He could forge them into blades if he wanted—but the moment they left his body, they weakened.
That was the curse of his gift: power bound by flesh.
So Kael fought close.
Hand-to-hand.
Bone-to-bone.
…
The alley rippled with cursed energy. A voice slithered through the dark, rough and mocking.
"So you've come to us, little human?"
Kael tilted his head, scanning the shadows. "Us?"
A blur struck from his right—fast, brutal. Kael barely had time to raise his arm.
Crack!
His bone shield split from the impact. Pain shot up his arm like lightning.
The attacker stepped into view—an emaciated figure shaped like a leg from the knee down, twisted muscle and sinew pulsing with black energy.
"Well," another voice hissed from behind, "that was a good block, kid."
Kael spun, catching sight of the second curse—a humanoid torso crawling on clawed hands, its mouth stretching ear to ear.
The system flickered to life in the corner of his vision.
[Quest: Exorcise All Curses in the District]
Progress: 3 / ???
"Where's the last one…" Kael muttered.
"Searching for me?"
The voice came from below.
The asphalt bulged. A grotesque head burst from the ground, rows of teeth gnashing toward his legs.
Kael reacted instantly, leaping upward as claws scraped the spot where he'd stood.
He flipped mid-air and landed lightly on cracked pavement, eyes narrowing.
One glance told him everything.
The three pieces—the torso, the leg, the head—were fragments of a single entity, split but connected by the same cursed core.
A Grade 1 composite curse, he thought grimly. Three bodies, one soul.
…
He exhaled slowly, feeling his pulse sync with the hum of his bones.
"Well," he muttered, rolling his shoulders, "this'll be annoying."
Up above, on a distant rooftop, Gojo Satoru lounged with one leg dangling over the ledge, chin resting on his hand.
When Kael looked up, Gojo waved at him like a teacher watching a student's first spar.
"Really…" Kael muttered. "This man."
The curses began to circle him, chittering with laughter. Their combined aura thickened the air, stinging Kael's lungs.
He grinned, teeth flashing under the moonlight.
"Alright then," Kael said, sliding into a stance, energy flaring around his arms.
"Come at me, you little shits."
The night exploded with motion.
[Cursed Technique: Asura Style]
Bone cracked and reshaped beneath his skin.
Two new arms erupted from his back—ivory, sleek, and alive with cursed energy.
Each one flexed, mimicking his movements with frightening precision.
The style drew its name from Asura, the six-armed god of war—
but Kael had shaped it with his own influence, inspired by the King of Curses himself, Sukuna.
The ground trembled as his aura spiked.
White energy bled from his veins, painting the alley in ghostly light.
On a nearby rooftop, Gojo whistled softly, tilting his head.
"Prittt… that's amazing," he said with a grin. "Didn't expect that from the kid."
Kael glanced up. Gojo waved lazily. He sighed. "This man."
…
Kael focused, his gaze locked on the cursed trio closing in.
The first—a twisted head—lunged to bite his throat.
The leg swung a kick from his blind spot.
The torso launched a heavy punch toward his ribs.
To any human eye, it would have been chaos.
But to Kael—
it was rhythm.
He moved like water under pressure.
One bone arm caught the kick—clang.
Another parried the punch—crack.
His main fist smashed the biting head aside—bang.
Three limbs.
Three counters.
One motion.
They clashed again and again, movements blurring beyond mortal sight.
Each impact sent shockwaves through the alley.
Walls cracked. Windows shattered.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Kael's fourth arm spun through the air, striking the curses one after another—relentless, mechanical, precise.
Finally, he leapt back, chest heaving, knuckles slick with black ichor.
"So this is it?" he muttered, cracking his fist. "You guys will die today."
The head laughed—low, guttural, mocking.
"Nice try, human… but we're not three."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
The head's mouth split wider, unhinging grotesquely.
Without warning, it devoured the leg and torso.
The air thickened.
Cursed energy spiked violently.
The streetlights shattered.
The creature began to change—flesh twisting, bones snapping outward, forming new limbs and armor-like plates of cursed flesh.
When the light faded, a new form stood before Kael.
Its body was lean and humanoid, but pulsing with unstable power.
Not quite a Special Grade—
but close.
A beast becoming one.
The ground around it warped under the pressure.
"Come, kid," the curse rasped, its voice layered with three tones at once.
"Let's finish what your blood started."
Kael's pupils shrank. His heartbeat slowed.
Then his smile returned—sharp, fearless, alive.
"Finally," he whispered. "A real fight."