"Welcome to Jujutsu High!"
"Y-Yeah."
My lips twitched at his nonchalant attitude. I wasn't some fool; he totally just teleported me here so he could keep an eye on me. However, I didn't mind this arrangement either. When he teleported us here, the feeling of teleportation felt so memorable. The way space twisted and folded between points was different from "Wayfinder."
'It was like this...'
Fwoo~
'Tch. Almost.'
"Hmm~ Trying to copy what I did?"
"It seems quite convenient."
"Hahaha~ Well, it is that. You did it wrong, though."
"No. Trying to copy your way is just a losing battle without the Six Eyes."
"So you were comparing what I did with however you appeared in the park then?"
"..."
"I'm taking that silence as a yes, you know?"
"Hah~, hiding things from you just is a losing battle as well."
Satoru smiled even harder as we stood in this track field. We were in the center on top of grass which looked really comfortable to sit on, but I wasn't going to ruin the suit.
"Be right back, okay?"
"I'm not stupid, so I'll just wait here."
"Aww~ How about a good chase?"
I stared at him without any words. He vanished, leaving me alone with the sun beaming down at its highest point. The wind was quite nice with a cool breeze; if I didn't wear this suit, I could enjoy a quick nap, but I wasn't going to show up looking like trash.
'Guess I'll practice while I wait.'
I closed my eyes and circulated my mana in different cycles, committing every path I could to memory.
...
..
.
"Why did sensei bring us out here?"
"I don't know, but can you stop complaining, Fushiguro?"
"Tch."
'That took about an hour.'
The sound of Megumi and Nobara's voices disrupted my training. I cut my mana flow off, opening my eyes to the approaching duo. Megumi's appearance was as dark as I remembered it, with his hair and eyes matching obsidian. He adorned the Jujutsu High uniform quite well, though, I must say. Nobara outshined him massively, however; aside from Satoru Gojo, of course, I liked women.
'If only she was slightly older,' I shook my head wryly. My age back on my Earth was 22; as for this body, I had no clue, but it felt a bit younger, so perhaps 20.
'Why didn't I check before I left?'
My idiocy aside, Nobara was like 16, and it just felt wrong thinking of someone that young in an adult way. If she was 18, on the other hand, it would be quite awesome, but since she wasn't, that ends any kind of thought related to pursuit.
[Host, should your goal really be romance? While you can take them out of this place, I wouldn't advise it for those whose abilities have limited growth.]
'Wait. I can take people with me?!'
[Oh. Did I forget to mention it?]
'Yes!'
The duo stopped in front of me finally after what felt like an eternity of their approach. Megumi just glared at me, annoyed, while Nobara thankfully had some nice humanity to her.
"Nice suit. You're the one sensei said to meet, right?"
"Ugh. What did that idiot say?"
"Bahahaha~, he said 'There's a good-looking guy over at the track, not as good-looking as me, of course.'"
"That's it? Phew~ I thought he said other stuff."
"Yeah, I know how you feel. Anyways, I'm Kugisaki Nobara. This emo to my left is Fushiguro Megumi."
"Nice to meet you both. The name is Vancroft Kye."
"Do you have any idea why Sensei told us to come over?"
I looked into Nobara's orange eyes, having a small guess. "Perhaps he wants us to practice against each other?"
"One-on-one or two-on-one?"
"If you two don't mind, I would like to do one-on-one first with emo boy."
"Pfft! You heard him, Fushiguro!"
Megumi glared at me even harder, but he nonetheless prepared himself as Nobara moved to the side.
As he dropped into his stance, the shadows at his feet began to churn like boiling tar. I focused my crimson eyes, watching the oily ripples of his Cursed Energy. It was a stark contrast to the cool, rhythmic movement of the mana circulating through my own limbs. When he finally made the hand sign, a cold gust of wind sang, carrying the metallic scent of a predator as the Divine Dogs began to manifest.
There was a reason why I wanted to spar against him first.
'I wonder if I can copy the Ten Shadows...'
My theory was that it wouldn't copy it exactly but similarly, in a way where I could have my own ten unique shadows; however, even if I did copy the exact thing, I wasn't going to complain.
I adopted my own stance similar to Kirei's, which was from the Bajiquan Chinese martial art. Now, while I did know of it, by no means could I replicate such an art without any practice. I just took the initial stance with my own little modifications.
"Go!"
"Roar!"
The black Divine Dog launched first, a blur of cursed energy. Its fang reached for me, but with my physical parameters effectively mirroring a Peak Grade 1 Sorcerer, the movement appeared almost sluggish.
'Guess I'll focus solely on analysis.'
"Hmph!"
I delivered a swift, mana-reinforced kick to the beast's flank. The impact didn't feel like hitting flesh and bone; it was like kicking a dense, compressed stack of velvet pillows.
Side-stepping right, I evaded the white dog, punching out and sending it tumbling towards Nobara with casual strength.
'Interesting.'
The formula for the technique began to unravel in my mind. The medium was the shadow; the catalyst was the hand sign. But the contract... that was the missing variable.
'Hm?'
Megumi closed the distance himself, his hands forming a new sign. Suddenly, the sensation of gravity shifted. A Great Serpent burst from the ground, its jaws clamping around me, followed by the screech of a Nue descending from above.
"Hah~"
I let out a breath, dissipating the mana I had gathered for analysis. The Ten Shadows was too biologically specific to replicate instantly.
"Time to end this preliminary spar then."
I vanished, appearing right in front of Megumi in a blink.
The secrets behind teleportation weren't all that complicated—especially when I had two different interpretations of the ability to cross-reference. A big thanks to the "Honored One" and "Wayfinder" for the blueprints.
The only downside was the range. It was more "Flash Air"—short-range displacement—than true teleportation. My mana circuits stung in protest, a pulsating heat traveling up my spine that felt like running too much voltage through a cheap wire. My Endurance was playing a big role right now.