New Chapter 15: Chillin’

Shrine: 0/10 → 2/10

Malevolent Shrine: 0/10 → 2/10

"Strange that Shrine requires me to use Malevolent Shrine in order to level it up. From what I understand from Sukuna's memories, the Shrine itself is the basis for most, if not all, of his abilities, so I feel that using Shrine should level up M.S. and not the other way around," I thought while walking back toward the Artemis Familia.

I burned the corpses of the irrelevant group, turning every single bit to ashes, even the ones that were already in pieces. Now, anyone would be hard-pressed to find any clue of a battle having taken place, except for maybe a few slashes in the ground, walls, and some broken glass. Okay... a lot of signs of battle were left, but people would just think of some sword users having a skirmish rather than me being involved!

'I wonder if it's because this world has different rules than Jujutsu Kaisen? Maybe the world recognizes the two as the same thing, while the system, with its knowledge, knows they're two separate abilities—one a domain and one a fundamental aspect of my overall abilities.'

My conclusions didn't seem that far-fetched, but then that leaves the question of why, when using the other abilities, Shrine wouldn't level up since most of Sukuna's abilities stem from Shrine. Heck, even the Divine Flame has connections with Shrine! Maybe if I max everything out, I'll get an answer or at least a clue. However, since I can't answer these questions now, I'll move on to other things.

Continuing my relatively slow walk, I passed by a variety of stores, bars, and inns. Besides going in and out of the dungeon a few times, I never really got a good look at or understanding of the city of Orario. To be honest, I barely remember watching Danmachi, and I only recall up to 5 or 6 volumes of the light novels. Most of my knowledge really just comes from fanfics or videos explaining more about the world and characters!

Jujutsu Kaisen, however, I remember like the back of my hand. Sad, I only got to read up to chapter 262 and didn't complete the damn series, even though I loved it so damn much. Anyways, back to the main point—I've been so focused on everything but genuinely relaxing that I never really paid attention to the city or even the people, besides a few, of course!

'Oh, I should start writing things down. If I do that, I'll be way more organized in doing things rather than just going off whims. I could even come up with some drafts for improving some techniques! I'll need to write it in another language, though, so nobody can read it; I think English should be good. The people here speak a variety of languages, but English isn't one of them, and I'll even add other fail-safes.'

The buildings, the more I observed them, all had their own unique little signs, their own designs, and atmospheres. Truly, everything was peaceful, and people were going on about their lives without any major problems! Now, I knew if I were to go in between different alleyways and hidden spots, I'd find the homeless and poor, but that was their problem—unless it was children.

Children are truly unfortunate creatures, having to deal with the whims of other people simply because they don't look like they would know something. Yes, children need to learn and still need correction from older people, but to simply assume one wouldn't know something because of their age is foolish.

'Wait, what the hell am I on about?'

I stopped walking and looked up at the moon, breathing in and out, with my breath visible each time. 'I'm really trying not to do this tonight... well, if it was an enemy, maybe.' I turned around and faced the person I caught following me.

"Shouldn't you be with Artemis, Aura?" I asked the elf with her blue-purple eyes and long white hair. She just stared me down and didn't even answer my question, even after we'd been staring at each other for a full minute! Seeing this going nowhere, I walked closer.

"Hello~!" I waved my hand in front of her face, and she just stared at me. She didn't even react to my hand!

"Uh... I'll just ignore her!" I continued walking, but her piercing gaze followed my every step, and the moment I reached ten steps away, she started following me, matching each one of my steps, pauses, and turns. This was getting very creepy! Honestly, if she didn't have value, I would have used Dismantle already, but luckily for her, she does hold value.

Continuing our way back, we didn't speak a single word to each other. After five minutes, we finally arrived back at the Familia Manor, and thankfully, my eyesight is so good that Artemis standing at the gate wasn't surprising!

She was smirking with a goofy grin, which already let me know something was up. I looked her straight in her eyes with a blank expression and spoke, "Please don't tell me you have something to do with this woman's strange behavior?"

"Shouldn't you be asking how she found you so quickly?"

"Nah, I don't care. I want to know why she is acting so weirdly."

"Bodyguard..." Artemis whispered, but my eyes captured every movement of her facial muscles, which already let me know that she was twisting the truth.

"To watch me, huh? Is there a reason for all that?" I didn't feel offended or upset as it was pointless. The plans I have couldn't be interrupted due to having someone watch my moves!

"Ugh! Why can't you just be a normal mortal!" Artemis stomped off back into the manor, leaving me even more confused, but Aura covered her mouth and started laughing beneath her hand.

'I see... hah~'