Modified Technique

To be completely fair, Mai's previous self was not very good at anything. That shows the mentality of an 'average' person, wanting to live a mundane life. That was the reason why 'that Mai' couldn't use the technique right.

I mean, the ability to create something out of nothing! That's Creation! Literally! If someone could create let's say a poisonous gas bomb or an explosive gas, its destructive powers would be pretty devastating. This is a broken skill if one knew how to use it properly.

The main problem was imagination. It is not just imagination. It was the same as Nen training in Hunter x Hunter. Kurapika had to do a lot of image training to conjure strong Chains. This was the same. Except the created object using [Construction] couldn't be turned back into the particular energy.

Honestly, using this, one could easily live their lives. BUT only if they can properly use it. Mai could only create one bullet a day. It was the common .38 S&W Special which weighed around 15 grams of weight. So not even an ounce.

That too caused some sort of backlash for using the technique. Now the Cursed Energy reserves have more than doubled. Although that too is less, it's much better than before.

"Do you want me to use my technique on you?" Utahime asked with worry.

"Well. I think I'll be able to use the technique once without any problem. I'll tell you if I need any help for the second time." Mai said.

"OK."

[Construction] didn't require any hand gestures for activation. Most of the technique's workings depended on the user's imagination, the details of the object, and any underlying processes of whatever is being created.

Activating it, the Cursed Energy depleted rapidly, and after more than a third of it was used a single bullet was formed. Everything was the same as a normal .38 Special cartridge.

Utahime was happy that there wasn't any backlash but asked him,

"How is it?"

"No problems. About a third of my energy is gone," he said smiling.

"I'll use it again, sensei. Also, I think my technique gained some kind of extension," he said dropping a bomb like it was nothing.

"WHAT!" she was shocked. Innate techniques usually don't change at all. It wasn't impossible but such things happened in extreme cases.

"I'm starting to think yesterday's accident was a blessing instead of a curse," she said.

"Then I'm going to use it."

This time, instead of creating it permanently, he created a tiny blade. It was more like an add-on to his finger. He imagined thin layers of graphene banded together to create a claw/blade on his index finger.

Using it, he carved some wood on a tree. It was smoothly slicing through wood. Then he sliced it on steel. That also worked.

Concentrating, he slowly made the blade/claw turn back into Cursed Energy. About 70-80% of Cursed Energy dissipated and around 20% was added back to his reserves.

[Skill Conjuration has been created]

[Conjuration(Beginner):

An extension technique of the innate technique [Construction]. The technique can create semi-physical and temporary creations. The temporary creations are reverted back into Cursed Energy which can be absorbed back.

- can absorb up to 25% of the outputted Cursed Energy for the technique.]

Utahime was first surprised to see a blade but seeing that it could cut through steel amazed her. But she was shocked that it got dissipated.

"So, you conjured instead of permanently creating," she asked.

"Yes. It also used a lot less energy," he said with a big smile. He didn't tell about receiving back the dissipated energy.

"That's great. You should probably practice with it. Even if it can't be used for the Goodwill event, it's a good ability." she was happy now that Mai got something after what happened yesterday.

"Yes, sensei. Thank you for helping me out." Mai said thankfully.

"No need. It is my duty after all."

-----------------

With that taken care of, Mai has almost completely blended in.

'Quests.'

[Quests:

Open Quests:

1. Kill 10000 Grade 4 Cursed Spirits

2. Kill 1000 Grade 3 Cursed Spirits

3. Kill 100 Grade 2 Cursed Spirits

4. Kill 10 Grade 1 Cursed Spirits

...]

Looking at them,

[Kill 10000 Grade 4 Cursed Spirits:

Current Progress: 224/10000

Reward: 5 Gacha Rolls]

[Kill 1000 Grade 3 Cursed Spirits:

Current Progress: 704/1000

Reward: 5 Gacha Rolls]

[Kill 100 Grade 2 Cursed Spirits:

Current Progress: 8/100

Reward: 5 Gacha Rolls]

...

'Are some of them already have progress filled because of me exorcising curses for the past two years?'

[Yes]

"This means they could be completed pretty quickly. At least one of them."

Even if Grade 4 Curses are found abundantly, it'll be hard to kill almost 10000 of them. Grade 3 are found less but the progress for those was more.

"So, Grade 3 it is."

After asking for a ride, Mai left for the city to hunt for some Grade 3 curses.

Looking up haunted locations, he decided to go to the Kiyotaki Tunnel. It was a famous haunted spot and the construction was half-finished.

[A/N: I just took a name from the Internet.]

After a one-hour ride and a 30-minute walk, he finally reached the place.

"This place has curses alright." The place had a sufficient eerie feeling. Along with that he could already sense hundreds of curses.

"Although most of them are Grade 4, there are quite a few Grade 3s and 2 or 3 Grade 2s." Getting ready, he tread in only to meet face-to-face with a curse that looked like a giant fly head.

Normally, those things are even weaker than Grade 4s and are harmless but this one was huge. At least 2 times that of a human.

*BAM*

Without wasting time, he put a bullet in its head instantly.

"Disgusting!" He was repelled already but the push was needed. He was going to fight those things later again and maybe for the rest of his life.

After killing the first one, Curses started appearing one by one. But this time he was prepared. He knew bullets were limited and obviously, he didn't have them in hundreds.

So, he stuck to close range. Using Conjuration on all his fingers, he created super-sharp claws that were about an inch and a half long each.

Thus began his hunt.

A lot of Grade 4 curses poured in and Mai kept killing them. Whenever he felt he would be overwhelmed, he would run away.

Using hit-and-run tactics, he killed around 30 to 40 of them. As he was killing them, the Cursed Energy on the claws slowly kept getting chipped away.

"So, this is the drawback." This happened only for Grade3 and Grade 4 Curses. If he used Conjuration on Grade 2 and Grade 1, there would be more damage on his claws.

"Still, this is just the beginning."

---------------

[Current Progress: 738/1000]

"This is tiring!" After 4 hours of exorcising curses, Mai got exhausted.

"Even after using Enhancement, I got tired quickly." His Cursed Energy Enhancement was ON the whole time he was moving his body.

But at least, he got used to Conjuration. Using claws on fingers didn't work properly when he tried using them in tandem with guns.

Instead, he conjured sharp protrudings on knuckles to punch them and kill them with guns in case any of them ran away.

He also created blades on elbows to make large cuts but the bigger the size of the Conjuring creation, the more Cursed Energy.

Looking at the notifications, he was once again satisfied.

[C.E Enhancement has leveled from Amateur to Intermediate]

[Conjuration has leveled from Beginner to Amateur]

[Construction has leveled from Beginner to Novice]

"Both of them are pretty much the same," he said sighing. Since most of his Cursed Energy and stamina were depleted, he decided to leave the place.

The growth would certainly take some time and he needed to push himself if he wanted to live his normal life.

"How ironic." In his past life, he tried to get rid of his powers to live a normal life, and in this life, he's trying to gain powers so that he can live the 'normal' life.

"Not that it is a bad experience." This was a completely new experience and he was certainly enjoying it.

Maybe because the growth was actually in his control and not out of control.

-----------------

"Mai-chan- sorry- Mai-kun, where did you go?" Momo asked Mai sitting on her broomstick.

'That is convenient for transportation.' Mai thought.

"I exorcised some curses. It was a bit weird in this new body, so I trained to get a hang of it." Mai lied easily.

"W-What? Are you turning into a Todo now?" Momo asked.

"N-No. Or maybe a little. Not that it matters. Well, I'll take my leave." Mai said leaving Momo to worry.

His current growth needed to be leaned more towards skills than stats as he doesn't know who was observing him.

That did not mean that he can just sit back and play safe.

He can't exactly ask for someone in this group for a crash course because they might take note of his extreme growth and if they end up being a traitor, it'll be problematic.

The only ones he thought of asking for help were Miwa and Todo. Todo was an eccentric but from what he knew personally and from anime, he wouldn't be a traitor.

Miwa was too much kind to do that. The others were also nice people at heart but their beliefs were skewed. Such people could be doing horrible things believing they were doing the right thing.

After having lunch, I studied about binding vows. That was a very important part of being a Jujutsu sorcerer.

At any point, Jujutsu sorcerers form binding vows to increase their Cursed Energy, increase the effectiveness of their techniques, and obviously, make contracts with others.

Along with that, there were studies on Barrier techniques, Shikigami, talismans, etc.

For now, looking at the knowledge needed, he decided it was not feasible to learn all that in one week. So he stuck to physical and Cursed Energy training.

----------------

The next morning, he woke up early to increase his physical training. Getting ready, he went to jog on the ground. As he warmed up, he saw that there was already someone present.

'Dang, he's tall for sure.' Now that Mai's mind was different, he was analyzing the person's physical characteristics, reading their postures, flow of their movements, etc naturally.

'And his Cursed Energy is at least 5- no 8 times larger than mine.'

It was different knowing and experiencing. Mai, with his new senses, could see and sense how strong Todo was.

"Huh. Who're you?" Todo asked him as if he never met Mai.

"You don't know? I'm Mai. Didn't Kamo tell anything about the incident?" Mai was surprised but regained his thoughts thinking that it was like Todo to live in his own world.

"What're you talking about? Are you really Mai? Wait. Your Cursed Energy feels the same. But it increased!" Todo was talking and asking at the same time.

'Looks like I'll have to tell you my story again. Good Grief!'