The Difference

Longer chapter this time, about 2.6k words.

https://discord.gg/ZrWk2jqjbV (Discord Link)

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Beads of sweat dripped down Ginko's forehead as he slowly began to retreat on instinct, "Gramps —I could really use a hand right about now." He called out to little avail, his entire body sent into fight or flight mode. 

Clatter! Clatter! 

Before him stood a horde of ape curses, all of which had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. They each vehemently banged their pipes against the walls, dumpsters, and floors with bleeding eyes. Their rage directed solely onto Ginko out of spite for massacring their fallen brother. 

'This doesn't make any sense! I managed to sense the other one so why didn't I pick up on these guys before they appeared? Hold on, did gramps already know they were here?' He could only interpret his grandfather's absence as a sign for "handle them yourself," regardless of how impossible it sounded. 

Ginko took a deep breath as he met their hateful gazes head on, grabbing his wrist in an attempt to calm his shaking hand. 

'Calm down Ginko, the only reason he isn't appearing is because he thinks I can handle them.' A sea of distorted, unintelligible chatter broke out between the apes. 

'Yeah, I can do this.' He reassured himself, albeit a part of him was convinced it was just self-delusion. 

Ginko slid his left foot forwards and raised his fists outwards, granted it wouldn't be hard to escape with his movement technique. 

But that wasn't what his grandfather appeared to want, and below all the charades and antics he performed on a daily basis —the thought of disappointing Yamada sickened him. 

Especially after all the time he had dedicated to training him.

'I won't fail.' 

In the blink of an eye, four of the ape's rushed at him in a coordinated attack. Two of them aiming for his upper body, and the others reaching for his lower body in order to make it significantly harder for him to react. 

"Didn't exactly peg you for fair fighters to begin with anyways," Ginko jumped without hesitation, using the wind to give himself slightly more air time. 

CRACK! 

His elbows collided into the rib cages of the two upper apes, slamming them into the walls of the alleyway as they collapsed onto the floor, lifeless. 

'That's two.' 

On the way down he used his cursed technique to increase the speed of his fall, effectively crushing the two apes below him into a bloody puddle with minimal effort. 

'That's four.' 

But alas, there was no rest for the wicked. At least fifteen more apes had already begun to move in, some of them climbing onto the steel beams above in order to entrap Ginko. 

'My cursed technique would more likely than not get rid of a few of them with ease, but after that I'll be left on low reserves and vulnerable, there could be a hundred more of them hiding about for all I know. How troublesome.' 

Three of the apes from above jumped down, each swinging their pipes at Ginko with seething hatred. 

"Even if you have the numbers, you're all still fodder at the end of the day!" The airborne apes were met with a swift Manji Kick, catapulting them into the concrete as they soon met their end. 

BAM! 

Unfortunately, one of the grounded apes managed to land a solid hit on Ginko's shin, causing the latter to dart backwards as he was forced even further onto defense. 

'Don't waver Ginko, as long as I stay focused I'll win. The lot of you can coordinate to an extent I'll give you that, but it's elementary at best. Throw as many bodies at me as you want, I'll kill you all regardless.' 

His eyes shone with a confident glint, assuming his battle stance once more as he was rushed by the sea of outraged primates. 

His fist propelled itself forward like a ballista, cursed energy seeping through his knuckles right as they were about to make contact with the torso of one of the cursed spirits. 

SPARK! 

—and then it happened. 

"Huh?" Black and red sparks of lightning jolted out of the zone of impact, the ape unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end imploding into a gruesome mist as its body failed to withstand the sheer level of force Ginko had just dished out.

"What on earth did I just do?" Following the strange phenomenon, Ginko's entire body felt like it had been reborn. 

All of a sudden manipulating his cursed energy no longer felt like trying to tame a crashing river, but rather a calm stream drifting without issue. 

Furthermore his focus felt like it had been enhanced significantly, for all he knew the apes were practically moving in slow motion now. 

'That wasn't my cursed technique, nor was it something gramps has ever taught me,' his mind continued to race as the apes drew ever closer. 'But now isn't the time for meaningless drivel, I've just been given an advantage so I have to make use of it before it runs out.' 

Ginko once more held out his palms in the manner he had done for his slicing attack, but instead of launching it outright he decided to perform an incantation beforehand. 

"Thorough cyclone," his fingers began to tremor as he felt his finger-bones chatter ever so slightly.

"Benevolent hurricane," the force spread through his arms, forcing him to put more strength into his lower body so as to not lose his balance. 

"Tailwind mantra." 

When it came to cursed techniques, chanting was essentially a binding vow one could make in order to increase the power of the technique they were about to use in exchange for a longer casting time. 

However, the vow itself only had any actual use when the user was capable of using the technique without an incantation to begin with, otherwise performing the chant would be useless. 

"[Wind Slice!]"

CRUMBLE! 

Pieces of the alleyways inner walling started to come apart as a thunderous force surged within it, decapitating all of the remaining cursed spirits in one fell swoop. 

'My reserves are about to run dry, I should probably skedaddle before any unwanted visitors come my way.' 

Right as Ginko was about to make his exit, a terrible chill ran down his spine, alongside a churning sensation in his stomach that made him want to vomit. 'That doesn't feel like a fourth-grade!' Although he had hoped it was simply a stray he had missed, the pressure the suspect in question exuded seemed to far eclipse fourth-grade. 

A cold sweat mixed in with that of fatigue as he instinctively assumed a battle stance, his gut cautioning him that running away would be a pointless endeavor. 

BOOM! 

The ground seemed to split apart as something immensely heavy collided with it from up above. 

'Gramps, if you're thinking about making a cliche heroic entrance, now would be the time!'

Ginko shuddered as he was brought face to face with what could only be described as a ten-foot tall disfigured Orangutan. With fur that resembled something more akin to violet, almost as if to give it a royal air to some extent. 

"On second thought, maybe running isn't such a bad idea," instead of a metal pipe, it wielded what looked to be a rusty spear with an awfully threatening amount of cursed energy running throughout it, supposedly the result of the spirit being able to channel its energy into the weapon. 

It adjusted its trash-laden crown before shooting an arrogant smirk Ginko's way. "Uhm, the runts from earlier wouldn't happen to be your comrades by any chance right?" In a very cursed-spirit like manner, it offered no response. 

Instead, it simply let out a low-pitched disturbing chuckle. Mocking Ginko for the blatant difference in strength between the two. 

Ginko himself was no fool, he understood that there was virtually no way he could beat the monster in front of him, meaning that his only feasible option was retreat. Even if it meant risking letting the cursed spirit land an unguarded hit on him. 

'If I run out of the alley it'll just end up in a whole lot of people getting crushed by this mammoth,' Ginko charged his feet with cursed energy as he brought his hip closer to the ground. 'In that case, the only way I can go is up!' 

Without hesitation he leaped upwards, grabbing onto the metal beams above him, using whatever objects lay around to propel himself further and further upwards until he made his way onto the rooftop. 

"Strange, he didn't follow me up?" 

Ginko was almost convinced that he was just too weak for the spirit to even consider pursuing, but his hopes were soon crushed by the sound of an ear-shattering stomp that resounded from below. 

"I just can't seem to catch a break can I?"

The Orangutan leaped into the air, scaling the building in a single movement and somehow not causing the rooftop to collapse on itself as it landed merely a few feet away from Ginko. 

"It's bad manners to show off ya'know?," He slowly began to retreat, bumping into a humanoid like figure after a few steps. 

"Looks like you've gotten yourself into quite the pickle," Ginko didn't even need to turn around to guess whom the voice belonged to. 

"Obviously, and I'd appreciate not having a heart attack whilst I'm at it," Yamada chuckled as he patted Ginko's shoulder. 

"All things considered you did pretty well for yourself back there, even going so far as to land a Black Flash, consider me impressed." 

"Black Flash?" 

"Those black and red sparks of lightning that came out of your fist, that is what we call a Black Flash. A distortion of space that occurs within the small fraction of time of cursed energy being applied to a physical hit. I don't think there's anyone else your age who has pulled it off." 

Ginko's eyes sparkled, justifiably pleased with itself in light of the revelation. 

"If you're curious as to why I've never taught you about it prior, it's because it's something that honestly can't really be taught to begin with." 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

"Everyone has their own theories on what can push one to achieve a Black Flash, but the unanimous agreement is that it's basically primarily based on luck. Which is why it's hypothetically possible for a fourth-grade sorcerer to land more of them than a first-grade, then again, that's just a hypothetical." 

Yamada gripped his right shoulder with his hand as he began to stretch, slowly turning towards the approaching cursed spirit. 

"You felt it just now didn't you? Your command over your cursed energy skyrocketed after you landed Black Flash, there's a saying that the difference between a sorcerer who has and hasn't landed one is like heaven and earth. The fact that you've made such an achievement at such an infant stage of your life is only going to do you favors in the future." 

Yamada's attention returned to the cursed spirit as Ginko swallowed the information. 

"A first-grade spirit hm? It's about time I dusted off some of the rust," Ginko's expression tensed immediately. 

"That thing is a first-grade!?" 

"Indeed, but it's nothing I can't handle so just sit back and enjoy the fight. You might learn something useful from it after all." 

Even though Yamada and the cursed spirit were both technically of the same rank, Yamada's intelligence and experience gave him a massive edge over the creature. 

Like an unguided missile against a heat-seeking one. 

"Are you sure you'll be fine?" Ginko queried hesitantly. 

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Yamada snorted. "You're still a hundred years too young to be worrying about me, just sit and watch like I told you to."

All of a sudden, an ominous croaking sound could be heard from the Orangutan-spirit, its skin seemed to boil as parts of flesh warped into bubbles that were trying to pry themselves from its skin.

BURST! 

Roughly thirty of the fourth-grade spirits Ginko had fought ripped their way through the Orangutan's body and formed a parameter around the spirit. 

"Looks like you're smart enough to understand the strength between us," Yamada commented with indifference, unsurprised that his domineering presence had put the spirit on edge. "However primal instinct alone won't be enough to defeat me, or any instinct for that matter." 

SPLATTER!

The curse couldn't believe what it had just witnessed, its pupils widening as it jumped up in horror.

In an instant, the heads of the smaller spirits had all been cleanly sliced off their shoulders, like a professional chef through salmon. "See?" Yamada hadn't so much as pulled his arms out of the confines of his sleeves, yet had still managed to pull off such a devastating attack. 

The cursed spirit immediately stood up straight, pointing its spear towards Yamada with an evident glint of fear in its eyes. 

"Honestly I could've just exorcized you alongside that attack, but right now I'm trying to use you as an educational moment for my grandson, so try not to perform too pathetically alright?"

The very second Yamada took a step forwards, the cursed spirit spared no time turning tail and making an attempt to flee, experiencing the same amount of dread it had just induced onto Ginko. 

"It's not nice to ignore someone when they're talking to you," but by the time it had turned around, Yamada was already there —waiting with a displeased look on his face. 

The primate screeched in a blind rage, imbuing its spear with even more cursed energy as it swung down at Yamada's head. 

"Gramps—!" Ginko called out, only to be left awestriken by what he was witnessing. 

The spear had been stopped in mid-air by what looked to be an invisible force, it seemed like no matter how much more force the ape tried to exert, it couldn't get its spear to budge even in the slightest. 

"Believe it or not, having a good grasp over how barriers work is an indispensable skill when it comes to mastering our cursed technique. Once we return home I'm going to start teaching you this so watch closely alright?" Out of the blue Yamada released his grip on the spear, allowing the ape to swing down on him with his full might. 

—or so the cursed spirit thought. 

This time the invisible force was right above Yamada's head, but something seemed different about the application Yamada had just used. 

"By using the principle of lapse, or forward rotation alongside the foundations of a barrier, we can create a pulling force with our technique in order to forcibly prevent a physical attack from hitting us. However, using it can be quite draining especially without proper mastery, and as an added flaw I'm only capable of covering about 5% of my body's surface area at a time. This technique is known as [Galeforce]." 

In spite of his grandfather's downplaying of the technique, Ginko's eyes were sparkling as if he was witnessing a miracle unfold before him.

"But that's not all it can do, if we apply the principles of reversal like so—" The spear then bounced off Yamada's [Galeforce], causing the cursed spirit to impale itself in the throat while its spear was still charged with cursed energy. 

Effectively meaning, Yamada had just caused a grade-one cursed spirit to commit suicide. 

"—it creates a repelling force equal to the amount of power put into the initial attack, however that is only if you execute the repulsion within the span of a second, any longer than that and you'd just be wasting your cursed energy. This is what I like to call [Redirection], my original goal was to be able to cast both successively, but unfortunately I never managed to reach such a level of finesse. Perhaps you'll achieve it in my stead someday." 

Yamada calmly walked over to the still stunned Ginko as the cursed spirit evaporated into thin air. 

"Now then, shall we get something to eat?"