Chapter 36: Technique Awakening

"Curse spirit? How can there be a curse spirit in the school?"

Hikigaya Hachiman looked at the ripples on the outer wall of the corridor, his pupils trembling.

No, why did I have the illusion that there wouldn't be a curse spirit in the school?

He recalled the knowledge Hayashizaki had taught him, that curse spirits are monsters born from human negative emotions, and a place like a school with many students gathered, how could it lack negative emotions?

Teenagers, as they transition from children to adults, are sensitive and delicate. Failing exams, failed relationships, school bullying... He couldn't even count the things that could cause negative emotions.

Accompanied by a strange laugh that sounded like teeth chattering, the curse spirit that emerged from the ripples finally entered Hikigaya Hachiman's sight.

Shaped like a will-o'-the-wisp, the curse spirit, slightly larger than a basketball, floated in the air of the corridor, its body covered with eyes of various sizes, looking like a monster from a Cthulhu horror story brought to life.

"One, two... there are five of them."

The dead fish-eyed boy looked at the five curse spirits surrounding him, his face still calm, but inside he was already complaining.

Hikigaya Hachiman, a novice curse user, his record of exorcising curse spirits—he punched a giant insect curse spirit, with almost no effect.

In short, he's weak.

What? Run away?

No, this is the school, there are still many students doing club activities, not to mention Yuigahama is in the service club nearby, he can't just leave these five curse spirits alone.

The thought of running away just popped into his mind and was immediately denied.

Tch, why are Yukinoshita and Hayashizaki not at school at this time, the timing is too coincidental, right?

Make an emergency call... Damn, I don't have Yukinoshita's contact information!

Forget it, thinking about this now is useless, I have to deal with these curse spirits quickly.

Hikigaya Hachiman slowly exhaled, throwing away those irrelevant thoughts from his mind.

The five curse spirits floated in the air, circling around the dead fish-eyed boy, their mouths constantly making that annoying strange laugh.

They seemed to be waiting for the right moment to attack, while Hikigaya Hachiman silently observed them.

Judging from their size, these curse spirits shouldn't be very strong individually, otherwise, they wouldn't need to confront him, obviously, they were wary of him.

But their small size meant they were agile, and they could fly, putting Hikigaya Hachiman at a disadvantage.

In terms of numbers, it's one against five, he's still at a disadvantage.

So what is his advantage?

Hmm, can't think of any.

After carefully analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of both sides, Hikigaya Hachiman couldn't help but feel a bit desperate.

How to fight this!?

He didn't even know if he could handle one curse spirit, let alone five.

"In that case, strike first!"

The more he thought, the more desperate he felt, so he decided to stop thinking and just act!

What he had told Hayashizaki about diligently training his curse energy at home was not a lie. Compared to before, Hikigaya Hachiman had improved a lot in controlling his curse energy.

Although he hadn't reached the level of perfect control, at least he wouldn't be in the awkward situation of not being able to use it when he wanted to.

Moreover, he could feel his curse energy slowly increasing.

But just having curse energy didn't directly increase his combat power.

First of all, it must be made clear that Hikigaya Hachiman is not good at fighting.

Yukinoshita Yukino at least has a foundation in Aikido, so learning other martial arts wouldn't be too difficult. But Hikigaya Hachiman really just swings his fists based on feeling and doesn't have the superhuman physical abilities like Yukinoshita Yukino does now.

After swinging his fist at one of the curses and having it easily dodged, he realized that trying to actively attack these curses was not just difficult, but almost impossible.

It seemed he could only wait for them to attack and then counterattack.

Seeing these curses floating in the air, mocking him for not being able to touch them, Hikigaya Hachiman felt a surge of anger.

However, when it comes to being annoying and irritating, Hikigaya Hachiman didn't think he was any weaker than these ugly curses.

He looked up at the curses, his half-lidded eyes emitting a rotten aura, and a sneer full of contempt appeared on his lips.

"Ha."

"Cluck, cluck, cluck!"

Seeing the five curses chattering their teeth and flying around like deflated balloons, Hikigaya Hachiman knew his taunt had worked.

He remembered that back in elementary school, whenever he showed this expression, the kids around him would definitely show disgusted expressions and walk away while calling him by his nickname.

It seemed these curses had the intelligence level of elementary school kids at best.

Soon, one of the curses lost its patience and charged at the dead fish-eyed boy.

The annoying expression on his face disappeared instantly, and Hikigaya Hachiman quickly caught its head with both hands, sliding a few meters on the corridor floor due to the impact.

The curse in his arms opened its mouth and kept biting, but because it was being controlled, it could only bite the air.

"How should I put it..."

Hikigaya Hachiman felt the force coming from his hands, and his expression was a bit strange. "It feels like that's it. The attack method seems very simple."

Although the impact when he first caught the charging curse was indeed strong, like catching a high-speed flying soccer ball with bare hands, even though he had strengthened his hands with curse power, his palms were still numb from the shock.

But there was no more force afterward, the struggling force was like a large dog shaking its head.

He felt confident again.

Hearing the sound of something breaking through the air, he looked up and saw another curse charging at him.

Letting go of the curse in his arms, he faced the incoming curse with a fist wrapped in curse power.

Splat!

Purple blood and flesh exploded everywhere, and Hikigaya Hachiman looked at the curse he had punched to pieces with a stunned expression, suddenly wondering, "Am I really strong?"

"Cluck, cluck, cluck!"

"Cluck, cluck, cluck!"

The remaining four curses screamed and started to flee, and Hikigaya Hachiman snapped back to reality, quickly chasing after them.

"Hey! Don't run!"

They fled, he chased. Although the flying speed of these curses wasn't fast, Hikigaya Hachiman caught up with them several times but had no way to stop them.

As the distance to the Service Club room got closer, Hikigaya Hachiman's anxiety grew.

However, what he feared most still happened.

It seemed the curses sensed the presence of other humans and disappeared into the walls, vanishing from Hikigaya Hachiman's sight.

Realizing immediately that they were targeting Yuigahama Yui, who was alone in the club room, Hikigaya Hachiman rushed to the Service Club door and yanked it open.

"Ah, Hikki, you're back."

The orange haired girl with a bun was looking at her phone when she heard the door open. She looked up and smiled at Hikigaya, greeting him.

But she didn't notice the four monsters quickly approaching her from the walls, floor, and ceiling connected to the next classroom.

This scene was fully reflected in Hikigaya Hachiman's eyes.

He reached out towards Yuigahama, as if trying to grab or hold onto something.

Most sorcerers awaken their techniques at the age of seven or eight. For children from sorcerer families with inherited techniques, it might be even earlier. The potential of a sorcerer is set the moment they awaken their technique.

As long as they are not fools, their bodies understand how to use the technique from the moment of awakening.

The four curse spirits rushing towards Yuigahama Yui suddenly lost their momentum and stopped in mid-air, as if inertia and gravity no longer existed, like time had paused.

Crack!

A crisp sound like shattering glass echoed, the space seemed to split, and the four curse spirits were sealed in a mirror that appeared out of thin air.

As the mirror shattered, the four curse spirits were torn apart.

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