Marked for Greatness

(POV: Blaze)

I sat in my office, a room illuminated by natural light coming in from the large windows on the walls.

The yellow sunlight filtered through, though it wasn't too hot, nor too cold… it was perfect.

I leaned back on my chair, a small smile on my face as I replayed the recording of a dungeon run from the entrance exams.

Ryomen Sukuna… a truly amusing individual.

He had shown extremely powerful techniques, ones capable of killing D-Rank monsters with a single attack.

"A physical attack, followed by a second, more intense impact," I muttered, closing the recording. "A sort of… shockwave, after a delay. He did not move physically, so I assume that it was a mana blast."

That would be the end of it, but there was a problem.

All the tests, done from his birth, show that he didn't have enough mana to do that.

There were also some rumors that the tests were fake, and that he had no mana at all, because everyone who has ever met him felt nothing at all.

With possibly no mana, how can he do such an attack?

"And then there's the slashing attack, Dismantle, as he calls it," I continued, moving the mouse to open the live footage of the combat class of 1-A. "It slashes monsters in cubical divisions, capable of completely cutting through D-Rank monsters."

I sighed as I watched the footage of the students sparring with each other on the screen.

These are only two of his attacks, there might be more techniques as well as variations of these ones.

A low chuckle escaped my lips… so many questions piled on top of each other.

"Ryomen Sukuna." My voice echoed in the confines of the room. "You're like Ren all over again."

He has made me just as confused as Ren had last year… it would be interesting to see them meet, but unfortunately, he's suspended right now.

My focus went to the screen as the instructor called Sukuna for a spar, my lips curling up into a large, almost devious smile.

"What will you show me now?"

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(POV: Johan Wolff)

My blood pounded in my veins as I waited for the instructor to call me, my hand trembling with anticipation.

"Spar 5: Ryomen Sukuna, Johan Wolff." The instructors voice called out.

A triumphant grin spread across my face, a fire burning in my eyes as I eagerly went into the ring, waiting for him to come up.

This was my chance to fight the one at the top… to see how far back I am… to see how long I still have to go.

He walked into the arena with neither hurried, nor leisurely steps, his expression giving away nothing as he simply stood opposite to me.

I could see his eyes widening for a brief moment as his eyes landed on me, before he quickly composed himself.

A smirk formed on my face at this… did he see something in me? Something that made him cautious?

"Johan… RUN!"

My mother's final words echoed in my mind, giving me the courage I needed to face this challenge.

I got into my stance, leaving no openings for him to exploit. He got into his stance too, a well-practiced one, I would say.

Suddenly, I felt something from him… something familiar.

The mark on my chest pulsated with energy, making me grit my teeth at the uncomfortable sensation.

The mark had never reacted like this before… why now?

I tool a deep breath… I didn't have time to think of all this now.

"BEGIN!" The instructor shouted, his voice reaching my ears, making my lips curl up into a huge grin.

I lunged, coating my fist with mana, aiming for a punch right at his gut.

He simply raised his arm, planting his left foot back firmly. My punch hit his arm, and it felt… too strong.

It was as if I was punching the floor, no matter how much force I put in it, he didn't budge.

However, I felt his arm trembling slightly, making my grin widen. The attack affected him, even though it was only a slight effect.

I pulled my fist back, my other hand readying itself for a blow as strong as the last.

I launched into a flurry of attacks, each blow fueled not just by my pent-up frustration, but by the anger simmering beneath the surface, the rage contained within me from that night.

Each dodged punch, each blocked blow, sent frustration through me, the whispers in my head growing louder.

His movements were slow, sluggish, then why… why couldn't I defeat him already?

"HAAHH!" I let out a battle cry, my attacks getting faster, and I could see him struggling to keep up, his eyes slightly widening.

I don't know why, but I felt… stronger, as if something within me had snapped.

He suddenly retreated, my fist hitting the air as he hurriedly walked out of my range, standing in his stance, staring at me. Sweat dropped from his forehead as our eyes met, we both were breathing in short gasps.

My grin didn't falter, and his face, too, slowly morphed into a grin as crazy as my own, it was as if I was looking into a mirror.

He lunged towards me, and I, towards him.

This would be the final attack of the match… and I will win!

But suddenly, I felt something… a sense of dread… a primal fear as his fist crackled with a dark energy, a weird, burning smell reaching my nose.

The whispers in my head grew louder, like an unending song I couldn't turn off.

"Kill him."

"Win."

No… I won't give in… this is just a spar… I'm not like you… I won't kill him.

My fist connected with his body, hitting him in the abdomen, but in return, I had to take one too.

His fist connected with my chest, exploding with a deafening crackling sound.

My grin faltered as I saw him not even move from my punch, as if I had hit a stone wall. But I could feel something… as if my chest was caving in.

I felt myself float, my eyes rolling back into my skull as everything started to blur.

I couldn't feel anything… I couldn't hear anything.

In this state, I only managed to hear two words uttered by him clearly. "BLACK… FLASH!"

An overwhelming pain tore through my chest. Black light erupted from his fist, engulfing me in a blinding flash.

The mark on my chest burned. In that moment, I couldn't tell if it was Sukuna's power or the demon's rage that consumed me.

The next thing I knew, I slammed against the opposite wall, the world spinning wildly.

My consciousness faded away, leaving me limp on the floor as the medical team came to pick me up.

However, even as I lay on the ground, motionless, there was a little smile on my face.

Maybe, just maybe, by understanding his power, I could learn to control mine. The demon's whispers wouldn't be silenced, but maybe… I could learn to drown them out.

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(POV: Ryomen Sukuna)

[Successfully performed Black Flash for the first time, Cursed Energy Proficiency +5%]

[You have reached 30% Cursed Energy Proficiency, unlocking 'Cleave']

The System rang with notifications, the blue, translucent screen popping up beside me.

My hands were trembling uncontrollably.

Even though I had reinforced y arms with cursed, energy, a lot of pressure was still put on my joints and other parts, because of my weak physique.

The limit on physical capabilities… I'll have to do something about it.

I, however, was focused on something else entirely, as I looked at the medical team rushing to get Johan for treatment.

Johan Wolff.

I felt something from him… something eerily similar to cursed energy.

But, as far as I can remember, there was nothing in his life that should make me feel something like that from him.

He could be said to be the most 'normal' of the main cast.

He was born in a village, a happy village, with a supporting, single mother.

He came to the academy, fought along with the main cast, and even visited his mom every month.

I looked at the team taking him into a building on a stretcher with an unreadable expression.

I need to investigate.

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(POV: Johan Wolff)

It was a dark night, I was walking in the forest near my village, searching for my mom, who hadn't returned for a long time.

I was scared… my legs were trembling… but what scared me more was the fact that something could've happened to her.

I went deeper into the forest, the sense of unease in my heart growing.

Suddenly, to my left, I heard footsteps, as if someone was dragging themself towards me.

My head snapped to the direction of the sound… and what met my eyes was the figure of my mom… bloodied, her whole right arm torn off as tears fell down her face, her clothes covered in blood.

I froze, my hands trembling as tears formed in my eyes.

I was scared… I wanted to help.

She opened her mouth, but before she could speak… I saw a silhouette behind her, a huge shadow that seemed to engulf her whole.

That was the day… I saw a demon… beings that were known about only by a few people in the world.

The demon… it tore my mother's body like a plaything, its hand impaling her stomach as she fell to the floor.

"Johan… RUN!:" She managed to scream before the demon stepped on her head, crushing it like a nut.

Her skull disintegrated into small fragments of bone, flying around some landing near my feet.

I stood there, unmoving, looking at the figure of my mom, her head now a pool of blood as the demon slowly feasted on her body, chewing her limbs eagerly.

Suddenly, it stopped, its head turning to me.

My breath caught in my throat as I took a step back.

My mom was dead… I was scared… I wanted to run.

The demon was standing in front of me before I knew it, extending its hand to my chest.

An excruciating pain assaulted me as I fell to the floor, screaming as loud as I could, my body writhing in pain.

When the pain finally subsided, the demon was gone… and there was a black, pulsating mark on my chest.

My eyes landed on my mother's corpse, which was now reduced to just a torso and a single leg.

Her innards were visible through her torn abdomen, and I could feel my stomach churn, bile rising to my throat.

I felt my vision going dark, my body falling back onto the floor.

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I groggily opened my eyes, my vision blurry. Coming into my vision was a white ceiling and a blinding light.

I seemed to be in a hospital room, that of the academy to be precise.

I tried to get up, supporting myself by my elbows, only to be assaulted by a sharp pain in my chest.

I yelped, putting my hand on my chest, right where the mark of the demon was.

"That dream again…" I muttered. I've had that dream ever since that night, it was as if I could never escape that day.

I felt something inside me… something had changed.

For some reason, I felt... stronger, the heat of the mark greater than ever, it was as if I had… ascended.

The whispers were... louder. Before, I could ignore them and be in peace, but now it was as if they were chewing my head from the inside.

My eyes went to the window, looking outside at the training grounds, which were now empty.

I saw the wall where I was thrown to, a little blood still on it, but there was a huge dent where I landed.

A chuckle escaped my lips… he broke each one of my ribs, throwing me to a wall, and making a large dent on it.

"Overkill, don't you think?" I muttered, a smile on my face.

I wasn't angry… I didn't expect to win this fight at all, I just wanted to know how far behind I was… and now, I got my answer…

I still have a long way to go.

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In another part of the academy… the principal's office, there were three people watching the replay of the recording of Johan and Sukuna's duel.

"What do you think?" Blaze asked, his voice grave as he looked back at the two men, his face carrying a little smirk.