Capítulo 47: Cursed Tools
Hoo~
Slightly fatigued.
Immersive spirit exorcism was harder than expected. Considering that curses die in such large numbers every day, logging into the sorcerer forum only shows that the task list has increased rather than decreased. Curse incidents appear in various remote corners, and sorcerers follow curses around like harvesting crops; after one round, another begins the next day.
Everything related to tasks becomes tiresome.
I used to really like exorcising spirits.
Ninety-nine times, Minamoto Sōjun had been sought out to apply mass to his eye. It was the same formula as before: his cursed energy exhausted, his eye successfully gained the power of 4.5 countries.
Minamoto Sōjun now found it difficult to move around.
One of Minamoto Sōjun's bodies was stationed at the high school to train, specifically for carrying the Starry Eye, while the other four went out exorcising spirits and assimilating curses.
He had perfected multitasking to the extreme.
...
Mishima Shiko had not been happy lately.
She couldn't divide herself into five, after all.
Moreover, her beloved cursed tool, the sword, had broken during her last promotion mission.
It was her cherished possession, her treasured item—
Expensive!
She had spent a fortune to secure it, using connections and pulling strings to get her hands on it. She hadn't expected that after only a few years of use, it would snap, and now there was no place she could buy another one even if she wanted to.
So she was walking around with a glum face and wasn't very proactive about exorcising spirits.
Money-related issues, especially large sums, were difficult for her to overcome on her own.
"So, is that why you came to see me?" Minamoto Sōjun asked, exasperated and holding his forehead. Was it really for something like this?
Mishima Shiko bit her lip, looking miserable. "I'm so sad... my sword!"
"You're not drunk, are you?!" Minamoto Sōjun snapped.
"..."
Mishima Shiko stared at Minamoto Sōjun. She wanted to try lying on the ground and rolling around like Tenkai Riko, hoping the other person might conjure up a cursed tool for her.
The urge welled up inside her, but thankfully, rationality intervened just in time. A 19-year-old woman felt a bit ashamed and wouldn't allow herself to do something like that.
Minamoto Sōjun fell into thought. He didn't often use cursed tools, but he knew there were plenty in the high school's forbidden storage. It shouldn't be impossible to exchange for one, he thought.
He knew that one of the major families had a communal storage hidden deep within the high school, holding the cursed tools they had collected over centuries, although they were not necessarily rare items.
Cursed tools mainly came from two sources: one was from ordinary weapons that had evolved through long use by sorcerers, infused with cursed energy until they became sensitive to it and acquired unique properties;
The other was crafted by blacksmiths from materials that had good conductive properties for cursed energy.
Minamoto Sōjun was familiar with a bit of blacksmithing, which had to do with Lady Minamoto.
To be honest, his craftsmanship was quite good.
His blacksmithing philosophy was different from most sorcerers, much like his jujutsu philosophy.
He had made cursed tools in the past, using materials that were quite unconventional—
What material could rival his own body's ability to conduct curses?
Taking marrow from bones or a single strand of hair was effective, especially when mixed with modern metals… When money was tight, he'd forge a few cursed tools and post them on the forum, where they'd be snapped up in no time.
No cost, zero risk, high return.
He looked up at Mishima Shiko. "Do you have money?"
Mishima Shiko immediately understood. "Can you get one?"
Minamoto Sōjun nodded. They just needed to make the purchase through him.
"What kind of cursed tool do you want? Still interested in a sword?" Minamoto Sōjun started to gauge her preferences.
From his observations, Mishima Shiko wasn't suited for a sword, nor was she someone particularly devoted to them; the only weapon she could get was a sword, so that's what she had to use.
"Can I choose?" Mishima Shiko asked, her face lighting up. She hadn't expected him to be so unconventional.
She eagerly spoke up!
"Do you have any suggestions? I prefer long-handled weapons, but not naginata; I don't like them. Also, nothing too heavy; I lean towards agility…" She voiced her preferences and requirements, then clapped her hands.
"I want something powerful yet affordable!"
Powerful... and affordable...?
Shouldn't you reconsider what you're asking for? My ears can't even bear to hear it.
"Go wait for it, and transfer the money to my card."
"Alright!"
...
Minamoto Sōjun returned to the blacksmithing room he had set up.
He planned to take this opportunity to improve his blacksmithing rank.
Forging cursed tools was actually no different from making ordinary weapons, except that the materials were special, and the steps were the same.
First was selecting the materials. Modern metals provided hardness and toughness; as long as the money was there, he could buy specialized metals. That was why Mishima Shiko had to pay.
Minamoto Sōjun logged into the dark web.
In this place, money was king.
Cursed items were the most expensive, while "ordinary" materials were relatively cheaper.
Special alloys with functions such as stealth, hydrogen resistance, superconductivity, shape memory, wear resistance, and damping, as well as metal matrix composites, were all easy to find.
If something couldn't be found, posting a bounty with a higher reward made the acquisition faster.
Minamoto Sōjun spent a long time choosing and picking out suitable metals, confirming the price with the supplier, and paying the deposit.
The platform was involved to some extent in the transaction process.
Of course, if he was confident in his strength... why pay when he could just take it?
Minamoto Sōjun was confident in his abilities, and if the other party only offered money without lifting a finger, he wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of it. The so-called dark web was just opaque to most people.
With the modern metals secured, the next step was to find cursed materials. Combining scientific power with jujutsu, the forged cursed tools would be strong.
Most current blacksmiths in the jujutsu world wouldn't place as much importance on non-cursed materials as Minamoto Sōjun did.
The sources of cursed materials were simpler: parts of a sorcerer's body, such as fingers, hair, or eyes, especially those from Minamoto Sōjun, had top-notch curse-conducting properties.
But that came at a different price...
After waiting a few days, the materials were successfully obtained without any issues, which left Minamoto Sōjun feeling a bit disappointed.
Since all the materials were ready, the next step was to design and draft the blueprint.
The shape, dimensions, and even decorations of the cursed tool had to be decided beforehand, so he would know what he was working with.
Minamoto Sōjun was extra meticulous this time and even planned to create a preliminary model for reference.
He pondered for a while, as there were many types of long-handled weapons: halberds, spring and autumn blades, simple blades, dropped blades, great swords, naginata... But after excluding the unsuitable ones, only a few remained, and to meet Mishima Shiko's requirements, even fewer options were left.
The naginata was actually the most suitable weapon for a woman, but Mishima Shiko had immediately ruled that out.
What a hassle; maybe she should just have a scythe to cut grass.
Minamoto Sōjun settled on the type of cursed tool, envisioning various war scythe designs, focusing first on functionality and then on Mishima Shiko's height, physique, and habits.
He sketched out the measurements on paper: handle length, curve, blade length, spine width, blade curvature, and so on, finalizing all the data before completing the blueprint.
He then officially began the forging phase.
Minamoto Sōjun locked himself in the blacksmithing room. He needed to heat the metal materials to the right temperature and perfectly incorporate the cursed materials, removing any impurities.
As evening approached, Minamoto Sōjun emerged from the blacksmithing room after a full day of work.
He had failed.
The flame temperature was insufficient, and the timing was difficult to control.
Minamoto Sōjun frowned in deep thought.
Fire... it was the fire he was missing!
He needed to find a curse related to fire.
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