[1st POV]
Dragon soul.
I have pressed a hundred times on the text, but I still have no idea what it was. The system seemed to think that the name itself was explanation enough because it didn't give me anything else.
I could only guess what it was.
Dragon soul.
...
The sound of the sliding door brought me out of my reverie. My father barged into the room; this time, he didn't even bother knocking.
His eyes fell on me immediately, and he paused when he saw what I was doing. For a moment, there was absolute silence. The silence soon became awkward and only when it was unbearable did I turn my head to look at him.
"Hello, father," I said in a stoic voice.
"Did I just catch you sitting on your study table and staring at the void doing...nothing?" he asked.
I took a second look at myself. I was wearing clean clothes now. The morning training and even the afternoon training were already over. It was night and I was alone in my room, sitting at my study table.
But I wasn't doing nothing. I was checking out my system and learning everything I could. My father could not see it, so he just assumed I was doing nothing.
"...Yes," I answered, "I was thinking."
My father gave me the most judgmental face a father could give to his son.
"That's weird of you. A kid like you should be unable to stay still," he said, "You really need to watch your behaviour, you have a horn now."
"What does that even mean?" I asked, genuinely confused.
"Nothing," he said, and then said nothing else.
He looked around my room, checking every inch of the place to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be. It was his routine to visit me like this during the night.
I never really knew why before, but now I know. I followed his gaze and saw the talismans planted in my room. I was not sure what they were but I could sense cursed energy from them. I assumed they were there for my security.
After he was done checking everything, he turned his focus back to me.
"I heard you beat the other disciples this afternoon. You got into a fight right after fighting me," he said.
I briefly glanced at my status panel and at the Battle Points.
..
[Battle Points : 430]
..
Fighting my father gave me 77 points even though I lost, and fighting seven other disciples gave me 55.
"Yes," I said.
He nodded, "You won all of them?"
"Yes," I said.
"There's no problem then. Good night son," he said, and before I could say anything back, he slid shut the door. Leaving as abruptly as he appeared.
I couldn't help but smile at his antics, "Good night, father."
After that, I turned back to the hidden talismans in my room. I was very curious what they were and I feel like they were going to mess with my sleep in some way as I thought about what they were.
Luckily, when I asked the next morning, my father explained that ever since I was young, I always had a huge amount of cursed energy so he put those in my room to make sure a cursed spirit doesn't form from the leaks of cursed energy, which I couldn't control yet.
..
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(The next morning)
The Kurogane Clan used to be one of the biggest clans in Japan. They were known for their quantity, not their elite quality like other big clans.
The Kurogane Clan were also known to accept outsiders easily. They valued strength over anything else. Since the clan technique could be practiced by anyone with above average cursed energy, most people without a proper Jujutsu background sought out this clan.
And the Kurogane Clan accepted everyone if they were a decent practitioner of the Cursed Body Hardening technique.
In the Sengoku Era, the Kurogane Clan were in the thousands. But the decline of the clan was ruthless. Now, there were only 220 members in total living in the Kurogane Clan.
There were around 20 core clan members. These were the original Kurogane Clan members and direct descendants. They held more influence than the outsiders which were accepted long ago and only a core member of the family could become the leader of the Clan.
There were 80 or so proper warriors in the clan with some veterans who held more respect than the rest. The older veterans could actually become clan elders, that status was not hoarded only to the core members.
Then there were the disciples and the relatives. They were members of the clan and supported everyone. They were mostly made out of women, old people and others that did not pursue the path of a warrior.
But even with the Kurogane's decline in number and strength, they still remained one of the biggest clans in modern Japan. At least we were still much larger than even the Zenin or the Gojo clan.
"That's all for today's morning training," my father said after the usual training was over. He trained me in all aspects but today was technique day where he taught me hand-to-hand combat.
Due to this, I did not even feel tired by the end of the training. It was only like a nice warm up to me with my increased endurance and durability.
"I seriously need to re-evaluate your training schedule and intensity," he said, "Tomorrow, I do not want to see you yawning at the end of your training."
"Can't wait," was my only answer.
Indeed, I was not really a child of seven now. I was something more, I was mentally older than that. I was not going to moan and complain about the training which is going to benefit me in the end.
"I'll make sure you never utter that word again," my father added with a dark grin before he turned and walked away from the training ground.
Without any fanfare, I opened my system as well. There was something I wanted to test, it was perhaps the last thing I needed to do before I finally got the hang and understand the system.
..
[Affinity : Darkness, Destruction]
..
I already tested the destructive nature of my Dragon Qi and now I was infinitely curious what the darkness aspect of it was.
I could kinda guess what it was due to my past knowledge and because Yu Zhong was literally one of my favourite.
His passive. In the MLBB game, Yu Zhong has one of the most busted passives. What it does is after every five hits landed on an enemy hero, the passive became active and you can steal the opponent's HP.
That was not exactly how it works but I'm simplifying it. In real life logic, it would be like the ability to steal an opponent's vitality to make yourself stronger.
This was the reason why Yu Zhong was such a great sustain hero. The longer he stayed in battle, the more enemies he fought, the stronger and the tougher he would get. He was not the type of hero that could easily one-shot, but more of a sustain fighter. Like a relentless demon that doesn't die or get tired.
In the lore, Yu Zhong could literally fight for years upon years against an army. He thrived in war, in chaos and utter destruction. He was literally a one-man army.
So my suspicion was that the darkness affinity was a direct translation of Yu Zhong's ability to steal vitality and devour his opponent's spirit.
"I need a live subject for the experiment," I concluded in the end.
A small animal would suffice. Maybe a rat or a squirrel.
I looked up at the horizon. My eyes travelled to the world beyond the compound walls. The Kurogane clan carved a settlement in a mountain range filled with forest so I reckoned it would not be hard to find some animal there.
The only problem was that I wasn't allowed to leave.
Which, quite frankly, wasn't really a problem when I thought about it. Not like my father assigned a security especially for me. I could easily sneak out of the compound any time I want.
But I could not go through the front gate. The soldiers assigned there would surely try to stop me or inform my father if I was going to leave.
So I left the training ground and headed towards the edge of the compound. The training facilities were all located at the heart of the compound, right below the Clan manor so I had to walk through the small streets.
I did not go towards the gate, quite the opposite actually. The compound itself was like a small village with 150 houses and some halls. There were also shrines and temples but I didn't go through that.
I encountered a few faces while I was on the way. Everyone gave a bright smile and a small nod towards me as I passed by them.
"Going for a walk, young master?" an elderly man asked while he was doing some woodwork on his balcony.
"Yeah, going for a walk," I answered with a nod even deeper than the one he gave me.
"Make sure you stay safe!!" he said and I waved at him.
The clan in general was quite fond of me. After all, I was their perfect little heir. Smart, genius and I was not a jerk and always acted humble and respectful towards them. They couldn't ask for a better future leader.
"Ah, so it's true that you gained horns as a consequence of your cursed technique," one lady asked when we met on the way.
"Yes," I nodded, suddenly a bit conscious at her comment.
But she just smiled at me, "It suits you."
She ruffled my head gently before walking past me with the laundry she was holding in her hand. She probably returned from the well after washing the clothes.
I continued passing through the clan compound and a few minutes later, I was finally at the edge. The whole settlement was surrounded and guarded by a 10-foot wall. It was not just a simple one either, they were traditional with their own roof and stuff.
I bent my knees, gathered a bit of power and then took a great leap. I seemed to have overestimated my own power because I leapt way above the height of the wall.
After landing, I clapped my hands to clean the dirt.
"Easier than I thought," I said to myself.
Then I ran into the forest to search for animals.
..
..
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