His body felt heavy, like it didn't belong to him.
His senses were scrambled, vision hazy—as if some invisible force had sealed Sōjun Minamoto inside a closed box.
He tried to summon his Cursed Energy but felt a distinct lag. His soul, however… his soul was fine. The most noticeable thing was that his thoughts were still running clearly, and his sense of self remained intact.
That was likely because his soul was unusually stable, greatly minimizing the effect. For someone else, their soul might have fallen into the same sluggish state as their body.
Sōjun Minamoto began to piece things together.
Riko Amanai's technique allowed her to forcibly bind a person's body, Cursed Energy, and soul by touching their shadow.
Based on his own experience, the restriction hit the body the hardest, followed by Cursed Energy. The effect on the soul was comparatively minor.
But even that showed she had this kind of talent—talent at the level of the soul.
From the way she had moved earlier, he could tell that both hand and foot contact worked. Most likely, any part of her body could trigger the technique upon contact.
There didn't seem to be any requirement for the shadow's size either. Shadows cast on the ground worked, and those formed on protruding parts of the body worked too.
Maybe the larger the contacted shadow, the stronger the effect?
Sōjun Minamoto mused silently.
One thing he still wasn't sure about—did she need to maintain physical contact for the technique to stay active?
Riko Amanai had kept touching him the entire time. Even though he couldn't see or hear due to his scrambled senses, his spiritual perception was still functional. He could clearly sense her spirit body standing on tiptoe, cupping his chin.
Just like the last thing he saw with his own eyes.
Sōjun Minamoto remained completely calm.
Her ability was strong—but not overwhelmingly so. The problem was her crude application.
She shouldn't have led with it. It would've been far more effective if she'd hidden it, used it for a sneak attack during the fight.
Only by keeping him constantly on edge could she maximize the technique's restraining effect.
Instead, she opened with it, letting him figure out most of how it worked. By the time she tried to pull a surprise move, it was already too late.
Sōjun Minamoto shook his head inwardly. After this fight, his evaluation of the trio was clear—
Academics. Newbie sorcerers.
Full of potential, but lacking experience.
That was their biggest weakness right now.
With a slight thought, Sōjun Minamoto's body began to glow faintly, starlight blooming around him. It wasn't bright, but the shadow under Riko Amanai's hands—where she held his chin—was instantly scattered.
She froze for a second, looked up at Sōjun Minamoto, only to see him looking right back at her—then he winked.
Her hands were still awkwardly cupping his face in a daze.
Sōjun Minamoto flicked a finger at her forehead.
Tap—
"Ahh!"
She snapped back to her senses, clutching her forehead and stumbling back a few steps.
Wait, what? You can glow?!
The pain finally caught up with her. She bent over slightly, holding her stomach with a grimace.
Sōjun Minamoto stepped forward, gently placed a hand on her lower abdomen, and activated his Reverse Cursed Technique. A wave of blue Cursed Energy surged out, quickly easing the tension from Riko Amanai's face.
With that, the fight was truly over.
Riko Amanai soon returned to normal. One hand on her hip, the other pointing her thumb at herself over and over.
"Look at me, look at me."
"How was it? Pretty amazing technique, right?!" she said excitedly.
Sōjun Minamoto nodded. It was definitely impressive, but—
"Until you've fully mastered it, it's best to keep it a secret," he said.
"Huh? So I can't go public with it?" Riko Amanai had looked pleased when he nodded, but now her excitement faded a little.
Sōjun Minamoto looked at her seriously and said quietly,
"It's not that you can't—it's that your grasp on using technique disclosure is still too immature. It's better not to."
Some techniques are fine to disclose, like the Ratio Technique. Even if exposed, it doesn't make much difference—the weaknesses are still there.
Very few people can alter their form like Sōjun Minamoto, and that doesn't mean the Ratio Technique is weak. It just means Kento Nanami hasn't developed it enough. The rate at which he creates weak points can't keep up with how fast Sōjun Minamoto shifts forms.
But Riko Amanai's technique is different. If the enemy pays attention, spots the light source, or simply stays in the dark, she'll end up on the back foot.
Especially since she still can't use the technique smoothly.
Sōjun Minamoto explained further:
"By revealing the details of one's own technique and using this 'Revealed Hand' as a binding vow, the technique's effectiveness increases significantly.
But technique disclosure, at its core, is still a Binding Vow. While it amplifies your power, it also forces you to accept the risk of leaking that information.
It all depends on how well you handle it."
It was a bit like in Fight the Landlord—you had to decide whether to reveal your cards.
If you're confident in your technique and how you wield it, revealing your hand can earn you a bigger payoff.
But if your cards are bad, your technique is clumsy, and your teammates are just as unskilled, even with all the buffs stacked, choosing to reveal your cards might cost you everything.
"What if someone already knows my technique? Would making it public still boost its power?" Kento Nanami suddenly asked.
"Hm…" Sōjun Minamoto paused, then said slowly, "Yes and no."
The three of them all wore the same confused expression. What kind of answer was that?
"The target of technique disclosure isn't strictly the enemy. It's not about whether the other person knows—it's about whether you believe the technique has been exposed and that it puts you at a disadvantage."
"In exchange for that perceived vulnerability, you gain a temporary boost in power," Sōjun Minamoto said, meeting their eyes.
"So as long as I believe it's exposed, that's enough?" Kento Nanami mused.
If that was true, then even if someone like Sōjun Minamoto already knew his technique, he could still use technique disclosure next time to strengthen it.
He wasn't happy with how things went earlier and was already thinking about a rematch.
Before Sōjun Minamoto could respond, Riko Amanai's eyes lit up, and she jumped in.
"So if I shamelessly insist that 'nobody else knows,' that could still work a little, right?"
You really are a sharp one.
"It's not about insisting or pretending—it's about believing. The stronger that belief, the more noticeable the effect. If you believe it's real, if you believe it's true, then the result can be phenomenal."
Sōjun Minamoto looked at her.
"You just need to keep reinforcing that idea in your mind. If you don't mind twisting your values or scrambling your thoughts a little, you can give it a shot."
"Try fooling yourself."
Fool the balance mechanism.
He didn't say that last part aloud. They weren't ready for that yet.
It was something even he had only just begun experimenting with.
(40 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / PinkSnake