Story 10: Chapter 5: First Fight (Patreon)

Drawn To Power

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 5: First Fight

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- Tatsuya -

I was memorising the chants from the books Grandma had given me when I felt the sudden influx of memories from the clone. It took me a few seconds to organise them and I couldn’t help but click my tongue.

The Shadow Clone overdid it.

I had only told him to beat up a few youkai and he went and set their headquarters on fire….sigh.

I can see several ways this could end badly.

That said….those youkai were not that strong….or at least not all of them were strong.

Their leader, the one who my Shadow Clone called nerd and rightfully so, his name was Tamazuki, according to their conversation. He….was strong.

Or rather he was strong with that sword.

What even was that sword?

It felt as if it was alive on its own.

Not to mention, it was becoming stronger the more he killed with it.

Apart from that, he himself was not that much of a big deal.

The reason my Shadow Clone was struggling was because it would have gotten destroyed with a single good hit so it had to prevent getting hit in the first place.

I wonder what they will do now that my Shadow Clone went and caused so much trouble. Moreover, does Rikuo know about that sword?

Several thoughts were going through my head and I couldn’t meditate so I decided to go and train for a bit.

I summoned Shanks to continue our training.

Currently, I was trying to awaken my Conqueror’s Haki….but I just couldn’t no matter what I did.

“That’s understandable, you know.” Shanks shrugged.

“Hmm?”

“The reason you cannot awaken the Conqueror’s Haki is because you haven’t felt that strong of an urge yet.”

I looked at him confused and he explained.

“There are countless people in the world who have the King’s Haki but never awaken it even when they pass away. To awaken it, you have to crave for it. You need stimulation to your emotions. You have to be desperate. You have to feel it. The reason you don’t….is because you are never desperate. You never fight your enemies head on. You send your Clones while you are sitting safely in the confines of your house. You could fight your whole life like that and you wouldn’t awaken the King’s Haki….even if you become the strongest being in this world. After all, all users of the King’s Haki are those who fight in the frontlines.”

I thought about this and indeed, I didn’t fight people head on.

“Real fights are different. No matter how much experience your clones can send you, they cannot replicate the actual fight. You need to be there to feel it.”

“Will that allow me to awaken my Conqueror’s Haki?”

In fact, it wasn’t an issue of strength as I could feel the power just a tiny bit away from me. It was as if I could reach and touch it but no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t reach there.

Naruto and One Piece fighting styles were completely different.

One was based on deception while the other was based completely on head on fighting.

“That I don’t know. But what I know for sure is that you won’t be able to awaken it through your current method.”

Shanks was right.

If I wanted to awaken the Conqueror’s Haki, I couldn’t keep on avoiding fighting like this.

“Alright. I understand. I will go out and fight more.”

“Huh? With only that much strength? Are you looking to get kicked by another old man?” He made faces at me while saying this and I rolled my eyes.

We trained and left the room directly the next morning and directly went to sleep.

- Rikuo Nura -

“How is he?” He asked as he looked at the unconscious guy laying in front of him.

Shouei was the son of Lord Hihi and a half youkai. He had grown impatient in the last few days and had gone ahead to fight the Shikoku Youkai on his own….to their headquarters. Thankfully, he was spotted by some of the younger ones who informed Aotabo and Shouei was saved at the correct time

“Mostly fine. He wasn’t injured much. The Shikoku youkai seemed to be in chaos and couldn’t react quickly when Shouei reached there and I was able to bring him out almost immediately.”

“Chaos?”

“Yes. It looked as if the place had been attacked. I wasn’t able to see much but the entire floor had a massive scorch mark and there was even molten metal visible in some places.”

“Attack and scorch marks everywhere?” He narrowed his eyes. “Could it be….”

“Hmm? Did you say something, Master?”

“No. No it was nothing. By the way, did you guys see someone there? I mean the attacker?”

“No. It was already all over by the time we got there. In fact, I even found Sodemogi-sama, one of the seven phantom travellers, the officer of the Shikoku youkai laying half dead on the side of the building. He looked like he had fallen from the top of the building, barely alive because his fall was cushioned from getting hit on some wires in between. Kurotabo is keeping an eye on him and trying to interrogate him about more information.” Aotabo reported.

“Tsurara, take care of Shouei. Aotabo, bring me to the captive.” He ordered.

He was brought to the guy who had been treated by Zen and was conscious now. He was being interrogated by Kurotabo and Zen but had kept his mouth shut despite the injuries.

“Master.” Kurotabo and Zen greeted him as soon as he entered the room.

“Did he say anything?” He asked and they shook their heads.

“Hehehahaha did you think that sending a single man to attack us would scare us off? Tamazuki will take revenge on everyone. He will capture that guy and torture him till be breaks.” the captive youkai laughed.

“Shouei went there on his own and has already been recovered.”

“Shouei….is that the human’s real name?”

“Human? Who are you talking about?”

“The one in the black hood.”

“Shadow! Did he go and attack your headquarters?”

That foolish guy….did he intend to take on all of them on his own?

“Where is he? What did you all do?” He asked but the youkai just laughed.

“This is getting annoying.” He turned back to talk to Aotabo when the youkai suddenly jumped towards him to grab his sleeve and he attacked back almost reflexively.

Aotabo and Kurotabo did the same and the attacking youkai, making a pincushion out of him.

“Heheahaha you all are going to die. Tamazuki is the chosen one….” The guy laughed and with that, he disappeared.

At that time, someone informed him that Gozumaru and Mezomaru had gone to investigate the Shikoku Youkai.

….those two idiots.

“Sigh….What a pain. Kurotabo, Aotabo….gather everyone. This mess has gone on for far too long. We are ending this today.” He ordered.

The words of Shadow coming back to his mind.

Yes. The longer this goes on the more people will get affected. It’s best to end this mess soon.

- Tatsuya -

By the time I woke up, it was afternoon.

Shanks’ words had made me realise how much I was hesitating and so I was planning to go out and fight on my own today.

And with this in mind, as soon as the clock struck midnight, I snuck out of the house and changed into Shadow.

This night was different from all the previous ones.

Tonight, I could feel the aura of youkai all over the town. In fact, it was so dense that even normal people were feeling a strange aura all around. And the worst part about it was that….it was not the peaceful kind of youkai aura.

I raced towards the area with the most concentration of youkai aura and observed the scene from a high building. Down below, I saw scores of youkai facing each other.

They were basically in two groups. One group was from Rikuo’s clan and the other was of the idiots I had beaten up yesterday.

Did they get too impatient and start a war today?

I waited there and watched.

The nerd looked like he was putting on a show.

“I have been waiting for you, Rikuo Nura. You have the eyes of a challenger who doesn’t know his own limits. However, all that is going to change now. Now behold, the power of Tamazuki!” He stood on a high platform and spread his arms as he shouted.

Leaves danced around him and his form slowly changed into the one he had taken when fighting against me.

His minions went wild at the transformation and cheered.

“Seriously! What is this? Some kind of stage show?” I whispered.

I had come here for a serious fight and this guy was doing a circus show with his minions.

Was this the reason behind all the destruction he had caused- wanting attention?

I was seriously annoyed by the show so I decided to teach him a lesson.

He was about to jump down so I slowly made some handsigns.

“Genjutsu.”

It was a very basic genjutsu which interfered with the sense of distance and balance of a person.

And just as he jumped, I also made my move.

As expected, the guy landed on his face….the entire crowd went silent and without any wait, I too landed on top of him, one of my feet on his head.

“Yo nerd~ dressed up for halloween today?”

The guy pushed back at my head and looked at me mechanically. “You!” He waved his sword at me so I jumped back quickly. “You were dead!”

“Eh….not really. I am still alive, you know. Ah, I understand. Did you leave your glasses back at home to look cool? That’s no good, ya know.”

He swung his sword again and I jumped back towards Rikuo’s group. “Sup.”

The guy looked at me boredly. “Did you go and attack their headquarters yesterday?”

“That’s….technically not correct. I didn’t go there. His minion carried me.” I replied.

….

“So you were kidnapped?”

“That’s not….technically correct either. He was under an illusion which I had put on him. So….I made him carry me there. I mean, scouring the whole town for their headquarters was a bit of a pain and he was practically offering to help me out so why deny?”

He just scoffed.

“By the way, that nerd’s sword is weird. When I was fighting with him, he killed one of his subordinates with it and the aura on the blade increased. The same happened twice later.”

“He killed his subordinates?!”

“Hmm, don’t you notice some missing faces.”

Rikuo’s face took on a serious look and he looked at the nerd who had gotten up by now and was fuming in anger.

“By the way, are you going to fight them? I kinda wanted to try my hands on that guy today. I couldn’t fight freely yesterday as that would have crushed the entire building.”

“I am afraid that I will have to disappoint you today. I offered you a turn yesterday. Today is my turn.”

I shrugged. “I really wanted that fight. Say, how about this, if you win this, I want a promise to spar with me when all this is over, on the other hand, if you are in danger….I will intervene.” I offered.

“You will not get any chances to intervene….that said, you are always welcome to challenge me.” He replied back.

“Alright, that’s a deal.” I agreed and started to walk away.

“Catch him. Don’t let him get away.” The nerd shouted and several youkai ran towards me.

Rikuo’s subordinates were about to interfere but I shook my head towards them.

My first real fight….I wasn’t about to let anyone intervene.

I drew my sword and breathed.

Sun Breathing.

I didn’t even turn on the Sharingan.

The movements of these youkai seemed slow as I looked at them. My senses were catching all their actions and even the ones who were supposedly invisible were clearly visible to my aura sensing.

I kicked the ground and began. Sun Breathing.

First Form: Dance.

Second Form: Clear Blue Sky

Third Form: Raging Sun

Fourth Form: Burning Bones, Summer Sun

Fifth Form: Raging Sun

….one by one, all the forms of the Sun Breathing flowed as I danced between the incoming group and as I did so, I could feel everything in far more detail than what Shadow Clones were transmitting.

The sensation of my blade cutting through them, the smell of their blood, the resistance against my blade, the sounds of their cries and the wind from their attacks….all those sensations were something I had felt for the first time.

Was this how an actual fight was like?

By the time I woke from my trance, I realised that the entire crowd of youkai who had attacked me were all gone.

I looked back at the rest who stepped back in fright so I looked back at Rikuo once again and used Shunshin to get away from the place, taking a seat on one of the buildings to see the fight from a distance.

With my disappearance, the enemy group seemed to have gotten their breath back and began to roar in all directions.

….did these idiots think I ran away?

The nerd also seemed to have regained his courage and ordered as he walked forward, his blade unsheathed. “In the name of the eighty eight demons of Shikoku, I will now take your life and your fear as I had promised I would.” He raised his blade towards Rikuo.

“Are you done talking, Tanuki?” Rikuo smirked.

Was that nerd a tanuki youkai?

Suddenly one of the youkai on the nerd's side ran forward with a spear in his hand. “The glory will be mine!” He was heading straight for Rikuo.

….

One of Rikuo’s subordinates was about to make a move but he stopped him. “I got this.”

With that said, he narrowed his eyes as his aura flared. The youkai paused and began to stagger as he stepped back slowly.

Is this fear?

Using aura to suppress others….is this how they use fear?

I got comfortable and turned my Sharingan on.

Perhaps, I could learn a lot more if I sat back and observed the fight this time.

Both sides charged at each other and engaged the other side in a fight, however, suddenly, Rikuo began to walk forward….alone.

What is he thinking?

Tsurara Oikawa ran after him to support him but paused…

It took me a moment to realise why. None of the youkai were actually going at him….no, none of them were even able to see him.

This was the same trick Nurarihyon had used against me.

Nurarihyon’s Fear.

Even the nerd realised this and looked around urgently.

“What are you all doing? The enemy commander has already gone past you. Why are you all not attacking?” He shouted but they couldn’t find Rikuo no matter how they looked.

Rikuo had reached the nerd by then and unsheathed his blade, swinging at him. He blocked with his sword.

The aura of all the youkai had completely shrouded the whole place and was affecting the people around the city.

Just across the building, I could see people getting in accidents, or looking this way and then backing away.

The fight got heated up between that group and suddenly I spotted the masked subordinate of the nerd flying above Rikuo and the nerd and attacked Rikuo with black feathers.

I remember that my Shadow Clone had blown away all those attacks so I didn’t know what those feathers could do.

This confusion was gone soon.

I noticed Rikuo’s eyes had turned black and the nerd attacked him, easily going through his defence.

Ah, so those feathers took away eyesight.

I still hadn’t gotten started on Observation Haki. Actually, the only reason I was even near awakening the Conqueror’s Haki was because I bought it.

The fight continued and Rikuo looked to be on the backfoot for a while.

It reminded me of the situation I had against Nurarihyon and the training Tobirama had put me through to handle situations like this.

“He looks just like you, although you did struggle better.” I suddenly heard a voice from behind me and reflexively swung by sword to attack, only for the blade to meet another.

I relaxed when I saw the person behind me.

Nurarihyon. It was no wonder I couldn’t feel him.

“Are you here to join the war?” I asked.

“Hmm….not really. I have passed on the mantle to Rikuo. It’s his fight now. The fights of children is not something I would interfere with.” He said as he sat beside me.

I looked forward to the scene of fighting.

“You, on the other hand, left a very nasty surprise for me last time. Don’t you know old people like me can get shocked from sudden fireworks? I almost got a heart attack.”

….

As if you would get a heart attack from something like that.

“So….you need to compensate me. Five, no eight plates of Kofuku Manju the next time you visit.”

I looked at the old man with a deadpan.

On the battlefield, Oikawa came to Rikuo’s rescue and while she too got hit by the same feathers, the girl had frozen her own eye and resisted getting blinded by the feathers.

“That’s….a unique method.” I whispered.

“Yes. Little Tsurara is indeed creative. She is going to become a wonderful youkai in the future.”

“That crow youkai is annoying. Thankfully, I never let her attacks hit me when we fought.”

“Oh, you fought her?” Nurarihyon asked.

“Yes. There were eight of them including the nerd.”

“The nerd?”

“The guy with the sword. He looks like a total nerd in his human form and has a tendency to show off a bit too much. That said, he has been nothing but a disappointment in the fight so far. In my fight with his team yesterday, he would have been dead meat if not for that sword.”

“The Devil’s blade….sigh. I never expected that abomination to be released to the world again.”

“What exactly is that sword? From what I have seen, it gets stronger anytime the nerd kills someone with it. In our fight, he killed two of his officers with it to match me at half my strength. Today too, he was boasting about killing Rikuo and taking his fear for himself.”

“It does exactly that. Youkai are beings born from the fear of humans. The Devil’s blade is a weapon which steals this very thing and grows in power.”

And soon I saw an example of this.

The nerd was obviously overwhelmed by Rikuo when he got his eyesight back so he started to kill his own people.

“Tch….that brat has gone too far.” Nurarihyon clicked his tongue.

“Are you going to stop him?” I asked. I wasn’t even related to those youkai and yet I was getting angry at the actions of the fucking nerd.

He however shook his head. “No. All of those people had chosen to follow him. Whatever fate befalls them is of their own choosing. If they do however come into the refuge of the Nura Clan….” He paused. “However, that will not be the case.”

And sure enough, the nerd went rampaging through his own people. The more he killed, the larger the aura on the blade became, until flesh started to grow on the blade and bone-like spikes appeared on it.

With his power up completed, he finally faced Rikuo.

“That thing doesn’t even look like a sword anymore.” I commented but Nurarihyon didn’t say anything and just kept looking at the fight.

Suddenly, I noticed something.

That dog youkai, one of the officers of the nerd and the one who had healed from my attack, was heading in a certain direction.

I looked in that direction and saw Kana and Yura standing there.

“Be right back.” I got up and raced in that direction and right in front of the two girls.

“Kana, get behind me.” Yura shouted as she saw the dog youkai jumping towards them.

I drew my sword.

It could heal, so….I just have to cut him till he can’t.

Sun Breathing: Thirteenth Form.

The ultimate form of Sun Breathing made by Yoriichi Tsugikuni to cut down Muzan Kibutsuji.

The move basically consisted of all the previous twelve forms done continuously.

I might not have the demon slayer mark like Yoriichi but the physique of the Monkey D. Family more than made up for it. In fact, it went far beyond even Yoriichi’s abilities.

The dog howled in pain.

In just a single round, it was chopped into pieces and retreated quickly but I noticed that several parts of its body hadn’t regenerated.

I looked back at the girls. “Go back home. Today it’s dangerous to roam around at night.”

“You are….Shadow.”

I didn’t reply and used Shunshin to get away from there.

“That was awfully kind of you.” Nurarihyon said as soon as I arrived back.

I didn’t reply and Nurarihyon looked behind towards the sky. I followed his gaze and saw a strange scene.

Three crow-like youkai, tengu perhaps, were carrying a giant youkai who looked like a tanuki.

They landed in front of us.

“Supreme Commander, who is he?” A little crow asked.

“Just someone who wants to challenge strong youkai. He is offering Kofuku Manju for the right to challenge me hahahaha. Can you imagine the steal?”

….

The larger one however looked at the scene below where the fight had heated up.

The nerd had stabbed even the dog youkai and the blade now had tentacles.

Just what kind of pervert made that blade?

“Let me go and put a stop to this.” the giant youkai said as he wanted to go ahead but Nurarihyon stopped him.

“Let the kids fight it out. If you stop him now, he will just keep on blaming you.”

“But he is using the Devil’s Blade. He could kill your grandson.”

“I trust Rikuo. He will not be defeated so easily by borrowed power. Keep watching.”

We did just that and while doing so, I found out that the giant was actually the nerd’s father.

Seriously….

The reason the nerd had been doing all this was because he despised his father for losing in a fight against humans in which his night parade was destroyed.

According to the guy, his father had lost the face and future of the Shikoku youkai so he went ahead and stole the very weapon which had been used by the humans to kill the armies of his father….the so-called Devil’s Blade.

After that he had gone ahead and collected a group of followers using the blade’s power to boost his own and was now targeting the Nura Clan….

On the other hand, the giant tanuki, Inugamigyobu….was a pretty decent guy. He had retired after his loss and was actually planning to live peacefully. The guy was even worried about his son and had begged to come here and was still….literally begging Nurarihyon to spare the life of his son.

This guy was doing so much for his son and that bastard….that ungrateful bastard….

The entire story reminded me of some unpleasant things.

I quietly looked at the fight and Rikuo seemed to have gotten better at his technique and was able to counter him.

“Let’s go, Rikuo doesn’t look like he will stop that easily.” Nurarihyon said as he disappeared from his place.

- Nurarihyon -

He jumped down the building to reach Rikuo and stop the fight.

Behind him, the boy, Shadow, didn’t make any moves.

He had noticed the boy getting very quiet at Inugamigyobo’s story

Nurarihyon still didn’t know what the deal with the kid was except for the fact that he wanted revenge from the former Kyoto youkai. But right now, he doesn't have any time to think about those things.

He reached Rikuo and blocked his sword as he was about to cut down Tanuki’s brat.

“Grandpa.”

“Supreme Commander.”

“Phew, just on time.”

They looked towards the direction where Karasu Tengu and his sons were carrying Inugamigyobo down towards them.

“Enough Tamazuki. You have spilled too much blood already. It’s time to stop this madness.” The old tanuki shouted.

He looked at the defeated brat who was shivering and reached for the blade. 

“I see. These sacrifices were not enough. Only when I stand atop the corpse of my weakling of a father will the Devil’s Blade finally unleash its true power!” With that said, he jumped towards the old tanuki.

Nurarihyon and the rest were about to make a move but suddenly a wave of power passed over everyone.

The weaker youkai started falling unconscious one by one.

The Devil’s Blade in Tamazuki’s hand fell down as he lost control of his body and in between him and his father….Shadow had arrived.

This time however, Nurarihyon could sense the rage 

The boy kicked Tamazuki in the air, making him crash through the building’s roof and then several floors below.

“You….ungrateful mongrel! You have a father, a loving father who has raised you for so long, who is willing to go so far for you, even beg in front of others to have your crimes forgiven, something….something many people wish and pray for but they never get the opportunity to experience and you….you want to kill that person for what….power? Name? You fucking….” The boy shook in anger, clenching his blade, barely controlling himself from losing control and slicing off the brat’s head.

“Shadow….” Rikuo went forward and even Inugamigyobo went forward.

The boy looked at both of them in frustration and stomped the ground in rage before turning back and leaving quietly.

Nurarihyon watched the kid’s back as several thoughts ran through his mind.

Sigh….kids these days….so troublesome.

- Tatsuya -

I entered the Training Room, frustrated and incredibly angry.

That spoiled fucking brat….

He killed all his friends

I didn’t want to go back home and worry Gin.

I directly summoned Shanks today.

“Oh, you are back brat.”

“Train me.”

“Hmm?”

“I have awakened the Conqueror’s Haki….train me.”

“Heh! You did….now what exactly did you encounter?” He sat down on a rock and asked.

I remained quiet.

“Ah….that kind of awakening eh? Alright. Let’s get to your training.” He got up and got ready without any more words.

I looked at him a bit surprised that he didn’t push or tease me and then decided to accept his consideration.

__________________________________x___________________________________

Three months had passed since that day.

I had more or less stopped going out searching for any youkai and completely went back to training in the Training Room and drawing manga.

Today I came to school for the year end exam results.

“Oh wow. You are at the top of our year, Tatsuya. That’s awesome.” Jiro cheered.

“Yes. Tatsuya is really studious.”

“Maybe we should start studying more instead of chasing after youkai too.” Saori said, making the rest of the group blanch together.

They hadn’t done badly but none of them were in the top….except Kiyotsugu, who was ranked twelfth in our whole year. That guy….how does it get all that time?

“Umm guys.” I called out to them.

“Yes Ikuse. Do you want to celebrate coming at the top of the class with a youkai adventure?” Kiyotsugu cheered.

“….no.” I deadpanned before bringing up the next topic. “I wanted to inform you all about something?”

“What is it?” Rikuo asked.

“I am….changing schools!”

“What?!” All of them exclaimed together.

I looked at them sadly. They might be a group of dumb kids but they did treat me very well and had become good friends with me….so it did feel kinda bad to spring this on them.

“My grandma has been sick lately and my kid brother is alone there with her. She is quite old so I was thinking of moving back to take care of her.” I explained.

It wasn’t wrong either.

Grandma was really old and she was just sick.

“Ah….but you wanted to study in a school with a good art program, right? What about your dream of becoming a mangaka?” Jiro asked, worried.

I smiled. “I will do that when I am in High School while taking extra classes of arts. We do have one near our home. Don’t worry guys. I will keep in touch and come visit on the weekends when I can.” I promised.

“Then you have to do that. In fact, we could go and visit you there too. It would be better than one of those dangerous youkai adventures.” Saori said.

Rikuo also patted my shoulder. “If you ever need anything, you can contact me.”

“Same here!” Kiyotsugu cheered loudly.

For the rest of the day, we spent time in the clubhouse.

The day when I was moving, they all actually accompanied me back home to drop me off and had even prepared goodbye gifts for me.

As for me, I gave them signed posters of Naruto and Demon Slayer made by Rohan Kishibe….which I had received from an uncle of mine.

Koji-san had taken that fall.

They had stayed at my home, even met Tobi and Sae before leaving at night in Kiyotsugu’s car.

And thus….after an entire year of chaos, I was back at home.

_________________________________x____________________________________

“That’s it. And this is how you create a warding spell.” Grandma praised me when I had completed setting up the spell.

What this spell does is, creates a barrier which wards off non magicals in a certain barrier.

It was a very basic but extremely necessary spell used by almost all supernaturals of this world. In fact, it was more or less an unsaid rule that we had to do this before fighting or doing any supernatural activities.

“We will stop our lessons here today. Have you memorised the chants I had given you first?”

“Yes.” I nodded.

“Then we will practise the next spell tomorrow.” Grandma replied as she got up from the floor and sat down on the couch. “You are progressing at a very fast speed. I think you might have talent for this.”

I smiled.

“If this continues, I might be able to teach you most of the basics in just six months. After that you can study on your own and learn.”

“Thanks grandma.” I replied as I sat beside her

“What’s there to thank me about, silly boy?” She hugged me and I returned the hug.

Keeping this secret and training was becoming stressful for me as I had to keep lying to everyone.

Even with just grandma knowing about this was like some kind of weight had lifted up from my shoulders.

That said, Grandma supported my decision to keep all this a secret.

Since I had returned, she had started to personally teach me the Buddhist Style of Magic.

They mainly consisted of chanting verses and burning incense to invoke the spell.

It was mostly of the defensive, sealing and purifying branches of magic. Offensive spells were very rare in this and even those were especially designed against malevolent forces.

Then again, I didn’t need those either way.

All I wanted to do was learn more about the general magical situation of this world so that I am not caught with my proverbial pants down in a situation like Nurarihyon.

There was another benefit of this training which was the increase in my Magic Stats which have started to rise at a faster pace.

I learned information about other supernatural factions in this world. While Grandma was more or less retired, Supernatural factions rarely changed so quickly. Most of them consisted of beings who lived for centuries.

That said, what I learned in these lessons made me understand or at least have a bare idea of how deep the waters of this world truly were.

Gods….Nurarihyon had said that lower Gods were all Ultimate Class which means higher Gods were even stronger.

Not to mention the other beings who were just as strong.

I shook my head to not let my thoughts wander.

We ended our training and I went out to get ready.

Tomorrow was my birthday.

There was a party tonight but Shuri-san and Akeno were going to arrive soon to help prepare for tonight’s party.

They arrived an hour later.

“Happy Birthday, Onii-chan.” Akeno greeted me happily as soon as I opened the door.

“Thank you, Akeno.”

Shuri-san greeted me as well and came inside.

“Wow Onii-chan, is that a dog?”

“Yup. He’s Gin. Gin, say hello.”

“Woof!”

“So cute.”

“Ara ara, he’s so well behaved. Such a good boy.” Shuri-san patted his head and the guy enjoyed the treatment every bit.

He was especially friendly with girls but had a habit of scaring Tobi sometimes….just because Tobi was easy to scare. By now even Tobi knew this so it didn’t work much.

“Shuri, Akeno-chan, you are both here.” Grandma came out.

“Oba-sama.”

The family got together and today Shuri-san took me outside with Akeno, Tobi and Sae.

We had planned a trip to the amusement park for the day.

By the time we had returned, it was already late in the evening and even when outside the building, I sensed a familiar aura at my home.

On opening the door, a loud cheer greeted me.

“Happy Birthday!”

My friends from school had all come here for my birthday.

Rikuo, Jiro, Kana, Yura, Kiyotsugu, Natsumi, Saori and even Tsurara were there.

I soon found out that they were invited by Tobi who got their numbers from my diary and Grandma had contacted Koji-san and he along with Sae’s parents helped out in preparing for the whole party.

Everyone was chatting together happily.

“So, this is the brother you often talked about. And I didn’t know you had a little sister, Ikuse.” Kiyotsugu asked.

“Shuri-san was a friend of my father.”

“Was?” Yura asked.

“Yes. He passed away a few years ago.”

“Oh! I am sorry, I didn’t know.” I waved it off.

“Ara ara, so many pretty girls among your friends Tatsu-kun. So, whom do you like among them?” Shuri-san threw a bomb I didn’t want to touch at all.

The girls all had different reactions and I just smiled. “They are all my friends, nothing more Shuri-san.”

“Eh….just friends? You are too slow Tatsu-kun. Hiro-kun was such a heartbreaker when he was young. Even Tobi has someone like Sae-chan. You should take more initiative.” She teased, making the guy choke on his drink.

“Hahahaha I am not that famous.” I laughed it off.

“That’s not true, you know. You are quite famous in our entire year. In fact there are girls in other classes who talk about you too.” Saori commented.

“Yes yes, especially the students in the art club.” Natsumi chimed in suddenly.

Meanwhile Kana and Tsurara were throwing Rikuo some looks while Yura was looking lost.

They soon introduced themselves and I realised something I had missed the entire time.

There was no way Shuri-san was going to miss Tsurara’s youkai aura and Rikuo but thankfully, she didn’t say anything.

Actually, last time Grandma had been in the hospital and had missed them so no one knew about Rikuo and Tsurara.

“Keikain? Isn’t that the name of the famous Onmyoji family from near Kyoto?” Koji-san asked.

“Yes. I am Yura Keikain, an Onmyoji in training.”

Koji-san threw me a look but didn’t say anything.

“That’s wonderful. You must be especially talented for Hidemoto-sama to allow you to leave Kyoto.” Shuri-san said.

“You know my grandfather?” She asked, surprised.

“Ufufufufu I have met him a few times.”

“Still I didn’t think Tatsu-kun would be friends with a Keikain. After all, Hiroshi-kun was ufufufuf….” She giggled leaving everyone confused.

I noticed Rikuo and Tsurara sweating in the corner.

“Oh. Did Tatsuya’s father know….” Yura began to ask but before she could ask anything else though, Grandma came in with a cake and the topic was successfully stalled.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

The rest of the party went pretty well.

Yura gave me several talismans to protect my home.

Kiyotsugu gave me an entire compendium of youkai information.

Rikuo, surprisingly, gave me a bokken. He had seen the Shinnai we had for Tobi the last time he had come here and decided to give me one.

Overall, the party was a nice change of pace from my usual days which were full of training.

After they were all gone and Akeno and Tobio had gone to bed, both too tired from all the fun they had had, I was called to Grandma’s room.

There, Shuri-san was waiting with Grandma.

“Take a seat, Tatsu.” Grandma said and I did.

“You have made some good friends, Tatsuya-kun.” Shuri-san began.

“Yes. They can be a rowdy bunch but they are quite well meaning.” I replied.

“I take it that you have noticed the….speciality of two of them?” Grandma asked.

I nodded hesitantly.

“Don’t look down. I am not here to scold you about making friends with people you like.” Grandma said and I looked at her surprised. Even Shuri-san laughed.

“The world is not black and white, Tatsuya. Just like there are good and bad humans, there can be good and bad youkai. In fact, many youkai are benevolent and are worshipped by people. They go on to become land gods in many local shrines. If anything, you should not be so narrow-minded to put them all in the same category.”

“Yes Grandma.”

“So, what do you know of your friends?”

“Umm, Rikuo….I think he’s the grandson of Nurarihyon….at least I think so.”

I gave them several reasons while cleanly keeping my antics as Shadow out of the story.

“....and his mother had said that it was very rare for human visitors at their home and Tsurara called him Young Master.”

….

“That was quite smart of you. Yes, the Nura Clan is indeed the Clan of Nurarihyon, the leader of the Eastern Youkai. He is not someone with a violent temperament and keeps his people under control. I just wanted to make sure that you knew about their identities.”

I nodded.

“So you have decided to learn more about magic. Welcome to the Supernatural World, Tatsu-kun.” Shuri-san said before pulling out a bag from under the bed.

It was the same bag she had brought with her when she came here.

“These are some books belonging to Hiroshi-kun and your mother. She was a magician in the Golden Dawn Magician Organisation. She has had a very difficult life. She grew up with her adopted sister in an orphanage in Italy after her parents passed away due to some kind of illness. Fortunately, she had very good talent as a magician and was taken in by a magician of Golden Dawn who trained her as an apprentice. She worked as a magician to put her sister through education. In fact, even Hiroshi used to send money for her sister after she passed away till he received news that she got married. There is also the key to the bank locker where most of their….magical belongings were left. I was able to get those from the Kushihashi Clan at a later date since they belonged only to Hiroshi and not to the Clan.”

I took the bag and bowed and thanked her.

“No need to thank me silly boy. If you ever need anything, just be sure to call me. As for your secret, don’t worry. It will remain a secret with me.” She brushed my hair lightly.

She sat there and showed me some books about Onmyojutsu and then retired for the night.

I took everything back to my room and stored them in my inventory.

I will go to the bank and check the locker.

Shuri-san and Akeno left for their home the next day and I got into training earnestly.

_________________________________x____________________________________

I swung my sword and Shanks dodged to the side with casual ease and I felt the pressure on my body increase as he pushed his Conqueror’s Haki to a higher level.

In the moment it took me to adjust myself to the changed pressure, I felt a massive sense of danger and dodged to the side, barely missing the attack which tore apart the entire ground and the mountain behind me.

Seriously….this guy really doesn’t hold back

“You’re getting a hang of Observation and Armament although your Conqueror’s Haki still needs work.”

I breathed heavily as the fight ended.

“That said, today’s fight was….passable.” He smiled….which soon turned into a smirk. “Just kidding.”

I rolled my eyes, already expecting his answer.

It had been eight months since my birthday and I had drowned myself in training during this period. I could even sustain two shadow clones for longer periods of time which let me practise Fuinjutsu and learn about magic.

According to grandma, I was at the age where my magic grew the fastest and I should utilise this time properly.

My stats had changed completely.

Name: Tatsuya Ikuse 

System Rank: D

Body:(D-72)

Mind:(D-12)

Spirit:(D-68)

Magic:(F-92)

Points: 12,701,032 

Manga: Demon Slayer, One Piece, Naruto

Features Unlocked: Training Room, Mentor System

Inventory: Nichirin Blade x 1, Gacha Tickets x 2

Shop

Apart from my magic stat, which was actually quite good for someone my age, my other stats were all D Rank.

Body and Spirit being in D Rank was insane. My chakra reserves had become insane. Itachi compared it to Tailed Beasts and the best part was that it was still increasing.

I wonder what would happen if I could get the Asura’s Chakra or the chakra of the tailed beasts themselves?

Unfortunately those things haven’t appeared in the Shop yet.

Today was the day, my System Upgrade Quest was going to be completed and my System was going to become C Rank.

In the last eight months, the sales of the manga volumes had increased quite a lot and I was nearly at my goal today.

Upgrade Quest Completed: I was me

Became famous in the Manga World

Sell 2.5 million copies of your manga. (2,499,972/2,500,000)

Reward: C Rank System Update, Gacha Ticket x 3 

An hour or so later, the counter reached the mark and the System was finally at the C Rank.

I quickly checked the Gacha Tickets. Three of them. Adding the previous two made it five.

These were the things I was waiting for all this time.

Earning Gacha Tickets was a massive pain in the ass for me.

The thing I was waiting for all this time was finally here too.

Time Dilation feature of the training room.

For 5,000 points a day, instead of 1,000, I could alter the flow of time to make two days pass inside the Training Room instead of just one.

The best part was that my physical age would be locked during this so I wouldn’t exactly age at twice the speed when inside.

This had come at just the right time as I was getting cornered with all the different types of training.

My Spar with Nurarihyon was in two more months and I wanted to be prepared for it.

First things first, I decided to Roll the Gacha. It would decide the direction of my future training.

 I took out the three tickets from my inventory and activated them.

A wheel spun in front of me.

It stopped after a while and pointed towards….Crayon Shinchan….

Obviously, I couldn’t get good stuff at all times.

The next spin stopped after a while and the name which appeared was….Slam Dunk.

….

Alright, don’t be a disappointment, don’t be a bad roll this time.

I spun the wheel again and the one which appeared this time was….Shokugeki no Soma.

….

….

….

….

Shit.

No good rolls.

I looked at the last two tickets in my hand and two open slots.

At least give me one good manga.

The next name to appear was….Kimi ni Todoke.

….

Fifth time’s the charm.

I closed my eyes and rolled the last Gacha.

Wheel began to slow down and finally stopped at….Kaichou wa Maid-Sama!

Sigh….

No mangas with good abilities.

I sat down for the next thirty minutes and planned what to do next.

The next Gacha Tickets would be available only when I get B Rank which is quite a while away or….complete another series.

Naruto and One Piece would take too long to complete so I had to complete one from the other ones I have.

I searched for the one with the lowest number of chapters and decided to choose Kaichou wa Maid-Sama! as the next manga.

It had eighty five chapters and if I worked on it along with Naruto and One Piece, I could probably get it done in the next year or so.

Then again, it was understandable. There were hundreds and thousands of manga. I was actually extremely lucky to have gotten both Naruto and One Piece in my first roll.

There was a high chance that I could have gotten old and received no shounen manga with superpowers and magic.

Naruto and the One Piece world still had lots for me to draw and explore so I wasn’t worried yet.

I was just hoping for a manga with magic in it because that’s the only thing these two lacked. It could help me grow my Magic Stat too.

Sigh….we can’t win it all.

For now, I had to concentrate on the things I had rather than those I didn’t.

I checked the list of newly unlocked abilities and items in the shop and found several cool things, the most anticipated among them being….Mangekyo Sharingan and Devil Fruits.

I was still a bit iffy about the Mangekyo Sharingan.

My Training Room could probably heal the damage to the eyes but I didn't want to risk everything on a possibility.

Apart from this, I needed to buy the abilities of the Mangekyo Sharingan separately.

Which means, not only did I have to buy the upgrade, I also needed to spend more for the abilities.

Then again, this was the case with other Bloodlines as well as the Uchiha Bloodline hadn’t granted me a Sharingan and the Uzumaki Bloodline didn’t grant me their abilities.

Those abilities had to be bought separately.

I hadn’t bought Mind’s Eye of Kagura so that I can work on my Observation Haki more.

Although the Adamantine Sealing Chains are still good. Not to mention the Wood Style of the Senju Clan.

I hadn’t even gotten started with it and I had Hashirama available as a teacher.

Wood Style wasn’t ranked as C Rank but as D, probably because it depended on the user more.

Yamato and Danzo could use Wood Style too but they sucked. They were nothing compared to Hashirama.

It was because Hashirama Senju was different. He had insane Chakra reserves and vitality, something which I had too due to my own bloodlines.

I am still undecided on the Mangekyo Sharingan abilities and don’t know if I can buy more than two of them.

It would be awesome if I could but I wouldn’t bet on it.

And before anything, I will have to get the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan update to not harm my eyes.

Last but not the least, Sage Mode.

This ability was something I was unsure what to do.

It did appear on the list but this was something I could learn from others too. Should I waste my points on something which I can learn?

From what Grandma has told me, this world has Senjutsu users and Sages too although there was a huge difference between the two.

A Sage was a master of Senjutsu and not something normal Senjutsu users could compare to.

Grandma didn’t know much about them but from what I have heard, supposedly, Sun Wukong, the monkey from the Journey to the West was real and he was a genuine Sage and a Buddha.

With every fact I find out, I realise just how broken this world is and to get a sense of security in this broken world, I need to become stronger and I would need my System to do so.

The Training Room and Mentor System takes a lot of points to use so saving up the points is difficult.

It seems that I have to work on that alternate identity sooner than I thought or it would become difficult to buy higher level things in the future.

With everything checked, I came out of the Training Room.

It was already late at night but I wasn’t feeling sleepy because today, Grandma had visited the bank where my parents had a locker with their personal belongings and brought some of those for me.

I opened the bag and brought out something I had been thinking about since I saw it.

My mother’s diary.

On the hardbound cover, engraved in golden ink was her name….Aria Argento.

__________________________________x_____________________________________________________________________x___________________________________

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Author’s Note:

I am back with another chapter of ‘Drawn to Power’.

Several things happened in this chapter.

Nurarihyon’s first arc is over.

Tatsuya had some of his old wounds scratched by the nerd’s act.

Good thing it helped him awaken his Conqueror’s Haki.

He is slowly expanding his repertoire of skills.

I will concentrate on some slice of life and manga related stuff for the next chapter maybe while keeping his training in the background or things get repetitive.

Some new characters will be introduced and we will get to see how ‘Rohan Kishibe’ has affected the world.

Oh yeah and Tatsuya’s mother’s name was revealed.

I wonder what can of worms that will open.

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.