Riku stood in the moonlit street, his hoodie shadowing his face, but his eyes gleamed with anticipation. The air was cold and smelled faintly of damp pavement and electric tension—just the way he liked it.
He clenched his fists and coated his body in Cursed Energy, letting it crackle subtly along his skin. Then, as he exhaled, a different force rolled off his body—Armament Haki. It felt heavier, more grounded. The invisible armor settled across his muscles like a second skin, rigid and responsive. His movements became sharper instantly.
"Alright," he muttered, cracking his neck. "Let's see what Tokyo's throwing out tonight."
The first cursed spirit that emerged was a Grade 4—a disgusting lizard-like thing with gangly legs and eyes too big for its head. It hissed from the shadows of an alleyway, claws twitching. Riku smiled lazily.
"Let's warm up."
He darted forward using Panther Stance—a low, agile style borrowed from Batman's more evasive techniques. Riku slid beneath the curse's swipe, then popped up, slammed his Haki-coated fist into its ribcage, and followed with a sweep kick that sent it flying into a dumpster.
Before it could recover, he coated a finger in cursed energy and flicked—just a flick—into the curse's head, snapping it like a grape.
[Congratulations! You have defeated a Grade 4 Cursed Spirit and have received 1 draw!]
"Too easy."
Ten minutes later, two Grade 3s ambushed him from a rooftop, both humanoid but twitchy and fast. They had elongated arms and rapid movement patterns that reminded him of cursed monkeys. He switched to Jeet Kune Do, weaving between their attacks with short, explosive counters. One jab to the throat. One elbow to the chin. His foot slammed into the wall, rebounding midair like a pinball as he spun and elbow-dropped the second into the pavement.
One tried to scramble away. He lifted his leg and dropped a Haki-coated axe kick onto its back, shattering its spine with a dry crunch.
[Congratulations! You have defeated a Grade 3 Cursed Spirit and have received 1 draw!]
[Congratulations! You have defeated a Grade 3 Cursed Spirit and have received 1 draw!]
Sweat ran down his temple now, not from exertion—but from excitement. The adrenaline had set in. This was a rhythm he could dance to.
The Grade 2 cursed spirit he encountered next looked like a twisted centipede made of human arms. It burst from a manhole and came at him with a screech.
"Ugh. Ugly."
Riku didn't joke around too long. He switched to a Savate-based stance, dancing lightly on the balls of his feet and delivering three rapid-fire Haki-reinforced kicks to the creature's midsection. It reeled, but didn't fall. It snapped forward, biting at his torso.
His cursed energy flared, covering his chest like a flexed muscle. The bite didn't even break skin.
"Yeah, no."
He jabbed both hands into its maw, summoned a dense core of cursed energy between them, and blew it up from the inside.
[Congratulations! You have defeated a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit and have received 1 draw!]
He knelt briefly after that, not from pain, but to analyze the remains.
"Humanoid structure in its core... that's new." He noted how the energy had behaved under pressure. "Their cursed nuclei are starting to adapt. Might need to aim for the head or heart more directly next time."
He moved on.
By the time he encountered the Semi-Grade 1, it was nearly 2AM. The air had grown colder, sharper. This one was tall, thin, and wore a mask—its cursed form looked more like a twisted samurai than a monster. It moved with speed and poise, slashing with an energy blade that radiated sickly green.
Riku didn't take this one lightly. He switched to Aikido, using the enemy's force against it, slipping past a wide strike, and then twisting its arm while pulling it into a choke. But the spirit's cursed power flared and tossed him away.
His back hit a wall. He exhaled.
"Alright. No more games."
He ducked low and burst forward with a sudden lunge, his cursed energy reinforcing every muscle, appearing behind the samurai and landing a kick to its ribs. The thing turned and slashed his cheek—but only barely. The Haki resisted just enough.
This time, Riku focused. Both hands were coated in invisible armor, and he struck the creature's mask with a double hammerfist. Cracks formed. One more hit.
He feinted low, then uppercutted the mask into shards. The cursed spirit's form unraveled.
[Congratulations! You have defeated a Semi-Grade 1 Cursed Spirit and have received 1 draw!]
He sat on a park bench nearby, panting slightly now. "Alright. Now comes the tricky part."
The Grade 1 cursed spirit he tracked was located in an abandoned office building. Riku entered slowly, observing everything. His eyes scanned the architecture, noting potential escape routes and areas that could collapse. He wasn't just walking into a fight—he was conducting recon.
"I'm not dying here just to play superhero."
When the Grade 1 appeared, it didn't announce itself. It moved like smoke—black, oily, and fast. Its form was shifting constantly. Slashing claws. A tail. Fanged mouth. It was chaos in motion.
Riku didn't blink.
He entered Dragon Style—a relentless offensive stance.
The creature lunged. Riku dodged sideways, letting his cursed energy cushion his movement. He struck at where its shoulder should be—but it shifted again, trying to take his arm off. He dropped low, pivoted, and slammed a spinning kick into its ribs.
It vanished and reappeared behind him. He barely blocked with his forearm, and cursed energy cracked from the impact.
"Shit—it's fast."
He coated his legs in cursed energy this time and ran up a wall, flipped midair, and delivered a Haki-reinforced flying knee to the creature's jaw. It let out a shriek and staggered back.
"No time to breathe."
He pulled a tiny green object from his pocket—one of the five Senzu Beans.
Not yet, he thought. Only if it goes sideways.
The fight lasted another three minutes. Hard, vicious, and brutal. Riku had to fight smart—draw the creature into narrow hallways, use his speed to land precision hits, and slowly wear it down.
When it finally fell, twitching and collapsing into cursed mist, he stood there drenched in sweat, his knuckles split open despite the reinforcement.
[Congratulations! You have defeated a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit and have received 1 draw!]
He didn't move right away.
He breathed.
He listened.
He analyzed.
The power difference wasn't just raw strength. It was intelligence. That cursed spirit had been fighting with intent. Strategy. That worried him more than anything.
"I need to get better," he whispered.
And then he smiled.
"But I am getting better."
He vanished into the shadows of the night, a single draw added to his inventory and a hundred thoughts spinning in his head.
========================================================================
Just a short chapter. Not my best but what can you do sue me hahahaha. I'm hilarious. I still want you guys to answer my previous question.What do you think is true suffering?