Projects of the Mind – Chapter 154
Mei Mei sat cross-legged on the couch, arms folded, teeth grinding against each other as she muttered under her breath.
'And just like that... two months have passed. Just like that.'
She scowled, punching the pillow next to her with unnecessary force.
'Ren's day starts with hand-to-hand training with that wrinkled fossil. Jiro, and then? The rest of the day—every damn day—is spent with that old hag inside his bedroom. What are they doing in there? God only knows! He doesn't let me in, but her? He lets her in without a second thought!'
Her hands clenched. Her jaw tightened.
'And the worst part is, she won't even tell me what they do in there! All she ever said was, "I serve my master." Like that means anything! The way she says it, like she's some sort of loyal dog—ugh!'
With another growl, Mei Mei punched the pillow again and hissed,
"I swear, one of these days, I'm going to slap that hag's face off."
She didn't know why Ogami got under her skin so much. Maybe it was her attitude. Maybe it was how quickly she adapted to this whole "Master Ren" business. Or maybe—just maybe—it was the fact that Mei Mei didn't understand what Ren was doing. And that frustrated her more than anything.
Inside the bedroom, the air was heavy with heat and sweat. Not the kind of sweat Mei Mei imagined—but exhaustion from cursed energy use.
Ogami sat on the floor, breath shallow, her body trembling. Her back was damp with sweat, clothes clinging to her as she tried to compose herself.
'Ah… how does he do it…?' she thought, chest rising and falling rapidly.
For the hundredth time that week, she stared at Ren—calm, collected, and scribbling something into a notebook.
'Just by looking at me, he's learned so much. My technique, its layers, its applications—he's picked them apart like they were puzzles meant for him alone. Not only that… but for the past two months, he's been absorbing knowledge at an inhuman pace. Cursed techniques. Soul theory. Binding vows…'
She shook her head slightly.
'He might already surpass me in binding vow theory. And the way he uses my Séance Technique… it's like he understands it better than I do. Like he was born to manipulate it. No, scratch that—like he was born from another world…'
Ogami had tried everything—subtle charm, loyalty, even exposing more skin than she ever did in her youth. But Ren never gave her a second glance. Not even once.
He was focused. Too focused.
'He speaks with the coldness of an elder, not a child… and the warmth he had when I first met him? It's gone. Was it all an act? If it was… then he's not just smart. He's dangerous. He hides his nature so easily… He's like a wolf pretending to be a pup, sharpening his claws in secret…'
She closed her eyes, trying to slow her thoughts, but they kept spiraling.
'And Rika… that monstrous special grade curse, completely tamed. And Kai2—the fish—his cursed pet? I thought it was a joke at first, but no… he really tamed a curse like it was a pet. Then the binding vow he used… so twisted it felt like slavery. But the moment I saw it, it made sense. He must've tested it first on curses. Now he uses it on us. Humans.'
Ogami looked at him again. His eyes were calm, sharp, and calculating.
'And his theories… the ideas he brings up almost daily. Fusions of cursed tools with cursed spirits, imprinting techniques into them like some kind of sorcerer's alchemy. I called it witchcraft at first… but then he started working on it. In days. Just days. And now there's even progress…'
Her breathing steadied as her thoughts turned solemn.
'But the most terrifying thing of all? Project (Re). A concept so bold, so insane, so divine or damned, I almost refused to write it down. It felt like something stolen from the hands of a god.
And now… I believe it might actually work.'
Her fingers trembled slightly.
'If it does… if it really does… then I've wasted fifty years calling myself a jujutsu sorceress. Because I never would've imagined this. Not even close.'
She looked down in shame.
'He isn't just a prodigy. He's something worse. Something beyond.'
Ren's voice broke the silence.
"It's possible…" he muttered, still scribbling. "But it'll take too much cursed energy. With the other projects active, it's too soon. What about [Ce]? Any progress there?"
Ogami straightened up, her tone naturally deferential—not from fear anymore, but from something deeper. Respect.
"Yes, Master. Project [Ce] is proceeding steadily. Our most reliable result so far… is using animal souls as temporary fuel. It increases cursed energy output. Not by much, and not for long. But with binding vows and some tricks, it works. Especially if the animal has suffered deeply—it seems the more trauma in life, the more energy its soul can generate."
Ren nodded slowly. His eyes didn't lift from the page.
"Temporary… unstable… and ultimately weak. Not good enough," he muttered.
But Ogami continued, eyes flickering with grim interest.
"We've also confirmed that animal souls are vastly weaker than human souls. They get crushed inside human vessels. But Master, that's a discovery in itself. Before now, there was no comparative scale for spiritual endurance. That's your achievement."
How did they know this?
Well… in the past two months, Ren and Ogami had run test after test. On animals. Dogs, rats, and goats. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't moral. But it produced data. And Ren didn't blink once.
Ogami had hesitated at first.
But now?
She understood.
Ren wasn't playing around.
And yet, Ren himself wasn't satisfied.
'Two months… and what do I have to show for it?' he thought, flipping another page. 'Project (Re) and Project [Ce]'—both too early to test. Both are still in the theory stages. Damn it. I need more.'
His hand tensed around the pen.
'Still… it's not a total waste. I've learned a lot. Especially about the soul… and its thresholds. Next phase? I need to find a human subject. And then I'll see if Project (Re) is divine… or demonic, but as things are going, the preparations are done… if it's possible, then it might become the greatest technique I have created...'