Pov Narrator.
Location: ???
"That devil is being very useful. It got us another job. Normally, it would take me days to find a devil, but with the Job Devil, it's easy." Isagi said cheerfully as his footsteps echoed while he stepped on the fallen leaves.
The young man walked peacefully among the trees. Getting missions was no longer a problem, and that saved him a considerable amount of time that he could devote to much more important things.
"Mr. Isagi, why do you let that devil in a suit go? Shouldn't you finish it off?" Osaragi asked curiously as she followed him, observing the trees rising around her.
Isagi turned his head to look at her with a serious expression.
"No one will take down the Job Application Devil. Learn this, Osaragi: first work, then eggs, then betting, and finally, the rules." Isagi raised four fingers as he listed the order he considered correct.
The two continued moving through the forest, walking among the trees in search of their next target. According to the information they had, animal hunters had been disappearing in that area over the past month. Now then, how did people hunt if firearms were prohibited?
Oh, what a stupid fucking question. Bows and arrows existed, as did traps and a whole bunch of different methods. Hunting didn't depend exclusively on firearms. What a fucking lack of creativity when thinking.
"All right, Osaragi. Although I'll let you fight the devil, I'll be here watching in case you run into trouble. I'll intervene if the situation gets complicated. I don't want my assistant dying on my first day."
"All right, I suppose I'll do my best..." Osaragi became a little distracted when she saw a small mole burrow into the ground.
The young woman followed the spot where the animal had disappeared with her eyes, apparently more interested in it than in the mission ahead of them.
"Focus on the job, Osaragi." Isagi snapped his fingers in front of the young woman's face to bring her back to reality. "My vinyl antennae have detected the enemy's presence. Look."
Isagi grabbed Osaragi by the chin and turned her head toward the place he was pointing at. Among the trees and vegetation, there were traces of blood scattered across the ground. Some stains stretched across the fallen leaves, while others seemed to have dried quite some time ago. No idea whether it was human blood or animal blood.
"Now I'll attract the devil's attention. Get ready." Isagi let go of Osaragi and stepped a few paces away from her.
If there was a devil nearby, then the scent of his Marechi blood should attract it. After all, his blood had special properties that could prove irresistible to them. So, using blood manipulation through Convergence, Isagi made the palm of his hand begin to ooze that liquid essential to the human body.
The strong smell of Isagi's special blood began to spread throughout the area, drifting between the trees. The gentle breeze helped carry the scent farther and farther away, taking it into the depths of the forest.
Isagi kept his hand extended, calmly observing his surroundings. Osaragi, on the other hand, remained at a certain distance, waiting. For a few seconds, absolutely nothing happened. All that could be heard was the whisper of the wind among the leaves and the occasional chirping of a bird.
Then, suddenly, the birds resting in the treetops took flight in every direction. One tree after another began to shake violently, causing leaves to fall to the ground in small bursts.
Then came the sounds. Fast, heavy footsteps echoed among the trees, approaching at considerable speed. Something was moving straight toward them, unconcerned about the noise it was making or the obstacles in its path.
A huge shadow emerged from between the trees, lunging directly at Isagi, who merely raised an eyebrow before disappearing from the spot in an instant. The creature rushed past and ended up biting nothing but dirt, kicking up a cloud of dust and dry leaves upon impact. Isagi appeared a few steps away.
"All right, Osaragi, show me what you're capable of." Isagi pointed toward the cloud of dust that had risen and was gradually beginning to dissipate, revealing the devil's figure.
It had an elongated body covered in fur, as well as enormous antlers similar to those of a moose. Its red eyes gleamed with hunger as it watched them both.
"(Mr. Isagi has been good to me so far. He talks weirdly, but he's nice)." Osaragi thought as she watched the devil finish getting up, shaking the dirt off its body. "(So my job is to finish it off, then? If those are Mr. Isagi's orders, I'll carry them out.)"
The young woman stared at the creature with her usual expressionless face, as if she were trying to decide what to do next. The devil, on the other hand, didn't even pay attention to Osaragi. All its attention was focused on Isagi, drawn by the intense scent of his Marechi blood.
The creature opened its jaws, letting out a growl as saliva dripped from its mouth. It didn't seem capable of speaking, so it probably wasn't a particularly intelligent devil. Although it was also possible that the fear it had been born from didn't allow it to develop particularly high intelligence.
Either way, that didn't change what was about to happen. The devil lunged at Isagi again, propelling itself forward with its limbs and opening its jaws to devour him in a single bite.
Isagi, however, didn't even bother to move. He remained calmly in place, watching the creature approach, as if he were waiting to see what his new companion would do. And Osaragi did move. The young woman suddenly rushed forward and intercepted the devil with a powerful kick straight to the face.
The force of the blow was enough to stop the creature's advance and send it flying backward. Osaragi slowly lowered her leg and resumed her usual stance, her face as expressionless as ever. Apparently, she was willing to follow Mr. Isagi's orders.
The devil crashed into a tree, breaking it in the process. The trunk creaked violently before splitting apart. Osaragi's physical strength was astonishing.
"(You've got to be kidding me. She sent it flying with a single kick. She's stronger than I was when I got Itadori's physique)." Isagi thought, surprised by how easily Osaragi had forced the devil back.
"(It looks like a moose... But an ugly one)." That was Osaragi's thought as she watched the devil get up, visibly enraged by the blow it had just received.
The creature let out a roar and charged at her, shaking its enormous antlers as it advanced at full speed. Osaragi watched the devil approach, preparing to attack. It was fast, much faster than one would expect from such an elongated and bulky body.
The young woman stepped back slightly and deflected the humanoid arm the creature had swung at her to one side. The attack missed completely, not even grazing her.
"Are devils affected by prayers?" Osaragi murmured. It was more of a question to herself than to anyone else.
Osaragi slipped between the devil's attacks, dodging its movements with disconcerting calmness. The creature tried to hit her again, but the young woman slipped inside its guard and delivered a punch straight to its face.
The impact made the devil's head snap violently to one side. Several teeth flew out of its mouth and fell into the grass, But it wasn't over. Taking advantage of the devil being stunned, she placed both hands on either side of its head and slammed them against its face with a sharp, forceful movement.
BAM!
The powerful impact completely disoriented it, forcing it to turn its gaze toward her again. For an instant, its red eyes met those of the young woman, whose expression remained as blank as ever, as if she were looking at something that needed to disappear from her sight.
"I don't know whether you have a soul or not, but if there's a hell, go back to it." With those words, Osaragi broke its neck with a sharp twist.
A repulsive sound echoed among the trees. The creature's body lost all its strength and fell heavily to the ground.
"Fucking idiot, it didn't last at all." Isagi said in front of the motionless devil.
He watched the corpse for a few seconds, unconsciously expecting the creature to move again or for... However, the devil remained lying on the ground, its neck twisted and its eyes lifeless.
He had expected it to be much stronger, but Osaragi had defeated it quite quickly. The power difference had apparently been enormous. Now he understood why she had been able to defeat the devil that attacked her farm with her bare hands.
"After seeing this, I take it back. You will no longer be my assistant; I hereby promote you to my work partner." Isagi said with a smile as he placed a hand on the young woman's shoulder.
"Huh? So I did well, then?" Osaragi asked with an expression that mixed childishness with innocence.
For the first time since the fight had begun, her expressionless face showed a small change. She seemed genuinely interested in knowing whether she had met Isagi's expectations.
"Yes, you did well." Isagi nodded. The young woman's attitude seemed a little touching to him.
Despite how strong she was, Osaragi seemed distracted and childish at certain moments. She could take down a devil using absurd physical strength and, the very next instant, ask with all the innocence in the world whether she had done a good job.
In a way, it was adorable and cute. Or at least, that's how Isagi saw it. And if he added her somewhat gothic appearance, with her dark dress and distinctive look, the combination was almost irresistible.
It was the first time Isagi had helped someone without the system having to offer him a reward to motivate him to work. Although, of course, that didn't mean he had suddenly become a good person. No need to exaggerate.
"Well, I think that's enough for today. Let's go home." Isagi removed his hand from Osaragi's shoulder and gently patted her head a few times before starting to walk back the way they had come.
Osaragi blinked a couple of times at the pats, apparently surprised by the unexpected gesture. However, she didn't refuse or make any comments about it. She simply let Isagi pat her head, and when he began walking away, she followed him again.
As the two made their way back among the trees, the devil's corpse was left behind, abandoned in the middle of the forest.
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One Week Later...
"Mr. Isagi, what are you doing with those teddy bears?" Osaragi tilted her head, her eyes shining slightly as she looked at the stuffed animals Isagi had with him.
Isagi was sitting on the floor in a meditative position, with a brown teddy bear wearing blue boxing gloves on its paws. He had a bear in each hand and another on his head, forming a rather peculiar kind of balance.
However, Isagi didn't answer immediately. He kept his eyes closed and his back straight, concentrating all his attention on the cursed energy circulating through his body. The three teddy bears remained completely motionless, as if they were simple decorations placed there at random.
"Listen to me, Osaragi. I'm a winner; everyone else is a loser. I eat losers for breakfast. I've reached a new level in just one week. I've now improved my control over cursed energy." Isagi said calmly, without altering his posture by even a millimeter. He was reaching enlightenment.
The teddy bears remained motionless on his hands and head. In reality, they were fast asleep thanks to Isagi supplying them with just the right amount of cursed energy to keep them that way.
Being an idiot, he had overlooked some details related to his own growth. For example, his production and ability to release cursed energy had increased throughout that time thanks to his level-ups. It wasn't just that his attributes were improving or that his body was becoming stronger; he was also experiencing changes in the amount of energy he could generate and release.
His cursed energy recovered much faster than before, and he could also release larger amounts without exhausting himself. So, after realizing this, Isagi had begun training exclusively dedicated to cursed energy manipulation.
His goal was to improve his control over it and perfect the reinforcement of his body. In other words, he wanted to become much harder to injure.
He wanted to achieve an almost natural cursed energy reinforcement, one that would always be there, similar to the Iron Skin of the Arrancars. Yeah, looking for something like that, or something similar to Ryu Ishigori's ability, was a good idea. Either option was fine. Besides, if he could generate more cursed energy, perhaps he could make his shikigami bigger and stronger, which would undoubtedly give him a considerable advantage in combat.
Yeah, Isagi had plenty of ideas in mind. There was also the Kamo clan's Blood Manipulation, which had considerable potential if he learned to master it better. Isagi felt that all his current powers were very superficial, as if he were barely scratching the surface of what they could truly offer him. He was convinced that he could get much more out of them if he dedicated the necessary time and effort to them, instead of settling for what he already knew how to do.
Besides, he had already mentally reviewed all the abilities he currently possessed and the resources he had stored in the System. He had also started leveling up the Hand of the Governor.
Fucking god-tier ability!
The more he used it, the more possibilities he found to take advantage of it, and that only increased his desire to keep improving it.
And he had already started working on his Domain Expansion. Of course, before reaching that point, he had to learn how to construct barriers with the help of the System, which had kindly decided to guide Isagi so he could work on his domain. It wasn't exactly a simple process, but at least now he had a clear direction and something to focus his efforts on.
"(I have two innate techniques. How will this affect my Domain Expansion? Will I be able to develop two? Will it be a single combined domain? I don't know, honestly)." Isagi thought with quite a few doubts, now that he had stopped to consider that possibility. The more he thought about it, the more questions came to mind, and he still didn't have a clear answer to any of them.
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End of the Chapter.