Is It Wrong to Take a Chance in the Dungeon: XVII

Thank you to my Patrons: SaffireSpirit13, TheButtGod, Zerak, 9milli9, Bishop7053, Stealthkug, Sgt. Rock, Helios, Grim343, Vincent Mason, Zaccaria Babchia, aj0413, Blahmeh, Fade, Dr.Flembo, Dave, Sanjay, Jmatt890, roger nascimento rocha, Johnathan Rogers, Jeremy Hernandez, fausto escobar, Jerome, reeen, Kirov Briggs, Michael Thunder, Marco Sachse, Choir, shabbybook, Steve Jullian Perez, Meat 450, Siegfried_SGO, and Jles.

And a special thank you to Joe, you absolute madman.

Before I got onto the wild ride that is Orario, I had been trying (and failing) to write a story about a JJK Sorcerer getting sent to DC and wreaking havoc.

Though for various reasons I could not make the story work, the research I did on Jujutsu Kaisen and how it’s power system and setting work in particular has carried me throughout my adventure.

Practically speaking, it may very well be the power system I’m most familiar with, considering my inability to google anything in this world. So, when I was basically handed the keys to the vault that is Cursed Energy, I didn’t hesitate to through myself headfirst into the Dungeon and figure shit out the right way.

My fist crashed into the chest of a goblin, the increasingly-familiar sound of his ribcage crackling like a crumpled aluminum can being quickly discarded as I lashed out with another arm to another monster.

Right now, through the crucible of combat, I was forcing myself to become more and more aware of the powerset I was given. And also grinding my physical stats now that I wasn’t just raw-dogging pure melee combat.

The flow of energy began from the stomach, and flowed like a whirlpool throughout the body. Unlike most of the energies I use, CE was best used instinctively when in combat. Or at least the casual flow of energy was practically crippled if you did it wrong.

A… dogman thing’s skull was caved in by a stray elbow to the temple, and I idly kept an eye on the Pallum that was currently firing as many bolts from her wrist-mounted crossbow as possible. From a safe distance…

Eh, she can be long-range if she wants. Now, contemplation.

Right, Jujutsu techniques by and large are broken into three branches. Physical combat, the Inherited Technique, and Cursed Energy Manipulation. All three require the usage of CE to use (unless you’re Maki/Toji), and without it I was basically improvising the latter two branches.

Physical combat is both the simplest and the most looked down upon branch. When it comes to the idea that sorcery is 80% inborn talent, physical combat is the 20% that most people look down on.

It’s using the energy to enhance your body so you can dish out and tank more damage than you should. Honestly speaking, people in the setting only specialize in this branch if they are incapable of any other option.

Name one fucking time another Sorcerer would ignore the ability to use their technique to go melee instead for any reason. I can’t at least, hell even Gojo only punches people to show off.

Anyways, considering how fucking useful being able to reinforce myself is, I’m putting most of my effort into enhancing this ability… also I really fucking want to do a Black Flash.

“Selah.” I blinked and noticed we were already at the staircase for the next floor. Huh, every once in a while I get Pokemon Mystery Dungeon flashbacks, but today the nostalgia is really hitting.

I cracked my neck and turned towards the Pallum. “Yeah, sorry, zoned out for a bit. You need a break?” Lili was panting, sweat plastered on her forehead as she nodded. I held a hand in front of me, and muttered some edgy bullshit under my breath.

“Emerge from darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure.” Drawing a Curtain makes it impossible for something without CE to enter or exit, making it a perfect barrier for a guaranteed rest stop in the Dungeon.

Unfortunately, them being immobile is hard-coded into it’s structure, and I’d rather just get a teleporter read than make a fucking path of barriers just to avoid fighting the now pathetically weak monsters.

Hell, I don’t think Black Sheep will even trigger this high in the Dungeon anymore.

Lili breathed a sigh of relief, taking off the massive bag and laying on the uncomfortable stone floor. Well, it would be if we weren’t Adventurers.

Still, as Lili attempted to relax after a murder spree that took us straight through three floors in an hour, I focused on the other branches of sorcery my newest ability had unlocked for me.

Considering how nondescript Cursed Energy Manipulation is, it isn’t surprising that it can do a lot of things. Barriers, Cursed Tool Creation, and Shikigami all fall in this branch.

But, personally, I didn’t particularly care about the first two- a Curtain is more than good enough for anything I could possibly need a barrier for, and Tool creation naturally takes ages when there are already magic items being sold here.

No, my interest lies in Shikigami. Honestly, before coming here, I never really paid Shikigami any mind- all of them seemed to be shittier versions of the Ten Shadows Technique, and almost no one uses them.

But, apparently, I could make one for myself. Similarly to how a Cursed Spirit (fuck am I sick of the C-word already) is formed by a fuckton of CE that’s been accidentally released, a Shikigami is just a Spirit that was intentionally made by one person’s Cursed Energy.

And because of Gege’s air-tight and breakneck pacing, I don’t actually know a lot about Shikigami creation. What I do know is that they can use the same technique/ability as the user, which is more than enough for me to gain an interest in using it.

… Unfortunately the process behind making a Shikigami is fucking lame. Since I’m the only source behind its creation, it’s form, strength, and abilities all come from me. Meaning I have to make the shitter by hand, all at once.

Also, I have so many fucking abilities that I’m actively having trouble figuring out how to make a Shikigami that can add something new to my repertoire. I can already use Fenrir, a Final Fantasy Summon, so I don’t need it to be especially powerful.

I already have my Clones, so making a Shikigami that’d just be worse than me at anything I’d make it for is obviously a waste considering there’s an extra four of me running around… I also can’t give it an ability I straight up don’t have, though it’d be worthless considering how much bullshit I could do at any moment.

Alright. What’s one thing I already have, and could use another independent entity to do for me. Which my Clones don’t count as, they’re more like… extremely numb extensions of my body. I know what they’re doing and where they are in relation to me, like proprioception turned up to eleven, but I’m still controlling all of them.

Thinking on my Clones more, despite Naruto being my guy I can’t just throw bodies at my enemies willy nilly. That’d just be… wasteful.

Further consideration from Jujutsu Kaisen has let me understand something important about how to best use my Clones. Yuta Okkotsu’s Copy Technique is on paper an amazing technique that keeps weaker characters relevant by allowing a much more powerful person to use their abilities, but he himself disagrees with that statement.

Copy’s greatest strength is to have two of the same card in our hand. Copy’s trick is that because Yuta is so much stronger than everyone, people practically forget about the original user to focus on Yuta instead. It’s the ability to have multiple Aces at once, both a threat and a feint all at once.

Shit like that is why, despite everything the average illiterate says about JJK, it is one of the most well-written shonen of today. Especially the part about hating the author for not writing more.

Back on track, this statement made me look twice at my Clones, and turn off the part of my brain screaming ‘dattebayo!’ and instead realize my technique’s greatest strength.

Being able to do five things with 100% capacity, rather than doing one thing at 500%.

Sure, I could theoretically jump anyone at any time… but I have teleportation and other extremely fast means of travel. I can turn into a bird and fucking fly faster than most Level Ones. There’s almost no reason why I’d need all of my clones constantly, when I could bring them back to me without losing my stride.

Of course, even with lifetimes of training with this technique stuck in my head, I wasn’t just going to assume I could fight at full capacity while bringing all my clones my way.

That’s exactly why I’ve had all of my clones doing various other things while I’m down here grinding away. It took a while to get used to filtering through four ‘extra’ bits of information, considering everything I get ends up summarized as a play by play so my brain doesn’t fucking explode. But I eventually got used to it.

250 points banked.

Roll failed.

… Wow, I feel like I dodged an introspective bullet there. Wonder what that was?

Ah, who cares, I’ve got a goal today so no introspection until the wicked bitch is dead. “You got ten more minutes before we head back out, that boss isn’t going to kill itself without us!” I declared, laughing when Lili could only just muster the energy to flick me the bird.

Being a Clone was weird, I found. Aside from the fact I knew every thought in my head was deemed garbage noise by the Original and therefore mangled into a play-by-play of what important shit I did when his attention strayed over here.

And the fact I was an exact copy of the Original at the moment of copying, so I was physically and spiritually incapable of growth like he was. So no cheesing the magic tattoo on my- on his back.

The weirdest part was the fact I was more than aware of the shit the Celestial Grimoire sends our- his way and we can’t afford. Like that Cinderella bullshit.

The objective worst part was the fact Bast and Anubis outright refused to look at me. Bast because the knowledge that I wasn’t the original messed with her head, along with the way my breathing and heartbeat never shifted.

And apparently being in the same room as Anubis made her feel like she was staring at my animated corpse, and she was very much liable to smite me on instinct if I so much as took her by surprise. Clones aren’t as fun when you can feel how Not Alive they are, which reminds you of the inevitably of your demise.

On that happy note, I was happy to announce that I finally remembered I have an ability that specifically deals with comas and other involuntary naps- Revivification. So, with just five minutes of utilizing my ability to no-sell group requirements for my spells, Ryu and Aisha were finally stirring.

Unfortunately, Aisha was waking up far faster than Ryu. And by far faster, I mean she had already attempted to throw herself off the bed to charge at me. But by the way she stumbled and almost slammed her head into the ground, along with the horrified look on her face… she was nowhere near fighting fit.

“You… what did you to do me? What did you do to my goddess?” She demanded, her single eye glaring at me past her bangs. Despite her nonexistent strength, and the knowledge I was probably even stronger now than I was when she fought me barely half a day ago, she still looked more than willing to end my life.

“Knocked you out. And killed her, probably.” I shrugged, unashamed of my actions.

“You… you…” Words refused to come out from her mouth, unable to express the unending concoction of emotions she felt at the knowledge Ishtar was dead. “What… what did we even do to you?”

The hopelessness in her voice was at odds with the step she took in my direction. “My… my family has never so much as looked in your direction. What drove you to commit… this heresy on my brothers? My sisters?”

She glanced to the side, where her weapon was laying, but dismissed it easily. She didn’t even have the strength to lift it up anymore, let alone use it in battle.

“The same thing that’s driving you to kill me.” I spoke pointedly, and her red eyes seemed to burn with rage at my words.

“You know nothing of why I-!”

“I hurt your family. I hurt them in a way that you can’t even describe, a way you can never help them recover from.” Wrathful eyes glared into deep brown. She took a step closer, hands unconsciously flexing as she imagined strangling me. “The very thought of me brings so much hate that it feels like you're choking. You can’t even imagine why anyone would do this to them- they were good people, they didn’t do anything wrong! You hate me for hurting you. Hurting them.”

“Keep their names out of your fucking-” Of course, she lunged. I grabbed her by the wrists and lifted them above her head before shoving my face close to hers, looking deep into her eyes and excluding whatever bullshit presence I had to get her to stop.

She did.

“You want to kill me. You want to kill me so I can never hurt someone you love again. But you can’t- you don’t have the strength. You can’t take the risk, so you grit your teeth and bare with it. All the little things I’ll do, the jokes they’ll say, the pain everyone brushes off and makes light of as ‘tradition’ or ‘how it is’. And everytime, a pit of hate in your heart will grow, until the day it gets released.” Her eyes met mine, uncaring for my words, yet the next threw her to a loop.

“That’s what happened to me. Where I’m from… my people were enslaved for a long time, and then we were freed. But people I know and love… they still bore the scars from back then. Pain and fear that will never go away. And now… I’m in a place far, far away from all of that. Free from that. But when I learned that slavery was happening in the city I call home?” Her eyes looked into mine, a horrified understanding in her face.

“If you could snap your fingers, and everyone like me in the world would die, without lifting a finger… would you even hesitate?” For a second, it seemed like Aisha just stopped existing. Her breathing and heartbeat ground to a halt, as she looked at me with naked terror.

I let her go, and she stumbled onto her feet, stepping back from me and closer to the wall behind her. “... why? Why are you telling me this?”

“... I can’t apologize for killing them.” I said honestly, and the hate in her eyes seemingly reignited. “I look at people like them the same way you look at me. But… I’m sorry that my actions have hurt you like this.”

I lowered my head to Aisha in a bow. “I can’t honestly say everyone I know is a good person, or that no one in my life,” Here or back on Earth. “Deserves to suffer for something they’ve done that I’m not aware of. Hell, I’d probably try and murder them too. I understand exactly where you’re coming from, so I don’t want to just write you off. You’re just one of the countless people my actions will leave behind.”

One day I’ll have to kill someone whose completely innocent. Not a conniving backstabber, not a brainwashed cultist, and not a slaver. Someone who will fight to save something I will fight to destroy.  The kid gloves won’t last forever, and I’d rather taint my soul than watch someone I love die when I could’ve prevented it.

That’s why I promised myself- I’ll deal with the consequences of my actions however I wish, but the second they target someone who doesn’t deserve it… I won’t hesitate.

Even if I should.

“Selah.” The woman who wants to kill me more than anything spoke my name calmly. “Did you kill them to save someone?”

“No. I’m not a hero.” I rejected the idea without hesitation. I;m not a hero, never claimed to be one. When I cast that spell, the people who would be freed were an afterthought compared to the people who died. “I didn’t kill to save anyone. I killed them because I refused to let anyone I know suffer like that. I killed them because I hated them more than anything.”

Despite myself, I wanted to apologize. Maybe hearing that they died for a noble cause would help? I don’t know, I’m just a Clone shoving his fucking foot in his mouth.

“,,, Amazons have a multitude of slaves as part of our culture.” My Villainous Aura spiked, but this time I let higher thinking prevail and merely grit my teeth. They’ll die out eventually. “But… I’ve never considered how they’d feel about that. I cannot understand what you mean, but I recognize that hate in your heart.”

I lifted my head, and instead of the raging beast lost in despair, there was a cold killer smiling emotionlessly. “Don’t bother with your speeches, despite everything not all of my familia is gone. Considering that, I’ll be the better warrior and only come for your head.”

Ah, of course. I didn’t believe for a second I had the means to convince someone not to kill me. But… at least I’m the only one on her hit list.

“Good luck, you’ll need it.” And the little, custom-made pact between me and her soul that made her weaker when fighting me in exchange for healing her would ensure that luck wouldn’t come to bite me in the ass.

Aisha walked past me towards the door. I watched her the entire time, unceasingly.

… Fuck me, I already cursed her.

“... Loki will probably take you all in, if you offer to join her.” I was going to offer Hestia, but the thought of filling up her and Bell’s ‘love nest’ with hookers sent a demonic chill down my back. “She’s desperate like that. Especially if you tell them I sent you.”

Aisha didn’t say another word, or even turn back at my statement. But she hummed, and I knew she’d be there by the end of the day.

350 points banked.

Divination - Sorcery - Chronomancy (One Dot) - World of Darkness: Sorcerer (100 points)

Roll Success! Purchased! 250 points remaining.

The magical power to manipulate time. However, it cannot divine information about the past or future, instead altering the flow of time within the present.

[1] The chronomancer gains the ability to keep track of time perfectly, detecting its passage more precisely than any watch, and also sensing distortions in time as well as being significantly harder to surprise.

Which would be roughly 10 hours from now, 2 if I mean by sundown.

Ah, yes, the power to no-sell any time-based bullshit. More than worth the 100 points, and it also makes me capable of telling the fucking time. Like I couldn’t already do that with the excess brainpower rattling around in my skull, but the path to time magic is greatly appreciated.

I sighed, glad that at least the Original was going to get the unabridged version of that conversation. “Ryu, you can get up now.”

“Sorry, you seemed like you could handle it.” The elf added, her usually calm expression showing a tinge of shame. I waved it off.

“Eh, you got concussed dealing with my bullshit, it’s fine. Though if she threw my family’s history back in my face, I probably would have murdered her.” My guilt has a limit, and it’s way before you can say some dumb shit about my family.

“... So do you have a speech for me too?” Ryu said awkwardly in an attempt to make a joke. Unfortunately, I did, and without a second’s hesitation I waxed poetic about how sorry and grateful I was for what she did for me.

Really wish I was the mad-science Clone right about now.

“Fucking rabbits-!” I had to stifle a laugh at the sheer irony of Lili’s words, considering her original fate. And also at the fact she has a massive hate-boner for the various Needle Rabbits that have been filling the past three floors.

“I think they’re just being affectionate.” My joke was punctuated by the all-too familiar sight of a bolt being launched straight through the neck of a small white hair with a large spiral horn on its forehead.

“They can take their affection straight to hell.” Lili grumbled, before staring pointedly at me. I raised my free hand up in an attempt to keep her from unlocking a new method of curse through sheer irritation… while I’m on the receiving end, at least.

“Fine fine, so where was I?” I asked as I finally got the right angle on the Orc I was currently strangling in the crook of my arm, jerking the entire thing just so and letting a morbidly satisfying snap ring out. I dropped the fresh corpse onto the ground, the various broken limbs flopping loosely along with the snapped neck. “Right, reinforcement.”

My jury-rigged Curse Magic meshed easily with JJK’s Cursed Energy due to my shameless copying of the former, as well as Experimenter allowing the entire thing to be possible. So while I had the ability to use either-or to get the best results when they overlapped, I also had the ability to straight up copy shit from the later onto the former.

Why would I do that? Well, I can’t teach these people to use Cursed Energy- it’s one of the hard set laws of the setting- I’ve already been teaching people how to use my curses. So, CE Enhancement has now become Cursed Reinforcement, so my protege can now master the art of beating a motherfucker to death with her bare hands.

By Anubis, do I make a good teacher.

“...alright, I think I’ve figured it out here.” Absently flicking the blood off my hands, I barely spared the monster a glance as I forced my awareness into overdrive given the thick mist filling the floor we were on. I’d personally beaten the Orc to death to test out how Reinforcement compared to Enhancement, which wasn’t much of a risk despite the green bastard being the biggest non-draconic monster I’ve killed since I got here.

Between being trained by my warrior goddess girlfriend, and being a Level Two (mage build be damned), he didn’t have a chance in hell. Still made a useful measuring stick though.

“Reinforcement is altogether a much riskier version of Enhancement.” I lectured even as we continued to walk through the Dungeon, absently cursing anything that got too close that Lili couldn’t one-shot. “Enhancement is about flow and lack of restraint- it works best under the hand of those who rely on their instinct more than anything, to the point overthinking will legitimately make it weaker.”

“And Reinforcement is more about control?” Lili stated, and I gave her a proud nod at predicting what I was going with. I then realize I was going to go into heavy lecture-mode, so I absently raised a Curtain so we wouldn’t get sniped while we talked. 

And no bats or moths started throwing debuffs around like pricks.

“Yep. My Curse Magic is more closely linked to consequence and conviction, so you’ll need to be using it at 100% capacity to get it to actually work. While both melee buffs send energy flowing through the body, Reinforcement will actively fight your control the entire time.” 

“So my version is objectively worse than yours?” The question came out gruffly, like she was trying to act like she wasn’t surprised she was getting the short end of the stick. Naturally, I snapped my fingers at her to regain her attention so I wouldn’t have to deal with her backstory bullshit while I’m monologuing.

“Oi, don’t put words in my mouth. If Reinforcement were complete shit, I’d say it. There is a plus side, let me get to it.” The Pallum gave me a look I couldn’t describe even if my life were on the line, but she still nodded. 

“Alright, now Reinforcement will fight you the entire time due to how Curses work. Once the energy and intent get in sync, the curse will be placed on the target. So the issue with reinforcement is that you are constantly holding the curse back from leaving your body, and instead forcing it to circulate and enhance yourself instead.” Basically, instead of using the actual spell to the do the damage, you use your body as the medium instead of your Mind.

“Does this work for any kind of curse?”

“Absolutely not. Reinforcement is meant to help you do physical harm, so you need to use a curse that does so for it to do anything.” Lili grimaced, already understanding where the risk comes in- while my Enhancement operates mainly on my physical strength and Mind usage, Lili needs to constantly juggle a curse designed to harm inside her body to even approach what I can do.

One wrong move or lapse in control and the curse goes off on her instead, doing significant damage to herself.

“Though, considering that the damage you do is scaled based on the curse’s strength itself.” And there’s the silver-lining- while Lili herself won’t ever be a physical powerhouse, with this she can turn her raw hatred for her enemy into pure physical strength.

In a layman's terms, Reinforcement is playing hot-potato with a nuclear warhead, and you have a hand tied behind your back. It’s such a desperate, unnecessary gamble that even I’d think twice about using it.

I mean, I’d probably still do it, but…

“I… think I want to go back to the base.” Her words were soft and carefully considered. I was already smiling before she had said the next part. “I’m not practicing that in the Dungeon, after all.” 

Truly, I have the best student in all the land.

350 points banked.

Illusion - Jar of Dirt - Pirates of the Caribbean (100)

Roll Success! Purchased! 250 points remaining.

This is a jar that contains dirt. And that’s it. You promise. Actually, you can put anything into it and it’ll be unfindable by anyone else (well, anyone who bothers to look; it’s just a jar of dirt). Alternatively, you can easily convince people that this simple jar contains the most important secret item ever (or at least a lot of money), if you want to use it as a distraction or “leverage” tool.

And just like that my mood is ruined as a jar of dirt falls from the sky and lands straight in my hands. What would I-? Why would I-? I have the skills of a superspy implanted into my head! I can just hide it!

I have illusion spells I can use that’d be more effective-

Why is it a fucking jar?

“... Did our goddess just magic you a jar of dirt or something?”

“... just walk your ass back to the surface before I start crashing out. Fucking hundred points for a fucking piggy bank.” At least Mage Voice and Moth Voice are back to agree on how bullshit this is.

A/N: Sorry for the shorter chapter than usual, I’m planning for the next one to be another Interlude filled with scene-shifts and all.

So, y’know, cliff-hangers and all that. Letting you all know in advance, points will be gained in the next interlude, but no rolls will occur.

Also, thank you all for being patient while I worked back up the energy for this fic. Sorry if the latter half isn’t up to par, rushed it at like 12 AM after getting inspiration on how Reinforcement works.

Thank you all for reading, Peace.

A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes: Your heart has become a veritable font of hope.

This faith in the future allows you to persevere even when suffering immensely in the present. It doesn’t blind you to reason, but it does prevent you from giving into despair and/or apathy.

Should you or another be able to draw power from this hope, you’ll find that it is a wonderfully strong fuel source for such powers and techniques, as well.

That rainbow will come shining through yet, Jumper, so don’t give up!

SI: You have no idea how hard it is to not make a Danganronpa Reference right now. Still, while I don’t have depression or anything, that bit about using it as a power source would be interesting given my hardcore cultist build.