Cursed Soul: Ch.15

“You know, I've noticed one thing.”

“And what's that?” Alya asked as she moved her Knight and I moved my Pawn to capture her open Bishop whilst being seated in a bed in our medical room.

“I am not cut out for close-ranged combat.”

“That…is true. Every time you fight someone up close, you always end up in here.” Liam agreed with a smirk and I rolled my eyes before cursing as Alya looked smug when she took my last Rook.

“Three visits in three months to be exact. I'm fairly sure I'm the only one that has been here this many times for the year.”

“Eh, close. You're like number 20.” Alex provided and I nodded before grinning as I moved the final Pawn forward, Alya grumbling as I promoted it into a Queen and checked her.

“Just a few more moves.”

“Nope, just one. Checkmate.” She said with a smug smile as she moved her Bishop on the white to the third row and I looked down before groaning as I saw it, her Queen and her Rook trapping me in.

“Hah, almost.”

“Heh, almost doesn't count. That's 20 to 18, baby~ You owe me a burger.”

“Yeah, yeah. I'll get you one when I get out of here…which I do not know. When am I allowed to leave, doc?”

“You could have left any time. You're just scared of Leah.” The old man with the dark grey hair spoke with a smirk and I groaned as I lied back down.

“Wait, Lt. Maverick?” Alya asked as she looked at me and I gave a nervous smile before nodding.

“Kind of. Ever since the Battle at the border, she's been constantly visiting and wanting to see when I was finally released.”

“Then why are you scared?”

“Oh, I know why he's scared~” Alex teased with a grin, Liam matching the grin as I rolled my eyes while Alya frowned in confusion before she connected the dots and rolled her eyes.

“Must you guys be so crude? Also, you honestly think that the Lieutenant, a woman of power, would worry about a guy like you?”

“Oi, what's that supposed to mean?” I asked with a raised eyebrow and she shrugged while packing up her chess set.

“Nothing. You're just not her type.”

“And how do you know what her type is, dear sister?”

“Because we ladies talk with each other every month unlike you guys who only care about beating the crap out of each other.” Alya spoke with a huff and Alex rolled his eyes while I decided to stay quiet and shrug.

“Hey, if I'm being paranoid, then I will apologize, but I'd rather not take the risk.”

“Well, here I thought you would still be injured and you're talking shit about the lieutenant.” Colonel Baul spoke from the door, all of us freezing at the man's amused smirk before I quickly saluted.

“Uh, permission to beg of you to not say anything?”

“Permission denied, but don't worry. One does not use blackmail that easily.” The man spoke with a smirk and I just nodded with a sigh before he looked to the others.

“Clear the room, please. Wanna talk to the Sergeant here in private.”

“No need to ask us twice, sir.”

“We'll see you outside today. You're not going to stay here a day longer.” Alya spoke with a pointed stare and I rolled my eyes before shrugging.

“Fine, I won't.” She just looked dubious at my words before following the others out, Baul nodding to the doc who gave a thumbs-up before I rose an eyebrow at the headphones he placed over his ears.

“Noise-cancelling headphones that keep him from hearing what's going on around him. So, tell me what the injuries were.”

“Second-degree burns on my left hand, bruising to my arms and legs, bruising on my right wrist and knee and a concussion.”

“Huh, not as bad as I thought it was, but still bad. Okay, I guess that will help us figure out your bonus.”

“Bonus?” I asked with a raised eyebrow and the man chuckled as he nodded while sitting down on the chair to the right of my bed.

“Yeah, 5% for each kill you got and then another 10% to 30% depending on the severity of your injuries. Since yours isn't as bad as some of the few extreme cases, it's about 16% for you.”

“What are the few 'extreme cases'?”

“When you lose your limbs or one of your organs permanently.” The doc spoke up and I looked over to see him no longer wearing the headphones, probably having taken them off after Baul finished explaining.

“Okay, good to know. And how many of those cases did we have?”

“Twenty. Most of them are from Division 1 with the rest being from Division 2. It would have been a lot more had Quatro Cerberus not arrived in time.”

“Well, it's a good thing they came then.” I said and he nodded before grunting as he stood up and patted me on the leg.

“I hear you didn't do bad yourself. A bit brutal and over-excessive from what I've pieced together thanks to the news and rumours, but not bad.”

“Hehe~ Thanks, but I kind of lost it during the fight which could have cost me my life.”

“Yeah, but one thing I've learned in my time is that the mental battle is just as important as the physical one and people that break on the field…oh, they're the ones that dominate the mental battle.”

“So, what you're saying is that a little crazy is okay?” I asked with a smirk and he chuckled before I winced as he flicked me on the forehead.

“Yes, but not too crazy. Anyway, get up 'cause that flick had enough force to shatter a rock and you're still sitting up so you're healed. The General wants to see you.” He spoke as he walked throug the door and I blinked before slowly looking towards the doc with an innocent smile.

“I'm not giving you more time off. Get the hell out of here.”

“…Urgh~!!”

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“I see the Colonel finally got you out of your room.” General Sparda spoke with a smirk as he closed the files in front of him and I gave a sheepish smile as Baul chuckled.

“Didn't take much to be truthful, but I think he's just scared of what the doc would do to him if he kept staying.”

“Of course I am. Every person knows that one doesn't mess with the guy that can break you just as easily as he can heal you.” I answered with a snort and Baul snickered as the General nodded.

“I am of the same mind, Creed. However, we are not here to discuss that. We are here to discuss your report during the battle.” He said and I turned serious as I felt the change in the air, Baul losing his smirk as well as Sparda cleared his throat.

“Firstly, let's look at your combat capability. Combat in close range: B. Combat at long range: C. Combat using traps: A. Combat using weapons: B. Overall: B.”

“Uh, I don't know what that means.”

“It means your stats are a bit too high to be a Sergeant.” Baul answered and my eyes widened at that as the General smirked and nodded.

“Yes, you are thinking correctly. Congratulations on your promotion to Captain, which should have happened when you first got here considering your MPF score, but we decided to wait until you were ready for it.”

“…Wait, do people usually shoot up this high quickly in ranks?”

“Hahaha~! Baul here went from Corporal to Colonel in less than a day.”

“That's because you needed a second-in-command and I was the only one qualified.”

“And you were lazy.” The General spoke with a nod and Baul shrugged as I just looked between the two of them.

“True. Anyway, rapid promotions are something that is possible, but like we said, you were supposed to be a captain. The only reason we didn't promote you was because we didn't want you to believe that we did it because of your connection to former Captain Matteo.”

“To be honest, I wouldn't have really cared for that. I take what I can get.” I answered with a shrug and Sparda smirked before nodding.

“A good mindset. Now, onto the second section, teamwork. This is something we prioritize above all else here at our battalion and from what I've seen….you easily pass the test. The leadership and courage parts, however, are a fail on your end. Just barely, but still a fail unfortunately.”

“That was to be expected.” I nodded in agreement as I remembered that while I did give out some commands on how they should have stationed their traps, I was not exactly the most commanding or courageous during the actual battle itself.

“However, that helped me see what your strengths and weaknesses are, which is why Colonel Baul here is going to unlock your personal magic.”

“…Right, I forgot about that. Can we postpone that?” I asked before sighing as Baul grinned while shaking his head as his Rebellion copy appeared in his hand.

“Nope, but don't worry. If you let me do this, the General will pay you an extra 10%.”

“I will.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” I asked as I sat back down, wrapping my arms around the arm rests as Baul walked up behind me and grabbed a shoulder while holding the tip of his blade at the back of my neck.

“It's going to feel like you're bleeding out, but the sword is just going to stab through your spine and into your heart. That will force your ethernano container to be boosted and thus force your personal magic to awaken.”

“Uh, I really we should-!”

“Too late!” Baul grunted as he stabbed down and I couldn't even breathe as I felt the burning sensation immediately spread out from the impact point.

Even when I tried to move, Baul had a tight grip on my shoulder as he continued to push down slowly, my eyes wide as I could feel the blade stabbing into my heart before I gasped as I felt him pulling his blade out of my neck.

“See, that wasn't so bad.” Baul spoke with a smirk as he dismissed his blade and I simply responded with a groan as I sat back while feeling nothing but numbness througout my body.

“I can't move.”

“Yes, that will take a while to get used to. For now, just walk around and it will activate when your body gets used to it.”

“G-Got I-…I'm guessing this means it worked?” I asked while staring at the floating hologram in front of me, which was a light violet with a rectangular screen in the middle and numerous rectangular screens floating around it in a circle.

“Archive…It kind of fits with your Jutsushiki usage.” Baul answered, but I was more occupied as I touched the middle screen before flinching back as the other screens faded away and the middle one floated above my head.

The middle section of it vanished as its edges fell around me like a barrier and I blinked as jutsushiki patterns were immediately formed by the edges before I found myself actually being surrounded by a barrier.

“It most definitely fits your skillset as you are now.” General Sparda spoke with a hum as I dismissed the barrier and I nodded as I looked at the screens floating around me before smirking.

“I don't believe that smirk means something good for us, does it?” Baul asked and I simply shook my head as I dismissed the screens with a thought.

“Oh, not at all. However, I feel like I might have found out just how to begin combine the screens with my jutsushiki to get results faster.”

“I'll leave you to it. Dismissed, Captain.” Standing up with a salute, I nodded to the Corporal before making my way out of the room, closing the door behind me as I tapped one of the screens and expanded it.

'Yeah, I most definitely know how to use this.'

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“Hymn of Poseidon.” The circular screen that was made out of twelve different smaller screen in front of me spun before it stopped and the top segment glowed.

The next second, water poured out from the middle screen and crashed down onto the floor, pushing away everything in its path. I smirked at the quick devastation before twisting my hand and spinning the screens once again.

“Hymn of Khione.” Stopping once again, the top left segment right next to the Aqua screen glowed this time and the water stopped shooting out before a freezing cold wind billowed out in all directions.

The moment it touched the water, it turned it to ice and I was ecstatic to see the frozen floor around me.

“Hymn of Hephaestus!” With another twist and another spin, the frost vanished before the temperature ramped up, a cheer escaping my lips and the screens vanishing as flames shot out in all directions and not only thawed out the ice, but also evaporated the water like it was nothing.

“Yes! Thank the gods! Yes!”

“What…the hell?” I heard Alex mutter and turned to see the shocked looks on not only his face but also that of Alya, Liam and Danny.

“Uh, what the hell was that?”

“Well, I figured out how my personal magic worked exactly so I thought to myself. Archive Magic is supposed to allow one to record and store magical data to be used later, so why not create runic patterns ahead of time and simply use them during battle?”

“And you just…have them on standby?” Alya asked and I gave a thumbs-up while twisting the wheel, the middle right segment glowing before a burst of wind pushed away the heat and cooled the room down.

“Yep, but I only have a few on standby. The one I just used is the Hymn of Zephyr, one that allows me to control the wind in a certain area around me and with it, I also have the ones that lets me control fire, water, lightning, earth and ice.”

“What about one that lets you control the space around you? Like your barriers?” Danny asked and I sighed as I shook my head.

“Unfortunately, I am not capable enough yet to write out a complex pattern onto a screen and then use it whenever I want to. I can create a barrier, but it is just that. A barrier for protection and repelling attacks, which I don't mind. However, I won't rest until I can write out one that can do more than that and have it work successfully.”

“Well, it looks like you got your work cut out for you.” Liam spoke with a smirk and I nodded while dismissing the screen before looking at that.

“I do, which is why I called you all here. Would it be possible for you guys to…attack me and let me study your magic?”

“I don't mind, but remember what happened last time?” Danny said with a raised eyebrow and the others nodded as I scoffed.

“Eh, that was that time. Besides, we're not going all out. I simply want you all to try and hit me and let me see how your magic works.”

“Why?”

“Secret.” I answered with a smirk and Danny simply rolled his eyes while silver fur covered his hands and feet.

“I'm more than fine with that, then.”

“Great!” I spoke with a happy smile before creating a purple screen in front of me right as he lunged forward, both of us raising an eyebrow as his claws slashed at the barrier only for nothing to happen.

“Are you holding back?”

“Somewhat.”

“Come on, I need you to actually attack meee!” Quickly leaning back while also creating another barrier besides me, Danny and I blinked as we stared at the arrow I just ricochet away before slowly looking towards Alya as she smiled.

“What? You said to not hold back too much.” She said with a shrug and I just looked at her before shaking my head as I dismissed the barriers.

“Okay, new rule. No trying to kill me. Some injury and light stabbing is allowed. Maiming and/ or death? No.”

“Aw~” She grumbled with a pout and as Alex got himself ready with a shake of his head, I took a deep breath before looking at them all ready.

“…Okay, go!”

A/N: And we end it off here as we dive into the next arc~!!

Like I said, I'm leaving the Sukuna moveset behind, which is probably going to result in me changing the profile pic, but after the episode with Kargalgan/ Tusk, I just fell in love with his skillset.

Therefore, I'm making my own. I was going to do this in an Overlord SI fanfic with an Orc character, but I've decided to try something else if I do write that because I wanted to do it here.

Anyway, the Archive + Jutsushiki combination is not omnipotent as he still has to work out a lot of kinks, but now at least, our MC has something to fight back with.

Next chapter: The second Assault and Fighting Back!

As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…

Ba-Bye~!!