February 2, 2021

  Waldo’s eye brightens up in intensity. He watches the other six sorcerers standing in the ring, allowing their leader to take the lead. He extends his arm towards them and charges up a shockwave. In that moment, he senses a presence to his right. He quickly switches sides and now aims to his right. There, he sees the Grade One sorcerer appear from some kind of hole in the air. Waldo fires the shockwave and it makes direct contact with them. The Grade One sorcerer coughs out blood and is sent right back into the hole. After waiting for a few more seconds, another hole is opened from the ground and the sorcerer jumps out of it. They take a deep breath and run at Waldo. They move in an erratic pattern, trying to outmaneuver Waldo. However, Waldo isn’t having any of it. He swipes the flail out of the sorcerer’s hands and strikes him in the leg with it. The sorcerer grunts in pain and is then struck in the chin by an elbow. The other six sorcerers, seeing their leader getting beaten up, run towards the fight with their weapons. Shockwaves suddenly erupt from the ground below them. They all shoot to the sky from the force and fall back down with a large thud. The sorcerers lay on the ground, completely knocked out cold. The leader of the group has a confused and frightened expression. Waldo turns around and glances at the sorcerers.

  “You should be grateful that I didn’t kill them. Even one little push is enough to take them out, however. So, what will you choose to do now that your arms and legs have been stripped away from you?”

  Waldo swings around the flail and eventually tosses it away.

  “Your only instrument of battle is gone as well. In this kind of situation, all hope has been lost. What else can you do but surrender?”

  The Grade One sorcerer begins to pant heavily and rapidly. They take a few steps back, their vision becoming foggy. Waldo begins to smile as he takes very small steps towards him. This kind of scene, one where he forces the opposition to surrender, is something he enjoys.

  “With war, you either prevail or you crumble. To prevail, you must possess the most valiant of hearts, the most strongest of wills. It seems that you possess neither. Because of this, you will fall. After all, I am the War Spirit.”

  The Grade One sorcerer falls to their knees. Beads of sweat trickle down the sides of their face as their lungs request for more air. This situation is applying more pressure on them than they have ever felt in their life. He looks up at Waldo, but they look even more monstrous than before. The sorcerer’s sudden hallucination causes them to clutch their head and shake it with exaggeration.

  “I…! I…! I surren-“

  The sorcerer’s head is suddenly pierced by a stray bullet. Gunfire goes off and their head is dyed with the crimson color of blood. Their body falls to the ground right next to the bullet hole. Most of the audience either gasp out loud or scream in terror. Mara covers her mouth in surprise and stares at the now dead man. Waldo’s expression doesn’t change. He simply looks to his side and up, where a long rectangular window can be seen. That window must be in a room where another special audience watches this fight, like a VIP room. It’s likely that this room is where the Fat Cat resides. Waldo looks back at the scene in front of him. That bullet that was used to kill this sorcerer did not have a hint of cursed energy. This means only one thing. This Grade One sorcerer will now turn into a cursed spirit.

  Waldo goes over to the other six sorcerers. He looks down at them before picking them all up and throwing them out of the ring. He doesn’t want collateral to interrupt the next stage of this fight. It’s been almost a year since he has fought a vengeful cursed spirit of this kind, since the time he fought Iravin back in May. That was 9 months ago, it seems. He turns towards the dead body of the sorcerer. That cursed energy that resides in the body is bubbling up. Waldo’s eye inspects this phenomenon closely. He gets into a battle stance and awaits for the sorcerer to be reborn. Everyone in the audience watches in suspense. Most of them are well aware that the sorcerer will turn into a cursed spirit after his death. Other Grade One sorcerers in the crowd watch this fight with anticipation. They’ve never seen how a sorcerer turns into a cursed spirit. After all, if they ever had to kill a fellow sorcerer, they always did so with Jujutsu. Suddenly, the built up cursed energy is released. It spirals, collects, and forms together. After witnessing such an event again, Waldo smiles to himself.

  “It has been quite some time since I’ve fought one. Will you be any different? I’m curious to see how you will evolve.”

  Waldo glances around him and spots Mara. Mara catches his gaze.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Mara! Pay close attention. You saw just now how sorcerers fight. Perhaps you have gained some insight. But this sorcerer will now use their cursed technique at an even more elevated level. You’d best be prepared to take notes. This will help you out.”

  Mara silently nods with a determined look on her face. She perks up and watches intensely. Waldo sees this and turns back. The process has just about finished. In the blink of an eye, that new cursed spirit comes into the world. The presence has been completely altered. The sorcerer is no longer a human, but a real cursed spirit. They take a moment to gather their surroundings, before seeing Waldo in front of them again. A ghastly sigh escapes from their mouth. They begin to speak after a few more seconds.

  “The Fat Cat… is always moving around like a mole… the money we bet for these fights… where does it go? We do everything for her… haul in the cursed spirits… but what do we gain?! I have a few choice words that I wish to tell her, but if you’re going to get in my way, then I’ll just kill you and be on my way!”

  “So, you harbor malice towards the Fat Cat after all. Despite building this small cozy space for you all, you’re planning on being difficult. Sure, I’ll stop you right here and now. But this time, no one else is going to kill you. I’ll be the one to take your life!”

  The cursed spirit roars out in anger. A hole suddenly appears under Waldo’s feet. Waldo jumps out of it just in time. The cursed spirit, with its new body, flies over to Waldo and attempts to grab him. Waldo sucks under the ground and punches the cursed spirit in the gut. The cursed spirit reels back and puts their arms through holes. More holes come out on Waldo sides and the hands race towards him. Waldo grabs both of the hands and blows them away with the power of his shockwaves. The cursed spirit pulls his arms back out and regenerates his hands. Waldo sprints towards him and throws a punch. The cursed spirit's body suddenly becomes full of holes and Waldo punches right through him, not inflicting any damage. Waldo takes a step back before he falls into another hole that is on the ground.

  “I’m sorry to say, but your plan is full of holes. If you wish to drag me into your little space, it isn’t going to work. I’ll simply push you in there with me!”

  Waldo appears right above the cursed spirit. He fires a shockwave from the top of his head and lands right on him. Waldo uses the direction of his feet to propel both of them down into the hole. The audience gasps as both of the fighters disappear from the ring. Mara takes a sigh. How is she going to watch the fight if there is no fight to watch anymore? She rests her head on her hands and watches the empty ring. The audience now begins to whisper among themselves. Meanwhile, from within the VIP room, a few humans look down at the main arena with an interested look. Some are a bit disheartened that the fight has been taken away from them. The Fat Cat, however, stands at the edge of the window and crosses her arms.

  “That cursed spirit… For a moment I didn’t want to believe it, but he truly is the cursed spirit of war. That marvelous strength, the presence he carries, and the unpredictable nature of his power. There’s no doubt about it.”

  One of the other people inside of the room takes a sip out of their beverage and takes a long sigh.

  “Which one of those cursed spirits do you reckon are gonna come out alive?”

  The Fat Cat glances at them and turns back.

  “I have my money on the cursed spirit of war. There isn’t a fight that he cannot win.”

  The Fat Cat sets her eye on Mara. She does find it somewhat strange that such a savage cursed spirit came to this place with a small child. What kind of relationship do they have? The child certainly isn’t another cursed spirit. Their presence is full on human. Could it be the level of her cursed energy? It’s certainly much higher than she would have expected for a child her age. Has the cursed spirit of war been training her?

  (One can’t align their minds with that of the cursed spirit of war. The actions that they choose are not something we can understand. He could have brought her for an entirely different reason. That missing eye… could it be a mark of punishment?)

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  Waldo and the cursed spirit find themselves inside of the pocket space. Waldo takes a moment to assess his surroundings. It’s eerily similar to before. However, everything is either heavily modified with a new color or somewhat distorted. The cursed spirit gets themselves off of the ground and scowls at Waldo.

  “Why are you even doing this? What could possibly drive you to get in my way?”

  Waldo stares at the cursed spirit. He hasn’t really thought about it that much. Why has he been moving forward this entire time? Is it because he wishes to finally settle the score with Osoroi? Is it because he just wishes to seek out the most thrilling fight of his life? Is it because he simply wishes to rule the world? Hm…

  “Beats me. I don’t really think about those types of matters. All I know is that you’re an enemy in front of me. With an enemy, you obviously crush them, right?”

  The cursed spirit looks at Waldo with a somewhat baffled look. The reason why he’s doing this… he doesn’t even know? What kind of person is he? He scowls even more and glares at Waldo.

  “I’m done talking with you. You pulled yourself into my own space. You’d better prepare for the severe consequences!”