The Multiversal Tourist: 6 (Patreon)

For an average sorcerer, such an action was practically foolish. Not only was the user unable to perceive the outside world, but they also had no sense of time, pain or motion. In simpler terms, they were practically defenceless.

The aperture sphere would only channel all vectors from escaping the sphere. Meaning any outward attack would still be able to kill him without resistance.

Worse still, without any senses to observe, there was no way he would be able to conduct the experiment he wanted to perform, making the massive price paid to achieve the vow meaningless.

Yet, Haruto was not an average sorcerer.

Even with the deprivation of his senses, he still had a sixth method of observation.

Everything went dark. Meanwhile, his second consciousness that still drifted in the infinite void took the helm. Through that perspective, he no longer saw a park. He saw the Geometric Grid of the universe.

From his actual body, he could feel the enhancement of his second aperture by the Heavenly Pact. Without delay, he wrapped the space around his body in an Ethereal Loop.

Every vibration, every photon, and every ripple of energy attempting to escape the radius was instantly grabbed and redirected 180 degrees back toward the center.

Effectively creating a "Null Zone." To the world's radar and the nationwide barriers that ran through all of Japan.

Finally, using his third and final aperture, he forced a second, micro-entrance point for his raw, unrefined power. Which brings to Problem #2.

For an average sorcerer, unless one had an inexhaustible quantity of cursed energy, the amount of power needing to break through the dimensional boundaries was not something even a thousand special grade cursed spirits could supply.

A crack appeared in the space in front of his fingers. A sound like grinding glass echoed in a frequency only Haruto could hear. A jagged, pitch-black crack, no longer than a fingernail, split open in the air.

Immediately, the "Universal Governor" of the world went into a frenzy.

Haruto felt the massive "Suction" begin. Because this reality was a closed system, opening a hole to the "Outside" was like popping a pressurized cabin in space.

The earth in the surroundings began to swirl toward the tiny crack. The air pressure dropped so sharply that Haruto’s ears popped but he currently couldn't feel it.

The vectors of the park begin to warp. The trees in the distance leaned toward him. The space around the crack started to undergo "Total Gravitational Collapse." If he held it for even three more seconds, the crack would expand into a singularity, swallowing the park, the neighborhood, and probably more.

Not even his Vector loop would be able to stop it.

'That's Problem #3.'

With his intent, he snapped the Exit Point shut. The black crack vanished. The air rushed back in with a violent thud, creating a small shockwave that bounced back off his boundary sphere. Dispelling the Pact, his senses returned to normal as the optical illusion fell. The first sensation was that of running liquid from his nose and ears.

Touching those ears, it was smeared with blood.

'Well, guess I reached the hardware limit,' he mused, wiping the blood with the back of his hand.

The blood was a minor inconvenience. A byproduct of the gravitational "back-pressure" that had pushed against his body as well as the result of pushing his brain to the limit to operate the second aperture.

He briefly focused his intent, circulating his energy to perform Reverse Cursed Technique. Within seconds, the internal hemorrhaging ceased and the eardrums knitted themselves back together.

For reverse cursed Technique, he had mastered the ability as early as the day he was born. With the amount of energy leaking out of him at birth, his body had automatically performed reverse cursed technique to prevent it from exploding just before the Innate Technique kicked in.

'Still, at least I've gotten my answer. The math is sound, but the foundation is too weak,' Haruto thought, his gaze drifting back to the playground.

The problem wasn't his power or his technique. The problem was Displacement. Tearing a hole in a reality this stable was far from ideal. Like trying to punch a hole through a pressurized submarine from the inside. Unfortunately, even if the punch was silent, the pressure change would crush the cabin.

If he had held the crack for three more seconds, the "Universal Governor" would have corrected the imbalance by dumping an equal amount of mass into the Void—specifically, the park and probably everything within a three-kilometer radius.

It was kinda cliche. The same laws that had given him a stable physical form was now preventing him from leaving without accidentally destroying the surroundings. To make a crack big enough to fit through ... He would probably take half of Shibuya to leave with him, or more.

"Did ... Did you hear that?" Mio’s voice broke his concentration. She had stopped swinging and was looking around, confused. "It sounded like a giant pop."

Haruto wiped the last trace of blood from under his nose with his sleeve and turned to face her. "I didn't hear anything."

"Really?"

Mio couldn't make sense of it. She could have sworn she heard something. Like a bursting balloon. "Maybe it was thunder?"

"Maybe." Haruto closed his notebook and stood, brushing grass off his shorts. His conclusion had been reached.

He could leave. Anytime he wanted. The process was easy.

He needed to go somewhere remote (desert, ocean floor, uninhabited island), Open two or all three apertures, create a vector from this reality to another, step through before the gravitational collapse pulls everything in.

The collateral damage would be minimal if he chose the location correctly. A crater in the sand. A whirlpool in the ocean. Far away from modern society. As for the possible ruckus that would follow from reality being torn apart, that had nothing to do with him. However, that brought about Problem #4. Should he ever leave, he would have no idea what reality he was falling into.

As unlike travel through the void, where he could estimate where he was going, moving through realities wasn't as easy. The Omniverse wasn't structured in a fixed pattern where one reality bordered another. It was ever expanding with each passing moment and every thought borne and conceived across infinite realities. Leaving the world of Jujutsu Sorcerers, he had no idea where he would end up.

For a moment, a thrill ran down his spine at the possibilities. 'Am I ... Excited?' It was a sensation he had only felt once before. The day he had Ice cream. The resemblance caused his lips to curl up slightly.

'In that case ... When should I leave?' Whatever thrill he initially had somewhat faded at the thought.

Haruto looked at the playground. He looked at Mio, who was currently squinting at the sky for clouds that didn't exist. He looked at the park bench where Hana sat, her head thrown back in a genuine, carefree laugh. His brows furrowed for reasons he couldn't quite pinpoint yet.

The logical answer was now. Or as soon as he could convince his mother to let him go on a "solo research trip" (highly unlikely for a nine-year-old).

There would be a lot of explaining to do. Vanishing without a trace wasn't an option either.

There would be no explanation and no body to bury. To her, it would be as if her son had been erased from the face of the Earth. A hole in her life that would probably never heal based on his understanding of humans. 'Hmm. Humans do fake their deaths on TV. Should I pull one of those?'

"Are you okay?" His attention turned to Mio who had walked over at some point.

"Hmm? Why do you ask?"

"Um ... There's something red coming from your nose."

Haruto felt the residual blood from his previous injury and cleaned it off. "It's nothing."

"My mom says nosebleeds mean you're stressed." She peered at him with concern. "Are you stressed?"

"Not particularly."

"Then why—"

"Mio!" Mrs. Tanaka's voice called from the bench. "Come here, sweetheart! We're leaving soon!"

Mio glanced back, then at Haruto. "Do you want to play before we go? We could go on the slide together."

Haruto looked at her. This small, earnest girl who looked like she had somehow gathered up all her courage and decided he was worth befriending.

"Alright," he said. "One time down the slide."

Her face lit up. "Really?"

"Yes. But only once. Then we're done."

"Okay!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the playground equipment. Haruto tucked his notebook into his waistband as he was pulled along.

'Well, it's not like I'll be gone too long anyway.'

While this was happening, at the very end of the plaza, a man with binoculars was watching a scene in the distance from the third floor of a building. "What's the problem? Did something happen?"

The voice came from beside him. A woman with blond hair and an unpleasant scowl sitting with a bowl of Takoyaki in hand.

"Yes."

"Huh?" The woman swallowed. "A complication?"

"I don't know."

Her brows furrowed as she clicked he tongue with annoyance. "You know I hate when you speak like that. Out with it already."

"Well," the man with the binoculars paused, adjusting the focus as he watched Haruto climb the stairs of the slide. "It seems his kid is a Jujutsu Sorcerer."

_

The blonde woman stopped mid-chew before setting the Takoyaki down.

"A sorcerer? That shouldn't be right. The reports said the family was clean. Just a high-level corporate rat and his stay-at-home wife."

"The report was wrong," the man muttered. "I can't say what he was doing, but the kid practically disappeared for a few seconds. Light refraction and invisibility? Maybe even Teleportation. Either way, that changes things if he escapes with an innate Technique."

He paused.

"Though it's a bit weird. I didn't sense any cursed energy leaking from him. You know what .. I can hardly sense anything at all." His frown deepened.

The woman stood up, wiping her hands on her jeans. "That complicates things. The client didn't pay for a sorcerer extraction. But if the kid has an Innate Technique, his value just tripled."

"Exactly." Her partner agreed. The Zenin or the Kamo would pay a fortune for a 'lost' technique from an unregistered brat.

The former specifically due to the situation and if the innate Technique was something strong. Jujutsu Sorcerers were in short supply. Moreover, the boy himself was clearly concealed for so long.

'He’s either a prodigy or he's been hiding it'

"So? What’s the call?"

"Let's wait a bit. An unregistered kid with an unknown cursed technique is a variable. If it's something like Teleportation or concealment, it'd be bad if the kid managed to escape."

Takeshi Amari had gone into hiding. Their employer had hired them to stake out his family for a week and if he didn't return, take the family in as leverage.

The blond woman smiled at his words. "Well, guess I'm up."