Training a Curse or Maybe Not

The air was thick with tension as Nero stood at the edge of the academy’s training ground, lost in thought. Memories of Igris’s curse haunted him — every sleepless night, every moment his heart raced uncontrollably. Deep down, he knew this wasn’t over. The blood running through his veins wasn’t the same anymore. “I need to understand this power… or it’ll consume me,” Nero muttered to himself. He clenched his fists tightly, his eyes darkening. Today wasn’t about missions or survival — it was about facing the demon within him. With a deep breath, he turned and walked away from the academy.

The next morning, Nero found himself sitting cross-legged under a tree far away from the academy training grounds. Birds chirped, the sun shone, and for once… the world wasn’t trying to kill him.

“This… is nice,” he mumbled, leaning back. “A day without someone screaming or bleeding… rare.”

But then, his face turned serious. “Alright… time to figure this cursed power out. Can’t have blood exploding out of me mid-battle again.”

He pulled out an old notebook labeled “Nero’s Totally Professional Demon Power Training Guide” — written just last night in a half-asleep panic. The first line read: Step 1 — Try not to die.

Nero sighed. “Great start.”

He stood, took a deep breath, and tried to summon the power. “Okay… demon blood… come out… or something.”

For a moment, nothing happened. Then—his right hand glowed faint red.

“YES!” Nero grinned. “I’m a natural at this!”

A second later, the glow exploded in his face. He flew backward, hitting a tree so hard it cracked.

“...Ow.”

He sat up, hair smoking, face covered in soot. “Okay… step two… don’t die yet.”

After a few more embarrassing failures — including one where a passing squirrel got caught in his blood whip and flung across the forest (Nero apologized profusely) — he sat down again.

“I need a break.”

He laid on the grass, staring at the sky. “Why is controlling demon blood harder than learning swordsmanship? At least swords don’t explode in your face.”

Just then, Kain’s voice echoed from afar. “Nero! Are you seriously skipping team training today?!”

Nero panicked, jumped up, and hid behind the tree. “Nope! Not here! Just… the wind!”

Kain’s voice faded. Nero sighed in relief. “I am not explaining to them that I flung a squirrel into orbit.”

Determined, he tried again — this time carefully focusing on his palm. Slowly… slowly… the blood energy formed, shaping itself into a small dagger.

Nero blinked. “Hey… this is progress!” He smiled, twirling the blood dagger around. “Maybe I’m getting the hang of—”

Splash!

The blood dagger exploded… again… covering him from head to toe in red.

“…Maybe not.”

Defeated, Nero flopped back down. “Okay… new plan. Read books. Maybe there’s a secret… or maybe I’m just cursed.”

But despite everything — the failures, the blood splashes, the squirrel incident — Nero couldn’t stop the small grin spreading across his face.

Yeah… I’ll figure it out. Somehow.

And deep down, for the first time in a while… he actually felt at peace.