The physical and mental exhaustion of the prior to getting the letter were already great, so the massive influx of information it presented was a huge burden on Nero. There were countless things he needed to go over, reflect and understand.
For example, his father had claimed that Footer and the chatty card crafting teacher were both members of the Whisper Guard. That revealed a lot of new information to him, because the persona that Whisper Guard had created was that everyone of its members had been publicly acknowledged as members of Whisper Guard.
This prevented them from being interfered with by any other branch of the military or civil authority.
Of course, they never officially claimed to be declaring all their members but it was a common consensus among the public. Yet a simple statement from his father unveiled that it was all false. It was not too surprising, to be honest. But suspicion and confirmation were two different things.
Besides, both Footer and his chatty Ms. Zim had been at the school for a long time. He could not even begin to guess what undercover agents might need in a school. Perhaps they didn't need anything at all, but it was just a cover identity. But why would a secret agency have its agents embedded within their own community?
These were just some of the questions clouding his mind. He had not even begun to think about the possibility that there might be a greater secret behind his brother being targeted. But, from what Irene told him, Patrick anticipated that he was about to face some trouble, which is why he married her.
Nero clenched his fists. He couldn't believe his brother had the gall to marry Irene before being sent off to a death sentence. That was not how he normally behaved at all. Normally, he was very responsible and honest, and would never do something that could potentially hurt others. Did that mean he secretly knew that he would not die? Was there more to the story?
The questions were endless. It made sense for that to happen when one of your parents had a secret identity, and not the one you were actually expecting.
But Nero did not allow himself to ponder these questions. As world shaking as they were, if he ruined his sleep schedule then his energy and alacrity levels the following day would be thoroughly ruined. That would impede his training and his studying. He absolutely could not afford that.
Even if he was somewhat exaggerating the extent of the effect lack of proper sleep would have, it was something best avoided.
He began to meditate to help him clear his mind. Since meditation was not easy, and he needed something to focus on to keep his mind from wandering, he focused on his breathing. Purposefully, he slowed down his breaths and focused solely on his inhalation and exhalation.
The last thing he remembered before eventually falling asleep were the sounds of Gabriel whimpering in his own bed.
Nero woke the next day to the sound of his alarm, and managed to turn it off without destroying his phone. But while he was glad for the sleep, he woke up to his entire body feeling incredibly sore.
It had been a long time since he had felt this sore, as regularly training normally prevented it. It seemed the consequences of yesterday's exertion were baring their fangs. But getting enough sleep was already showing its results as he abruptly noticed something glaringly obvious he missed yesterday.
Grabbing his knife, the original one he had lost in the temple which had been returned to him a few days ago, he turned and looked at Gabriel, who was still asleep. Even in his sleep, he wore a frown, as if he was in some kind of pain.
Dots connected in Nero's mind. Gabriel had gone for field survival class. Regardless of how eventful or strenuous it should have been, following his return, each student would have undergone cleansing and healing in case they had been affected by a curse which had gone unnoticed.
In that case, unless it was a grievous wound such as a bone fracture or worse, Gabriel should not have been limping. In the event that he had suffered such an injury, he would have been kept in the hospital, and not allowed to return.
All-in-all, his limp was absolutely not normal. The fact that he was suffering even now, in his sleep, was evident, and a sign of something wrong. Nero could not just make a diagnosis based on his limited information as to what was wrong, but a single thing came to his mind.
Like Apparition curses, which appeared suddenly and without warning, there were a number of curses with delayed or hidden effects, such as a Parasitic curse or a Possession!
He did not know about them in detail, but he had only recently studied about Parasitic curses in his class. It was a type of curse which, as was evident from its name, parasitises a host. Its modus operandi was to gather energy from the host and allow it to mature, at which point it would evolve into something much, much worse!
A part of Nero's mind told him that it could not be such a thing, for it were, it would have been detected and cleansed by the teachers. But that did not stop him from thinking that something was definitely wrong.
Fortunately, Gabriel had not been disturbed by Nero's alarm. Whatever the case, Nero did not intend to face the situation head on. It would be much better to alert a teacher, or one of the hostel guards about the abnormality. At worst, it would be a false alarm.
Nero suddenly cursed himself for leaving his deck case on the table below his bunk bed. He swore, in the future, he would keep it on his person at all times.
Careful not to make any sound, he lowered himself from his bed slowly, keeping an eye on the disgruntled Gabriel throughout. Once he reached the ground he grabbed his deck case and opened it, pulling out Muted self to ensure he made no sound. He also pulled out another card
Name: Air push
Image: A ball of wind breaking a plastic plank
Type: Force/Wind
Star rank: 0
Ability: [Push a target back using a concentrated blast of air.]
Flavour text: "The winds of the Eldermyst in my hand."
Stronger versions of this card would be quite dangerous, but in Nero's hand it would do little more than push a target back without hurting them too much. It was just a precautionary measure.
He put the card case in his pocket and slowly walked to the door, with only a knife and a card in his hand. The door opened without much noise, and much to Nero's delight, his other roommates were not sitting or making noise in the common area, as was usual.
He closed the door behind him without disturbing Gabriel, but it was too soon to celebrate yet. Without any ceremony he walked to the other room in his apartment, which he had only ever visited once before.
It seemed that luck was on his side, for Anthony, Richard and Felipe had already returned from their night classes, and had yet to fall asleep.
"Gabriel's behaving oddly," he said, getting straight to the point. "He had field survival class yesterday, and he's been in pain ever since. I suspect a Parasitic curse (PC), or something along those lines."
It took a moment for the three to absorb what Nero said, but they immediately became serious and did not dismiss his suspicions. Unlike Nero and Gabriel, who were aiming for KMA, his three roommates had no such aspirations. Instead of focusing on the military, they were focused on specialising in being Curse hunters!
"Schools have very strict standard operating procedures (SOPs) regarding these things," said Anthony. "If there's something wrong, either it's not an ordinary PC or it's something else. We need to alert someone right away. Do you know who else had the class with him?"
"No, I-" Nero was about to step into the room, but all three of his roommates immediately pointed their respective weapons at him together, as if cautioning him not to take another step.
"Don't take it personally," Felipe said, as he took off his slippers. Poor footwear would actually reduce his grip, which was not good in a fight. "If there is something wrong with Gabriel, then there's a chance of cross contamination, considering you spent the night with him. Please keep a safe distance. In fact, why don't you go sit in the bathroom? We'll alert the guards."
Instead of feeling offended or alarmed, Nero felt reassured by their behaviour. The speed with which they responded was pretty good.
"I don't know who else was in the class with him," Nero said as he slowly backed out of the room and walked towards the bathroom. As long as the guards were alerted, and the situation handled, he did not care.
"Don't worry," said Richard, as he jogged towards the exit of their apartment. "It's probably nothing. He probably pulled a muscle or something."
But the moment he opened the door his expression changed. The hallway was covered in blood.