Nero's training with cursed plants continued. Admittedly, the tests were in a controlled environment, where the plants were not allowed to grow to their natural limit which also kept the curses from growing much stronger. If compared to a real world scenario it was more like Nero was testing against plants that had been freshly cursed, and not against mature plants or stronger curses.
Still, at least in this very specific setting, the pattern continued. Nero's flames would not begin to affect the plant until its internal cursed energy was used up. This was an interesting difference from objects or beings with aether, who would only resist the effects of cooling, not be immune to it.
There were key differences between the two, each with its pros and cons. Complete immunity was great, but it was also a much greater drain on the energy reserves. Resistance was not nearly as effective, but energy reserves would last longer so the effect could continue for longer as well.
But that had not reflected Nero's experience with the vines! He had been able to freeze parts of them even when the rest of the vine clearly had sufficient energy.
The contradiction presented an interesting challenge for them to explain. The only explanation Nero could come up with was that the vines exhausted their energy within the locality that it was being frozen in instead of its entire body.
Footer did not support nor reject his theory. The vines were something they were still studying, and they had a unique biology of their own which consumed massive amounts of aether to sustain themselves, so perhaps that in itself was a unique scenario.
Then they moved onto cursed objects. Nero had, admittedly, never come across cursed objects before. They were a lot more rare, and very difficult to identify, which is why at the same time, they were usually a lot more lethal.
However, since Nero would not be interacting with the objects themselves, he should be safe from the effects of their curses. Probably.
The first cursed object brought before him looked so ordinary. When the box containing it was lifted, Nero was surprised by how mundane it looked. It was a pink hairbrush for children.
It had no ominous aura. It did not try to move. It did not threaten him in any way. Nero literally could not differentiate it from any other object at all, at least with his existing senses. Perhaps Arithmetic Perception, or some other ability or spell would truly reveal its nature.
Nero extended his spear forward and touched it with the flame. Unlike the plant, there was no sizzling, or any noticeable reaction at all. After a while, frost could be seen gathering on it.
"That's enough," said Footer. "It seems that your flames are unable to act on cursed objects in their dormant state. We will continue testing."
The hairbrush was taken away without Nero ever finding out what its actual curse ever was. The next few items were similar, and were completely unresponsive and seemed to suffer no harm from his flame save to become progressively colder. Perhaps if he continued, they would freeze until they eventually broke, but he never reached that point.
But, finally, something changed. After a series of nonresponsive items, the next item that was brought out was a rectangular standing mirror. The moment it was revealed from within the box Nero felt threatened!
He felt goosebumps all over his body, and a lethal threat to his being!
Without hesitation, Nero thrust his spear forward, the blue flame on its tip raging and roaring. But just before the spear could touch the mirror, his reflection in it also reading forward with his spear, Nero encountered immense resistance! It suddenly came to a halt just before touching glass, and the flame suddenly shrunk, as if something were squeezing it.
Time slowed down for Nero, as he felt like he was being choked. He was unable to breath, and suddenly Nero had flashbacks of the vines constricting him!
The memory appeared in a flash, and woke Nero from a stupor he was in. With all his might, Nero blasted his flame, and engulfed his own body in the azure flame. He heard a crack, as if a glass broke, and suddenly found himself in a very different situation.
He was still standing in front of the mirror, but he never thrust his spear forward at all. Instead, he was standing still, in the same pose he had been when the mirror was unveiled. The only difference was that his body was covered in flames, and the glass in the mirror in front of him had shattered completely.
"I think that's enough for today," Footer said, as the box was lowered onto the mirror. "It appears that your fire is still effective against cursed objects in an active state. That is tremendously useful."
Nero, however, wasn't listening to Footer yet. He was trying to make sense of what had just happened. How was it possible that he hadn't moved at all? He was sure he had attacked! But clearly, he was still standing in the same pose as before he attacked, so that must have been an illusion.
If illusions were so realistic, how could he differentiate between reality and illusion? If, at the last moment, his instincts hadn't kicked in and told him he needed to encompass his body in fire the way he had against the vine creature, he might still be trapped in the illusion!
In his mind, he would have been fighting for his life, but in reality he would have just been standing still, waiting to be killed!
Even now, with his body encompassed in his flames, he did not know if this was real or an illusion. It felt exactly the same.
"How can I tell the difference between an illusion and reality?" Nero asked, looking at Footer. He was confident that if he were to get into a really dangerous situation, his protector in the guise of a teacher would step in.
He was now grateful that both his protectors were exposing him to things he really should not know at his level, as it was giving him a tremendous learning experience. He'd never even heard of an illusion so realistic.
"It's scary, huh?" Footer said, with a rare display of emotion on his face. He looked like he was reminded of something that gave him severe PTSD.
"I once encountered a guy during my military service who could create illusions so realistic, he had allies end up killing each other. It's one of the most underestimated abilities out there, in my opinion."
Footer paused for a moment. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but then his expression returned to his normal stoic self.
"Detecting illusions is far from simple. Most people can only rely on the help of a few cards. You, it seems, can form a protective barrier around yourself by encompassing your body in flames. Or maybe just surrounding your head will work - we will have to test that. From what I have been able to gather, your flame's primary function is to freeze things.
But it does so through an exchange of energy, which is why it has a secondary function of clashing with other energies.
"That's why it did not have any abnormal reaction to dormant cursed items - there was no energy flow for it to interact with, so it was behaving normally. By coating your body in these flames, you can protect yourself from the influence of external energies - but that's not exactly subtle. If we keep testing, we will surely learn more. But for today, let's end things here."
Nero felt like he had more than enough energy to continue, but he didn't argue with Footer. The man had proved himself extremely competent in judging Nero's limits. As it turned out, on the way to exit the small school building, Nero was proved correct.
Both of them needed to endure a thoroughly invasive purification process before exiting - in case they had been affected by a curse, or a curse had secretly latched onto them. Footer, who went first, seemed fine which gave Nero the impression that he was fine as well. He was not.
Nero stepped into the room which was more of a cylindrical glass chamber where he would undergo purification, and waited for the five individuals surrounding it to begin using their spells. The first one began, and a white light covered the floor and began to rise slowly.
For the first few seconds, Nero didn't notice anything, but then he felt the itch. Mild at first, the itch was travelling up his body, as if being pushed up by the white light.
By the time it reached his knees, Nero realised that something had definitely latched onto him because the itch transformed into burning.
"So your flames do not eliminate curses that have gone dormant once entering your body either," Footer commented. "This is an important point to remember. Don't worry, the purification may be annoying, but it has no lasting effects. It'll be over in a few minutes."