It was easy for Footer to dismiss the purification as simply annoying, but as the one actually experiencing it, Nero was not having such an easy time. Although the pain was only skin deep, that did not mean it was light.
The itching got so bad he felt the urge to peel his skin, and the burning was so intense he wondered if he was actually being cooked alive. It had been a while since he had felt the effects of temperature.
But while the agonising sensation in his body demanded his attention, Nero kept his eyes on the man casting the spell. His expression never changed, even as Nero's body began to tremble. He maintained the same sense of focus he had when he was casting the spell on Footer.
So either Footer also went through the same thing, but did not let it show at all, or this was standard procedure.
Using a great amount of grit, Nero suppressed his body's reaction, and kept himself from moaning in pain or scratching his body. It was just a matter of mind over body.
Ultimately, the white light passed over his entire body. The burning sensation faded, and there were no visible marks on his body from the experience. He did, however, notice that a large part of his aether had been drained during the process.
Did Footer know he had been cursed? Had he expected it? How could Nero possibly prevent himself from being cursed if he didn't even sense it?
Then the purification continued as the others began to use their spells one by one. By the end, Nero was thoroughly cleansed of any curses, but the process was far from easy. It was both physically and mentally exhausting, more so than his training had been.
"That's it for today," said Footer as he watched Nero put a bit of his weight on his spear. "Go home, get some sleep. We'll continue tomorrow, but before you come, I want you to do a bit of reading."
"What do you want me to read?" Nero asked, as he tried to focus on anything other than his wobbly legs. It had been a long time since he felt so weak.
"I'll have the reading delivered to you in the morning. For now, just focus on getting enough sleep."
It was very presumptuous of Footer to assume that Nero would have the energy or the willpower to do anything other than crash once he got home. It peeved Nero a bit that Footer did not warn him or teach him ways to avoid getting cursed. Getting rid of them was far from an easy process.
But he had an idea that Footer's teaching method involved experiencing firsthand the dangers he faced. So far, what he had learnt was that keeping his fire active all around him would protect him from curses, to a degree.
But that was an impractical method. Moreover, this was not a method everyone else could use. Footer surely couldn't use it. So how had he protected himself from getting cursed?
These were all good questions that Nero did not have the energy to consider at the moment.
Instead of forcing himself to return in his weakened state, Nero sat down on the ground once he left the quarantine zone outside the building, and allowed himself to regain some strength.
Even though Nero always put up a strong front, it was difficult not to get swamped up and feel tiny and insignificant in the face of all that he did not know. It was moments like these, where he paused out of weakness, that such thoughts would inevitably creep into his mind.
But unless it was some exceptional case, Nero always dismissed those thoughts. It wasn't as if he was just marinating in his own helplessness. Every second of every day, he was improving. He just had to remain patient and wait for the results to show.
After a short while, Nero stood up and returned to his apartment, managing to do so without his legs wobbling. Gabriel was busy with his own classes while the rest were asleep due to their night classes.
He grabbed a leftover sandwich from the fridge, gulped it down cold, and then went to bed. For once, sleep came immediately. It was as if his body was craving it, allowing him to enter a deep and dreamless sleep.
He woke up, surprisingly, to the sound of his alarm the next day! He had slept through the entire day and the night, all the way until his morning alarm. At least his fatigue seemed to be cured.
Just as he turned off his alarm, he received a text message from Footer informing him that someone was outside his apartment waiting for him. At least he was punctual.
As promised, outside his apartment stood a man holding a sealed brown envelope who gave it to Nero after checking his ID card.
Wondering if he should burn the papers after reading them, considering the level of care taken to deliver them, Nero sat down and pulled them out.
There were only a few pages, but each of them was filled with text from top to bottom, with a few paragraphs that were redacted. Feeling intrigued, he began reading, and was immediately alarmed.
In his hand seemed to be a research paper compiled after human testing using prisoners! The paper suggested that while humans could not cast spells, they could still utilise aether in a number of ways based on the level of aether sensitivity the user achieved.
There were four levels of sensitivity, the first being the most basic level, which everyone reached upon becoming a Neophyte. Most people stayed at this level, with a few lucky ones moving to the second level, which was called Attuned. The third level, which very few people ever reached, was called Windwalker, and the final one called Seer.
Apparently, there were ways to consciously increase sensitivity levels, though they were not mentioned in the paper. Instead, the paper focused on what aether functions those at the most basic level could achieve through practice, as was proved by their tests with the prisoners.
The first was becoming cognizant of something called internal aetheric pressure. As the name suggested, it was the pressure created by the amount of aether within the body. Becoming cognizant of this was beneficial, because then it allowed the subject to do a few things, though each of them could be considered monumentally important.
The first was to sense when something external was affecting that internal aetheric pressure - such as another spell, or even some curses!
The second was to reinforce that pressure, still internally using only aether, and provided the ability to resist external influences.
The third, and final, thing that one could achieve at the basic level was the opposite of the second. It was not reinforcing the pressure, but reducing it. This was dangerous, as it would make the user vulnerable, but it could also allow the user to blend in better with his surroundings and evade detection.
The paper was no doubt long, but Nero only had the few pages which discussed the things one could do at the basic stage and some ways in which they could be trained or unlocked. On the final paper, with a pen, was a single sentence. It read, "a paper on aetheric research from New Valeriya."
Nero read the paper a few more times, and then froze it with his Cryoflames until the papers shattered into tiny dust particles.
Without moving from where he was, Nero closed his eyes and focused on his body. From time to time, he would manipulate the aether within him, and try to study what changes took place when he did so.
Every now and then, he would also activate his innate ability, sometimes on his fingers, other times around his feet, randomly changing its location. Then he tried to use his ability and channel aether in a different direction.
It didn't work as his control was still not refined enough, but it gave him a hint of an insight. Then, from that insight, he expanded, and soon, he became aware of himself in a completely different way. He began to sense a bubble that wrapped around his body perfectly, like a second skin, which kept the aether trapped inside.
Once he sensed the bubble, Nero began to experiment to see if he could control it like the paper said.
He was so absorbed that Nero missed the time for his morning workout, and didn't even realise it until a groggy Gabriel stepped out of the room.
"Oh, you're still here? Shouldn't you be out doing laps before breakfast?"
He was not really expecting a response, but Nero's eyes flashed open and locked onto him.
"Want to have an early morning spar?" Nero asked, suddenly feeling excited.
The question caused Gabriel to pause. The two had not really fought since Nero became a Neophyte. There was no need, technically, since if Nero could win even before that, there was no reason to fail now. But he couldn't help admitting that… he felt tempted.