Training, Part 3

"Who are you even thinking about?" I ask as I turn to Grover, letting my Cursed Power flicker around me, not doing anything with it.

Grover raises an eyebrow at me. "What do you mean? I'm just thinking about whoever dares to get in the way of my dreams," Grover answers.

"What's wrong, Luis? Getting stage fright again?" Nick laughs.

"I just don't really have an "enemy" yet," I answer with a sigh. "I'm still new to this Pro Slayer gig, afterall."

"Hmm…" Nick replies. "Yeah…it'll be a while before you finally face a true villain, maybe someone like Ace." I get the feeling that Nick is holding out about me when it comes to Ace.

I sigh as I focus my Cursed Power again, which begins to become more potent as it swirls around my body.

My enemy. Who would that be? I don't hate Cell, even though I fought against him. I don't hate Haraki, she was just doing her job. I don't hate Mikey, he just annoys me.

Why am I here? Why did I become a Pro Slayer? Because I need to get strong, strong enough so that no one can hurt my family. Strong enough to protect them from any demon. That is why I'm fighting.

"Woah!" I hear a voice cry, and I look back to see him stumble backwards, his brow growing sweaty as he stares at my ominous Cursed Power, swirling around like a tornado.

"Who the heck are you thinking about, Luis?!" Grover asks.

I smirk as I turn to face Grover. "Whoever dares to get in the way of my dreams," I say, causing Grover to smirk back. "So how's that for bloodlust?" I ask as I turn back to face Nick, who smirks as well.

"I'd be scared of that if I weren't me," Nick answers, as Grover and I let our Bursts subside.

"So, have we mastered Cursed Power Burst?" Grover excitedly asks.

"We'll train some more but as of now, you guys are good. True mastery comes in the heat of battle," Nick answers.

***

"Alright!" Nick says as he claps his hands together, once Grover and I have trained Cursed Power Burst for a while. We've gotten pretty good at it, but as Nick says, only in combat do you get really good.

"So what Cursed Power Technique am I mastering next?" Grover excitedly asks, causing me to glare at Grover's lack of mentioning me.

"Next, let's teach you two Cursed Power Hiding, the opposite of Cursed Power Burst, where one cuts off the flow of Cursed Power in their body so it can't be sensed, for stealth," Nick answers.

"So it's just for stealth? Laaaame," Grover replies.

"Ah, well it's not just for stealth, you see," Nick pipes up. "Whenever you channel Cursed Power for an attack, if your opponent uses Cursed Power Sensing -which we will get into later- then they can read the Cursed Power in your body to determine when, where, and how you're going to attack, even before you do."

"So much like Burst, it's not imperative that we learn Hiding, it's just that we'd be at a massive disadvantage against opponents who can use Cursed Power Techniques," I suggest.

"Bingo," Nick replies.

"Aw man, so does this mean I'll be worse at Cursed Power Hiding like Luis was at Burst?" Grover wines.

"Oh, a hundred percent!" Nick laughs, causing Grover to sulk. "You sure are a star, Grover, so probably even worse than Luis was at Burst!"

So Grover is more of an extrovert than I am an introvert.

"So how do we learn Hiding?" I ask.

"Same as Burst, but almost like the opposite," Nick answers. "As opposed to a flame rising into the air, picture your Cursed Power like a candle flame slowly flickering, but without fully burning out."

"But won't that, like…kill us?" I ask, referring to Ella's fits of nosebleeds when she overworks her Cursed power and drains it.

"There is no possible way to fully "turn off" your Cursed Power," Nick answers. "What we are doing is suppressing excess Cursed Power leaking out of the flow of Cursed Power in your body, not slowing it down. That way, we can keep our Cursed Power from being sensed while still attacking with it. Though yes, you can drain your Cursed Power through excessive use, and running fully out of Cursed Power can result in death.

"Alright, give us a demonstration," I order.

"As you wish," Nick replies. Nick then closes his eyes for a brief second to concentrate, and when he opens them again, it's as if he vanished.

"Woah , I can't feel your presence at all! Not just Cursed Power wise, if I couldn't see you now I wouldn't know you were here!" Grover cries.

"Cursed Power or no, you can always feel the presence of a living creature," Nick begins to say. "Like feeling eyes on the back of your head when entering a room, or reading a person's body language to predict their thoughts. With Cursed Power Hiding, both of those are off the table."

One second, Nick is standing a dozen feet away from Grover and I, lecturing us on Cursed Power, and in the next second, he's holding a spear-hand to my throat. "Like so," Nick says, causing my entire body to tense up in fear. Nick then retracts his hand away from my throat, causing me to gasp and stumble backwards.

"Ohhh, I wish the strongest Pro Slayer would attack me," Grover groans in jealousy. Seriously, what the Hell is wrong with him?!

"By using Cursed Power Hiding, it was physically impossible to tell that I was about to attack you now, Luis," Nick continues, causing me to furiously nod, the lump in my throat preventing me from being able to speak.

Boy, I sure am weak.

"Now, try what I told you," Nick orders as he steps back away from Grover and I. "Suppress your Cursed Power without slowing it down." He says that like it's the easiest thing in the world. Though I suppose for Nick, it is.

I close my eyes and concentrate on my Cursed Power. I picture a candle's flame slowly diminishing without flickering out. A door closing, but without locking it. A beaver-built dam stopping a waterfall, with small pools of water seeping through.

Slowly, I open my eyes and turn to face Nick again. "So how's that?" I ask.

"Hmm…" Nick replies as he puts a hand to his chin, judging me. "Well, I can still sense your Cursed Power a little, but not nearly as much as before. Try using your Wind Control."

"Sure thing," I answer as I bring my hands together and attempt to create a tornado between them. But when I summon my Cursed Power, nothing happens. "Huh?! What gives?!" I cry.

"You suppressed your Cursed Power by slowing it down, so you're having trouble using your Cursed Ability," Nick answers, causing me to groan. Nick then turns to Grover. "I can still sense every last droplet of your Cursed Power, what gives?" Nick asks.

Grover opens his eyes and turns to Nick. "I'm not having stage fright or anything, but this is difficult," Grover answers, clearly embarrassed, causing Nick to laugh. "How do you do this?!" Grover wines.

"What do you do when you don't want to be noticed?" Nick asks.

"Well I typically put my hood on, ask my teacher if I can go to the bathroom, then leave class for a while and hide," I answer as I raise my hand.

"Take this seriously, Luis," Nick replies.

"Well you would move slowly and quietly, and tense your body," Grover suggests.

"Like a cat," I add.

"Well then, do that," Nick orders. Again, Nick says that like it's the easiest thing in the world.

Grover and I close our eyes again and concentrate. I tense my entire body up and crouch down a smidge, breathing slowly yet steadily. When I open my eyes again, I see Nick nodding approvingly at us.

"Good, not perfect, but I can't sense your Cursed Powers as well as before," he says. "Now, each of you, destroy a tree."

"I guess this is to test whether or not we can still use Cursed Power while keeping our Hiding up," I say to myself as I bring my hands together and summon my Cursed Power. Unlike before, I'm able to draw forth my Cursed Power in order to manipulate the wind in between my hands to create a tornado. I then launch my tornado at a nearby tree, destroying it instantly.

"It's also to test how well we can move while keeping our bodies tensed up like this!" Grover adds as he teleports over to a nearby tree, destroying it with a Cursed Power Barrier infused roundhouse kick.

"Good, so you two are both able to summon your Cursed Power and move fluidly while still keeping up your Cursed Power Burst," Nick says. "While I can still sense your Cursed Powers a little, you two are getting better. Of course, we'll train some more"