Rosaline hadn't expected me to suddenly absorb all the cursed energy in the room.
As such, it was simply too much for my body to handle, leading me to spit out a mouthful of blood.
Her figure dispersed into flutters of luminescent purple arcs of lightning, and before I could blink, she was in front of me.
She raised her slender hand toward my chest and gently tapped two fingers.
Although her delicate fingers moved with an extremely gentle rhythm, the next moment I felt as though a boulder had collided with my chest.
The force of just two of her fingers sent me crashing toward the wall.
I felt my head spin violently as I collided with the wall with a heavy impact.
"Arrr…" I groaned slightly, feeling my body shake violently. I felt a strange—
I felt the massive cursed energy I had absorbed explode outwards violently, spreading to all parts of my body and impacting my bones with a dull thud, causing it to feel as though I was vibrating.
Widening my eyes in shock, I coughed out blood once more and slowly slid to the ground, twitching repeatedly.
Rosaline stared at me and shook her head in shock.
"The fuck's wrong with you?"
"Didn't you read the training technique? Start slow, then increase your absorption rate. If it wasn't for me, you'd have exploded into bloodmist just now."
She drew an arc in the air, and a blue glow surfaced on her fingertips, glowing faintly and trailing through the arc she was drawing.
Her movements seemed slow, and in the next instant, a strange symbol had appeared, hovering silently midair.
She tapped two fingers on it, and it flew rapidly before sinking into my body.
Instantly, a cooling sensation spread to my aching bones.
I felt as though I was being rejuvenated at lightning speed. Wherever the cold passed through, my bones healed at lightning speed.
I widened my eyes in surprise at the situation.
In no time, I felt as though I had been completely healed, aside from the burning pain I could feel in my heart.
It was pounding repeatedly as though it might explode at any time, causing me to break out into a cold sweat.
Rosaline finally let out a relieved sigh upon noticing my condition was stabilized.
"What the fuck was that just now? I won't take in someone who can't listen to orders and obey instructions, no matter their status."
She narrowed her eyes at me in anger.
I let out an awkward cough as I stood up, no longer feeling the pain flooding my body.
"I… absorbed the least little cursed energy I could find," I explained.
"What?" Rosaline exclaimed in shock, narrowing her eyes in disbelief.
I tried to feel my surroundings… and explained the whole thing to Rosaline, in a way she'd understand.
"When you told me to absorb cursed energy…
I felt the cursed energy spanning the entire training ground. And after trying my best to reduce the amount I could ingest at a time to the bare minimum, it resulted in the situation…"
My explanation caused Rosaline's jaw to drop as a dumbfounded look appeared on her face.
"Monster…" she whispered, staring at me like I was some kind of demonic beast.
She thought my sister was the most terrifying talent she'd seen of this generation, but I was something else.
In fact, a monster wasn't enough to describe me.
'I didn't even tell her that…' I muttered, as I noticed her eying me suspiciously.
If she knew I could see her burning brightly in my 'curse senses,' and the faint tingle that signified I could… absorb all the cursed energy in her body, perhaps she might pass out from shock.
'Although I could absorb it all, I'm completely certain I'll explode the moment I do that. In fact, just ten percent of it…' I mused internally.
Rosaline stared at me for a few seconds, before an evil smile played on her lips…
"It seems you can't become a cursed warrior the normal way."
Instantly, I felt a chill run down my spine…
From her stare, I could tell she was planning something terrible…
"Choose a weapon," she pointed to the weapons rack nearby.
"Just anything that's convenient for now. You can change it to something suitable later on."
"Okay…" I muttered and walked to the stack of weapons before selecting a long, slender sword with dark inscribed symbols atop it.
I weighed it for a few seconds and felt it suited my needs perfectly.
"What are you trying to do?" I questioned. However, Rosaline's grin just widened.
She walked out, signaling for me to follow her.
I deliberated for a few seconds before following her back to the training ground.
In moments, we were back at the expanse of greenery.
I stared at my surroundings with a confused expression as I followed Rosaline, wondering what she was planning internally.
Holding the spear in her hand, she turned to me…
"I'll reduce my strength to that of a first-rank cursed warrior. Let's fight. In the course of the battle, try absorbing cursed energy while using it to fight, to disperse it. I'd also try to disperse it for you simultaneously."
"It should help you absorb just the amount of cursed energy your body needs in the meantime."
Although Rosaline's explanation sounded simple, why did I feel that there was something wrong with it?
I frowned briefly, then tightened my grip on my sword before nodding.
As there was no way I could reject her, it was best to accept it and get it over with.
"Well then…" Rosaline said, and I felt her aura weaken considerably at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In no time, her domineering aura was gone, replaced with something… feeble.
I was astounded by the sight of her aura suddenly vanishing, not expecting it to be like this.
It was as though she'd lost all her strength in the blink of an eye.
Rosaline held her spear and pointed its tip in my direction…
"Come at me!"
'Fuck… here goes nothing…' I exclaimed in my heart, then rushed in her direction, the wind biting lightly against my skin as I approached.
The trainees in the surroundings noticed the situation and paused what they were doing, starting to crowd around the two from a distance.
Rosaline rarely ever fought here at the training ground.
However, every one of her battles, whenever she did fight… was memorable, and most ended up learning a thing or two…