I woke up to the soft hum of the aura cuffs tightening around my wrists — golden rings, halos really, courtesy of Renji. They weren't painful. More like a gentle reminder that at any moment, I could become something monstrous if I let my emotions slip. The last couple of days had been a blur of interrogation, medical checks, and endless stares from people who clearly didn't know what to make of me.
Renji had said he was done babysitting, which meant I was officially passed off to someone else.
David.
He looked barely older than me — twenty-four at most — with a mop of messy brown hair and calm green eyes that carried the kind of weight people don't earn unless they've seen some real shit. No cursed technique, but apparently, he made up for it with his devil contract — the Sharpness Devil. I didn't know the specifics, but the way people talked about him, it was clear he wasn't someone to underestimate.
"Alright," David said, clapping his hands as he stepped into the training hall. "Let's get started."
I glanced to my right. Ely stood there, arms crossed, expression unreadable. She hadn't said much since we met — just that air of superiority she carried around like a second skin. Her family was part of the higher-ups in Public Safety. She didn't need to say it aloud — her posture, her tone, her sneer — it all said I don't take you seriously.
"Jason, Ely," David said, "today's a basic spar. No lethal force, no devil powers. Your cuffs will suppress any spikes in aura output. If they flare, I step in. Understood?"
Ely nodded with barely a breath of interest.
I gave a half-hearted, "Yeah."
The training hall was all smooth concrete and reinforced glass, humming faintly with built-in monitors to track aura levels. David stepped aside with his arms folded, waiting like a referee at a match he already knew the outcome of.
"Begin."
Ely moved like lightning.
In a blink, she was in front of me, palm aimed for my chest. I barely got my arms up in time, stumbling back. The cuffs sparked with faint golden pulses.
She didn't follow up. Just stared.
"Come on," she said. "You're supposed to be dangerous."
I grit my teeth and stepped forward, trying to summon something — anything — from within. The aura stirred under my skin, sluggish and heavy, like a car engine refusing to turn over. My fingers tingled. My heart pounded. The cuffs tightened, buzzing softly.
I threw a punch.
She caught it.
Her hand wrapped around mine, and something rippled in the air between us — like a magnetic pull or a sudden drop in pressure. Her eyes narrowed.
She twisted, and I slammed into the mat.
"Contact established," she muttered.
Then she moved again — but differently this time. Not just fast. Familiar.
She ducked and weaved, mimicking the same clumsy motions I'd just tried, but cleaner. Smoother. It was like she'd taken my attempts and sharpened them into weapons.
"What the hell?" I muttered.
"Mirror Authority," she said. "Your aura gave me the blueprint. I store what I touch — moves, reflexes, flow. All mine now."
She rushed again.
Frustration boiled in my chest. I tried to defend, but she slipped past every block like she'd been doing this for years — like I had been doing this for years, just in the wrong body.
David called from the sideline, "Jason — stay calm. Emotions drive aura. Don't let it control you."
I took a hit to the ribs. My vision flashed. Something surged behind my eyes — hot, angry, electric.
The cuffs sparked hard.
A burning pain wrapped around my wrists.
"Jason!" David shouted again.
I staggered back. I could feel something twist in my chest — a thread pulling tight. My jaw clenched. My hands trembled.
And then I felt it.
The Devil.
Not fully, not like before — but close. Like a nightmare on the edge of waking. Claws scraping along my spine. A whisper behind my ears that wasn't mine.
Let go.
No.
I forced myself to breathe. In through my nose. Out through gritted teeth. I grounded my feet. Focused on the cuffs. Let their burn anchor me to reality.
The halos dimmed.
The flare passed.
Ely stood still, eyes wide for just a second. Then David stepped in, hand raised.
"That's enough."
I collapsed to my knees, gasping.
"You held back," David said quietly. "Good. That's the only reason this room isn't red right now."
I didn't respond. My heartbeat was still hammering in my throat.
Ely didn't gloat. She just stood there, staring at me. For the first time, her expression wasn't mocking or cold. It was… unreadable. Maybe even human.
Later, I sat on a bench outside the training hall, wrist-deep in ice packs. David sat beside me, arms resting on his knees, a bottle of water dangling from one hand.
"I don't get it," I muttered. "What am I supposed to be? A time bomb?"
"You're… a devil hybrid. Devil Dominance is rare. Possession usually means death or corruption. But you… you housed something inhuman, and didn't break. That's power. But also instability. That's why you've got those cuffs. Why you're under surveillance."
"You're a cursed user," he said. "One with potential. And danger."
I stared at the floor.
"And what about people like Ely?"
"Cursed users channel aura — life energy shaped by memory, emotion, belief. Most people can't do much with it. Some can push it into combat, reinforce their body, maybe awaken a technique. But it takes years of training, discipline, self-control."."
I nodded slowly.
"Do you think I can control it?"
David looked at me, and for a second, I thought he might lie.
"I think you have to."
⸻
Dinner was quiet.
I sat at a long metal table across from two other trainees — a woman with a short ponytail who kept glancing at my cuffs, and a guy with a bandaged arm who didn't say a word.
The food was simple — some kind of curry, white rice, and steamed vegetables. Better than prison food, but it still felt like a cage.
I caught whispers as people passed behind me.
"That's him, right?"
"Yeah. From the city attack."
"He transformed."
They didn't say it loud enough for me to confront them, but I didn't need to. I could feel it. Every glance. Every pause. Every fork that didn't quite scrape the plate.
Even among monsters, I was still on another level.
I kept my head down and ate.
Across the room, I spotted Ely sitting alone at the far end of another table, eating slowly. She wasn't surrounded by admirers. No crowd. Just her, the meal, and the silence.
For a second, her eyes met mine.
No challenge this time. No superiority.
Just… something else. Pity? Guilt?
Then she stood up and walked out without a word.
I didn't know if she pitied me.
Or hated me.
But I wasn't sure which would be worse.
⸻
[END OF CHAPTER 3]