Homecoming, Part 10

"GAHH!!" I wince as I spit out a glob of blood and push myself up.

"Look out!" My dad cries, and I turn and peer to my right, where I see another demon charging towards me. But before I can ready my katana, a silver blade flies through the air, decapitating the demon instantly. I then watch in amazement as the blade retracts itself, my eyes following the blade from the demon then back towards my dad, who's drawn his green-hilted katana.

"Woah…" I marvel.

"Just as I thought, your blade is dull," my dad says. "I'll have to teach you how to take proper care of your sword."

"How were you able to slice through that demon without using Cursed Power?!" I cry.

"By swiftly extending my katana's blade, I increase its cutting power," my dad explains. "You'll find your blade much sharper upon mastering Extend-o-Blade."

I hear a roar come from my side, and I turn away from my dad to see yet another demon charging me. In response, I clutch my katana tightly between both of my hands and prepare a wind blade.

"NO!" My dad booms, causing me to flinch as I turn and peer over my shoulder to him. "In my presence, you are not to use your wind!"

"EH?! Why not?!" I cry. "It's my strongest weapon! I'll die fighting these demons without it!"

"That is only because you have yet to master your demon powers," my dad replies. "I am here to teach you three things; how to control your half-demon form, Extend-o-Blade, and how to properly wield a katana. Every second I'm awake will be spent drilling these concepts into you. You can practice developing your wind abilities in your own time. But beware. I tend to spend at least nineteen hours awake on average, without counting eating and bathing and such."

"Great, so that leaves me what? Five, six hours of sleeping and practicing my wind? It's not like I'm sleeping much in your shitty old cabin," I grumble as I stretch out, my back cracking in the process. "You say it like it's so easy, how do I even use Extend-o-Blade?!"

"Well, I'll show you," my dad replies as he dramatically takes a step forwards, hopping down from the rocky overhang overlooking this cavern and landing beside me in a cloud of dust. My dad then takes a few steps towards the demon charging me, as the blade of his katana begins bubbling with his toxic-green Cursed Power. "Step one is easy and obvious, and something that you've been doing for over a year now," my dad begins to say as he brings his katana up and clutches it between both of his hands. "The next step is a little trickier, it's to make your Cursed Power flow," my dad continues as the Cursed Power bubbling around his katana begins to flood upwards, like flames rising into the air. "Don't just pour your Cursed Power into your katana's blade awkwardly, control it. Start from the hilt and make your way up the blade, mimicking the way that you want your katana's blade to extend," my dad explains as the blade of his katana extends a few inches outwards.

I watch in amazement.

"And then…BURST!" In a rush of Cursed Power, the blade of my dad's katana extends almost too quickly for the naked eye to see. My dad then swings his katana towards the demon, slicing clean through t's neck with ease, before retracting his katana's blade back to its usual length, as the cursed Power flowing around it begins to fizzle out.

"You catch that?" My dad asks as he turns and peers over his shoulder at me. But upon seeing my blank face, he sighs. "You didn't understand any of that?" He wines.

"It's not that, I'm just thinking," I answer.

"Well think faster, because I'm not helping you out for this next one," my dad replies as he motions to the next demon charging my way.

"Don't worry, I've got this," I apathetically reply as I take a step towards the demon. I crouch down into a fighting stance and clutch my katana tightly between two hands.

And then…I close my eyes.

I haven't done any real Cursed Power training since the lessons Nick gave Grover and I before the Cards of the King Mission. Since then, it's only really been away to work on developing my wind, that occasionally had Air Control involved.

I pour my Cursed Power into the bottom of my katana's blade, then focus on slowly spreading it upwards. When I open my eyes again, the demon's right on top of me.

"LUIS!" My dad cries.

"SHUT UP!" I snap.

The demon lets out a roar and swings its mighty claw towards me. But before I can get skewered, I leap into the air, dodging the attack with ease, as the demon's claw slams into the ground where I was once standing, kicking up a cloud of dust and sending chunks of stone flying everywhere.

"You aren't fighting the same opponents you once were! You can't just attack these demons aimlessly, you have to find a break in their scales or hides, typically where their joints are!" My dad calls to me.

"Thanks for the tip!" I call back as I bring my katana high into the air above my head. My eyes scan the demon's body, until I find it, the break in the scales; the nape of the demon's neck. "Right there!" I shout, and as I fall down towards the demon, I swing my katana downwards. I'm too far away to actually cut the demon, but with this new turning, that doesn't matter.

"EXTEND-O-BLADE!"

Dark blue Cursed Power explodes out of the tip of my katana as its blade extends a few inches outwards. I use my extended blade to slice clean through the demon's neck at the nape. The demon lets out a groan of pain as its limp body collapses to the ground, blood squirting from the demon's neck, and its head rolling across the floor. I then land on the ground beside the demon, and stare at my elongated katana blade.

"I did it!" I cry.

"That was only two inches, Luis," my dad sighs as he pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Hey, two inches is a lot!" I snap as I point an accusing finger at my dad.

***

"Wow, so you didn't sleep much either while you were away," Ella replies.

"No, I really didn't," I reply as I sheepishly rub the back of my neck.

"So what's next?" Grover asks.

"Sorry to cut the party short," I begin to say as I turn around to face the rest of my friends. "But there's some other people I gotta' see."

***

"I'M HOOO-OOME!" I boom the second that I step through the door.

"Luis!" A voice cries, and I look up to see Gabby rushing towards me.

"What's up, Gabby, it's been a while?" I ask as I spread my arms out wide for a hug.

Once she's right in front of me, rather than accepting my embrace, Gabby then pauses, and punches me straight in the gut.

"What…was that for…?" I groan as I drop to my knees and double over, clutching my stomach.

"Why would I hug you?! Put your arms down!" Gabby snaps.

"Jeez, okay," I reply as I hold my palms up to Gabby in surrender. "I just figured that since it's been so long we'd be -you know- friendly to each other-" Gabby cuts me off.

"Do you know how sad mom's been?"

My eyes widen, before retracting back into slants. "No, but I can guess," I reply as I turn away from Gabby. "I needed to leave. I couldn't face myself or the people around me with how my life was turning out. I did what I had to do and I don't regret it."

"Come on," Gabby says as she helps me to my feet. "Let's go see mom."

We're interrupted when we hear a small meow, and I look down to see Mr. Kittles rushing towards me. "Hey buddy, it's been a while!" I exclaim as Mr. Kittles leaps onto my shoulder and nuzzles into my neck. I scritch his little black fluffy chin as Gabby leads me into the kitchen, where I see my mom sitting at the table with my mom.

"Uh…hello again," my dad greets me.

"Hey," I reply.

"Luis?" My mom asks, perking up upon hearing my voice.

"Yeah, it's me!" I answer with a small chuckle.

"Luis?!" My mom asks again, louder this time, as she jumps out of her seat. "LUIS!" My mom cries as she rushes over to me, wrapping me up in my arms and sobbing into my chest.

"Are you okay, baby?! Are you safe, are you hurt?" My mom cries as she lets go of me and frantically looks me up and down.

"Yes, mom, I'm fine!" I laugh.

And so, I invite my friends over and tell them and my family my dad and I's adventures about our training over dinner, as everyone else tells me about what my dad and I missed during our year-and-a-half vacation.

The day came and went, and now, it was time for the retake of my Slayer Exams.