Clang! Clang! Slash! Hack! Clang!
"Hah! Pant... pant...!"
I swung the shovel down against the solid rock face, digging, hacking, and excavating relentlessly. This grueling labor had already continued for four solid hours. There was no stopping halfway; the only end in sight was completing the daily quota.
And that quota grew steeper with each passing day. As my fundamental physical conditioning improved, the required excavation volume escalated proportionally. No matter how much faster I worked, the time required to finish never seemed to decrease.
Waking at 6:00 AM, eating a swift breakfast, sprinting at top speed to this mountain range, and immediately taking up the shovel and mine cart to dig into the earth. Once the quota was met, it was lunchtime. After eating, Bisky would administer a thirty-minute treatment using [Magical Esthetician / Magical Spa].
Her ability was nothing short of miraculous. No matter how utterly wrecked my muscles were, thirty minutes under her care restored my body almost entirely. It was an invaluable aid for rapid progression, though realizing it simply expanded the hours available for hellish torment made it difficult to celebrate wholeheartedly.
Following recovery, I entered Ken training with Bisky. The goal was to maintain a continuous, fortified Ken shroud while defending against Bisky's controlled Ko strikes. Naturally, she held back; otherwise, I would have been turned into paste within seconds.
The reason Aisha did not handle this portion of the training was due to the ominous nature of her aura. Exposure to her sinister aura caused subtle psychological distress, which would disrupt my focus and hinder my development at this stage.
This drill continued until my aura reserves were depleted. Then, another round of [Magical Spa], followed by resuming Ken training.
Interspersed throughout this regimen was Gyo visual training. At unpredictable intervals, Bisky would raise her hand and form numbers with transmuted aura at the tips of her fingers, requiring me to identify them instantaneously.
However, a devious twist had been added. If I was too slow to name the number, I had to perform push-ups on the spot. That alone was manageable, but once my speed stabilized, Aisha joined the drill. The slower respondent between the two of us had to do five hundred push-ups.
There was no winning against her!
Thanks to that condition, I ended up doing push-ups virtually every single time. At this rate, my arms threatened to swell to comical proportions.
Applied Ryu training would commence once my Ken endurance reached a satisfactory threshold. From what they explained, Ryu—the dynamic, real-time percentage distribution of aura between offense and defense—was the cornerstone of high-level combat.
After Ken drills came hand-to-hand combat practice. I was tasked with sparring directly against Aisha, and here, my confidence was thoroughly pulverized. To think that Aisha, fighting entirely in a state of Zetsu without a shred of active aura, could effortlessly toss me across the dirt without breaking a sweat! While there was an insurmountable gulf between Nen users and non-Nen users, the gap between my current level and Aisha's martial mastery was even vaster.
Initially, I had held back, fearing I might injure an unarmored girl in Zetsu, but no matter how I attacked, I was flipped effortlessly through the air. Even when I threw strikes backed by full Nen output, she redirected my kinetic force with sublime ease. It was borderline despair-inducing.
Curiously, Aisha participated in the rock excavation right alongside me, taking turns digging and pushing the heavy mine cart. When I asked why someone of her caliber was doing manual labor, she simply smiled and replied:
"I want to become much stronger, too."
Please, take it easy for once, I thought wryly.
My conjuration training also progressed to refined stages: streamlining the summoning speed, cloaking the chains with In, and integrating them into fluid combat maneuvers.
To prepare for unlocking [Emperor Time / Absolute Time], I also practiced activating the Scarlet Eyes at will, testing duration limits and recovery intervals. Maintaining the crimson state for extended periods caused severe headaches and acute fatigue, proving that overusing it was counterproductive. While [Magical Spa] alleviated the toll, gradual acclimatization was essential.
When dusk fell, we sprinted all the way back to Heavens Arena. After a late dinner, the remaining hours before bed were dedicated to extending Ken duration.
And when I finally collapsed into bed, Aisha or Bisky would periodically launch nocturnal surprise attacks to test my environmental awareness. Failing to evade a strike meant doubling the next day's excavation quota. Consequently, restful sleep was impossible, even as the fatigue was cleansed by Bisky's abilities.
This was the infernal daily routine I endured for a full month.
"Phew... phew... This really builds endurance," Aisha remarked cheerfully.
"Indeed... The bedrock is dense, requiring Shu on the shovel... Pant, pant... It engages every muscle group, leading to rapid exhaustion."
Surprisingly, Aisha's raw physical strength without Nen was not astronomical—it was higher than mine, but within human bounds.
"After a month, you've adapted remarkably well," Aisha noted.
"I could say the same to you, though hearing it from someone who digs without using Shu is somewhat demoralizing."
"Ah, because my aura reserve is so large, using Shu here would make it too effortless to serve as training."
"I see... Still, it reminds me of old times. I used to dig tunnels like this long ago."
"Did you train from a very young age, then?"
"Yes... you could say that."
Aisha gazed into the distance, a wistful, nostalgic look crossing her face. But the expression vanished instantly as she turned back to me with a bright smile.
"Your aura pool has expanded significantly, Kurapika. Shall we advance to the next stage?"
"Really?"
"Yes! Let's incorporate Gyo and Ryu drills into your combat training."
Just then, Bisky called out from nearby: "Seven!"
"Number seven!" Aisha called out instantly.
"Correct," Bisky chimed. "Kurapika was slower by point-three seconds. Five hundred push-ups!"
"Guh...! One... two... three... I must ask, isn't competing against Aisha completely unfair?!"
"Then practice until you can beat her!" Bisky teased.
Aisha smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, Kurapika. Here, you can have my fried chicken."
Aisha's reflexes were in a league of their own. Her martial arts background prioritized reflexive kinetic perception over brute force, yet her physical agility remained superior to mine. Accepting her fried chicken, I resolved to close the gap.
"Aisha," Bisky noted, "you're surprisingly skilled at cooking."
"Well, I lived on my own for quite a long time," Aisha replied casually.
"And how much stronger do you intend to get?"
"Until I can defeat Netero, of course! He gave me a bitter defeat last time; next time, I'll make him spit bubbles."
"Please don't make the old man spit blood bubbles!" Bisky laughed.
Aisha then turned the conversation toward Heavens Arena. "Kurapika, it's time for you to register your 200th-floor debut match. You need practical experience against other Nen combatants."
She established a strict condition: I was forbidden from researching my opponent's abilities beforehand or displaying my chains' special Nen properties in public.
"In actual battle, you will rarely possess advance intelligence on enemy Hatsu," Aisha explained. "You must cultivate the sharp observation needed to deduce abilities in real time. Furthermore, revealing your cards in a televised arena is tactical suicide."
Heavens Arena: The 200th Floor Debut
On the day of the match, Gon and Killua sat in the audience eating popcorn to cheer for me.
The announcer proclaimed: "Ladies and gentlemen! The first match of the day: Guido vs. Kurapika!"
The arena erupted into deafening cheers, primarily from female spectators captivated by my appearance.
Guido opened immediately with his offensive technique: [Shotgun Blues / Dancing Tops], unleashing a barrage of Nen-infused spinning tops.
Rather than erecting Ken or dodging, I drew my conjured chain and whipped it through the air with pinpoint precision. With a succession of crisp clinks, every single top was batted down, their driving tips severed cleanly to render them inert.
Desperate, Guido spun into his defensive barrier: [Tornado Top].
"That iron rotation cannot be pierced!" Guido shouted.
Without hesitation, I reinforced the chain with Shu and snapped it directly into Guido's iron prosthetic leg. The reinforced metal shattered instantly on impact, sending Guido collapsing to the ring floor.
"Winner by KO: Kurapika!"
The crowd roared. I had secured my debut victory without revealing a single trace of my specialized Hatsu.
The Main Event: Kastro vs. Aisha
Next came the headline bout of the day: Kastro vs. Aisha.
Gon and Killua leaned forward with bated breath.
In the ring, Kastro stood in an active Ren stance, radiating substantial combat aura. In contrast, Aisha stood completely in Zetsu—her presence silent, serene, and utterly unarmored.
"Are you insane?" Kastro demanded, wary of her complete lack of aura. "Standing before me without Ten is suicide!"
"Do not concern yourself," Aisha replied calmly. "I have my own method of fighting."
Kastro lunged forward with a restrained, open-palm thrust, aiming to subdue her without causing fatal harm.
Yet the moment his hand neared her midsection, Aisha shifted her center of gravity imperceptibly, caught his wrist and elbow, and redirected his momentum in an effortless spiral.
Crash!
Kastro slammed into the ring floor, leaving the audience and announcers stunned into dead silence.
"Critical Hit and Down! Points 3–0, Aisha!"
Kastro pushed himself up, disoriented and reeling. As he attempted to backstep and regroup, Aisha stepped into his guard. With a single sweeping movement of her palm and foot, she launched Kastro into the air.
His body spun horizontally like the blades of a high-speed fan, rotating continuously for ten seconds before crashing unconscious onto the canvas.
"Down! Points 4–0! Kastro is unable to continue—Winner: Aisha!"
Gon and Killua stared in utter bewilderment. Aisha had dismantled a top-tier 200th-floor martial artist without unleashing a single drop of Nen.
In the Infirmary
Later, in the arena medical wing, Kastro slowly regained consciousness to find Linna standing beside his bed with medicine.
Overcome with shame and regret, Kastro broke down. "I... I lost so easily... without her even using Nen..."
Linna spoke sternly yet gently. "You lost because of arrogance, lack of insight, and complacency. You underestimated a master simply because of her youthful appearance and unarmored stance, holding back your own strikes. In a battle between Nen users, a single moment of conceit leads directly to death."
Kastro wiped away his tears, bowing his head in profound humility. "I understand, Master Linna. I will never allow foolish pride to cloud my judgment again. Please, teach me the true way of martial arts!"
Linna smiled warmly. "Very well. Prepare yourself—our training will not be lenient."
Armed with renewed determination, Kastro committed himself to the rigorous path of Kazama-ryu.