"This cauldron... it's draining our Aura. The closer you get, the faster it absorbs it," Auren says, glaring at the vile concoction.
Goreinu slowly gets back on his feet, grimacing. "Yeah... I felt that. However, right after you killed her, the pull got a lot stronger. What is happening?"
Auren's eyes shift towards the back of the small mine shaft, spotting a small, crudely made cell. It's a makeshift prison cell—metal bars shoved into the floor and ceiling. Inside, several young children huddle together, their faces pale and full of fear, softly crying out for help.
He quickly counts them—eight in total. A mix of boys and girls, none older than six or seven. A few of them plead for help.
"Save me."
"I want to go home..."
"Help!!"
"We need to move fast," Auren says. "I want to get them out, but that damn cauldron is in the way. If they get any closer, their Aura's going to be completely drained. They probably won't survive if we carry them towards the exit."
"There's one more child!" Goreinu calls out as he moves closer to the cage, pointing to a bed outside of it. "A boy... he's asleep. Looks pale too. This thing's getting more dangerous by the second. We need to act fast."
We can't take them outside, not with the cauldron active... which means there's only one option left—the cauldron itself.
Auren steps up to the monstrous object and tries to lift it. But the moment he grabs hold, it feels like he's trying to lift a mountain.
"It can't be... it's somehow anchored to the ground?! Is this part of her Hatsu?" Auren wonders, obviously confused.
"Shit!" he curses and draws Eternity, slashing it against the Cauldron, creating a shrill scratching sound that hurts his ears.
He slashes again and again, then tries to pierce it, without any visible success.
What now?!
Goreinu approaches Auren and asks. "Didn't work, huh? Should we use your grenades? I'm really out of options here."
He's not thinking straight—he lost too much Aura.
"No..." Auren replies. "If Eternity isn't able to cut through that cauldron, grenades won't do anything either. Should we... try emptying the cauldron? I can't move or lift it, but the top's open."
"Good idea," Goreinu says, then begins searching the room. He eventually finds an old, rusted shovel.
Carefully, he lowers the shovel into the cauldron, trying to scoop out a portion of whatever's inside. But the glowing, green liquid slips right through.
"It's Aura..." Goreinu mutters. "We can't break the cauldron, and we can't stop it from draining Aura. We have to risk it. We need to carry the children to the entrance. Some of them might not make it... but it's better than watching them all die here."
Auren pauses, thinking.
Well, our job is done... we could just leave... but if possible, I want to save those children. I owe them that much—as a Hunter, and as a human being. This isn't like the time at the orphanage. Back then, I sacrificed the others so I could survive. I didn't want to risk anything... and I was greedy—for a completed Eternity. But this is different. We have a chance to save them. Back then, I didn't care about anyone but myself—just like Lidor, who drained those children's Aura with Eternity for his own selfish desire...
Wait... Eternity. Should I risk it? It's a product of Post-Mortem Nen, too. Lidor's final Conjuration—he gave up all his Nen abilities, the lives of twenty-three children, and eventually his own to create it. The katana is also made out of mysterious materials, so it's definitely a special object. It absorbed the Aura of its victims. That function completely disappeared after I inherited it. What I got was an unfinished, but powerful catalyst for my Aura—a high-grade weapon, perfect for channeling Nen... but that's all. As Lidor thought, it's clearly an incomplete or even failed project.
"Auren, what is it?! We're out of options!" Goreinu says, tense. "I can feel my Aura draining even with Zetsu! We're in danger too."
Auren snickers. "Heh, I don't feel a thing. Maybe you should've spent a little more time on Zetsu instead of Ten. It's obvious that your Zetsu still isn't perfect."
"This isn't the time for jokes," Goreinu snaps, his voice serious.
"True..." Auren replies, stepping forward. "Let me try something before we carry them out. If it doesn't work... do whatever you want."
He draws Eternity once more, slowly lowering it into the bubbling cauldron.
For a moment, nothing happens. Then, both Auren and Goreinu stiffen as the cauldron begins to react.
The light green, bubbling liquid—and even the cauldron itself—starts to flare up in Aura as Eternity begins to glow faintly.
Little by little, the strange mix of Aura and liquid starts getting pulled into the blade, vanishing from the cauldron at a visible pace.
"Whatever you're doing—it's working!" Goreinu exclaims in surprise.
Like something finally drinking after being parched for ages, Eternity steadily continues to absorb everything inside the cauldron. The Aura, thick and glowing, disappears into the sword.
Even the cauldron itself begins to deteriorate, its surface crumbling and breaking apart into particles of Aura, all of which flow into Eternity—until nothing is left.
In under thirty seconds, the dangerous Aura-draining cauldron is completely gone, with not a single trace of it remaining.
Auren slowly inspects Eternity—and immediately notices it looks completely different from before.
The once completely black blade and white sheath now look strikingly different. A bright, light green line runs through the blade from top to bottom, ending in a large, glowing orb of the same color, embedded in the hilt of the sturdy katana. Even the handle has a few glowing green lines.
"It feels... powerful," Auren notes, giving it a swing. "But I don't feel any real changes, which is not a bad thing. It still responds perfectly to me."
"Anyway, the danger's gone. Let's check on the children." Auren suggests to a surprised Goreinu.
"S...sure!" Goreinu responds, still shaken.
The two of them quickly walk over to the cell, with Auren making a brief stop beside the boy lying alone on a bed.
He places two fingers on the side of the boy's neck, just above the windpipe—but there's no pulse and no warmth left in his body.
"He's dead..." Auren says quietly.
"The Aura drain was too much. Looks like he was already weakened. If I had to guess, I'd say she was sacrificing those children, draining their Aura with that cauldron... all in an attempt to save him. She did this many times before, right? In the end, it was all in vain. She'll be remembered as a cruel, serial killer who couldn't accomplish a thing."
If it had been a disease, maybe I could've helped. But a physical defect? No. My hatsu can't cure congenital defects. Still, this is another reminder of how powerful my Hatsu is... and how dangerous it can be. Desperate people like her exist everywhere, chasing impossible hopes. Even with such cursed and complex Hatsus, like the cauldron, the results aren't fully guaranteed. I'm growing stronger, and I've got support behind me—but once people understand what Azure Restoration can do, they'll stop at nothing to get access to it. I need to make sure I stay in control.
Goreinu glances over the boy's body and lifts his shirt, revealing a hidden tube beneath the blanket. It's embedded into his torso, the area beneath bloodied and bruised—his body clearly hurt and tortured.
"I can feel Aura lingering on it," Goreinu says. "Looks like she drained the others' Aura with that cauldron... just to inject it into him. That must've hurt."
"At least his suffering's over," Auren replies. "He was as much a victim as the rest."
He draws Eternity and uses it to cut the deeply inserted tube from the boy's chest, cutting into the body to remove everything in one slash.
As he does, a faint trace of Aura transfers into the blade, drawn to the glowing green gem on the hilt of the blade.
Eternity... is it absorbing Aura? Like the cauldron did?
Auren gently presses the flat of the blade into the boy's wound—and immediately, a visible stream of Aura begins flowing into Eternity.
That's a lot of Aura... It's not his own. It must've been the Cauldron's. His body couldn't even handle it properly. I might as well purge what's left—remove that stolen Aura so he can finally rest in peace.
Within seconds, Eternity, glowing steadily with a bright, light green Aura, finishes absorbing whatever Aura remained in the boy's body. The glow then weakens before it fades entirely.
Where's the Aura going? Into that gem...? I don't feel anything changing in me... The blade is absorbing it into itself. Is it getting stronger, sharper? Is its Aura-draining ability evolving? I need to do some tests later.
This is really unexpected... Two separate sources of Post-Mortem Nen—both now completely under my control, in one single weapon, that I can Conjure at any time.
Auren briefly touches the flower-shaped scar on his chest, his hand trembling slightly.
Eternity is growing stronger... If I can use it to drain Aura just by cutting someone, that would make it a terrifying weapon. Maybe I could even do it from range... That cauldron was horrifying. Just thinking about a power like that—draining Aura without any viable way to stop it. It shut down Goreinu's Nen beasts in seconds. I just need to stay in control of it. But I am the rightful owner of Eternity. I claimed it through Lidor's ritual. Now I need to understand what these changes have done to it.
Finally, Auren pulls the blanket up over the boy's body, letting him rest in peace, then turns toward the other children, all silently staring at him, still shaking with fear.
"We're Hunters," Auren says, standing before their small cell. "We're taking you home."
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