As three soldiers are immediately taken out by Auren's Nen slash, strengthened by Limitless waters, Auren presses forward, targeting more enemies who desperately try to shoot him.
I don't even need any tricks... I have grown stronger! All that training is paying off. They will never hit me!
The rest of the guards—some still inside the bunker—scream in shock as their comrades are brutally killed.
"Call the captain!"
"We need him—he's a Nen user!"
Auren doesn't care about their screams.
I'd better take my time so they can actually call their Captain... he seems to be my target. I guess I have some time to kill in the meantime.
Now at close range, he calmly slips through incoming fire and cuts down two more soldiers with a single slash each.
As they fall, he feels Eternity absorbing their Aura.
Interesting... not that it matters too much since they are non-Nen users.
Auren quickly cuts down the last enemy, faintly noting how Eternity drains even more of the fallen man's Aura.
With no one left outside, Auren sprints toward the bunker and slides inside.
Four soldiers remain. One of them is still looking through a sniper scope.
"Wait! We surrender!" one of them yells, panicking.
Auren doesn't stop. He swiftly cuts down two more, each slash immediately cutting their bodies in half. Eternity, empowered by Limitless Waters, slices through them like paper, despite their combat gear.
Of the two soldiers left, Auren knocks one unconscious using the hilt of his blade.
The last one—the one who begged for mercy—is shaking all over, his weapon already fallen to the ground.
Time to experiment... these are murderers for hire. They should be aware of the consequences of their acts.
Auren raises Eternity and points the blade directly at him.
"Spare me! Please! I'll quit—I'll tell you everything you want!" the man pleads.
Ignoring him, Auren focuses on the blade, remembering how it felt when the Cauldron drained his own Aura.
Eternity. Drain his Aura!
Unsure if it's working, Auren activates Gyo and focuses on the soldier. He sees it—Eternity is slowly, but steadily, pulling Aura from the man, though at a pace that would take at least several minutes to drain him completely.
Auren steps forward, places his hand on the man's chest, and injects a large burst of Aura directly into him—forcefully and brutally opening his Aura nodes.
The man screams, thrashing in agony as his body violently reacts to the sudden force.
With his Aura nodes now open, Auren sees it clearly. Eternity's absorption rate drastically increases—the drain at least 5 times as strong.
Within thirty seconds, the man's Aura begins to flicker, almost disappearing completely.
His Aura is gone... but what about his remaining life force? What would happen if—
Without hesitation, Auren drives Eternity into his chest—not deep enough to kill instantly, but deep enough for the blade to bury itself inside.
He feels it. Eternity is sucking even more Aura of the now half-conscious man, draining more and more until the man stops breathing altogether, his face now sunken and aged, as if years passed in seconds.
This ability... it's outright evil. It can suck the life out of people. The more I kill, the stronger it becomes. It's just like the Cauldron—using human lives as fuel.
Deciding to test his ability a little further, Auren attempts to absorb the life force of the other dead soldiers holding Eternity towards their bodies. However, it's not even remotely effective, only traces of Aura getting absorbed by his blade.
When he stabs the blade directly into their bodies, however, the process speeds up again. Eternity does absorb more, but the amount is far less than what he drew from his first, still-living victim.
So, as soon as someone dies, their remaining life force—and their Aura—disperses quickly.
Should I try... one last thing?
Auren focuses, concentrating hard, and attempts to absorb Aura directly from Eternity. But even after several minutes, nothing happens.
Not yet... it doesn't work. I may have control over Eternity—but that doesn't mean I can use it like that and even if I could, I need to make sure the stolen Aura is not harmful. A special object, created to drain Aura and Life force, and the human body are two extremely different things.
Lidor's concept clearly wasn't fully functional. Even with this new change, it doesn't work like he envisioned it.
The Cauldron was able to absorb the Aura of its victims, and then—though only with limited success—inject it into a new host, restoring vitality and life force. The witch specifically targeted children because she probably believed their life force would be more compatible with her patient... a child himself.
Even then, the results were weak. It took so many victims, and yet the boy didn't fully recover. His body couldn't even properly absorb the Aura—his life was barely sustained by the stolen energy.
The idea that you can just take someone's life force and use it like a resource... it's probably flawed from the start. The fact alone that Eternity can absorb it at all is already a miracle.
I shouldn't be greedy. I shouldn't even dream of eternal life—or unlimited Aura. I should be grateful that I now possess a powerful weapon that has the potential to grow along with me. One that boosts the efficiency of my own Aura by enhancing Shu, even if I'm using Limitless Waters, and even drains the Aura of those I cut. On top of that, the Aura it steals is used to further strengthen Eternity itself. That alone is beyond valuable. It also gives me another ranged way of attacking, even if it's not as effective.
What I'm holding in my hands is the result of two desperate, twisted, and utterly ruthless individuals—who sacrificed everything for their ideals. Both of their efforts finally manifested themselves, beyond their possible limits, through Post-Mortem Nen. This weapon is a miracle. You can't replicate this. You can't copy it. It can't be engineered or rebuilt.
If I want to grow stronger, I need to do it myself. Maybe down the line, I can ask for help. Who could I ask?
Pariston? No. There's no way I'm ever telling him about Eternity.
The Troupe? Absolutely not. I'm not even officially a member—and if Chrollo finds out, he might become so interested that he decides to take my ability... or my life.
Buno and Bunu? No. I doubt they know anything.
I could ask Ging... but I don't want him to see me as some needy student, or someone looking for his mentorship. That's why I haven't reached out to him... yet.
Netero? He's a pure fighter. He probably doesn't know enough about Nen theory to be useful here. He only focuses on martial arts and training. He would never resort to using something like Eternity, and even if he knew, he would never tell me about it.
That leaves only... Rakshala.
Still deep in thought, Auren feels his phone vibrate, snapping him back to reality.
"Auren?!" Jasoof yells, his patience clearly worn thin. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes," Auren replies calmly. "The target isn't here. The ones I fought mentioned their captain—and they also recognized me as a Nen user. I gave them enough time to make a call. Now it just depends on whether their leader has the guts to show up."
"I see..." Jasoof says, sounding a little more serious.
Though he doesn't particularly care, Auren decides to give him a warning. "You should stay alert. A Nen user can close in fast—and they're hard to detect. Check your surroundings carefully. Make sure you're not caught off guard. I'll remain here a bit longer. If you see anyone approaching, give me another ca—"
"Hunter Auren!" Jasoof cuts in. "Several cars are approaching! They're coming from the northwest—that's where most of the industrial sites are. They're coming from the direction of the industrial port from the north, outside our territory!"
"Good," Auren says with a grin. "That means you're safe. Stay hidden and wait for my call... it won't take long."
Let's see how much Aura Eternity can drain... and how powerful it can really become.
Time to get a little serious.
Glancing out from the bunker, Auren spots multiple vehicles approaching in the distance. Not willing to underestimate any Nen user—even a third-rate one—he briefly considers using Hiding in Mist, which would flood the bunker and the surrounding area in a thick, wide fog, allowing him to stealthily approach his targets.
No... It might be a little bit risky, but if I want to grow stronger, I can't rely on strategy every time. Someone like that... I have lofty goals, and if I struggle against people like that, I'll never reach them.
I'm taking him out... maybe it's time for my new Hatsu. I'm not quite proficient yet... but it's a great opportunity to test it out.
As the cars draw closer, Auren focuses and begins gathering a large amount of Aura in his hands.
Finally, after ten seconds—and with over twenty percent of his total Aura reserves consumed—a giant ball of Aura, formed using Limitless Waters, drops to the ground. It quickly morphs into a copy of Auren, skillfully mimicking his appearance, clothes, and even Eternity.
It worked! The cost is massive, it takes a while to activate, and it can only attack using basic patterns—for now, unless I manually control it, which means I have to stay fairly close... Still, I did it. I'm calling it Water Clone!
Even though I don't remember much apart from my memories of this world, there are fragments I've carried since the accident. For whatever reason, this technique came naturally to me. I had a good feeling about it... let's see how strong it really is. This is the fruit of my hard work and training with Goreinu. It has a few surprises for my enemies.
I could use In and send it ahead like an assassin... but I'd rather send it out openly.
He examines the clone more closely.
Hmm. It looks good at first glance, but up close... yeah, it's clearly not human. The face is a little off, I don't see any emotions, and the body shape looks strange as well. I can even see light shimmering off it—like water. Still, once I get my hands on that special order from Neffi's company, these flaws should be easy to cover. For now, this will have to do.
Auren skillfully guides his Water Clone to exit the bunker, while he himself uses In and remains hidden.
I need Aura to control it manually, so Zetsu isn't an option.
The cars roll up fast—but completely ignore the clone.
They can't see it? So there really is only one Nen user in that group.
Finally, a tall man steps forward. He's wearing a black robe and wields a massive axe. He charges ahead, yelling:
"So you're the punk who's been killing my men?! I hope you came empty-handed, because once I figure out who you are, everyone you've ever known is going to meet a very unfortunate end!"
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