Auren briefly stares at the arrogant man in front of his clone, which allows him to see things as if he were standing there himself. He snickers at him, wondering how he can be so confident to boldly threaten not just him, but everyone he's ever known.
You know... if I weren't this close, I'd honestly think my clone was hallucinating and my senses were playing tricks on me. No, this guy is really that arrogant. Let's end this quickly—I want to head back to the hotel and get some training in. At least I can finish my tests with these guys around.
Without hesitation, Auren focuses on his clone. The watery copy of Eternity is drawn, and the clone lunges straight toward the Nen user.
"Motherfu—!" the man yells, lifting his massive axe to strike at Auren's clone.
But the clone reacts first. It jumps to the side with precision, cleanly evading the strike, and slashes across the man's side.
Though it lands a solid hit, the target isn't cut in two. Instead, his clothing and part of his equipment are shredded, and blood starts to drip from a fresh wound, revealing a deep wound.
Not bad. It's nowhere near the real thing, but the clone maintains almost all the Aura I used to create it, which means it can cause real damage. Since I'm strong in Enhancement, Emission, and Transmutation, the clone performs better than expected—especially since it's built from Limitless Waters. I need to train to control it better. Manipulation is not my strength, but I see potential in this Hatsu. As long as it's about swordfighting, my sword forms, which are deeply ingrained in my consciousness, allow the clone to perform them on the same level as me, at least from a technical standpoint.
The rest of the group—previously panicking—stand frozen, rifles shaking in their hands. They wave their weapons around aimlessly, unable to spot the enemy.
However, two of the soldiers act with trained reflexes and open fire on the clone, hitting it with dozens of bullets.
The clone, completely unaffected by physical attacks, charges forward and targets the nearest enemy. They still can't see it.
It swiftly slices through one of their necks. Its movement and combat form perfectly identical to Auren's.
As long as I stay focused, I can control the clone with precision. If I don't, it follows basic commands and can only use preset sword, fist, and claw techniques. But the best thing is that—the clone is immune to any non-Nen damage. It's just emitted, Aura, after all! If my opponent doesn't use Aura, they can't hurt it. And even if they do, the clone can repair itself—though at the cost of some of its remaining Aura.
Auren directs the clone toward the panicked group. Screams echo through the field as men are cut down by an enemy they can't see.
Finally, the man with the axe—and two of the soldiers who appear able to sense it—engage the clone directly. The axe swings hard, while both rifles are fired at close range.
The clone dodges the axe, but gets hit by two shots, the bullets piercing through its shoulders. In response, the clone's form briefly distorts, revealing its watery composition under the illusion.
Next test.
Auren focuses hard and activates In on the clone, turning it invisible to anyone not using Gyo.
The clone launches a fresh assault. Deep cuts appear across their bodies as they flail, arms raised in desperation to protect themselves from an unseen attacker.
Finally, the axe-wielding captain, slightly panicked, heightens his focus, taking a step back. Auren smirks—he can literally see the man's eyes twitch as he channels all his Aura into his vision.
That is the worst Gyo I have ever seen. He probably never trained it, as he was fighting against mercenaries and soldiers, not other Nen users. Enough playing around. Final test.
Positioning the clone directly behind the captain, Auren focuses sharply. His Aura flares for a moment—and in an instant, the clone explodes in a giant surge of water, detonating at point-blank range.
Auren, who was still in the closeby bunker, has teleported behind the captain, taking the position of his clone.
The soldiers suddenly scream, "I see an enemy! Behind you, Captain!"
"It shouldn't take you more than a second to activate Gyo... You really suck at using Nen, you know that, right?" Auren whispers, as he stabs Eternity straight through the man's heart—his body completely unprotected, all his Aura clumsily focused into his eyes.
Despite the man's obvious incompetence, Auren feels Eternity absorbing an immense amount of Aura. The entire blade, especially the glowing light green gem embedded in the hilt, begins to shine brightly.
Less than three seconds later, the man collapses, his body completely drained of Aura.
Auren pulls Eternity from the body and immediately presses forward, the remaining soldiers wildly firing at him—and missing every shot.
He cuts them down with precision, each defeated by a single slash. Only two remain—those two who can at least use basic Nen.
They keep firing until the loud gunshots are replaced by a silent, but distinct clicking sound.
In desperation, both of them toss their rifles aside and charge at Auren with large, deadly-looking combat knives.
Auren laughs, easily avoiding both attacks by leaping over them. As he flips midair, he twists his body and delivers a 180-degree horizontal slash, extending Eternity's range through a Transmutation effect, using Aura to increase his range, using Limitless Waters. The Aura-blade cuts through both men cleanly—cutting them in half, their upper bodies sliding off their lower halves and lifelessly plopping to the ground.
Without hesitation, Auren drives Eternity into each of the four body parts, draining every last bit of Aura they have left.
With no enemies remaining, Auren turns his attention to Eternity, now surrounded by a dense, powerful Aura.
He inspects it closely using Gyo and watches as the Aura begins to fade—not dissipating into the air, but instead flowing inward, slowly getting absorbed by the blade and disappearing into the large gem at the hilt of the blade.
Good... the gem must be the core of this new ability—something Eternity inherited from the Cauldron. It's absorbing Aura, and more importantly, using it to strengthen itself. The efficiency's probably below one percent, but it doesn't matter. Sooner or later, Eternity will become an impossibly deadly weapon—one that can kill even the strongest opponents with a single slash. Once it can cut through anything and anyone... I'll be unstoppable.
With the job finished, Auren pulls out his phone and dials Jasoof.
"Hunter Auren, are you alright? Do you need help?" Jasoof answers immediately.
"I'm done here," Auren says. "Your target is dead. He had two students who also knew a hint of Nen. You can come inspect the bodies."
Slightly bored, Auren walks over to the corpse of the main target and picks up the massive axe lying nearby.
Inspecting it with Gyo, his interest piques slightly—he senses a faint, almost undetectable trace of Aura clinging to the weapon.
It's extremely weak... but it's there. Considering its size, it's honestly kind of pathetic—but still. This axe fits my criteria. It will make a fine addition to my collection.
Auren does a few clumsy practice swings with the axe while he waits for Jasoof and his men to arrive.
My new Hatsu—Water Clone—worked perfectly. Even better than I expected. But it still has a few glaring weaknesses. If I'm not actively controlling it, it becomes clumsy and ineffective, not in its combat techniques, but in its decision-making. It also demands around twenty percent of my total Aura reserves just to create it. I need to train harder and increase my Aura capacity.
It'd be nice if I could eventually make more of them, too, but for now, the concentration required is too much. Still, even if they're weaker, just having multiple clones would allow me to come up with even more strategies.
Lastly, the part of the new Hatsu, I worked so hard on—the one inspired by Goreinu's Hatsu. I can take the place of a Water Clone. In theory, I could also switch places with it, but I'm not skilled enough to maintain the clone just yet. I still need to work hard to make that part possible. Right now, the only thing I can manage is taking the place of an existing clone, which consumes all of the clone's remaining Aura—and even some of my own. The range is also strictly limited, based on how much Aura the clone still has left, peaking at around 10 meters. But once I master it, it could be a true life-saving technique, with more range, and way less Aura consumption... though I'm not there yet. Still, this test run was a success. Despite the weaknesses, my Water Clone Hatsu is absolutely usable, even with its current limitations. I just need to fine-tune it and get stronger. With this, I now have Hatsus that cover all Nen categories, and they're all based on my three strongest affinities, using Limitless Water as the core—except for Azure Restoration, of course.
A few minutes after the call, Jasoof arrives with his men.
They step out of their cars and quietly stare at the corpses scattered everywhere. Despite the carnage, not a single one of them—not even Jasoof—shows the slightest trace of hesitation or discomfort.
Now... to collect my just reward... I have an idea.
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