Roy glanced at Illumi's still-staring eyes and shook his head.
Even after fainting, his brother's eyes still stared with that dead-fish blankness, clearly unconvinced. 'I, Illumi, have never been inferior to anyone in my life.' Roy could even faintly hear what Illumi was thinking when he firmly chose to switch electric batons.
He simply sat on him for a while, then signaled Luke to dig a hole outside and directly tossed Illumi in.
"Young master, is this appropriate?" Luke truly worried that when Illumi woke up, he'd kill him directly. Hiding to the side, he tremblingly watched Roy shovel dirt after dirt to bury Illumi in the pit, frantically swallowing saliva.
Don't let the fierce electrocutions fool you—that was work, unavoidable under Silva's orders. If he really contradicted or angered a young master, he guaranteed before the next day he'd be fed to Mike as a snack.
Roy gradually regained control of his body through shoveling, leaving only Illumi's head exposed, saying slowly, "Relax. He likes sleeping like this."
Luke didn't believe it until Roy filled the last handful of dirt and leaned on the shovel, catching his breath. Only then did he discover in shock—Illumi's constantly staring eyes had actually closed.
"Get me an umbrella. It's glaring."
Compared to sleeping in the garden under the blazing sun, Illumi preferred the hole in his room. Unfortunately, his body was still numb and couldn't move, so he was forced to make do.
"Yes." Luke kept his head down fetching the umbrella, walking quickly, not daring to look more, afraid Illumi would notice his strange gaze and hold a grudge.
Roy shaded his forehead with his hand, blocking sunlight, thrust the shovel into the ground, dropped a "rest well," and turned toward the training room.
Illumi's closed eyes opened again, quietly watching him round the corridor corner about to disappear, suddenly speaking. "Next time, I'll wake before you."
The training room door slammed shut, directly blocking Illumi's line of sight.
Roy said lightly, "We'll see."
He immediately grabbed Yukigakure leaning against the wall corner and drew the blade. The metal rang clear and sharp.
The blade reflected sunlight, forming a dazzling spot that made eyes unable to open. Roy held his breath and concentrated, not immediately practicing Sun Breathing, but calming his heart to remove the restlessness hidden within his five organs.
Only then did he slightly open his mouth, suddenly inhaling a large breath of air. Gripping the sword with both hands, he slashed diagonally.
"Sun Breathing, First Form—Dance!"
Blade light rolled up heat waves, drawing an arc. Faintly visible, a trace of firelight burst from the blade edge, scraping the wall and leaving a scorch mark.
'No good, not concentrated.'
Roy's gaze condensed. His wrist then turned, from bottom to top, rapidly lifting upward. The blade tip rubbed against air creating fire, again drawing a fire circle.
'Still no good, still not concentrated.'
Then "Third Form—Raging Sun," "Fourth Form—Fake Rainbow," "Fifth Form—Fire Wheel."
Roy struck one blade after another, each surpassing the last, tirelessly capturing that trace of "concentrated feeling." Even when Gotoh called him for lunch at noon, he blocked it with "not hungry."
"You're an Enhancer?"
Illumi had finally awakened. The young man shook off the dust on his body and climbed from the pit, leaning on the window watching Roy. Only when Roy finished practicing did he suddenly realize he'd apparently slept through the entire day.
Actually, sleeping in the garden under a sun umbrella seemed a decent choice. Illumi had never tried it before. He immediately stepped on the evening glow, entered the training room, and stopped before Roy.
"I think you need an opponent." The young man flexed his wrists and showed his hand blade.
Opening his aura nodes seemed to bring him tremendous confidence. However, the next second, as a black shadow flashed, his explosion-head was grabbed in Roy's palm and pressed directly into the ground.
"I'm hungry. No time to play with you."
Yukigakure sheathed, Roy heard his stomach growling, stepped over Illumi's body, and pushed open the door. The training room door closed heavily.
Illumi stared with hollow eyes at the ceiling, not snapping back for a long time—until Silva appeared.
Only then did he raise his explosion-head, stiffly asking, "He's really an Enhancer?"
Enhancement System: Enhances oneself or weapon properties. The development direction emphasizes using Nen abilities to strengthen the body, increasing attack and defense power. The most famous representative was "humanity's strongest"—Netero.
"Don't know." Silva placed both feet on stone piers, starting to stretch in a split position.
Tonight he'd agreed to accompany Zeno on a mission, but Zeno changed plans last minute, so he had to go alone. After all, it was a billion-jenny contract requiring some effort.
Illumi climbed from the ground, staring straight at Silva. "He must be Enhancement System! Otherwise, there's no explaining his explosive speed, too fast to capture."
"He didn't use Nen to hit you." Silva glanced at the wall corner with his back to Illumi. The corner had a new camera with an iron box covering it, clearly not to be pierced by one sword again.
"Then what did he use?"
"Shadow Step."
Illumi's body visibly stiffened. Standing blankly in place for a long while, he lifted his foot toward the window, propped his hand, and flipped out.
Silva glanced at him. The young man found the hole dug that morning and jumped in, mechanically scooping dirt to bury himself, as if only the earth could bring him comfort.
'Weak... you're too weak, Illumi.'
Separated by a corridor, the Zoldyck brothers seemed telepathic, this same sentence simultaneously surfacing in their minds.
But in places Illumi couldn't see, Roy strolled on the castle's weathered stone floor, receiving the status panel's "Constitution +0.05" message, casually glancing at Shadow Step.
[Shadow Step: Proficient (89/100)]
Before long he could advance further, reaching the "mastery" realm.
'Should be due to my constitution strengthening.' Roy's heart was clear as a mirror, beginning to stir restlessly, unable to restrain his desire to "sleep."
But considering there seemed to be harsh training tonight, he decided to fill his stomach and take a medicinal bath first.
Fortunately, Gotoh had followed him so long that they'd finally formed some understanding. Having learned Roy fainted, he'd prepared the medicinal bath in advance.
He only waited for Roy to finish eating, top his head with a towel, rest his hands on the tub edges, soak while closing his eyes to rest.
Holding a ladle, repeatedly pouring water on Roy's back, he simultaneously reported today's results. "After hearing, the master said nothing, only instructing—half a month from now, he'll examine the young master's training results."
"What training?"
"Zetsu." Gotoh removed his foggy glasses, saying gravely. "The master said if you can withstand his three whip strikes, you pass."
Roy's expression froze. Recalling the morning's feeling of a million-volt electric baton jabbed into his body, his chest began hurting again.