Roy didn't bother with Illumi.
Even though his brother had fainted, he still glared at him with those dead fish eyes, clearly unconvinced.
'I, Illumi, am not inferior to anyone in my life.' Roy could even vaguely hear what Illumi was thinking when he determinedly chose to swap for the Electric Stick.
He simply sat on him for a while, signaling Luke to dig a pit outside the courtyard, and directly threw Illumi into it.
"Young Master, is this appropriate?" Luke was genuinely worried that when Illumi woke up, he would kill him directly, so he hid to the side, trembling as he watched Roy shovel dirt over Illumi scoop by scoop, swallowing his saliva nervously.
Don't be fooled by his fierce demeanor when using electricity; it was because of Silva's orders; he had no choice, it was just work. If he really defied or annoyed the Young Master, he was sure he would be given to Mikai as a snack by the next day.
By filling the pit, Roy gradually regained control of his body, leaving only Illumi's head exposed to the air, and said leisurely, "Don't worry, he likes sleeping this way."
Luke didn't believe it until Roy finished piling the last scoop of dirt, propped himself up with the shovel, and took a breath, at which point he was surprised to realize—
The eye Illumi had been glaring with finally closed...
"Give me a parasol, it's glaring."
Compared to sleeping in the garden under the scorching sun, Illumi preferred the hole in his own room, but unfortunately... his body was still numb, completely immobile, so he had to make do.
"Yes..." Luke lowered his head and went to fetch the parasol, walking quickly, not daring to look back, fearing that Illumi might notice his unusual gaze and hold a grudge against him.
Roy held his forehead with one hand, shielding it from the sunlight, inserted the shovel, and casually said, "Have a good rest," then turned and headed towards the training room.
Illumi, with closed eyes, watched silently as Roy rounded the corridor corner and was about to disappear, suddenly spoke:
"Next time, I'll wake up before you."
"Boom—"
The training room doors shut heavily.
Blocking Illumi's sight from the outside...
Roy said faintly, "Hope so."
At once, he picked up Yubashiri that was leaning in the corner, drawing the blade!
"Clang~"
The blade reflected the sunlight, creating a blinding spot of light that made it hard to keep one's eyes open.
Roy held his breath and focused, not immediately practicing "Sun Breathing," but rather calming down, eliminating the irritability hidden within his five senses.
He just barely opened his mouth, took a deep breath, grasped the sword with both hands, and slashed diagonally outward.
"Sun Breathing: First Form: Dance!"
"Whoosh—"
The arc of the sword conjured up a heatwave, drawing a circular arc... faint sparks burst from the blade, grazing the wall and leaving a scorch mark.
'No, I wasn't concentrated enough...'
Roy's gaze tightened, he swiftly turned his wrist, slashing swiftly upward from below, the sword tip sparked against the air, once again drawing a circle of fire.
'Still not enough, still not concentrated...'
Then...
"Third Form: Raging Sun..."
"Fourth Form: Fake Rainbow..."
"Fifth Type: Fire Wheel..."
Roy's sword swung one after another, each more vigorous than the last, tirelessly capturing that fleeting "feeling of concentration." Even when Wutong called him for lunch, he dismissed him with an "I'm not hungry."
"Are you 'Enhancement'?"
Illumi finally awoke.
The young man shook off the dust on his body, climbed out of the pit, and hung onto the window watching Roy, only realizing himself that he had seemingly slept through the day after Roy finished practicing.
It's undeniable that napping in the garden under a sunshade seemed like a good choice... Illumi had never tried it before, and immediately stepped in the twilight, entering the training room, standing in front of Roy.
"I think you need a sparring partner."
The young man flexed his wrist, revealing the Hand Blade.
As the Acupoints opened, it seemed to bring him great confidence,
However, the next moment...
As a shadow flickered.....
That afro of his was caught in Roy's palm, directly pressed to the ground.
"I'm hungry, don't have time to play with you."
Yubashiri sheathed, Roy heard his stomach growl, stepped over Illumi's body, and pushed the door open by hand.
"Creak~"
The training room doors shut heavily.
Illumi stared with those hollow eyes, blankly looking at the ceiling, in a daze for a long time——
Until...
Silva appeared...
He then tilted his head up, with a stiff question: "Is he really 'Enhancement'?"
[Enhancement]: Enhances the nature of oneself or the weapon itself.
"Development type" focuses on enhancing the physical body through Nenryoku, to increase one's attack and defense capabilities. Among them, the most well-known figure is the "Strongest Human"—Netero.
"I don't know." Silva placed his feet on the stone post, stretching into a splits position.
Tonight, he was supposed to accompany Zeno on an assignment, but Zeno had a sudden change of plans, so... he came himself.
After all, it was a billion-dollar job, required some effort.
Illumi got up from the ground, staring straight at Silva: "He must be 'Enhancement'!"
Otherwise, there's simply no explaining — his burst speed, too fast to catch.
"He didn't use 'Nen' on you." Silva glanced back at the corner.
The corner had been replaced with a new camera, wrapped in an iron box outside, clearly wouldn't be pierced with a single sword anymore.
"Then what did he use?"
"Dark Step."
Illumi: "..."
His body visibly froze...
Stood dumbfounded for quite a while, then moved towards the window, placed hands for support, and flipped out...
Silva glanced at him, the young man sought the pit dug in the morning, jumped in... mechanically scraping dirt over himself, as if only the earth could bring him a bit of comfort.
'Weak... you're too weak, Illumi....'
Separated by a corridor, the Zoldyck brothers seemed to have a telepathic connection, simultaneously thinking of the same sentence in their minds.
But where Illumi couldn't see...
Roy strolled on the castle's mottled stone floor, receiving the panel information "Constitution +0.05," glancing nonchalantly at "Dark Step"...
[Dark Step: Mastery (89/100)]
Soon, he'd be able to go a step further and achieve "Great Success" realm.
'It should be thanks to my enhanced constitution.'
Roy's mind was clear as a mirror, eager and unable to suppress the desire to "sleep."
But considering that there seemed to be a rigorous training session at night.
He decided to fill his stomach first, then take a medicated bath.
Luckily, Wutong followed him for so long, finally formed a bit of tacit understanding.....
As soon as he learned that Roy had fainted, he prepared the medicated bath in advance.
Just waiting for Roy to finish eating, with a towel on his head, hands resting on the edge of the bath barrel, soaking while relaxing with closed eyes.
Pouring water over Roy's back repeatedly with a ladle, and at the same time reporting today's findings: "Master heard about it and said nothing, just instructed..."
"In half a month, to assess young master's cultivation results."
"What 'cultivation'?"
"[Zetsu]." Wutong took off his foggy glasses, saying solemnly: "Master said, if you can withstand his three whips, then it's considered qualified."
Roy's expression stiffened, recalling the feeling of being poked with a million volts of electric stick in the morning, his chest began to ache again.