Chapter 3: An Artifact Out of Time
On a mountain overlooking Shells Town...
"Kyle, is this really how you train Observation Haki?"
Gon rubbed a fresh, stinging lump on his head, wincing.
Kyle lightly tapped the wooden training sword in his hand. "That's right. Haki is divided into three types: Observation, Armament, and Conqueror's. The first two can be learned through training. Only Conqueror's Haki requires the user to have the 'disposition of a king' to awaken."
Kyle's ability, the [Book of World Resonance], was unique. It could only create a resonance after a contract was signed and the contractor was brought to another world.
Back in the Hunter world, he couldn't share in Gon's training results.
Every world had its own unique system of rules, and his ability was the perfect bridge. As long as a contract was signed and they traveled to another world, the contractor would gain a body compatible with that world, allowing them to train in its power systems, like Haki, in addition to their native Nen.
That was why Kyle had brought Gon to this mountain to train Observation Haki.
Observation Haki was remarkably similar to En from the Hunter world; both dramatically increased one's perceptive abilities.
"Observation Haki is a sensory ability," Kyle explained. "It lets you sense danger without seeing it, allowing you to dodge in time."
"We only have three days. In that time, you have to learn to dodge my basic attacks."
Gon felt the bump on his head, but then thought of his upcoming fight with Hisoka. His eyes hardened with resolve.
Kyle blindfolded Gon and the "special training" began again.
Every time the wooden sword fell, Gon's pain and his growing insight were simultaneously transmitted to Kyle. He was, in effect, training himself by training Gon, but with the convenient bonus of Gon taking all the physical pain. This fact filled Kyle with a near-fanatical passion as he swung the sword, showing no mercy for Gon's "conditioning."
Only under extreme pressure could one awaken Observation Haki quickly.
Gon's talent was astonishing.
In the first hour, he could only rely on his Hunter's instincts to dodge occasionally, and he was covered in more welts than he could count.
But through the Resonance, Kyle could clearly feel Gon's senses expanding like a spider's web. His perception of the airflow and of Kyle's ketsu (killing intent/intent to strike) grew sharper by the minute.
Finally, after countless swings, as the whoosh of the sword cut through the air again, Gon's head tilted instinctively to the side. The wood grazed his ear. He had, for the first time, completely dodged.
Then came a second dodge, and a third. He could finally sense the trajectory of the attacks and began to easily avoid Kyle's deliberately slowed-down strikes.
Kyle, sensing Gon's progress, immediately increased his attack speed, raising the difficulty of the training...
Back in the room at Heaven's Arena.
Killua was practicing his Nen, but his eyes kept flicking to the spot where Kyle had activated his ability.
"Didn't Kyle say they'd be back on the third day?"
Just as doubt began to creep in, the space in the room suddenly rippled, and a curtain of light slowly formed.
Kyle and Gon stumbled out.
Kyle was pale, clearly drained of Aura, but while Gon had a few bruises, his eyes were exceptionally bright.
"Gon!" Killua immediately ran over. "What was that other world like?"
Another world—a concept that usually only existed in books was real. Killua's curiosity was at its peak.
"It was amazing!" Gon said excitedly. "They have a power system called Devil Fruits and Haki. It's different from our Nen, but the essence is really similar."
"Haki? Devil Fruits? Tell me everything!" Killua's eyes were shining. He completely failed to notice Kyle, who was white as a sheet.
Kyle just silently walked over to the sofa and began meditating to recover his spent Nen.
As he regulated his breathing, Kyle noticed that although the cost was still massive, his total Aura capacity had noticeably increased. It seemed that opening the dimensional passage acted as a form of extreme-limit training, boosting his overall reserves.
"So this is Observation Haki?"
Killua stood behind Gon, launching a probing, silent attack. As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Gon easily sidestepped the blow.
"Yep! It can sense your intent to attack. Even without using my eyes, I can feel the change in the air and know the attack's path," Gon said proudly.
A small smirk played on Killua's lips. His attack speed suddenly tripled. Gon sensed the attack, but his body couldn't react in time. He was sent flying into the wall with a punch.
"Killua!" Gon jumped up, rubbing his nose, and chased after him. The two immediately started roughhousing.
Kyle tried to recover in peace, but stray pillows kept hitting him. After the third or fourth time, he couldn't take it anymore and jumped into the fray.
After the three had exhausted themselves and were lying in a pile on the floor, Killua turned his head, his expression suddenly serious.
"Kyle, I want to make a contract with you, too."
Kyle looked at Killua, not at all surprised. The desire to explore the unknown was human nature, especially for a boy like Killua.
"Really?" A look of genuine delight flashed in Kyle's eyes.
After making the request, Killua had actually been a little nervous. He came from a family of assassins and was naturally paranoid. He had doubted Kyle's motives before.
However, the undisguised happiness in Kyle's eyes was like a ray of sun that banished his small anxieties. This unconditional acceptance warmed Killua, and he nodded firmly. "Yeah."
"That's great! You're the third member of my pirate crew," Kyle said with a grin.
"Pirate crew? Kyle, you're going to become a pirate?" Killua was surprised.
"That's right. Pirates are common in that other world, and it's full of monsters. From what I know, the strongest ones are all gathered in a place called the New World."
"The New World?" Killua pressed.
"Mhm. It's ruled by the four most powerful pirate crews, known as the Four Emperors."
Killua's expression turned serious as he immediately understood the implications. "Are these Four Emperors strong?"
"Of course. They all have the 'disposition of a king,' and three of them are Devil Fruit users."
"If we converted their Haki to our Nen, their Aura quantities would probably be in the millions."
"In the... millions?! Those are... absolute monsters."
Killua's pupils contracted. As a prodigy of the Zoldyck family, he understood the terrifying gap that number represented far better than Gon.
But the shock lasted only a second. His gaze immediately became sharp and analytical, his mind already calculating the immense gulf in power.
Kyle's serious expression broke into a confident smile. "But we'll definitely surpass them."
Killua looked at Kyle's confident smile and didn't argue.
After all, Kyle's ability shared their training results. Once the "crew" got bigger, the combined results of everyone training in other worlds would be stacked onto Kyle alone. His growth would be incredibly fast.
Surpassing those monsters was just a matter of time.
Besides, Killua was confident in his own talent. If he could learn Haki, he was certain he wouldn't lose to any of that world's natives.
"I'm actually looking forward to it."
"Gon's fight with Hisoka is in 14 days. Aren't we going back? I want to train Observation Haki, too." Killua had no intention of falling behind. The sensory perception Gon had just displayed was completely different from the assassin's intuition he relied on.
"My ability has a three-day cooldown. We have to wait three days before I can activate it again," Kyle said, frustrated.
"Kyle, have you ever thought about... buying a ship?" Killua said excitedly, rubbing his chin.
Kyle shook his head with a bitter smile. "That's the hard part. I can't exactly transport a huge ship."
Just as Kyle was feeling helpless, a person suddenly came to mind: Owl of the Shadow Beasts.
His ability, [Fun Fun Cloth], could shrink massive objects.
If they could find him, they could use his ability to bring a high-tech ship from their world into the Pirate World.
That would truly be an artifact out of its time.