The three months passed by. Sometimes the time flew, and sometimes the time dragged on like a slug. But either way the madness of training dragged the hybrid and the Valkyrie down its slippery slope. Gon, Killua, Kurapika, Leorio, and Zushi all learned many things as they trained in Blood Magic. It seemed like Wing was a bit overwhelmed by having five students all living in his tiny apartment with him, but it worked out. Wing slept in his bedroom, while the others had a rotating schedule of turns to sleep in the guest bedroom, on the futon in the office, on the couch, or in either of the reclining chairs. The left side chair was Killua's favorite, believe it or not.

That shit was comfortable!

The futon was too skinny and the couch cushions pushed apart too easily. Not to mention the springiness of the bed. It was general knowledge that Wing had the best sleeping arrangements, but who were they to complain? He was teaching them all this crap free of charge, afterall.

"Today we will be working on increasing the natural speed of our inner Ten flow," Wing announced a week in at the breakfast table. Gon and Killua paused their battle over the last stick of sausage, only for it to be snatched by Zushi.

"We've gotten a good enough hang on Ten?" Kurapika asked, always curious about how they were doing and the analytics of all this.

Wing nodded, "Yes indeed. As you already know, Zushi, Killua, and Gon learned this before you. But as it stands, Leorio has caught up and the five of you are ready to begin your next stage of training. I will be certain to keep us all at the same stage, and those of you who master techniques faster will simply practice until the others are ready as well. Have no fear, this will take no more than three months."

"Hey!" Leorio complained, "It's not like I'm the weak link or anything!"

"You sure about that, old man?" Killua taunted.

"Zoldyck," Wing scolded, having been let in on Killua's lineage in order to access his last name. "Be respectful to your fellow trainees."

The Valkyrie sunk in his chair, Wing was no fun.

From there, the five trained their subconscious Ten flow until it was fast enough for Wing's liking. The minimum requirement to proceed was a steady flow, like a small waterfall in a creek. Gon and Killua, however, revved their flow up to a serene downpour, like the flow from an enormous and infinite bucket.

"The five of you mastered that last technique with spectacular timing!" Wing praised his line of trainees. The living room was the official training ground. The three on the couch and chairs were always the lucky ones during training, they could sit and meditate in the most comfortable spots. Killua was on the couch, which wasn't as good as the left chair, but it was better than the floor. Gon had the left side chair. Lucky bastard.

"Anyone care to take a guess as to what we'll be tackling next?" the Sorcerer asked cheerfully.

"I think we're going to work on Ren," Killua yawned.

"Correct, on the dot as always, Killua," Wing responded with a nod. "We will be training our Ren output so that we will be able to use more at a time. We will be using the Ren shield for this segment, as it is one that we all are well versed in. Our goal is to thicken our Ren shields, working our bodies up to be able to control more Blood Energy at once. After this is completed, we will be able to move onto offensive techniques."

From there, they spend an entire month practicing different types of Ren. Leorio and Zushi stayed at the same level, but Kurapika branched further out in practice and power. Gon and Killua stood way ahead of all of them combined.

The five mastered a wide array of basic Ren applications, as well as how to come up with their own ideas. By the time Wing was finally pleased with their progression, Gon and Killua's Ren shields were a foot thick, and potent as ever.

The five were sitting in the living room in front of Wing, ready to begin their next segment. "Today we will be correcting a flaw that I am sure all of you have noticed. Tell me, what is one issue that you have always run into over the course of your Ren training? Someone besides Killua and Kurapika needs to answer."

"Gon and Killua like to fuck around when they learn these things in two seconds flat," Leorio complained.

"Language," Wing scolded. "And that is incorrect."

"Uh…" Gon said slowly, brain clearly struggling with this task. "We… aren't strong enough with Ren?"

"Close, but not quite," Wing prompted.

"I know, I know!" Zushi chirped, tail wagging behind him. "Our stamina isn't up to snuff!"

"Corect, thank you Zushi. As I am sure you have all noticed, as it stands you are only able to perform your Ren abilities for a short period of time. Today we will begin working with our Ren stamina in particular. To do this, rather than focusing our Ren in specific forms, we will be consistently forcing our Blood Magic out of our bodies as fast and as hard as possible. This is how Sorcerer's measure their power levels, so it will be a crucial application to master. Also, it will help you hone your Magical stamina."

A month was spent increasing Magical stamina and re-practicing all of the Ren techniques. Things were getting boring, if Gon was being honest. His Magical stamina was way up within a week and a half! And it only took him a few days to get the hang of using those abilities long term. Killua was having similar issues.

There was only so much practice could do for them. Gon knew from personal experience that nothing hardened fighting skills more than getting on the battlefield, or Arena floor in this case. And that was exactly what started to piss Killua off.

"Dammitttttt, this is so unfair!" Killua whined, dragging his hands through his fluffy crown of hair. "Kurapika has shot up 100 floors already! And Zushi is almost to the 200s! And what are we doing?! Just fucking sitting around!"

"I get what you mean," Gon agreed sheepishly. The two of them were sitting on the kitchen table. They were supposed to be in Ten meditation to increase the level of their Blood Energy pockets, but had gotten distracted.

"How many times do I have to say to watch your language?" Wing complained from where he was sitting and scrolling through Twitter. "Honestly, I'm going to have to come up with some sort of punishment. And aren't you supposed to be focusing on raising your Blood Energy levels?"

"Well how can we focus when we're already so good at it!" Killua snapped.

"And the others are all three out fighting!" Gon added, whining like a child and rolling from a criss cross position to his back, feet raised up in the air. "It's so unfair, why do they get to fight and we don't?"

Wing sighed and pushed his glasses up his nose. "We've been over this, and while I understand your frustration I ask that you retain this information. The others are not fighting in the 300s, so they will not be using Blood Magic in their battles. It is safe for them to continue fighting, but that is simply not the case for the two of you. If Leorio, Kurapika, or Zushi happen to reach the 300s, I will halt their Arena progress as well until our three months of training are up. Now stop complaining and focus on your Ten. Just because the others are off loitering doesn't mean that you two can do the same."

"So even he admits that a fight day counts as a field trip day," Killua muttered under his breath.

"Those guys are so luckyyyy," Gon whined. He then got flicked in the head by Wing and quickly sat back up with a squeak of surprise.

"Today we will be learning something special!" Wing declared, cup of coffee in hand.

"Oh? What's that?" Kurapika asked, ever the teacher's pet.

"We are learning an advanced application of Ren that will be crucial to your upcoming 300s battles. As you know, we have recently begun practicing Zetsu, and suppressing the flow of Ten - and therefore our life force entirely - to keep us out of sight. Well, there is a special application of Zetsu called In, which conceals spells from the Awakened, not just the Unawakened. We will be learning how to combat this."

The five chattered amongst themselves for a moment before Wing clapped to regain their attention. "We have already mastered how to use Ren in combat and are honing Zetsu. Now that we know these key components to a Sorcery battle, we must learn how to see our opponents concealed moves coming. It is crucial that you train yourselves to always use this when you suspect foul play from an opponent. It is quite common for Sorcerers to hide their physical spells using In to give them the element of surprise. And this new technique, Gyo, can be used to see through that defense."

"Are we gonna learn In too?" Killua asked.

"Not yet. As it stands you do not have any physical Hatsu abilities to conceal," Wing explained. "Now, in order to use Gyo, you must focus your Ren in your eyes. Summon your shields, and move all of that power to your eyes instead of your body. Once this is done you will be able to see through In, and will be versed in the use of Gyo."

The Vampire-hybrid held his hand up, and summoned his Hatsu spell: a shimmering dagger of Blood Magic. Then, with a spike from his Magical aura, it suddenly disappeared. "Now I have activated In," Wing declared. "Focus on pushing your Magic into your eyes until you are able to activate Gyo and see through my In. We will move onto fine tuning our Gyo from there."

Kurapika peeked out the corner of his eye at Gon and Killua. Their Ren was enormous. Even as they sat secreting so much raw energy, they appeared as if they were meditating. Blood Magic was nothing to them. Kurapika was strong, 1 in 10 million as Wing had told him…

But the gap between himself and the two boys was incredible.

Still though.

Something was tickling at the edge of his mind.

"Mr. Wing?" he asked, approaching the Sorcerer where he was sitting at the table and reading a book. Zushi and Leorio were sitting on the floor of the kitchen practicing their Ren.

"Yes, what is it, Kurapika?" he asked, flipping the page.

"I've been watching Gon and Killua, and I've noticed something."

The Vampire-hybrid's brows drew together.

"The two of them," Kurapika continued, "Could have completed their training within a month. They never needed three. From where they are now, I believe it is safe to say that they have fully completed their training, even if there are still a couple of things to touch up on. I'm sure they will - or already have - figured out whatever those things are on their own. You see it in them too, don't you? They're restless. They know they're strong, yet they are being held back."

Wing sighed, putting his book down. He pushed his glasses up his nose, and fixed Kurapika with a solemn glance. "You are correct. I am holding Gon and Killua back on purpose."

"Why?" the Elf asked, confused. He understood wanting to keep all five of them training at the same time so they all finished simultaneously, but with Gon and Killua being so much more powerful than the rest of them… why was this happening?

"Because I want to hold them back as long as I can. They pick these things up so fast… and I want to be sure that they use these powers the right way. The majority of their time is spent increasing their Magical stamina, the amount of Ren they can control at a time, and the depth of their Blood Energy pockets. All these things are nothing more than busy work, and even then practicing them only serves to make them grow stronger all the faster… I sense incredible potential. But with incredible potential comes incredible danger. The two of them are young and impulsive, and I want to hold them back as long as I can before they are thrown into the real world. For even if they believe they understand the nature of the culture of Sorcery, they really have no idea what they can get themselves into. I just wish… that they weren't so naturally talented. Then maybe they could attain some sense of caution with this power… but it comes to them so easily. And I just want to be sure that they are safe."

Kurapika nodded slowly, following but still not quite.

"You're afraid of them," he said slowly.

Wing's eyebrow twitched. "You got me. I truly fear what power they will hold… and what they will do with that power. Seeing such power in the hands of people so young… it scares me. I just don't want them to fall into darkness."

"They're not like that," Kurapika murmured. "I'm sure you've noticed it by now. Killua worries me sometimes, but even so I know him and his mind. I know you see it too. They can handle this. Since there's only two weeks we might as well keep them for the entire two months… but know that you have nothing to worry about with them."

Wing gave Kurapika an appreciative glance. What the Elf said was true. He didn't need to fuss over Gon and Killua. However… he had a feeling that it was Kurapika himself that was in the most danger of succumbing to the darkness, even though he was the most level headed of all of them by far.


AN: I've finally finished outlining the rest of this arc, so hopefully I can just crank the rest of it out! anyways, things are going to start getting serious now, it's about time I lived up to all that foreshadowing :3