The five Sorcerers in training stood in a line in a living room for the final time. Wing had cooked up a large breakfast of pancakes, eggs, sausage, toast, and fruit as celebration. The three months were now up, and all five of them had completed their first stage training. Gon, Killua, and Kurapika's fights on the 300th floor were all today, and Gon was antsy to get back to the Arena.
"I am incredibly proud of all of you," Wing praised. "All five of you have now completed your first stage training. You are all officially Sorcerers now. You are not masters at Blood Magic yet, but that time will come when you meet your second stage masters. I know that Gon's fight starts soon, so I will keep this brief. Use your Magic wisely. It is an incredible power, one that can bring you to the final level of humanoid achievement, but also one that can break you. Be careful in your 300s battles, and do not push yourselves too far. If the spells you encounter are too strong for your Ren to defend you from, then just take a loss. I wish you all luck in your lives, and it was an honor to train the five of you." Wing extended his arms out at his sides. "Osu."
"Osu!" the five of them exclaimed in unison. Gon thought he saw a lining of tears in Wing's eyes, but he quickly blinked them away. He gave them all a big smile, and waved as they poured out the door, ready to continue their rise in the Arena. Zushi gave Wing a big hug on the way out, which warmed Gon's heart.
The five of them chattered about what they were going to do next as they descended the metal staircase. Gon hadn't been outside in three months! Wow! The sunlight felt amazing on his skin, and everything felt so big. He loved Yorknew City so much.
I'm a different person from when I first climbed these stairs.
I'm stronger now.
If I could go back to that time… then I would have been able to fight.
I did it. I can be at peace. I'm not like I was back then any more.
Kite, with this new power, I can truly live up to your name.
Thanks… for everything.
"What's with that face?" Killua asked with a playful shove to Gon's shoulder.
The hybrid grinned and shoved back. He hadn't been able to think Kite's name without breaking down in rage or tears since that day. "Oh, nothing!" he chirped.
Killua gave him a suspicious look for a second, before shrugging and letting it go. "Whatever, you were probably thinking something weird anyways."
"Yeah… I suppose."
"You ready for your fight?"
Gon gripped his fist, biochemical already stirring in his bones. "More than anything. Now I can finally see what I can do now that I have this power."
Killua grinned, and bumped his fist against Gon's. "Yes, I feel the same way. Time to show the world we can mop the floor with Magic, and not just martial arts."
"Hell yeah!" Gon agreed.
The two of them stared into each other's eyes, intense expressions on their faces and grins with a dangerous lilt to them.
"Alright, break it up, you can gaze into each other's eyes later," Leorio teased, shoving them apart by their heads.
"Were we really just standing there?" Gon asked with a laugh, not noticing Killua's fit of embarrassment.
"Oh yeah, in your own little world!" Leorio said in a weird tone of voice. He slung his arm around Gon's shoulder and winked. What on earth? Was he trying to tell Gon something? Gon didn't get it.
"Cut it out, old man!" Killua growled, weaseling in between Gon and Leorio to steal the Goblin's place at Gon's side. The hybrid's smile grew when Killua pressed himself flush against his side, sandwiched between the two dark haired males. He liked being this close to Killua.
Leorio had refused to un-wrap his arm from Gon's shoulders, and Killua pushed at him to try and get him off. He snarled a bit, and Leorio laughed, holding his ground. Usually he couldn't do anything against Killua's strength, even when they were just roughhousing like this. The training had really gotten Leorio stronger. It was no wonder he'd shot to the 271st floor so fast.
"Stop wrestling!" Kurapika ordered. "We need to say goodbye to Zushi!"
"Oh yeah!" Gon exclaimed, wriggling out of Leorio and Killua's grips to dart over to where Zushi and Kurapika were standing at the base of the staircase. The Valkyrie and the Goblin followed after him.
The dog-boy smiled sheepishly at the three of them, his tail wagging slowly behind him.
"I'm really gonna miss you guys," he murmured.
"What, not gonna stick around?" Killua asked gruffly. He worded it as if he was annoyed that Zushi had been hanging around them for so long, but Gon could tell from the light swaying of his tail that he was actually sad about parting way's with the Cryptid.
"I'd love to, I really would! But I need to focus on my Heavens Arena fights. I'm gonna take a page from you guys' book and speedrun the Arena. The faster I get to the top, the better! I have a feeling that I won't be able to find my second stage master until I reach the upper floors."
"Aw, Zushi!" Gon whined, feeling tears rising in his eyes. He hated goodbyes!
"What are you gonna do after the Arena?" Kurapika asked with a smile.
"Yeah, not like that's gonna occupy you for too long," Killua retorted. It was an offhanded compliment, and Zushi smiled, his tail wagging a little faster. So he'd learned to speak Killua too. That made Gon happy.
"I'm going to use my Sorcery power for good! I'm going to take odd jobs and help people out. My ultimate goal in life is to join the Zodiacs! I can't do that unless I'm a Sorcerer and have made my dedication to keeping this world at peace clear!"
Killua whistled.
Kurapika raised his eyebrows and smiled.
"Damn, you've got high standards!" Leorio declared with a small round of applause.
"That's amazing, Zushi!" Gon cheered. He ran up to the dog-boy's side, wrapping him jup in a big hug. He hadn't been able to contain himself anymore, he was gonna miss Zushi so much!
Gon squeezed the shorter boy tight, and Zushi wrapped his arms around him in return.
"I'm gonna miss you so much! We better run into each other again or I'm gonna hunt you down."
Zushi laughed. "I don't doubt that! And I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other again! You're too amazing of a person to only run into once, Gon. Good luck finding your dad, I know you can do it."
Gon whined against Zushi's soft ears. "Dammit! You're gonna make me cry!"
"Don't suffocate him, Gon," Killua grumbled. The hybrid whipped his arm out and grabbed Killua, pulling him into the embrace. "Huh?! Gon– the hell–"
"Group hug!" Gon yelled, gaining some strange looks from other pedestrians.
Leorio and Kurapika darted in, Kurapika stepping behind and hugging Zushi and Killua together, trapping the Valkyrie in the quadruple embrace. Leorio darted up next, wrapping all of them up in his enormous arms and lifting them off the ground.
They all laughed together, except for Killua who looked uncomfortable. He was squeezed right up next to Gon, with their cheeks squished together. Zushi's head was trapped under their chins, and Kurapika was right there on Zushi's other side. Leorio was at Gon and Killua's backs, holding them all together.
"Goodbye Zushi, we'll miss you like a severed limb," Gon whined.
"That's pretty violent," Zushi said sheepishly, voice muffled against Gon's chest.
"It won't be the same without your squeaky voice sounding all the time," Killua sighed.
What? That was so mean! Gon headbutted him, and the Valkyrie hissed. "Killua! Be nice!" he ordered. "Zushi's leaving, stop being such a grump!"
The silver haired boy groaned in annoyance, and then wiggled his arms out from where they were trapped at his side to join the embrace. He slung one arm around Kurapika's shoulders, further encasing Zushi, and wrapped the other around Gon's waist. His tail wrapped around Zushi, the only indication of his true feelings regarding their separation.
Killua's hand felt warm on Gon's waist, the touch feather light and sweet.
It made Gon's skin tingle a little beneath his skin.
"Zushi, I wish you could just join our group!" Leorio exclaimed, voice wavering with teary eyes. "It won't be the same without you! Everyone knows that three kids is better than two!"
"Don't scare him away!" Kurapika scolded half-heartedly. "I wish you the best of luck, Zushi. We'll all have to meet up one day once we achieve our goals."
"Keep in touch," Killua said simply, voice genuine and a soft look in those ocean blue eyes. Gon looked over at Killua, watching him watch Zushi. He loved seeing Killua get along with other people. Something stirred in his chest. What was this, affection? Well, he supposed he was proud of Killua for being so sociable!
With one last exaggerated whine, Leorio put them all down, and the hug broke up. They all stepped back, and Killua let his tail linger at Zushi's side for a moment before he let go. The two tailed humanoids exchanged a glance, and Zushi pushed his ears back and then forward. Killua did the same, and then they shook hands.
Gon had no idea what that meant, he didn't speak tail.
But he did speak Killua, and based on that look in his eyes he really would miss Zushi.
The other three shook hands with Zushi after Killua, and then finally they went their separate ways. Zushi went in one direction, and Leoroi, Gon, Killua, and Kurapika in the other. They waved until the main four piled into a taxi, and then they were on their way back to the Arena.
"I hope you guys are ready to rumble!" Leorio cheered, hyping the other three up as they rode towards Heaven's Square.
"Yes!" Gon cheered, hopping up and down in his seat and pumping his fists.
"It will feel good to test these powers," Kurapika murmured, though his smile didn't reach his eyes. Gon looked over at Kurapika, but Killua beat him to the punch. The Valkyrie jostled his mother's shoulder.
"It'll be alright, mother," he assured the blonde. "You'll whoop your opponent's ass!"
Kurapika smiled softly, and brushed his hands through Killua's wild hair to try and tame his ever-persistent bed head. "Thank you, child. Same goes to you." The silver haired boy squirmed under Kurapika's doting hands, and Gon giggled as they wrestled about.
"Put 'er there, kiddo!" Leorio exclaimed, holding his fist out to Gon.
The hybrid giggled and pounded their fists together.
He had such a good feeling about the 300th floor!
…
Spotlights danced across the arena floor, and the crowd was in a frenzy. Gon circled his opponent, feeling the seriousness of this battle in the air. His was the first fight of the day for the three of them, and he couldn't be more glad.
He could finally go all out.
This was gonna be so epic!
When the announcer had called Gon's name and declared his three month break over, the crowd had gone absolutely insane! Sure, they had already known from the tickets that it was Gon who would be fighting, but their enthusiasm was so cool! People even had cardboard cutouts with his face on it! He even heard one person scream that they had his name tattooed on their chest! Heaven's Arena was so crazy!
But fanclubs aside, Gon's opponent looked like a serious fighter. He was some sort of Elf with skin so pale it might as well have been white. He was even paler than Killua! His hair was a sky blue, and his eyes were a dull gray. That meant he was a snow Elf? Gon knew that wasn't the correct sub-species name, but he was definitely one of the species that lived in the arctic.
There were too many sub-species of Elves for Gon to keep up with!
Killua was in charge of memorizing all the different combinations of blood, not Gon!
The dude's name was Allun, and it didn't appear that he had any Blood Magic activated yet. Their fight had already started, and that was a little suspicious. Gon activated his Ren shield in a dramatic flurry, sending an explosion of Magical Energy out from himself as an intimidation tactic.
The slight falter in Allun's eyes was indication that it had worked.
Gon had a stronger Magic at his disposal than the Elf had assumed.
The guy lowered his stance, continuing to circle Gon. "I am grateful for this fight, may we both do our best," he called out.
"Yeah!" Gon agreed. I almost feel bad about beating him like this, he's so polite!
But what can he do? I haven't seen his Magic yet, but I can already tell that I'm stronger than he is.
Allun still hadn't shown any Magic, even when Gon had flaunted his flashy Ren shield. That only meant one thing: he was using In to conceal his Magic. Gon activated Gyo, making sure to add more Blood Energy from his stores to hold his shield at the same level when he added Gyo.
Sure enough, Allun had been hiding his Magic. With Gyo activated, Gon could now see his Ren shield and a gathering cloud of Magical energy around him. Wing had taught them that a cloud of energy will gather when one is preparing to activate a spell.
"You know Gyo, I commend you," Allun said with a genuine smile.
"And you have Sorcery completely mastered," Gon shot back. "I'm interested to see your Hatsu. The only spells I've seen are my master's spells. I'm ready to see what Blood Magic is capable of."
"I'll be sure to show you," Allun declared, before he whipped an athame out of its sheath at his thigh. Gon had only seen a little bit of Bloodletting from Wing, and now he got to see it for real. This was so cool!
Allun swiped the blade over his palm, and blood rose up through the open wound, floating up through his Ren shield and into the cloud of Magical Energy. Only a bit of blood was taken, and the cut started bleeding normally once Allun took the correct amount. He changed his stance, bending his knees and holding his arms out loose with palms facing the sky. The blood mixed with the cloud of energy around him, and the mixture swirled about over his head until it began to glow, and formed five floating orbs above him.
"Slip Cannon Orbs!" he announced, and the audience shrieked in excitement.
"Allun reveals his spell! He casts Slip Cannon Orbs!" the announcer cried out.
So everyone in the audience can use Gyo? Woah, that's pretty intense.
I noticed that the stands are smaller, but I never thought that it was because only people who are Awakened can watch. For some reason I feel like I'm doing some sort of initiation right now. Other Sorcerer's are seeing me for the first time, it's kinda nerve wracking.
But at the same time it's really exciting.
Gon grinned, letting a little of his biochemical slip into his bloodstream. He felt his teeth and horns get a little sharper, and his muscles buzzed with energy as he increased their output and reflexes. He needed to be ready for Allun's attack.
"Here I come!" Allun announced, before punching the air in Gon's direction. One of the orbs of light then shot a beam of Magical energy straight for Gon! He gawked, amazed to dodge for a second. He quickly got his bearings, and leapt out of the way.
"What?" Gon gasped when the blast curved, following his retreat. Gon hurried and held up his arm to block the impact, bracing his Ren to take the blow. The blast hit him like a freight train, and while he wasn't injured he was pushed across the ring.
"Woah!" Gon breathed, excitement brewing within him. Fist fights were one thing, but this was a whole nother level! He'd thought he had mastered fighting entirely, but apparently that had only been physical fighting. Now he had to combat these metaphysical attacks! This was so freaking exciting!
"I won't let up!" Allun cried out, and Gon whipped back in his direction just in time to see another two blasts coming his way. Gon braced himself for the blows, knowing that running was pointless. He gritted his teeth as the opposing Magic pounded against his Ren. The surface of his Magic rippled with the powerful blow, but it wasn't enough to break the shield.
Allun continued blasting at Gon, and the hybrid realized that the Elf wasn't going to give him a chance to counter attack. He knew Gon was stronger, and he was making sure to keep him backed into a corner.
He's probably waiting till I'm tired, and then he'll up his attack strength to take me out.
Gon darted to the side, the onslaught of attacks from the orbs following him, but in the slight second he got from his evasion, he was able to get a good look at Allun. He needed to get over there and counter. And Gon had a good idea.
He pulled more Energy from his stores, and encased his arms in thick gauntlets of Ren, making the shielding around his fists and forearms thicker than how it was around the rest of his body. Handling the normal shield, the Ren gauntlets around his fists, and Gyo was a lot to focus on at once. It was really starting to tire Gon out!
He needed to get this over with. He hadn't realized how difficult these fights would be!
But it was difficult in a good way.
When the next blast came, Gon braced himself. He stood crouched at an angle, and when the blast arrived he met it head on rather than just blocking. He punched the blast of energy like he was playing baseball, and bounced off his Ren to collide with the blasts following it.
There was an enormous explosion when Allun's attacks ran into each other, and Gon struggled not to be blown back by the shockwave.
"Gon deflects Allun's attack, turning his own spells against themselves!" the announcer yelled.
Allun paused his onslaught to brace against the explosion, just like Gon had intended. He used this change to run off to the side, using the dust cloud from the abused arena floor to sneak up on Allan.
He dashed straight for his opponent, Ren swirling around his fists. Gon emerged from the cloud of smoke, and Allun gasped in surprise as Gon came sailing towards him. A bunch of things happened really fast.
Allun's Ren was not strong enough to counter Gon's superior Ren, and he clearly noticed this. He gritted his teeth, and quickly drew a vial of blood from a pouch on his belt. Gon's eyes widened in realization, and he grinned in excitement for what was to come.
The elven man pulled the cork off the bottle with his teeth, and flung the blood in an arc over his head. He then encased his arm in Ren, and punched upward through the shower of blood. The blood and Ren mixed, and the reaction formed a flash of light. The light formed into a shield of glowing white Magic, clearly stronger than anything Allun could manage on his own, and more than enough to counter Gon's attack.
It was too late to stop now, and Gon's punch landed against Allun's shield, sparks of Ren flying in every direction. Gon quickly twisted around, moving to sweep Allun's legs. If he put enough force behind it he could knock him off his balance. A Ren shield could stop Magical and physical damage, but it couldn't prevent you from getting knocked around.
Allan noticed this, which Gon was annoyed and impressed by at the same time.
The pale skinned man motioned with a finger, and used all the orbs at once to blast at Gon. The hybrid crossed his arms in front of him, blocking the attack but being flung all the way back to the other side of the arena.
Allun stood in a defensive stance, panting. He held the shield up at his side, and his Ren seemed a little strained.
Gon flung himself backwards onto his hands, and then tossed himself to his feet, not pausing for even a second.
He's running out of stamina. He's clearly not strong enough with his Magic to make so many consecutive blasts, and being forced to use a higher level blood for a shield really messed up his plan.
Now that I know it takes so much strain to use all the orbs at once, I know that if I can force him to do it again, then I'll have an opening directly after. Another thing I noticed is that when all the orbs blast at once, they lose accuracy. If he has trouble using them all at once, then it's likely that he can't control that blast and make it follow me around like he can when he uses them individually.
Gon's grin grew, and he added more biochemical to his bloodstream. He was getting a little fatigued himself, and he could use the biochemical to increase his Magical Stamina. Gyo took a lot of concentration, and that concentration increased exponentially the more Magic an opponent hid using In.
Allun may not have had the strongest Ren, but he was incredibly skilled if he could hide everything with In without a second thought.
I need to get him to use all the orbs at once again, and I need to get past that shield. Based on the smell of the blood, he used Angel blood. That's some pretty powerful stuff. And with the amount of Ren he sacrificed to cast the spell, that's a really strong shield. I could punch through it if I really tried, but I don't want to waste too much of my Energy. Besides, I'm not able to control that much power at a time, and I'd lose my shield and my Gyo if I focused that much Ren into my fist.
Gon quickly ran back forward, needing to get in close before Allun recharged enough to blast him back again. If he could get in fast enough, he could get too close for a single orb attack to push Gon back, and Allun would be forced to use all orbs at once.
He ran leaned toward the side holding the shield, and got there with perfect timing.
Allun gritted his teeth and gasped at how fast Gon had recovered from that intense blast. He pushed his hand in Gon's direction, and all the orbs blasted at him once again. Gon jumped to the right, the side without the shield, and sure enough, the blast missed him and was too big to manipulate at will!
Gon cranked back his arm, adding some more Energy to the Ren in his fists just for good measure. Before Allun could move his shield to the other side, Gon darted up and punched him as hard as he could in the chest.
Now came the tricky part.
As Allun was being flung backwards and out of the ring, Gon propelled some of his Ren outwards. It was a basic Ren application where you blasted your Magic outwards, it was Ren offense. Gon focused the attack into a precise blast, so that the impact of his punch continued even as Allun was thrown back.
The Elf crashed into the wall bordering the arena, and Gon's blast socked him directly in the chest. Gon watched triumphantly with his Gyo as Allun's shield shattered, and his two casted spells dissipated. His clothes were shredded by the force of Gon's blast, and maybe he'd put a little too much Energy into it… cause his chest was bloodied and burnt.
Oops.
"Incredible! Gon wins!" the announcer cried out. The audience erupted into cheers, and Gon released his Ren shield, Gyo, and the Magic concentrated in his fists. He stumbled a bit when he finally was able to release the power, and he had to add a little more biochemical to keep himself from stumbling back at the powerful release of all that Magic.
He threw his fist into the air, laughing in joy.
That had been incredible! He'd never fought such an exciting fight in his life!
It had been really different, but using this power felt so good! He'd been storing up Energy for three months now, and tapping into that pool, even just a little bit, made him want to keep going until he was completely out!
Gon danced around the arena as he was rained with flowers and confetti, and waved as he walked down the victory tunnel. This was what he'd been waiting for! After all these months of being the strongest he could possibly be, there was finally a challenging fight! And things would only get more difficult as he moved to higher floors!
Gon couldn't wait!
…
Killua took a deep breath as he activated his Ren shield. His opponent didn't look very interesting. Gon had gotten lucky, he'd gotten an opponent with actual skill. Killua got the feeling that this guy wasn't even Awakened.
Now, how am I gonna rise to the same floor as Gon if this guy knows nothing of Blood Magic?
The man, an enormous Gargoyle ripped with muscles, started banging on his chest like a gorilla and yelling, riling up the audience.
"What's a twig like you gonna do against me?" he boomed, flexing for his screaming fangirls and fanboys. Seriously. Why did Killua always get the egotistical buff ones?
I think I've got a few ideas.
He's a complete dunce and doesn't realize that I'm a Valkyrie, so I'll play that against him. I won't use my aura, and I'll be sneaky with my Valkyrie strength. I sure as hell am gonna use my Magic though.
Killua tuned out the screaming audience, the chattering announcer, Gon's screams that could be easily picked out from the rest, and focused dead on his opponent. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and casually walked forward.
The man turned his attention from kissing his muscles to Killua, clearly annoyed that the "scrawny" boy wasn't intimidated.
Maybe I'll "accidentally" get my shirt ripped off. That would be funny.
I'm not the bean pole this moron thinks I am.
"You got a death wish, kid?" he laughed, rolling his shoulders.
"For all you know," Killua responded simply, keeping his face a blank mask.
The man boomed a laugh. He kinda reminded Killua of Uvogin, but not in a good way. "Don't worry folks," he reassured the audience. "I'll make this fast!"
Killua was pretty sure he heard Gon tell him to go fuck himself.
The giant Gargoyle walked towards Killua, meeting him in the middle of the arena. Killua looked up at him, and flashed a peace sign. "Yo."
The man sneered, "Sorry in advance, kid!" He then cranked back a fist - and gods was this gonna hurt - and punched Killua square in the stomach. Killua made no move to block or dodge, he didn't even flinch. He simply sailed backwards, with his hands still in his pockets, to crash into the wall bordering the arena.
The audience was in a frenzy, and the Gargoyle was acting like a douche, glancing back and forth between Killua and the audience as if he didn't know his own strength.
Killua heard the refs running over to him, so he kicked his legs and got to a standing position in the wall crater he'd just made. The refs froze in their tracks, gazing at Killua in amazement. There wasn't a scratch on him.
Killua braced his legs, and jumped from the wall to land down back on his side of the arena. The Gargoyle turned his head back in Killua's direction so hard he almost snapped his neck. The Valkyrie kept his face blank and walked back up to the guy.
"Wha- what the hell?!" he exclaimed, voice cracking. He looked back and forth between Killua and the giant crater in the wall. Killua understood, he should have been knocked out. He should have broken every single rib and be bleeding out right about now.
But nope.
Killua was perfectly fine.
His shield had saved him completely.
Didn't mean the force of the guys blow and breaking the wall hadn't hurt a little though.
The audience was now even louder, and Killua could hear Gon screaming his throat raw. It was becoming harder and harder not to smile when he heard Gon acting like a fool in the stands. But he had to keep this mask up. He would need to break this guy in body and mind if he wanted to move up as much as Gon had. Maybe he'd force-Awaken him too. Just for fun.
"Give me more of a warning next time, huh?" Killua drawled, dusting the debris from his clothes.
The guy sputtered, utterly drawn aback. He pushed some of his aura Killua's way, which didn't hold any effect at all. Even if Killua wasn't trained to resist opposing aura, Gargoyle aura was so far below Valkyrie aura that it would have barely served to tickle him.
Killua yawned and swished his tail.
The guy gritted his teeth.
"Let's try that again, maybe I pulled my punch a little too much," he announced, but the flashy grin didn't reach his eyes. He cranked back for another uppercut, and Killua decided to give more of a show this time.
The man socked him in the stomach with double the force, but this time Killua used his Ren to adhere his feet to the ground. He also hardened his shield so that he didn't move an inch. He made the shield bend beneath the guy's blow, though, so it would seem like he made contact with Killua's stomach but nothing happened.
Silvery white locks blew in the force of the guy's punch, and the man looked at Killua in horror, withdrawing his hand.
"What the fuck?!" he squeaked. "How did that not–"
"I really didn't think a guy as big as you would have such weak punches. Are all those muscles nothing more than compensation?" Killua speculated, dragging a few laughs from the audience.
This pissed the guy off, and Killua swallowed a laugh as he punched him hard in the side of the head. Killua tensed his neck, reinforcing it with his shield. It was like the guy punched a titanium wall. He howled and retracted his hand, shaking it about.
That time, Killua didn't let his shield bend. It looked to the guy like his fist was stopped two inches away from Killua's face. He would be incredibly confused, thinking that he was going crazy. Nothing was there, so what had he hit?
Killua saw these exact thoughts in the guy's eyes as he circled him.
The assassin let it happen, he didn't even turn when the guy crossed behind him. The guy kicked him behind, and Killua didn't budge. He made a swing for Killua's face, and nothing happened. He tried to sweep Killua's legs, and just ended up bruising himself.
Killua yawned and stretched, the picture of boredom.
The guy snarled, taking a vicious chop to Killua's elbow, which was raised over his head.
Under any other circumstance, Killua's elbow would have shattered. But with his Ren shield nothing happened at all.
"Impossible!" the guy yelled, assaulting Killua with a violent barrage of punches, none of them hitting. The man's fists were bloody and raw, and Killua didn't have a single spot of dust on him.
"Damn it! Damn this! There's no way you can avoid THIS!" The guy took a deep breath, and Killua raised his eyebrows slightly. He was a Dragonite Gargoyle, with large horns on his head and spines running down his back. He didn't have a tail, but he had what Killua could only describe as velociraptor feet. As a Dragonite Gargoyle, he could breathe fire.
(Killua couldn't breathe fire as a Dragonite Valkyrie, he just got the tail and an enormous strength boost. Dragonite blood did different things to different species).
The man vomited a giant cloud of blue flames directly at Killua. The Valkyrie was engulfed in a giant inferno, 10 feet in diameter. A little too flashy, for Killua's tastes, but who was he to complain?
The silver haired boy moved his shield beneath his clothing, allowing his shirts to be burnt to ash and his pants to be singed into jagged shorts. He kept the shoes though. They were too cool to sacrifice.
Killua waited until the man was done, crossing his arms, and surrounded by fire.
The Gargoyle finished his assault, stumbled back a bit after all that fire breathing. He blew smoke from his nose, and stood back to admire what should have been Killua's burnt corpse. What he found instead, was a shirtless Killua uncrossing his arms with not a single mark on his skin.
"What- wait, no way you–" the man stuttered, taking in Killua's exposed arms and torso. Killua stretched his arms out, allowing the man to wrack his eyes up and down Killua's body, tracing his tattoos and eyeing up his defined form.
"How are you that jacked?!" he demanded. "And are those sealing tattoos–"
"You done yet? I think I'm ready for my turn," Killua interrupted, finally allowing that smirk to slide across his features. He rolled his shoulders, and stretched his arms out behind his back, showing off his muscles and the inky black of his tattoos.
"Hold on, don't tell me you–" the man choked out, everything that had happened catching up with him so far. Killua watched in glee as the realization dawned upon him: Killua was way out of his league, and he was about to get the shit beat out of him.
Maybe I won't Awaken him. Something about him obsessing over how I managed to stop his blows without moving a muscle makes me laugh.
Killua released his Ren shield, no way the man was gonna attack him now.
He approached the man, extending his claws. The Gargoyle whimpered as he watched veins pop all over Killua's forearms and the claws extend like the maw of a looming Dragon.
"What– what are you?!" he cried out, walking backwards as Killua stalked towards him, trying to keep the distance between them.
"Oh, I'm Dragonite, just like you," Killua responded with a saccharine smile. He then thrashed his wings against their bonds, forcing his tattoos to swirl and slither across his skin. It hurt like a bitch, but the intimidation was so worth it.
"No, but–"
"-A Dragonite Valkyrie."
The man stumbled over his own feet, a silent scream on his face. Killua grinned, and darted forward. He slid effortlessly onto the man's shoulders, and turned his neck with a grinding of bone and tendons. Killua sat on the man's shoulders as he ripped his head clean off, he then hopped down as his lifeless body crumpled to the floor of the arena.
The audience shrieked in horror as blood poured from the stump of his neck. Killua still needed a few more points to catch Gon, so he settled for brutality points. Gazing over his shoulder at the guy's body, he crushed his head in his fist. The skull shattered like it was nothing. Cranial fluid, brains, and goopy blood splattered Killua's bare skin.
The Valkyrie heard a girl in the audience throwing up.
He turned to face his opponent's body, licking up the side of his arm to milk as many points out as he could. He had always liked the flavor of Gargoyle blood, it was so meaty and thick. "Whoops, seems I don't know my own strength," he said in a mocking tone, going back to the beginning when he'd punched Killua into the wall and said that exact same thing.
The audience exploded as the announcer declared Killua the winner, and he walked over to the victor's tunnel, leaving footprints of blood in his wake.
…
Kurapika fell into his fighting stance, activating his Ren shield and bracing for the upcoming battle. His opponent was a human, the first of which Killua had seen fighting in the arena. Aside from Hisoka, of course, but Hisoka did not qualify as a human in his book.
It was a woman, she was tall and elegant with silky brown hair and a flute held behind her back.
She bowed low, "It is a pleasure to fight with you today, I wish the both of us luck."
Her voice was like a song, and something about it tickled Kurapika's ears. He furrowed his brow and activated Gyo. Sure enough, she was already encased in a powerful and pulsing Ren shield. It was thicker than Kurapika's by far, and he was honestly a little concerned about how he would win this fight.
Another thing that bothered him was the Magical Energy dancing around the flute.
Based on that and the fact that she was wearing an evening gown, this woman would be fighting using the music from the flute in some way.
"Tell me, what's your name?" she asked, bringing the flute to her lips.
Kurapika frowned, not going to respond–
"Kurapika."
What?
Why had he–
A trail of blood slipped from the woman's nose, where it dissolved into her Ren.
A delayed Bloodletting. Used to conceal the casting of a spell even better than In can.
In exchange for offering the blood after the spell is performed, the Sorcerer pays with a down payment of pain. The pain is sharp and excruciating. She was able to suffer through it without even a glaze to her eyes.
"Wonderful to meet you, Kurapika," she said in that voice sweet as honey. "My name is Melody."
She must have cast a spell to make me answer any question she asks if I hear her voice with unprotected ears! It will give me strain but I need to keep my ears defended using Ren for this fight. We haven't learned how to defend a part of our body against a specific kind of attack… but I suppose I just have to apply Gyo to my ears… in a way.
Kurapika did this, and it cost a significant amount of Energy - not to mention concentration - but he accomplished it. He was draining a lot of Magic and using a lot of his Stamina just to stay in this fight. He needed to make this fast. He would definitely not last long as Melody would.
The Elf drew his twin swords and started circling Melody. She followed him with her eyes, flute held up to her lips and fingers braced and ready for song.
"What is it you fear?"
It won't work, my ears are already protected–
"Spiders," he answered against his will. "And the thought that I might fail, or worse, relinquish my rage."
What?! But he had protected his ears!
How was this happening–
"An understandable fear," Melody said, true compassion shimmering in those sparkling emerald eyes. "And shielding your ears will not work at this point. I have already cast my spell."
Kurapika glared and gritted his teeth. Dammit! He was off to an awful start. But he could turn this around. He had too! He'd keep his ears shielded, though. There was no telling what other spells she'd be able to cast just by him hearing her voice.
Melody was a dangerous opponent.
"What did you do to me?" he asked through gritted teeth. If Melody was going to be asking him questions against his will, then the least she could do was answer his in return.
"I cast my spell Songbird on you. Once I say the trigger phrase, which is wishing us both luck in battle, you are bound to my voice, and are forced to answer any question I ask of you."
Kurapika glowered. This wasn't good. He shouldn't have been so stupid. He should have paid more attention to her flute, noticed that she would have an auditory attack, and acted accordingly.
"Please, do not fret," Melody murmured softly to him. "It is incredibly difficult to see through my attack as I make it the moment our fight commences. Do not beat yourself up over something you cannot control."
"There is never 'something you can't control,'" Kurapika snapped, still circling the tall woman. "There's always something you could have done, something you can do." Had I just been in the village that night, than maybe I could have prevented this mess from ever occurring.
Melody watched Kurapika with a certain light in her eyes. "Your heartbeat is an awful one indeed. It sings of rage and revenge. Not a pleasant life to lead. It tells me that you have found a well deserved reprieve from all of the madness, yet here you stand, turning away from it in the name of this rage you hold so dearly. Are you so sure that the path you are on right now is the correct one?"
"What are you talking about? You don't know me at all!" Kurapika snarled. "Quit fucking with my mind!" He felt his eyes flash scarlet, and was glad he had put in his black contacts that morning. Something about this fight was really getting to him. He had a feeling that it was another of Melody's auditory spells, but what could it have possibly been? She hadn't started bleeding anywhere, and if asking a question activated them, then what had she said?
The woman simply blinked at Kurapika's rage, then spat a mouthful of blood off to the side. The Kurta gasped, she'd cast something! But when?! And what?!
"I feel your anger, I truly do," she said to him as she repositioned her flute against her mouth.
"Stop talking like that! And what did you do to me?!" Kurapika was consumed by rage, but why?! Why was this damned bitch making him so fucking mad?! She wasn't one of the Spiders! She wasn't the person that had ordered the massacre of his clan! So why was he falling into such a rage?!
"I did not do anything to you," she answered, an intelligent light in those green eyes. "You fell for my Magical trap. It is called Heartfelt Countermelody, a spell that I initiate but you walk yourself into. It forces you to share your innermost thoughts and feelings with me, and from there I can put them into overdrive."
Shit! She said those things about there being nothing I could do on purpose to rile me up and make me fall into her spell! How did she read me so fast and so easily?!
"Now then," Melody murmured, before dragging her tongue along a sharp razor blade attached to her flute. She blew into the instrument, and along the beautiful notes came a stream of her own blood. It exited the flute, and mixed with her Ren.
The Blood Magic activated, and a swirling pattern of runes appeared in her Ren.
Kurapika's eyes were magnetized to the runes, and he couldn't stop himself from looking. When he did, they flashed against his vision, and all of a sudden he was overcome with so much rage that his head hurt–
The Elf was shaking in his boots, and released a battle cry that made even himself flinch. He made a mad dash for Melody, he needed to kill her! He needed to fucking kill her! It was HER, she was why! He was an avenger, and he needed to rip her guts out and spill her blood for all to see!
Melody acted quickly, slitting her tongue again. "No No Haru!" she declared, and then began to play the flute. More blood poured out the end, and in the light of the mixed Blood Magic, Kuarpika's mind spasmed. All of a sudden, he was transported somewhere else.
A chilling flute melody encased his ears, filling his head with cotton and trapping him wherever this was–
"No."
Killua was frozen.
No, this– this couldn't be happening.
All around him. All around him was–
This was his village. Surrounding him were the dead and eyeless victims of his clan's massacre, their eyes gouged out and their blood pooling on the ground. It stuck to the soles of his shoes, soaking through to stain his socks and the hems of his pants. There was his mother, his father, his grandparents, his aunts and uncles, his cousins, his neighbors, his classmates, his playmates…
Pairo.
And there–
Looming above him, silhouetted by the silvery light of the moon–
Was a giant 12 legged spider.
Blood rained down from the sky, and Kurapika was frozen. He couldn't move–
He was frozen not by fear, but by horror. Fear and grief. Guilt and depression.
The flute music echoed through his mind, and it hurt. A chilling and haunting melody, singing the song of the Legs of a Spider. Tears streamed down Kurapika's face, and he fell to his knees in the pond of his clan's blood.
This couldn't be happening–
There was no way.
He shouldn't be here.
He shouldn't be alive! He should be with them–
He had caused this. The spider loomed over him, floating closer in all its death and glory. Kurapika looked up at the spider, and then back down to the ground. Before him he saw.
Himself.
Dead, with empty eye sockets.
He joined his clan in their massacre, right where he belonged. Embraced by the bloody mixture of all of their blood. Arms broken and tattered, his twin swords still clutched in his hands. A tear still hot on his cheek. Body still fresh and warm.
A silent scream on his face.
The spider crept closer, and the pain in his head was ever growing.
The flute music was starting to rattle his very bones.
There he was, dead. Kurapika was trapped in his own gaze. His own empty, dead gaze. The gaze that he saw when he looked in the mirror–
A face of revenge.
Only now, here, there was no revenge.
His family was dead, and he was with them. He was at rest now, there was no more fighting, no more hunting Spiders, no more rage.
No more…
No more…
But wait.
If there was no more.
Then his family would remain dead forever.
If there was no more, if there was no rage left then–
"No!" Kurapika screamed. He couldn't be dead! He had a job to do! He had a responsibility to his clan! He may have not been there that night, but because of that he could revive them! He needed to retrieve their eyes, and take revenge upon the bastard that had ordered their massacre and the scum that had executed that order.
Kurapika leapt to his feet, and in a fit of madness cut the head off his own dead body.
All of a sudden, everything around him shattered. The looming spider exploded into a million pieces, the rest of the scene following him. With a gasp, he awoke. He was back on the arena floor. He was on his knees, and Melody was before him. He had dropped his swords behind him, but his hand was up and gripped on Melody's flute.
There was blood pouring from his ears, nose, and eyes.
But the pain was stopped now, now that Kurapika had Melody's flute crushed in his fist.
The Elf looked up, still shaken but now awake again.
The cotton feeling in his mind was gone. He met Melody's eyes of emerald green. In those depths he found shock, shock that he had broken out of her spell. Kurapika took this small opening he had been given, and ripped the flute from her grip, leaping to his feet.
Melody snapped into action, brows drawing together. She flicked her wrists, and two slender blades fell from within her sleeves to her hands. She swung them at Kurapika, not letting up for a second.
Kurapika acted fast, snapping the flute in two and using the halves as if they were his swords. He blocked her attack with the flute halves crossed over his head.
Melody strained, pushing against him. Ren flaring around her.
Kurapika pulled more Energy from his reserves, boosting his shield as well as his strength.
Melody was strong. Stronger than he was.
He needed to end this quickly or else he would lose. It didn't matter if he could break out of her spell if he couldn't take her hand-to-hand.
"I am impressed," Melody commended through gritted teeth. "No one has been able to break out of my spell before."
"Play mind games all you want, but my rage will not be broken," Kurapika murmured darkly, causing Melody's eyes to widen. She recoiled slightly from his deadly tone, and Kurapika used that opening to shove her off. The two of them entered a fast paced double sword fight, though Kurapika was using two halves of a flute.
They enhanced their weapons with Ren, and sparks of Magic clashed and flew.
Melody was good.
But not good enough.
She had made one mistake, and that mistake had been disrespecting the images of his clan. They were not laying dead in a puddle of filth and blood. They were laying in pristine coffins within a sealed temple. As if Kurapika would allow such a sight to exist in this world!
Kurapika honed in on his anger at that bold move Melody had made, and he felt his eyes burning scarlet. Power pulsed in his eyes, spreading through his veins and into his muscles. He felt himself growing stronger, and his Ren took on a red hue.
Kurta Elves could not only be resurrected through their eyes, but they could draw power from them. Much like Gon's biochemical and the dampers Killua put on his strength.
Kurapika fell onto Melody with a newfound energy, beating the flute halves so hard against her blades that the instrument pieces dented and bent beneath the force of his blows. Melody glared, clearly upset at seeing the state of her prized instrument.
She was upset about her instrument, huh?
Well what about Kurapika?!
What about him being forced to see his clan in that disrespectful state?!
With no regard for their lives or their dignity?!
Kurapika growled, and executed a complicated block, in which he twisted Melody's blades around and bent her wrists into an uncomfortable position. She released the blades to save her wrists from breaking, eyes flashing as she realized her failure.
Kurapika made his move, and flipped the flute half in his right hand for a different grip. He extended the razor blade attached to it, and in a quick motion slit Melody's throat. She gurgled and fell back onto the ground. Kurapika stood over her, extending the bloodied flute half and pointing it at her head, panting.
He watched as the light began to fade from her eyes.
Reveling in the sight as she was surrounded by a pool of her own blood.
Yes, die. Die in the state you showed my clan in, you horrid woman.
"Kurapika is the winner!" the announcer called, the noises of the audience finally cutting through Kurapika's trance of violence and rage. He shook himself, and dropped Melody's flute pieces in a show of utter disrespect. The gesture would probably gain him some brutality points.
He stalked away before the refs could get to him and direct him to the medics. He was still bleeding from the ears and nose, but he didn't care. He heard Melody pulling out a bottle of blood and pouring it over her gaping wound to revive herself, but he didn't care.
So what if she was a blood-mixer?
Kurapika was in a dark mental state.
Seeing that–
Had been horrible.
It had reminded him of what he had to do.
Of what he was here to do.
He stalked towards the victory's circle in a fit of rage.
"Kurapika! That was incredible!" he heard Leorio calling down to him from the stands. All three of them had run down to stand above the victor's tunnel.
"You've gotta tell me what all that Magic was about!" Gon cheered.
"What did she show you?" Killua asked.
"Go ahead and return to the apartment. Don't wait up for me, I'll meet you there," Kurapika said, eyes blank but perfectly mastering his rage and keeping his voice light and airy.
He did not wait for their responses, but walked down the tunnel. He signed his papers in a daze, and was patched up in a daze. As he stalked through the darkness, his mind was nothing but a dull buzzing.
What had he been doing all this time?
He had a job to do.
So what if he had been happy all this time?
He didn't deserve peace as his clan lay in their tombs, sealed up in a cold and dead temple.
If this had taught him anything, it had taught him that his rage was still very much intact.
It should please him, if anything.
But… still.
His mind began to clear, and he remembered the faces of his friends. He remembered Gon's bright demeanor, Leorio's soft eyes. Killua's joyous smile. Those three… meant a lot to him. He couldn't just shut down like this. He could avenge his clan and still keep them close by.
He felt bad about brushing them off like that.
He'd have to make it up to them tonight when he got back.
Yes, he'd schedule his fight at the sign up desk and then he'd return to the apartment, they had a lot to discus now that training had ended and they were back to focusing on the Arena–
"That was an impressive battle, I must say."
Kurapika froze.
Completely froze.
That voice–
"It was quite entertaining, I'm glad that I stopped by. You've gotten a whole lot stronger since we last saw each other."
No. Not now. Not here. Not when–
Kurapika stiffened as the owner of the voice walked around from behind him, and stood before him in the shadow of the victor's tunnel.
"Chrollo."
