Once Gon and Killua had finished perfecting their techniques, it was time for another week of running. The final week of running. During that time, Bisky had the two of them constantly use their abilities while on the run. That way, they could see what they were missing and what they needed. Once they discovered the underlying weaknesses of their spells, then they could work out all the kinks and mold themselves into the master Sorcerers they were destined to be.

Bisky stopped their group once they reached the base of an enormous hill. They were in the midst of an evergreen forest, the ground and trees covered in snow, a permanent cloud cover over the sky. On the other side of that hill, lay Nesting and Sky.

Once this final month was up, Gon and Killua would be full-fledged Sorcerers.

And Ging Freecss would appear on the Port.

The three of them took a day of rest before continuing their training, and Bisky woke Gon and Killua up bright and early the next day.

Gon had been sleeping soundly, but had been awoken by a sudden frigid breeze and a shaking on his shoulder.

"Boys, it's time to wake up," Bisky murmured softly. The hybrid cracked his eyes open, and squeezed Killua tighter against his chest. They'd been sleeping in their shared Neko-Sleeping bag, cocooned away from the freezing air. Killua squirmed against Gon's chest, being the first to sit all the way up.

"Fuck, it's so cold," he complained, standing up and doing a little barefooted dance in the snow as he hurried to where he'd left his shoes. Bisky chuckled to herself, "I told you to leave your clothes closer to your sleeping bag!"

"Well why would I listen to you? It's not like you know any better!" Killua shot back, a poor argument and he knew it. Biscuit cracked a laugh, always one to enjoy Killua's sharp tongue… when he wasn't calling her a hag, at least.

Gon reluctantly extracted himself from his and Killua's warm nest, trying and failing to keep his eyes from grazing Killua's tattooed back. The hybrid got himself up, and hurried over to his own bag, which was on the opposite side of the fire from Killua's.

Good, Gon sighed to himself once the Valkyrie was no longer in his line of sight. He seriously had no self control at all. What place did he have staring at Killua like that? None! He wasn't some work of art up for display! No matter how passionate Gon was about his beauty…

Killua was his best friend, and even though Gon was madly in love with him, the least he could do was have a little decency. Gon grumpily tugged on his new set of winter clothes. Bisky and picked out their clothes when they'd stopped by a little town during that week of training. The temperatures had shot down like crazy, and Bisky hadn't approved of wearing their bulky winter gear while training.

So she'd taken it upon herself to give Gon and Killua "appropriate winter attire."

Thin underlayers, with the bulk of the outfit made of seal blubber. The blubber layer was thin and slick. Gon and Killua had dark colored sets of pants and shirts in that heat-preserving stuff, as well as socks and gloves. Fingerless in Killua's case, due to his claws. After the seal blubber came straps and shafts of leather and thick woolen fabric, solely to accent the blubber, but also for utility. There were pouches and slings for weapons, as well as slots for vials of blood.

Sorcerer's clothing.

Whenever Gon put it on, he felt like he was slipping on the suit of a superhero. To Gon, whenever he put these new clothes on it was like he was sealing the deal. He had to admit that he kept imagining himself in the shoes of the characters from the flying lion show. An exciting montage as he slipped on his new gear.

Once Gon was dressed, he melted a little bit of snow using his Hatsu. He could activate the bear minimum of his spell: a heat coming off of his palms. The only thing he needed to sacrifice to make it happen was a quick stab of pain between his eyes.

Gon often thought about how awful Blood Magic was. In order to access this terrible power, one had to alter their own bodies in a most excruciating ritual. And after that, one had to hurry and master holding that power in, or else they'd die from exhaustion. And even after that, one had to mutilate their own body to access the full potential of that power.

Blood Magic was incredibly brutal. Gon had never met a Demon before, but if this was what Demon power was, he didn't think he wanted to.

Gon splashed the melted snow onto his face, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. His blubbery clothes were waterproof, the liquid sliding right off. It was so useful! The strips of wool weren't waterproof, obviously, but everything else was! Which also meant that blood would slide right off. Perfect for the work of a Sorcerer.

Because of the cold, Bisky had Gon and Killua fill up a bunch of vials with their own blood. That way they wouldn't have to worry about shedding important layers to access their power. It felt pretty weird, slipping vials of his own blood into the pouches across his chest. It was like he was wearing his own blood as some sort of trophy… super strange.

Gon had always found it interesting how important blood was in this world. Hell, now that he had his blood readied like this, he could use it as a form of currency using the right channels. It wouldn't be worth anywhere near what Killua's blood was worth, but its power alone could get Gon a hefty sum.

Before he'd learned of Blood Magic, Gon had always looked down upon Blood Whores. People that sold their bodies, but not in a sexual sense as Gon had. For their blood. They'd spend day and night draining their veins, selling the blood underneath. They were always horribly sickly and pale, constantly waiting impatiently for their wares to be restocked.

Gon had thought that people like that were the lowest of the low. Your blood was your entire essence! Why would you sell it away like that? Did they have any idea how much a hybrid like him would give to possess pure blood like that? And here they were! Selling it to the highest bidder like it was some kind of fodder!

But now Gon understood the truth of blood, and why it was so important. Blood Whores like that were necessary to prevent another outbreak of Blood Wars. As long as people like that existed, Sorcerers were able to purchase their fuel peacefully, without initiating violence and killing for that sticky substance beneath everyone's skin.

Gon respected people like that now. They were what kept the world at peace, even if that same world treated them like the scum under their boots.

"Time for your morningly contemplation of existence?" Killua asked, coming up behind Gon and leaning his elbow on the hybrid's shoulder.

Gon shook himself awake, he'd been totally zoned out! "Oh! Yeah, I guess so," he said with a chuckle.

"What were you thinking about?" Killua asked as they left the camp. They trekked into the forest, off to where Bisky's chosen training ground was. They'd have to get out of sight of Nesting and Sky. They didn't want to attract too much attention.

"I was thinking about Blood Whores."

Killua barked a laugh. "That's so random! What about 'em?"

"Well… I used to always look down on them, ya know? Cause they just drain all their blood. And sell it instead of use it for themselves." Like I never got the privilege to do. "I'd see them selling their bodies like that, and hate them. Thinking about how much… better I was than them, in a way." Yeah. Because in my eyes, I was the only respectable type of whore. How delusional.

"Yeah," Killua murmured.

"But now that I fully understand what it is they're doing… and who it is they're selling to, I respect them a whole lot. It's pretty brave of them to sell their blood like that. Some Sorcerers are dangerous, and I'm sure they get a whole lot of threats to lower their prices and to give more blood than they can safely handle. They're the reason the Blood Wars aren't starting back up again, them and the Zodiacs anyway. I feel bad that I ever looked down on them like that." Cause I was never the "better" one. In fact, I was the worse one all along.

"I understand what you mean," Killua said, slipping his hands into his pockets. Bisky had chosen their leather and wool overlays specifically for them, Killua's having pockets and Gon's having fortification around his wrists. She'd also color coded their clothes, giving Gon dark green wool and Killua dark blue. So much better than the aesthetic they'd gotten in the Neko-Village!

"They've gotta be super brave to do stuff like that, you know?" Gon prompted, gesturing his hands in the air.

"You're right," Killua said with a grin. "Look at you, being all accepting and open minded. I didn't think an idiot like you was capable~"

"Oh, shut up!" Gon shot back with a grin, shoving Killua's head down and aggressively ruffling his hair.

The two boys arrived at Bisky's chosen training location. They were nestled deep in the pine forest, in a wide break in the trees. Giant evergreens shot up into the sky, bordering their training space on all sides. In the center of the clearing stood Biscuit, dressed in the same attire as Gon and Killua, only hers was far more extravagant and the wool was hot pink.

"Welcome!" she chirped, grinning just as always. "Today we will start off strong! As you know, our goal during the final leg of travel was to discover what our abilities lack and what they need. Now, Killua, you can go first. What modifications need to be made to fully cultivate your Hatsu?"

"Well, my ability is pretty strong. I feel like both Lightning Palm and Thunderbolt are as powerful as they can possibly be. But, thing is, I feel like I'm not using this style of Magic at its full potential. My spells are great and all as they are, but I always have a ton of excess energy. I had intended for that to be the case, so I could use the spells again and again. However, now they're so strong that I don't need to compensate for any accidental mess ups. In a way… it feels almost like my current abilities are Ko, and I could and should be using Ken. So, rather than just focusing the Electrical Magic in one place at one time, I wanna try spreading it all across my body. I don't wanna just use Thunderbolt, I wanna see if I can become Thunderbolt."

Gon blinked at Killua. Wow. That was so cool. Killua was amazing.

"I love this idea!" Bisky declared. "I say we start experimenting immediately! Now, Gon? What can we do to improve Firefist?"

"Well," Gon scratched the back of his head, trying to figure out how best to explain all this. "I don't wanna just improve Firefist, I feel like I need to scrap my ability entirely."

"Why's that?" Bisky asked, quirking and eyebrow.

"Okay, maybe not forget it all together, but I feel like I could be doing this a whole lot better. When I use Firefist, even when I use the different levels, there's only so much I can do. All I'm doing is punching stuff! And that's not something I can use in all scenarios. So, I thought I wanted to expand on the ability I have… I kinda wanna do something with a Mother Spell?"

Bisky's eyes widened, sparkling in understanding. "Oh! Of course! That is a wonderful idea! What do you have in mind for the branch spells?"

"Um… well, I wanna use Firefist as one of the branch spells. But I also wanted to have a

mid range and a long range attack. So three different attacks, kinda like rock paper scissors!"

"Rock paper scissors?" Killua groaned, giving Gon his patented "disappointed but not surprised" face.

"It makes sense in my head, okay?" Gon complained, sticking his tongue out.

Bisky cracked a laugh, "Alright Gon, we'll follow along with your ideas. For the remaining three weeks of our time together, I will be helping the two of you as we see these concepts into fruition, therefore fully developing your abilities. Now, tell me, where do you want to start?"


AN: foreshadowing? always