Chapter 6: Hunter x Hunter part 3.
After pretty much kidnapping me from the Hunter Association hotel where I became an official hunter, Menchi 'borrowed' one of the associations blimps and took off without a moment to waste.
During the orientation, we learned that there are four ranks to hunters.
Regular, one star, two star, and three star.
There's technically a rank above that called the Zodiacs, but there are only ever 12 at one time and there really is no need to talk about them.
To get a star, you have to make a monumental achievement in your category as a hunter.
A ruins hunter would have to find and uncover ancient ruins.
A gourmet hunter would have to discover new foods or new ways to cook certain foods.
A blacklist hunter would have to catch more criminals in quantity or quality.
A virus hunter would have to find and invent more antidotes to known virus's.
And so on and so forth.
Being licensed as an official Hunter bestows a number of desirable benefits on the licensee.
The first and foremost benefit is the recognition a license holder can enjoy, being one of the few in the world who owns a license. Hunters are commonly seen at the head of whatever field they pursue, and experienced Hunters are virtually guaranteed lucrative offers of employment from people or organizations seeking the most capable agents possible.
There are also many material benefits to being a licensed Hunter, which include:
95% of all public facilities can be used at no cost. Furthermore, all such services are provided at first class.
Unrivaled freedom to travel around the world. Access is granted to about 90% of countries which normally restrict the entry of outsiders, and access to 75% of areas that the general public is restricted or even prohibited from entering.
Reduced legal responsibility for murder. However, a Hunter can be prosecuted after repeated acts of murder without justification or if they attack the envoy of a person with political authority.
The ability to sell the Hunter License as a valuable collector's item. Though only the original recipient of a license has access to the privileges of a Hunter, it can be still sold for enough money to support the seller's family for at least seven generations, guaranteeing more than one lifetime of material comfort.
The ability to use the license as collateral for a zero-interest loan of 100 million Jenny at any bank.
Free access to Cyberspace. Free internet, anywhere, anytime. As long as a signal can reach you, it's free.
Access to the secret Hunters-only Website, where secret intelligence about various subjects, uploaded by other Hunters, can be purchased.
The ability to hire convicts under conditions of absolute obedience, with the possibility of shortening their sentences. This power extends to death-row convicts, whom the Hunter or a proxy of theirs can execute on the spot should they violate any terms of the agreement.
Exemption from certain educational and professional degree requirements.
The privilege to bypass certain age-restricting laws.
So as you can see, there are a lot of benefits to becoming a hunter. It's one of the main reasons so many flock to take the exam every single year despite the incredibly high death toll rate.
As a one star hunter, Menchi has even more privileges.
Either that, or she just straight up stole an association blimp because she threatened the captain at knife point.
Once we were underway to a as of yet unsaid destination, Menchi sat down with me.
"Ok, from now on, I'm going to be your mentor as a gourmet hunter and as your Nen instructor."
I rose my hand.
"Yes?"
"I get the first part, but why do I need you as a Nen instructor? I'm fine on my own."
"How much do you know about Nen Jin?"
It's not really a secret for hunters so I answered honestly.
"The four basic principles, the seven advanced forms, and the specific categories."
Menchi raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Huh, look at that. Well, I don't care how you know, but do you know how to train yourself in it?"
I thought about what I recall from the anime and nodded.
"I could manage."
Menchi shook her head.
"I'm sure you could kid, you don't even look like you have been practicing for long, but your specialist ability, or magic, whatever, has been activated for what looks like a long time.
Your aura will grow quickly now that your actively training, but I don't have time for you to stumble in the dark, so I'm gonna be whipping your ass into shape.
The faster I can get you physically capable, the faster I can start showing you the ropes of a gourmet hunter."
I worked through that thought before giving in as I could see the logic.
'She has a point; I would be pretty much just guessing shit from what I saw in the anime.'
"Ok, fair enough. But I should warn you, I may or may not have paid a cost for my 'specialist' ability."
If she was going to be training me, I felt I needed to make a cover story for why I can't use certain Nen abilities.
Menchi nodded seriously and eyed me.
"I figured as much. Specialist abilities are always weird, but the more powerful or the more wide ranged, the higher the cost. What did you lose?"
"Hm.. how should I put this? When I got my ability to do magic, I felt like I lost a piece of myself at the same time.
After learning about Nen, and trying it out, I was only able to use three of the seven advanced Nen abilities. It was very weak of course.
But as for the other four, I just can't use them. I assume this was the cost I unconsciously paid back then."
It's a lie and not a lie.
To learn Nen, I did have to give up other parts. I did give up the other four techniques in exchange for talents.
So it's a half lie.
Menchi gave me a worried look.
"Which four?"
"Gyo, Ko, Ken, and Ryu."
Menchi sighed and held her head.
"*sigh* you kind of fucked yourself Jin.
Ko and Ken can be ignored based on your fighting style, but Gyo and Ryu are more essential to all hunters.
Gyo for seeing through when your opponent uses In as well as when you think something is hiding from your vision, and Ryu is the technique that all Hunter based combat is based on."
She sighed again and shook her head.
"No, this is still fine, we can manage with the four principles. Plenty of people have worked their Ren up to monstrous levels, and with your specialist Hatsu, you should be fine.
At least you still have In, En, and Shu."
I added in one point.
"Just to correct you, I actually have a way to replace Gyo."
"Hm? What's that?"
I activated my eyes and showed her without the Glamour charm I usually throw up.
"Wha.?"
"These are what I call my Eagle Eyes. I'm not sure if I was born with them or they occurred later on due to me being a specialist, but by channeling aura to my eyes, I can see others aura.
It also has a secondary effect of allowing me to zoom in and out like binoculars."
Menchi just stared dumbfounded for a second before she snapped out of it and started manically laughing.
"Mwuhahaha! I will make the greatest gourmet hunter in history!"
Rather than try and stop her, I just shrugged and joined in.
"Mwuhahaha!"
"Mwuhahaha!"
The captain and his crew shivered in fear at the control deck.
A few minutes later, we went back to talking.
And for the record, if she is going to be teaching me, I have no problem being upfront about my eyes and Nen abilities.
Magic is not a Nen ability, and as long as she assumes it is, I won't bother talking about it.
"So Jin, I can tell you have trained physically, but what kind of training have you done?"
"Hmm, well, aside from daily workouts, I spent most of my time training my magic, but I did have a survival instructor once.
The crazy old man basically ingrained in my bones how to survive."
Menchi raised an eyebrow in question.
"How so?"
"By breaking them."
Menchi sucked in a breath of cold air.
"Oof, well, pain is a teacher in a lot of ways. What did he teach you?"
I thought back on those memories and shivered slightly.
"Well, the guy taught how me to not be hindered by pain in the field, how not to let things distract me from logical thinking, how to dodge and where I could afford to be hit if I couldn't dodge, and basic wilderness survival.
He took advantage of the fact that I had a perfect memory to shove things in my head and push on quickly."
Menchi listened to that and smiled at the end.
"Oh? A perfect memory. That's rare, but something that can speed this process up quite a bit.
You seem like you have a decent foundation in survival. You got some of the harder, or I guess I should say, more painful lessons right off the bat.
I will be taking your physical training to the next level since you activated your Nen now, I'll show you how to track and hunt, various ways to use the things you can find in the wild, train your Nen techniques, and of course, teach you about gourmet hunters along with giving you some knife skills. I still recall those horrendous cuts you made with your finger in the second phase."
I just waved my hand.
"Yeah, yeah, like I had a better option."
"Fair point, so anything else you think I should know?"
"Hm… you watched the recordings so you should know I can turn into a tiger right?"
"Oh yeah, hahaha, I fucking loved what you did in the third phase, I was dying from the laughter ahaha."
I smiled in pride at that, always feels good to see others enjoying the chaos you make.
"Thank you, well I just wanted to say that thanks to that, my six senses have been enhanced beyond the average human, and I also heal faster and am immune to most of all poison."
Menchi gave me a weird look before shaking her head.
"You know what, I don't want to know. I think I heard everything I needed for now.
Get comfortable kid, this ride will take a few days."
"Where are we going?"
"You will find out when we get there, now let's go find a kitchen, I need to get you started with knife work. And don't think I forgot about your spatial ability. I'm gonna stuff you full of supplies."
*Line Break*
It took three days to reach our destination.
What appeared before us as we left the blimp by rope ladder was a sea of rolling mountains covered in green and yellow colors.
And in the far distance was a massive mountain the towered over the rest.
"Welcome to the Mor's mountain range Jin, this will be our home for the next few months."
I pointed at the mountains.
"So were training in there?"
Menchi gave me a bright cheery smile.
"Yup! It's full of all kinds of deadly beasties that want to eat us just as much as want to eat them.
And at the very end is Mor's Mountain. At the very center of that mountain is a cave with a famous pool of water that bubbles up from a Dragon Vein.
It has a heavy neutral aura that Nen users can absorb and speed up their practice with or form a Hatsu ability with, but Nen users can only use them a few times in their lifetime or they could injure themselves."
That was interesting and had some possibilities, but my face was still quite deadpan for a very good reason.
"Menchi."
"Yes?"
"How far exactly is Mor's Mountain from where we are standing?"
"20,000 Kilometers."
I nodded stoically.
"I see, are you insane?"
She just chuckled at me.
"Haha don't worry, I'll keep you safe Jin.
20,000 kilometers might be far for a regular human, taking them somewhere around 8 months or so to walk that far, but we are hunters, and we have Nen.
Plus it's the beginning of autumn now in this part of the world, it's the perfect time for the bountiful harvest of a mountain range like this that has slower seasonal changes thanks to its size.
Between training you in hunting, tracking, gathering, cooking, your Nen abilities, and raising your physical abilities, I think we should be able to manage in three, maybe four months if your slow.
But you're not going to be slow, are you~?"
She finished with a teasing tone and I rose an eyebrow in challenge, my pride was prickled there, and I knew it was a trap.
"Bring it."
I was still a man damn it.
She smiled at me like a shark who smelled blood.
"Gladly."
*Line Break*
"MENCHI! IF I DIE I WILL HAUNT YOU!"
"Then don't die brat! It's a pain to find exorcist hunters."
"ROAR!"
"Oh shut up! It's not my fault I don't want to be eaten!"
I was currently being chased by a massive 3 meter tall bear with a horn on its forehead, for 'training'.
I tracked some footprints and didn't know a bear that size could know a natural form of Zetsu, blinding my eyes from it until my perception warned me of something coming from my side.
I dodged and wanted to shoot it with magic, but according to Menchi, I rely too much on my special ability and she banned me from using anything aside from Nen.
That's how this typical food chain chase started.
"ROAR!"
"The fuck you just call me?! Oh it's on bitch! *Crack Knuckle*"
"Ra?"
*Line Break*
*Bang*
"FUCK! OW!"
"Shut up! I need my beauty sleep!"
"Then why don't you hold the fucking rope with a rock tied to it above your head while you try and sleep?"
"Because I already mastered it, not shut up before I stab you again."
'Damn bitch, you've stabbed me no less than a dozen times already.
Thank god for healing potions, I can't perform a healing spell to save my life, stupid fucking world curse. Healing charms are charms! But nooooo! Fuck you to.'
*Line Break*
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
"Oh come on! This is such bullshit!"
"*Shrug* It's not my fault you never fought a Nen user before, better to learn from someone who won't kill you."
I scoffed at that and pointed at the knife wounds over my body.
"You call this 'better'?"
"You're not dead are you? Just be glad I don't aim for that pretty face of yours, I can't have someone I taught not able to get some ass in a few years."
"Why wait a few years, your ass is mine now! And I'm gonna freeze it solid! *Bang* *Bang*"
Menchi just stood there and let her ren deflect the bullets with ease while smirking at me.
"Haha come and get it if you want it brat!"
I didn't get that ass that day, but not for lack of effort.
*Line Break*
"Close your senses, pull from deep within you, find that connection, that pool of aura hidden inside, and release it all…NOW!"
"REN!"
*BOOM*
Like going super Saiyan, an explosive aura shot out of me and surrounding me in a curtain of white energy.
This was Ren, the state of outputting a larger amount of aura than Ten, projecting it outwards explosively. This amplifies the user's physical strength and durability and provides a large pool of aura for any advanced techniques or individual skills they decide to use, albeit at the cost of expending said aura.
One can train their Ren to extend its duration and increase the amount of aura at their disposal.
Menchi started a stopwatch.
"Let's see how far you can go today, surpass you past limit by double, and I'll cook you something special today."
"Oooohhhh!"
That got me fired up, Menchi is a sadistic mentor, but she is a world class chef.
"*Sigh*, for the hundredth fucking time Jin, screaming doesn't make you stronger."
"You'll make Goku fans cry you know?"
"Who the fuck is Goku?!"
*Line Break*
'*Sigh*, it's tough being the responsible one.'
"Zzz…mn…jeewweelll meeat….Zzz.." (Menchi)
I sighed as I looked at the past out Menchi on a bed of animal furs.
Of course I broke out one of my normal wizarding tents, explaining it was part of my magic, which she automatically translated to being part of my Nen ability, and she practically threatened to adopt or marry me so she could drag me around the world with her.
After all, the tent runs on magic, and the source of that magic is me, so no me, no magic tent.
The other day, Gol popped in to drop off some gourds of new alcohol that Sil developed from recipes he found in his ruin adventure, and well… Menchi has a nose that could put a trained hellhound to shame.
She found it and proceeded to horde it like a dragon protecting its gold.
So now I have to deal with cleaning up after a passed out drunk Menchi.
And I was a perfect gentleman, I didn't even cop a feel, not even twice.
She wasn't kidding about mastering that rock sleeping training to be aware while asleep though, and she proceeded to kick my ass when she felt like getting up.
It was worth it.
'You could bounce a coin off that ass.'
*Line Break*
Learning cooking from a pro chef and gourmet hunter is… unique.
"This crab is so undercooked I can still hear it singing 'Under the Sea.'"
"You call this cutting meat?! I wouldn't trust you cutting a banana let alone a restaurant."
"You added so much salt and pepper I can hear the dish singing 'Push It.'"
"There's enough garlic in here to kill every vampire on the continent!"
"My gran could do better! And she's dead!"
Her kitchen speech was truly refined in trash talk, but damn if she wasn't a good teacher.
It was annoying being blindfolded though, but she explained it well enough.
"I train my chefs completely different to anyone else. My young girls and guys, when they come to the kitchen, the first thing they get is a blindfold. They get blindfolded and they get sat down at the chef's table… Unless they can identify what they're tasting, they don't get to cook it."
She was unique like that.
But she had some great points, like when I called her insane.
"Me? Chefs are all nutters. They're all self-obsessed, delicate, dainty, insecure little souls, and absolute psychopaths. Every last one of them."
I couldn't deny that accusation.
*Line Break*
~4 months later~
On one the six continents of the known world, there was a mountain range known for its size and deadly inhabitants.
Beasts of all sizes, with various abilities normal people would consider magical, roamed the land, and gourmet hunters treat it like an oasis for finding new ingredients.
The mountain range was known as the Mor's mountain range, a 20,000 kilometer stretch of mountainous forestry land, and at the very end, a massive mountain stood 7,000 meters tall.
At the very top of this mountain, on the snowy landscape, a young teen was currently meditating in the morning sunlight while wearing nothing but baggy sweatpants with an aura of energy expanded and contracting around his body.
*Deep Inhale* *Deep Exhale* *Deep Inhale* *Deep Exhale*
The young teen had flowing silky light brown hair, and as the sun reached well over the horizon, his eyes shot open to show glowing amber golden orbs.
This teen was of course, Jin.
"Pheeeewwww. It's been four months now huh? I can't believe I survived."
It's been four months since I arrived with Menchi.
It took us two and half months to reach Mor's mountain at a grueling pace even for a superhuman while I was put through boot camp in everything from tracking and hunting to cooking to physical conditioning to enhancing the basic Nen abilities.
For the month after that, Menchi stepped it up into advanced Nen techniques, and sparring with me daily to get me used to Nen based combat.
Then two weeks ago, she got a call about something that required her attention and told me to keep training on my own.
Apparently she had given me enough hell…*cough* training to be satisfied that I had a firm foundation to deal with things on my own.
I never did get that ass, but Menchi gave me an open invitation for a few years later.
Her words were along the lines of: "Grow some hair on your chest and make me a meal that can get me wet, and I'm yours for the night brat haha! Catch you around some time!"
Neither of us were actually interested in each other romantically, me being young and her happily single, but sex didn't always have to be romantic.
Friends with benefits was a great place to exist in, even if it would have to be years away. Age matters little to hunters who stand on the same level in power and live on the edge but 13 is far too young, even if I look older.
Thankfully, I am quickly growing thanks to all my factors, especially being a tiger Animagus, and I'm an adult mentally, so by the time I'm 15 or 16, I should already look and sound much older.
I closed my eyes with a smile at the thought.
'Ten.'
My aura wrapped around me consistently and smoothly, never truly leaving my skin for over two months now.
It's instinctual now.
'Zetsu.'
My aura vanished like a candle being blown out as I rapidly sucked all the aura into my core.
Thanks to having a magic core, I could mentally envision a second core for my aura, and suck all my aura into that figurative core, effectively making me enter a perfect Zetsu state.
I could use it naturally on the move or in a fight now.
'*Inhale* *Exhale* Ren.'
*Boom!*
My aura exploded out of me like a geyser and shook the snow off my body and the surrounding snow in a 3 foot circumference from my body.
The aura was strong, vigorous, and wild.
It came together above my head and formed into a ferocious looking tiger that stood over me like a sentinel.
It was nothing more than emotion being mixed into my aura, and if anyone were around me, they would feel an extreme feeling of intimidation.
Of course, other Nen users could offset it easily.
Taking another breath, I focused and expanded my Ren as much as possible, increasing it from 3 feet to almost 7.
'Now control the aura, Ten.'
The expanded Ren had its wild aura controlled to look like a smooth dome had surrounded me.
'En. I've improved again.'
En is an advanced application of Ten and Ren. In Ren, aura usually envelops only a small amount of space around the user's body. En is when one extends their Ren so that their aura extends further than normal, then uses Ten at the same time to contain and give shape to that aura, normally a sphere.
In order to attempt En, I had to build up my Ren and enhance my control with Ten.
Being able to hold En at a 2 meter length, or seven feet, in a circle around you for 1 minute was considered reaching the basic stage.
A master could reach a fifty meter radius, and a grand master like Zeno, the grandfather of Killua, could reach a radius of three hundred meters. That was one scary old man.
But for me, at this point in time, I could only hold it two meters for upwards of three minutes.
Once I couldn't hold it any longer, I pulled my aura back in to Ten and rested.
I repeated this exercise three times every morning and night after meditating on my Ten.
As for In and Shu, well, I've found some very unique ways to use them.
Menchi had tried to beat into me how to use Shu on kitchen knives to use in combat, but I just didn't have the talent for using a knife.
Still, Menchi was a master knife user who could juggle eight deadly sharp knives with her eyes closed, and she didn't take me not having talent as something that mattered.
After many painful lessons, my enhanced reflex's came to save the day and I managed to reach a level of finesse with a kitchen knife that she approved of.
However I have no interest in using a knife for fighting, it's not just my style.
What is my style though, is using a gun.
The original eight Desert Eagle handguns had long since broken and I had Gol find me more handguns, this time using my Hunter ID to just straight up buy a few dozen different types.
I love being a hunter, you can buy a bomb legally as long as your over 12 years old.
Of course, becoming a hunter as a kid is really a once in a few decade thing. The fact there were three youths, including me, at this year's exam was a truly rare moment.
Anyway, without caring about losing the guns, I practiced quite a few new techniques.
For one, I stepped firmly into sixth year spells, and got access to elemental charms.
Lightning and Glacius charms.
Plus the advanced forms of Fire and Water Making charms.
They came with their own issues due to the fact that usually shooting a lightning bolt, stream of freezing air that freezes its target, hot flames like a flamethrower, and water pressurized in a thin stream, would all be done… from a wand…
Yeah… let's just say.. using such spells from your hands is painful.
Without my stock of phoenix tears, I might have actually lost ability in my hand until I found a Nen healer.
I could use dragon hide gloves to protect my hands, but the effects of the spell were weakened.
That led to me only using such spells through bullets.
Now I can shoot bullets that burst only on their target with the elemental or other effect.
I learned quite a few more charms but there is no need to get into it.
I was seeing the end of my book reading soon, as I finished recording all the spells available to me and was left with only theory but the farther I went, the more I truly had to understand the lessons, or I could end up hurting myself…again…
But thankfully, as I learn more powerful and efficient versions of charms, I can stop using all the weaker redundant ones, and I've cut my charm pool in half by getting rid of all the useless ones.
Take the Levitation charm for example.
There are three different charms that are bastardized versions of it, along with four to five revisions of the same exact spell.
It made me mentally and physically flip a table multiple times.
If it weren't for my natural Occumens increasing my talent and learning speed in occlumency by a factor of ten times, this process could have taken me five or six years, and then I REALLY would have flipped the entire fucking Harry Potter world in my annoyance at the time wasted.
With all the removed crap I had around 70 charms and another 11 ward type charms available to me.
Anyway, I learned new spells, but then came my next problem.
My bullets couldn't even pierce Menchi's Ten, let alone her Ren.
My idea for magic bullets was great but it doesn't really stand up to a solid Nen defense.
After all, Harry Potter magic was about finesse and variety, not power.
Then I learned Shu, and things changed.
Not only can I reinforce the gun with Shu to slow down it's deterioration, but I can wrap my magic bullets in Shu, making them able to not only pierce Menchi's Ten, but they got through her Ren as well when she wasn't serious.
The more aura I put into the bullet shell, the more powerful the physical impact on the targets aura.
And when I added a pointed end plus a rotation effect on the bullet, it pierced right through her Ren, and the magical effect exploded on her person.
Then came my next lesson.
When your foe has Ren on, they can actively fight any mental or status effect.
A stunner didn't work for more than a second and she never went down.
But an explosion charm exploded on impact and hurt her.
So unless my Nen can vastly overwhelm my foe or I can attack before they get their Ren up, I will have to stick to damaging attacks.
As my aura grew, I would gradually have less and less who could stand up to my bullets.
I had actually asked Menchi why more hunters didn't use guns, and she had told me that although any hunter can wrap a bullet in Nen, it would only end in disappointment.
Regular bullets just don't have any potential against Nen.
You could shoot a high caliber mounted machine gun against someone using Ren, and it would only push them backwards, not actually hurt them.
It was a work in progress, and there were still plenty of people in this world who posed a danger to me.
Menchi's training had built on my goblin instructors and I learned a lot more about surviving in the wild, tracking beasts by the smallest of trails, hunting in silence, and waiting for the moment to strike, scavenging and camping in woods inhabited by things that want to eat you.
And overall, I became incredibly at peace with nature, with myself and where I was.
The more at peace I felt, the easier my Nen flowed, and my cooking even took a step forward.
It reminds me of food honor from Toriko, so I started giving thanks while I cooked, and the flavor of my food began to slowly change under Menchi's surprised eyes.
Oh and before I forget, I learned In as well.
I can use In on my bullets to make them vanish from anyone's senses aside from when they are using Gyo or have a high perception.
I can't overlap a second magic spell on the bullets, so I have to use Nen, but using In like that can drain me quickly, so I only use it for surprise attacks.
So many factors go into a single bullet.
Anyway, that's my progress for these months, and I firmly stepped into the lower ranks of hunters.
My magic makes me a threat to even seasoned hunters, and Veterans if they are caught off guard.
So now the only thing left for me was my Hatsu, and I had decided on what to do.
'I believe it's time.'
Standing up amongst the snowy landscape, I walked across the mountain top for a few minutes before coming upon a large cave.
That cave led deeper into the mountain itself, where the famous goal of this mountain laid.
The dragon spring.
A pool of steaming water filled with pure and natural aura from the earth.
Meditating inside it can boost a Nen user's aura by a chunk, but it can only be used a few times in life, or you can become sick.
I hadn't used it till now because I had a better idea.
I would use the aura boost to help me form my Hatsu.
I removed my sweats and stepped into the steaming water naked as the day I was born…. Which was technically a year and a half ago… they grow up so fast.
'Ah~ I wish I had one of these.'
The water immediately soothed my sores and aches, healing and rejuvenating my tired muscles.
The pure lifeforce in this water would be the best healing water for a hot spring but alas, it's power comes from the dragon vein, not the water itself.
I would still be taking some of it with me in vials just because.
I sunk into the water until I sat at the bottom of the pool.
A simple bubblehead charm kept me from drowning but even without it, my bodies adaptability would allow me to stay under for a few minutes.
Next I took out my iPhone, and floated it between my hands, the thing could survive in space, let alone underwater.
Then I used Ren and focused as the water rippled around me, funneling my aura into the iPhone, and setting conditions onto my aura.
Hatsu is the ability to express your Nen is a certain form.
Depending on your Nen category, how that expression can show is changed.
Enhancers create abilities centered around their body, like how gone used rock-paper-scissors to create his ability.
Emitters make abilities that separate their aura from their body, launching attacks made from constructs of Nen.
Manipulators often create needles or strings to allow them to control the body and mind of other living things.
Transmuters turn their aura into other properties like electricity, rubber, fire, and so on.
Conjurers create just about any construct and they can often think, and act independently based on the ideals the creator set.
And specialists can do just about anything. They can mix categories or do things outside the range of the other five.
There are very few specialists in the world, and whenever they pop up, they always gather fame for good or bad.
And the stronger the 'condition' you place on your Hatsu ability, the stronger it's effects.
My condition was incredibly simple and straightforward.
[At the cost of my future potential to create any Nen ability, I make my iPhone my own and I quantify my paths.
I tie its existence to my control and remove it from the limitations placed on it by Zelretch.
I create an 'App' that tracks, adjusts, and records all of my paths of power.]
My Nen roared out of me into the iPhone and the surrounding aura gathered like it was being sucked into a black hole.
Zelretch challenged me to make my warehouse my own, and I wanted to remove the largest weakness I possessed.
If someone took my iPhone from me, I would be fucked.
I can't just will it back into my hand, it's a magic item connected to me, but not truly 'mine'.
But now, as my aura flowed into it, I felt the connection be made.
My mind had a new section in it, and I immediately moved it to a second laptop in my mind. No need to use the first, as I wanted them separate and secure.
My inventory was now available for mental access, I no longer had to scroll through my iPhone for items or carry around moleskin pouches to have easy access to items.
I now had permanent access to my warehouse, to enter or exit as I please.
'Fucking finally, this whole limited warehouse usage was getting old.'
But as soon as I had that thought, the iPhone shook slightly and over the connection in my mind, I heard a voice.
{*Cough* Testing, testing, is thing on? Oh, I already did this didn't I?
Well young man, congratulations on gaining ownership of the pocket dimension I gifted you. I left this recorded message, among quite a few others, to let you know some interesting things.
Firstly, the temporal effect has been removed. Well not so much removed, but the source powering it, which was me, is now gone!
No more freebies junior.
If you want to power it, find your own power source.
Second, I may or may not have been helping you out until now by allowing you more options for powers when you enter a world.
Considering you're a big boy now with your own warehouse, I decided to set things to random! Isn't that so much more fun?
Haha, I'm sure your thanking me but no worries, the future will be bright.
Now let's see if you can survive long enough to pass my test.
Best of luck and congrats again!}
My aura fluctuated violently as his words destabilized me.
'This fucker, I'm busy right now damn it!'
I was still settling my Hatsu and dealing with the second effect when that recording almost recked my concentration.
'I will make sure you go bald and curse you to grow hair everywhere but your head for a century!'
I took a few deep breathes and decided to deal with that later.
My aura had taken root in the iPhone and it officially became a part of me.
Then with my intent, an app was created under the title: 'Status.'
It basically took the old extremely simplified status and made a new app.
The point of this app was simple, it was focused on helping me long term rather than short term.
I will have many powers and abilities I gain over my time world hopping, and I wanted to make sure I didn't lose track of them.
[Status:
Name: Jin Fluff
Titles: Chaotic Hufflepuff, Friend of Insanity.
Bloodlines: N/A
Condition: Healthy. Soul Corruption by 2nd True Magic 86%
Core abilities: Magic core, Aura Nodes.
Skills:
HP Magic – Charms = 70 Spells + 11 Ward Enchantments.
Nen – Ten, Zetsu, Ren, Hatsu + Shu, In, En.
Talents:
HP:
Parseltongue: Speak to snakes, +50% power to spells, -50% cost of spells.
Animagus: Non magical + Magical forms: Tiger + ?.
Occumens: x10 learning speed and talent for occlumency.
HxH:
Natural Perception: Grants very high perception.
Natural Adaptability: X10 physical adaption speed to all environments within biological limits.
Natural Nen: X10 learning speed for Nen.
Natural Gourmet Hunter: X10 learning speed for cooking, hunting, tracking, and gathering.
Soul Bound Companions:
Shadow, Athena, Gol, Sil, Bron.
PATHS:
Magic Path: Rank 14
HP Magic: Rank
Aura Path: Rank 5
Nen
Ranger Path: Rank 9
Survival
Hunting
Tracking
Gathering
Crafting Path: Rank 7
Cooking
]
'Good, it worked.'
The status showed a lot of info, with the main focus being on my 'Paths'.
My path had the function of tracking my overall progress, putting it in numerical form, and keeping me locked at the state I reach.
What I mean by that is that anything I learned to get my Magic Path to rank 14, will never grow rusty. With occlumency, I might not forget things, but my body can still lose the tricks and skills to perform the knowledge in my head if I don't use it enough.
My days had been so busy because I couldn't stop training each thing.
It was exhausting.
You know what they say about a piano player? If they don't practice for a day, they lose three days' worth of practice.
I don't remember where I heard that line, but it describes my life well.
Menchi taught me an assortment of skills, I had my magic, and my Nen.
What will happen in the future when I have even more abilities? More magic styles, more crafting styles, more skills, knowledge, and so much else.
To not get mixed up, track my progress, and never lose what I already gained, I made this Path ranking system.
As soon as my ability was completed, my iPhone melted into particles of light and entered my body.
With just a thought, the device reformed from my aura in my hand.
I smiled at the sight, and then tossed the iPhone away into the water and exited the pool.
As soon as I left, I felt the iPhone particles flow out of the water and combine with me again.
'Good, it works just like I wished. Now no one can steal this thing from me.'
I took half a second of thought for me to command the phone to melt or reform.
'Perfect. It's not some flashy or insane Nen ability but in the long run, this will help me much more than just another OP ability.'
Using a hot air charm, I dried myself off and put my clothes back on.
'Thank you for self-cleaning clothing, I can take off sweaty clothes, shower, and wear the same thing again with it being fresh again.'
Heading away from the dragon spring, I entered another area of the cave where I had a few things laid out.
I grabbed an old school flip phone and dialed the Hunter Association member service number.
"*Ring* *Ring* Hello, this is Gemini speaking, how may I help you today?"
"Hey Gemini, this is Jin Fluff, do you think you can send a pickup for me at Mor's mountain?"
"Is this an emergency?"
"Nah."
"Ok Mr. Fluff, we can have a blimp over the mountain in about 32 hours, where will your destination be?"
"Heavens arena."
"Understood, hold tight and they will be there. Anything else you need today?"
"That will be all Gemini, thanks. And please just tell the blimp to throw down a rope, no need to set down."
"Understood. Have a pleasant day Mr. Fluff."
"You as well."
'Man I love being a hunter.'
Thanks to my benefits, I can just call in a ride anywhere I need, and they will send someone.
Being a hunter has loads of benefits.
"Well, I only have 32 hours left, probably best to grab all the ingredients I want now and then relax for the rest of the time."
Heading outside, I turned into my tiger form, now 250 pounds and six and a half feet long.
After satisfying my instincts to roll in the snow a bit, I took off down the mountain to my normal hunting spots.
While I ran, I used Ren on and off to clear large jumps, speed up, and just have fun.
There is nothing more freeing in life to me than just running around in my tiger form with all my traits boosted by Nen.
For two weeks once, Menchi practically forced me to use my tiger form full time to track and hunt, wanting me to make the most of my animal traits and be able to use Nen in this form.
She also may or may not have decided I was the best cuddle buddy in my tiger form, but hey, I ain't complaining.
The cat form calls to me and I embrace it with open arms.
There's very few things in this forest more deadly than a tiger like me using Zetsu.
In only four months, I became king of this place.
The last one was killed by me and mostly consumed by Menchi, the damn glutton with a smoking body.
*Line break*
The wait wasn't long, almost exactly 32 hours later, a blimp flew by and dropped a rope which I grabbed and climbed up.
I could have used my broom but eh, didn't feel like it.
I'm really not a fan of brooms.
I'll use them when they are convenient, but it's not something I prefer to use.
Anyway, the captain greeted me and set off for Heavens Arena.
I was going there for three reasons.
One, to gain money.
I have plenty of gold, but it's easier to just get this world currency and use it then waste my universal currency.
Two, to gain more combat experience.
I fought Menchi plenty of times, but there is only so much you can gain from fighting one vastly superior opponent.
Other than her, I fought dozens of powerful beasts that had strange mutations from Nen, giving them random abilities.
But human opponents? I was lacking there.
And three, Hisoka.
I feared for my sanity if I didn't appease the guy and go visit him.
Even leaving the world doesn't assure me he wouldn't find me if he were determined enough.
It's not like I had much else to do anyway.
My elves were still out doing their things, popping into the warehouse every now and then to drop things off or grab more stuff.
Gol still takes care of my daily needs unless I tell him not to while I train.
Sil keeps stocking a room full of crates with various alcoholic drinks, I have no idea where he gets them all, but I am incredibly happy to have poison immunity.
Unless he makes something more lethal than a thousand year old basilisk's venom, I can drink as much as I want without worry of alcohol poisoning.
Even getting drunk is hard for me, and I'm only physically 13 now!
And Bron was apparently on an adventure somewhere with some friends he made. No comment.
Shadow is a lazy cat that only comes out to play when there is fun stuff to do.
Athena, the little bacon traitor, went off with Menchi because she said there was something she needed to do and had to contact me no matter where I was.
Athena, as my magically bonded owl, can find me anywhere on the planet.
That left me to have nothing else to do except train on my own.
A few days later, the blimp arrived at my destination.
Heavens arena, the fourth-tallest building in the world, standing at 991 meters tall and having 251 floors.
Inside, thousands of martial artists, 4,000 fighters on average, compete daily in order to test their skills and advance to higher floors. The building is fully equipped with service facilities, including restaurants and shopping.
Competitors are allowed to fight and defeat their opponent using any means, but weapons are not allowed on the first 199 floors.
Competitors are given prize money for advancing on each of those 199 floors. After reaching the 100th floor, competitors get their own private room.
Although the Zoldyck family is inhuman in every way, Killua had managed to reach the 199th floor in two years, after his father left him at the tower without a penny at the age of six.
The kid climbed to the top in two years and went home.
Up to the 200th floor, the building is divided into twenty 10-floor parts. For example, a fighter who wins on the 40th floor advances to the 50th, and one who loses on the same level regresses to the 30th: a 10-story scale.
The floors above the 200th offer no prize money, only fame and glory. All weapons are allowed on this floor.
A fighter has 90 days to prepare for any fight, though it's possible to fight everyday if wanted. The 21 highest ranked competitors are called Floor Masters because they're given their own floor between the 230th and 250th floors. Losing four matches results in disqualification, while winning ten matches results in being awarded the right to challenge a Floor Master. The 251st floor of Heavens Arena holds a biennial tournament called the Battle Olympia, and the victor is allowed to live on the 251st floor in an exclusive penthouse.
All of the fighters from the 200th floor and above use Nen.
If one reaches the 200th floor without knowing how to use Nen, many fighters take it upon themselves to "initiate" the uninitiated by attacking them with Nen.
Those "initiated" typically suffer severe injury, if not death.
All in all, this was the best place to make money and get combat experience with other Nen users.
Also, Hisoka happens to be a 200th floor veteran with 9 straight victories.
Surrounding the tower is a small city without a single multi story building, allowing the tower to stand out like a monolith in the location.
The blimp set down on the airfield, and I grabbed a taxi to the tower.
And yes, I know how old taxis are for the young ones reading this, but uber wasn't always a thing.
Once at the tower, there was a massive waiting line to sign up and only one fucking employee.
'This will take all day, screw this.'
Firing up my Ten, I allowed a trickle of annoyance to bleed through and although unseen to non Nen users, a glowing tiger manifested behind me.
And just like that, the ones in front of me shivered in fear and stepped aside as I passed.
It's not cutting in line if no one complains about it and it's not like I used Ren, so they will all be fine in a few minutes.
After getting through the half a day line in a few minutes, I signed up without any care or concern for my age, really these people are weird, and I was led to the 1st floor arena.
For the first fifty floors, there are multiple arenas set up side by side so many matches can happen at the same time.
"#1996 please come to arena B4!"
'Oh, that was fast.'
I didn't even sit down before my number was called.
I walked over to the arena where a very large and intimidating looking man stood and tried to decide how to deal with thing.
'The first 150 floors at least should be pretty boring, Gon won every match with one push, and Killua did it with one chop, how should I do it?'
You can't use weapons before the 200th floor.
Before I could decide, my opponent decided to sign his death warrant.
"Oi! Oi! What is this? Some wet behind the ears brat is my opponent? Go home and drink milk kid, this is the place for real men." (Soon to be dead scrub)
I smiled up at the man cheerily.
"I see."
The proctor seemed to get the message when I looked at him and he waved his arm.
"Begin!" (Proctor)
I calmy started walking up to the man.
"No offense brat, but easy money is easy money."
I nodded at that as I grew closer.
"No offense indeed."
"HAH!"
As the stupidly slow punch expanded in front of my eyes, I calmly lifted my hand, and waved my arm casually.
*SLAP*
*BOOM!*
With a casual slap to the face, the man was sent flying out of the arena into the wall.
"Ah, my apologies, I couldn't find a 'man'. Bitches get slapped."
After my months of Nen training and fighting and surviving in the wild, my casual strength was already enough to hurl away a grown man.
And I'm not even a hand to hand combatant.
In canon, Gon was younger than me, and he had the force of 2 tons of pushing power from his small arms. All because he spent a month training to do it.
That's the kind of world I am in.
'Gon chose push, Killua chose chop, looks like I'm going with slap.'
The proctor handed me a slip of paper.
"You may move on to floor 50. Take this receipt to the cashier for your reward."
I nodded with a smile and left.
Winning on floor 1 only gives you enough to buy a can of sofa from a vending machine.
But thankfully you can fight multiple times in one day.
At floor 50, I fought a martial artist.
*Slap*
I got 50K Jenny. (AN: about 500 usd)
Floor 60.
*Slap*
He went to the Pokémon center.
Floor 70. Fought a woman.
*Slap*
I support gender equality.
Floor 80. Fought a black man.
*Slap*
I support race equality.
Floor 90. Fought a fish man.
*Slap*
Fish are friends, and usually food to, sorry Nemo. Fish equality.
Floor 100. Fought a sumo wrestler.
*Slap*
He came out like a wrecking ball.
In one day, I won 5 matches back to back and shot to the 100th floor, winning 1 mil Jenny. (AN: Over 9K USD)
Starting from the 100th floor, your given your own high class hotel like room.
Many of the fighters in the tower are desperate to stay in the 100 – 200 floor range because they want to keep enjoying the free living services here.
High class hotel style living is addicting after all.
Looking out my large glass window in the room and drinking a glass of some blackberry alcohol Sil made, I smiled as I thought of how far I came while using my iPhone to take pictures of the scenery.
'In less than two years, I've changed so much. From waking up in the warehouse with broken memories of anime and books with Zelretch the troll emperor having given me a new life, accidently or not, to now.
A guy with almost the entire Hogwarts library on charms in my head, a guy with Nen that matches the growth rate of a canon MC, a guy who went through two sadistic combat instructors and came out still sane, unless I'm actually insane, that would make more sense honestly…'
If I'm insane, and no one is around to call me insane, does that make me insane or sane? Hm… interesting.
Anyway, I thought back to how far I came and smiled in joy at the feeling.
'If this is only two years, I wonder how much I will change in two more, five more, ten more.'
If there was anything I could say, it would be that I fucking love this life, and I would record every step.
*Line Break*
The next week flew by as I continued to ascend the tower using nothing but a slap.
The higher the floors, the longer the wait time to fight, that's why it took so long for me to reach the 200th floor.
The 190th floor got me 200 mil for winning. (AN: Almost 2 mil USD)
Making my total funds in a week about 400 mil for just slapping people.
I've gotten the nickname of the smiling slapper for smiling happily while I slap people, and who wouldn't?
It's incredibly satisfying to slap people and send them flying, each one released a month worth of stress from me.
So it was a week after my arrival that I stepped on the 200th floor, a distinct line from the rest of the tower as this is where Nen users all congregated.
If you didn't use Nen, you would be attacked by others with their malicious Ren until something about you breaks.
Almost all the people on this floor, around 170 all told, are always looking for an easy win.
Get ten wins and you can challenge a floor master, get four loses and you have to leave the tower.
Many live here full time and enjoy the status of being a 200th floor member, but whether you like it or not, you have to fight at least once every three months.
As soon as I stepped off the elevator, I was welcomed by a large wave of malicious Nen, but one I was familiar with.
I smiled and kept walking casually with my usual Ten around me, and around the corner, I found my first real friend in this world.
"Jin~."
"Hey Hisoka."
Hisoka was waiting for me with a creepy smile, his aura practically oozing a mix of green and red as he was friendly and wanted to fight me at the same time.
"You finally showed up. I was afraid you had run off."
"Ha you wish, I know you like a good chase."
"Mhm~."
We chatted casually and I didn't mind his on and off battle lust as he looked at me.
Many would be creeped out, but I found the guy fun in a chaotic way, I don't think he really has any friends who can handle him.
I signed in at the check in as I talked with Hisoka.
"So what have you been up to these months?"
"Hm… not much overall. I broke a toy that had interested me, too bad he hit the end of his potential. But my new favorite toy has shown up, he is currently training his hardest to face me, Mmm~, I can't wait for it."
"You really do love fighting don't you? Don't you have any other hobbies?"
Hisoka tilted his head in confusion while holding a hand to his chin in thought.
"Hm… besides fighting? … not really, no. Everything else is just a means to an end, well, I did have fun causing chaos with you, perhaps that's a hobby?"
I just chuckled at that and signed the forms the terrified woman behind the counter was handing me.
Apparently the idea of someone being friends with the creepy lone wolf Hisoka had frightened her.
I signed off on the sheet for the earliest match up which was the next day and handed them back to her.
"Y-your r-room is 2245, we w-will inform y-you of your n-next match s-soon."
I took the key with a wry smile.
"There is no need to fear this big guy miss, he only cares about people who can fight him."
"Boo~ That's rude."
"I'm not wrong though."
"Meanie."
I just chuckled at that while I walked off with Hisoka joining me.
"You know, I think we should have a match soon."
"Oh? I thought you would try to avoid it."
I shrugged and went on in a more serious tone.
"Listen man, I think your fun in a chaotic and insane way, but you're not evil, your just a battle junkie and sadist who gets off on fighting and seeing potential.
But as a friend, I'll say that I think you have fallen into a large trap."
Hisoka eyed me curiously, not denying my description of him.
"Go on."
"You have become a large from in a small pond, you stopped growing and see yourself above most of others."
Hisoka's aura turned dark and menacing.
"Do you truly believe that?"
I matched eyes with him in the face of the beast he was showing and nodded without any fear.
"You have plateaued man; you became too focused on raising toys to fight you instead of trying to improve yourself. Remember the old chairman from the exams? Do you think you could take him?"
Hisoka's Nen had been lashing out and I heard a few doors slam shut as people moved away.
His Nen truly was dark and hungry, but not evil, more chaotic.
We stared off for a minute before his aura began to recede.
"No, no matter how I tried to envision coming at him, I saw my own death each time."
I nodded and kept walking.
"Do you really think he is the only one like that? Netero is the strongest man in the world for a reason, but he is not the only monster that exists.
The 12 zodiacs? The triple star hunters? There are plenty of monsters in the world Hisoka, don't limit yourself to the small ponds, reach farther damn it, you created a chain on your own mind, break that shit and go back to training."
Hisoka fell into thought at my words.
I couldn't help but internally sigh.
'*sigh* the guy is like Zaraki Kanpachi. He saw that his toys were breaking and mentally started holding back and limiting himself to extend the fun he could have with them.'
Like in the latest match Hisoka had here in the tower.
If canon is still the same, Hisoka had both his arms cut off just to enjoy the match a bit longer.
If the guy didn't shape up, he would eventually become physically crippled by Chrollo.
In canon, Chrollo killed Hisoka for a full five minutes before Hisoka managed to restart his heart and reattach his limbs with his Hatsu, but his body would be feeling those injuries for the rest of his life.
I could see the real potential in Hisoka, he was someone with talent that could match or even surpass Gon and Killua, but he lost sight of the real world.
The real world is the dark continent, where any individual monster is an apocalypse scale beast that could threaten all of humankind.
The human world, all 6 continents, was just a tiny speck of land, in the center of an ocean sized lake, in the dark continent.
As I reached my room, I turned to Hisoka and elbowed him lightly to wake him up.
"Think about my words man, really do, and I'll fight you. I'll show you that there are people who can challenge you in this world."
Hisoka stared at me blankly for a moment before his aura exploded in an excited red.
He licked his lips and spoke.
"Very well Jin~, you have given me much to think on. Give me a call when you're ready, and back up your words…. Or I will break you."
I just chuckled and walked into my room.
"Sure thing man and find a damn hobby outside fighting."
*Door closes*
Sometimes, throwing a small stone into a pond can create ripples, and those ripples might just make waves.
I had no idea this random conversation I chose to have would create a tsunami, all based around one mad clown who tore a bloody path into the dark continent.
But that's a story for another time.
*Line Break*
The rooms given on the 200th floor are true VIP grade rooms you would find at a 5 star hotel.
California king sized bed, large living room, a kitchen, a large window overlooking the city landscape from 800 meters in the air, and even a large 850 square foot bathroom have taken up by a massive bathtub.
*Ping*
I turned to see my TV turn on and show me a message.
[Match set.
Jin vs. Sadaso
Date and Time: May 27th, 1PM.
Arena 4.]
'Sadaso? Isn't that the one arm guy who messed with Gon and Killua? Ha, looks like he jumped at the easy prize of fighting a newbie.'
The guy would be threatened by Killua at the end of the month and run away instead of fighting the match on June 1st.
He didn't have to be in such a hurry to die.
*Line break*
"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to today's matchup between Sadaso the one armed snake and Jin the smiling slapper! Our new rising rookie!
Will he fall to Sadaso, a veteran fighter?
Or will he continue his winning streak?
We are about to find out!"
"YAAAAA!" (Crowd roaring)
I chuckled while standing in the square arena surrounded by thousands of cheering fans, it seemed I gathered something of a following with my slap style victory.
Too bad I can't do that anymore.
Not in a Nen fight anyway, I'm no enhancer.
It was time to bring back my guns.
Standing across from me on the platform was my opponent, Sadaso, smiling at me in a sinister and arrogant way.
Sadaso is a tall man with white hair, slanted eyes, thin lips, a pale complexion, and a face similar to a mask. He is missing one arm due to his receiving the "initiation" to the 200th floor of Heavens Arena.
"Hehe you should have waited longer to find a match on this floor, it's nothing like the lower floors. Newbies like you should learn your place."
I ignored him and kept enjoying looking around the room.
'Oh, I see Killua and Hisoka in the audience.'
"Oi, too afraid to speak brat?"
I turned to him with a blank face.
"Hm? You say something?"
"You…brat!"
I raised a hand in tribute to a great troll in another world.
'Thank you Kakashi.'
The referee was checking the time and came between us.
"Points and KO system. A clean hit and knockdown is three points, a glancing blow is one point, a KO will end the match.
No time limit.
Any weapon is allowed.
Fighter ready?!
…Begin!"
*Bang!*
"…"
As soon as the hand came down, as soon as Sadaso's Nen began to form, as soon as everyone perked up to see how this match up would go, a gunshot sounded out in the arena.
Sadaso looked at me strangely, before he looked down and saw a hole in his chest.
"…how…?"
He only uttered one word before falling forward.
On the other side, I stood with my arm stretched out in front of me, with a smoking Glock 19 in my hand.
The second the referee dropped his arm, the second the word 'begin' left his mouth, I drew my pistol and fired a shot so quickly, every cowboy in the south would raise their hat in respect.
A bullet formed from the gouging charm, a charm that is used to pierce, was wrapped tightly in a coating of Nen with a deadly tip, and the gun's barrel had an extra layer of lines to add more rotational force to the bullet.
As I stared down my fallen foe and slowly put away my gun, I turned around and walked off as the arena suddenly gained life again and started screaming and cheering.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
But as I walked away, the only thought on my mind was:
'Holy shit! What the fuck was that?! Menchi! You tricked me bitch!'
Menchi had been kicking my ass for months and telling me my bullets wouldn't pierce through anyone's Ren and actually injure them.
But I just fired a single test shot and killed the dude.
Menchi was fucking saving face as a senior by downplaying my lethality until she could leave.
'Wait a second…'
I pulled up the memory of when she told me she was leaving.
'This bitch! She was trying to run away!'
As I went back to my room I sighed.
'I really hope Sadaso was the lowest standard, or I'm going to have to fight Hisoka a few times.'
*Line break*
"Hello to all our viewers at home!
We are here today to review the latest match between the rookie Jin the smiling slapper, and the now deceased Sadaso, the one armed snake.
The match started and ended in only five seconds folks! Five seconds!
That's the shortest match in the history of the arena unless one side forfeited.
It would seem Jin is a gun user! A rare find amongst our top fighters.
As we all know, bullets don't seem to work on our upper floor fighters with their advanced secret techniques, we have all seen them deflect machine guns without even trying!
But just one shot! One shot is all it took for Jin.
Officials have already asked Jin to show them the weapon, and it was shown to be nothing more than a standard hand gun.
200th floor fights allow any weapon imaginable, but concerns were raised over if Jin was cheating by not using martial arts.
For future matches, Jin has been asked to present his weapons for inspection to make sure it is nothing more than a normal weapon.
What is his secret?! No one knows!
Many fighters over the years have used a variety of strange weapons and shown numerous effects, how they do it? No one knows!
Truly, the greatest fighters of all type congregate here! In Heavens Arena!
Stay tuned folks, our rising rookie has signed up for five matches in a row!
Let's see how far he can go, as the smiling slapper has changed to the smiling shooter!"
"You made quite the stir~." (Hisoka)
"*sigh* tell me about it."
While sitting in my room and watching the news on my match, I had Hisoka over to play cards and share some drinks.
Apparently, and if it weren't for Hisoka of all people telling me I wouldn't have ever known, but the bottles I am drinking from belong to the up and coming world famous alcohol company.
They came out of nowhere three months ago and took the alcohol industry by storm with revolutionary drinks.
The company name was GSB.
I really should have paid more attention.
After my match, the officials asked me to show my weapon and I was happy to.
It was a normal gun.
I just enhanced everything about it with my Shu, and encased the bullet in Shu, while the spell effect could be any of my charms.
After some 'friendly' tests with Hisoka in the training area, I discovered that with a proper Ren, not all my bullets will go through.
You see, many Nen fighters have learned the advanced techniques like Ko and Ryu, and that leaves certain areas of their aura weaker while others are stronger.
The point is that if you punch someone, you enforce your fist to hit harder.
And if you are defending a punch with your arm, you enforce your arm to defend.
I don't do that; I can't learn those techniques.
But with my bullets, I can pierce through weakened areas.
Hisoka has a very fucking annoying ability though, not that he showed me when I asked him to help me experiment.
Of course, I didn't tell him much about mine, I just basically asked him to defend an area with his Nen and shot at it.
Without the extra rotation on the guns barrel, the bullet couldn't penetrate enough.
With the rotation but without the pointed bullet tip and the bullet ends up like throwing an egg at concrete.
So it really is all my additions that add so much lethality to my bullets, allowing the effect of my magic to reach their actual body.
And unless they were very tired, or I am vastly superior, most mental effects fail to work on Nen users.
Hisoka got up after our game ended.
"Well, you have a fun week ahead, do make them a bit more showy would you, it's very bland to KO your foe in the arena."
I shrugged at that.
"I'm used to the real world, where playing with your food can get you killed."
"Hm.. that is a valid point."
"But you also had a good point, I want to change that nickname, the smiling shooter makes me seem homicidal. I'm a wizard damn it."
Hisoka chuckled at that and waved his hand, causing his Nen to turn into a cloud or red petals.
"And I'm a magician, but they never seem to give me a fun nickname."
I deadpanned at him.
"They call you the Joker, I think that fits quite well."
Hisoka pouted at that.
*Line Break*
My match ups for the week came by one after the other, I signed up for seven matches back to back, and each day brought a new foe, and a new…trauma…
Let me explain.
Day 1:
I walked into the arena in baggy pants and a tank top with two pistols strapped to my lower back, showcasing my young but muscled and scared body, getting some friendly cat calls and cheers.
And waited patiently for my foe to show up.
On the dot, a green blur appeared in the arena and I had to do a double take.
"YOUTH!"
'Oh fuck no.'
"Here he is ladies and gentleman! The next challenger for our rising rookie, the green beast!"
'No no no no no no no, where is the fucking lemon pledge. I need to clean my eyeballs.'
Standing at 5'8, in a tight green spandex, a bowl cut haircut, and thick bushy eyebrows, was none other than…. some relative of Rock Lee?
He wasn't rock lee, he had a different face, but goddamn it if that isn't scary.
"YOUTH! I AM SO THANKFUL TO HAVE SUCH A YOUTHFUL OPPONENT! LET US LIGHT OUR FLAMES OF YOUTH AND BATTLE FOR GLORY!"
"…." (Jin)
"…." (The crowd)
"*Cough* right. Points and KO system. Clean hit and knock down is three points, glancing blows are one point, getting ten points or if one side cannot continue will end the match.
Begin!"
"Youth!"
*bang*
"Youth!"
*Bang*
"Youth!"
*Bang*
"Youth!"
*Bang*
"Youth!"
*Bang*
"Youth!"
*Bang*
"Youth!"
*Bang*
'FUCKING DIE AND SHUT UP!'
Like a game of fucking whack a mole, this lee look alike seemed to be some earth type Nen user because he dove into the ground like he was swimming and kept trying to sneak attack me.
He was very unyouthful.
The match took 25 minutes at a score of 1 – 10 in my victory.
The problem came after that.
In the mornings: "YOUTHFUL GOOD MORNING JIN!"
In the evenings: "YOUTHFUL GOOD EVENING JIN!"
On the phone before bed: "YOUTHFUL GOOD NIGHT JIN!"
Ohoho how I wanted to kill this bastard.
Every time I so much as heard the word 'Youth' I would be wildly pointing my gun at anything that moved.
I have taken to instinctively shooting the green beast with overpowered stunner bullets every time he comes within 50 feet of me.
'I think I developed ptsd from this shit.'
"Youth~" (Hisoka)
*Bang*
"AH! Not fucking funny man! Why don't you go fight that thing?!"
"Because I don't want what you have."
*Bang*
"Why did you shoot at me that time?"
"Because you gave me a logical reason and I hate you for it."
"Aw~ I feel the love."
*Bang*
Day 2:
I walked into the arena, ready to start fresh and ignore the past horror, when my 2nd foe showed up.
Dressed from head to toe in dark black armor with a cape, and…
'Is that a batman costume?'
The man in the giant bat costume looked at me like I killed his cat.
"You are going down today."
"Ok."
"I will have my revenge for killing my brother Sadaso."
"Ok."
"There is something out there in the darkness, something that will not stop until it gets revenge... ME."
"I see."
"All men have limits. They learn what they are and learn not to exceed them. I ignore mine."
"Uhu."
"You know what the difference between me and you is?"
"I'm not in a bat costume?"
"We have both looked into the abyss. But I didn't blink."
"Proctor, do we have a mental health doctor in the tower? I think I'm developing a brain tumor."
The proctor ignored me and started the match.
The match ended after 2 minutes.
To be fair, the guy had a decent ability of creating a shadowy environment and trying to rob me of my senses by throwing bat shaped throwing knives at me.
Also to be fair, I shot Lumos maxima bullets around the arena, exposed him, and shot his sadly weak defenses.
I didn't kill him as his aura wasn't that bad, but holy hell he killed my brain.
"YOUTH! CONGRATS JIN!"
Yup, my brain is dying.
Day 3:
"I am Inevitable."
*Bang*
"And I went for the head."
Day 4:
"I am the harem king! OPPAI GIVES ME POWER!"
I shot myself with a glamour charm and made myself look like a 90 year old woman with saggy boobs. Basically the guild master of Lamia Scale from Fairy Tail when she wore a bikini that one episode.
"AH! MY EYES! THE OPPAI HAVE BEEN TAINTED!"
*Bang*
"Every breathe you breath taints this planet. Die worm."
Day 5:
Day five was the true terror of my existence.
"*Hem* *Hem* Little boy, it's best if you give up now."
"No….that's not possible…! I killed you! I know your gone!"
"*Hem* How rude! Where are your parents child, they need to teach you some manners when dealing with a lady."
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
"DIE! EVERY WORD YOU SAY MAKES MY EARS BLEED!"
I will never speak of the horror of that day again.
The officials had to call in Hisoka to restrain me from shooting that corpse anymore.
Dolores Umbridge should stay in hell.
Day 6:
My traumatizing tower experience wasn't over.
My next foe was in a wheelchair.
She had bright blond hair, gold eyes, freckles, and her face ignited pure and undulated blood lust in me.
And her aura didn't help her, for it was sickeningly dark and twisted, something you would expect from Illumi when he talks about Killua, and yet she wore an innocent and pure smile on her face.
I was looking at fucking Rachel from Tower of God.
There is only one thing I will say about that match.
#RachelMustDie
Enough said.
Day 7:
'Finally!'
I almost cried on stage when I saw my opponent and he was giving me a very deadpan and confused look at my actions.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Dude, I'm just so fucking thankful you're not going to inflict mental trauma on me."
"Hm… I scooped out my innards and made myself a puppet body, is that not mentally traumatizing to imagine?"
"Fuck no, that's like a kitten meowing compared to the last six days."
"I see."
"Yeah."
My seventh foe was a Sasori look alike from Naruto.
The match was started and almost exactly like his namesake, he created 100 puppets with his Hatsu, and then controlled each one mentally to attack me.
I had to run around the arena, dodging various poisonous blades and darts as I fought back by rapidly shooting.
The puppets each had a core somewhere in them but each one was different, and unless I hit it, the puppet wouldn't stop moving.
Sasori wasn't moving from his spot, apparently it was a downside of his technique, but he had a dozen stronger looking puppets guarding him.
The most annoying thing was the puppets could adapt.
If I used a gouging charm to pierce one, the others wouldn't be affected by the same attack.
If I used a severing charm to cut one, the others would be immune to it.
So on and so forth.
It made Sasori so damn deadly and explained his weakness of why he couldn't move. It must have been a condition for his ability.
Thankfully, I had more than enough charms to use.
Fire Making Charm, Severing Charm, Disarming Charm, Glacius Charm, Exploding Charm, Water-Making Spell, Gouging Spell, Lightning Charm, Fire Rope Charm, Stunning Spell, Smokescreen Spell, Softening Charm, Slowing Charm, Levitation Charm, Banishing Charm, Summoning Charm, Growth Charm.
I had numerous charms to use, the arena was lit with colorful lights and flashes as I used dozens of charms with my bullets. and I found two loop holes in the puppets.
One, if I use an attack that can hit multiple at once, the immunity effect will not take hold.
Two, they were not immune to each other.
If I used a banishing charm to push one into another and crush them both, the rest would be immune only to the banishing charm.
But if I grabbed one with a rope and smashed it into another with brute force, it worked wonders.
Sasori didn't speak up, or didn't seem like he could speak up, as he kept controlling the puppets to swarm me.
Some attacked with blades, others with throwing weapons, some with hammers, one with a baseball bat, one with a golf club, one with a spartan laser sword, there were all kinds, and most were poisonous, even the baseball bat.
I couldn't avoid two arrows that hit me, but thankfully I am immune to such a weak poison, it had no effect.
The battle was fast paced, and my bullets rang out constantly, the arena was covered in burn marks, ice patches, ash from lightning or explosions, holes or slashes, floating stones, places where the ground was to soft or too hard, extra-large tiles or shrunken tiles, the arena was in chaos, and the crowd was cheering like nothing else.
My blood pumped excitedly in such a battle, and I actually wished I had a close range style of fighting for it.
Magic is awesome, and I like using guns, but there was something missing by not having a close range weapon style.
But I didn't have the time for that now.
After dozens of minutes, I was breathing hard as I had dove, ran, jumped and twisted, and pulled all kinds of maneuvers to destroy the puppets until there was only four left.
Sasori spoke up for the first time here.
"You have done remarkably well, very few have been able to overcome my puppets. Your ability seems to counter mine well."
I wiped my sweat with my arm and responded in kind.
"Same to you man, these puppets are no joke, I think you try to enhance what each one can do or use military tactics to improve them, right now they are a bit too simple."
Sasori smiled wryly at that.
"It's not as easy as it looks. But I think that's a long enough break, let us continue."
"With pleasure."
Using surprising teamwork, the last three puppets tried to back each other up and avoid my shots.
I tried to shoot Sasori plenty of times, but he always kept one puppet back to guard his body.
'Well, I'm out of combat type charms, so I guess I'll have to be inventive.'
I shot one with a hair growing charm, and hair sprouted from its head much to Sasori's surprise.
It might have just been a Nen construct, but my magic worked differently form Nen.
Once the hair grew long enough, I hit that puppet with a knitting charm and the hair stitched itself up and dropped the puppet to the ground, unable to move.
The hair was knitted into the body, and seemed to have pierced its core somewhere, taking it out.
'Two more.'
I hit one with a sticking charm, sticking it to the ground where it stood, and hit the other with a cleaning charm.
The puppet looked shiny and just out of the shop.
"Did you just clean my puppet?"
"You had to make it weird."
Thankfully, by cleaning it, it also cleaned the Nen connection to Sasori and it fell over before dissipating.
As for the one stuck, I just physically hit it by pistol whipping it and crushing its head.
Now all that was left was Sasori and his defensive puppet.
"Well, now you have physically attacked, so I would assume you're out of ways to attack my puppets.
If you can't breach this last one, you will never win, and I will strike when you are drained of energy."
I raised an eyebrow at the uncharacteristic monologue.
'Even the silent ones monologue at the end.'
With a deadpan face, I hit the last puppet with a different variation of the levitation charm, the rocket charm.
*Bang*
The last puppet got launched straight up and smashed into the ceiling.
I looked on with a deadpan face.
Sasori looked on with a deadpan face.
"That's not fair."
"Live isn't fair."
"Well, NOW you have nothing left to use."
I turned into a tiger.
"Ok fuck you."
"ROAR!"
"Yeah, yeah, I surrender."
And that's how my week of matches went.
I will be taking a full month to rest my fucked up mind after all this shit.
"YOUTH!"
*Bang!*
Make that two months.
Chapter end.