It's Raphael's turn, and he's hunting a pack of werewolves that gave him grief last time.

The group was led to an overpass, a hill overlooking a valley. From here they could observe the last enemy that was going to be captured.

Retexicol, the Silver Werewolf Packleader…

A miniboss of the area. It was A rank in difficulty, above Gon and Killua's fight, but it should still be doable. He was faster and stronger now… He also had his new weapon too.

The fight was difficult for two main reasons, the constant minions, and the self-healing ability. Everything else would be debatable in terms of difficulty.

Bisky observed the enemy noticing the strength differences between the three creatures.

While Gon's enemy was focused on his hands and feet, Killua's on their defences. She could see that the enemy's overall strength was equalised.

There were no obvious weaknesses. So, it must either have common weaknesses, or it's a tactical fight.

Raphael found himself smiling at the scene. After constantly fighting Gon and Killua, this should be easy. He might struggle a little, but with what mechanics he knows, and a bit of trial and error… he should beat it.

He guesses he should explain some things to his friends. He gave hints for their fight, so he should do the same for his, "Retexicol is what we can describe as a gang leader. He leads a group of enemies to attack. So, there are going to be two main things to consider, the leader and his pack. You must defeat his minions, while also, of course, beating the miniboss."

Bisky smiled "Alright boys, I want you to focus on the fight. Find their weakness and I want you to be able to offer him any advice if he fails to beat the enemy."

"Osu!"

Raphael gave a nod. Seeing as she was willing to point that out, she must have noticed the beast was stronger than the others.

This was a challenge; one he plans on winning.

While he'd like this to involve hand-to-hand combat like the others, he has a weapon. And he plans on using it.

He should still be able to win, regardless if he was armed.

However, he hasn't gotten to test the weapon's capabilities properly.

He did get to use it on the Cyclops and the worm, but this fight would be a good test.

Raphael used the cliffside to slide down into the valley, the miniboss only reacting once he was halfway down.

The werewolf let out a beastly howl, and wolfish cries in the distance returning the pleas.

Raphael unsheathed the spear, reading his stance.

Six figures moved from the darkness, towards him.

Raphael only smiled in response, twisting the spear so the blunt end was facing them. He starts running down the hill to the one furthest from him, slamming the shaft into the beast's chest. The action sent them flying. Gripping the staff, he swings it hard enough to knock two more back before spearing one of the minions through the chest.

As they turn into a puff of smoke, he swings his weapon, cutting through one more with the rod knocking the other into the hill.

"Book!" The teen runs down the hill towards the boss, spear tip directed at the beast. The creature growls, stepping off to the side. Raphael misses the enemy, his eyes looking towards them as they pass each other.

The boss swung their claws at his back.

But Raphael knew better. He kicked the shaft at the bottom, using his momentum to swing the blade at the beast once more.

The edge cuts into their face, not enough to leave a serious wound or deal heavy damage. But he sees the fresh scar pulsating like a festering wound. It was already healing.

But the other beasts come to the boss's defence. He mows down the beasts ripping through the first one with his spear, grabbing onto the card to slap it into his book before moving on to the second one. He trips the creature to attack the third enemy, craving it in half.

Spinning the spear, he shoves it into the enemy behind him, grabbing onto the previously killed enemy's card before ripping the spear free.

He grabs the new card, moving back towards the boss. He slams the shaft like a baseball bat across the monster's face, taking note of the freshly healed wound. He wasn't surprised since the cut wasn't that deep.

He pulled back to slam the shaft against their face once more. It yelped in response, rubbing at their face as they stepped back.

He spun the spear shaft, stabbing it through their chest. Letting out a howl of agony, it brought their knee up, kicking him in the chest.

The action knocked Raphael back, but that didn't deter him. He could win if he keeps this up. Over time the monster's wounds will heal. But as long as he keeps wounding it, there will be a moment he can kill it.

Raphael spun the blade back, charging forward with the spear aimed towards his enemy.

"~"

Gon's eyes gleamed from the fight. It's the first time he's seen Raphael fight with a weapon. From his perspective, he was a better fighter this way. Maybe his friend could lean more towards weapons than hand-to-hand combat, "He's so cool!"

"Huh?!" Killua was caught off guard by his friend, "He's not even using the weapon effectively…"

Bisky chimed in with a smile, "You'd be right. But that could come down to training. I'd say he's good with a quarterstaff. But his blows come across as someone who'd have trained more with a heavy hammer." She hummed at the situation, "It must be how his father trained him. From my understanding, Nathaniel is known to use an extremely heavy, two-handed sword in a single hand. Given how Raphael is fighting… I'd say he's been trained the same way. Now granted, that spear would be nowhere near the weight of Nathaniel's weapon. However, that doesn't mean he can't swing it as such."

Bisky raised a finger, "Here's a question for you. If you were in a position where you had to fight Raphael seriously, given what you've seen so far… how would you combat his style?"

"Use his momentum against him, duh." Killua pointed at the teen, "He swings with wide heavy blows."

"Sure, but he can redirect that swing at any moment." Bisky gestured to the weapon, "He reversed the swing when the monster tried to attack his open back. So, that means he can keep that moment flowing for a while."

"Oh, Oh." Gon held up his hand "You stop the momentum."

Bisky gave a nod, "Yes. But there's a little more than that."

"Physical strength. Hold his arms in place?"

"Hey, Doofus!" Killua interrupted the boy, "If he can change the momentum with a kick, he can probably drop the weapon and kick it into your face. You'll need to disarm him and get him as far away from the weapon as possible."

"That's the best way…" Bisky chimed in, "But can he be disarmed?" She meant more as a rhetorical question. She wasn't expecting an answer right that instant.

As she watched the fight unfold, she looked for the possibility.

The beast slashed away at the air.

Raphael dodged any attempt by smacking the claws away with the shaft of the spear.

She nodded, "Yeah, he can be disarmed." There's no doubt… "But the question is what does he do after he's been disarmed?"

"He'd switch to hand-to-hand combat. He's decent at that." Killua was quick to chime in.

"Yes, but I'd continue to observe…"

The boys offered a nod, continuing to watch the fight unfold.

"~"

There was a sudden shift in the teen's stance. It was going to howl for allies any second now. He's taking a little too long whittling their health down.

He'd need to get aggressive if he was going to deal as much damage as possible. The beast let out a terrifying howling.

Forcing the spear into the dirt, he wasted no time. Holding his hand up, aura funnelled into his palm, the consistency turning into a black inky puddle.

Dipping his hand a little to the side it started to fall like dark chocolate sauce, thick and sludgy. It never quite detached from his hand, not until he started to fuel the substance with aura.

It blew up like a balloon, a figure shaping out from within the dark sludge.

Raphael wasted no time letting go of the object once it fully formed, holes opening where its eyes would be.

They glowed a similar blue to his eye colour, his view splitting to show what the new figure saw.

Shadow Mirage…

His ability to recreate a simple copy of himself. It had his strength, endurance and fighting prowess. What it lacked was his features, so it could never be used as a true copy to fool anyone into thinking it was his doppelganger.

There were benefits to this setup. For one, it wasn't a pure identical copy. So it could be reshaped and reformed at his will. If he were to be locked in a room where he had no way of physically escaping, he could use the mirage to slip between the cracks of a door to force it open from the other side.

Another added benefit is it can be used to spy on others, provided he could learn to perfect Zetsu or in this case… In. He can not only hear but see what it does. Right now he could hear a distorted echo due to their proximity. But it didn't matter since he was used to that.

But his main reason for calling for its backup was because of their strength. He snapped his fingers, mentally controlling the mirage.

It grabbed onto the spear, pulling it from the ground. Spinning the spear in their fingertips, Raphael clenched his fists as his mirage pointed the weapon at the monsters.

As the wolves pounced on him, the teen redirected his mirage to go around the minions. It lunged straight towards the boss, impaling it with the spear.

Pulling the weapon free, the creature let out a howl of agony.

The minions stopped for a moment, caught between the choice of attacking him or his shadow mirage.

While the beast's minions were stunned briefly, Raphael slammed his fist into the closest minion's face, knocking it down. The others chose to focus on him.

He shifted his stance, blocking one of their swipes. Redirecting their attack away from him, he moved in to punch the minion in the chest. He swiped the card as it turned into a puff of smoke, twisting his body to roundhouse another, kicking them away.

The remaining four attacked him at once. He slipped between their attacks to focus on one at a time, destroying each minion so he not only had one less enemy to deal with, he would still have time to collect their card to sell later.

While he did that, his mirage kept the main boss on the defence. It wouldn't have time to heal their wounds over time as new ones were being inflicted on him.

Right as the last of the minions were dispatched, Raphael redirected his mirage to throw the spear back to him. Gripping the shaft tightly, he and his mirage moved in to attack.

"~"

Gon was practically vibrating with excitement. This is the first time he's seen this ability in action.

It reminds him of Kastro's ability back at Heaven's Arena. Except, in this case, it wasn't a perfect copy. Its movements were more… fluid-like, possibly the same consistency as slime.

Besides lit, it seems to be almost identical to Raphael, albeit a little slower. Maybe it's the way it is being moved or commanded "That's so cool! It's like Kastro's ability, right Killua?"

"I guess… not a perfect copy, but it's close enough. Not thirteen creatures would've been programmed to spot the difference."

"Yeah, but it's still pretty cool."

Killua thought about the way he fought, and why he got his shadow to focus on the boss and not on to minions. It might be the way it fights. It doesn't have auto-combat abilities. Just his experience and fighting style…

Bisky's smile faltered. She noticed the flaws. There was a delay between the command and their attack.

That wasn't the only thing… it wasn't autonomous. So, Raphael was constantly feeding it commands. He was splitting his focus while that ability was active… possibly even more than that.

But given his training with the boys, it seems like he has no issues controlling the copy while he's attacking. So, for the time being, he'll be fine.

But Raphael still has a lot to learn and master.

She'll still bring it up as a concern if the boys can't figure it out through their rounds of mistakes Raphael had made during his fight.

"~"

Raphael shifted the weight of the weapon sliding his hands down toward the bottom, getting ready for the next cue point.

The creature let off a howl.

The teen sent the spear flying at the creature, launching it with enough strength to impale it through the chest. The monster is pinned to the ground, right as six beasts charge him.

He forced his mirage to run straight to the boss, the shadow grabbing onto the spear. It focuses its strength on pinning the creature to the ground feet holding the beast's arms in place while their hands keep the spear from shifting.

Raphael gets ready for the first beast, punching it in the face.

He kicks the next two down before moving on to the fourth. The teen grabbed onto their wrist as they swung their claw at him. He uses the beast's body as a shield for the fifth, ramming the two together before ultimately grabbing onto the sixth's face, and ramming into the ground. He takes hold of the monster's face, crushing it beneath his grasp.

He holds his hand out, the mirage ripping the spear free. It throws three hundred master who promptly grasps onto the shaft of his spear once more.

He moves to kill all five beasts, swinging the spear with enough force to cleave through all the enemies.

Shifting his stance once more, he runs back to the boss, ramming the spear back through the beast's chest, using all his might to pin them back into the ground.

Aura fuelled his fists, the teen repeatedly pummelling the monster's face.

"~"

Bisky whistled. There was no way he'd have been able to do that before. Raphael was using what he learned from his fights with Gon and Killua, to make up for his previous losses.

He was being brutal.

Fist connected with Nen muscles, constantly pummelling a beast's muzzle as though he insulted the boy's family.

It's probably an action that allows him to deal a mass amount of damage in a small amount of time.

It was cruel if she were to be honest, but effective.

The only thing she was curious about was why he wasn't making the mirage attack alongside him.

It continued to pin the beast's arms to the floor with their feet.

Killua watched the onslaught transpire, "He's getting really aggressive. But he has fought this monster so he may know something we don't."

Bisky gestured to the creature, "I assume he's trying to do as much damage as he can before the beast calls his allies. It seems like the Nen beast has a set timer. So, it must rotate his abilities by time, not by health."

"Exactly three hundred seconds." Killua mused with a small smile.

"Eh?"

"I timed it, Gon. Don't act confused."

"I'm not confused…" Gon pouted, cheeks puffed up comically, "I just wanted to know how you timed it to the last second."

"In my head…" Killua raised an eyebrow at his friend, "It's just counting."

"No, I mean how did you know to start counting…"

Now he was even more confused, "I've played a lot of games in my free time. Most skills go by a cooldown timer, so I followed that rule for this instance."

"Oh, Killua is smart…"

Killua's cheeks flushed red from the compliment, "Baka, it's just common knowledge. To a normal kid…"

"I didn't play video games…"

"Yeah, because you spent your time gallivanting in the forest, exploring nature. And raising a fox bear. Ya weirdo."

"It's not weird…"

The two bickered, Bisky's eye twitching as she was forced to listen to two boys argue over nature vs gaming, "If you miss a single detail, I'm going to force you to do a thousand push-ups for every second you argued!"

"Sorry!" The boys quickly focused on the fight, not wanting to be her personal punching bag or earn her ire.

"~"

The creature's arms shifted, grasping onto the spear. With a smirk, he forced his mirage to pull the boss into a headlock, using their arms to hold it in place.

The only problem was it could still move. It continued to flail around, Raphael grasping onto his weapon once more.

He ripped it free, the creature letting out a shriek of agony.

He thought he had the fight in the bag, that it was almost over from all the damage it suffered.

But their claws found purchase, grabbing onto the mirage that held it in place.

They ripped themselves free, throwing his shadow onto the floor with enough force to knock a normal person out.

But his mirage simply remained still.

Raphael was forced to back away when the creature growled at him.

They were only just getting serious, which meant this must be the final phase of a monster he failed to beat.

Claws extended, heavy growls escaping as it prowled towards him. He shifted his stance, readying his weapon once more.

When the beast lunged at him through the air, he made his move.

The mirage got up, grabbing hold of the beast before they could get any closer. The claws swiped at the air, trying to remove the figure holding them in place.

But Raphael wouldn't let this chance slip by. Aura flowed into his palm, the teen throwing a ball that emitted a flash of bright light on impact. As the light devoured his mirage, consuming it into nothingness, the creature let loose a howl of agony as they tried to protect their sight.

It didn't matter he lost his mirage; the damage was already done. Their sight was impaired.

Raphael moved. First, he slammed his fist into the beast's forearm, the creature letting out a pained howl. He followed it with a backhand to the monster's now open face.

With a heavy kick to the monster's knee, the creature plummeted to the ground. Raphael took this moment to grasp his hands together, clubbing it across the back of the head.

Their sluggish movements seemed to indicate how close it was to being beaten. The beast struggled to get up, one hand clawing at the dirt while the other failed to find purchase.

Raphael lifted his spear, ramming it through the back of their skull. It dropped to the floor in a heap, frame barely twitching.

He had finally defeated the beast, Retexicol…

Raphael let out a sigh of relief when the creature disappeared in a puff of white smoke. All that remained was a card worth tons of Jenny.

Retexicol, the Silver Werewolf Packleader

2316 A - 5

A werewolf leader. While their regenerative ability is problematic, their howl is dangerous. It will call its allies far and wide to assist them.

After selling this card, the minions, including the other two Gon and Killua collected; all four of them should be able to completely deck out their magic cards.

Hopefully, they'll be able to get a well-rounded range of spells.

Gon was the first to reach Raphael, the boy with zero warning pulled him into a hug. He cheered loudly.

Gon's eyes seemed to glimmer with fascination and intrigue "That was cool! Amazing! You should teach us how to fight like that."

Raphael found himself bursting into laughter, "Come on. I'm not that skilled. Plus, I'm not a good teacher for that kind of training."

Gon puffed up his cheeks in response "Boo…" He was disappointed. But since Bisky saw it, maybe she'd train them to fight like that too.

Ruffling the boy's spiky hair, he turned to the much quieter boy. Killua's eyes were filled with something unusual. Was it rage… or jealousy? Without giving himself away, he pushed Gon aside with a chuckle "Come on, you're gonna crush me with a hug like that."

Killua's mood improved from his action, but only by a little. Still, it's better than earning Killua's ire over something Gon was doing "So did you guys learn anything?

Killua crossed his arms, "We learnt enough. Your En is a pretty cool talent, dunno how Bisky expects us to learn to replicate that."

"Ahh, through training…?" Raphael squinted at his friend a little confused. Was she expecting them to learn En by watching him?

It was not only difficult, to be honest… En is a skill that's learned through practice, not observation.

Bisky frowned, "That's not what I wanted you to learn. Okay, question-" The boys called out the number, "Killua and Raphael, too slow. One thousand push-ups each."

The two groaned in unison, the older woman continuing "What did you learn from his fight, and what advice would you offer him?"

As Gon thought about it, Killua chimed in "Learn to use your spear more effectively. You swung it multiple times like a two-handed hammer. A spear is made for impaling, not smacking."

"I'll count that. One hundred fewer push-ups for you. Gon?"

"Hmm, use the monster's allies to your advantage. As shields or such."

"Raphael…?"

"While it's true the extra werewolves can be hurt by their leader, he doesn't actively go after the enemy until they are dispatched."

Killua grinned, "Then why did you pin the boss down right as it howled?"

"They use their free time to recover from their wounds. It's kind of hard to focus on recovery when a spear lodged in their chest is being counted as still being damaged."

"Gon, start your one hundred push-ups."

"Aww…"

"Let's keep going. Killua, did you notice any weakness?"

"Besides vital points and pinning it down, it has no specific weaknesses."

"One hundred extra push-ups."

Killua fumed. He hadn't missed anything. He watched the fight as it unfolded, taking in every detail, including the minor ones.

"It did have a weakness I picked up on, that Raphael failed to notice. Gon, can you guess what it was?"

"Oh, oh. If it could be pinned, it can be stopped from summoning its allies."

"Wrong! A hundred extra push-ups for you." Killua snickered, Bisky once more continued, "Do you know what you missed?"

Raphael shook his head, he couldn't recall anything out of the abnormal, "I'm disappointed… one hundred extra for you. It has a wide attack that you could've exploited. Had you used your shadow to draw out their wide attacks, you could have had easy pickings for vital points that act like critical hits. Another key point, you need to better manage your aura connection between the Shadow and yourself. They may be tough and deal decent damage, but it's clear how you order them around isn't exactly fluid."

"Noted…" The teen found himself frowning. He didn't expect to be called out like that.

"In that case…" Killua chimed in, "Dismissing your shadow after launching your Blash Bang ability isn't a good habit to have."

"And here I thought you're stupid. A hundred less push-ups for you."

A vein popped on Killua's forehead, eye twitching from anger.

Raphael felt awkward. Even though Killua was right in a sense, he wasn't dismissing his mirage "So, you're half right."

"Huh?"

"First, I call them Mirages. They're not strictly shadows, they just function as such…" He thought of how to best explain his abilities, "Oh. Try to look at it this way. My Mirages are made to function in total darkness. They can move through and around surfaces like shadows around light. Now as for my other ability Blash Bang, that has the properties of light. It shines bright enough to erase my mirages because it is the opposite property. When that happens, my aura creating the Mirage returns to me. I can't use them in unison. Do you understand what I mean?"

As Bisky thought about the explanation, Gon piped up "Why don't you use the same properties in both abilities?"

Killua sighs. He couldn't believe his friend was that stupid "Because you can't dark bang someone, that's why it's called a flash bang. You blind them with a flash of bright light."

"But it's not a flash bang… it's a Blash Bang."

"That was ahh… a mispronunciation I stuck with." He felt so awkward admitting this secret, but as embarrassing as it was, it was now something he was used to "When I first started using it, I repeated the name so many times to the point it merged with the mispronunciation. I just stuck with it ever since…"

"Wow…" Killua wasn't impressed, "You messed up the name and stuck with it. I'm impressed at your lack of creativity."

"Don't you dare insult my abilities' name. I bet any abilities you have, have a basic ass name."

Killua's smile widened, acting a little sly towards his friend, "I'll bet you'll have the laziest name out of all of us."

"Oh, it's on! What's yours named?"

"I'm not telling you~" Killua sang in a cheery tune. He enjoyed riling up Raphael.

"You two cut it." Bisky cut their argument short, "Anything else?"

"Then, why don't you make the shadow copies out of the property of light."

"He can't do that either." Killua lets out a groan of frustration, "For two reasons. Someone will spot the difference immediately. It's designed in a way so that if he were in a dark alleyway, they'll be so focused on following the copy, they wouldn't immediately notice they were following a dud."

"Yeah!"

"The second is because light can only bend around flat or smooth surfaces. A crack would mess with his mirage's ability to slip between jagged edges. You understand?"

"Oh…" Gon replayed the explanation in his head, coming to one conclusion "That's smart thinking!"

"It's mostly smart…" Killua stood up, "It's still dumb. He made a situation where he could never use them together."

"But that's what makes it a smart design…" Bisky finally chimed in. With a nod, she pressed her hands against her hip, "Vows and Limitations. Specifically, Risks. He unconsciously set a requirement where both abilities can never be active at the same time. By doing so, that increases the power of the ability. If he's ever in a situation where he needs to use both, he's going to disrupt his mirage." Bisky was quick to follow that statement with an observation "But, I bet you didn't notice that his Blash Bang was brighter than the last time he used it."

Killua recalled both situations. When he used his ability against Binolt, it was dimmer in comparison "It was… I would've assumed it was because the Nen in the mirage was dispelled."

"Close, he changes the property of his aura through Transmutation. Which means…" She flashed a grin at the boy, "He's capable of using aspects outside his neighbouring categories."

Gon looked a little confused, "What do you mean?"

"Oi, baka. Wing-san explained this concept with Kastro. Kastro was an Enhancer who used Manipulation and Conjuration to create his double. Because he made that his focus, his dominant category was much weaker."

As the two argued, Bisky smiled without a word, lost deep in her thoughts. Raphael is like a Ruby. He has an unrelenting, fiery passion when it comes to moving forward. Even after his constant losing streak against the boys. He refused to give up.

But where he thrives is his desire to seek out knowledge. He went out of his way to hunt for secrets hidden within the game, finding clues to monsters that didn't matter to the restricted slots. That takes dedication.

But he's not without flaws... he's quick to assume and a disaster when it comes to departing with his knowledge. He willingly told the boys step for step how to deal with monsters, taught them mechanics without giving them ways to figure it out on their own…

With a bit of training and a lot of polishing, he'll glow as brilliantly as Gon and Killua. They'll learn to thrive together as a trio…

"If what you say about Kastro is true, then he made a fatal mistake…" The older woman sighed, "Raphael's case is different. He is an Emitter who borrows from Manipulation and Transmutation. Yes, Transmutation is a key property in both abilities… However, both Blash Bang and Mirage require an intense focus on Emission to retain. If he couldn't retain the shape of the Mirage or the thrown ball of aura, they would've exploded before reaching their target."

With a clap of her hands, she directed the two younger boys' attention, "When creating an ability, you need to design it around risks that not only make sense but work alongside your ability. Whether those risks bring harm to yourself or the possibility of opening yourself to danger… you must be willing to make them. Oh, and nothing that can cause death. Yes, it can give you a major boost in power. But that bonus strength will never be worth your life."

"Osu!"

"Good. Now this concludes your training with capturing harder cards on Greed Island. You're strong enough to capture B and A rank cards, which leaves S and SS ranks to worry about. We have one more final piece of training to do, which will make any struggles you experienced during your earlier fight much easier to deal with. It's time to perfect Ken before you move on to the next part of your training…"

A/N: Leave a review, it helps inspire me.