Get comfortable, turn the page, and let’s see what this story has been hiding 🔥 ✦ Hold it in.
Keep holding it in.
Hold it in until the absolute limit, then let it all pour out at once.
That was the meaning Kieran barely managed to extract from Wright’s awful metaphor.
Only…
He really wanted to know who had first brought Wright into Nen.
Suppressing the urge to ask, Kieran silently shifted his gaze away and stopped looking at him.
To prevent Wright from sharing even worse “experience,” he closed his eyes and entered a state of training.
Wright had originally wanted to keep pouring out advice, but Kieran had already begun cultivating, so he could only give up.
“I really am suited to teaching others.” Looking at Kieran, who entered training immediately after listening to his guidance, Wright showed a faintly pleased expression.
Guidance meant explaining principles in the most plain and easy-to-understand language.
Like just now.
He had merely tested the waters with a metaphor, and Kieran had understood instantly.
‘If my ultimate goal were not capturing the Phantom Troupe, becoming a Nen teacher and leading rookies through the door might not be a bad choice.’ Wright crossed his arms, his pride with nowhere to go.
Kieran did not know what Wright was thinking.
He focused his attention and did everything he could to mobilize the aura inside his body.
‘First gather the aura, then expand the aura nodes all at once.’ ‘No need to rush.
If I fail once, I can try again.’ ‘Before that, closing the aura nodes should let me build up more force.’ Kieran concentrated and organized his thoughts.
Although Wright’s “experience” gave a terrible impression, he had to admit…
The wording was crude, but the logic worked.
At least it had given Kieran some inspiration.
In the temple courtyard, mist filled the air, and faint morning light fell across Kieran’s body.
The hazy glow and the light of Nen reflected each other.
About ten seconds later…
The aura floating over Kieran’s body visibly faded.
He had closed his aura nodes and entered Zetsu.
By doing that, he could gather more power inside his body.
Seeing this, surprise flickered across Wright’s square face.
“A very smart choice.
But taking too large a step is not always good.
Nen training is about advancing one footprint at a time.
Steady and solid.” He seemed to have guessed Kieran’s idea, but he neither approved nor objected.
It could not be denied that his teaching ability was excellent, but that did not decide the upper limit of his student’s training speed.
The best outcome would be Kieran expanding his aura nodes as much as possible before noon, bringing his manifested aura output to a level that could squeeze value out of sparring.
If Kieran could not manage it before noon, Wright could use his own aura to help expand Kieran’s nodes.
But succeeding on one’s own and succeeding with someone else’s help produced completely different gains.
If circumstances allowed, Wright naturally hoped Kieran could reach the requirement by himself.
“Kieran, I believe in y-you-you…?” Wright’s eyes suddenly widened.
In his pupils, a large mass of brilliant light gradually appeared.
Under his gaze, a large amount of aura surged out of Kieran’s body, moving back and forth like a rapid waterfall.
It was clear that Kieran had already expanded his aura nodes above the minimum required level.
How long had that taken?
Ten seconds?
This kid.
This unbelievable kid.
Wright was shocked to his core.
He had thought Kieran would need many attempts to expand his aura nodes to a qualified level.
He had not expected Kieran to reach the goal in one try.
No.
He had far exceeded expectations.
‘A genius.
An absolute genius among geniuses.’ ‘I have to find a way to take Kieran in!’ Wright was ecstatic.
This was more than a guarantee.
This was a treasure that could practically deliver him to Two-Star status.
Kieran did not pay attention to Wright’s reaction.
A large amount of aura rushed out of his body and repeatedly struck his senses, giving rise to a strange feeling in his heart.
It was not a sense of being omnipotent.
It was more like…
The feeling that he could do more things.
“This level is enough, right?” Kieran slowly opened his eyes and looked at Wright, who was staring at him in shock.
Seeing Kieran look over, Wright quickly hid his surprise, coughed twice in pretense, then said seriously, “Not bad.
It seems my guidance played a key role.” “…” Kieran fell silent for a moment.
Sensibly, he did not correct Wright’s perception.
“Then hurry up and start.
I cannot maintain this for too long.” Without choosing to withdraw his aura, Kieran retreated some distance, then looked up at Wright and signaled him to begin sparring as soon as possible.
Opening the aura nodes with Ren released more manifested aura outside the body, but his latent aura reserve was still limited.
He could not maintain it for long at all.
“Do not be so impatient.
We have plenty of time.” Wright’s eyes flickered.
He also opened his aura nodes and released aura over his body.
However, the manifested aura he released was almost the same in quantity as Kieran’s.
Obviously, he had deliberately controlled it.
“During sparring, I will keep my Ren suppressed to roughly the same level as yours.
So do not shackle yourself with ideas like ‘the other side’s Ren is stronger.’ Show your offense and defense freely.” As Wright spoke, he took a stance with his left fist guarding low and his right fist across his body.
“Then I will not hold back.” Kieran’s gaze sharpened.
His right foot, stepping forward, stamped hard against the ground.
Bang.
The old blue stone brick could not endure the heavy step.
It cracked and burst apart.
Kieran’s body shot toward Wright like an arrow loosed from a bowstring.
‘Once he clearly knows both sides have Ren at the same level, he chooses a direct frontal attack without hesitation.
That is indeed the fastest way to squeeze value out of sparring.
But…
you are still so young.
Where does that urgent desire to grow stronger come from?’ Watching Kieran charge in with fierce momentum, Wright stood unmoving, ready to respond.
However…
In the next instant, Kieran suddenly braked and stopped.
“Hm?” Wright looked at him, not understanding why he had stopped the attack.
Kieran looked back at the blue brick he had shattered.
Before the fight began, he had not considered the condition of the field.
He had not expected that while using Ren, the force of simply stepping down to launch a sprint would so easily crush stone strengthened by age.
If they sparred for ten days, would the courtyard not be ruined beyond recognition?
When Hawk returned…
Kieran could almost imagine Hawk nagging endlessly beside his ear.
“Maybe…
we should change places?” He withdrew his gaze from the broken stones and looked at Wright with the suggestion.
“…” Wright was rather speechless.
He had thought something had happened when Kieran suddenly stopped.
It turned out Kieran was worried about damaging the temple courtyard.
“We will do it here.
There is no suitable field outside.” Wright rejected the suggestion, then gave a guarantee to ease Kieran’s concerns.
“You do not need to worry.
After the sparring is over, I will hire professionals to restore this place.” “Then I can relax.” Kieran’s eyes brightened.
He thought that licensed Hunters truly did have connections.
With no more concerns, he stepped forward again.
Bang.
The blue stone cracked.
Kieran sprinted in front of Wright, bent his knees slightly to reduce the area that could be struck, and threw a probing straight punch toward Wright’s abdomen.
Enhanced by manifested aura, the straight punch had quite a bit of force behind it.
But in Wright’s eyes, Kieran’s attack pattern was not only immature.
It was full of openings.
‘Almost no hand-to-hand combat experience.’ Surprise appeared deep in Wright’s eyes.
Then, just before Kieran was about to land the hit, Wright raised his knee even faster and drove it into Kieran’s chest.
With a muffled bang, Kieran took the hit squarely in the chest.
His whole body flew backward, slammed hard onto the ground, and rolled six or seven meters before stopping.
However, because both sides maintained almost equal manifested aura, and because Wright deliberately held back, the solid strike did not injure Kieran.
That counted as one of a Nen user’s unique advantages.
They could carry out offense and defense in sparring without worrying too much about injuries, rapidly improving experience through battle.
But if this had been real combat…
Wright would only have needed to shift more than fifty percent of his manifested aura to his knee, and that one knee strike would have killed Kieran on the spot.
‘My frontal combat ability really is a mess.’ Kieran got up from the ground.
He was not surprised by the result.
He possessed a fairly abundant store of Nen knowledge, but his experience in direct physical confrontation was almost zero.
That was Kieran’s current state.
So if Nen ability factors were excluded, any Hunter who had passed the Hunter Exam and just learned Nen could easily beat the current him.
After all, combat experience and physical ability were indispensable parts of strength.
The only reason he had been able to kill Ian instantly last night…
Was the result of strategy and an information gap involving Nen abilities.
If he had been forced to face Ian head-on, he would never have been Ian’s opponent.
Simply put, hand-to-hand combat experience and physical ability formed the lower limit, while Nen abilities and Nen techniques raised the upper limit.
‘Still a long way to go.’ Kieran murmured inwardly, then looked up at Wright.
A sharp fighting spirit showed on his face.
Weakness did not matter.
Because after enough turns and enough setbacks, strength would surely come.
All he had to do was keep moving forward, step by determined step.
‘How exactly did he bring down Ian?’ Wright hid his surprise and silently watched Kieran stand up from the ground.
After clearly realizing that Kieran’s combat experience was almost zero, the unanswered question from last night rose in Wright’s heart again, stronger than before.
Comparing Kieran’s current strength with the information he had on Ian…
No matter how Wright imagined it, he could not picture the possibility of Kieran defeating Ian.
In Nen techniques, combat experience, and even physical ability, Ian was clearly stronger than Kieran.
While Wright was thinking, Kieran launched another attack, still a straight frontal sprint.
This time, however, he changed his position slightly before striking, attempting to increase his chance of landing the hit with a feint.
But he was still too immature.
Wright knocked him flying without any effort.
Kieran fell heavily to the ground.
This time, he did not get up.
Having consumed nearly ninety percent of his latent aura reserve, he clearly had nothing left to sustain himself.
After all, only two days had passed since he awakened Nen.
The total amount of manifested aura was not something that could be increased in a short while.
Lying flat on the ground, Kieran began reviewing that round of offense and defense, trying to extract experience from it.
Ten days.
He had to cherish every minute and every second, and grow as much as possible.
✦ ✦ ✦ Ready for more?
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS EmberHollow Thank you for reading.
I hope this chapter pulled you deeper into the story.
Stick around, because there’s still a lot waiting just ahead.