Gon could feel his strength draining away at an unprecedented rate.
Maintaining Ken grew more difficult with every passing moment.
Each second felt as though he were running while carrying a massive boulder on his back.
He gritted his teeth.
Veins bulged across his forehead, and every muscle in his body trembled slightly.
This was the first time he had truly understood just how terrifyingly exhausting it was to maintain Ken.
It was not merely a matter of expending aura.
It was a comprehensive test of one’s concentration, willpower, and physical endurance.
A little over three minutes later, Gon’s vision abruptly went dark.
The last trace of strength was wrung from his body.
Unable to hold on any longer, he collapsed onto the deck with a thud, sweat dripping steadily onto the wooden planks.
Killua was faring slightly better.
His silver hair was plastered to his cheeks with sweat, but he was still gritting his teeth and stubbornly holding on.
However, only a few seconds after Gon fell, Killua’s body went limp like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
He dropped onto the deck with a dull thump.
“Haa… Haa…”
The two leaned against the gunwale, their chests heaving like a pair of battered bellows as they greedily sucked in the salty sea air.
They felt as though their bodies had been completely hollowed out.
Even lifting a single finger had become extraordinarily difficult.
Only after a long while did that overwhelming sense of exhaustion slowly fade, leaving behind a deep and lingering fatigue.
When they finally raised their sweat-soaked faces, they saw that Kael was still standing at the bow like an immovable boulder.
The condensed layer of Ken surrounding his body remained perfectly stable, without the slightest fluctuation.
It was as though those few minutes of exertion had been nothing more than a warm-up for him.
Both Gon and Killua stared at him in unconcealed shock.
“Kael… H-How are you not tired at all?” Gon asked between breaths, his voice filled with disbelief.
Kael continued maintaining Ken.
A gentle smile appeared on his face, though it was the sort of smile that dealt a devastating blow to the boys’ confidence.
“Tired?
Of course I get tired.”
“It’s just that I can currently maintain Ken for around three hours and fifteen minutes.”
“Three hours?!” Killua cried out, his eyes widening into circles.
He had just experienced firsthand how physically demanding it was to maintain Ken.
Although he knew that Kael’s aura reserves were six or seven times greater than theirs, the cost of maintaining Ken also increased proportionally with the amount of aura being released.
Logically speaking, the strain they endured per unit of aura should not have been that different.
Yet Kael could maintain it for such an absurdly longer period of time.
That gap represented physical foundations far superior to theirs, greater efficiency in circulating aura, and vastly better precision and endurance when controlling Nen.
“You need to be capable of maintaining Ken for at least half an hour before you can be considered a beginner.
Only then will it be stable enough to use in actual combat.”
“Right now, the two of you can only maintain it for about three minutes.
You still have a long way to go.”
“You don’t have much time to rest.
Once you feel that you’ve recovered a little, start again.”
“Keep going until you can no longer stand and don’t even have enough strength left to gather a single wisp of Nen.”
Gon and Killua exchanged a glance.
Both saw the same unyielding fire burning in the other’s eyes.
Neither of them complained.
They forced their still-weak bodies upright, their expressions becoming incomparably determined.
Before their breathing had even completely settled, the next round of training began.
Kael watched them with absolute confidence in their recovery abilities and tenacity.
As long as the training did not kill them, he would train them as though it would.
That would become the foundation that allowed them to one day stand at the very peak of the world.
…
Time flew by upon the vast blue sea.
Their ship, the Freedom, cut through the white-crested waves, passing one island and village after another along the waters leading toward the Grand Line.
They did not linger for long at Nami’s hometown, Cocoyasi Village, or Usopp’s hometown, Syrup Village.
They merely replenished their fresh water and food before setting sail once more.
Kael’s objective was perfectly clear.
They needed to increase their strength as quickly as possible in preparation for the challenges awaiting them in the future.
The nearly uninterrupted voyage and training brought enormous rewards.
Gon and Killua’s total aura reserves increased at an astonishing rate.
Their bodies also became increasingly resilient as they were repeatedly pushed to their limits and then rapidly recovered.
At the same time, the foundational Armament Haki perception training Kael had introduced was beginning to produce results.
Although the two of them were still unable to freely coat their bodies with it, they could now vaguely sense the power hidden deep within their flesh—a form of energy manipulation entirely different from Nen.
During this period, Kael also confirmed something he had previously suspected.
Through his [Sharing] ability, all the Nen aura gained by Gon and Killua would be synchronized with him in full.
Although he received one hundred percent of their growth, the effect was far less noticeable on him than it was on them.
It was like comparing buckets.
Gon and Killua’s buckets were still small, so adding a single liter of water caused an obvious rise in the water level.
Naturally, it required far more water for its level to rise by the same amount.
After understanding this, Kael became much more relaxed.
The power obtained through [Sharing] was pure growth.
As long as Gon and Killua continued becoming stronger, the benefits he received would naturally increase as well.
Combined with his own training, Kael’s strength was also growing at a terrifying rate.
Half a month later, the famous floating restaurant of the East Blue—the Baratie, shaped like a gigantic swimming fish—finally appeared at the edge of their vision.
At the same time, they spotted a familiar little ship docked beside the restaurant.
A pirate flag bearing a skull in a straw hat flew from its mast.
It was the Going Merry.
“Hey!
It’s Kael!”
Standing atop the Going Merry’s sheep-shaped figurehead, Luffy recognized Kael at a glance.
He immediately raised both arms excitedly and opened his mouth to shout a greeting.
“Shut up, idiot!”
Zoro reacted quickly, clamping a hand over Luffy’s mouth and dragging him down from the figurehead.
“Are you trying to cause trouble already?
Those two brats aren’t pushovers!”
His sharp gaze swept across the Freedom, his eyes filled with vigilance.
As someone who aimed to become the world’s greatest swordsman, Zoro understood the enormous gap that had existed between them during their previous battle.
He still did not know exactly what had caused that difference in strength, but this was clearly not the time to clash head-on with Kael again.
Kael also spotted the Straw Hat crew.
He merely gave them a casual wave before instructing Killua to bring the ship alongside the restaurant.
Because the Freedom was not flying a pirate flag, its arrival caused no alarm among the nearby merchant ships.
The three boys leaped neatly from their vessel and headed straight toward the restaurant’s entrance.
The moment they stepped inside, they were greeted by the warm aroma of food, the crisp clinking of tableware, and the noisy murmur of countless conversations.
The restaurant’s interior was elegantly decorated and filled with well-dressed patrons who had come after hearing of its reputation.
When the diners realized that the newcomers were merely three adolescent boys—two of whom were dressed rather unusually—many of them cast curious and appraising glances in their direction.
Some even looked at them with faint disdain.
One obese merchant made no attempt to conceal himself as he whispered to his companion, “Parents these days are far too careless.
How could they allow children this young to sail out to sea on their own?”
Kael completely ignored those pointless stares.
His sharp gaze swept across the restaurant and quickly locked onto an empty table beside a window.
He led Gon and Killua toward it.
Gon frowned and lowered his voice.
“Kael, I know I shouldn’t care, but I really don’t like the way they’re looking at us.”
(End of Chapter)