"Click!"
A crisp sound echoed, like the unlocking of a cartridge slot.
The pharmaceutical station, which had been in a state of materialization and spinning rapidly, came to a halt.
At the same time, with the sound, a vial stored at the base popped out.
Thud! Kevin Carpenberg, who had been standing by the side the whole time, collapsed onto the floor.
"Huff!"
He gasped for air desperately.
"This is even more exhausting than training with Yun Gu."
He wiped the sweat from his forehead. Within this hour, his entire body had been soaked through.
Throughout the process of crafting the drug, his aura had been constantly drained. In the beginning, it wasn't too noticeable, but toward the end—when both his stamina and aura were nearly depleted—it kept being siphoned away.
It wasn't the kind of fatigue that came from fighting. This was a sense of loss, something you could feel just by sitting still.
Physically, it was even more uncomfortable than battle.
He forced himself to stand. He had to remove the vial first. If the pharmaceutical station remained active, it would continue draining his aura.
As soon as he pulled the vial out, the station vanished.
Kevin slumped onto a nearby chair, holding the vial limply in his hand.
Through the transparent container, he could clearly see the orange-red liquid swirling inside—like molten iron.
"Well, after all that training, I've finally managed to produce a theoretical compound."
Indeed, although the formula was engraved in his mind, he had never actually created a finished product before now.
Because this Nen ability came with a condition.
To put it simply, once the pharmaceutical process began, the power output depended on Kevin's visible aura capacity, and he would be forced into a state of Zetsu.
The greater his visible aura, the higher the output power, the shorter the required time, and the less time he had to remain in Zetsu.
However, the total electricity consumed during the process represented his hidden aura capacity. What happened if he didn't meet the requirement?
Exactly—power outage.
The entire crafting process would shut down. Everything invested until that point would go to waste.
The biggest cost of failure was the materials—higher-quality ingredients made more potent drugs, and stronger drugs required more hidden aura.
So, the stronger you are, the more valuable the materials you risk losing on failure.
This could only be gauged through experience.
Kevin had paused his experiments after previous failures to understand the process better.
Now, with more knowledge behind him, he finally had a clearer picture of his ability.
He looked at the vial in his hand.
"Let's call this the Strength Potion."
All potions produced have a duration of just fifteen minutes, whether they're poisons or various buffs.
"So that's why it's called A Moment's Dream… pretty fitting, actually."
He set the potion aside, turned off the lights, and lay down in bed.
Staring into the darkness, his body exhausted, but his mind refusing to sleep.
"So, what about my own Nen ability?"
He couldn't help asking himself that question.
To be honest, as an Enhancement-type user, he couldn't come up with any flashy abilities—nor would they suit him.
As the class with the strongest offensive capabilities, simplicity and directness were the best.
"Construct it based on your original intention. Base it on your truest thoughts."
Bisky's words echoed in his mind.
But how exactly could he accomplish that?
His original intent, without a doubt, was to create a Nen ability that could synergize with A Moment's Dream, with his exceptional aura control, and with his 80% efficiency in all other Nen categories besides his main one.
But he also had to consider a price he couldn't ignore—his body's terrible learning capability.
It wasn't that he was uncoordinated. His brain was sharp, and his grasp of knowledge was top-tier.
But when it came to physical learning, his body just didn't pick it up. And as an Enhancer, his abilities would either strengthen objects or enhance traits of his own body.
Enhance A Moment's Dream?
The thought crossed his mind but was dismissed immediately.
That would bring him little benefit and make his powerful offensive presence seem mediocre.
Not to mention, his exceptional aura control and 80% efficiency in other categories wouldn't be involved at all.
And frankly, the more he understood about Nen, the more he realized A Moment's Dream wasn't as powerful as he initially thought. It had a ton of limitations.
It was clearly a support-based ability.
He was greedy. He wanted it all.
His Nen ability had to be a connector—something that could link together the three innate talents he possessed.
Only by making all his talents complement each other could he become truly powerful.
But how should he do that?
Sleep slowly crept over him.
…
The next day.
At the spectator stands of Arena B on the 145th floor of Heavens Arena.
Kevin had bought a ticket to watch a match. He'd heard that today's match was a hot topic, featuring a very buzzworthy fighter. He'd only barely managed to grab a seat yesterday.
Honestly, he was pretty excited.
Back in his old world, he had never actually attended a real fighting match—much less one where the competitors could actually die.
The stands were packed to capacity.
The announcer shouted passionately:
"Ladies and gentlemen! The highly anticipated showdown is about to begin!
Let's welcome our fighters!"
Cheers erupted from the crowd as fans shouted the nicknames of the two fighters.
One of the names clearly had a much larger fanbase—around 80% of the audience, many of them women.
Though Kevin hadn't looked at the stats, just judging by sight, the majority of the audience seemed to be male.
Looks like that fighter was the one drawing all the buzz.
"First up, welcome the sixteen-year-old rising star from Heng Martial Dojo—Torrential Flow—Ao Gucheng!"
Polite applause followed, though the excitement wasn't too high—more of a courtesy.
A young man in a sky-blue martial arts uniform walked into the arena.
Very young. Judging by his movements, probably someone who focused on leg-based attacks.
Kevin analyzed from the stands.
"And his opponent—only six years old, climbed to the 140th floor in just two months, the one and only White Cat—Killua!"
Even before the boy appeared, the stands erupted in deafening cheers and shrieks.
Kevin instinctively covered his ears. But what shocked him more was what the announcer had just said.
Six years old!?
Was that right?
As he puzzled over it, a young boy walked onto the stage.
An undeniably adorable face, messy white hair, and an expression of annoyance. He was clearly muttering curses toward the crowd.
To Kevin's eyes, the child wasn't an ordinary person—no, that wasn't accurate. He wasn't a Nen user, at least.
He's not a Nen user?
That surprised Kevin even more.
He had to throw away all his past assumptions and view this world with a fresh perspective.
"White Cat? More like a white wolf! Or even a leopard, at the very least!"
Killua was clearly displeased. That nickname totally didn't match his vibe—it made him sound like a pet.
As he jumped onto the arena stage, his opponent was already in stance, waiting for him—with no trace of underestimation on his face.
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