Chapter 62: "Piercing Hand" vs. "The Meat Grinder"
Roy moved.
The simple act of standing up drew countless eyes.
Gotoh's, Biscuit's, "The Divine Shot" Guy's, "The Ninja" Kikuta's, and... the boys hiding in the dark corners.
Kastro stared, lost, at Roy's back. Ten meters away, arms crossed and leaning against a wall, stood Illumi. My foolish, dear little brother noticed Kastro's gaze, and his brow twitched almost imperceptibly.
Last night, Kastro had returned to his dojo, utterly dejected, and sought out his master, the man with only one hand.
His master had told him, "It is because you have a 'fist' that your hand can be cut off. It is because you have 'legs' that your feet can be severed. Child... the things you take the most pride in, there will always be someone who is better. Since that is the case, what is there to be so dejected about?"
His master had been through it all and understood Kastro's feelings, but Kastro was still standing on the shore. He didn't understand his master. He had to see it for himself, and now he had. He had seen the thing he could never grasp, the thing called "Nen."
"I can't accept it, Master! I know you're right, but I just can't accept it!" Kastro knelt at his master's feet, tears streaming down his face.
His master was silent for a moment before patting his head. "What do you plan to do?"
"Become his student!"
"The one who defeated me—I will learn from him!" Kastro bowed, his forehead hitting the floor with three loud thuds. "Master, please, formally expel me from the school."
His master laughed. "You're even more old-fashioned than I am, kid. What era is this? Expel you... If you want to learn, then go. And on the day you have mastered it, have me bear witness. I believe my student is second to none!"
"Master..."
"Get out of here. Just looking at you is annoying."
"Yes, sir." Kastro turned and left. His master didn't see him off, but just as he was about to leave the dojo, the master raised his one remaining hand and shouted after him, "Do your best, Kastro!"
Tears instantly welled in Kastro's eyes. He nodded fiercely. And now, here he was, his gaze locked onto Roy, who was about to enter the ring.
No way... this kid actually knows how? Seeing Roy draw his cane sword and walk calmly toward the stage, Biscuit's expression went blank. In the row behind her, "The Divine Shot" Guy and "The Ninja" Kikuta exchanged a stunned look.
They had all heard that "Elo" was a master of hand-to-hand combat, that his legendary eighty-one-win streak was built entirely with his bare fists. They had never heard anything about him training with a sword.
"It's strange, but he's still no match for Harrison. The sharpest blade can't cut through a block of iron."
Amidst a thunderous roar of applause, Harrison made his entrance.
The crowd's enthusiasm came and went quickly. The focus shifted from Wing to Harrison in less than a minute. Wing, pushing up his glasses, had just stepped down from the stage. He passed Roy and offered a word of advice with a smile. "Be careful. Enhancers are never easy opponents."
"Are you talking about yourself, or him?"
Harrison descended from the sky, leaping from the spectator stands and landing on the stage like a heavy hammer. To the naked eye, the stage floor cracked in a spiderweb pattern with him at the center.
Wing narrowed his eyes. "Both of us. We're both tough."
Roy nodded in agreement and brushed past his shoulder onto the stage. "I'll be waiting for your challenge."
With that, he drew his cane sword with a sharp sching. He held it loosely in one hand, his face expressionless as he looked at Harrison.
"Oho! Our reigning champion has brought a sword into the ring! Could it be... that he has another surprise in store for us today?" The announcer's eyes were immediately drawn to the cane sword. The sharp blade glinted coldly, and the straight spine was branded with a black flame pattern, as if declaring to the world its unbending will.
"That doesn't look like a killer's blade," Wing said, having taken Roy's vacant seat. He asked Gotoh curiously, "When did your Young Master start training with a sword?"
With a flick of her pigtails, Biscuit leaned her head over, equally curious. Gotoh stared, unblinking, at Roy's not-so-tall but incredibly straight back. "About ten days now," he said with pride.
"Ten days? Then he's dead for sure!" Kikuta, overhearing them, commented bluntly. "Harrison has focused all of his Aura on honing that body of steel. Bullets can't even pierce it, let alone some half-baked amateur who's only been training for ten days."
"You're insulting half-baked amateurs," "The Divine Shot" lamented. It was a shame he couldn't beat Harrison himself; otherwise, this windfall of ranking points would have been his. Guy picked up where Kikuta left off, shaking his head. "A month for the staff, a year for the blade. Forget about actual combat; you can't even hold a sword steady without a year of training. Elo is just messing around!"
"Are you two looking to die?" Gotoh pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, a dangerous glint in his eyes. Biscuit, chewing on her lollipop, suddenly interrupted him. "They're right. Ten days is not enough to pierce this Harrison."
"Look at his skin. It has a bronze, almost metallic sheen to it. You don't reach that level without at least eight or ten years of harsh training."
Although Gotoh was annoyed, he had to admit that Biscuit was right. There was a reason Harrison was called "The Meat Grinder"—he loved to crush his opponents' bones with his bare fists. It was a testament to just how hard his body was.
"The Young Master will win. You just wait and see." Gotoh's words sounded weak and unconvincing.
At that moment, the announcer finished introducing Roy and moved on to Harrison, who was clearly much more famous. Some of the off-site betting syndicates had gone all-in on Harrison, and their members were screaming for him to stop wasting time and just grind Roy's bones to dust.
Harrison was two meters tall, built like a bear with a massive frame. He wore a long chain of bones around his neck, and his bald head was polished to a shine. He grinned, fixing his gaze on Roy. "You shouldn't have accepted," he growled.
"But I did."
"You'll die if you did."
"Are you talking about yourself?"
"Oh... oh... I can already smell the thick scent of blood in the air!" The announcer stood between them, listening to their exchange and screaming into the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, let's hear your passion! Let's hear you scream!"
"I declare tonight's headline battle,"
"'Piercing Hand' Elo versus 'The Meat Grinder' Harrison!"
"BEGIN!"
BOOM! A hurricane erupted from the shattered stage!
The overwhelming force of Harrison's Ren violently swept the announcer off his feet. Luckily, he was also a Nen user; otherwise, that blow would have left him dead or seriously injured.
"Here it comes! What powerful Ren!" Kikuta narrowed his eyes. Beside him, everyone except Biscuit—Gotoh and Guy included—snapped their attention to Roy.
The boy stood with his cane sword in hand, swaying in the hurricane of Aura like a small boat that had foolishly sailed into the open ocean, in danger of being capsized by the slightest wave.
Harrison watched Roy with a savage grin. "What's the meaning of this?"
"Where's your Ren?"
It was common knowledge that when an opponent releases their Ren, the best way to defend is to counter with your own. After all, Ren wasn't just about the application of Nen; it also involved a clash of spiritual will. Hadn't Gon and Killua nearly wet themselves in fear when Hisoka blocked their path to the 200th floor?
Is this guy looking down on me? Harrison was furious.
Roy held up his hands in a gesture of innocence. "I don't know how. How do you... release it?"
Harrison: "..."
Biscuit, Wing, Guy, and Kikuta: "..."
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