Roy made a move...
Merely by standing up, he drew countless gazes.
There were those from Wutong, from Biscuit, from "Divine Spear" Guy, from "Ninja" Kikuta Masaki, and... from the boy hiding in the dark corner, and another boy.
Haseki Dorou stared dazedly at Roy's back; ten meters away was Illumi, with arms folded and saying nothing.
The foolish Mamen Beans leaned slantly against the wall, noticing Haseki Dorou's gaze, and his brow furrowed ever so slightly...
Last night, Haseki Dorou returned to the dojo distraught, seeking his master who had lost a hand.
His master told him: "Because you know 'fist', your hand was chopped; because you know 'leg', your foot was severed. Child... the things you pride yourself on, there's always someone better, so why feel upset?"
The master had been through it, understood Haseki Dorou's feelings, but Haseki Dorou was still on the shore... he didn't understand his master, he had to see, and he did... the thing he always couldn't understand, called "Nen."
"I'm not willing, Master, I know you're right, but I just can't accept it!" Haseki Dorou knelt at his master's feet, crying bitterly.
The master remained silent, then after a moment, patted his head and said: "What do you plan to do?"
"Become a disciple!"
"Whoever defeated me, I'll take them as my master!" Haseki Dorou knocked his head three times with a bang: "Please, master, expel me."
The master laughed: "You rascal, more old-fashioned than me? What age are we in, still talking about expulsion... if you want to learn, just go, when you succeed, call me to witness. I believe my disciple won't be inferior to anyone!"
"Master..."
"Get lost, you annoy me."
"Yes." Haseki Dorou turned to leave, and the master didn't see him off, only raised his severed hand, calling out loudly as Haseki Dorou was about to leave the dojo: "Dorou, good luck!"
Haseki Dorou's tears burst forth instantly, nodding fiercely, then he came here, his gaze firmly locked on Roy, who was about to step onto the stage.
'Wait... does this guy really know his stuff?' Seeing Roy draw out a staff blade, unhurriedly heading to the ring.
Biscuit's eyes were somewhat dazed; in the row behind her, "Divine Spear" Guy and "Ninja" Kikuta Masaki exchanged a glance, puzzled.
They'd long heard that "Ilo" was best at body techniques, forging the myth of eighty-one consecutive wins with bare hands, but never heard he practiced with blades?
"Curious, but still not a match for Harrison. No matter how sharp the blade, it can't cut iron lumps."
In a thunderous cheer, Harrison made his entrance!
The crowd's enthusiasm came fast and left just as quickly, from Wing to Harrison, in just about a minute... Wing adjusted the glasses on his nose, smiling as he passed Roy, saying: "Careful, those of the 'Enhancement' type are not easy to deal with."
"Are you referring to you, or him?"
Harrison descended from high above, jumping out of the audience, landing like a heavy hammer on the ring, visibly causing a spiderweb-like crack centered around him....
Wing squinted his eyes: "Both are hard, neither easy to deal with."
Roy nodded in deep agreement, brushed past his shoulder, and stepped onto the ring: "I'll be waiting for your challenge."
With that, "clang," he drew the staff blade, holding it single-handedly, expressionless, looking at Harrison.
"Oh, our consecutive champion brought a blade up here, is it... will he bring us another surprise today?" The host immediately noticed the staff blade... the sharp blade glistening with a chilling light, the straight blade imprinted with dark flame patterns, seemingly declaring to the world — rather break than bend....
"This doesn't look like a blade meant for killing!" Wing came down, sitting in Roy's seat.
He curiously asked Wutong: "When did your young master start practicing with blades?"
The twin-tailed Biscuit curiously poked her head out... Wutong stared fixedly at Roy's not so tall but extremely upright back, proudly saying: "Ten days."
"Ten days? Then he's doomed!" Kikuta Masaki, hearing that, unceremoniously commented: "Harrison poured all his 'Sense' into honing his steel-like body, even bullets can't penetrate, let alone someone who's only practiced swordsmanship for ten days..."
"You're insulting novices." "Divine Spear" said regretfully, pitying he couldn't defeat Harrison, otherwise those points from the skies would be his... Guy picked up where Kikuta Masaki left off, shaking his head: "A month of stick, a year of blade; without a year, don't talk of battle, not even handling the blade steadily, Ilo's just fooling around!"
"Do you two have a death wish?" Wutong adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, looking over dangerously. Biscuit, chewing on a lollipop, suddenly interrupted: "They're right, just ten days, he can't pierce through this Harrison."
"Look at his skin, bronze shimmering with a metallic gloss, without ten or eight years of hard training, it's impossible to reach this level."
Wutong, though displeased, had to admit Biscuit was right; this Harrison dared to be called the "Meat Grinder" because he liked to use his fists to grind opponents' bones, proving just how tough his body was!
"The young master will win, just you wait and see..."
Wutong's words were somewhat weak,
At this moment, the host finished introducing Roy and began introducing Harrison, the latter obviously more famous than Roy,
even those fond of side bets on races, all bet everything on Harrison, shouting for him not to dawdle, quickly grind Roy's bones.
Harrison, standing two meters tall, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, as sturdy as a bear, with a long chain of bones hanging around his neck, his bare head shining; he grinned, staring at Roy, laughing gutturally: "You shouldn't have accepted this."
"I accepted it."
"Accepting means death."
"Are you talking about yourself?"
"Oh... Oh... I can already smell a thick scent of blood!" The host stood between them, listening to their dialogue, excitedly exclaiming into the microphone: "Ladies and gentlemen, bring out your enthusiasm and cheer to your heart's content!"
"I announce tonight's headline battle,"
"'Piercing Hand' Ilo VS 'Meat Grinder' Harrison!"
"Begins now!"
"Boom!" The cracked ring suddenly whipped up a gust of wind!
The formidable [Ren] violently swept the host away; fortunately, he was also a Nen user, otherwise, he would be injured if not dead!
"Here it comes, what powerful [Ren]!" Kikuta Masaki squinted, beside him, except for Biscuit, Wutong, and Guy simultaneously fixed their gaze on Roy.
The young man stood with his staff blade, swaying in the gust like a small boat in the sea, ready to be capsized by any wave at any time.
Harrison grinned ferociously at Roy: "What's the meaning of this?"
"Where's your [Ren]?"
The best way to counter when an opponent releases [Ren] is... to retaliate with [Ren] as well, that is common sense.
After all, [Ren] not only involves the use of "Nen," but it also pertains to the impact of "Spiritual Will."
Little do people know... Gon and Killua practically wet their pants when confronted by Sisko blocking the door at two hundred floors, right?
'Does this guy look down on me?' Harrison was furious!
Roy shrugged his shoulders, innocently expressing: "I don't know, how do I release it..."
Harrison: "...."
Biscuit, Wing, Guy, Kikuta Masaki: "...."