Chapter 10: Duel at the Sky Arena
Contestant number 1666 — that was Leo's registration number in the Sky Arena.
Before his number was called, he kept thinking about how to fight. Using chains might be ruled as "using a weapon," which was forbidden before the 200th floor.
So he came up with another approach — using only ice magic. If he channeled magic through his fists, each strike could freeze the opponent instantly. It would look like a pure martial technique, hiding the fact that he had no training in hand-to-hand combat.
His first match was against a massive brawler. Leo glanced at his own lean arms, the faint outlines of his muscles barely visible, and sighed inwardly.
It seemed he would have to use his trump card immediately.
He shouted, "Freezing Fist!" and slammed his punch into the opponent's. Their fists collided — and in the next instant, the brawler froze solid, his expression locked in shock.
The referee stepped forward, checked briefly, and announced,
"Match decided. Winner — contestant 1666."
Leo released the frost from his opponent's body. The man gasped, shivering, realizing he'd almost been frozen to death.
Leo moved on — straight to Floor 50.
That night, the 50th floor match began. Another straightforward fighter, charging headlong. Leo met him the same way, another "Freezing Fist," another statue of ice.
"Match decided. Winner — contestant 1666."
The referee barely sounded surprised. Leo just nodded and dispersed the frost before heading to Floor 100.
After a staff member showed him to his temporary room, Leo treated himself to a good meal — using the cash he'd taken from the earlier robbers — and finally slept deeply.
Day Two, 8:00 a.m. — Floor 100.
His new opponent had clearly watched his earlier battles. Knowing that contact meant instant defeat, the man kept his distance, firing arrows at him from afar.
Leo frowned. Wait, aren't weapons banned before the 200th floor? How did he even bring a bow?
Still, it didn't matter. No one knew he had ranged capabilities.
He slammed a fist into the arena floor.
"Freezing Fist!"
Dozens of icy spikes burst upward across the stage, spreading like vines. Within seconds, the archer was cornered and forced off the platform.
"Match decided. Winner — contestant 1666," the referee called. Leo waved his hand, melting the ice and leaving no trace.
At the 150th floor, the same result — overwhelming victory. The referee didn't even bother watching the replay. "Proceed to Floor 200."
Floor 200.
There, Leo finally saw them — the three legendary crippled veterans of the Sky Arena.
They studied him carefully as he signed the registration book. He ignored them completely.
The man in the wheelchair muttered, "Strange… I don't sense any aura. How could he have reached this floor without Nen?"
The one-legged man leaning on a cane nodded. "It's impossible. Without Nen or martial arts, climbing this far can't be done — and yet, no one has heard of him before."
The bandaged, faceless one against the wall said flatly, "That means he climbed from the first floor to the 200th in a single day."
He smirked. "In that case, you two can step aside. I'll fight him."
"Like hell you will," the other two snapped. "We'll register too. If he truly has no Nen, then he's no match for any of us."
All three had already used Gyo to check — Leo had no aura at all. In their eyes, he was just a lucky anomaly.
That night, when Leo turned on the TV in his hotel room, his next opponent appeared on the screen:
Opponent: Gido — the one-legged fighter in a red cloak.
Battle Time: 8:00 a.m. tomorrow.
Leo smiled faintly. "Perfect."
Day Three, 8:00 a.m. — Arena 200.
Leo arrived right on time. Gido was already waiting at the center of the stage, spinning his cane idly.
"Ready for your baptism, rookie?" Gido sneered.
Leo's tone was calm, confident. "I've been ready."
Gido blinked, taken aback — most rookies froze when he said that line. "Heh. Brave words."
The referee raised his hand. "Match start!"
Instantly, Gido unleashed dozens of spinning tops, scattering them across the floor. Each one buzzed violently with embedded Nen.
Then Gido himself began to spin, his red cloak whirling like a cyclone.
Leo watched silently for a few seconds, then muttered under his breath,
"…Doesn't he ever get dizzy doing that?"
Leo waited patiently for a single chance — the moment a spinning top struck him. The instant that happened, he would unleash everything and kill Gido in one blow.
When one finally hit him, he bent forward from the impact, his body curling like a shrimp. Then he straightened, forcing the blood in his mouth down and drove his fist forward with all his might.
The announcer shouted excitedly, "It's here! Leo's special move — Freezing Fist!" Gido was blasted backward, leaping into the air and spinning frantically across the frozen floor.
Gido laughed, his voice echoing through the arena. "What can you do now? I already know your trick. Unless you get close, you'll never freeze me!"
Leo clicked his tongue, irritated. "Tch… troublesome guy."
His grimoire floated to his side, pages fluttering. Gido's expression shifted instantly. "What the—? No aura, but the book's moving? Has he trained in Zetsu to this level? Impossible!"
Leo didn't give him a moment to think. After the top struck, he chained his spells together — first Freezing Fist, then Chain Control. Dozens of metal chains erupted from the arena, weaving upward and locking together above their heads to form a cage.
He smirked slightly. "I'll borrow this name from another world… Birdcage."
Gido slammed against the chains, desperate to break out. "Wait! I surrender! Stop—!"
Leo ignored him. The cage tightened, shrinking smaller and smaller until it was barely five meters high and ten meters wide. Finally, he grew tired of the noise.
With one motion, a field of ice spikes surged upward from the ground, piercing through the spinning tops and into Gido's body. The air fell silent.
"Match decided!" the referee declared.
Leo stood still as the crowd erupted. After claiming the prize money — one hundred million Jenny — he left the Sky Arena. Staying any longer was meaningless.
At the hospital, an X-ray showed a fractured rib. The doctors realigned the bone through a minor operation, no pins needed. He paid five hundred thousand Jenny, left, and drank a healing potion. An hour later, he felt only slightly better — the pain still lingered.
That night, he booked the city's most luxurious hotel — a presidential suite costing one million Jenny per night.
The next morning, after an extravagant breakfast, he sighed. "So this is the simple life of the rich."
Then he turned serious. It was time for something far more important — his Nen test.
He filled a glass with water, placed a leaf on top, and focused his Ren. The moment his aura flowed into the cup, the surface rippled — and a small image appeared. A book.
It looked exactly like his grimoire. That made sense. Nen represented willpower; his grimoire was literally the embodiment of his soul. A Conjurer would naturally manifest what was most familiar to him.
Then the image vanished. The leaf and water remained still. Curious, Leo lifted the glass and tasted it — the water had turned gelatinous, refusing to pour even when flipped upside down.
He blinked. "So I'm a Conjurer… with a bit of Specialist in me? Great, that means I'm supposed to be a self-centered lunatic. How nice."
Pushing aside the thought, he focused inward. Deep within the darkness of his mind, a faint light flickered — realization struck him.
This was the true nature of his power: a sealing ability, not an ordinary one, but something capable of sealing everything — physical or spiritual. Combined with his grimoire, it became The Seal of All Things.
Anything he sealed could be controlled freely as long as its total energy was below his and he had enough power to maintain it.
He decided to test it. Holding the glass, he used the Seal of All Things. Instantly, the grimoire's page shimmered, revealing the image of the cup.
"It works… but I'll need a living subject to test full control."
His thoughts wandered — maybe a Chimera Ant? The King, perhaps? He immediately dismissed the idea. "Yeah, no. I'd die in seconds."
He thought of the girl with clairvoyant powers but shook his head. "I'm not stealing from others. That's not what this ability's for."
He spent the rest of the day experimenting with his power, and by the fourth day, he had a solid grasp of its scope.
On the fifth morning, after another lavish breakfast, he hired two runners for 100,000 Jenny each to buy what he needed.
They were to gather gifts — books for the squad, clothes, bedding, metal bedframes, and dried meats for the kids at Hage Church.
He also requested three special items.
The first: a Laughing Mask, a smooth white oval face with three crescent smiles.
The second: the world's strongest laxatives, one hundred pills of the kind that "cleaned you out in a single go." Perfect for Captain Yami.
The third: a computer filled with movies and anime, complete with a generator and a projector for group viewing — because if everyone watched together, the fun doubled. He even bought a fire-powered generator just so Magna could serve as the energy source.
After assigning the errands, Leo went shopping himself — arms full of luxury goods, feeling like a true nouveau riche, enjoying the absurdity of spending without restraint.
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