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"Really, what a useless guy."
The figure in purple pulled back their hood, revealing long golden hair as they gazed at Ivan Douglas clutching his throat on the ground.
"The pointless struggles of weaklings are truly ugly."
Illumi glanced at Ivan, whose eyes had rolled back. A moment ago, he had seen the man strike himself in the throat with his knuckles. If Illumi's guess was correct, Ivan was likely unconscious due to asphyxiation.
"Was it really okay for you to do that to him?"
"Aren't you two companions?"
Illumi smiled faintly at the golden-haired man, who turned to face him and stepped forward until he was seven paces away.
"I'm not here to pick a fight."
"He already said it—we're here to welcome you."
The man introduced himself with a grin, exposing rows of white teeth as he placed his hands on his hips.
"My name is Drake. Drake Drummond."
Drake moved closer to Illumi, bending down to meet his gaze.
"That trash on the ground and I are different. I'm not part of the underworld."
"I work for the Koser Group."
"Oh, right—you probably don't know what the Koser Group is. To put it simply, it's one of the top hundred companies in this country."
Drake took another step forward, leaning down to look directly into Illumi's eyes.
"You're interesting. My boss wants to meet you."
"Fine."
Illumi found the situation amusing. What could a top-tier company in the Republic of Bartokia possibly want with a child like him?
"Let's set the meeting for 10 a.m., three days from now. By then, I should have reached the 200th floor."
With a faint smile, Illumi sidestepped Drake and walked out of the dark, blood-soaked alleyway.
"Seriously, I didn't expect him to be so agreeable."
"If I'd known, I would've just said it outright."
Standing deep within the alley, Drake watched Illumi's retreating figure disappear around the corner. He approached the unconscious Ivan, delivering a harsh kick to his side.
"Damn you, you useless piece of trash, wasting my time."
"I think I'll just leave you here to feed the dogs."
After venting his frustration, Drake pulled his hood back up, ignoring the fallen Ivan Douglas. With his hands stuffed into his pockets, he left the alley behind, leaving behind pools of blood and three lifeless bodies.
Illumi returned to the Sky Arena, pushing open the door to his private room with a soft click. The first thing he did upon entering was clean himself up. He had just killed three people, and though the scent of blood on him was faint, he wanted to wash it away completely.
"The first time killing someone... aside from feeling a bit nauseous, there wasn't much else to it."
Lying in the warm bathwater, Illumi stared at the ceiling, reflecting on the sensations he had felt while taking lives. At first, there had been a slight wave of nausea, but no psychological barriers had stopped him. Instead, he had experienced a surge of adrenaline and exhilaration—a primal thrill born from the act of killing, of trampling over life itself.
Killing was like a drug, and Illumi found himself subtly drawn to that sensation. It was as if the meaning of life lay within it, hidden in the warmth of crimson blood.
He lay there, savoring the lingering rush of excitement.
Thirty minutes later...
Dressed in his pajamas, Illumi stood in the center of the room with his eyes closed. His hands were bent into a circular shape, held close to his chest.
"Place your hands in front of your chest and imagine a floating sphere in your mind."
What Illumi was currently practicing was the preliminary step to awakening his **Nen** ability—sensing **Aura**, the dormant energy within his body.
The first step was to visualize a floating sphere suspended in midair, training his mental focus day after day. Eventually, practitioners would sense this unique energy and learn to release it.
For an average person, sensing Aura could take anywhere from two to three days at best, or up to a week at worst. But Illumi was far from average. Having meditated since the age of three, his mental strength had been honed over years of relentless practice, far surpassing that of ordinary individuals.
"I feel it!"
Suddenly, Illumi's eyes snapped open. He had sensed the strange energy—the mysterious force known as **Aura**.
"Let's give it a try."
Keeping his hands in the same position, Illumi focused intently, attempting to draw out the energy he had just sensed.
"Right-hand spherical energy."
A translucent, peculiar energy surged out of Illumi's body, gathering around his right fist and forming a spherical shell of energy.
"Left-hand spherical energy."
He redirected the flow of energy to his left hand, where it naturally coalesced into another spherical mass.
"And next, fingertip spherical energy."
Illumi extended his index finger, concentrating the energy at its tip until another small sphere formed there.
From the moment Illumi had closed his eyes to when he successfully released his Aura, only a single minute had passed.
Based on his own estimation, his talent was likely on par with Gon and Killua's—an extraordinary level.
Of course, sensing Aura was only the beginning. He was still far from awakening his **Nen** abilities or mastering them.
He needed to use meditation to circulate Aura throughout his body, gradually opening his pores to its flow. This was a long and arduous process, unlike forcibly opening one's pores to quickly awaken Nen abilities. It was the gentlest, most natural method.
According to his calculations:
If Zushi's talent could be considered one in ten thousand—a genius who took three months to sense Aura throughout his body and open all his pores, followed by another three months to master the four fundamental exercises of Nen—then Illumi could potentially open all his pores within a week. In fact, it might even take him as little as three days.
Once all his pores were opened, he could begin practicing the fundamentals of Nen: the four exercises—**Ten (Envelop), Ren (Refine), Hatsu (Release), and Zetsu (Suppress)**.
When he became proficient in these four exercises, he could attempt to awaken his desired Nen ability.
"For now, the next step is uninterrupted meditation to fill my entire body with Aura."
Sitting cross-legged on his bed, Illumi aimed to open all his pores within three days, allowing him to quickly progress to the four fundamental exercises and master his Nen abilities.
Time: 6:10 a.m.
The first rays of dawn spilled through the window, rousing Illumi from his meditation.
"Not tired at all."
Illumi looked at his hands, which were enveloped in translucent spheres of Aura. Despite meditating through the night, he felt fully alert, without a trace of fatigue.
Though he had undergone rigorous training in the Zoldyck family that allowed him to stay awake for three consecutive days, this was entirely different. Before sensing Aura, staying awake for a night would leave him mentally intact but physically exhausted.
Now, however, both his mind and body felt invigorated, devoid of any weariness. Not only that, but he felt as though he had been injected with a stimulant—overflowing with boundless energy, ready to be unleashed.