The Reincarnator's Tavern - Chapter 30: Fighting Hisoka

Chapter 30 Fighting Hisoka

Rayleigh left Wing’s house the following day and returned to Heaven’s Arena while deep in thought.

He had lied to Wing, telling him that he heard about En, Shū, Kō, Ken, and Ryū from other Nen users on the 200th floor and directly asked what each of them was.

Wing explained that each was an advanced usage of Nen and well above what Ray could learn at the moment, but seeing Rayleigh’s earnest look, Wing relented and explained what each could do.

Along with Gyō and In, skills such as En, Shū, Kō, Ken, and Ryū were advanced applications of the four major principles.

En means circle. It was basically a larger Ren that had a more refined application of Ten holding it. En completely gives up on defense in exchange for area coverage. After ejecting aura from your aura nodes, you maintain a larger Ten, still blocking the aura from escaping, but at a reduced speed.

When you use Ren normally, you constantly feel an irregular pressure on your skin, like thousands of raindrops are falling on every bit of you at every moment. It feels even weirder when you concentrate the aura while using skills like Gyō.

The expansion of the Ten while using En reduces the physical sensation of Ren. If done properly, the physical sensation of En becomes a 100% uniform gentle pressure. In that state, the entire area of your En basically acts as an extension of your skin and senses. The instant anything enters an area covered by your En, it’s like it is touching you directly, disturbing the uniformity and giving you the exact details of where it is. It works similarly to radar or echolocation using aura waves, but is far more sophisticated and sensitive.

You cannot be considered to have learned En unless you can extend your En for more than two meters and hold it for more than a minute. You cannot be considered to have mastered En unless you can extend it more than fifty meters.

Shū means Enfold. It is a technique to alter your Ten to include not just your body, but the equipment you held and used. Ten strengthens and protects the user’s body, and using Shū extends that strengthening and protection to the weapon the user is holding, using it as an extension of their own body.

Rayleigh certainly had an interest in this technique, as this may have been how Netero blocked Ray’s Lightsaber with a rubber ball. What if Rayleigh used it on his Lightsaber?

But according to Wing, unlike a normal Ten which, in theory, could be maintained indefinitely even while you slept, maintaining Shū would cause aura to be lost as the item gaining the protection was not a natural part of the body and the aura covering it would leak no matter how strong of an image you held to maintain the Ten around it.

Kō means Temper. Although Wing once said that it was basically using Gyō on your fist, it was actually more complicated than that. In addition to using Gyō on your fist, you also had to use Zetsu on the remainder of your body while only keeping a single channel for all of your aura to only exit and get expelled through the aura surrounded by the compressed Ren.

Ken means Fortify. Wing claimed it was similar to what Rayleigh did in Heaven’s Arena against Sadoso, but required an additional step. In addition to using a second inner Ten to form Gyō while using Ren, you have to use a third inner Ten to concentrate more aura into another part of the body, basically using a weaker Kō.

Ryū means Flow. It is the technique for smoothly changing where your aura was concentrated while using Ken.

From what Wing told him, skilled Nen fighters always fought using Ken. In order to defend yourself, you had to use Gyō to see how much aura your opponent devoted to each attack and then you would have to use Ryū to appropriate enough aura to defend against their attacks, and then use Ryū again to shift your aura from defense to offense to strike them back.

As always, Wing harshly warned Rayleigh about the dangers of getting ahead. The only reason Wing was willing to give him these details was because he remembered how Rayleigh waited with Killua for Gon to heal and was willing to unlock his aura nodes the traditional way, showing that Rayleigh was not the type to rush headfirst into something without thinking.

With his new information in hand, Rayleigh knew that he didn’t need to pay Mission Points to learn Shū. From the fact that it was relatively cheap, Rayleigh figured it would not be too difficult to learn. Of course, just as Wing said, Rayleigh would not start practicing Shū until he finished his Hatsu training.

The four major principles were called such for a reason. If Rayleigh tried getting ahead without a strong enough foundation, he’d end up going backward or crippling himself and needing to start over.

Hatsu training had to be mastered so he could align his aura to the Enhancement Characteristic or he’d never be able to use the full power of Nen.

For the next month, Rayleigh had a new routine. In the mornings he would use the Heaven’s Arena Gym while wearing the Zoldyck Family Adjustable Weight set in Zetsu until he couldn’t move. Then he would leave Heaven’s Arena and get a very nutritious meal from the Tavern. The remainder of the day would be spent in his apartment using Ren on a ceramic cup of water for as long as he could hold it, recover, and use Ren again on the cup of water to try and make the overflow characteristic more apparent.

Rayleigh did check and confirmed that he did not produce water, he basically expanded it without increasing the mass or temperature. If he used Ren to overflow a cup of water and left it alone, the remaining water would eventually shrink back beneath the rim by the same amount of volume that overflowed out of the cup.

This was annoying as it meant Rayleigh had to refill the cup every time it shrunk since storing aura back into the cells after each use of Ren took longer than the time the water remained expanded.

Getting your Aura to strengthen the properties of the attribute you were most compatible with was little more than a long series of tests using trial and error. You would try something, see if it worked, and if it did not, try something else. The problem was that whether or not it worked was not so easy to tell. At least for most people. Thankfully for Rayleigh, he was blessed with both common and uncommon sense.

If Rayleigh thought a distinct feeling, impression, concept, or thought would help, he would focus on that while using his Ren and make the water overflow from the cup. Then when it shrunk, he would refill it and do so again. And again. He would do it ten times in total. Beneath the cup was a bowl that collected the spilled water. After ten uses and once the water had completely shrunk back to normal, Rayleigh would pour the water from the bowl into a measuring cup and document how much water had spilled out, and compare it to the base sample to see if it was actually higher or not.

While doing all of this, his second Mind was busy using Contrary Belief and had just about completed it. Once it was complete, he would work on isolating the newly split minds from each other using his Mind Palace. Then he would use one of the new minds to perform his daily routine while his current mind would get to work splitting itself as well. The third mind would spend all its time meditating to further strengthen his connection to the Force.

In the meanwhile, Rayleigh had also done five 45~49 point Tavern Missions during those weeks and now had over 800 points saved up. He had an idea for how to use it but would wait until he had a full grasp of the basics.

The reason Rayleigh focused so much on his Knock-Off Parallel Will ability from that Reincarnated as a Spider Anime was because, even if it slowed his training now, it would multiply his training speeds in the future. It wasn’t like each mind could only do a single thing. Even individual minds could multi-task on the normal day-to-day stuff. Of course, unlike that skill, his minds would not each have their own set of personalized memories in the long term. It wasn’t like he kept his mind split 24/7. The act of separating the thoughts from each mind had to be done manually. Once it was undone, all memories converged. This was how he was different from someone with multiple personality disorder or a schizophrenic. At the end of the day, there was just a single him.

Using his own systematic method of testing and measurement, Rayleigh’s progress in his Hatsu was considered quite good, or at least he thought so. Once his Ren was used, the water in the cup between his hands increased in volume by about sixty percent and formed a mini-geyser that shot up into the air.

In that month he had also successfully split both of his originally split minds. He could now maintain four independent minds at once. Since he only needed one for day-to-day stuff and one to meditate at all times on the Force, he was going to have both of the remaining two try to split themselves together but failed miserably. For some reason, he could not properly train Contrary Belief with multiple minds at the same time, so he had to split them off one by one. A slight inconvenience, but acceptable. He was still young and as long as he didn’t reach a hard cap on the number of minds anytime soon he would be satisfied.

Hmm. For clarification, he decided in the future to refer to each mind as a Will, since he was ripping off Parallel Will anyways. Conceptually speaking, calling it Parallel Wills instead of multiple minds held a stronger image since he knew exactly what he was stealing the idea from, and having more Wills sounded cooler and less crazy than having more minds.

At the end of the fourth week, the deadline Wing had everyone practice until Rayleigh and the rest returned to Wing’s place to show off their progress.

Another round of Rock-Paper-Scissors decided who would go first and Gon beat Rayleigh this time. One would think having the Force would allow Rayleigh to win every time, but Gon had Main Character Instincts, so even with a cheat like the Force, Rayleigh only beat him at Rock-Paper-Scissors one out of every two times.

Wing placed a wine glass on the table and Gon got to work. Unsurprisingly, the moment his Ren was used, the water gushed out from the top. The glass also cracked from the pressure. While Wing and Gon cleaned up the spilled water, Rayleigh got a ceramic mug from the kitchen and filled it with water before bringing it back for his own test. He did not bother putting a leaf on the top.

Wing noticed this and said, “Uh, Ray-”

But Rayleigh ignored him and used his Ren, causing another geyser to appear, similar to Gon’s in size. Though since he used a ceramic mug instead of a wine glass, the cup did not break.

Wing froze up for a moment before coughing, “Eh, hmm. Well done, but… Nevermind. Can you please get a wine glass for Killua and Zushi?”

Rayleigh did not understand the difference between using a ceramic mug for this test and a wine glass and neither did anyone else but Wing. Ray didn’t really care though and returned to the kitchen to get a glass and refill it for Killua since he wouldn’t break it while using his Ren.

Wing had cleaned up the spilled water and Rayleigh set the new water-filled glass on the table. Since the leaf was not a part of this test, it was not placed back on the top.

Killua approached the glass and used his Ren for a few seconds.

Everyone reached over and got a drop on their finger before licking it.

It was sweet. Very sweet. Rayleigh wondered how many sweets Killua had eaten throughout his life to make the water he touched so sweet.

Gon exclaimed, “Woah, it’s like honey!”

The water was exchanged out and Zushi was next. Zushi used Ren for as long as he could hold it, clearly sweating from the intensity once he finished. The leaf wiggled around more than it had the first time Zushi tried four weeks ago, but the effort he put into it seemed far more demanding than Ray, Gon, or Killua’s, as none of them were sweating at the end.

Wing nodded and said, “That’s enough Zushi. You’re making excellent progress, but you’re not there quite yet.”

He then turned to the trio and said, “All three of you have passed. One more thing. Rayleigh and Gon, you have both passed the secondary Hunter’s Exam.”

Rayleigh asked, “What’s that?” while Gon replied, “Huh?”

Wing explained, “The acquisition of Nen is the first condition to become a Hunter. The reason is that professional Hunters have a certain prerequisite for strength before they can be considered real Hunters. Common Hunter activities include stopping criminals, catching poachers, protecting clients, and exploring dangerous regions. Those without a basic foundation in Nen are not considered real Hunters. But since Nen can become a destructive force when used by the wrong people, it is dangerous for this Exam to become known to the public.”

Killua asked, “That’s why you said Netero wanted you to teach us. At least Gon and Rayleigh anyways.”

Wing answered, “That’s right Killua. And do not hesitate to retake the main exam next year. You won’t have any problems passing. I can assure you that you now possess all the necessary qualities of a Hunter.”

Killua looked a bit embarrassed at the praise and answered, “Maybe later, if I feel like it.”

Gon asked, “Hey Wing, do you know how everyone else who passed is doing?”

Wing nodded. “Hanzo and Kurapika have finished their own Nen training as well. Killua’s brother and Hisoka already fulfilled the requirement before taking the exam. Leorio has found a teacher, but plans to begin learning Nen after he passes the Entrance Exam for his Medical University.”

Gon smiled that everyone had found their own paths.

Before seeing them off, Wing stated, “One last bit of advice. In your match tomorrow, don’t push yourself too hard.”

Gon nodded back, “Right!”

Killua and Ray shared a weak smile. Gon had signed up for a match with Hisoka for the next day. Rather than tell him to do his best, try to win, or suggest any strategies, Wing basically said, ‘since you’re going to lose anyways, don’t do anything that puts you back in the hospital.’

Of course, just because Wing didn’t give him any strategies, didn’t mean Rayleigh and Killua could not.

In Gon’s room that night, the trio sat together and brainstormed.

Killua first pointed out, “He’s not gonna go all out at first. He didn’t use his Nen against Kastro until after he got a read on Kastro’s abilities and limits.”

Gon nodded, “That will be my chance to punch him in the face!”

Ray asked, “Any thoughts about what to do afterward?”

Gon considered it and answered, “Well, I’ll figure it out!”

Ray and Killua sighed. Ray added, “Wing said that the strongest Nen was one that adhered to who we are, and from that perspective, Hisoka’s Nen is extremely strong.”

Killua asked, “You mean it perfectly suits him?”

Ray replied, “That’s right. His sticky Nen is like his personality. Adhesive, almost stalker-like. He allows his prey to get away and grow stronger only because he knows he can get closer anytime he wants. Once he has his target in sight, he won’t let it get away. That sticky Nen is practically an extension of his personality. His other Nen, the one he used to make that handkerchief look like skin, that also matches his character. He only lets you see what he wants you to see.”

Gon asked, “So there’s no way to run?”

Ray nodded, “That’s right. He’s an experienced predator. If you are far away from him, it is only because he allowed you to get that distance. Something he can remove anytime he wants.”

Gon asked, “So you think it’s better to remain up close?”

Rayleigh shook his head, “Not really. But there is no way to beat him from a distance. If you remember the Kastro fight, Hisoka never actually took a single step toward Kastro, nor did he throw a single punch. He allowed Kastro to move around and using the retraction of that Nen of his to attack. The further you are from him, the easier it will be for him to use his Nen to attack you.”

Gon nodded, “Yeah, that’s right. I can’t do anything about that Nen, but if I stay close, I won’t have to.”

Killua shouted, “Are both of you crazy?! He’s obviously much stronger up close!”

Gon laughed awkwardly and Rayleigh shrugged and stated, “In this fight, Gon will be at his weakest at a distance and strongest upfront. Even if the same is true for Hisoka, it’s better to lose at your strongest than at your weakest.”

Gon nodded vigorously, eyes shining in anticipation.

Killua looked back and forth between the Enhancers and grumbled, “Dumbasses. Why can’t you just let Gon borrow your lightsaber to cut his Nen?”

Rayleigh shook his head and got out his Lightsaber before placing it on a table. “This thing weighs four kilograms.”

Killua asked, “Eh? Really?”

Gon asked, “Is that a lot?”

Killua answered, “A normal sword weighs less than two kilograms with lighter ones barely heavier than a single kilogram.”

Ray added, “And that’s if I use it. If someone else uses it, well. Give it a try. Killua first. Don’t cut anything off.”

Killua had honestly been wanting to try it for a while which was why he offhandedly suggested Gon use it, so he didn’t hide his bright smile when he picked it up and flicked the switch to enable the blade. Killua appreciated it for a moment before he stood up and swung it, but the smile on his face broke the moment he did. “Eh?”

Killua tried to swing it again, but there was obviously a problem. He was swinging it too slowly. Killua’s physical strength and speed were on the same level as Rayleigh, give or take a bit, so he knew he should be able to swing it as fast as Rayleigh did. But he could not.

Gon noticed this and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Killua swung it a few more times and said, “It feels heavier when I swing it. What’s wrong with it?”

Before giving him an answer, Rayleigh said, “Turn it off before passing it over and let Gon try.”

Killua did so and Gon took the metal handle and flicked the switch, enabling the blue and white blade once more. Gon’s arm and grip strength were far higher than a normal kid’s from the years of fishing up giant fish, so he knew how to hold something tightly and how to swing it.

Gon gave it a few experimental swings, but just like Killua, it seemed to move a lot slower than it did when Rayleigh used it.

Rayleigh then got up and motioned for Gon to pass it over. Gon turned it off and tossed it, which Rayleigh caught. He then turned it on and swung it at the blindingly fast speed the pair had seen him use in the past.

Rayleigh then turned it off and stored it away. “It’s kind of alive and matched to me. If someone else uses it, it will fight back, which is why it seemed heavier and slower in your hands. In my hands though, it can actually move even faster than if I was just carrying a four-kilogram metal handle.”

Killua asked, “Is that why you said you could beat me if you had that thing? It makes you stronger?”

“Pretty much,” he answered.

The group then diverged into lighter topics until it was time to get some sleep. They, or at least Gon, had a big day tomorrow.

The next day, Rayleigh, Killua, Wing, and Zushi sat in the audience, with HK-47’s head in Rayleigh’s lap. When Rayleigh could not take HK-47 to Wing’s house, he would explain every one of the Nen lessons for HK-47 to compile for future reference.

Rayleigh and Killua got in line to buy tickets at the moment they became available since Hisoka’s matches always sold out rapidly. Since Hisoka allowed Gon to choose the time and place, the tickets only went on sale after Gon set it up and Killua and Rayleigh were in line the moment the match was announced.

The announcer called out, [Gon Vs Hisoka, the long-awaited final match of Hisoka is finally here! Gon has come to the arena today without his fishing rod. He has a single defeat and three victories and appears to be in good health. Hisoka has nine victories and three defeats! If he wins, he will be able to challenge a Floor Master. If he loses, he’ll have to start over from the very first floor! BUT! Hisoka has never lost a fight he attended. Will his legend of invincibility continue?]

The ref called out, “Fighters ready? Begin!”

Gon charged forward, intending to deliver a punch to Hisoka’s face as soon as possible. Hisoka casually twisted to the side, avoiding the swing, and then twisted back to deliver a hard counter.

Gon withstood the hit and jumped back up to give a rapid-fire assault of strikes, each toward Hisoka’s face. Hisoka dodged each with the slightest margin before countering with a palm strike. Gon dodged the palm, but in doing so was open to receive Hisoka’s kick which sent him into the air.

Gon endured the hit once more and landed on his feet before charging again, this time trying to take Hisoka’s back.

Without turning, Hisoka dodged the strike from behind and countered, but Gon ducked beneath the rising strike and tried to land an uppercut which Hisoka tilted away from. Hisoka then tilted back while delivering a strong strike to Gon’s side.

Gon clenched his teeth and endured, leaping forward once more to deliver a fury of his fastest blows. But while trying for speed, he sacrificed dexterity, making the attacks easier to read and dodge, also making it easier to counter.

Gon realized his mistake and returned to his normal pace, but started adding various feints to each barrage. He moved around, up, down, and side to side while trying to trick Hisoka’s perception to grant himself an opening, but still received a strong blow every couple of moves for his troubles.

At one point Hisoka added a feint of his own that Gon misread and ended up receiving a punch to the face.

The ref called out, “Clean hit! One point for Hisoka!”

The announcer was amazed, [Such an impressive succession of attacks and defenses! I didn’t have time to say a single word!]

Hisoka smiled and stated provocatively, “Hehe, is that it? I haven’t taken a single step from this position since the start of the match.”

Gon looked frustrated for a moment before charging forward again. This time he gave a series of back-to-back feints to get Hisoka into a defensive stance, then he actually took some distance and bent down to the stone floor.

In a repeat performance of his fight against the wheelchair guy, Gon lifted the massive stone tile off the floor and over at Hisoka. However, instead of letting it reach him, Gon struck it with all his strength, reducing the massive tile into a dozen large fragments.

Hisoka defended himself by shattering each fragment that approached him, but Gon had entered Zetsu and hid behind one of the larger fragments that went around him. When all the fragments hit the ground, Hisoka still did not see or sense Gon’s presence.

Hisoka noticed too late that Gon jumped out from behind the stone fragment and was out of position to dodge. For the first time in the match, Gon delivered a fist to Hisoka’s face.

The ref called out, “Critical hit! Two points for Gon!”

Although it was a good punch, it had been made from a state of Zetsu and Hisoka did not receive any real damage. The announcer noticed the lack of damage and began to discuss the validity of the awarded points.

While they were wondering if it was a good hit, Gon and Hisoka confused everyone by casually walking up to each other where Gon handed Hisoka a circular badge that Hisoka then took before they distanced themselves again.

The announcer then intelligently called out, [What the hell just happened?! I don’t understand a thing!]

Hisoka then began to chat, “What did you learn about Nen?”

Gon answered, “All the basics.”

Hisoka replied, “I see. You are an enhancer, aren’t you?”

Gon looked flustered, “How did you know?!”

Hisoka laughed, “Haha, got you.”

Gon asked, “But how did you guess?”

“Well, I made up my own way to tell.” Hisoka pointed directly at Gon and said, “Enhancers are simple and pure!”

The moment Hisoka pointed at Gon, Rayleigh used Gyō.

Killua noticed this and used Gyō as well before sighing at what he saw.

Rayleigh agreed. Hisoka stuck Kastro with his Nen when he tossed the Ace of Spades toward Kastro. So he probably had to point at whatever he connected it to. Hisoka had just pointed at Gon, but the latter was too distracted by what Hisoka was saying.

Hisoka continued, “And I’m a transmuter, unstable, and a liar. Transmuters and Enhancers have good compatibility as opposites attract. We can get along well, but you have to be careful. What a transmuter values is always changing. At one moment you are their treasure, and the next, you are their trash.”

Hisoka then took an offensive stance and continued, “So, don’t disappoint me Gon.”

This time, Hisoka charged forward. Gon barely had a moment to react before the Magician was in front of him and that moment was not enough to dodge the elbow thrust Hisoka used to knock Gon into the air. Before Gon even landed, Hisoka was behind him and delivering a palm thrust at Gon’s back. This shot Gon back across the stage and Hisoka followed every step of the way.

As Gon bounced down the stage, he saw Hisoka right behind him about to deliver a kick. Gon used his flexibility to barely tilt out of the way to dodge the strike. Good thing too, the kick dug deeply into the arena’s stage and lifted the tile in front of Hisoka’s foot cleanly off the stage where it flew into the audience, crushing and probably killing several.

Although Gon dodged, he was out of position for another and received a downward double fist slam from Hisoka, sending him to the floor with enough strength to crack the stage.

Although Gon got back up right away, the Ref called out, “Critical hit for Hisoka! Two points awarded. The score is now 3 to 2!”

Gon gritted his teeth. His entire body was probably still shaking from all the hits he’d taken and he had to take a moment to brace himself.

Hisoka said, “Well, are you coming?”

Gon was about to respond when he realized something and suddenly used Gyō, spotting the string of aura extending from Hisoka’s finger toward Gon’s cheek.

Gon gritted his teeth and charged Hisoka, knowing that it was his only option. He jumped forward but Hisoka bent backward like he was playing a crazy game of limbo, allowing Gon to jump right over him. Hisoka then twirled himself around and Gon stopped falling over Hisoka and was suddenly drawn back toward him.

Hisoka stopped spinning and waited for Gon’s figure to approach where he slammed Gon’s face into the floor.

Hisoka calmly declared, “I call it Bungee gum. It shrinks and extends depending on my will. You can’t escape.”

The ref called out, “Critical Hit and Down! That’s three more points! 6 to 2 in Hisoka’s favor!”

The ref asked if Gon could continue and Gon declared, “Of course!”

Hisoka stated, “Pop Quiz. If you answer correctly, I’ll let you hit me once. When did I attach my Bungee gum to you? A. During the Elbow hit. B. During the clean hit. Or C. During the Critical hit?”

Killua and Rayleigh sighed. Gon seemed to be thinking hard for a moment before answering, “It was C. When you hit me with both of your hands!”

Hisoka replied, “Wrong. The answer was D. When I explained my aura personality analysis.”

Gon clenched his teeth for a moment, and as if predicting what he was thinking, Hisoka added, “If you had used Gyō during my explanation, you could have dodged my aura. But.. What about A. B. and C?”

Gon looked startled at the point Hisoka was making.

Hisoka smiled at this and elaborated, “That’s right. I can affix my Bungee gum even while fighting. But I can only affix it while using In when my opponent has their guard down. Usually, I just affix it when I strike someone. After that, it doesn’t matter if the aura is visible or not, does it?”

Gon understood that there was no way to avoid it. Rayleigh never once gave any advice on avoiding it either, and now Gon understood why. Hisoka could probably affix his Bungee Gum to someone if they punched him and he blocked it, so there was no way to avoid getting it attached unless you were a long ranged fighter or used a weapon that could counter his Bungee Gum.

Gon charged forward once more, hard determination in his eyes.

Hisoka appreciated that look. In fact, it seemed he appreciated it too much. The moment Gon approached, Hisoka’s killing intent surged.

Gon was clearly disturbed by the immense killing intent Hisoka displayed, but a battle Junkie does not flee from killing intent. On instinct, Gon went all out and smashed Hisoka’s face in. Fear still pushing him forward, Gon did not allow himself to stop and continued to deliver blow after blow.

Hisoka appeared to be distracted, he was unable to dodge the hits, probably struggling against his own killing intent and the desire to kill Gon then and there.

Thankfully for Gon, Hisoka won against his urged and decided now was not the time. He retracted the Bungee Gum from Gon’s face toward Hisoka’s fist to pull Gon and throw him away. He allowed his Bungee Gum to extend before he retracted it again. From the audience, it looked like Gon had been pulled away from Hisoka, and then partway through his fall, he was suddenly pulled back in.

Hisoka then delivered another strong hit, but Gon was ready for it and braced himself.

The ref called out, “One Critical for both sides! And one down for Hisoka! 9 to 4 in favor of Hisoka!”

Gon quickly complained, “Hey! That wasn’t a down!”

Many members of the audience agreed it was an unfair call, but by the rules of Heaven’s Arena, the Ref could award points as they pleased during a match. They might get fired afterward, but their calls during the match were valid nonetheless.

Hisoka’s laughter turned Gon’s attention from the ref back to the magician. Hisoka called out, “Inattentiveness is your worst enemy Gon. Look to your right.”

Gon looked to his right as a chunk of stone flew from his left and smacked him in the head.

Hisoka corrected, “Oh, sorry. I meant my right. Your left. While you were complaining, I affixed my Bungee Gum to that stone and shrank it.”

Gon gritted his teeth as the Ref called out, “Clean Hit for Hisoka! That’s Ten Points. Hisoka Wins by Technical Knock Out!”

The battle junkie asked with bewilderment, “It’s over?”

Hisoka answered, “You made great progress, but you need more practice. If you fought me ten more times, you might be able to give me an interesting match. But that’s only if we fought in Heaven’s Arena. So, I won’t fight you here anymore. Next time, we’ll fight in the real world with no rules and risk our lives.”

Rayleigh and Killua met up with Gon who was upset about the ruling. Rayleigh said, “The Ref probably did it on purpose. He didn’t want to see you killed by Hisoka, so he was awarding as many points as he could to end the fight as soon as possible.”

Killua said, “Yeah, Refs can do that apparently. A lot of people bet that Hisoka would win ten to nothing, but they lost money on you.”

Rayleigh smiled, “I suppose that counts as a victory.”

Rayleigh then turned to Gon and asked, “So what do you want to do now? I’m gonna keep training, but I don’t need to do it here.”

Gon answered, “I’m gonna go back home and see Mito.”

Killua asked, “Why don’t we come with you then?”

Rayleigh nodded, interested in seeing Gon’s home as well.

Gon asked, “Seriously?”

Killua answered, “Yeah, I’d like to meet Mito.”

Rayleigh said, “You lived on an island right? We can easily train there for the next two months and meet Kurapika at Yorknew afterwards.”

Gon smiled and said, “Alright! Let’s go!”

The trio said their goodbyes to Wing and Zushi and made their way to the airport.

On the way there, Rayleigh mentally entered the Tavern. He saved today’s entry for something special. Rather than come in physically and order food, there was just one thing he wanted to do. Rayleigh headed down the hallway next to the bar and saw the familiar plaque.

[Arena. Challenge Players or Figures from various worlds.]

Rayleigh entered the Player’s Arena and closed the door behind him.

Instead of setting the stage to its default, Rayleigh changed it to Heaven’s Arena 200th Floor for 50 Points and selected a character to fight for 500 points before walking up on the stage.

Yes. Although Rayleigh was willing to wait for Gon so he would not get ahead, that did not mean he would allow Gon to get ahead of him. And deep down, Rayleigh truly wanted to be on that stage. Thankfully, he could have the best of both worlds. The price for a fighter was not actually determined by their strength, but by how much you knew about them. The less you knew, the more expensive the fight. This was because all experiences from the fight transferred over. You could fight someone in the Player’s Arena to learn how to fight them in real life. Rayleigh had seen Hisoka fight twice and use all his Nen techniques. He obviously did not know all of Hisoka’s fighting styles, but the price of fighting him was cheap because those two Nen abilities were really the only ones Hisoka had and since Rayleigh knew about them, he was not paying to learn.

He did check, fighting Netero would cost 3500 points and Ging Freecss would cost 15000 points. Not because one was stronger, but because he had a lot more information on Netero than he did Ging. Though Ging could be much stronger for all he knew.

On the stage, a Ref materialized and Rayleigh returned to his twelve-year-old form while Hisoka materialized on the other side of the ring.

Hisoka pointed out, “Ah, now this is a match I’m looking forward to. Do not disappoint me.”

Rayleigh pulled out his Lightsaber and enabled it as the ref started the ten-second count.

“Begin!”

Seeing the threat of Rayleigh’s Lightsaber, Hisoka did not stay put as Rayleigh charged forward and slashed at his position. Instead, he imitated Gon by kicking up the massive stone tile between them toward Rayleigh’s direction.

Rayleigh knew breaking it would only give Hisoka more ammunition, so he used the Force to stop it in mid-air.

Hisoka noticed this and shattered the tile himself.

Rayleigh had just foreseen this using Battle Precognition and pressed all the rubble forward to bombard Hisoka, but the Magician shattered all the rubble directed at him while dodging around the rest.

Ray used Gyō and confirmed multiple bits of rubble behind Hisoka were connected to his fingers using that Bungee Gum of his.

Hisoka noticed Rayleigh using Gyō and flicked his fingers forward. As the rubble was slingshotted towards Rayleigh, Hisoka ran to the side and fired his Bungee Gum at Rayleigh.

The shot of Nen was blocked by Rayleigh’s Lightsaber which effectively burned through the Bungee Gum. Rayleigh quickly calculated the vectors of the flying debris and charged Hisoka. The Magician would not be able to pull the rubble to intercept Rayleigh at this angle.

Hisoka dodged to the side and accelerated the retracting rubble so that it would strike Rayleigh in the back.

Without looking, Rayleigh cut through the Bungee Gum cords connecting Hisoka to the rubble and leaped forward again to strike the magician.

Hisoka’s smile turned devilish. The moment Rayleigh’s lightsaber seemed to cut through him, his afterimage vanished. He had suddenly moved at a speed he had not shown even against Gon.

Rayleigh used Gyō again and saw that Hisoka had shot a line of Bungee Gum to the ground and attached it to his waist. He retracted it to pull himself away from the strike to dodge faster than his muscles could react.

Hisoka called out, “Wonderful! But how well can you dance?”

Hisoka spun around, strings of Bungee Gum spreading from his waist, arms, and legs all around him.

“I call this, Bungee World.”

Rayleigh suddenly had the impression he was a fly trapped in a spider’s web. That single twirl sent lines of Bungee Gum all over the arena. Most of it was slack at the moment, but Hisoka could retract it at any second.

Rayleigh leaped to the side to cut some of the lines, but Hisoka used lines of Bungee Gum stretched out from his position to behind him to pull another stone tile off the floor and slingshot it at Rayleigh.

Because he anchored himself using his Bungee Gum from the other side, the slingshot effect was even stronger and Rayleigh had no time to dodge to the left or right. So he jumped.

His Danger Sense flared the moment he did. At the moment Rayleigh was unable to see Hisoka due to the stone tile blocking his view, Hisoka used his other arm to pull up and throw two more tiles. It didn’t matter where Rayleigh dodged.

The two stone tiles were thrown even faster than the first and actually slammed into each other, shattering apart and spreading debris all over the field.

Rayleigh used the Force to cling to one of the fragments and stole a page from Gon’s book by using Zetsu and Force Stealth to make his presence vanish.

This Hisoka was apparently an up-to-date one as he looked around for the ambush he knew was coming and spotted it in the form of a flying lightsaber heading toward his neck.

Before he could dodge, three applications of Force Stasis were applied at the same time, freezing him in place.

Hisoka could not move but was still pulled to the side an instant before he would have been beheaded.

Although Force Stasis should have solidified the air around him, it did not prevent his Bungee Gum from pulling him and all the solidified air around him to safety. He still had dozens of strings attached to his waist in every direction.

Hisoka used his Ren to press against the Force Stasis to regain his mobility. Against Hisoka’s Ren, Rayleigh’s three stacks of Force Stasis barely slowed him down and didn’t have enough of an effect on his Bungee Gum to matter, so Rayleigh released the effects. Skills like Force Slow would not affect an instinctive Genius like Hisoka and Force Whirlwind would be useless to someone who could anchor himself to the ground.

Hisoka’s smile grew deeper. “Wonderful. But you’re not going to beat me from a distance.”

Rayleigh knew he was right. Rayleigh’s Force Precognition could allow him to dodge Hisoka’s wild attacks, but it would not give him an advantage in attacking.

Rayleigh charged forward once more, making sure to cut every line of Bungee Gum he passed by to make sure Hisoka could not pull anything from behind him.

Hisoka laughed at Rayleigh’s charge and spun himself around again. This time, all the rocks and debris around him were lifted off the ground and spun like a mad tornado. Rayleigh’s Lightsaber could cut through stone, but if the piece was too large, cutting it just turned one stone coming at him into two stones.

Instead of cutting the stones, Rayleigh tried to keep up his Gyō and dodge the stones swinging at him from the side while cutting each line of Bungee Gum connecting them to Hisoka.

Rayleigh’s Danger Sense flared once more. Hisoka already had a swarm of rocks swinging toward Rayleigh. He didn’t need to keep spinning, so he charged Rayleigh himself.

Rayleigh backflipped over the rocks and pointed his Lightsaber at Hisoka to keep the clown at a distance, but the Magician’s creepy smile never wavered.

When Rayleigh landed, Hisoka stated, “I see. You can sense danger, can’t you?”

Rayleigh did not comment, keeping his Gyō open to watch for tricks.

Hisoka smiled, “Keeping your Gyō active only helps to see what you are looking at. And if you only sense danger, I just have to lay a trap that is not dangerous.”

Hisoka pulled a card from his sleeve and charged forward again. Rayleigh felt a strong sense of danger and jumped to the side, but Hisoka’s course didn’t change. An instant later, Rayleigh’s feet were pulled out from under him back toward Hisoka.

He looked down and saw a bunch of Bungee Gum had been thrown on the ground at some point. There were no strings coming from it and Rayleigh had not been able to keep up his Gyō during every second, so he missed when it was thrown and hadn’t looked at it when using Gyō.

Rayleigh had stepped it in and it stuck to him, now it was pulling him back.

Rayleigh swiped at Hisoka with his Lightsaber, but the Magician accelerated the pull to cause Rayleigh’s swipe to miss the timing and the card in Hisoka’s hand passed through Rayleigh’s neck an instant later.

The arena flashed twice and Rayleigh returned to life. Paying the extra for a Heaven’s Arena match had been pointless. There were no points. Rayleigh countered Hisoka enough to make him go all-out and only a single attack was necessary to end the fight.

Still. Rayleigh’s smile hadn’t stopped. He certainly learned a few things about himself.

He had not thought about it before, but Battle Precognition and Danger Sense had a lot of weaknesses. Battle Precognition was primarily used to defend, not attack. Danger Sense did not go off if a trap did not harm him on its own.

Thankfully, he learned many things as well, things he hadn’t known about. While using Gyō, Rayleigh could see Hisoka’s Shatterpoints. But they looked different from what he was used to. Shatterpoints were not just physical weak spots. They also included weak points in someone’s style and even mentality at times.

If Rayleigh could get more experience reading weak points using Shatterpoint and Gyō, he could make up for the lack of offense Battle Precognition assisted with. In any case, the match was Mission Points well spent. He learned the basics of Nen and learned its potential against someone who truly knew how to use it. Of course, Rayleigh did not know if that was Hisoka’s real strength. Did he have any more secrets? The only way to know would be to get stronger, challenge him again, and see if he could kill him. Either way, it would be fun.

*Author’s Note*

I’m skipping most of the Spiders and Yorknew arc and going to Greed Island after that.