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Chapter 42: Mastering Shadow Step X Zeno's Question
🕑 Added 2025-10-19 10:45:04 +0000 UTCChapter 42: Mastering Shadow Step X Zeno's Question
Four in the morning. The familiar chiming of the clock.
Roy's eyes snapped open. He was back on Kukuroo Mountain, a profound mental exhaustion weighing him down. The ten thousand practice swings hadn't taken a toll on his body, but on his mind. It was the first time he'd ever felt this kind of fatigue from his dream training.
Normally, a Nen user follows a linear path: Ten, Zetsu, Ren, and finally Hatsu. Only at the end of that path do they develop an ability that aligns with their personality and innate potential. But Roy was different. Thanks to his transmigration, the system had granted him "The Gate of Cognition" the moment his nodes were opened, bypassing the traditional progression. It was similar to a Specialist who awakens their Hatsu spontaneously due to unique circumstances.
So, if I get injured in the dream world, will that negative status carry over to reality?
He allowed himself a rare five extra minutes in bed, rubbing the ache from his temples. The thought led him to the one unbreakable law of Nen: Vows and Restrictions. The greater the rule you impose upon yourself, the greater the power you can unleash. By that same logic, if he was reaping the rewards of his dream training, he must also accept the risks.
Never allow yourself to be put in a truly dangerous situation, he thought, a cold resolve settling in his mind. Not in this world, and not in the other.
At 4:05 AM, the last of the mental fog dissipated. He got up, but instead of heading out for his run, he went straight for Snow-Walker. He wanted to see if Urokodaki's instruction had made a difference.
The blade sang as he drew it. He went through the forms of the Sun Breathing.
At this hour, a certain boy with empty eyes was on an airship, heading for Heavens Arena. A certain pudgy child was having ointment rubbed on his electro-shock burns. On the second floor, a certain woman with a fiery temper was smashing furniture, muttering threats about what she would do when her husband returned. And in a dimly lit room on the first floor, a certain old man's ears twitched as he listened to his cartoons.
"The boy's sword work... it's gotten sharper," Maha mumbled to himself, then rolled over and went back to sleep.
Roy finished the twelve forms. He could feel the difference. His movements were cleaner, more fluid. The only issue was the weight; after a full day of practicing with a simple training sword, the masterwork Snow-Walker felt unfamiliar in his hands. But the most important change was that he could maintain a state of Concentration for longer.
The result: another +0.2 to his Physique stat. This in turn had a cascading effect on his assassin arts.
[Shadow Step: Proficient (99/100) -> Master (1/1000)]
[Snake Awakens: Novice (98/100) -> Proficient (1/100)]
Shadow Step had broken through to the Master level. Snake Awakens had reached Proficient. An unexpected but welcome surprise.
Evening. Roy sheathed his sword, his face impassive. Less than five days until his "test" with Silva. He'd gone to the Ejan continent; the round trip should take at least a week, but knowing his father, most of that time would be travel. He'd be back soon.
A small goal, then, Roy decided. Double the ten thousand swings within five days. Urokodaki wanted to add two thousand per day? Fine. He would meet the challenge.
He tossed Snow-Walker to Gotoh and walked out of the training hall. The sunset over Kukuroo Mountain was a brilliant, fiery spectacle, a stark contrast to the pale, snowy skies of his dream. As he walked down the long, ancient corridor, he rounded a corner and stopped.
A stooped figure was walking towards him. White hair, white beard, and the eight stark characters on his robes: A Kill a Day / Active for Life.
"Grandfather," Roy said, bowing his head.
Zeno grunted, his sharp eyes scanning Roy from head to toe. "You've grown," he observed, his gaze lingering on the boy's slightly-too-short training gi. "Tell your butler to get you new clothes. You look ridiculous."
"It's my fault, not his," Roy replied. "I'll have him take my measurements tomorrow."
Zeno said nothing, turning to look out the window at the blood-red sunset. As Roy walked past him, his grandfather's voice, quiet and thoughtful, stopped him.
"You've had your Nen awakened," Zeno said, his eyes still on the horizon. "You've officially begun your training. Have you thought about what you want to do with it?"
Roy paused. The memory of his conversation with Tanjuro, of his promise to find a cure, came to mind. He smiled.
"Freedom, Grandfather," he said, his voice clear and steady. "I want to earn my freedom. I want to climb, one step at a time, to the very top. So that I can do what must be done, and fear nothing."
