Chapter-10

"George, we need to find out more about 'it', can you ask your friends in the Hunter Association ?" Amelia said, her solemn face hiding a tinge of worry.

George nodded, for this was something he knew he had to do long before Ethan was born, it was just that Amelia's health took precedence and he was too busy with the jobs he did handle as a Hunter. Now the matter was graver with the addition of Ethan. His clues were limited but it definitely had to do something with the 'dark continent', being a hunter he knew a little about it but was largely clueless.

Ethan mumbled something, as if talking in his dreams, easing the tension in both his parent's face.

'This child of mine is truly troublesome' Thought George with a smile.

"I will look into it" Said George, with a determined face, easing the concern look of his wife.

***

Ethan woke up feeling the best he had in a while. His mind felt clearer and his breath felt refreshing, truly a good time to fiddle with his abilities.

As he was about to start experimenting again in his room, he was intruded upon by George, who saw him standing up with a determined look on his face and a fist facing the sky.

'Another praying pose to his Gods or did he got fed up with them?' George thought, not bothering to be surprised at how such actions were done by a mere 7 month old infant.

"Son, nod if you can understand me." George asked, just in case.

Ethan thought for a while and then nodded.

"Good, can you read ?"

Ethan didn't do any gesture and just stared at him.

"Shake your head sideways to say no."

Ethan shook his head sideways.

"Okay, Ethan, what you did yesterday, I want you to do it again"

Ethan complied, though the 'will' to keep the energy inside his own body was not active, he found that hardly any aura leaked from his body, and as soon as he 'willed' the energy to accumulate on the surface of his body, a very thin film of nen covered him.

"This is called ten, a form of nen. Nen, it is a technique that allows a living being to use and manipulate their own life energy" said George before releasing his own aura. Formless it gently encompassed him.

"Can you see the a transparent film of energy around me ?"

Ethan nodded.

'Its good that he isn't in a half-awakened state'

"A person usually has to spend months if not years to control their aura pores, do you know what that means ?"

Ethan just stared at him.

"It means that you are a genius, no a genius among geniuses" George said, nodding his head in pride.

Ethan just tilted his head at him, the gesture was cute enough to make George want to spoil him but a realization dawned upon him first.

His son might be a fast learner or even a genius but how can he be sure that he understands all the words he says, facepalmed he decided to teach him basic things first.

While Ethan was glad that it finally struck his father, he had been cautious; if he showed too much intelligence, he might be suspected to be under the influence of a nen ability, manipulating him from the shadows.

So began the very arduous task of pretending to be learning, until learning to read came.

Ethan took the help of system, he asked it to record the sound of characters and display them when he looks at them.

Seeing Ethan getting troubled, George decided to stop the lessons for today after leaving a chart of characters with examples of their sounds.

All in all, it was worth the trouble to act like an clueless infant, though ironically he wasn't treated like one.

He now wanted to look at the books again but this time Amelia intruded. She was carrying a small box. She had heard from her excited husband that Ethan seemed to understand most of the words they spoke.

"Ethan, would you lie down on your stomach for me ?" Amelia asked.

Ethan laid down but on his back and then looked at her.

"This is your stomach" smiled Amelia tickling him.

She gently flipped him on his back. Then she opened the box, Ethan had a sense of foreboding but it was already too late.

He felt a little funny in his nape and then he could no longer move his body below the neck, Ethan felt his heartbeat rise.

"Don't worry, just try to relax" instructed his mother.

"This is an advance acupuncture skill that mommy learned from my mother." Ethan felt the muscles of his shoulder relax.

"Doing this would make my little boy grow up much stronger and make you very healthy" she said, slowly inserting more needles. It was to ease any kind of damage he might have gotten from forcefully opening his aura nodes and the stress on his body from his accelerated growth, she even started from the back as seeing needles enter his body might be too scary for him.

Ethan wanted to see if his body could still be moved by 'willing' it to move but decided against it, acupuncture was a delicate task of which he had no knowledge of.

So he tried to check if the system had done what he had previously asked, to record the conversation of his parents while he slept from exhaustion.

<Playing recording of surroundings till it had gotten silent for 15 minutes>

Then Ethan listened to the recording of his parents talking about what they felt off about him and some more, just after a silence of few minutes Ethan heard the voice of his father speaking.

<" Have you found out about the things I had asked ?"> said he with a coldness that caught Ethen off guard

<"Is that so, well, I thought as much, he never leaves a clue does he.">

<"I want you to find the location and information on all the objects related to dark continent and temples of Idror">

<"Yes, but don't approach them, also kill yourself if you are almost caught, believe me, you don't want to be caught alive.">

<"Then I would be counting on you, don't disappoint me too much.">

<"Honey, were you on the phone ?"> Asked Amelia

<"Aah, yes. Was talking to one of my old friends, hopefully he would be able to provide some useful information"> George's voice returned to the wont.