Friendship, Talent And Hardcore Training

Another year has passed.

Rex spent most of his time fighting on the 190th floor and then in his own room in the Heavens Arena, recreating his opponent's attacks and techniques or 'training' Nen.

This sounded easier than done, but since Rex has a certain condition where he cannot train his body and Nen, the nerves in his body cannot increase or grow, which means that he has made zero progress in techniques.

His Nen capacity also could not grow, as well as his Nen Manipultaion, Emmision, Enhancement and so on.

However, this never brought him down, as he felt a certain something after every punch, kick, Ren, or any injury.

He couldn't exactly say what, but it felt like the world owed Rex more and more.

In fact, it was a little eerie...

He also spent a lot of time reading, which he didn't do very often in his previous life and it even made him very tired and bored, but he was sort of forced to gain a lot of general knowledge, otherwise he would stand like the ultimate idiot in any discussion.

...

...

!

But at the moment Rex was not training or reading, Illumi had visited him because Rex asked him for something.

"Oh hey Rex, are you finally going to teach me Nen today? You know I'm stuck on the 180th floors, right?", Illumi asked Rex, while going to Rex's bed and then sit on it.

"Not really", Rex said, who had opened a cabinet that was next to a refrigerator and pulled something out of it. "You see that? That's the Joy stastion! Freshly bought!"

"Oh I heard about that" said Illumi, who still didn't know what Rex's plan was. "And what about it now?"

"Well I bought a new two player game yesterday along with the joy station, Terror Of The Zombie Monsters! And I found out yesterday that you can only play it in pairs..."

"And that's why you brought me here?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Oh man," Illumi said, a little disappointed. "If you must."

Rex took two controllers out of the closet and plugged them into the Joy station.

After that, the two of them played for quite a while, ate some ice cream, and just chatted, which is what friends do.

This current Illumi is difficult to distinguish from last year's, but Rex's presence in his life has changed many of his thought processes.

✹

"THIS FUCKING GAME!", Rex shouted, almost crushing the console with his feet, but Illumi somehow managed to stop him.

...

But when Illumi took another look at Rex, he remembered something he had wanted to ask him months ago.

"You Rex..."

"What, I told you before about why I dyed my hair black, didn't I?", replied Rex before Illumi could finish his sentence.

Illumi stared at Rex for a couple of seconds with a look that could kill, he always hated it when Rex interrupted him. "No, that's not what I mean... It's just that..."

"Yeah?"

"I've never seen you grow..."

"Oh, so you finally noticed?"

"Well, you know, I thought you just had a growth disorder or something, but even your hair and fingernails and other stuff never grew."

Rex stared at Illumi for a few more seconds and then at the ceiling, not knowing what to do, but then he came to a conclusion. "Ok, if I have to.... Actually I was going to teach you Nen after I fulfilled my last condition, but if I HAVE to!"

"Oh, and what would your Last Condition be?", asked Illumi.

"..."

"It's better if you don't know...

... You know, it would be okay if I taught you Nen, but it can also end up deadly, you see? Are you willing to accept that compromise?", Rex told, as he held out his hand.

"Yeah sure", Illumi said without hesitation as he shook Rex's hand.

'It'll probably work out.... I mean, I can't forget that he's a Zoldyck!'

"OK!"

✹

Rex pulled both of his hands away from Illumi's back.

"Do you see this thin luminous white layer that envelops your body?", asked Rex, who had just pierced said thin layer with his finger. "That's Aura, or life energy, everyone has it, I've just opened your aura pores as explained before and also the ones in your eyes, which allow you to see this."

"It flows out like streams from all over my body...", said Illumi, who suddenly could feel a powerful sensation from his body.

"But wait a minute! Isn't it dangerous to have it flowing out of my body all the time?"

"Yes, it's your life energy that you're losing right now, you'll probably get tired if you keep letting it flow out, and when it's all drained out, you'll collapse", Rex mentioned, veiling the dead part, so Illumi wouldn't panic later, in case he couldn't manage to control his aura.

Rex clapped to turn Illumi's concentrarion back on him, as he looked very intrigued by the new knowledge. "Close your eyes and find a posture that makes you as much comfortable as possible."

Illumi walked to the bed and afterwards was lying down.

"Now imagine that your aura circulates like blood through your whole body. From the top of your head, over your right shoulder, into your left hand and down your legs..."

"Ready? Now imagine that this flow comes to a halt...

... And one more thing, if you ever stand in front of your father again, please don't tell him that I taught you Nen and other stuff... He's an assassin and all..."

Rex could only marvel as cold sweat slid down his face, Illumi had caught up on his meditation that had lasted three years in a few minutes and had quickly mastered Ten... 'Hahaha... Don't worry, there's the fast way and the slow way...'

Rex formed tons of excuses that always made him feel a little bit better, but every time he looked at Illumi again they disappeared, it was clear to Rex.

Rex evolved in the seven years he spent in the Hunter x Hunter world from a larva to a praying mantis, the difference is enormous, but Illumi is something like a... A lion cub that will evolve into something much worse than a simple lion. He is a monster.

'This talent is just inhumane...

Haha speaking of talent, Neo is just 12 years old if my memory doesn't deceive me, I wonder if he has completed the Hunter exam yet? Well, knowing him, he's long since thrown away the note and just does what he wants to do.... Well, as long as he doesn't join the Phantom Troupe, everything is fine... I shouldn't have said that.'

"What's the matter Rex, why do you look so reminiscent in old memories?", Illumi asked him.

"I have another question...", Illumi continued. "My aura looks so thin and weak.... Well, unlike yours, does that come naturally with time?"

"Haha Illumi, you probably think everything comes to you as a present, but no, I'll teach you later."

After this sentence Rex went to the sink and filled a glass with water, which he then brought back to Illumi and placed it on the floor, whereupon he broke off a pencil and put it in the glass.

"That was my pencil-"

"Come on, stop lying down and sit on the floor, I don't have all day."

Illumi obeyed Rex and his further commands and listened to his explanations, always eagerly.

"So now we have to see exactly how the water changes", after this sentence, a part of Illumi's aura enveloped the glass.

It was a bit too early to do this test, since Illumi didn't have much control over his aura at the moment, but that didn't bother Rex much, because Rex was never really the kind of person who liked to delay things, and Rex's own curiosity as to whether his daily zoo, shopping, movie theater visits had somehow influenced Illumi to be a different Nen type.

But the only thing he could notice was that the pencil was moving a little. He still plunged his finger in to check if Illumi might not be a transmutant, but this did not seem so....

'Illumi was and remains clearly a manipulator.'

"Haha Illumi, did the whole year I spent with you not move you emotionally at all? Did you really not like anything?", Rex uttered as he fell down on his knees in a comical way, almost looking like he was crying.

Illumi looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean? I liked everything... Except that one time when you stole a Gorrila from the zoo and locked it in my room."

"..."

"..."

"It was a joke between friends! If you'd had a few friends before me, you'd understand."

"Haha", Illumi gave a weak laugh. "Ha, between friends, right?"

"Yes! Between friends! what else?", Rex gave Illumi a fistbump.

"So now get out of my room, I still have to train and stuff, but never use Nen against any of your opponents. First, it's pretty dangerous and life threatening to the person, second, there's a chance the person themselves will acquire Nen."

Illumi gave a nod and closed the door.

'Between friends, huh?

...

Wait, he didn't answer my question at all.

...

Well, I don't really care about that now.'

✹

It's been another year and a half of training, information gathering, and copying techniques...

In these times, the muscles and the Nen were not the only things that Rex was striving for... No! Rex was also interested in the combat experience... Knowing each time the techniques, the thought processes, the destinations of the kicks or fists and whatever belongs in a fight.

Just six months ago Rex entered the 200th floor class, and just yesterday he defeated his 10th opponent, but it was also quite close for him, because he had already experienced three defeats because of stupid events.

With the tenth victory it means nothing else than that he can fight against a Floor Master and right now he is watching various DVD cassettes of fights in which Floor Masters have fought with, everything was observed with IN. He wanted to pick an opponent with whom he could get the biggest possible effect with his Hatsu ☆Spare Body☆ and one opponent struck him as quite good.

'Snake Monarch, it will be you!'

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Haha, we meet again! Oh man, only a comment from Imperius could brighten me up again....

Well, Rex's training regime:

Wake up at 6:00 and do muscle and flexibility exercises until 12:00

12:00: Fight in the arena and then in 12:30 study the fight and the opponent on TV.

13:00 to 14:00: Recreate the techniques of the opponent.

From 14:00 to 20:00 pure Nen training.

20:00 to 22:00 again muscle trainning.

Sleep

And this for two and a half years! Rex had put a lot of effort into this!

Well, if you have questions, ask them best in this sentence here!

...

...

...

And yes, it sounds a bit paradoxical, but the nerves in his brain will still grow and increase, and are thus an exception to the nerves in his body (I mean arms and legs etc.) because as already said in the chapter, these can not grow.

Rex Hatsu sees the nerves in Rex's body as equal to muscles, since these nerves themselves control said muscles, while the brain remains a thinking machine.