33 The Canyon

__________ POV Ashton__________

As soon as I reached the outside I started feeling a bit bad about what I had done. Not that I minded killing off the Ant King.

But now I was in a hole I couldn't even see the sky properly from. It was extremely deep, looking at a side of the crater made me think I was trying to stare at a mountain in the distance.

The temperature is still extremely high in my current area. To the point where I'd catch on fire if I didn't use Nen to protect myself.

And the size of this crater is enormous. The explosion was horrendous, the flames and impact that expanded from its core, tore apart the surroundings and completely changed the landscape.

This makes the Nuke I devised for Netero look like a child's toy. Although, the size requirement was hindering me quite a bit.

Still, I always felt it's a shame to ruin nature on such large scales. Again, hypocritical, especially since I build Nukes. But hey, I'm human, hypocrisy is accepted and expected in this twisted world...

Oh well, regardless of that. Now I have a few things to take care of and quite a lot of mysteries to solve.

First thing's first. Why did those eyes and symbols never show up in the past? Is Nen truly scary to them, or does it just protect me from them?

I didn't realise that my perfect escape from the 'Decadence Of Man' would almost get me killed in a completely separate reality from this one...

From my past excursions in the newly titled 'Abyss' I could never feel them. My teacher, the one that created this Hatsu in the first place, never mentioned anything about the eyes either.

But it seems that they prey on weak individuals. They sensed that my aura was exhausted when I entered their realm and they pounced on me like hungry wolves.

I was forced to sacrifice vitality just to get them off my back. I can't help but feel indignant. It was completely unfair.

The way those whispers multiplied more and more in my mind. It was getting hard to even distinguish my own thoughts from them.

I thankfully managed to calm down and act quickly. They all disappeared as soon as I gained more Nen.

This still left me with quite a few questions unanswered. I don't even know where to begin. But the eyes won't show themselves unless I'm in a weakened state.

And I don't plan on going back into that place whilst in a weakened state ever again. I already paid a steep price for the first time, there's no need for a second.

Still, the fact that I know so little about the place that almost killed me is beyond infuriating. The King is but an afterthought now.

I don't even care whether or not he has any remains...Ok, maybe I do care about that. I'll look for it soon.

But there's still something else I need to check out first.

That experience has aged me quite a bit. I'll have to test how my regeneration has been affected by this sudden loss of vitality. It shouldn't be completely gone.

At least I don't think so, all of my wounds healed when I actively used my vitality.

After thinking around for a bit, I proceeded to open my void and take out a small hand mirror. I could finally see my reflection. And I don't like this at all.

Long unkempt hair, large annoying beard. My cheekbones seemed to be a bit more pronounced. So does my jawline.

I guess I did develop a bit more in muscle mass too. Not that it made me much stronger.

My nails quickly turned into claws as I started cutting away at my hair and beard. I am by no means a barber, but a bad hairstyle is still better than this.

I don't get why Netero let his beard grow in preparation for his fight either. Did it make him feel older or something?

Regardless, a trimmed beard and shorter hair made me feel less like a homeless person in a fancy suit. That, by the way, is quite tight now.

Now that I look presentable, time for my regeneration test.

I simply used my claw to slice up one of my fingers. Not a deep cut. It would usually close up instantly for me. But now it's only slowly healing.

It took a baffling 24 seconds for a small cut to heal. It wasn't even a deep one. It seems that I can't take as much damage as before.

Or maybe I can take even more? My Nen did basically double in quantity. I could probably block a hit from the king if I focused all of that on defence... Maybe...

Oh well, time to go and look for any remains of the Ant King. It's no use even bothering to look for anything of Little Pouf and Youpi.

And I also don't think I'll find much. So I'll just make my new puppet do it. Well, she's a puppet for now, but she will eventually develop a personality.

It will take a while though. Her mind was broken very recently. But she will recover eventually, it's not like Pitou is a regular human.

Although any memories of her previous life are wiped out completely. Something that I don't really mind. I will have to cram Nen theory back into her mind. Right now she's only using it on instinct.

I sent Pitou to look for anything other than scorched earth. It should be a good enough description.

Although, I highly doubt she'll even find his ashes.

It's about time I go back to my laboratory... Oh, the Palace. I think this explosion completely wiped out the palace. Even if it was 40 kilometres away from my location when the explosion went off.

This is quite sad, not for me, but for the people that got caught up in it. Oh well, their sacrifices will be remembered.

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