9 Training

After the meeting, I was trained by all the Zoldyck adults.

Maha was trained as well, and sometimes we trained together. However, I was trained harder and more was expected of me.

I was surprised to learn that I was stronger and more powerful than Maha, but accepted it nevertheless.

My training schedule wasn't regular; there wasn't exactly a schedule.

Whenever a Zoldyck was free, they would train me in something.

When they were all busy or on a job, I was trained by the butlers.

Of course, I also had education; reading, writing, history, math, science even.

(I had asked to learn all that quickly, so by the time I was ten, I had already learned high-school level stuff. When I was 15, I'd graduated and focused more on training, although I still studied and learned new things when I finished training.)

The butlers trained me in electrocution torture, poison immunity, and other forms of torture.

They didn't pay special attention to me, but simply did as ordered. I liked it better that way, since everyone here would die eventually, while Maha and I lived on.

The Zoldycks trained me in stamina, agility, rhythm echo (improving and refining it, since I was self-taught), and they also showed me how to pull out a person's heart without spilling a drop of blood (they showed me with their targets, of course).

They also trained me in nen - I knew I shouldn't grow too attached to them, since they would probably die by the time Zeno or Zigg is born, but I couldn't help but grow fond of Hanako.

(A/N: I think Zigg is Maha's child. I'm not sure, but I read somewhere he was Zeno's father. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but if you don't know who Zeno's father or grandfather is, please just think of this as something fictional I added in this fanfiction.)

Hanako was kind, kinder than all the other Zoldycks.

Hanako had once told me a story about how she had run away from home after her parents declared she would be the heir.

She ran away shortly after Kenji, her older brother, did, but she eventually returned.

Since the Zoldycks managed to find her, she negotiated with them, saying she would return if Ahma, her younger sister, became the next head instead.

I had grown to like her since then, realizing she was the Zoldyck who expressed her emotions the most (verbally, not physically. I'm not sure I ever saw her face actually change it's expression, just a twinkle in the eye every so often).

After she told her story to me, I decided to let her know I had no intentions of becoming the next head, either.

Hanako seemed to grow fonder of me after that, as well, and promised to keep it a secret and be on my side when I announced it.

Hanako mainly trained me in spying techniques. Surprisingly, she was the Zoldyck who was the best at disguising her emotions; she could lie so easily even a lie detector wouldn't notice, since her heartbeat didn't even change.

She was an amazing actress, able to switch accents easily and fake personalities; she had infiltrated several countries for information to help the Zoldyck family reputation rise, even killing international leaders who were enemies of the Zoldycks.

She had trained me so well, I could lie without a single change in my heartbeat, as well as with no physical signs of lying.

She also helped me switch personalities; she helped me change between timid, outgoing, confident, and other personalities.

I wasn't sure why all this was necessary, but Hanako insisted, saying even if I wouldn't become a spy or have to infiltrate anywhere, lying could always come in handy.

I agreed, knowing that was true.

My mother, Ahma, trained me in stamina, agility and endurance.

She was able to run several miles at the same fast pace without running out breath or panting even the slightest bit.

Not only did she have admirable endurance, she also had enviable stamina and agility.

She could run up and down the forest of Kukuroo Mountain in a few minutes, although she said it was only her morning run; she could run faster if the situation called for it.

Feeling glad that I was learning from an expert, I worked hard and diligently, pouring over Mother's advice and criticism to improve.

Soon enough, I was able to keep up with her on her morning runs, although I still had to work on my endurance and stamina.

I trained under Ahma, along with some of the other Zoldycks, to get stronger and more powerful.

Ahma helped me strengthen my stamina by having me run marathons every week, run races with some of the fastest animals we owned, and have me run long distances regularly (daily).

This also strengthened my endurance, but she also had a separate training regimen for endurance.

She had me pull large rocks, weighing several hundred tons, up the mountain every day.

Since I had barely lifted the 5th Testing Gate, which was 64 tons, Mother had given me "rocks," or boulders, to carry up the mountain every morning before going on the morning "jog," or "run."

Whenever the rocks felt slightly easier to carry, she made it heavier.

Unlike her appearance, which was light and feminine, Mother's strength rivaled Father, who was considered the strongest Zoldyck member so far.

Both could open all 7 of the Testing Gates easily, and Mother expected me to be able to lift all 7 by the time I'm done with this endurance training, carrying the boulder up every morning.

I felt grateful for how much stronger I was getting; I couldn't be weak in this world.

My father, Ankoku, also trained me regularly.

His specialty was Nen and fighting. His Nen was extremely powerful; he was a transmuter, and he could turn his Nen into fire.

He was able to create enormous flames as well as small ones. After training with fire for so long, he was able to control fire to an extent.

He was also an expert in martial arts. He preferred to kill with fire or fighting. He could certainly kill quickly and silently, as well, but he preferred to use his bare hands or burn the targets to death with flames, since he didn't get many chances to use his martial arts and deadly flames often unless he was killing a target.

Father taught me martial arts moves, like how to punch and kick efficiently, how to get out of holds, and how to change the fight in my favor if I'm losing.

He trained me to have enough skills in martial arts to be able to take on someone who dedicated their life to martial arts if neither parties used nen.

I was satisfied, since I didn't really intend to use martial arts as an attack form in the future; I would resort to it if the situation needed it, but I preferred to fight and kill using nen.

Since I'd had my first mission as an assassin when I was 4, before I'd gone to Heavens Arena, I had an opportunity to test out the most efficient and quickest way to kill the target.

I'd learned it was best simply to kill the target with needles, throwing them at a pressure point in silence. However, when that wasn't possible, I would either take the target out with a knife or simply rip the heart out.

Father was actually quite knowledgeable in fire, as well, so I asked if he could teach me. Since I was able to change the atoms into elements as well as objects, I figured learning how to use fire, like my father, shouldn't be too hard.

Father had seemed uneasy at first, doubtful as to whether I would be able to learn it when it had taken him many decades to master the ability completely. Once I had learned the basics of Father's fire abilities, I started practicing myself.

In my free time, I would practice turning atoms in the air into fire, experimenting by trying to turn the fire different colors and shapes and sizes. During training sessions with my father, I asked for tips on what I was struggling with, and he helped me out.

He also showed how to efficiently make strong, large fires without exerting too much energy. By the time I had learned how to use fire easily, and manipulate fire to a plausible and satisfactory extent, I moved on to the next stage, controlling fire from afar.

I practiced lighting my targets on fire from a distance, and only the targets. I made my goals harder and harder, until I felt like my control over my fire ability was to an extent it could be called "mastery."

Since learning the fire ability was time-consuming and required most of my mind to be taken up by it, it was easier to learn the other things the other Zoldycks taught me after I'd "graduated" from fire.

My grandmother, Yuki, decided to teach me toxins. She trained me in poison, like the doctor from my old world, and had me become immune to whichever one we were studying before we could move on to the next one.

She also taught me about gases. She taught me how to identify what kind of gas it is from afar, what it's effects are, and she also taught me how to tell chemicals by a whiff.

She said when when she was in her "prime," toxins were the hardest way to kill, since the killer had to be careful not to die as well.

"After I heard toxins were the hardest way of killing? Naturally, I learned them, and became one of the top assassins in the world to kill with toxins."

I learned with an open mind, and during Grandma Yuki's training, I became immune to hundreds of poisons, gases, and just about anything with toxins. After Grandma Yuki said she had made me immune to all the toxins she knew (which took over 5 years, with my training being divided between all the Zoldycks), she began to teach me about medicines.

It reminded me of the doctor from Earth, except her teaching style and purposes were different.

Grandma Yuki told me how in the case I ever poison an ally, or someone on my side gets exposed to toxins, I had to learn how to deal with it.

She doubted I would be the one in need, but taught me that, as well.

(The medicines took another 5 years, and I felt like I had learned something that I wouldn't really need. I still appreciated it, nevertheless, since I had learned lots of medicines that existed in this world.)

My grandfather took it upon himself to teach me Nen.

He was extremely powerful and capable compared to the other Zoldycks if I measured by Nen alone. Since he was the expert in Nen (he experimented and tried out various things), he was the one to teach me (because I needed someone who had experience making conditions with nen).

Grandfather Tsugori taught me how to make conditions, how to train the other Nen types (transmission, emission, enhancement, manipulation, and conjuring), and the basics of Nen as well as advanced techniques.

These were the first things he taught me, since he said "there are too many aspects of Nen to teach in a few years."

After I learned how to make conditions, I created my "communication" Nen. While I was training, I realized I could make the ability more open, like simply being able to understand all beings with intellect.

This way, if animals could communicate and weren't simply opening their mouths and making whatever sounds they could, I would not only be able to understand animals, I'd also be able to understand all intelligent being, as well as being able to learn other languages quickly.

After a few months, I'd made my first Nen ability with a condition.

It was called "Communication," and it allowed me to understand and communicate with all intellectual beings I encountered or heard.

The conditions were I had to be on friendly terms with the being in order to use it on any being more powerful than myself, and I had to sacrifice 5% of my nen in order to be able to use the ability freely.

(A/N: Right now, only once, does she have to sacrifice her Nen. I've gotten questions about it so I've decided to add this. She doesn't have to sacrifice 5% every time she uses it, but only once - when making the conditions and ability.)

Although it seemed to be a very small condition, I had so much nen that 5% was a LOT. All of my nen was immeasurable, so 5% was basically 50 years off an average nen-users lifetime.

My nen would be able to naturally recover eventually, since I have "time" and the nen ability wouldn't go away even if I used "time," so it wasn't a problem to make it. The longest it would take would be 10 years.

As an example, I wouldn't be able to communicate with something stronger than me, possibly Nanika, if I wasn't considered her friend.

If I was viewed with hostility from any being more powerful than myself, I wouldn't be able to understand their language (unless it's one I already know) until they viewed me favorably, as a friend or ally instead of a foe.

After I had consulted my grandpa about it, he had agreed that it seemed reasonable (after I had reassured him my nen would definitely recover on its own).

I created the ability, and spent weeks learning how to tell what animal was speaking and what gender it was by listening to the pitch, tone, and accents.

Grandpa Tsugori also taught me how to expand my en.

His en was 700 meters, although he said I had the potential to surpass even him.

After he said this, I thought, 'genetics sure can be scary. If this was how strong Maha's family was in the series, I can see how he became so powerful.' I practiced en for months, and after 3 years of continuous and regular training, I had managed to make my en 1000 meters.

I still practiced daily, even after achieving the goal, because I was aiming for being able to expand my en to a mile, which was over 1500 meters.

Grandpa Tsugori also taught me the basics of nen and how to easily use them. He had me keep Ten on at all times, which I already knew how to do. He had me maintain zetsu whenever I was training with him for a month, and had me sneak into highly guarded areas as tests.

He also had me taintain ren, trying to bring it up to 10 hours. I wasn't sure why I'd need that, but Grandpa Tsugori explained it as something along the lines of needing to have an endurance for using nen, and growing my nen.

Apparently, my nen was so large it was unnatural, but it could still grow larger infinitely as long as I trained long enough.

"If you waited long enough - say, a century - your nen could even be double the amount you have now; that is, if you practiced using up your nen every day, like maintaining ren all day. Even without ren, though, your Nen naturally grows. It's truly fascinating; I've never seen anything like it." Was grandpa Tsugori's explanation when I had asked him about it.

One summer, Grandpa Tsugori brought me to an empty mountain range in an uninhabited forest.

His training was much like Bisky's; he had me dig through mountains, except these mountains were made of actual rocks and minerals, so it was harder.

He also trained me to sleep holding a rock on a rope, like Killua and Gon had to.

After I had explained Bisky's training (without mentioning where I got the information from), I asked grandpa Tsugori if he could use some of those methods.

Flash-back:

***

I nervously stepped back, laughing hesitantly.

"Never mind... just do what you do, right?"

Grandpa Tsugori chuckled menacingly.

"Alright... if that's what you want...it'll just be a tad bit harder!"

"No!" I yelped, running away (running had become easier and faster than teleporting when I had to run away from something for a long distance).

Tsugori's figure flashed, and he appeared right behind me. He chased me for a few more seconds, and then pulled me back.

"You're the one who asked for hardcore training, Mizuki."

***

I shivered as I thought about it.

Tsugori hadn't been easy on me, barely giving me enough sleep before training me vigorously again.

By the time the "summer break" ended, I had become proficient in the nen basics, advanced techniques, using all four nen types (and creating more hatsu from them), and I had advanced my own hatsu.

Now, I could teleport long distances (between countries) in ten seconds. I just had to envision the place; even if I had never been there before, as long as I knew what it looked like and felt like (from the anime), I could go there.

However, I could only teleport to places I had been when I was teleporting people with me.

I planned to train under Tsugori until he couldn't train me anymore, or until he said I could learn the rest myself, since I could always learn new things about nen.

My great-grandma was very wise. She had a wide array of knowledge, and whenever I asked her something, she could answer.

She didn't spend as much time "training" me, but she took care of my educational studies and answered all the questions I asked her.

She taught me all the subjects I had learned in grade school in my past life, and continued teaching until I turned 20. I finished "grade school" in two years thanks to my memory, but Chie continued teaching me other stuff (past college level) until she deemed I knew enough of "school stuff."

She then taught me about nen and assassination in her free time. She told me about the untold history of the Zoldycks, and explained how magical beasts like dragons exist in the Dark Continent.

She told me about how a dragon, one that can cast illusions to make others think it was human, left the Dark Continent. She said it had hibernated, and no one knew when it would wake up. So long had passed since it had gone to sleep that most people forgot about it.

"The dragon will wake up when it senses its partner. I wasn't alive when it went to sleep, but my grandmother told me about how she had met it once. She told me the dragon had said it's partner would be born in several centuries, so it would wake up to find whoever it's partner is then. And it went away, deep in a cave underground, the entrance unknown.

"No one knows how to identify it's partner; even the dragon won't know it's partner until the partner had its fateful encounter with the dragon. My grandmother said the dragon would wake up when it's partner is in the world, and the dragon will search for her, or him.

"It's unknown how the dragon can tell if the person is their partner... the tale of the dragon is shrouded in mystery, Mizuki, but legend has it - even my grandmother couldn't confirm if this was true or not - that if the dragon met you, and took a liking to you, he would answer any question and grant a wish if he felt like it.

"The dragon is not obligated to do anything, for it used to be one of the strongest creatures in the Dark Continent, but if it finds it's partner, it would be friendly to them."

After that, I had grown curious of the dragon. I imagined how it would look, and decided that if it awakened anytime soon, I would ask it about the Dark Continent, and if it knew why I was born here.

I might even become acquaintances with its partner - if I was lucky.

Great-grandmother Chie told me about objects with powers in them. She told me how there was a book in a forgotten mountain, sealed deep inside with other treasures, that stored information.

She told me how she had always longed for it, and even found where the entrance to the mountain was, but then she married Zane and decided to settle down and focus on Zane's family job.

After she told me about that, I decided I would find that book and store Chie's large amount of knowledge in it, and help her achieve her dream as well as giving myself access to her wisdom even after she passes on.

Chie taught me a lot, and gave me many ideas for the adventures I would go on before the next generation of Zoldycks is born.

My great-grandfather, Zane (since it takes too long to call Chie and Zane great-grand-something in my head), was a master of weaponry.

Any weapon I could think of, he could use amazingly well.

He had incredible aim with all sorts of guns; snipers, shotguns, pistols, even canons - he could use all of them like a pro.

"I'm getting old, but I'm still good enough to pass my teachings on to this generation. Mizuki, you and Maha will learn weaponry from the best."

Zane had told me during the first training session.

Zane's training was rough, but effective.

He lectured me in the weapon we were learning, telling me how it was used, what it was made of, how it worked, and what it was used for.

After giving me a chance to experiment with it, he attacked me with it.

He only used these with the he basic weapons, like knives, pipes, and regular objects that could be used as weapons like chairs, bats, even forks, and he used them all extremely effectively.

I remember watching a martial arts anime, with a weapons master who was able to use a wooden spoon to tear a bunch of her opponents' clothes.

Zane reminded me of her, except he learned and used his techniques and skills to kill and maim.

After several months (I had spent the first two months on basic weaponry, since there were a lot of basic weapons out there that Zane insisted I learn), I had knowledge on just about any weapon that could be used to kill or severely injure anyone or anything.

Zane had spent a month simply teaching me about weapons; he taught me the basics of how they worked, and showed me his collection (which consisted of hundreds of weapons of all shapes and sizes).

After about 4 months, Zane started training me in actually using the weapons expertly.

He taught me how to aim well, in both shooting and throwing.

He taught me in throwing knives, shooting long and short distances, and how to get the target on point.

I was really good at throwing knives and other sharp objects; although the weapons were considerably heavier than needles, my experience with throwing needles did help my aim in throwing weapons.

I had to practice shooting a lot with Zane; it seemed like I was good in everything else in weaponry...except shooting.

After several months of practice, I had finally become better at shooting - I could at least hit the target in the area I wanted - but I couldn't get it in specific spots, like I did with needles and pressure points.

I didn't really pursue shooting further, since my nen doesn't really suit it, and I find it boring; fighting from far away is for someone who doesn't like combat battles. I like combat battles; I enjoyed learning from them, and getting the opportunity to mercilessly test out my new abilities and knowledge without having to be careful.

I already knew how to handle some weapons, from my previous life, and with Zane's constant corrections and both of our perfectionism, I mastered the weapons "class" in three years. I still practiced, sparring with Zane every week.

***

After training with the Zoldycks, and having to remind myself not to grow too attached to them, since they would eventually die, I asked for another meeting.

I was already 22, and had learned so much I wasn't sure if I would ever learn so much again.

In my mind, I knew I would, on adventures, other talented nen users and whatnot, but currently it was hard to imagine.

Currently, I was in the same meeting room as 15 years ago, when I had first begun my training.

I had progressed significantly, and I felt confident in my abilities.

I could use the hatsu from the previous floor master, and although I asked for a mock battle with some other floor masters, their abilities weren't as intriguing, so I dropped them.

I had several hatsu that weren't mine, but ones I'd copied; the wind element, fire element which my father had inspired, teleportation from the Floor Master, storing objects in a void I'd created - it was sort of like a black hole, with unlimited space, but I could preserve things in there and take them out exactly the same as when I'd put them in - and telekinesis, which I'd developed from the emitter category.

In this meeting, I would tell the Zoldycks I would be leaving for adventures, and I would also tell them I wouldn't become the next head of the Zoldycks; Maha was more responsible, since I wouldn't take on any of the duties the head needs to do.

Maha was a lovely child, full of curiosity and talent and potential. Although it seemed I was stronger than him, I still couldn't help but think of him as very powerful.

I put in effort to train him, and we developed a nice sibling relationship.

We didn't bicker much, although Maha did feel competitive sometimes, which brought out my competitive side, and I'd progress much farther than usual when Maha steadily caught up to me, creating another gap in our power.

I looked forward to exploring, but I would miss Maha. I had genuinely grown to care for him; he had become the sibling I never had, and knowing I was allowed to love him made me not hold back.

I was protective of Maha, but knew he was powerful and thus did my best not to be overprotective.

I would miss Maha when I went off on my adventures, but I would make sure to come back when I find the book Chie had told me about; I still wanted to store her knowledge for the future.

My father cleared his throat, bringing me back to the present.

"This meeting is held because Mizuki asked for it, saying she had something important to say. Shall we commence?"

All the Zoldycks, including me and Maha, looked up, our attention on father.

"Begin." We all said in unison, focusing.

...

Author's note:

This took a while... I have school and a break next week, so please don't expect too much from me. I'll try my best to post daily, and I might post some next week, but don't get your hopes up. Since I have school, my posting will start to become more irregular.

I'm not going to drop this, but my posting schedule won't be the same.

I can't guarantee daily posts, but I'll try to get something out when I can.

I will post every few days or sometimes weeks if I have too much school, so it won't take 10 months just to get a short chapter, don't worry.

I'm having the week off next week, so I'm on vacation. I might post a chapter, but I'll mostly be resting... thanks so much for understanding!!!