Chapter 19: The way to the top! Part 4

-10 minutes before the start of Enma's fight-

'I'm ready. In the last 2 months I trained as much as possible. Strength, speed, Nen… I'm in my top condition.

If I fail today, I can say goodbye to the merchant's item. I have to win.'

When a fighter reached 10 wins in the 200th floor, he would have the right to challenge one of the 21 floor masters.

Enma chose Guldo.

Guldo was a short and fat man with a bald head full of horns and spikes.

He noticeably missed few teeth and had rather large ears and a small nose.

His outfit was composed by a purple/blue piece with gold beads embedded in to it, and pants of the same color.

With the ever present toothless grin he gave, Guldo looked like the typical scum of society you would find smoking crack in a dark alley.

Enma selected him for a few reasons, but mainly because his ability.

It looked like a sort of teleportation.

'I can manage his teleportation. I have spider-sense and, if he uses 'In', I have my polished 'En' in the last 2 months.

From all of Guldo's fights that I've seen, other than the teleportation Hatsu, he didn't display any other remarkable quality.

He doesn't hit hard, he is not a good martial artist or a fighter in general.

Overall, I have all the premises to put up a good fight.'

On the other side of the ring, Guldo also stared his opponent down.

'This one is dangerous… Pfff! Hehehe

Why does it matters? In front of my Hatsu, nobody can win!!'

…

"Ready?"

At the nod of both fighters…

"Fight!"

<One of the most anticipated fight of the summer is starting! Finally someone is challenging the almost 2 years long unbridled reign of Guldo.

..!

What!!??

Hit!!!

Guldo has just hit Enma right in the face with his extraordinary teleportation speed!>

Bam!

"Clean hit! 1 point Guldo!"

'What the hell was that? The spider-sense tingling came only when his fist was already on my face!

It wasn't because of 'In', he didn't use it'

Swoosh!

Bam!

"Clean hit! 1 point Guldo."

After the first hit, Enma tried to surprise his opponent with his sword, but found his face pummeled once again.

'Shit! Again! What sort of teleportation is this?'

<Nobody has ever been able to stop Guldo's teleportation before. Is Enma bound to fail as well?>

'En! Ken!'

Enma decided to activate En, as well as Ken for protection.

He went on the offensive.

He arrived in front of Guldo, and prepared to hit him with an horizontal slash.

'If I want to take him on, I need to predict the point where he is going to appear.

Both of the times he went for the face…'

Before the slash could connect with his opponent, Enma directed a good chunk of his aura to his face, using Ryu.

Bam!

Guldo teleported, and hit Enma's stomach with his spiky head.

"…Gah!"

"Critical hit! 2 points Guldo."

'That piece of shit used Ko in his last attack. How could he be so sure that I was going to direct so much aura to the head?

He's good.

I'll try this, then.'

This time, when Enma went for the attack, he released his full aura in to Ken, which gave him a thick layer of protection all over his body.

No matter where Guldo was going to hit, he wouldn't get any points.

Guldo disappeared and…

…teleported far away.

'…???

Either his reaction speed is faster than me using Nen, or he is predicting what I am going to do.

I hope it's the first, the second would be too scary to believe.

I can't keep spamming maxed Ken, it uses too much aura.'

…

-Few seconds after head butting Enma - with Guldo-

Guldo was thinking.

'That bastard is a smart rat, protecting his face! He still thinks I'm teleporting! HEheheh it's so fun.'

Guldo inspired a mouthful of air and activated his Hatsu.

Immediately, time stopped.

'I need to end this fast. Soon I'll start being out of breath after going in apnea too many times.

What?? He released a full powered Ken? Shit! My Nen is not potent enough when I use my Hatsu!

I can't overpower his defenses. Tsk! Lets retreat.'

Guldo was a specialist.

His Hatsu, 'Time is my bitch', literally stopped time for whatever or whoever entered his En, and for as long as he could keep his breath.

His Hatsu was already overpowered, so he didn't waste his time training useless martial arts, but decided to use all his time to strengthen his 'En', and to improve his apnea skill.

He could now keep his breath for 2 minutes straight while running around, and his En extended for an incredible 150 meters, enveloping all the spectators and the cameras.

He wasn't a martial artist, and surely didn't have the powerful reaction speed that Enma though he had.

He would just stop time, reach his opponent, and strike using just enough Nen to overcome his opponent's Ken/Ten.

He could naturally adjust his Nen output in real time, as his opponent was still.

No need for faulty predictions.

Guldo would then resume the time just before the hit landed.

He made sure that his foe didn't have time to dodge.

Overall, it really looked like teleportation.

'Now! He relaxed his Nen!'

Haaaah!

He inspired.

Fuuuu!

And exhaled

Bam!

"Clean hit!!"

Guldo kept going at it in the same way, when the teen dropped Ken, he would stop time, and attack.

…

'This time I've seen it!!!

He was standing still, with arms relaxed.

He teleported, and magically his punch already connected.

That would mean that his arm moved faster than his teleportation speed.

Impossible! There is something else going on.

Not even Netero's punch was that fast!

Fuck! That fatso breath smells like shit!

Wait! He is breathing rather heavily! Is his Hatsu that taxing? Maybe I should expend some of my Nen, keeping a full powered Ken just to keep him jumping around.

He'll tire.

The question is, who will tire faster?'

…

'…! Again! So much Nen wasted on defense, is this Enma an idiot? He will exhaust his Nen so much faster doing so. HAhahah'

Guldo exited his time control a good 10 meters away from Enma.

What he didn't expect, however, was for the teen to immediately go on the offensive, while keeping his Ken at maximum power.

That would be a suicide tactic against anyone else.

'Shit! I'm almost out of breath, this is the 30th time I'm going in apnea!'

Once again he reappeared at a distance.

His apnea time had already dropped from 2 minutes to few seconds.

'I only need one more point. I just have to wait for an opportunity.'

A few 'jumps' later and Guldo was practically wheezing.

Enma didn't give him a chance to regain his bearings at all, and was constantly on his tail.

'Come on, fat bastard, I know you are at your limit.

I guess that, to teleport, he need to either hold his breath or to expend an insane amount of stamina.

He is always breathing heavier after teleporting.'

…

Guldo couldn't use Time stop to make distance, he didn't have enough oxygen in his body to hold his breath that long anymore.

For that reason, he had to keep stopping time for a fractions of a second, in order to adjust his position so to not being hit.

Enma's attacks where too ferocious.

Also, escaping afar would have surely shortened his air retention time even more.

Eventually, he got too slow to stop time at the right moment, and a massive punch hit him in the head.

"Critical hit! 2 points Enma!"

<Wooaaa! Is this the start of Enma's comeback??>

Enma didn't stop, and started showering the man with kicks and punches.

After the first hit, Guldo had surprisingly maintained his cool, and kept using his ability to evade the following strikes.

Unfortunately, it was a useless effort as, not long later, Enma connected another punch.

This one was targeted at Guldo's solar plexus.

It was over.

The pain and lack of oxygen didn't let the man hold his breath anymore.

An overbearing roundhouse kick to his temple, and the fight finished with an exemplary KO.

<I can't believe it! Am I dreaming? Enma did it! He completed his comeback! The dark horse is now one of the 21 best fighters in the entire arena!!! What a spectacular finish!

In less than 6 month he completed his climb to the very top!>

…

'I did it! How long as it been since I have transmigrated here?

I can't even recognize myself anymore…

Enough sob stuff.

It's time to dream big with the Merchant.'

Enma was holding the "Bleach item Roulette pass" in his hands.

'Don't let me down please…

Almost 5 whole months without redeeming a single item.

I have wasted more than a month worth of items as I wasn't able to complete the task of becoming a floor master in the time limit.'

…

As a floor master, Enma got Guldo's personal floor, floor 237.

The level of opulence of the place was worth the richest people in the world.

A Gym, sauna, swimming pool, theatre, a personal chef…

The bedroom alone was as big as a tennis court.

'I can get use to it… I deserve a little spoiling after all this time...'

…

"Young master! I was so sad that you didn't buy anything for so long! Please, please, come closer! Let me have a good look at you…"

"Merchant, that is all your fault! That task was too much!"

"HEhe, the best items have the highest prices! Now I wonder if you want to use that item…"

"Of course! I want to use it as soon as possible!"

"Then rip it…"

The merchant dark eyes started glowing green with excitement.

Enma ripped the Bleach pass, and, suddenly, the 3 boxes on the Booth's counter started spinning and glowing.

"Yes! This is an authentic pass. I guess we can proceed."

Enma rolled his eyes at the comment.

The tree boxes opened, revealing the riches inside.

First item.

[Moe Shishigawara' Fullbring: Jackpot Knuckle (Nen version)

(A.N. Moe's Fullbring is focused through a brass knuckle on his right hand. The knuckle has a pattern of three sevens in a row. By having anything come into contact with it, he is able to manipulate the probability of that and hit a jackpot. For example, by punching a tree, he hits the jackpot of breaking it in half, despite Ikkaku noting that his punches are so weak that he should not be able to snap a wooden sword with them.

Diminishing Returns: The more times Moe uses his Fullbring on the same target, the lower his chance of hitting the jackpot becomes)

Price:

-Win a jackpot 7 times at the slot machines.

-Get a '6' 7 times in a row throwing a dice.

-Find 77 four leaf clover.

Time limit:

-A week.]

'…!!?

The first item is so good!

This ability is incredible… Nen version? I wonder if it will have restrictions... Still, an amazing ability.'

Second item.

[Quincy medallion.

Using this medallion, the user can stole the Hatsu of another person.

The target has to be using his Hatsu for the user to stole it. (one time use)

Price:

-Stole from a famous thieve without being discovered.

Time limit:

-None.]

'No way! This too??? Finally my luck is spinning!'

Third item.

[Yamamoto Genryusai's mastery of martial arts.

Price:

-Impress Netero.

Time limit:

-1 month.]

Enma's eyes were almost popping out of their sockets.

'How the hell am I supposed to choose? Every single one of them is worth the 5 months wait.

I can't choose wrongly this time.

The tasks are also extremely permissive and overall easy to accomplish.'

"Merchant! Let me give you a kiss!"

"Ok!"

"…I was joking.. Not even a mother would kiss that face.

Nonetheless I love you!"

"Thank you master!!"

The Merchant was euphoric listening to the praises of his master.

"You can choose master!"

After a few minutes of deep thinking, Enma reached a decision.

"I choose number 1!"