Suspicion

While some may have objected to my willingness to essentially throw away all use of my aura for 10 years, I didn't care as much. Sure, Nen is probably the most important factor for success that I have access to in this life, but even if I have incredible talent, I will always be held back if I don't have enough raw aura reserves. This way, I could ensure I would have enough aura to create some of the abilities I had planned for the future with minimal difficulty.

I was also okay with doing this now because I am still a child. It's not like I will be engaging in Nen combat before the age of 11, which is when my aura will return. This also forces me to focus solely on my upcoming assassin training without having any crutches to rely on. I will hone my body as much as possible in the coming years and then focus on reaching the pinnacle of Nen afterward.

With my talent, I wasn't worried in the slightest. Plus, starting training with Nen at 11 is still incredibly young, anyway. It's not like I will be behind any geniuses who start training as soon as they can walk. This may be a fictional world, but it's not like cultivation novels where you can start being fed elixirs and magical herbs right out of the womb. 

No, I would much rather focus entirely on my physical training for now and work with Nen later, especially since I am in the same family as some of the most powerful Nen users on the planet. Well, human Nen users, at least. In my mind, my physical state was the most pressing issue. Plus, developing my pain tolerance and assassination and battle skills was just as important as my Nen.

While I was having my deep inner monologue, the guards surged into my room. The man who had shattered the door moved to my side and crouched down, placing a hand on my back. Probably an Enhancer with that physical strength and perhaps a supportive healing ability, I mused as the man took his hand off my back, looking at the others who had fanned out in a circle around me. 

"Did you see anything or anyone strange in here, Sir?" the man asked.

I shook my head, getting some raised eyebrows since most of the servants weren't even sure if I could speak or even understand complex sentences. The guards ushered me out of the room and continued to stand guard around me as they sent teams to sweep the house. However, I saw some of the guards eyeing me with suspicion.

I saw some gather around with the male Enhancer and mutter something quietly. After a lot of head shaking, subtle gestures, and shrugs the man walked over and crouched beside me. He held his hand up with one finger raised, most likely evoking some sort of Nen to test if I could see it.

"Can you see anything above or around my hand, Sir?" he asked, flexing his fingers.

I simply tilted my head, shrugged, and shook my head no. He continued to eye me for a moment, but I met his gaze with a blank stare of my own, nodded his head, and rose to his feet.

"Keep looking for any intruders, and bring out the guard dogs. See if they can catch any scents," he said, striding off.

I remained silent as Milluki and Illumi were both brought out into the same area as me, bringing even more guards with them. Illumi silently paced around, inspecting both Milluki and me. I also took an interest in my twin brother, but only because the differences between us were immediately apparent. He still resembled a fairly typical baby, except for his excessive amount of fat.

He crawled around and occasionally attempted to walk but with little success. There was a spark of intelligence in his eyes, but it had yet to mature and develop in any meaningful way. I turned away from Milluki and nearly jumped when I found Illumi standing right behind me. He loomed over me, already tall for his age, and looked down with his emotionless black eyes.

We stood like that for a while before he reached out and poked both my cheeks wordlessly. Then he turned and strode over to a high-backed seat that looked remarkably uncomfortable and sat down. I just plopped down where I was, finding no reason to venture over to a seat that would be too big for me anyway.

Soon, after a sweep of the whole estate, we were guided back to our rooms. Except now, two guards remained with us at all times for the next few days until the rest of the family returned. 

~ POV 3rd ~

"A break-in? Who would be foolish enough to attempt a break-in?" Kikyo asked, shattering the glass she held in her hands and grinding it down into sparkling dust.

"Perhaps we were the targets of the break-in, but we weren't here at the time," Silva commented, already having searched the premises himself to be certain there were no unpleasant surprises.

"They could have been after the children, striking when our defenses were at their lowest," Zeno said.

That thought perturbed all those present. The only one to raise a hand in objection was a heavily wrinkled old man, even older than Zeno. The bald old man looked carefully at every other member of the family, who all waited silently for him. After all, it was rare that the oldest living member of the family would speak up at all. 

"It could have been the boy's aura they sensed," Maha said.

"The guards report that they tested him, and he had no reaction," Kikyo challenged.

Maha just shrugged his withered shoulder while Zeno spoke up, "It doesn't hurt to test the boy one more time. After all, if he does have access to aura at his age, it is best that he doesn't experiment on his own."

As they spoke, a large monitor displayed the interior of Yopi's room. There, the young boy could be seen attempting to replicate the Rythm Echo that Kikyo had previously attempted to teach him. After images emerged as he moved, he either tripped or restarted for one reason or another each time. 

After a while, the discussion ended, and Kikyo ventured down into Yopi's room while Silva, Zeno, and Maha carefully observed the monitor. They watched as Kikyo entered and immediately flicked a tennis ball at Yopi, who had his back turned. Just as the ball was about to strike, he barely leaned out of the way of the projectile.

Silva nodded unconsciously in approval at the dodge; however sloppily it may have been, it was executed. Kikyo, on the other hand, clapped and moved closer to Yopi, who turned away from his practice and expectantly watched her approach. 

"First things first, Dear. Where is the ball I just tossed at you?" she asked.

Yopi turned in a fluid motion to point at the location of the fallen ball. As he turned, Kikyo utilized Ko, concentrating her entire aura into her hand, which she held up beside her. The sudden surge of aura lit the room like a spotlight and sent off invisible waves of force that only Nen users could see and feel. Yopi, who remained oblivious to this, grabbed the ball and turned.

He paused, looking at Kikyo's upraised hand for a moment before tossing the ball into her open hand...or at least he tried to. The ball missed, bounced off the wall behind Kikyo, and rolled back toward Yopi's feet. The young boy broke out into a cold sweat as Kikyo lowered her hand, but her aura didn't fade. Suffocating pressure seemed to fill the room as she approached and picked up the ball.

"Why don't you try that again, Dear?" she asked.

While she forced Yopi to toss the ball over and over again, accepting nothing less than pin-point accuracy, Zeno shook his head. 

"It should be obvious from the boy's reaction that he isn't aware of aura yet. Either that or he is an incredible actor." 

"No, it would be jumping to unfounded conclusions that the boy can see aura. From now on, we should increase the defenses around the mountain and remain vigilant." Silva said, standing.

He and Zeno moved out of the observation room, but Maha remained. The older man continued to gaze at the screen that displayed Yopi and Kikyo. His eyes remained fixed on the boy's figure, but his expression gave none of his inner thoughts away.