Chapter 36: Train X And X Train

The next day after that moment of embarrassment, Bisky trained us to make plans in a fight and strategize our way to winning. Combining with various Nen techniques she taught us, we started gathering monster cards that are living in the canyon area.

It's really hard to catch them before, but now that we started to get used to their sequences of actions, we can make a plan to catch them.

This lasted for two days and we gather many monster cards that we could really sell for more money. I suddenly remembered my childhood. Where I was being sold at an auction so my father can get money. I didn't think of that incident further, because I finally knew my father's reasons.

To go through that just to try to save me, but ended up in a house arrest for his attempt to steal me from the Nostrade. He couldn't help it. We don't have much money, and his job is sometimes corrupted.

But now that I'm a Hunter, I'm sure that we'll have full access to our basic needs. When I finally knew how to deal with my arm, I'll come back to him and we can live a happy life.

After those days of hunting, Bisky started to train us with our defenses. She taught us one of the basic Nen techniques, Ko, which will help us in close combat.

She called Gon to try Ko with her. She said that in order to defend yourself from Ko, you must use Ko as well, all over your body. This will result in the combined technique of Ten and Ren, called Ken.

She let Gon used his Ken to defend himself from Bisky's attack. They went slow at first, but the tension is high as I watched. You won't know what will happen to Gon at this point, and that really worried me.

Gon was smashed to the hills after he received the impact of his opponent's fist. I quickly reacted and went on his side. Bisky said that her fist was just the power of Ko alone, and if Gon didn't use his Ken, his might be smashed.

I have to admit that that was a scary first attempt. Imagine if you're just an ordinary person facing another person who trained Nen. It might be dangerous. I didn't notice that since I started my Nen training because everyone around me knows how to use it.

She reminded us to sustain Ken for at least 30 minutes to have a great chance in battle. All three of us trained our Ken, and Gon already made it to the limit.

I trained for a couple of hours but still couldn't reach Bisky's limit.

After the two boys, while I'm still behind, managed to sustain their Ken, she taught them how to use Ken in proper combat.

She explained that both of their attack and defense are in 50, and in order to attack, they must increase their fist to 70 and the rest of their body to 30 and they can change it depends on the situation, thus calling this Ryu. As I watched them starting to fight slowly with Ken, I already finished maintaining mine in more than thirty minutes.

"You've done a good job keeping up," Bisky told me as I watched the two boys in combat and it seems like every hour, it gets faster.

While watching them, I felt sad inside me.

Gon and Killua in combat... together...

When I looked at the fighting, having training and fun together, I felt like I'm just a background to them. Like I'm just a lizard that's sticking around them, with no purpose. I know they told me that I'm their friend, but...

Were they really seeing me as their friend?

"Bisky?" I called our trainer's name, still didn't remove my eyes from them. My mind goes blank and all that I was thinking right now was... how stupid of me to follow them in this game.

I should've gone the other way. If I should, then they don't have to worry about me.

"Yes?" Bisky answered my call, doing the same thing as me.

"Gon and Killua are very talented and very fast learners. It's obvious by now. So..." I said, realizing how far I am from them. How high they are while I'm just at the bottom.

"Please be honest. I'm not as good as them, am I?"

After my question, Bisky didn't say another word for a second, but I didn't turn around to see her face. I'm just staring at the training.

"Yes." That's what I heard from her and that's unsurprising. I knew that I'm so far behind them. They maintained their Ken for thirty minutes in just a simple lecture, while I'm struggling for hours to get to that goal.

"But that doesn't mean you can't handle things like these. And based on my observation, you're carrying a burden in your arm, right?" She said that made me surprise. She could tell that I have a cursed arm just by watching me every time. Although that's kinda creepy. "I know that you're being insecure around them. If you don't have that arm, you're just an ordinary human... that's what you're thinking."

"But you, training Nen and keeping up with it slowly, is not a normal person could do."

I turned around to see her, as she gave me a genuine smile.

"Even though you're not the same level as them, which were really dangerous ones, you can still keep up in training. Slowly but surely."

I smiled at what she said and started to feel good about myself. But that still didn't remove the fact that I'm just in their way. For now, I have to focus both on training and deal with my arm.

"So... since you already maintained Ken for thirty minutes..." Bisky said and faced me. "Why don't we have combat?"

After hearing that, I properly stood up and got all cheered up.

"Yes, ma'am!"

The Ken training lasted for two weeks and Gon and Killua got faster and faster in combat. I also finished my Ken training and I was a lot faster in combat than before, but compared to my two friends, it was just a simple speed.

"It appears you're all ready for the final stage," Bisky announced to all of us, which made us confused.

"The final stage?" We all said at the same time. I don't know, but that's too fast for long-term training. I thought it would one to two months since this was as hard as my training with Master Java.

"Yes, you'll begin to train in your individual categories." She said as she raised his index finger in the air. That triggered me to use my Gyo and saw a number three made of Nen floating on top of her finger.

"Number 3!" We all said at the same time.

"Correct. A draw." She spoke and went back on the topic earlier. "You're free to train solely in your own category," Bisky explained to all of us and we started training.

We started in the Enhancer category. The level one of the training was smashing rocks. We must smash a thousand rocks in a day to pass the level using a single rock enhanced by our Nen.

This lasted for hours and my stone already crumbles apart which gave me a short shock. I was used to smashing the rocks that I didn't get myself ready for my rock to break. Gon and Killua's rocks still strong and they keep smashing rocks.

"You did well catching up." Bisky praised me in her simple terms.

"Thank you very much," I replied as I couldn't believe I can last for many hours smashing rocks.

After a minute, Gon's rock crumbles apart, having the same reaction as mine, and so did Killua later on.

Bisky complimented Killua for having the longest surviving rock among us and tested our Gyo abilities again by raising her finger.

Like the other time, we ended up in a draw that both Gon and Killua didn't like since they wanted among them to win.

"I know! Let's handle this with rock-paper-scissors! And who loses will do a thousand push-ups!" Gon said and we all played the game. Since I'm not that really bad in the game, I'm safe in doing the push-ups, but I still lost against Gon. Instead, Killua was the one ending up doing the push-ups. I think I'm lucky this day, I guess.

Bisky told us the legend behind the rock-paper-scissors beginning in martial arts. I couldn't believe that that simple game came from deadly combat.

Killua, again, was being punished for insulting Bisky and I watched him flew to the air by her punch.

"That's it!" Gon shouted out of the blue as we all looked at him at the same time.

I don't know what he was shouting about but it looks like he finally got an idea of what he will do in the future.

***

NARRATION

The cold breeze blew the dust up the air and turned into a dirty smoke. This was expected from a ghost town. Since there are no more people living in the village, it became abandoned and structures here became rotten and dusty.

But to Archi, this wasn't a big deal. He's been tasked to go to multiple places for his master's job, and this is no different from his previous travels.

The road towards the Philene Village is not an easy task, but after long days of searching for the place, they finally made it.

"Shall we go?" Archi asked in a serious manner as he felt something not really good inside the town.

Michael was just staring at the abandoned houses, not moving a single foot away from his position. It was actually his first time going to the Philene Village, and he didn't expect the place would be like this.

"Y-Yes!" Michael went back into reality and they both started walking into the ghost town.

As they walked, passing the ruined establishments beside the road, Archi can feel something's wrong in the surroundings. He used his En to detect whoever will approach them, but for now, he couldn't detect anyone.

"Do you know which house?" Archi asked the old man for the place they were looking for. He was just told that Michael was looking for his wife who went into hiding. The man just assumed that she went to Philene Village since this was her home.

"I'm not entirely sure... but she once told me about a special tree she always goes to hang out when she was a kid. Maybe her home was nearby that tree." Michael said as he rested his chin in his fingers.

Archi nodded and they both started to walk towards the deduced home. They were about to turn into the intersection towards the other end of the village when the boy suddenly detected something in the range of his En.

"Someone's here." He whispered and stopped walking. Michael, feeling a mix of anxiety and fear, turned around on the surroundings to see who he was talking about. But since he doesn't have a Nen, he couldn't see anyone.

Then, all of a sudden, a small knife attempted to strike the old man behind. But Archi was faster and pulled him down into the ground before it hit him in the head.

"Not bad, kid." Someone spoke in the dark corner of the intersection, with his deep and scary voice like that of a reaper.

Archi fought many bandits and low criminals in his past missions that weren't easy to defeat, but when he felt the enemy's dark Aura, filled with so many sins, he couldn't help but have fear.

They both looked at the direction of the voice and waited for the unknown man to show up.

Then, slow footsteps marched towards them. When he finally revealed his true identity, they were shocked at his unexpected appearance.

Michael stared at the very big built the man had, with countless rotten and old accessories wrapped around his body, covering some of his muscles. He thought that those things might come from anyone.

But that wasn't at all. As he saw the man's purple and wrinkled arms, filled with red eyes looking at them, which wrapped all of his hands up to his face, he knew he found that features familiar.

He can still remember her daughter's cursed arm, filled with wrinkled and disgusting features, like that of a monster.

"You..." Michael heard Archi spoke, as he felt his hand clutched into fists and started to tremble not in fear, but in rage.

He peeked at the boy's face and he couldn't believe what he saw.

His green eyes were glaring fiercely like emeralds and his eyebrows almost met in the middle. His innocence turned into madness.

The trauma came back to him again.