Kite X Battle

Kite observed his opponent.

Using the newly learned [Focus], he carefully studied him.

"An ordinary person." That was his conclusion.

With the battle about to begin, his opponent seemed somewhat wary, but his body was not in a fighting stance.

Apparently, he was not much of a martial artist either.

Then there was no need to waste time. He would finish him in one blow.

"Begin!"

At the referee's command,

Kite charged straight at him.

He thrust out a palm, swift and powerful. Even an elite martial artist would have been sent flying by that strike and judged KO on the spot.

Bang!

After their first exchange, Kite sprang backward and returned to his original position.

He stared at Kevin in surprise and reached out to touch his stomach.

A whistle sounded from the side. "Valid hit."

Kevin gained one point.

"Why does this guy only know how to use brute force? Though his strength really is impressive." Kevin could not help sighing. His opponent looked thin and frail, yet his physical strength and explosiveness far surpassed Kevin's without aura.

After all, he had only trained for three months. Before that, he had merely been a researcher with weak limbs.

But this was not the kind of fight he wanted.

He wanted his opponent to use all sorts of techniques and martial arts, not simply rely on brute strength.

"Throwing straight punches with brute force—who can't do that?" He had not come here just for this.

"Hey, how long are you going to stand there?" Kevin reminded him.

As soon as the words fell, Kite charged again. This time, he was no longer as careless as before.

He darted in front of Kevin at incredible speed, then abruptly sidestepped as he began his attack.

A hook came in from the left.

The blow landed, but Kite did not press his advantage. Instead, he leaped back again and put distance between himself and Kevin.

Though he had been hit, Kevin did not move an inch.

"Yes, this is how it should be."

Faced with the fact that he had been struck, Kevin smiled, thoroughly satisfied.

This was the kind of battle he wanted. Other than using aura for the most basic defense, he would not use any other techniques.

He would leave the battle to his body, letting it remember and react on its own.

After being tempered through battle after battle, even a body with poor learning ability would eventually develop instinctive conditioned reflexes.

Only a place like the Sky Arena, where he could fight skilled martial artists anytime, could satisfy Kevin's needs.

That was Biscuit's goal as well.

Through battles like these, Kevin's body would be thoroughly trained and developed, making up for his lack of physical training.

Aura defense would keep him from suffering serious injuries while still allowing him to feel pain, and it would not interfere with Kevin's Nen ability studies and training at other times.

Nothing but benefits. A win!

With the score tied one to one, Kite did not rashly attack again. Instead, he observed his opponent once more.

He was certain that he had landed that strike, and it had not been weak.

Even if a non-Nen user had endured it head-on, he should not have looked completely unharmed like this.

There was only one explanation.

He used [Focus] again.

Aura gathered in his eyes as he concentrated. He watched Kevin's naturally dispersed aura gather around his head, forming smoke that drifted upward.

"An illusion. My opponent's control over Nen is far superior to mine. This is an illusion created through aura control."

It was his first time encountering such a situation.

This was not a life-or-death battle, merely an ordinary match.

Yet his opponent had maintained this deceptive Nen ability state from beginning to end. That meant it was not directed at anyone in particular, but stemmed from his opponent's naturally cautious personality.

Since learning some techniques under Jin's guidance and awakening Nen, this was the first time he had encountered something like this.

He was currently undergoing Jin's trial. Only by finding Jin through his own power could the trial end, and Jin would accept him as his disciple.

Originally, he had planned to first earn a Hunter license, then use a Hunter's privileges to search for him.

Unexpectedly, during the Hunter Exam half a year ago, he encountered a Nen user and failed.

That made him deeply realize how unfamiliar he was with battles between Nen users.

He had once heard Jin mention the Sky Arena, so he came here intending to fight his way up to the 200th Floor and battle more Nen users there.

Coming here had indeed been the right choice. He had encountered a Nen user in his very first match, and a master at that.

Kevin had no idea that his opponent already regarded him as a Nen Ability Master.

His aura control techniques were indeed intimidating. Anyone unaware of his true situation would easily become wary of what he displayed.

Though he did not know why, his opponent's entire demeanor had changed. He was clearly completely focused on the battle before him.

Just what I wanted.

Kite took the offensive again. Through defense, evasion, and technique, he scored another point.

After several exchanges, the score had reached two to five.

Kite opened up the distance once again.

His score was five, but the problem was that he was not satisfied at all.

He frowned and looked at Kevin seriously.

His expression shifted from resentment, to dissatisfaction, to unwillingness.

Finally, he let out a breath, and his expression relaxed.

"It seems I am not qualified yet. I will continue working hard. When the time comes, I hope you will face our battle seriously."

Then, under Kevin's bewildered gaze, Kite raised his hand. "I surrender."

Interestingly, the referee beside them nodded in agreement. He did not think Kite's actions were a problem at all and directly declared Kevin the winner.

The referee walked over to Kevin and handed him the form in his hand. "You've advanced. You can go directly to the 50th Floor to compete."

"Why?" Kevin asked, confused.

This time, it was the referee's turn to be puzzled. He had seen plenty of people like Kevin.

They were strong to begin with, revealed their abilities in their first match, and then rose quickly until reaching the appropriate floor, only slowing down afterward.

The referees working on the lower floors had good judgment. At a glance, they could tell whether someone belonged at that level.

"You don't want to?"

"Of course not." Kevin shook his head.

"All right, then."

The referee gave him another form, this time for the 20th Floor. He also marked Kevin's file and processed a normal advancement.

He had seen this sort of thing before as well. Many martial artists chose to temper themselves this way.

That was Kevin's intention too.

If he merely wanted to advance, he could just use Nen ability to knock out opponents one punch at a time. Why go through all this trouble?

Meanwhile, Kite, who had lost the previous match, advanced to the 30th Floor to begin fighting.

Before long, Kevin entered his next match. Since his opponent's techniques were truly lacking, Kevin could not be bothered to waste time with him and ended the match with one punch.

He began climbing at a normal rate of advancement.

Kite, Kevin's opponent in his first match, began paying attention to him and carefully watched every one of his battles.