Friends X Promise

"Today's winner is—Immovable as a Mountain, Keeeviiin!"

"Kevin! Kevin!"

"Whooo!"

The stands erupted with cheers.

"Congratulations on advancing to the 150th Floor," the referee beside him said with a smile.

Kevin returned a polite smile, dusted himself off, and walked out of the arena.

In the stands.

Kite silently pulled his hat lower and made his way through the noisy crowd.

Soon, he spotted Kevin in the corridor outside.

Kevin had already noticed him and greeted him with a smile. "Oh, it's you, Kite. Here to watch me fight again? Honestly, what's so interesting about my fights? Isn't it a waste of time? Hahaha."

As he spoke, he casually draped an arm over Kite's shoulder, as though they were close friends.

And they were. Kite did not react to Kevin's gesture at all, merely saying, "Haven't you been watching every one of my matches lately too?"

"Hahaha." Kevin gave Kite's shoulder a few hearty pats.

"How is that the same? You know perfectly well, so quit pretending to be dumb."

After that battle, Kite had reached the 200th Floor in just a few days.

It was now July 24th, and more than two months had passed since Kevin had come to the arena to fight.

Kite had also spent two months fighting above the 200th Floor. Though that sounded like a long time, he had only fought six matches in those sixty days, making him one of the most active competitors recently.

Matches above the 200th Floor were by appointment, with the hard requirement that every competitor had to fight at least once every ninety days.

As a result, the matches above the 200th Floor were incredibly exciting, and tickets for every match were almost instantly sold out after going on sale.

"By the way, don't competitors get private tickets? You have no idea how expensive tickets above the 200th Floor are. I have to go through those damn scalpers every time. What a bunch of profiteers!"

Kevin grumbled in dissatisfaction as he followed Kite to his room.

As for why they were not going to Kevin's room, naturally, it was because Kite's room was better.

The difference between them was like Kevin's single room being an ordinary hotel room while Kite's was the presidential suite of a luxury hotel.

Hearing Kevin's words, Kite could not help rolling his eyes.

As a Nen user who had reached the 150th Floor, how could Kevin possibly be short of money?

Tickets for matches above the 200th Floor were expensive, but to them, they were hardly worth mentioning.

They soon reached Kite's room. Beyond the door was a lavish two-hundred-square-meter suite.

It was filled with exquisite furniture and expensive electronic equipment.

Honestly, Kevin felt that the technology behind those high-end electronic devices alone was already comparable to that of his former world.

"This is so nice. Sigh, I'll never get to stay in a room like this."

Kevin dropped onto the soft sofa, sinking into it as he let out a satisfied sigh.

Kite picked up a wineglass, poured Kevin a glass of fruit wine, then sat on the sofa beside him and remarked, "With your strength, you could easily reach the 200th Floor. How much longer are you planning to stay down there?"

Hearing the question, Kevin looked at Kite and could not help smiling. "What's the rush? You know, everyone above the 150th Floor is a renowned martial artist. I need to stay here for at least a few months. October, I guess. I'm planning to reach the 200th Floor around October."

Kite nodded. That was fine; he could wait.

He had already fought six times above the 200th Floor, with three wins and three losses.

Yet he still longed to fight Kevin.

Because even now, after fighting Nen users several times, he still found Kevin challenging.

"Why are you so set on fighting me?" Kevin asked, somewhat puzzled.

He had also watched dozens of matches above the 200th Floor and had gained a rough understanding of battles between Nen users.

It had to be said, they really were like superpowers. Nen abilities were practically wish fulfillment.

He had seen all kinds of Nen abilities. Of course, quite a few of them looked genuinely useless.

But many of them had caught his eye as well.

Most importantly, though, they confirmed what Biscuit had said: most Nen users really had terrible fundamentals.

He finally understood why Biscuit had praised his use of [Ren].

After watching so many matches, he had only seen three Nen users employ [Ren] in battle, and all of them had only used it after noticing something was wrong midway through the fight.

Only Kite's timing and method suited Kevin's preferences somewhat. He would check at the slightest disturbance.

The other Nen techniques were even more dreadful. Kite was only slightly better, and it was precisely because he was somewhat familiar with Nen techniques that he had managed three wins and three losses.

Few of the people who defeated Kite had used their techniques well. The only reason they beat him was because they had already developed their own Nen abilities.

Meanwhile, Kite was relying on basic Nen techniques and swinging his blade around.

His losses were only natural.

Hearing Kevin's question, Kite did not hide anything and answered directly, "Because your Nen techniques are very strong. I've only seen similar strength from my teacher."

So he really had not learned on his own.

Kevin had already realized that the way to tell whether someone was self-taught was by seeing whether their Nen techniques were solid.

Nen users who had received instruction seemed not to be in a hurry to develop their own Nen abilities. They would first master the basic techniques before considering it.

"Hmm, all right. When I reach the 200th Floor, you'll be the first person I fight. Are you planning to develop your own Nen ability? If you don't have one by then, you might not be able to beat me."

To his surprise, Kite shook his head. "No. I plan to consider that only after I pass my teacher's test and become his disciple."

"Is that so?" Kevin sounded somewhat regretful, then asked, "So you're planning to leave?"

In the last match of Kite's that Kevin had watched a few days ago, Kite had nearly reached a bottleneck. What he needed now was time to train and turn what he had gained into strength.

There was not much point in continuing to fight above the 200th Floor.

"Yeah." Kite nodded.

"I need to keep working hard, pass my teacher's test, and prepare for the next Hunter Exam in January next year."

That piqued Kevin's interest. He leaned closer and asked, "The Hunter Exam? You've taken it before?"

Kite nodded. "I took it during the first half of the year. At the end of the exam, I encountered a Nen user who was also an examinee. Back then, I wasn't good at fighting against Nen abilities, so I lost."

"Oh, so that's why." Kevin now understood why Kite had come here. He had been fighting above the 200th Floor all this time.

"Then how about we go together? Honestly, I'm pretty interested in this Hunter thing too. By then, I should be about ready as well."

"Of course. We can go together then." Having a companion for the exam would naturally be a good thing.

Kevin stood up with a smile and patted Kite on the back. "Then you'd better work hard. Don't run into me then and lose at the end like before."

"Heh. We'll see about that. I'll beat you until you're begging for your teeth," Kite retorted, unwilling to back down.

"Haha, then I'll be looking forward to it."

"Hahahaha."

The two boys looked at each other and laughed.