First Manifestation & Silva's Reminder

Urokodaki Sakonji's training experience was indeed profound.

The first step of training he prescribed was—tree-hugging.

He gave it a flowery explanation: "All things possess breath; every blade of grass and every flower is a life. Therefore, the first step in learning the 'Breathing' technique is not to practice swordsmanship, but to understand what 'breathing' truly is..."

"Eiichiro, you shall begin your training by hugging a tree. Only when you understand how a tree breathes will I permit you to hold a sword."

After successfully becoming his apprentice...

Urokodaki Sakonji dumped Roy under a birch tree, gave a few brief instructions, and walked away with his hands behind his back...

A squirrel poked its little head out from a branch to curiously size him up, only to see... this human, after a moment of contemplation, strangely spread his arms and hugged the birch tree.

A few minutes later...

He was sleeping soundly...

Abstract... how can a person turn into a tree?

The familiar sensation of falling struck—

Roy rolled over and sat up from his soft bed, his consciousness seemingly still lingering on the image of himself bear-hugging a birch tree and drifting off into a muddled sleep.

According to Urokodaki Sakonji, only by truly regarding oneself as a tree could one step into the tree's life, feel its way of breathing, and experience its sorrows and joys, but—

This method of cultivation based on "illusion" had one prerequisite...

One must not fall asleep from over-immersion.

Like himself right now.

"Ding..." At four in the morning, the wooden clock in the corner reminded Roy as usual that it was time to go out for a run.

The youth rubbed his face, pulled on a tank top and shorts, closed the door, and stepped into the quiet, vast mountain forest, treading upon the faint white glow of dawn appearing on the horizon.

From the ancient castle at the summit to the butler's villa where the lights were already on halfway down the mountain...

This time, Roy clearly felt his body was much lighter, and even his pace had quickened; he figured this was because his constitution had increased by another "Minamino Hirotomo."

[Shadow Step: Proficient (89→99)]
[Rhythm Echo: Proficient (67→84)]
[Snake Awakening: Novice (83→98)]

The panel clearly recorded the qualitative change brought about by "+1 Constitution,"

Allowing Roy to continue growing steadily through the increase in "numerical values," even though he hadn't specifically practiced these assassination techniques over the past few days.

"So, I must follow Urokodaki Sakonji's advice and complete the 'tree-hugging' training as soon as possible."

Sweat dripped down his hair, which Roy wiped away with a gentle stroke... His finger inadvertently brushed past his ear and touched something, forcing him to stop in his tracks.

The object felt light, and only by the way it swayed in the wind could he feel its movement. Upon touching it, he realized—

It was the Sun and Mountain Earrings, inherited from Tsukiguni Yoriichi and personally hung on him by his father, Tanjuro!

When did this happen? And how did I manifest it into reality?

Roy was stunned for a moment, pondering deeply... Suddenly, he heard a door open ahead. He looked up and realized he had already arrived at the Testing Gate at the foot of the mountain.

"Bang—"

The "side gate" at the bottom right of the Testing Gate was kicked open violently, and then—

Three or four burly men filed in... behind them was Zee, holding a key and wearing a fawning smile.

The "old" gatekeeper, in the prime of his life, took off his hat and bowed to Roy: "Good morning, Young Master."

"Swish—" This drew a few fierce and brutal glares toward him!

"The Zoldyck family's young master?"

"Very good."

"Capturing him will surely fetch a hefty bounty!"

"Third brother, check online to see how much he's worth... we're going to be rich today, boys!"

Whether they would be rich or not, Roy didn't know; he only knew that Mike could have an extra meal this morning.

"Roar—"

The magical beast passed by, whipping up a tornado... The burly men only felt the world go black, and in the blink of an eye, half of their bodies were already swallowed into Mike's mouth. With a tilt of its neck, it sent them into its belly, and when it opened its mouth to spit again, only a few scraps of clothing remained, which it flicked out of the gate with its claws.

Mike performed this routine with great familiarity.

Zee followed up, taking out a broom he had prepared in advance to skillfully clean up the scene.

Roy watched silently for a while, then turned and began his run back toward the summit.

The world's number one family of assassins had a reputation that naturally attracted many desperate gamblers. They thought that by relying on their reckless ferocity they could step over the Zoldycks to climb to the top, not knowing that the final outcome—

Would often be nothing more than a pile of dog shit.

"Step... step..."

Roy didn't stop, his train of thought completely undisturbed by this sudden little interlude.

He ran while lost in thought...

Considering the sudden appearance of the earrings, only one possibility came to mind...

The kind of "Nen ability" a "Conjurer" develops, or the type of "item" they can conjure, is tied to the memories or events most deeply etched into their heart...

For instance, Kurapika, because his clan was wiped out, specifically targeted the Spiders and developed the "Judgment Chain"...

Or Shizuku, because she was forgetful, emulated the "seven-second memory of a fish" and developed "Blinky"...

Things like these, to a greater or lesser extent, touched upon their souls and delved deep into their personalities...

And as for me... it was thanks to the gift from Minamino Hirotomo that my constitution was strengthened...

And because of the importance my father Tanjuro placed on me, choosing to entrust the inheritance to me, I came to value these earrings immensely, and thus, through my dreams, I unconsciously conjured them...

Roy was lost in thought.

He ran past the butler's villa and through the forest, seeing the ancient castle right before his eyes...

He ducked behind a tree and attempted to rely on his imagination to return the earrings to the world of perception.

"Nen light" swirled to envelop the earrings...

Unfortunately, they seemed to have latched onto Roy; they rejected his intent and insisted on hanging from his earlobes, refusing to leave.

Clearly, the "de-conjuration" had failed... or rather, from the very beginning, "conjuration" seemed to be a one-way street: one could transform Nen into a physical object through imagination, but could not reverse a physical object back into Nen through imagination to reclaim it into one's own body...

For Roy, and even for Tanjuro, this was not good news.

The law that "matter and energy can be converted into one another" perhaps did not hold true in the treacherous and unpredictable world of "Nen abilities."

Roy failed in his attempt and stepped out from behind the tree...

He returned to the castle, his back to the brightening sky.

It was now 4:25 AM, and Gotoh would not arrive with the meal for another five minutes.

Roy strolled through the long corridor, propping his foot on the window ledge to do a few more sets of stretches. As his peripheral vision swept across the area, a tall man appeared from around the corner, walking toward him with a steady, unhurried pace and a solemn expression...

As he passed by, he stopped.

"Father." Roy lowered his foot.

Silva tilted his head, looking down at him: "What day is it today?"

"Tuesday."

"When is the test?"

"Next Sunday."

"See that you remember." Silva stepped away with his hands in his pockets.