"Back..."
At four in the morning, the familiar chime rang...
Roy opened his eyes again. He was back on Kukuroo Mountain, and his mind felt indescribably exhausted.
The aftereffects of ten thousand swings hadn't shown in his body, but they had affected his cerebral cortex. It was the first time this had happened since he awakened his Nen Ability.
Normally, Nen users followed the sequence of [Ten] → [Zetsu] → [Ren] → [Hatsu] in their training. Only after reaching the [Hatsu] stage could they develop a Nen Ability suited to their personality and inner needs.
But... Roy was different.
Thanks to his transmigration, the very day he opened his Aura Nodes, the panel had automatically granted him the Gate of Cognition. It was much like how some Specialist Nen users awakened [Hatsu] from birth, skipping [Ten], [Zetsu], and [Ren] due to special circumstances or environments...
For example, Neon Nostrade's Lovely Ghostwriter.
"So if I'm injured in the Cognitive World, I'll bring that 'negative status' with me into the real world?"
Roy rubbed his brow and, for once, stayed in bed for another five minutes.
Those five minutes brought to mind a principle that ran through the entire Nen training system—
"Rules" and "costs," or, in other words... "restrictions" and "vows"...
Set rules and swear to obey them. The harder they are, the greater the power unleashed.
In other words...
Since he benefited from the Gate of Cognition, he naturally had to accept the risks of what he experienced within it.
Roy seemed to understand. His heart tightened, and he quietly gave himself a suggestion—
No matter whether he was in the real world or the Cognitive World, he must never let himself fall into a situation of absolute danger!
At 4:05 a.m., the lingering "weariness" in his mind slowly faded...
Roy felt a little better. He rolled over and sat up, but instead of going for a run, he immediately reached for Snow Walk on the sword rack...
He wanted to see whether Sun Breathing had improved at all after Urokodaki Sakonji corrected his strikes.
With a metallic ring, Snow Walk slid from its sheath.
Roy flourished the sword one-handed, adjusted to its weight, settled into his stance, and began practicing Sun Breathing.
At this hour, some hollow-eyed kid was on his way to Heavens Arena...
A chubby boy who'd just begun his hellish training still hadn't recovered from the day's electric-shock therapy. A butler was helping him apply ointment and massage his body...
On the second floor, a woman wreathed in flames was furiously smashing things and muttering that she'd make someone pay when she got back...
She'd make sure he couldn't get out of bed for at least three days...
Hearing her complaints, an old man in a dim room on the first floor rocked in his chair, watching cartoons and grinning lecherously...
Then his ears seemed to suddenly grow larger. He listened carefully for a moment, rolled over, and mumbled something indistinct...
"That kid's Swordsmanship looks a little sharper than before..."
Then he tilted his head and shrank his ears back down...
"Waltz"... "Clear Blue Sky"... "Burning Sun Mirror"... "Solar Halo Dragon"...
Swordlight flashed in the bedroom...
The Sun Breathing routine soon came to an end.
Roy kept his movements controlled and savored each one. He really could tell that something was different from before.
First, his sword strikes were sharper. His movements also flowed more smoothly. He'd spent the whole night doing ten thousand swings with the Asauchi Urokodaki Sakonji had given him, so picking up Snow Walk again felt a little unfamiliar at first.
But those were minor issues. The most important thing was... he could maintain his "focus" for longer!
The benefit of that was... after a full day of practice, Roy's physique had increased by another 0.2—0.1 more than the day before.
That corresponded to [Shadow Step: 99/100 (Proficient) transforming into → 1/1000 (Mastery)].
Rhythm Echo and Snake Awakening had also improved along with his stronger physique. Snake Awakening had even broken through from "Beginner" straight to "Proficient."
That was an unexpected but welcome surprise.
At dusk,
Roy sheathed his sword and calmly closed the panel.
He glanced at the clock on the south wall... Less than five days remained before his father, Silva, was due to test him.
Gotoh had said Silva had gone to the Aizen Continent. The round trip would take at least a week, but with his strength, much of that time would likely be spent traveling. Even if he was late, it wouldn't be by much.
That gave Roy a little more time to improve himself.
"Maybe I should set a small goal: raise 'Ten Thousand Swings' to 'Double Ten Thousand Swings' within five days..."
Since Master Urokodaki had told him to add two thousand swings, he might as well add two thousand every day.
Roy tossed Snow Walk to Gotoh, then turned and left the training room, heading for his bedroom.
The sun sank in the west. Compared with the Snow Country in Demon Slayer, the sunset over Kukuroo Mountain was clearly more brilliant.
The boy, wearing his Sun and Mountain Earrings, strolled through the timeworn corridor. He turned a corner, then suddenly stopped.
A hunched figure approached with his hands behind his back... He had white hair and a white beard, and the words "One Kill A Day, Still Active" were printed across his chest. When he saw Roy, he stopped too.
"Grandpa." Roy bowed.
Zeno grunted and looked him up and down. Seeing that he'd grown even more muscular, he frowned. "Go back and tell your butler to have your training clothes altered. They're too short now. What kind of look is that?"
It was understandable that a boy Roy's age would shoot up quickly, but a butler failing to notice his clothes no longer fit was neglecting his duty.
In fact, Gotoh had already suggested having a few outfits tailored to Roy's measurements.
But Roy had brushed him off, saying it was too much trouble. Since Zeno had brought it up now, Roy wasn't about to pin the blame on Gotoh when it was clearly his own fault.
"I'm the one who didn't want to change them. I'll ask Gotoh to alter them tomorrow," Roy explained briefly.
Zeno made no comment. He turned toward the window and gazed at the sunset, seemingly with no intention of continuing the subject.
Seeing that, Roy nodded slightly and walked past him. Just as they were about to pass shoulder to shoulder, Zeno suddenly called him back.
The former head of the Zoldyck family and a killer recognized around the world as one of the best admired the crimson horizon and asked, "Now that you've opened your Nen and officially begun your training, have you thought about what you want to do in the future?"
Roy paused.
He thought back to the night he'd spoken with Tanjuro through a paper window and smiled. "Freedom."
"Grandpa, I want to earn my freedom..."
"I want to climb to the very top, step by step, doing what I believe is right without fear..."
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