Shadow Step Mastery and Zeno's Doubts

"Clang..."

At four in the morning, the familiar bell tolled.

Roy opened his eyes once more, already back at Kukuroo Mountain, his consciousness feeling indescribably exhausted.

The aftereffects of ten thousand sword swings were not manifesting in his body, but rather in his cerebral cortex; this was the first time such a thing had occurred since he awakened his Nen.

Normally, a Nen user must follow the progression of Ten → Zetsu → Ren → Hatsu, and only upon reaching the Hatsu stage can they develop a Nen ability that aligns with their personality and inner needs.

But... Roy was different.

Thanks to his transmigration, the moment he opened his aura nodes, the system panel automatically granted him the Gate of Cognition. It was akin to certain Specialist-type Nen users who, due to special factors or environments, innately skipped the Ten, Zetsu, and Ren stages to awaken Hatsu directly...

For instance, Neon Nostrade's Lovely Ghostwriter.

So, if I am injured in the Cognitive World, the "negative status" carries over into the real world?

Roy rubbed his brow, lying in bed for an extra five minutes—a rare occurrence.

These five minutes led him to contemplate a rule that permeated the entire Nen cultivation system—

"Rules" and "Costs," or rather... "Restrictions" and "Pledges"...

Setting a rule and swearing to abide by it; the more difficult the condition, the greater the power that erupts.

In other words...

Since he enjoyed the benefits gained from the Gate of Cognition, he naturally had to bear the risks experienced within it.

Roy had a sudden realization, his heart chilling as he quietly gave himself a suggestion—

Whether in the real world or the Cognitive World, he must never allow himself to fall into a situation of absolute danger!

At 4:05 AM, the lingering fatigue in his mind slowly dissipated.

Feeling slightly better, Roy rolled out of bed. Instead of going for a run, he reached out and grabbed Snow Walk from the sword rack.

He wanted to see if his Sun Breathing had made any progress after Urokodaki Sakonji's corrections to his strikes.

"Clang~" A blade hummed... Snow Walk left its sheath.

Roy performed a sword flourish with one hand to adjust to the weight of the blade, set his stance, and began to practice Sun Breathing.

At this hour, a certain hollow-eyed brat was on his way to Heavens Arena...

A certain chubby kid who had just begun hellish training had yet to recover from the day's electro-therapy, with a butler by his side helping him apply medicine and massage his body...

In a second-floor bedroom, a woman covered in flames was throwing a tantrum, smashing things while muttering about how she would make someone pay when they returned...

At the very least, she would make sure he couldn't get out of bed for three days...

Hearing her complaints, in a dim little room on the first floor, a certain old man swayed in his rocking chair, listening to a cartoon and laughing with a mischievous glint in his eyes...

Just then, his ears seemed to grow a size larger. He listened carefully for a moment, turned over, and mumbled something unintelligible...

"The kid's swordsmanship looks a bit sharper than before..."

Then, he tilted his head and retracted his ears.

"Waltz"... "Clear Blue Sky"... "Burning Sun Mirror"... "Solar Halo Dragon"...

Blade light illuminated the bedroom.

A set of Sun Breathing concluded quickly.

Roy controlled his intensity, savoring the movements, and truly detected differences from before.

First, his sword style was sharper; second, the transitions between his movements were smoother. Although he had spent the entire night performing ten thousand practice swings with the Asauchi given to him by Urokodaki Sakonji, picking up Snow Walk again made him feel slightly rusty for a moment.

However, these were minor issues. The most important thing was... the duration of his "Focus" had increased!

The resulting gain was that after a full day of practice, Roy's physique had increased by 0.2, which was 0.1 more than yesterday.

Correspondingly, Shadow Step: 99/100 (Proficient) had evolved to → 1/1000 (Mastery).

Furthermore, Rhythm Echo and Snake Awakening had both improved alongside his physique, with Snake Awakening even breaking through "Entry-level" to reach the "Proficient" realm.

This could be considered a surprise within expectations.

At dusk, Roy sheathed his blade and calmly closed the panel.

He glanced at the wall clock hanging on the south wall... there were less than five days left until Silva's examination.

He heard from Gotoh that Silva had gone to the Aizen Continent. The round trip would take at least a week, but given his strength, he would likely waste most of that time on the journey; even if he were late, it wouldn't be by much.

This, coincidentally, gave him even more time to improve himself.

"Why not set a small goal: within five days, increase the 'ten thousand practice swings' to 'twenty thousand practice swings'..."

Since Master Urokodaki had instructed him to add two thousand to his quota, he might as well add two thousand every single day.

Roy tossed Snow Walk to Gotoh, turned, pushed open the training room door, and headed toward his bedroom.

As the sun set, compared to the snowy lands of Demon Slayer, the sunset at Kukuroo Mountain was clearly more brilliant.

The youth wearing the Sun and Mountain Earrings strolled through a corridor steeped in the scent of time, but as he turned a corner, he suddenly came to a halt.

Ahead, a hunched figure approached with hands clasped behind his back... He had white hair and a white beard, and the eight characters "One Kill a Day, Active for Life" were printed across his chest. Seeing Roy, he likewise stopped.

"Grandfather." Roy bowed in greeting.

Zeno gave a grunt, looking him up and down. Seeing that he had grown more robust, he frowned and said, "Go tell your butler to fix that; your training uniform is too short. What kind of look is that?"

The youth was at an age of rapid growth, so it was understandable that he was shooting up in height, but for a butler to fail to notice ill-fitting clothes was a dereliction of duty.

In truth, Gotoh had mentioned to Roy earlier that he wanted to take his measurements and order a few new sets of clothes.

However, Roy had brushed him off, finding it too much of a hassle. Now that Zeno had brought it up, Roy naturally wouldn't force the blame that belonged to himself onto Gotoh.

"I was the one who didn't want to change. I'll have Gotoh fix it tomorrow," Roy explained simply.

Zeno offered no comment, turning his head toward the window to gaze at the setting sun, seemingly having no intention of continuing the topic.

Seeing this, Roy gave a slight nod and walked straight past him. Just as he was about to brush shoulders with him, Zeno suddenly called out to him.

This former head of the Zoldyck family, a world-renowned top-tier assassin, admired the reddened skyline and asked, "Since you have already awakened 'Nen' and officially stepped onto the path of cultivation, have you thought about what you want to do in the future?"

Roy was stunned.

Recalling that night he spent talking with Tanjuro through a single paper screen, he smiled: "Freedom."

"Grandfather, I want to earn my freedom..."

"I want to climb to the very top, step by step, to do what must be done, and fear nothing..."