The next morning, Leo woke at the inn.
He went to a general store and bought a phone—a basic model, but it did everything he needed.
After saving Selena's, Kaspar's, and Goreinu's numbers, he called them one by one.
Selena sounded a little surprised when she answered.
"You're calling me already? I thought you'd disappear for a while."
"Got to keep up with the times," Leo said with a smile.
"How have you been these past few days?" Selena asked.
"Good. Really good," Leo answered easily.
He didn't mention the eating contest. There was no need to go into every little thing.
Kaspar was thrilled to hear from him. He spent quite a while talking about the institute's progress and mentioned that Satotz had begun deciphering the map, though progress was slow.
Leo listened patiently, then gave Kaspar his new number.
Goreinu didn't pick up, so Leo sent him a short text with his contact information.
With that done, Leo bought a map of Kent City and the surrounding area.
He found Biscuit Forest Park on it. About sixty kilometers from the city, it looked like a good place for a short period of training.
After buying some daily necessities and dry rations, Leo left Kent City.
The city's high-rises gradually gave way to low houses, and then the houses fell behind him too.
The view opened up, with rolling green stretching across the land.
Two hours later, Leo entered Biscuit Forest Park.
It was different from the forest in the hidden realm. The trees were neither as tall nor as dense, and the wildlife was much less dangerous.
The familiar scent of earth and plants in the air reminded him of his days in the Eternal Dimension.
Leo went several kilometers into the park before finding a fairly level clearing among the trees.
A stream ran nearby, providing plenty of water. The ground was slightly elevated, giving him a clear view, while natural rock formations enclosed the site on three sides and made it easy to defend.
He set up camp there.
The days that followed were simple and regular: hunting at dawn, dressing his kills and training in the afternoon, then resting at night.
His goal was clear: reach level 25 and lift the effects of Zetsu.
The hunting went smoothly.
The animals in the forest park were weaker than those in the hidden realm, but there were plenty of them.
Wild boars, deer, large birds... Leo chose his prey carefully to avoid disrupting the ecosystem.
With every kill, warmth spread from the tattoo on the back of his hand as the progress bar steadily advanced.
Eighteen days later, at dusk.
A giant armored gorilla crashed to the ground.
It stood nearly two meters tall at the shoulder, its body covered in a gray, rocklike layer of hardened skin. It was strong enough to flip a car.
It had taken Leo some effort to find its weakness: the soft tissue around its joints.
[Life Energy +95] [Level: 25 (0.5%)]
I did it!
At that instant, the dark-red vortex tattoo on the back of his hand grew fiercely hot.
A rush of heat unlike anything he had felt before poured from it and flooded his entire body like water through a broken dam.
His muscles trembled, his bones crackled in rapid succession, and every cell seemed to leap with joy.
Leo could feel his body undergoing a transformation. This was more than a simple increase in strength; it was a deeper change.
Then an entirely new energy burst out from within him.
Pale white streams rose from his skin like steam and swirled around his body, glimmering faintly in the sunset.
"Is this... Nen?"
Leo murmured, his voice trembling with excitement and disbelief.
He raised his hands and watched the streams curl around his fingertips.
Warm and lively, they seemed almost alive as they responded to his will.
He closed his eyes and focused.
According to the theory he remembered, Ten was the technique of keeping the life energy radiating from the body close to it.
He tried to control the escaping aura, drawing it in and holding it steady.
Leo concentrated with all his might.
Gradually, the flowing aura slowed. It began to drift gently around his body like an invisible film.
Leo opened his eyes, a smile tugging at his lips.
"Ten. Got it."
Next was Zetsu: suppressing his aura completely and entering a dormant state.
That was almost too easy for him. After all, the effects of Proof of Humanity had kept him in a state of Zetsu for more than half a year.
At a thought, the aura around him vanished. His presence disappeared completely, as though he had become an ordinary person again.
Then came Ren. Leo drew a deep breath and released the aura within him in a sudden surge.
Boom—
A vast amount of Nen Aura erupted from him, forming a visible shock wave.
Fallen leaves and pebbles scattered across the ground, while branches and leaves rustled all around him.
The wave lasted several seconds before gradually subsiding.
Leo felt the power brimming inside him and smiled with satisfaction.
"My talent isn't half bad either."
Last came Hatsu, which would reveal his Nen type.
He took out a cup, filled it with water, then plucked a leaf and gently set it on the surface.
He held both hands loosely around the cup and activated his Nen.
The water began to ripple. A few seconds later, its surface slowly rose above the rim and spilled over.
"Enhancement Type?" Leo murmured. "Good."
Enhancement Type Nen users excelled at strengthening the properties of themselves or objects. It was the type best suited to direct combat.
Combined with the potential for physical growth granted by Proof of Humanity, the strength he could achieve would be beyond anything he could imagine.
After awakening his Nen Ability, Leo did not rush to leave.
He decided to keep training in the forest park until he had mastered the basic applications of the Four Major Principles. Ten, in particular, had to become something he could maintain even in his sleep.
The days passed.
Leo trained with strict discipline and a clear plan.
At dawn, he exercised in a state of Zetsu. In the afternoon, he practiced Ten and Ren. In the evening, he used Water Divination to practice Hatsu, and before bed, he worked on maintaining Ten while asleep.
He recalled the manga's detailed descriptions of Nen and put them into practice, improving rapidly.
A month later.
Leo stood motionless in the forest clearing.
Dense Nen Aura surrounded him like burning flames. This was Ken, an advanced application of the Four Major Principles that combined Ten and Ren to keep his whole body in a state of Ren, wrapped in a dense layer of aura.
He was testing how long he could hold it.
At fifteen minutes, sweat began to bead on his forehead, and his aura grew less stable.
At seventeen minutes, his breathing quickened. At nineteen, he released Ken.
"Still a long way to go." Leo wiped away his sweat. The manga had said a competent Nen user should be able to maintain Ken for at least half an hour.
He could manage only nineteen minutes. That might not be enough in an intense fight.
Next was En: expanding his aura outward from his body to sense everything within its reach.
Leo closed his eyes and released his Nen Aura.
The aura spread from him in every direction, creating a field of perception with a radius of about seven meters.
Within that field, he could "see" everything: ants crawling beneath his feet, the paths of insects in the air, even the angle at which the wind bent the blades of grass.
Seven meters was his current limit.
Expanding it would take more practice and finer control over his aura.
All of this was the result of a month of hard training.
With no teacher to guide him, he had relied entirely on what he remembered from the manga and what he could work out himself. Getting this far was already impressive.
As for developing a Nen Ability of his own, Leo was in no hurry.
The manga had stressed that developing an ability required careful thought. It needed to fit both the user and their needs.
He lacked combat experience and still wasn't entirely sure what kind of ability he needed. Rushing into it could leave him putting in twice the effort for half the result.
Training needed balance.
He had laid a solid foundation. Now it was time to train through actual combat.
Leo packed his things. He took down the tent, bundled up his supplies, and carefully buried the fire pit.
He restored the campsite to its original state, leaving no obvious trace behind.
Leo took one last look at the forest where he had spent more than a month, then turned and left.
It was evening by the time he returned to Kent City.
The city blazed with lights, and people filled the streets—a sharp contrast to the quiet of the forest park.
Leo found an inn. After a hot shower and a change of clothes, he spread out the map.
Heaven's Arena was in the Republic of Padokea. He would have to take an airship to get there.
The fare from Kent City would not be cheap.
He still had a little over a hundred thousand Jenny, barely enough for the trip, but he would need to start earning money soon after he arrived.
Night deepened outside the window. He lay on the bed, closed his eyes, and thought.
Level 25. Zetsu lifted. Nen awakened. The basics of the Four Major Principles mastered.
It was time to see the world of real Nen users.
Heaven's Arena.
Leo closed his eyes, and images from the manga appeared in his mind: a building towering into the clouds, filled with countless fighters seeking strength.
There, he would grow stronger, earn money, and gain experience.
Then... he would take the Hunter Exam and step onto the main stage of this world.
The road ahead was long, but he had already taken the first step.
Before you continue