The next day, Leo reached the sixtieth floor.
His first opponent was an agile boxer who specialized in footwork. He was lean and moved like the wind.
Instead of finishing him with a single blow as he had yesterday, Leo chose to observe.
For the first two minutes, he stayed entirely on the defensive.
The boxer's footwork was truly masterful-forward and backward slides, sidesteps, feints, every step keeping him at the perfect distance.
He easily dodged all of Leo's probing attacks. His jabs and hooks landed on Leo, but against Leo's enhanced body, they barely tickled.
Leo watched closely.
How he pushed off with his feet, the rhythm of his weight shifts, the coordination between his breathing and movements... After two minutes, Leo had fully grasped the essence of his footwork.
In the third minute, he moved.
The same sliding steps, the same distance control, but faster and more precise.
Shock flashed in the boxer's eyes. Before he could adjust, a knife-hand strike landed against the side of his neck.
KO.
The second match went much the same way.
His opponent was a jujutsu practitioner who excelled at joint locks. Leo deliberately let him lock his arm, studying how he applied force and the angles he could use to break free.
A minute and a half later, he reversed the lock and broke free, ending the fight with a shoulder throw.
From that day on, Leo settled into a routine for his matches.
When he faced a worthwhile opponent, he first defended and observed, absorbed their techniques and experience, then ended the fight with a single blow.
If his opponent relied purely on brute force or had nothing worth learning, he knocked them out immediately.
Two matches a day, steady progress.
His practical combat experience grew rapidly.
Boxing footwork, jujutsu locks, karate's methods of generating power, even signature techniques from obscure styles... He absorbed and integrated these skills, gradually developing his own fighting style.
A week later, Leo reached the 180th floor.
Over that period, he fought twenty-six matches and won every one.
His prize money totaled 160 million Jenny-the payouts at Heaven's Arena increased with each floor.
Above the hundredth floor, the arena assigned competitors private rooms.
Leo's room was on the 185th floor. It was small but fully equipped: a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchenette, and a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the city.
At that moment, he sat cross-legged on the floor, meditating.
His breathing was steady, and Nen Aura slowly circulated around his body-this was his practice of Ten.
"Ring, ring-"
His phone suddenly rang.
Leo opened his eyes and checked the caller ID: Goreinu.
He answered...
"Hello, Leo..."
Goreinu's voice came through, noticeably weary.
"Everything all right, Goreinu?"
Leo answered readily.
"You don't sound too good."
"You caught that, huh..."
Goreinu gave a bitter chuckle.
"I've run into a little trouble lately. I was wondering whether your Nen... has recovered?"
Leo raised an eyebrow.
Clearly, Goreinu's trouble was serious enough that he had come to him for help.
"Yes, it's recovered."
Leo answered.
"What's wrong? Do you need help? Just ask. If I can help, I will."
There were a few seconds of silence on the other end, as though Goreinu was making up his mind.
"Here's what happened." Goreinu began his story.
"A while ago, while I was visiting Toth City, I accidentally got caught up in a gang conflict. I took them all out to protect myself... and saved a woman along the way."
As Leo listened, he got a rough idea of what had happened.
It was a classic setup-accidentally get caught in a gang conflict, rescue someone important, then get dragged into an even deeper mess.
He teased him.
"I'm guessing the woman you saved must have quite a special background."
After a brief silence, Goreinu admitted it.
"That's right. She's the daughter of another gang's boss."
"That day, her father and some of the senior members were driving to another city. A rival gang sent a large force to ambush them along their route and killed her father and everyone else."
"They tried to kill her too. Everyone protecting her died. I happened to be in the same shop as her... so I saved her."
"Afterward, she gave me a billion Jenny to thank me and asked me to be her bodyguard for a month."
Leo understood now. Goreinu had been hired as a temporary bodyguard, only to run into more than he could handle.
"Things went smoothly for a while at first. I fought off several waves of attacks for her."
Goreinu continued.
"After half a month of quiet, the other side brought in two Nen users from who knows where."
"I barely managed to hold them off and wounded one, but I was hurt pretty badly too. If they come back, I'm afraid I won't be able to stop them."
"As it happened, Vivian-that's the woman's name-saw a featured live broadcast from Heaven's Arena on TV."
"I saw you and figured your strength must have recovered, so I called."
Goreinu paused, his tone turning serious.
"I'd like you to come help me deal with those two Nen users."
"Vivian is offering three billion Jenny, which we'll split equally. Of course, if you think it's too dangerous, you can refuse. Think it over."
Leo lowered the phone and considered it.
In the original story, Goreinu wasn't particularly powerful, but he wasn't weak either.
The fact that they could injure him meant those two Nen users had some skill, but they probably weren't overwhelmingly strong-otherwise, Goreinu wouldn't merely have been injured. He would have been killed outright.
The pay was tempting.
Three billion Jenny, split equally, meant 1.5 billion each.
Even in the Hunter world, that was a fortune, enough to keep him from worrying about money for a long time.
But the risks were real. Gang conflicts ran deep and could lead to even more trouble.
Besides, battles between Nen users were highly unpredictable. Without knowing the other side's abilities, it was hard to say who would win.
There was one more thing... Leo looked at the back of his right hand, where the dark red tattoo gleamed faintly under the light.
Proof of Humanity required him to kill living beings to obtain life energy.
Over the past six months or so, he had only killed creatures such as wild animals and insects. He had never killed a person.
It wasn't that he couldn't, but that he didn't want to-he didn't want to become a murderous monster with no limits.
But gang members... Their hands were all stained with blood. Killing them would weigh far less on his conscience.
And the life energy a Nen user provided would surely far exceed that of an ordinary wild animal.
Of course, if the situation became critical and his life was in danger, he would retreat without hesitation.
1.5 billion Jenny wasn't worth dying for.
After weighing the pros and cons, Leo picked up the phone.
"No problem. I'll take an airship over first thing tomorrow."
Goreinu's voice immediately filled with delight.
"That's great! Leo, thank you for your help! Vivian will send someone to meet you at the airport."
"All right." Leo acknowledged him and hung up.
He then called Heaven's Arena's service hotline and asked them to book him a ticket on the earliest flight to Toth City the next day.
As a competitor on the 180th floor, he enjoyed certain privileges. The staff quickly took care of such a minor request.
The ticket details arrived on his phone: departure at eight the next morning, with arrival in Toth City expected the day after tomorrow.
Leo began packing.
He didn't need to bring much: a few changes of clothes, money, and his phone.
He checked his account balance: 162 million Jenny.
In the ordinary world, that already made him wealthy, but in the world of Nen users, it might only be enough to buy one decent piece of equipment or some valuable intelligence.
If he could get that 1.5 billion... he could move up many of his plans.
That night, instead of continuing to meditate, Leo went to bed early.
He would get plenty of rest and prepare for tomorrow's unknown challenges.
Outside his window, Heaven's Arena remained brightly lit, with matches still taking place on every floor.
But Leo knew his training here would have to pause for now.
Before you continue