Rebirth: Advancement

The corridor outside the vault had fallen quiet for the moment.

Pariston's men had retreated to the far end of the corridor. They made no further attempt to force their way in.

It was as if they were waiting for something.

Gon leaned against the wall, breathing hard.

They had been fighting for nearly an hour, yet he hardly felt tired.

If anything, the longer he fought, the more energized he felt.

He clenched his fists. He seemed even stronger than before.

"Killua," he asked, turning his head, "have you felt... unusually good lately?"

Killua nodded.

He had noticed it too.

His reactions were faster, his strength had grown, and even his wounds healed more quickly.

The scratches on his arm from earlier had already scabbed over.

Before, they would have taken at least half a day to heal that much.

"Maybe the training's paying off," Killua said casually.

Gon murmured in agreement and thought no more of it.

Neither of them thought about the food.

After all, who would connect a sudden rise in strength to a few meals?

Elsewhere, on First Prince Benjamin's private floor.

A heavy metal door slowly opened.

His trusted aide Balsamico entered, carrying a silver-white refrigerated case.

"Your Highness."

He knelt on one knee and set the case on the floor.

"I brought back the samples."

Benjamin sat on his throne, broad and heavily muscled, with the hardened bearing of a soldier.

He raised his chin.

"Open it."

Balsamico opened the case.

Inside, more than a dozen sample tubes lay in neat rows, each labeled with a different name.

The one in the center bore the name Tserriednich.

"Have you studied them?" Benjamin asked.

"We've completed a preliminary analysis," Balsamico replied. "The Nen fluctuations of Rebirth are highly unusual, and its structure is extremely