Nen Awakened!

Hisoka rolled his eyes, his grin stretching almost to his ears, and narrowed his eyes dangerously, his face flushed.

He licked his lips and said,

"How naughty~"

After a bout of strange writhing,

Hisoka stood rooted to the spot.

He stayed that way for an entire night.

When the sun first appeared,

the end of the exam drew another step closer.

Now everyone except Leorio and Gon had obtained their points.

Hisoka flexed his fingers and headed off in one direction, dark circles beneath his eyes.

Gon hurried after him.

Before long, Hisoka found his next prey.

His grin stretched to his ears as he charged at his prey with a strange laugh, looking utterly deranged.

The man noticed Hisoka too.

He drew the blade at his waist and prepared to fight.

Hisoka revealed the playing cards in his hand and attacked him.

Just then, a fishhook appeared in front of Hisoka's chest.

The sight made Hisoka freeze.

The hook moved swiftly.

In an instant, it was reeled back in.

Along with it came the number badge Hisoka had kept pinned to his chest.

Hisoka killed the man.

Clutching Hisoka's badge, Gon rose from the bushes.

Hisoka stared blankly at Gon before him and touched his chest.

Once he confirmed that this was no illusion,

he looked at Gon as though he had found a treasure.

Gon reacted swiftly, immediately taking the badge and running in the opposite direction.

But he had not run far before his head began to swim.

Even his steps became unsteady.

At last, he collapsed to the ground.

The badge flew out of his hand too.

Just then, a dark-skinned man emerged.

He bent down, picked up Hisoka's badge, and took Gon's from his bag as well.

"I've been following you all along. You swung your rod exactly seven thousand times. By the way, that last cast was your best."

With that, he took the two badges and prepared to leave.

"Sir, is an ambush like that really any fun?"

Startled by the voice, the dark-skinned man whipped around and saw Cordis standing nearby.

He held a long blade he had obtained from somewhere.

Leaning against a large tree with his head tilted, he wore no expression on his exquisite face.

In the sunlight, he looked like an angel who had drifted down from heaven.

Long, silvery-white hair and deep blue eyes.

Not a single part of him lacked beauty.

Of course, if he had not been holding a blade that was dripping blood,

he might truly have been called an angel.

The dark-skinned man felt the intense killing intent radiating from Cordis.

"Actually, I prefer a head-on fight to an ambush."

"What about you?"

Cordis flicked the long blade, shaking all the blood from it.

Without another word,

he charged at the man, blade in hand.

In the blink of an eye, Cordis appeared right before him.

The man hurriedly brought out his weapon to block the blow.

Cordis swung his blade at the man with tremendous force.

Just when the man thought he had blocked the attack,

blood spurted from his neck.

The weapon in his hands broke in two as well.

Just one strike.

That single strike had cut through both the man's weapon and his neck.

Even the tree behind him bore a deep slash.

The headless man fell dead to the ground.

Before the man's head could fall,

Cordis had already covered Gon's eyes.

He did not want Gon to see such a bloody scene.

After all, it was better for children to remain innocent.

Gon accepted what Cordis was doing.

He let Cordis cover his eyes.

Delighted, he said to Cordis,

"Hey! Cordis, I got Hisoka's badge!"

Cordis kept one hand over Gon's eyes and patted his head with the other.

"Well done, Gon. I knew you could do it."

Only after the man's head fell and his body collapsed to the ground,

did Cordis slowly lower his hand.

Hisoka watched from nearby. When he first saw the man, he had intended to intervene.

But then he saw Cordis approaching with a blade.

Cordis had killed the man in a single strike.

Excitement flared in Hisoka's eyes again.

Not only had his old Little Apple grown considerably today, but he had also found another promising little apple.

What a rewarding day~

Hisoka appeared before Cordis and Gon, applauding.

His face was wreathed in smiles.

"Oh my~ Pai Pai~ It looks like you've improved quite a bit~"

Gon could not move at the moment.

Cordis instinctively stepped in front of him.

"Being praised by you really makes my skin crawl."

Hisoka pretended to wipe tears from the corners of his eyes, even though he was smiling.

Behind Cordis, Gon was not doing nearly so well.

He struggled to get up.

He had heard Hisoka say that once Cordis grew stronger, he would kill him in the cruelest way possible.

That was the last thing Gon wanted to see now.

Hisoka raised a hand.

The badge belonging to the man lying on the ground flew into his hand.

He pinned it to his chest.

"Oh~ The little apple behind you is quite impressive~ Let him keep that one~ I don't really need it now anyway~"

"He can repay the favor later~"

With that, he waved and prepared to leave.

Cordis finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But behind him, through sheer willpower,

Gon struggled up from the ground, picked up Hisoka's fallen badge, and forced out the words,

"I don't want your favor. Take it back!" He held up Hisoka's badge.

Cordis had not expected Gon to manage to get up.

"Gon!"

Hisoka stopped too.

He looked at Gon expressionlessly, without even the lilting tone he always used.

"I refuse."

"I'm letting you live now so you can grow into someone capable of fighting me."

"Until you become strong, I'll keep letting you live."

He walked toward Gon as he spoke.

Even with Cordis standing in front of him, Gon could feel the oppressive aura emanating from Hisoka.

Hisoka threw a lightning-fast punch.

He slipped around Cordis, who stood in front of Gon.

Cordis's reflexes were no slower than Hisoka's.

He moved to intercept the punch for Gon.

Cordis brought his elbow up in front of him, intending to block the strike.

But he had still underestimated Hisoka's strength.

The blow sent him flying.

He slammed into a large tree some distance away.

His elbow was completely broken too.

Cordis spat out a mouthful of thick blood.

Suddenly, an immense power surged out of Cordis's body.

Hisoka was thrilled at the sight.

"Oh my~ It looks like his Nen has awakened~ He feels almost ripe for the picking~"

He licked his lips as he spoke, his face filled with longing.

Cordis had been a genius since childhood.

He needed no one to teach him.

Give him a book,

and he could learn everything from elementary school through university all by himself.

Even without anyone to feed him,

he had known from a young age how to use his adorable looks to wheedle food and drinks out of people.

Naturally, things were no different here.

Cordis drew back all the Nen that was running wild.

How pathetic.

Another piece finished.

Sigh, I just can't feel happy.