Chương 95: Invisible Hand

"Ladies and gentlemen, today's fight is one of the most anticipated matches of the day." On the large screen to the left of the ring, a giant solo image of Aren appeared. Judging by the pose, it had been taken from one of his previous matches. The movement itself was stylish, but his face raised the overall score dramatically. His name appeared in the lower-left corner. The moment Aren's photo appeared, the entire audience screamed.

"Aren! I love you!"

"Aren, Aren, rise to the top!" Amid continuous cheers, Aren slowly rose from an opening in the floor beneath the left screen. As he appeared, the commentator's voice rang out again, firing up the crowd.

"First, we have contestant Aren Voss, who has advanced all the way here with overwhelming momentum. Unexpectedly, on the very day he reached the two-hundredth floor, he chose to compete immediately. It seems contestant Aren is truly confident in his own strength."

"Let us welcome contestant Aren with thunderous applause." Once Aren fully appeared, the audience grew even more excited. One exceptionally well-endowed woman became so excited that she tore off her top on the spot.

"Aren, I want to have your baby!" She was quickly escorted out by security, but a portion of the male audience still enjoyed the brief view. The commotion drew the commentator's attention. She laughed awkwardly for a moment. Then the screen on the right side of the ring displayed the one-armed man's headshot and name. Only now did Aren learn the man's name. Zald Yasa. Just like Aren, Zald Yasa rose slowly from the floor.

"Contestant Zald Yasa, who will be facing contestant Aren, currently holds a record of five wins and one loss." Compared with her detailed introduction of Aren, the commentator's description of Zald was much simpler. She merely announced his record. When both contestants stepped into the ring, the referee looked between them and chopped one hand downward.

"Begin." Looking at Aren's relaxed expression, Zald had originally wanted to say something. Then he suddenly remembered the chill Aren had given him that afternoon. He swallowed the words back down. Most of his aura gathered where his left arm had been severed. Invisible Hand. Although ordinary people could not see Nen, Zald's Invisible Hand stirred the airflow visibly when it moved. The commentator immediately began explaining. Aren raised an eyebrow slightly. Not bad.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. For an amateur, at least. Because Zald had lost an arm during baptism, he had developed an ability like this. The idea reminded Aren of Betelgeuse Romanee-Conti. Of course, in terms of power and number, Zald's ability was far inferior. But without question, it had solid potential. If it appeared in someone with the right talent and compatibility, it could become powerful.

According to Hisoka's future personality analysis based on aura type, which was about as reliable as judging personality by blood type but still seemed roughly eighty percent accurate in practice, Enhancement users were usually straightforward, stubborn, and single-minded. Once they decided on something, they carried it out to the end. That was obvious in Uvogin and Gon. Nobunaga's traits were not as extreme, but he was still someone who fixated on a choice once he accepted it.

In the future Aren remembered, after Nobunaga acknowledged Gon, he insisted Gon should join the Troupe no matter what others said. Transmuters were changeable, deceptive, curious, and prone to lies. They often grew tired of old things and chased novelty. Killua, Hisoka, and Biscuit all showed those traits clearly. Machi neither liked lying nor changed interests easily, so she probably belonged to the inaccurate twenty percent. Manipulators liked controlling others and lecturing people.

Whether their reasoning made sense did not matter. The point was that others had to listen. Illumi, the pathological brother-controller, was the representative example. Emitters tended not to fuss over details. They were often peacemakers and valued friends deeply, paying attention to others more than themselves. Franklin and Leorio were both people who cared greatly about their friends. Among the Troupe, Franklin had always been one of the more level-headed members.

As for Leorio, his dream came directly from his friend. Conjurers could be summarized in one word: neurotic. That one was harder to analyze, because it showed in many different ways. Specialists were individualists with cult-leader charisma. The clearest representatives were Chrollo and Meruem. Pakunoda, compared with those two, was almost like a husky mixed into a wolf pack. She probably belonged to the same inaccurate twenty percent as Machi. That was Hisoka's aura-type personality theory.

No matter how Aren looked at Zald Yasa, the man did not seem like someone who considered others more than himself. So there was at least an eighty percent chance he was not an Emitter. In other words, no matter how much Zald developed Invisible Hand, he would never display one hundred percent of its potential. Borrowing Hisoka's phrase, it was a waste of memory capacity. Still, for an amateur, Aren should not have expected too much. Whoosh. Aren turned his body slightly and avoided Zald's Invisible Hand.

"Oh! Contestant Aren dodged sideways. Was he avoiding contestant Zald Yasa's hidden technique?"

'He dodged it?' Zald's eyes narrowed.

'Coincidence? Again.' He controlled Invisible Hand to curve behind Aren and strike from the rear. The invisible arm passed through Aren's body. Before Zald could feel joy, he realized it had only passed through an afterimage left in his vision because Aren's movement was too fast for his eyes to track.

'Hey, hey. I've never heard of speed like this.' Zald's heart sank. That one detail told him enough. Just from that speed, Zald knew he had misjudged Aren. Whoosh. Aren appeared behind Zald. By habit, he raised his hand to cut off the man's head. Just before the strike landed, Aren paused and dispersed The Hand wrapped around his hand. He had suddenly remembered that these people might still be useful for two rounds of wins. If all four of them could provide two wins each, that would be eight wins.

Then one win against Uvogin and one against Machi would make ten. Normal scheduling could drag out the process of obtaining ten wins indefinitely. Just look at Uvogin now. After a few fights, no one dared face him anymore. He had been left waiting for more than two months. If every match required waiting until the ninety-day limit, Aren might have to remain in Heavens Arena for a whole year before getting ten wins and challenging a Floor Master. Aren considered his plan perfect.

At this pace, he might obtain the right to challenge a Floor Master in less than a month. So after dispersing The Hand, Aren changed the attack into an ordinary hand chop to the back of Zald's neck. Smack. Zald, who was still instinctively searching for Aren's figure, felt pain strike his neck. His vision doubled, then blurred and darkened. Finally, he collapsed to the ground. The referee walked over, crouched beside him, and checked for a moment.

"Contestant Zald Yasa is unconscious. Winner: Aren Voss." The referee made the call, and the whole venue erupted.

"Yes! That's it! Aren, that's it. Put him down."

"Aren is so hot."

"Aren didn't use a slap today, but Hand-Chop Aren might be even cooler." In the commentator booth, the commentator refused to be outdone.

"Unbelievable. Truly unbelievable. Contestant Aren has continued his undefeated legend on the two-hundredth floor."

"And once again, he won in a single strike without taking a single injury. Though he changed from slaps to hand chops, could hand chops be contestant Aren's true secret weapon?"

"Not only that, contestant Aren displayed his speed for the first time. That extreme speed left contestant Zald Yasa unable to react before he was instantly defeated."

"Elegant and swift. Will contestant Aren continue like this and rack up ten victories without slowing down? Let us look forward to tomorrow's match."