Auren, with barely any time left before the meeting, heads toward Rakshala's office.
The secretary seated at the entrance immediately opens the door for him, as if she's been expecting him all along.
"..."
Already slightly irritated, Auren steps inside.
Of course, she knew I was coming. Her En makes it impossible to sneak up on her... this is annoying.
As he enters the spacious office, Auren notes how much the place has changed. What used to be a quiet, barely used room now bustles with activity. Nearly forty workers sit behind desks, fingers flying across keyboards, while large stacks of documents clutter every surface, multiple printers working in the background.
They look... busy.
Oddly enough, Rakshala is still surrounded exclusively by female assistants, just like before.
As usual, she sits at the far end of the office, behind her oversized desk, wearing another deep scarlet dress and her signature visor.
Auren picks up his pace, walking past the others without a glance, ignoring the curious stares thrown his way until he's standing right in front of her.
"Welcome, Auren. What a pleasant surprise," Rakshala says, smiling with her usual composed tone.
"..."
"Sure..." Auren mutters. "I don't want to distract you and your assistants from your obviously important work. I just came to let you know I'll be away for about a week. I mentioned my unfinished business in Yorknew before, so this shouldn't come as a surprise. As far as I can tell, anyone injured or dealing with health issues has already been taken care of. If something happens, I'll be back soon enough. By the way, my hatsu was more effective than I initially thought... I have improved."
"Indeed," Rakshala replies. "I've personally seen hundreds reporting in for new assignments. The other Elders and I have been quite busy, but thanks to you, our staffing issues have been significantly eased. Not only that—people are extremely hopeful, and almost every single one of our community is immensely grateful to you. You didn't discriminate—you helped everyone, free of charge."
She pauses, then adds with a faint smile, "You might have noticed, but you're already being viewed as someone on equal footing with me. Your Hatsu is... something most can't even begin to comprehend. People see you as a Saint who can create miracles. Come with me—there's one more thing we need to discuss."
Auren gives a half-hearted shrug and follows her into her private quarters.
"I've spoken with the Elders," Rakshala begins, her tone shifting to something more serious. "I figured the more information we have about your Hatsu, the better. They're all baffled by your Hatsu. Most of them simply can't grasp how it functions. Even I must admit, your current skill level has far surpassed anything I'd imagined. Without question, your Hatsu marks you as a specialist. Would you be willing to tell me more about it?"
"If it stays between us," Auren says, shrugging again before sharing his experiences in as much detail as he can manage.
"I see... So, in the beginning, it consumed all of your Aura, and you couldn't even fully heal someone, not even fully fix fractures, even after a full session that took all of your Aura. I always wondered how your Hatsu could be so powerful without an obvious drawback, and now I understand."
"Most specialists gain a powerful ability that works right out of the gate, capable of miraculous feats with little additional refinement or potential for the future. But yours... yours started off as something slow, inefficient, even clumsy. A healing technique that barely functioned at first. It took extreme effort, patience, and an almost obsessive level of control to refine it into what it is now."
Am I truly a specialist? I guess I have to accept it. However, I don't feel and fight like one!
Rakshala pauses, watching him with something between admiration and disbelief.
"A technique that's practically useless for years, only showing its true worth after relentless practice. Honestly, your overall Nen abilities are approaching those of a true master. You're already on par with the Troupe. Now it all makes sense."
"Does it make sense? I honestly don't think it does," Auren asks, a healthy dose of scepticism in his voice. "I've always believed it's worth being patient with a technique—even a useless one—if it eventually evolves into something like the current Azure Restoration. Also, despite its extreme improvement, it was never truly useless. Even when I came up with it, it sped up recovery time, which alone would make for a very valuable Hatsu."
"Indeed," Rakshala replies. "However, your current level of mastery is already far beyond what most Nen users could ever hope to reach, even after a lifetime of training. For the average user, your ability wouldn't be anything special; it would be a mediocre healing Hatsu that can only fully restore anything with a lot of time, and if the injuries are light. But you're obviously the exception—this Hatsu is truly yours. It's a personal ability, born from your own desires. The only reason it's so powerful is because you've already refined your Nen to such a high level."
She pauses, then adds, "Nen is fair and balanced. Every ability, especially specialist abilities, comes with drawbacks—yours just happens to start weak and inefficient and evolve with you. Also, you mentioned a life-and-death situation involving water, along with an additional Oath? Both of those would strengthen your ability even further. It's not exactly Post-Mortem Nen, but it comes close. Your katana and the tattoo also seem to factor in."
"In short, it's a combination of several things—your intense training, your circumstances, your emotions. That's what makes your Hatsu so effective. Reproducing your results would be impossible for anyone else. So we simply have to accept your case as a blessing."
"I see," Auren says. "That was quite informative... thanks for the explanation. I'll do my best to improve my Hatsu even further until I can create true miracles."
"Maybe you'll learn to revive the dead or reverse aging," Rakshala says, smiling. "If you manage to do that, you'll no longer be seen as a Saint, but a true god. I'd certainly worship you even more if you manage to succeed."
"As if I can do those things. Anyway," Auren continues, "I don't want to waste your time, especially when you're this busy. I'll be back soon."
He turns to leave, but Rakshala steps closer and wraps her arms around him from behind.
"Be careful," she whispers, her face just behind his. "If you ever need help, call me. We need you... so take care of yourself. Know that you can always rely on me. If you need help, I'll personally come to your aid."
"I'll be fine. I'm not a child," Auren replies, and walks away without looking back.
Rakshala stays silent, watching him go. She doesn't say another word.
An hour later, Auren, Goreinu, Neffi, and Jolt begin loading the items Auren earned in Glam Gas Land—as well as the ones he picked up in Yorknew that don't quite fit his collection—onto the airship, preparing for departure.
"Are you sure you can trade those?" Goreinu asks, eyeing the crates with a skeptical look.
Auren shrugs. "Can't hurt to try. If no one's interested, I can just use my money. But this way, they'll see I'm a serious collector—one that can actually contribute, and not just some rich guy trying to use his wealth to get what he wants. Anyone can simply wave money around and buy things. What truly matters is what I bring to the table and that I'll convince everyone that I am someone who can be relied upon, not some rich kid."
He adds, "Anyway, my portfolio's finally ready. The collection is starting to take shape. I've sent everything to Pariston—detailed info, pictures, the whole thing, exactly like he wanted it. According to him, the Ben's Knives collection alone is impressive and enough to qualify me as a serious and accomplished Treasure Hunter."
"It better be," Neffi says. "You spent a fortune on these things. You also managed to get some pieces from people who would never have sold them in the first place—Chrollo, Silva, the Glam Clan... Those alone are worth a fortune since they were basically unobtainable before. Perhaps they've never been seen in the world."
"Hopefully," Auren replies with a nod.
With everything loaded, the airship lifts off under Jolt's expert maneuvering.
As it climbs higher, Auren feels the familiar pressure of Rakshala's En finally fade away. On one hand, it's freeing. But on the other...
It feels weird... I finally got used to it. She really is the center of this place. Without her, I wonder what would happen to this place? Infighting among the Elders? Panic among the people? Let's hope I'll never find out.
With Jolt piloting at near top speed and choosing the most direct route, they make it back to Yorknew fairly quickly.
The meeting is set for tomorrow, giving Auren a full day to prepare.
With no particular goal in mind, he and Neffi decide to visit her company, while Jolt and Goreinu stay behind on the airship, which is now docked at the airport. Auren and Neffi decide to grab their bags, filled with their prototypes, and leave the airport.
They both use Zetsu and speed up, running through the city, sprinting past pedestrians, and running with such speed that they even overtake cars.
It doesn't take long before they leave the busy center surrounding the airport and reach a less crowded industrial area.
Slightly unsure where to go, Auren follows Neffi, who guides him towards a medium-sized industrial building in the distance.
I did a lot of tests in the last weeks, time to cash in on my investment!
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A/N: Always thankful for Power Stones, Comments, and Reviews. Thank you for reading!
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