While lying in bed with the book resting against his legs, Serik's mind spiraled into overdrive as he tried to chart a path forward for his abilities. He already possessed a foundation—his affinity with earth—but merely manipulating it was not enough. If he wanted to build something lasting, something that would not collapse under its own weight, he needed to deepen that foundation.
Earth was not a singular concept. Within it existed minerals, plants, buried life, fossils, and layers shaped by time itself. Pressure, decay, rebirth. All of it was connected. If he wished to grow as a Specialist, his ability could not stop at earth alone.
What troubled him most was gravity.
His current understanding was crude—pulling matter toward a central point, increasing weight, forcing things downward. Effective, yes, but inelegant. Limited.
There had to be more.
The thoughts refused to settle. For days, he did nothing but read, think, and discard ideas. He constructed mental frameworks only to tear them apart and rebuild them again from scratch. Hypotheses formed, collapsed, and reformed. At times he felt close to something profound, only for it to slip away moments later.
Jons did not interrupt him once.
He brought food, cleaned the room, and maintained the house in silence, as if he understood that even a single question—one poorly timed word—might derail the entire process.
On the evening of the fifth day, Serik finally spoke.
"Jons," he said quietly, closing the book, "I'm not ready to implement what's written here yet. I need knowledge first."
Jons nodded without hesitation. "I will prepare everything."
He turned to leave.
"Wait," Serik added. "The knowledge I need isn't just about Nen. I need to understand life… the earth itself… and gravity."
Jons paused for a moment, then smiled faintly.
"I understand," he said. "I will devise a curriculum suited precisely to your needs."
He began listing the subjects calmly, as if the answer had already existed long before the question was asked.
"Biology, to understand growth, decay, and living systems. Physics, to grasp force, mass, pressure, and gravity."
He reached the door, then added one final subject.
"And geology," Jons said. "The study of stones, rocks, minerals, and the processes that shape them over time."
The path was set.
Serik returned to his book and began reading about other Nen categories—their specialties, limitations, and ability structures. Even paths he would never walk held lessons worth learning.
Knock.Knock.
Jons opened the door, already knowing who it was. The moment he did, the woman before him presented an envelope.
"Greetings," she said. "I have come with an invitation to the Hunter Exam. We believe there was a person inside the rock. The Hunter Association wishes to have that individual in our midst."
Jons accepted the letter with a respectful bow. "You are correct. There was a person inside the rock—or rather, a cocoon. It is my young master. I will deliver this to him. I am certain he will be very interested."
The surprise in Gel's eyes lingered. A single individual had caused all of that.
Before she could turn to leave, Jons spoke again.
"Could you convey a message to Isaac for me?"
Gel froze. She had never mentioned the Chairman, yet she suspected Jons already knew she reported everything to him.
"You owe me one," Jons said calmly. "You golden bastard."
He closed the door, leaving Gel staring at the wooden surface in silence.
I need to leave this place, she thought. It's not good for my mind.
Jons did not linger. He went directly to Serik's room, opened the door, and found him still reading. Without a word, he walked to the bed and slid the envelope onto the open book.
Serik lifted his gaze, eyes moving from the envelope to Jons, who simply stood there, waiting.
After a moment, Serik picked it up and opened it.
An invitation—from the Hunter Association.
Surprise flickered across his face. He had only interacted with a single Hunter before, and that encounter had not ended with an invitation. Why now?
Jons did not let the confusion linger. He explained what had transpired during the time Serik had been sealed within the cocoon, how the Association had taken notice.
The explanation cleared Serik's thoughts. Yet instead of excitement or celebration, he calmly set the letter aside and returned to his book.
"I'm not ready," he said after a moment. "And besides, I'm at a critical point in my Nen development. There's no way I would stop now just to take an exam."
He paused, then added softly, more to himself than to Jons:
"It can wait."
Unsurprised, Jons retrieved the letter and quietly left the room, allowing Serik to continue his studies in peace.
At the Hunter Association headquarters, Gel still struggled to make sense of the message she had been given. In the end, she decided to report directly to the Chairman—it was clear that the man at that house knew him.
She opened the door to the Chairman's office and let out a quiet sigh of relief upon seeing him still inside. He had been rambling earlier about going out to see "something interesting," but it seemed Beans had managed to talk him down.
He must be miserable.
She stood before Isaac Netero, who, for once, was paying full attention.
"I have delivered the invitation," she said.
"Good, good," Netero replied. "So you were able to confirm it was a person."
"Yes. The butler referred to him as his young master, so he must be quite young."
"Ho ho ho," Netero laughed, stroking his beard. "Children these days are truly terrifying."
"Do you think he will join this year, Chairman?"
"Without a doubt, he won't."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"From your report, we can conclude that this individual is a Specialist. Only a Specialist could accomplish something like that."
Gel nodded. She had reached the same conclusion.
"Now tell me," Netero continued, standing up and beginning to pace, "after such a large meal, do you think a person digests it quickly?"
He dropped into a bear walk mid-sentence, grinning.
"He is either refining or developing an ability. That takes time. This year? He won't be joining."
Thinking it over, it made sense. Gel nodded.
"The butler also left a message for you," she added. "He seemed to know you."
Netero blinked. "Oh? And what was the message?"
She cleared her throat. "You owe me one, you golden bastard."
Netero's eyes widened in genuine surprise. There were only two people in the world who spoke to him like that—one he hadn't heard from in years, and the other he thought was still by his side.
"Hahahahaha!" he burst out laughing. "So you're back—and it seems you've taken up babysitting. Now I'm even more interested."
Seeing the Chairman in such high spirits, Gel took it as her cue to leave. She quietly closed the door behind her.
I've never seen him this happy, she thought.