After returning from his brief excursion, Conrad slipped back into routine as if nothing had interrupted it.
Training was always the most important aspect of his life; he really wanted to get more powerful.
Conrad knew that other than his soul and mind capability that altered due to transmigration and his cheat.
Which gave him the ability to keep on creating Nen abilities without endangering his mind and soul; he did not have any particular capability above the others.
He still needed training for all the other things.
He cannot have many abilities if his aura is limited; he cannot create and control more abilities if his control is not great enough.
He needed to keep on training to keep having the ability to create new Nen abilities without downsides.
The week passed in a flash, and Conrad was ready for his third battle in the Heavens Arena.
Conrad already knew his opponent's name.
Brone Navi.
Five wins. One loss.
That record alone set him apart from the opponents Conrad had faced so far.
It could be said that this was a turning point for him in terms of the qualities of enemies he encountered.
As Conrad waited in the preparation room, he did not review footage as always to go blind to a battle of Nen.
He likes the feeling of trying to understand the enemy and learn the ability of the enemy while in combat.
He remembered what Morel said: in most cases, two opponents would not know each other's abilities; it was up to them to fight and understand each other.
By the time his name was called, his aura had settled and he was ready to fight.
The arena lights flared to life as Conrad stepped out onto the platform.
Across from him stood Brone Navi.
The man was short, barely five feet two, with a compact build.
His head was clean-shaven like his face.
He wore a loose, pale robe. The robe was loose enough to conceal his limbs, so Conrad thought that he may try a hidden weapon or something inside of the robe.
Brone studied Conrad for a few seconds.
Then he grinned.
"I'll make it quick."
Conrad's lips curled slightly in response.
The referee raised his hand.
"Begin!"
The moment the signal dropped, Conrad activated his ability.
Black Ring—State of Calm.
Brone did not rush.
Instead, he stepped back and to the side, and his hands rose, fingers spreading as if shaking something loose.
Six metallic rings appeared around him in midair.
They hovered, spinning slowly, each about the size of a dinner plate.
Their surfaces were smooth.
Conrad's eyes tracked them instantly.
"Conjuration," he noted internally.
But something about the rings felt different.
Their aura was thin and evenly distributed.
"A conjurer that uses manipulation to control six flying rings?" Conrad thought and kept on observing to see and collect more information.
Brone lifted one finger and pointed.
The rings moved.
They did not fly all at once.
Two shot forward first, slicing through the air like thrown discs.
Conrad shifted left, then right, letting them pass within inches of his torso.
The wind pressure alone was enough to tell him they carried real force.
"It would be pretty painful to get hit by one of those." Conrad thought.
The other four followed, splitting apart, circling, and changing angles.
"They're adjusting mid-flight," Conrad realized. "Not pre-programmed."
"If I can get close to Brone and hit him while he is not protected by rings, the battle would be over there."
"It is safe to assume that Brone himself is not a close-combatant and would fail quickly against me."
He moved again as he strategized.
One ring skimmed past his shoulder. Another struck the ground where he had been standing a heartbeat earlier, carving a shallow hole into the arena floor.
Brone's grin widened.
The rings accelerated.
Conrad felt it then—a subtle shift in pressure.
His calm remained intact, but his body registered the escalation.
"Speed and power behind those rings have increased by about 20% to 30%."
He ducked under one ring, twisted away from another, then stepped forward to close the distance.
Too late.
From behind, something slammed into his back.
The impact was brutal.
Conrad's vision flashed white as his body was driven downward, his feet lifting off the ground.
He hit the arena floor hard, the sound echoing through the stands.
The referee's voice cut through the noise.
"Knockdown!"
Conrad slid to a stop, one knee scraping stone, one hand braced against the ground.
For a moment, he did not move.
Pain bloomed across his back, deep.
He exhaled slowly.
"So this is it," he thought. "The first real hit."
He pushed himself up to one knee, eyes lifting to Brone.
The rings hovered again, all six now circling their master in a loose formation.
One of them, the one that had struck Conrad, rotated slightly faster than the others, its aura faintly brighter.
Brone tilted his head.
"Didn't see that one, did you?"
Conrad rose to his feet.
He rolled his shoulders once, testing the damage.
"It seems like, this time, I do have to fight for real."
Conrad could not help but smile for the first time.
It seems like a real nen battle against an opponent that is capable of dealing him harm and making him think for real to fight against would be really fun to be in.