A Wanderer's Lies

Chapter 15: Training [1]

Isaac dropped to his buttocks, breathing heavily as he stared at his arms and body.

He had done it. His body was now coated from head to toe by what felt like a viscous liquid. Similar to the atmosphere feeling like oil on his skin.

However, the difference was, the Nen in the atmosphere pressing against his skin always felt unfamiliar, as if an unknown entity was forcefully invading his personal space.

Now, however, he felt as if he were in the comfort of his own home.

"I did it." Isaac declared in between breaths.

The old man smiled.

"That was a risky move you pulled there. You've got guts, that's for sure." Isaac was barely able to let out a cocky smile.

He knew what he did was great. He felt like he was close to death during the process.

"But yes, congratulations. You have learnt the ability Ten." Isaac raised an eyebrow.

"This is called Ten? What's that thing called? The thing you're doing with your Aura?" The old man looked as if he was about to say something, but paused.

"Well, now that you mention it, I haven't given this technique a name yet. No matter, I shall explain the basics of Nen to you. Listen closely."

Isaac sat with his legs crossed and stared at the man.

"There are 4 basic principles of Nen. The first is Ten. It allows you to stop the leakage of Nen from your body and even gives you slight resistance to Nen based attacks and physical damage." The old man started, smiling as he spoke.

"I believe you're already familiar with Zetsu. It's ability to turn off all your aura nodes, so that you may hide from other Nen users." Isaac nodded.

"It's why you were able to hide from the Cranium when holding your breath."

"If the Cranium had the ability to sense Nen and had not solely relied on the vegetation, you'd have been a goner."

The old man laughed saying this, to which Isaac could only wear a face of defeat.

"Moving on, we have Ren. To use Ren, one must increase the output of Nen, resulting in an exponential increase in both your physical strength and durability." Isaac slowly started to smile.

He remembered how exhilarating and powerful he felt when eating the Sanguine, and now he had the chance to repeat those effects without the negative side effects.

"That's great! That'll help us in surviving." Before Isaac could finish, his fantasies soon came crashing down on him.

"Boy, have you already forgotten the consequences of having uncontrolled Nen?" The old man cut him off.

"Releasing such a level of Nen at once is suicidal. You might as well send all the creatures around you a letter with your location on it." The old man mocked.

Isaac stayed quiet as he thought.

'One of the most useful abilities in my arsenal and I can't even use it. Great.' Isaac shook his head.

"The last technique is Hatsu. However, you need not worry about that whilst in the Dark Continent. There's no effective way to train it without alerting everything around you."

Saying this, the old man walked toward the hole in the wall as he began to step out.

"Where are you going?" Asked Isaac while putting a pause on his wild thoughts.

"Why, I'm leaving of course." Answered the man with an indifferent tone without looking back.

"Is it right to assume I'm not going with you?" Asked Isaac seeing the man's peculiar attitude.

He didn't know how to feel about the man leaving him here.

On one hand, he felt the old man's rash and nonchalant behaviour would lead him to his doom.

However, on the other hand, in the past hour, it was clear to Isaac that the man could be an invaluable asset in surviving the Dark Continent.

"Well, you aren't going anywhere with me like you are now." With his bare foot on the edge of the wall, the old man turned around and held out two fingers.

"Two weeks."

"What…?"

"I'll be waiting outside Aionthos, where we met, for two weeks. In that time, you must master the art of being invisible in the Dark Continent."

"Control your Ten and imitate the surrounding Nen. Become a ghost and hide in plain sight."

"If you can't accomplish such a simple task in that time…" The old man's eyes suddenly turned cold as he spoke with a flat tone.

"...you'll be nothing more than a nuisance."

Isaac could feel the atmosphere drastically change as the man's words echoed in the room.

Without warning, an outburst of, what Isaac could only describe as bloodlust, shot out from the old man, colliding with Isaac as his legs trembled and his Ten shook, seconds away from falling apart.

Isaac's legs trembled as he barely stood straight.

Frozen, he felt vulnerable and weak. All he could feel was the heartbeat quickening, threatening to leap out of his chest.

'I've felt this before. From Fetoh.' Isaac gritted his teeth as he thought.

Despite the similarities, the old man's aura seemed to be vastly more powerful.

If it weren't for the Ten that seemed to be acting as a shield, Isaac was sure he'd suffocate and be crushed by the aura.

Suddenly, after what felt like hours, the Aura had dispersed, leaving as fast as it came.

Sweating profusely, Isaac dropped to his knees as he breathed heavily.

His mental and physical state had been through hell in the last 24 hours.

From creating and eating the Sanguine and fighting Fetoh, to unlocking his aura nodes and now suffering under such pressure, Isaac was holding back the urge to drop to the ground and fall into a long coma.

"Your Ten is still weak. You are nowhere near ready to venture outside Aionthos."

As the old man prepared to leap through the hole, Isaac stopped him.

"W-Wait! Your n-name? What's your name?" Isaac blurted out with the last drop of energy he had.

Isaac felt it was only right he should know the name of such an individual who had saved his life.

Besides, he was starting to get tired of referring to the man by 'Old Man'.

"Have I not told you?" The man blinked.

After a second, the old man smiled as if he suddenly understood a joke from the past.

"Fate sure is strange."

Isaac raised an eyebrow at the strange sentence.

"My name is Isaac Netero." Saying this, the man leapt out of the hole.

Isaac stood frozen as he blinked a few times.

"Isaac…?"

***

An old man leapt from one plain white building to another, soon coming to a stop as he looked back to a certain building in the distance with a hole in the wall.

"Perhaps I was too harsh on him." Netero questioned himself.

He brought his index finger and thumb together, making a zero shape and holding it over his eye while closing the other.

Netero didn't regret giving Isaac 2 weeks to train in order to survive outside Aionthos, however, he lied.

In truth, this technique was anything but simple.

To train your Ten to be chaotic and rampant was extremely taxing on the physical body, as well as the Aura Nodes.

Even with his near perfect mastery of Nen, it still took him a few days to master this technique.

"I wonder…"

He didn't know why he held such high expectations for a boy he's known for less than a day.

Perhaps it was the resolve and grit he witnessed whilst watching the boy master Ten.

Or maybe the surprise at the fact the boy was not only able to survive in Aionthos without Nen, but also uncover a large piece of history that was once shrouded in mystery.

Either way, to say Netero was anything short of giddy would be a lie.

"To think, I'd meet someone so interesting here of all places." Netero chuckled lightly, turning around while still keeping his gaze on the building from the corner of his eye.

In truth, Netero had also told two lies when speaking with the boy.

"It's a good thing he doesn't know who I am. Leave him? As a soon to be chairman of the Hunter's Association, that would be a disgrace." Saying this, Netero disappeared into the dark Aionthos.

***

Staggering toward the corner of the room, Isaac dropped to the ground in exhaustion.

With his back on the wall, he recalled the previous interaction with Netero.

"2 weeks."

Could he really do it?

He'd already seen first hand how difficult it was to master his Ten.

Therefore, he questioned whether or not 2 weeks would be enough time to master the Invisibility Technique.

Taking a deep breath, Isaac exhaled. He did know one thing for sure.

He couldn't stay in Aionthos.

In order to complete his quest as quickly as possible, he needed to dive face first into the Dark Continent.

And with what Netero had shown him, he'd have a better chance at surviving under him.

"In two weeks, I have to be outside the walls of Aionthos."

Saying this, Isaac rummaged in his pockets and quickly gulped down an Aroze, quickly feeling a wave of vitality wash over him.

However, that wasn't all.

Isaac widened his eyes.

He could feel something else.

Something new.

Something he couldn't sense before due to not being able to sense Nen.

"What is this?"

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