Back in the Heavens Arena, Conrad entered the training room that he rented and did not leave the area.
As the time for the mission comes closer, he wants to keep on training to increase his general capabilities.
Conrad moved like lightning.
His feet struck the ground in uneven rhythms as he jumped, twisted, landed, and launched again.
Aura flared and receded around him as he moved and performed actions; he also trained his mind to perform Nen control on needed areas.
He wanted to make it like an instinct.
He pushed it all.
After a final burst of motion, Conrad let himself fall backward and then sat upright, legs crossed, palms resting loosely on his knees.
Sweat rolled down his temples.
He reached inward and pulled.
A thin bubble of aura separated from his body, hovering a few inches in front of his chest.
It wobbled at first.
Conrad narrowed his focus, tightening the flow and smoothing the edges.
The bubble stabilized.
He moved it with thought, and it drifted to the left.
Another thought, and it stopped.
A third, and it spun slowly in place.
Conrad exhaled.
He separated a second bubble.
Then a third.
Then five.
They floated around him like pale moons.
He gritted his teeth and kept going, rotating them, compressing them, and forcing them into sharper shapes.
Spheres became ovals.
Ovals flattened.
One collapsed entirely and snapped back into his body.
"Again," he muttered.
This wasn't new.
Ging had done something similarly effortless and casual when he met Beyond's team.
Aura manipulation at that level wasn't about raw power.
It was about mastery of aura and genius of the Nen user.
Knowing Nen the way you knew your own fingers helped a lot.
Hours passed.
Conrad lost count of how many times his constructs failed.
How many times did his concentration break?
How many times did he have to restart from nothing?
Finally, he let the bubbles dissolve and drew everything back in.
He inhaled deeply.
Then, slowly, he shifted into In.
His aura folded inward, like a zetsu but more powerful.
He remembered Knuckle's voice, sharp and blunt, during Gon's training.
"I can read your aura. I know when you're about to attack and where you defend."
"I can read what you are going to do; your aura tells me all of it."
At Conrad's current level, most Nen users wouldn't read him that cleanly.
But most weren't good enough.
If someone could feel the shift in his aura before he struck, that would not be great.
"Training feels great."
He corrected it every time.
After some time, Conrad closed his eyes to rest and meditate.
Ten minutes later, he came back to himself.
Not like he was rested, but it was still okay.
Conrad opened his eyes, reached for a bottle of water, and drank deeply.
He leaned back against the wall and let his head rest there.
The silence was heavy but not empty.
"The more I train, the more ideas come to my mind."
His lips twitched faintly.
"It would be great if I had an ability that would let me train."
The thought didn't leave him.
It expanded; it was just a stray thought at first, but then it made sense as he thought about it.
"Especially one that lets me train with the people I want."
His mind turned, gears clicking into place.
"Some sort of battle simulation."
The idea refused to let go.
Conrad stood, wiped the sweat from his hands, and left the training area.
By the time he reached his room, the exhaustion had dulled into a familiar ache, one he could work through.
He sat at his desk, opened a notebook, and began to write.
Existing Abilities
Black Ring—State of Calm
Trinity Archive (Three Orbs)
Life Chain – Defense of Future
He paused, tapping the pen against the paper.
Then he turned the page.
Fourth Ability
Movement-Type Ability.
Speed. Teleportation. Instant displacement.
"If I have a movement-type ability, I can survive more, and I can attack with great speed and catch opponents without them expecting it."
"Moving fast or instantly is always helpful in any kind of situation, not only for the battle but also for exploration."
He underlined the title once and moved on.
Fifth Ability
Simulation of Battle.
Conrad leaned back slightly, eyes narrowing.
"A Nen ability," he said to himself, "for training purposes."
He wrote slower now.
"An ability that simulates a battle scene. An opponent."
His pen hovered.
"If I can fight without dying," he continued, "I can gain experience without gambling my life every time."
Opponents he'd never dare face in reality, at least for now.
Scenarios are stacked unfairly against him so he can try to get out of the problem.
"Problem-solving in a battle," he whispered and smiled.
"A great idea."
"I could add conditions," he said quietly. "Harsh ones."
He smiled.
"Make the pain real."
That stopped his pen for a moment.
"I need to act real," Conrad continued.
He scribbled again, faster now.
Limits on duration. Costs per use. Restrictions on frequency.
Perhaps the opponent must be someone he's seen, or faced.
Perhaps their strength is capped, or perhaps his is.
The idea grew heavier, denser.
"This could be dangerous," he admitted.
But danger had never stopped him before.
Conrad closed the notebook and rested his palm on the cover.
"Two more abilities," he said softly. "If I do this wrong, I die. If I do it right …"
"But, first."
"This mission, the hunt, and the movement ability after need to be done."