Dust kicked up with every sluggish step along the winding dirt path. Thick branches pressed close on either side, their heavy leaves blotting out most of the midday sun. Hannah kept her head down, her fingers white-knuckled as she clutched the strap of her leather satchel. "Are we even going the right way?" she whispered, her voice trembling under the weight of the oppressive heat. Beside her, Nannah skipped over a rotting log, a manic, jagged grin plastered across her dirty face. "Who cares!" Nannah chirped, tossing a jagged rock into the air and catching it with a snap of her wrist. "As long as we get to break something soon. My knuckles are itching, Riley!" Riley didn't look at either of them. His gaze remained fixed on the dusty horizon, his expression a mask of absolute, chilling indifference. Every muscle in his slender frame was perfectly relaxed, yet he exuded a quiet, heavy gravity that made the local wildlife steer clear of their path. Quiet desperation was for the weak; Riley only felt a cold, calculating curiosity. He was waiting for a spark, a sign, anything to prove that this world's power could be harvested. Since their brief encounter with the strange, mouthless Examiner named Satotz, Riley had felt a lingering sensation. A subtle pressure had hung in the air ever since, a spiritual weight he hadn't known existed until crossing into this dimension. This foreign world possessed a unique life energy. Nen. A man who had conquered his own world through sheer ruthlessness, Riley saw this new power system as a brilliant, glittering prize. He didn't just want to learn it. To rip it out of this world's grasp, dissect it, and make it his own absolute weapon was his only goal. King, the tyrannical alter-ego of his own father, had banished him here to rot. That betrayal was a burning brand in his memory, a reminder that weakness was the ultimate sin. To survive was not enough; Riley needed to dominate. "Stop whining, Hannah," Riley said, his voice flat and entirely devoid of warmth. "Zaban City is ahead. We are on schedule." Hannah flinched, pulling her arms tighter around herself as if his words were physical blows. She knew that tone. It was the voice of a brother who had long since discarded his humanity in pursuit of absolute safety. "I'm not whining," she muttered, keeping her eyes glued to the dirt. "I'm just... I don't like this place. It feels wrong. The people here, they look at us like we're prey." "That is because you behave like prey," Riley replied coldly. He stopped walking. Squinting through the green gloom, his sharp eyes scanned the dense foliage ahead. A faint rustling echoed through the dry undergrowth. It wasn't the wind. Heavy, deliberate footsteps were trying and failing to remain silent. --- Suddenly, three figures emerged from the thick brush, blocking the narrow trail. Mismatched leather armor, scarred and stained with old, dark blood, hung loosely from their frames. Scarred and bloodstained, their leader was a towering brute with a jagged mark running across his throat, holding a heavy iron spear. But it wasn't their crude weapons that caught Riley's attention. Shimmering haze of light radiated from their bodies, visible only to those looking for the subtle shift in reality. To an ordinary person, they simply looked intimidating. To Riley, who possessed a hyper-awareness of physical forces, the thick, heavy pressure rolling off them was unmistakable. Crude, unrefined, but they possessed the basic spark. "Well, well, well," the leader sneered, pointing his spear at Hannah's chest. "Look what we have here. A couple of lost lambs. Zaban City is a dangerous place for kids." Hannah scrambled behind Riley, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. Nannah, on the other hand, let out a delighted cackle. "Ooh, big boys with big sticks! Can I break their fingers, Riley? Please? Just one?" Riley ignored both of them, stepping forward with his hands casually tucked into his pockets. His eyes locked onto the leader's spear. Iron tip of the spear was pulsing with a faint, invisible tension. Aura pulsed there, concentrated and sharp. "You use the life force of this world," Riley observed, his tone entirely conversational. "Nen. Show me how it works." Leader of the mercenaries blinked, momentarily taken aback by the boy's calm demeanor. "Show you? You think this is a game, brat? This is the power that rules the underground. And it's going to cost you everything you have." "You misunderstand," Riley said, taking another step forward. His face remained completely blank, devoid of fear, excitement, or anger. "I am not asking for a demonstration. I am commanding you to show me. And your execution of it had better be flawless, or I will find your lack of talent highly offensive." Mercenaries stiffened. Red with rage, their leader's face flushed, veins bulging like writhing worms. "You little piece of trash," the leader hissed, raising his spear. "I'll carve that smug look right off your face!" Anger made the leader's aura flare, the shimmering light around his spear growing brighter and more unstable. He analyzed the flow, the way it gathered at the tip of the weapon, hardening the air around it. It was primitive, yet fascinating. He wanted it. "Is that all?" Riley taunted, his voice dripping with calculated boredom. "A trembling stick and a red face. No wonder you are hiding in the woods like a rat. You are weak." "Die!" the leader roared. Propelled by the raw force of his Nen, he lunged forward with explosive speed. Spear thrust forward, aiming directly for Riley's chest. Hannah screamed. "Riley, move!" Riley didn't blink. Active surrender was his choice, not defeat. Leaning into the strike, he ensured the tip of the spear lined up perfectly with his heart. Iron blade, coated in lethal, compressed aura, tore through his shirt. Searing pain sliced through skin, muscle, and bone with sickening ease. Blood, hot and crimson, erupted from the wound, staining the dry leaves on the ground. Life slipped away as his heart stopped. Sensation of Nen entering his bloodstream was chaotic, a burning, foreign energy that violently disrupted his biological systems. It was a profound, suffocating agony. Deep within the void of his temporary demise, Riley's mind remained active. World faded into pitch-black silence. --- Silence lasted only for a fraction of a second. Deep within Riley's soul, his absolute immortality kicked in. Ancient, broken cheat activated, recognizing his death at the hands of a Nen user. System engaged, forcefully copying the exact mechanics of the killer's ability and permanently engraving them into Riley's biological and spiritual blueprint. Gasping for air, Riley's lungs filled with oxygen once more as his eyes snapped open. Spear, still embedded in his chest, was violently forced backward. Metal tip slid out of his body with a wet, squelching sound. Gaping wound in his chest began to knit itself together. Cells multiplied at an impossible speed, sewing the torn tissue. Skin sealed over, leaving behind nothing but a smear of drying blood. Leader of the mercenaries stumbled back, his hands shaking so violently he nearly dropped his weapon. "What... what the hell are you?" he gasped, his face draining of all color. Other two mercenaries scrambled backward, their weapons trembling in their hands. They had watched a spear pierce a boy's heart. Horror kept them rooted to the spot as they watched him rise. Riley slowly rolled his shoulders, a soft sigh escaping his lips. He reached up and brushed the dirt and dried blood off his chest with a look of pure disgust. "Disappointing," Riley murmured, looking at his stained shirt. "The output of your aura is incredibly inefficient. You waste more than half of it through sheer lack of focus." To demonstrate, Riley closed his eyes. He tapped into the newly forged pathways within his soul. Suddenly, a massive, swirling torrent of aura erupted from his body. Weak, flickering light was nothing compared to this. Boundless spiritual reserves fueled his Nen, manifesting as a heavy, suffocating pressure that flattened the grass for yards around him. Sheer volume of his life force was staggering, a dark, freezing wind that made the air itself feel hard to breathe. "This is... Nen," Riley whispered, opening his eyes. Pale blue light of his aura danced across his skin, perfectly controlled, conforming to his will without a single drop of waste. He looked at the trembling mercenaries with absolute disdain. "You have possessed this power for years, yet you remain nothing but insects. What a waste of potential." Mercenaries were frozen in absolute terror. Sheer weight of Riley's murderous, cold aura felt like a physical hand pressing down on their chests, crushing their lungs. Leader fell to his knees, his spear clattering to the ground. "Monster..." the man whimpered, tears of sheer panic streaming down his face. "You're a monster..." Riley took a slow step forward, his boots crunching on the dry twigs. He didn't feel anger toward them. Magic system of this world was now his to command. He would refine it. "Please..." one of the other mercenaries sobbed, clutching his head. "Let us go... we won't say anything..." "Your existence is no longer of any utility to me," Riley said flatly. He raised his hand, channeling a thin, razor-sharp edge of aura to his fingertips. Before he could strike, however, the temperature in the forest suddenly dropped. Air grew thick with anticipation, smelling faintly of cheap cologne and blood. Playful yet murderous presence washed over the area from above. From the shadows of the forest canopy, a shower of razor-sharp, Nen-infused playing cards rains down, slicing the remaining mercenaries to ribbons.

Chapter 4: The Price of Blood