(Book 2) Neferpitou and the human Royal Guard

Chapter 24 Calm before the storm.

It's been a few hours since Pitou had begun operating on me now, and it finally seems as if my body has become completely numb to the pain. For the most part, it has been silent with all of us taking in the gravity of the situation. This silence, however, was broken by the professor when he asked "My boy, what happened to your sword? Unless my eyes deceive me, I do believe it is no longer in your possession."

Looking down, I realize that he's right, my sword is missing. I must have lost my grip on it during the skirmish. Upon this realization, I turn my gaze toward him and state plainly "Lost it."

Jovesworth simply nods at my confirmation, taking a momentary pause before suggesting "I see, then perhaps it would be prudent to get you re-equipped in the warehouse after you recover."

"Yeah... speaking of, we should get Gon equipped as well." I assert.

The professor raises a brow, then shifts his focus to Gon. "The boy?" he inquires.

Gon perks up slightly with the attention now focused on him.

"Kid has a lot of potential, way more than I did when I was still human. And he is far stronger now than I was at his age, we just need to help him tap into that strength."

Jovesworth hesitates in that moment, and as I will soon find, already pieced together what I had had in mind. "I do hope you are not suggesting we use Hell's Arena... The lad is too young to undergo something like that." he mutters in a hushed tone.

I brush off the concern, simply stating "He can handle it, I witnessed the full force of his potential firsthand. And... what happened to him afterwards. At any rate, I don't expect him to go 'that' far again anytime soon, but I just know we'd have better odds of success if Gon here could tap into a fraction of what he showed that day."

Before the professor can respond, Gon chimes into the conversation. "Um, Hell's Arena? Don't you mean Heaven's Arena?" he asks.

"Ah, you weren't supposed to hear that, lad. Eh- regardless, no, I did not refer to Heaven's Arena. However, as the name implies, Hell's Arena is inspired by it." Jovesworth replies tentatively.

Gon nods and inquires "What is it then?"

The professor shifts his gaze to the side, eventually explaining "Something that... I'm not yet certain you should have to experience, my boy. I will have to mull this over while I look for a safe spot to place the warehouse." With that said, he flies off without another word.

When the professor is out of earshot, Pitou takes a moment to speak up and asks "So what exactly is this Hell's Arena that Jovesworth seems so upset about?"

My eyes drift over to her, and I reply with "The sixty sixth nen spell, something that can take people to a place where they could push their body and understanding of nen to the very limits without worrying about dying or other potential consequences. Now that may sound too good to be true, because it is, as there are a few drawbacks to using the spell."

"Like what?" Gon presses.

"Well... when I said you wouldn't have to worry about dying, there is a caveat for that." I start. "The problem, however, is that while you don't have to worry about your own mortality, you still experience the process of dying of killed while in the arena. All the pain, the gripping fear of losing your consciousness, and the darkness of seeing the other side all remain. You will be revived of course, but not without the burning memory of what you experienced. And while any injury will soon fix itself perfectly in the arena, this does not apply to injuries acquired outside the arena."

"Interesting. But what about that post-mortem nen thing you mentioned a while ago?" Pitou inquires, tilting her head to the side as she continues to operate on me.