Chapter 126: A Step Forward

Done with his little treasure hunt, Auren leaves the mansion completely satisfied. The sun is slowly descending, dyeing the sky above the red wasteland in a bright orange color.Time passed quickly... I guess rummaging through the warehouse took longer than expected.

He briefly says his goodbyes to Jasoof and Amir before one of their servants drives him toward the hotel.

Slightly struggling, Auren grabs all of his bags—heavy and stuffed with his finds—and drags them along, making his way into the hotel.

I look completely silly... carrying all this junk with me. Well, who cares? These are treasures... probably.

Riding the elevator up to his floor, he walks to his room and finally drops all of his things on the floor with a loud, echoing bang.

As he grabs his key, the door next to his opens, and Neffi darts out.

“Auren!” she yells. “Where were you? I was looking for you! I understand that you need some space every once in a while, but I didn’t expect you to disappear for almost the entire day. Also, what are you carrying? A spear? An Axe? Paintings? Were you shopping for antiques?”

“I did a little job because I wanted to test something. Nothing much,” Auren responds, then points toward his bags. “I got these from a Glam Clan Warehouse. They can’t sell them, so they gave them away.”

“Help me carry them inside!” he adds while opening the door.

“Fine,” she answers, walking up to him, looking angry at him, grabbing his arm, before finally smiling and grabbing a few of the bags.

Together, they carry the bags inside, and Neffi immediately begins staring at them with curiosity. “Can I take a look?” she finally asks.

“Go ahead,” Auren says, nodding. “To tell you the truth, I accepted a little solo mission. Nothing dangerous, but I wanted to test my new Hatsu.”

Neffi suddenly stops rummaging through the bags and looks up at him. “Is it ready? Show it to me!”

“Maybe some other time,” Auren smirks.

“Meanie...” Neffi says, sulking just a little.

Auren ignores her comment and asks, “How are the others?”

“Everyone is fine!” Neffi says cheerfully. “The twins are enjoying the shows and luxuries of the Hotel. Joanne spends her days reading—she’s very silent but looks relaxed. Jean is pretty fun to be around. She enjoys the stores in the city and seems to be having the time of her life. They’re training hard, too. Just like you said, they spend a couple of hours in the gym every day. They’re close to opening all their Aura nodes, so I’d say they’re doing great. They are probably the ones having the most balanced and healthy lifestyle. Your goal of three weeks might actually be realistic at their current pace. Eren’s siblings, Mio and Kai, are doing fine as well. I think in a few months they’ll get there too. Jolt seems to be really happy—he’s constantly praising you in front of everyone and telling his daughters to be grateful. His wife is just happy and does everything she can to support everyone else, mostly the kids.”

“Sounds great,” Auren says, pleased. “What about Killi?”

“She’s doing great, too. She’s worried about her friend, but aside from that, she’s very close to all of us,” Neffi says. “Despite her reluctance, she’s practicing Ten and Zetsu every day, and she even accompanies Mio and Kai to the gym.”

“That leaves... yourself, Goreinu, Konrad, Vanessa, and Eren,” Auren says thoughtfully.

“I’m doing great, actually,” Neffi replies. “I’m really enjoying this. I’m not used to being around so many people since I spent most of my life training under my Master, but it’s great. Goreinu seems to enjoy the trip too. I think he desperately needed some money, and thanks to you, he seems strangely content. I think you really helped him out. Konrad is his usual self—focused on his business ventures. He sometimes leaves and visits a few companies that operate here, I think his Conjuration ability makes him very hard to beat in business discussions. It’s a powerful Hatsu.

I agree... for business, there is nothing better. Konrad is a smart guy, and his Hatsu suits him just fine.

Neffi continues, “Vanessa and Eren are training hard, maybe even a little too hard. They both seem highly motivated.”

“I’ll talk to them later,” Auren says. “Thanks for telling me.”

After a small pause, he adds, “I’m a little tired today. I’ll go to bed so we can continue the training tomorrow.”

Neffi briefly hugs Auren before shily leaving the room.

She’s become rather clingy.

Finally alone, Auren makes a call to Rakshala, who picks up almost instantly.

“Auren,” she replies, sounding pleased. “I am so happy that you grace me with yet another call. How can I help you this time?”

“I don’t remember receiving much help the last time, but this time I do indeed have a request,” Auren says.

“Do you have a decent Nen technique to open your Aura nodes? The entire process, from meditation to breathing and opening the Nodes. It doesn’t have to be ones we use, just one that is not too bad and has no large flaws,” Auren asks.

“These techniques are all similar. You need to learn the proper breathing and relaxing techniques, and then slowly open your Nodes. The techniques just explain different ways to achieve that result. Geniuses don’t even need them—if they know what they need to do, they can easily do it without one. They are not exactly rare, so I’ll send Grunah a message. She has access to many techniques and can send you a good one.”

“Great,” Auren says. “Tell her to only send me one that is not secret or highly valued. I just want a decent one, suited for people with a low amount of talent. They should be reliable; the speed is not that important. I plan to sell it to the Glam Clan.”

“If you can make a deal, go ahead,” Rakshala says, unbothered.

“I’ll hand over the profits to Hollow Blade; it’s more about the relationship, I guess. The Clan has been good to me, so I’m going through the hassle of asking you,” Auren explains.

“No problem,” Rakshala says. “How are you, Auren? I am worried about you.”

“Why?” Auren replies, sounding confused. “I am fine.”

“You have taken on a lot of responsibilities. Just make sure you don’t overburden yourself,” Rakshala says.

“I’m fine,” Auren declares. “I’m getting a lot of support from different people. Everyone is helping me out. You really don’t have to worry about me.”

“It looks like you have grown,” Rakshala states. “It’s good to rely on people you trust... people who have your back are treasures—however, there are plenty of people ready to stab you in the back... make sure to stab them first. Showing mercy to snakes and betrayers is a form of suicide. Never make that mistake.”

There is no one like that among us... but I can understand and respect what she’s trying to say.

“I understand,” Auren says. “I’ll see you soon. Also, Rakshala... don’t worry about me. I worry about you.”

Especially after all the shit she’s been up to!

“My child,” Rakshala begins, speaking in a soft, cheerful tone. “You will never have to worry about me again, not with the gift you gave me. Enjoy your travels, and if you ever need help or someone to talk to, give me a call.”

“Goodnight,” Auren replies, ending the call.

Despite feeling a little tired, Auren activates Ren before using his Water Clone Hatsu again, gathering and then emitting a large amount of Aura, creating a clone that looks just like him.

The last bits of sunlight shine on the clone, revealing a slightly watery surface.

Auren conjures Eternity, then practices his sword techniques while the clone mimics every movement with an Aura blade that looks exactly like his own.

After around thirty minutes, the clone dissipates, its Aura spent.

Auren creates another clone and continues training.

Another thirty minutes later, that clone disappears as well. Undeterred, Auren summons a third Water clone.

When the third clone vanishes—after yet another thirty-minute training session—his own Aura is completely drained.

Feeling satisfied and exhausted, he showers and climbs into bed, quickly falling asleep.

When he wakes up, the group is already training and enjoying their time in Glam Gas Land.

Auren checks his mail and spots a message from Grunah with the technique attached to the mail. He briefly reads through it, nodding along.

It sounds a little too simple. This technique relies on repetition, and it is exactly what I wanted. It’s easy to learn, but it’s not even remotely as effective as the one taught to me by Lidor.

Auren opens the document and adds a few notes of his own, explaining the basics and offering additional tips, drawing on his own experience.

Using the facilities in the hotel, Auren prints out the copy before deleting any related files from his phone and the computer used for printing.

With a freshly printed copy in hand, he calls Jasoof, who quickly visits him in his room.

“Jasoof,” Auren greets him. “Here is the technique, along with a few of my personal experiences.”

“Auren,” Jasoof replies. “I am very grateful. Can I see it?”

Auren hands over the technique.

“It looks... rather... modern?” Jasoof comments.

“The information itself is ancient. I just printed it. Did you expect an old, mystical, tattered book?” Auren asks him with a grin.

“I see, no, of course not,” Jasoof says, looking embarrassed. “I guess what you say is true.”

An hour later, Auren is exactly 250 million Jenny richer, which he immediately transfers over to one of the accounts used by Hollow Blade.

Things continue for the group in Glam Gas Land. With most wanted men caught by them or in hiding, and with a large number of Clan missions completed, the group focuses on training, only doing a mission once in a while.

Finally, when the three weeks are up, Auren wakes for the last time in his hotel room.

Glam Gas Land was a great location for training.... The results were excellent! It’s time to leave!