Chapter 53: Training and Indulgence

“I’m glad we could come to an agreement!” Rakshala says warmly, her smile genuine.“I have one more small request. This deal will earn you quite a bit of money, after all,” Auren replies.

“What is it, Auren?” she responds, still appearing unbothered.

“Teach me how you managed to elevate your En to this insane level! It’s not just the range—I can sense there’s something else to it,” Auren demands.

“You’re right, my En is probably my strongest skill, but there's no secret or special method behind it. With your talent, reaching my level wouldn’t be impossible. Simply give up your eyes and use En continuously for a few decades, and you’ll easily achieve my level, provided you train diligently,” she replies in a casual yet serious tone.

…That’s definitely not an option! Obviously… but perhaps…

“I’d gladly teach you the basics and see if you’re making any mistakes,” she continues genuinely. “Would you like to go over the fundamentals? You should be able to learn this ability within a few weeks.”

“I can already use En; however, it can’t even compare to yours. I'm pretty much stuck at my current range. The only way forward seems to be patient training,” Auren explains.

“Show me,” she instructs.

Auren activates his En, the range unchanged—still a radius of around 22 meters.

Rakshala smiles slightly. She remains quiet for a few seconds before speaking up. “For your age, this is nothing short of amazing. However, who taught you this technique, if I may ask?”

“Nobody… I just knew about it. It’s not particularly difficult. It's just a combination of Ten and Ren,” Auren replies.

“You shouldn’t normally be stuck at such a limited range. I can sense your Aura clearly, and with your potential, your En is actually quite underdeveloped. Your En feels all wrong. Your goal shouldn’t be to build up a dense, powerful Aura and extend it outwards. In fact, the denser your Aura, the less you'll sense. The key is to stretch your Aura as thinly as possible. You've likely tried that before, but your En failed, causing you to adopt your current approach, which is stable and easier to use, but with way less potential. It’s fine to learn En the way you did, but you need to change that approach. You’ve unwittingly run away from the challenge of mastering it. Using your current method, you'll eventually reach a master level and extend your En to maybe 50 meters within a few decades, but you're capable enough to aim far higher. If I concentrate properly, I can easily maintain an En with a radius exceeding a kilometer for an entire day. And even at that range, I can detect the smallest details—even read letters placed at the very edge of my En.”

Even Zeno’s En only extends to about 300 meters! I suppose that's the difference when someone dedicates themselves fully to this skill. How can she read with Aura?! This shouldn’t be possible… is she using more than just En?

“At a certain point, you can even alter the shape of your En. A circle is the easiest and most common choice for average Nen users. However, some Nen users, particularly master Transmuters, develop more useful and specialized shapes. Now, try again. Cover the same radius you previously reached, but limit yourself to just 50% of your Aura.”

Auren follows her instructions, activating his En but restricting the Aura he uses.

For a brief moment, his En succeeds before his concentration breaks, the dome of Aura immediately crumbles, forcing him to cancel the technique prematurely.

“Almost frightening… You succeeded on your first try. It may have only lasted a second, but you managed it, nonetheless. Train diligently and experiment a little. Nen is all about individuality. Even the basic and advanced techniques can—and should—be modified to fit your unique strengths. Standard applications of Nen are the most common, but strictly adhering to textbook methods only limits your potential,” Rakshala finishes her explanation.

“Thank you, truly. I appreciate your advice,” Auren replies, recognizing how naive he'd been.

“No need. My door is always open to you. How about you visit me once a week? Here’s my number,” she says, handing Auren a black card with her details.

She mentioned… she could even read letters?

“I appreciate it,” Auren says, reaching for one of his own cards.

He stares at the overly simple information printed on it, noting how comically basic it looks—just a name and an email address. His decision to exclude his number might have been a bit too cautious.

Taking out a pen from his backpack, he scribbles his number onto the card, writing as large and clearly as possible.

Rakshala smiles warmly, appreciating Auren’s thoughtful gesture as she accepts the card.

“I’ll assign you your own secretary. Don’t worry, you'll be in control. She’ll just handle minor tasks. You'll surely need one, especially considering what you've told me earlier. I'll handle everything else, though it'll take some time—I want to do my own research first. I need to find out exactly how much Battera can afford to pay. For now, why don’t you visit your instructors? I've already given them your room key, and they've had it renovated for you. I think you'll be surprised.”

“Really? As far as I know, Battera does not care about money at all. As long as his lover is safe, I think he would pay any price. Well, in any case, I’ll trust you, I'm looking forward to getting to know this place,” Auren replies.

Don’t think those two would've cared much, but I’m open to being surprised.

Auren walks toward the door, but stops and turns around, “One more thing. If possible, I want Battera to hand me one copy of Greed Island as well. He doesn’t need them anymore, right? I'd even accept it as part of the payment. Thank you again!”

Rakshala nods, smiling softly.

Despite leaving, Auren can still clearly sense Rakshala’s presence—her En covering the entire town, after all.

She could easily hide it using In, but chooses not to. She almost has a godlike presence here. All knowing, huh? I suppose I’ll have to get used to it. Still, it’s a little unsettling to know she'll be aware of everything I do… Not sure I like that. Maybe I need to find a place further away from her little palace—or rather, her ‘administrative building,’ as people call it.

He steps back into the office, joining up again with Grunah and Neffi. Together, they leave the administrative building and step outside into the town.

Auren, still unused to the unusual sight, looks upwards, glimpsing the sky through the natural opening at the top of the mountain.

“Let me escort you to your instructors. I'm sure they'll be happy to see you,” Grunah says warmly.

“Not so sure about that,” Auren jokes lightly.

Neffi shakes her head as well, “I don’t know much about Elder Buno and Elder Bunu, but there are certain… rumors.”

“Child, stop with those rumors! Though truthfully, they aren’t mere rumors—there is some truth behind them, but they are still within bounds,” Grunah admits.

“Are you trying to make me curious on purpose while speaking in riddles?” Auren asks suspiciously.

“You’ll probably understand once we arrive. Although I disagree with certain choices, everyone is free to decide how they wish to live,” Grunah states.

If they've tricked me…

Auren walks past the houses, noticing some are etched high into the mountain walls, requiring stairs to reach.

They've stacked many houses on top of each other. I guess they’re trying to use every bit of available space. If they keep building like this, this town could easily house tens of thousands.

They circle around the large central space until stopping in front of a huge building towering over the others. It rises almost a hundred meters, with several medium-sized buildings partially connected to it on either side.

“Don’t tell me this entire complex…”

“It all belongs to your instructors. They stay in the large building, while the buildings to the left are for their… ‘employees’,” Grunah explains, quickly adding, “The medium-sized building on the right, with three floors, is new, as far as I know—so you can probably guess what they've planned for it.”

“I like it. More than enough space for me,” Auren says confidently, stepping toward the building.

Auren knocks, and only a few seconds later, a middle-aged woman with long black hair, dressed in a maid's uniform, opens the door with a welcoming smile.

“Welcome, Master Auren! We've been expecting you. Please, come in. Elder Grunah, Young Neffi, you're, of course, welcome as well,” the woman says politely and comfortingly.

“I see what you meant, Grunah. I assume these are employees and not…” Auren starts to say before realizing the woman he's speaking about is standing right in front of him.

“We're doing absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, Master Auren. Our Master is simply employing us. We're assisting our respected Masters and Elders with the upkeep of their home. We're paid fairly and are free to leave whenever we wish,” she clarifies calmly, showing no offense at Auren’s implication.

“Right… thank you for explaining,” Auren replies, stepping into the house.

Despite its ancient and unusual exterior, the inside of the building appears perfectly modern. Even the walls are decorated with tasteful wallpaper. Without the view outside, it looks like a typical, luxurious mansion. Auren's eyes linger on a grand staircase further inside, leading up to various floors and even leading further down.

I guess… they're living like royalty here. I like this structure. So much space!

Auren follows the maid further into the house, ascending the staircase until they reach a grand room with luxurious couches. Buno and Bunu are sitting opposite each other, engaged in a leisurely game of chess. Around them, numerous maids serve drinks, food, and massage them.

Auren cringes as he sees all of them dressed in the same maid uniforms. He glances at them and even spots a young girl, probably younger than 8, sitting next to Bunu, giving him advice on how to outwit his brother.

“Seriously…? So this is why you're considered soft among assassins,” Auren comments, standing in front of them.

“Kid, relax! We're simply enjoying our hard-earned comforts. Welcome to our humble abode,” Buno says cheerfully, giving Auren a wide grin.

Bunu simply smirks, saying nothing.

All the maids rise, bowing respectfully toward Auren.

The small girl gets up, stumbles a little, falls down, and cries, only for another maid to hug her.

“Silly girl, do not rush.” She says.

“Mama, I… I…” She then cries only for her mother to carry her outside.

Before Auren can protest, Bunu says, “She is playing with her mother. She is not ‘working’ here and goes to school full time. She requested the uniform, even begged for it.”

“I wasn’t saying anything…” Auren says, crossing his arms.

Perverts…

“Disgusting!” Neffi whispers behind him, hugging Auren lightly.

“Well… It's fine to enjoy your lives—you've earned it. As long as these women are… ‘compensated’ and not forced, I won't complain,” Auren remarks diplomatically.

“Maybe you should live with us,” Neffi continues, whispering, sounding worried, “I don't want you staying in this place!”

Auren just smiles lightly and sits down comfortably on one of the couches. “It’s good to be home, I suppose!”