Pariston and Auren enter the large, empty training room.
Auren's eyes are glued to Netero, who is meditating in front of the wide windows, overlooking the cityscape of Swardani City.
What a coincidence...
"Oh, Chairman!" Pariston says with a friendly smile. "What a surprise, I didn't expect you to be here."
Liar! I should have known something must have been up when he agreed to a spar.
"Hoho," Netero says, opening his eyes and standing up slowly. "Why is it a surprise, Pariston? Surely after all this time, you realize that I meditate here every chance I get. Still, I welcome your visit. I haven't seen you train in a long time. What a pleasant surprise."
Wearing his usual robe and wooden sandals with high wooden supports, Netero walks toward them, each step marked by a sharp clack echoing across the training hall.
"I see Auren is here as well," Netero says, smiling in Auren's direction. "Could it be you want to spar with him? I must say, I am a little disappointed. Didn't you promise me a spar? This is a first for me, denying me a spar and choosing to fight Pariston of all people?"
"I haven't forgotten about my promise, Chairman," Auren replies calmly. "I figured I could use a warm-up, which is why I decided to spar with the rat first. Build up a little confidence, you see?"
After hearing Auren's response, Netero grins widely before breaking into joyful laughter.
Pariston just keeps smiling, apparently unbothered by Auren's jab.
Once Netero calms down again, he says, "Well, I won't bother you, but surely you won't deny me a seat to watch this spar, right?"
"Of course not, Chairman," Pariston says. "I'll never pass up an opportunity to demonstrate my abilities."
"Pariston," Netero says, his expression turning more serious. "It has been years since I've seen you train, but it has been even longer since I heard you say something truthful. It's quite miraculous that you at least decided to spar. If you start speaking the truth here or there, I fear the world will end soon."
"Hahaha," Pariston laughs, clapping his hands together. "Your jokes are quite funny, Chairman, but I do feel a little embarrassed. Please don't humiliate me in front of my junior, or I'll lose all the respect I worked so hard to earn."
"Pariston," Netero continues, now with a harder tone. "You are a genius in many regards. However, what I prefer—straight up, fair one-on-one battles—you loathe. I have trained my entire life to find strong opponents and then challenge them to a fair fight. You, on the other hand, love to use others to fight your battles for you, disrupt your opponents, and avoid a situation like this one. I must say, I'm rather intrigued by how you plan on fighting our rising star here. You might actually lose Auren's respect if you perform too badly, not that you worked hard to build it."
"I respect Pariston—very much so," Auren replies. "For all the wrong reasons, however..."
"I'm glad to hear I've earned your respect," Pariston answers, grinning widely. "As the future Chairman, I want to earn the respect of every Hunter!"
A little bored by the bickering, Auren steps into the center of the room and begins stretching lightly.
"No weapons," Auren states clearly. "It's just a spar, right?"
"How gracious, Auren," Pariston replies. "I'm sure someone as strong as you won't need them anyway."
"Come on then!" Auren yells, taking on a fighting stance.
With slight reluctance, Pariston joins him at the center.
Netero also steps forward, standing between them. "Auren, I hear you've been enjoying the world's fighting Mecca—Heaven's Arena? Let's play by the same rules, then. I'll be the judge. Now, are you ready?"
"Yes," Auren replies firmly.
Pariston seems slightly bothered by the setup and begins to ramble, "Not really... Fighting like this makes me feel uncomfortable. Perhaps we should reschedu—"
"Begin!" Netero suddenly yells, crossing his arms as he steps back.
The moment Netero announces the start of the match, Auren releases his strongest Ren, not holding back in the slightest.
Thanks to his intensive training, not only has his total Aura capacity expanded, but his maximum output has also grown considerably.
Using Shadow Step, Auren rushes forward without making a sound, darting past Pariston, who just barely manages to activate Ren in time before Auren begins his attack.
Without slowing down, Auren continues circling him, using swift but precise movements, before finally activating Rhythm Echo, instantly creating more than ten afterimages that appear all around Pariston, mimicking his movements.
"Hey, that's not fair! I thought it was 1-on-1!" Pariston says in a teasing voice, but visibly bothered by it, as the copies begin to encircle him, getting closer and closer.
With afterimages flickering all around, Auren manipulates them carefully—one of them suddenly lunges at Pariston from behind.
Pariston, surprisingly quick to react, turns around and raises his guard, trying to block the strike. But the moment the clone makes contact, it disperses into nothing. Auren, however, appears on the opposite side, launching a punch, shifting most of his Aura into his fist using Ryu.
Somehow, and it really seems like sheer dumb luck, Pariston twists mid-motion and raises his arm just in time to block again.
But even with his block in place, Pariston is blasted backwards. The force sends him flipping through the air before crashing hard against the floor, rolling several meters across it.
"Hoho!" Netero says cheerfully. "Critical hit and down! 3–0, Auren! Pariston, your reactions are slow! And what's with that shoddy Aura control? You didn't shift it fast enough! Don't embarrass me now. Resume!"
"Can I surrende—" Pariston begins to stammer, but Auren is already moving toward him—this time directly, without any tricks.
Standing in front of him, despite having the clear disadvantage in both height and reach, Auren throws a flurry of fast, precise punches. Pariston, somehow, manages to dodge or deflect them all. But when Auren shifts to a low kick, striking at Pariston's legs, it visibly slows him down.
Auren doesn't miss the opportunity. Pressing forward, he steps in aggressively, looking for another clean hit to bring him down.
Pariston finally counters, swinging at Auren with form that's surprisingly refined—his strikes clean, swift, and well-practiced. Using his longer limbs and superior height, he keeps Auren at bay, not allowing him to close in again.
He can use martial arts. This isn't Shingen-ryu, which Netero teaches... but it's effective. So he really is an expert after all. However, it's just a little... ordinary. This kind of attack won't catch me off guard.
Without hesitation, not fearing his attacks, Auren closes the gap again, shifting his Aura into his arms to block Pariston's counterattacks as the man backpedals defensively.
Focusing his Aura into his feet, Auren dashes forward and throws a heavy punch. Pariston, with solid instincts, brings his arms up and braces.
At the moment of contact, Auren sharply redirects his Aura to his knee, and slams it into Pariston's calf.
The impact makes Pariston flinch, breaking his guard for just a moment, as he loses his balance. Without missing a beat, Auren steps in with a quick palm strike—but Pariston jumps backwards to avoid it.
Only, Auren doesn't stop there. Using his Emission training, he sends a blast of Aura after him, catching Pariston mid-air and striking him cleanly in the stomach, blasting his entire body backwards.
Caught completely off guard, Pariston coughs up blood as the force hits him, dropping to his knees as his legs buckle beneath him.
"Critical hit and down... again," Netero calls out gleefully. "Sneaky Emitters and their Aura blasts. You remind me of an old friend who liked to use similar tricks. Come to think of it, you sparred against him as well. Can you continue, Pariston? That makes it 6–0 for Auren already."
"No, I'd like to stop. I'm really feeling quite hur—" Pariston begins to reply, but Netero instantly cuts him off.
"Continue!" the Chairman yells without hesitation.
I'm not letting him rest... not until he finally shows me even the slightest glimpse of his true skills. I can feel it. He's far stronger than he pretends to be.
Auren steps in again, launching into another sequence of relentless attacks, combo after combo. He deliberately avoids using his claws or any of his Hatsus, relying entirely on clean strikes and disciplined and precise Aura control, and of course, his trained body and martial arts knowledge, taught to him by Buno and Bunu.
Pariston struggles visibly. He blocks and dodges as best he can, but every hit makes him wince. Despite being taller and broader, he's clearly on the defensive, not able to contest with Auren in a straight-up exchange.
I've got the edge in strength. All that physical training really paid off. And surprisingly, I'm even slightly ahead in raw Aura output... assuming he's not still holding back. If this continues, it'll end just like this.
With each strike, Pariston is forced to desperately block or evade. The pressure doesn't let up.
I won't let this guy off without showing me his true strength!
Deciding to go all out, Auren closes the distance again, spinning a circle, before pretending to punch, only to emit another powerful Nen blast.
Parison manages to block and get out of harm's way after taking the initial attack, moving to the side, only for Auren to again focus his Aura on his feet, appearing before him, before kicking his shoulder with all of his might, once again kicking him to the ground, causing him to land painfully.
"Critical Hit and down, for the third time. It's 9-0. This is quite embarrassing," Netero comments, yawning a little.
"Chairman... that wasn't a critical hit, aren't you a little biased?" Parison responds with a smile.
"I guess this much handicap is enough," he says, cracking his neck and fists. "I guess it's time for me to get serious."
Suddenly, his expression changes, and he stares at Auren with an intense gaze.
"Continue!" Netero screams.
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