Chapter 14: Second Win

Soon, a month had passed as Soren and Machi waited for different Nen users to display their abilities to gauge their strength, and after finding an opponent they would like to fight, they would send them a challenge, but nobody accepted their challenges, as they were both unknown figures with unknown abilities.

"It's so hard to find an opponent!... Soren…": machi

Seeing the look he received from Machi, he immediately knew what she was thinking and spoke to shoot her down.

"No… If we fight in the arena I will not hold back, so don't even think about asking me to let you win": soren

"Ah!... So mean!... You're telling me you would hit your own wife?": machi

"Don't worry, you don't have to worry about that because we won't be fighting… But if it does happen, I will rock the hell out of you for the greater good": soren

Machi was shocked to hear such words as she asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Oh?... And what is this greater good?": machi

"Adding more wins to my record, obviously": soren

Machi playfully punched Soren in the shoulder before she had turned on the television to watch some fights on the lower floors, and just as the screen came on, machi and Soren heard the tail end of the fight recap.

{Contestant 1056, Killua, has just ended his fight with Contestant 2043, Bolt, with a TKO, and will be promoted to the 150th floor!... Such a young contestant yet he's so strong!... I guess this kid's parents didn't let him skimp out on the vegetables… Hahaha!}

Soren and Machi watched as the arena camera panned over Killua as he stood tall with his cold eyes, but the camera then changed to a new arena as the commentator changed to another person.

'So Killua is still playing around on the lower floors… I guess he hated being kept inside that bland estate with nothing to do and nobody to hang out with who truly sees you as a friend… It really is a sad life he lives': soren

Soon, another month had passed, as Machi had finally experienced her first troublesome battle with a Nen user, and Soren decided to go and watch, but due to her lack of head on combat experience, the result of the battle came out as her loss, but not before she put up a fight.

{Machi seems to be attacking with steel threads!... Can Gunther defend against such a vicious weapon?}

As the commentator began commentating the surface level fight, the real fight was taking place among the Nen users as only they could see the true battle as the green haired Gunther and the pink haired Machi faced off.

'She seems to be running, but she's laying a trap with her thread… This Gunther seems to be a Conjurer, with a unique ability to cosplay with 5 different forms': soren (A/N: got the idea from reddit)

"Hehehe!... Time to face the Jingling Jester!": gunther

Gunther pressed one of the 5 buttons surrounding the amulet that hung around his neck, as his clothes quickly changed into a random assortment of colors as his once clean face became painted with white and red face paint, while his multicolored jester hat jingled every time he would move around, while he carried a pair of sickles in his hands.

"Why did the chicken cross the road?... To say hello to his friend!... HAHAHAHA!": gunther

After telling the terrible joke, a green smoke began emanating from his entire body as his Nen began spreading it around the stage as he attacked with the dual pair of sickles.

"What a terrible joke!... Stop laughing, you fool!": machi

Machi continued to dodge the attacks as she continued running around the stage while avoiding the green smoke as much as possible, as she occasionally tried to rope Gunther in her threads to begin controlling him, but he kept using his sickles to slice through the threads.

"Such a nuisance!": machi

'Hais… She's not using her Nen to reinforce the durability of the threads': soren

Soren felt that there was quite a bit left for Machi to learn how to better utilize her abilities, and this match would be her learning point.

"Knock knock!... Who's there!?... BOO!... Boo who?... Stop crying! HAHAHAHA!": gunther

As the audience listened to the terrible jokes, they began to reel back in disgust, while the more and more jokes that were told would cause more and more green gas to be spread around the stage.

"This should be enough… HAHAHAHA!... Prepare to laugh with me!... Laughing Gas!": gunther

When Machi heard the words 'laughing gas' she realized that breathing in this gas would cause her to lose control over her body, so using her sleeve to cover her face, fighting became a lot harder.

"Hehehehe!... You should stop struggling so much": gunther

Gunther began walking towards Machi while spinning the sickles in his hands as his foolish face continued to shake from the giggles and chuckles that escaped his mouth.

'Now's my chance!': machi

Seeing Gunther enter a certain point on the stage, Machi gave a sigh of relief as her method of forcing her opponent into the place she wanted had worked as she raised her hand with Nen threads tied all around her fingers and when she did that, hundreds of threads had risen from the stage floor as they tightened around Gunther taking him by surprise.

"Oh?... Hehehe!... You're quite sneaky, but did you really think you could avoid my Laughing Gas by covering your face?... The real joke here today is YOU!... HAHAHA!... The Laughing Gas has been entering your body through your skin as well!": gunther

Just as Gunther spoke, Machi had begun feeling weak as her Nen threads began loosening as Gunther noticed that he was now free to move again.

"Now… HEHEHE! How should I end this battle?... Perhaps an entertaining strip tease?... No, these people don't deserve such comedy": gunther

Seeing Machi fall unconscious, the referee came over and announced Gunther as the winner, as his Jester cosplay vanished leaving him in his simple white t-shirt and blue jeans as the 5 button amulet hung around his neck, and after he was announced the winner, Gunther left the stage.

'I hope she learns from this fight and gets better': soren

After seeing Machi's match, Soren felt the need to sign up as well, and upon signing up, Soren noticed that Gunther was there as well.

'This guy… Is he here to sign up again?... He's got 90 days after winning his match today': soren

Seeing Gunther sign up, he waited to see who he picked to fight, but before he could look for an answer, Gunther walked past him while speaking.

"Heh, I'll see you in the ring, Soren": gunther

'So he's targeting me?... Perhaps he's with that idiot who I made leave?': soren

Soren didn't care, as he wouldn't back down from a challenge, and this Gunther was quite interesting, so after a few days, Soren's fight with Gunther had arrived.

{Ladies and Gentlemen!... Today we should have an amazing match up between the winner of the other day's fight, Gunther, takes on the winner of his first match through forfeit, Soren!}

Word had begun to spread that Soren was extremely powerful, so much so that his opponent was too scared to fight him, and this wasn't a rumor, but that opponent was a bug crawling around on the 200th floor looking for free wins.

"So… What do you fight with?": gunther

"I'm proficient with a sword, but I mainly fight using my hands, and seeing as I don't have a sword, I'll fight you with my fists": soren

Soren spoke casually, as knowing his choice of weapon was nothing special because his ability was still unknown, but most skilled masters will be able to tell what category a Nen user falls under through the type of weapon they use.

"I see… So you're either an Enhancer or a Transmuter": gunther

And just as the fight had started, Gunther summoned his amulet as he pressed one of the 5 buttons as his body glowed in a bright light before the light faded, revealing Gunther wearing a bunch of plant matter as he held two long whips with sharp thorns running all along the whips.

"Hehe, this is my vine man costume, and it's best for dealing with Enhancers": gunther

Seeing Gunther activate his Hatsu, Soren responded in kind as he activated his Ten, shrouding himself in a blood red cloak, as he began charging towards Gunther with tongues of flames were begging shot towards Gunther's flammable costume, but he quickly dodged, only to be trapped by Soren as he sent a punch landing into the gut of Gunther.

"Ahhkkuug!": gunther

Gunther was sent flying back before stabilizing himself as the referee declared the clean hit and awarded Soren 1 point.

"Haa!... So you're a Transmuter?... No, that was Emission… But you hit like an Enhancer too… Hehe!... You are indeed interesting": gunther

Soren noticed that Gunther had protected himself at the very last second using Ken to shroud his gut in a protective shroud of aura, and after seeing Gunther stand there as if nothing had happened, Soren felt that his opponent was stronger than he first thought.

'I wonder if I can use lightning to create the Chidori?': soren

Soren then held out his hand as he began transmuting his aura into lightning, but after having it surround his hand, he felt the pain of the electricity coursing through his hand, but after thinking about creating a barrier between the lightning and his physical body, Soren tried it and realized it could work as he began charging forward with his hand chirping, while the audience felt like a swarm of birds had entered the tower.

'What the hell is this brat!... I need to siphon his Nen quickly!': gunther

Gunther started charging towards Soren while preparing his whips to attack Soren and entrap him. As Soren's fist came crashing down on Gunther, Gunther had decided it was safer to defend as he quickly pressed a button on his amulet as his costume was changed once again to an Armored Knight, and when the lightning fist landed, Soren could feel a rebound effect as it sent him staggering back.

'There's my chance!': gunther

Gunther took his chance to switch back to his vine costume as the whips reappeared in his hands, and with a roping motion, Gunther had wrapped Soren in his whips as Gunther strengthened the whips with Shu.

"Hahaha!... This is my win!... In these bindings, you will be drained of your stamina and Nen, and if I don't stop after you are dried up, I could even kill you": gunther

Soren could feel the whips draining his power at a rapid pace, but it was slow enough for him not to worry as he started up a conversation.

"Oh?... And where does this Nen go?... Do you absorb it?": soren

"Of course not!... The whips funnel it in and disperse it into the surroundings": gunther

Gunther explained a useless fact about the whips, but there was a key word that Soren took from the information.

"So there is a limit to the absorption rate?... Then let's see how much they can absorb!": soren

Soren activated two limiters as two fox tails appeared behind his back made of Nen, and upon Soren forcing his Nen to be absorbed by the whips, they began to surge and twitch, as Gunther began feeling that the whips were being overloaded by a volatile Nen.

"What the hell are you doing!?": gunther

"Me?... I'm feeding the plants?": soren

After saying that, Soren released the third limiter as another tail formed behind his back, making the whips explode from the vast intake of energy, leaving Soren there standing completely unharmed, and taking advantage of Gunther's surprise, Soren disappeared from his place and reappeared next to Gunther before sending an electrified punch into his chest before dispersing his Nen and clapping the dust off his hands.

'He's strong, but he still feels like a bottomfeeder here': soren

The referee came on stage and made the call as Soren was awarded his second win since entering the 200th floor.

'I wonder what Machi will think about this…Hehe': soren

Soren went back to his room just as he saw Machi leaving the room.

"Where are you going?": soren

"I'm not feeling good, so I'm going to the doctors to get it checked out": machi