Hunter x Hunter - Unlimited Abilities

The hum of the airport filled the background.

Arin sat alone near Terminal 7 of Fallenerdes Airport, a paper map unfolded on his lap.

He ran a finger slowly across the page, tracing the curved coastline of the Begerosse Union.

In just two seconds he found the wide expanse of ocean that separated it from the Republic of Padokea.

His eyes narrowed slightly as they landed on a particular city.

He tapped the paper once.

"Heavens Arena."

He leaned back in the hard plastic chair and let the thought settle.

"Big enough for my liking," he muttered under his breath. "Far enough for my safety."

He didn't need a second opinion.

Heaven's Arena was more than just a landmark.

It was a colossus.

A literal and symbolic tower that pierced the sky.

They were Offering fighters from across the world the opportunity to climb its floors, gain recognition, and earn money.

But to Arin, it was something more valuable.

"Real combat experience."

He knew better than to romanticize Nen.

He'd learned the fundamentals, trained his body, and sharpened his mind.

But theory and shadow sparring could only take him so far.

His Nen Points had stalled at 8.0, and he understood why.

"Experience mattered. That was the real reason why Hisoka was powerful against many foes..."

"Without real combat, without clashing with other Nen users, he was just another novice with a trick and no teeth," he thought.

He could crush non-Nen users, sure. But against a real opponent?

Someone with reflexes honed in battle? With Hatsu, timing, and killer instinct?

He'd crumble.

And Nakis… Nakis had seen that.

He may not have said it outright, but Arin knew.

That alone made staying in Fallenerdes a bad gamble.

He folded the map with clean precision and slipped it into his coat pocket.

His flight would board in twenty minutes.

He had purchased the ticket under an alias.

He also used only physical cash, Jenny—no cards, no traceable exchanges.

As he looked at the other people, he smiled.

All of these people who were living ordinary lives without the information of Nen and what was happening in the real world seemed too distant to him.

Not that he was close to people when he was back on Earth, but this time the difference was even more.

"That's what this power does," he thought.

"It disconnects you. The more you understand it, the less you belong."

He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

He focused on his aura and let it swirl gently around his body in a tight but calm ten.

Not enough to be noticed.

Just enough to train his aura control capability.

He opened his eyes again when the boarding call came.

He stood up, walked calmly to the gate, and boarded the plane without looking back.

The flight to the Republic of Padokea was long but uneventful.

Two days in the air, several in-flight meals, and plenty of time to refine plans in his mind.

Arin didn't sleep. He spent most of the time studying the Heavens Arena structure from a guidebook he'd bought at the terminal.

He also did not forget to train his physical body and kept on meditating to become more of a master over his Nen control.

Two hundred and fifty-one floors.

Fighters started on the ground floor, and each victory brought you higher, more danger, but more money too.

And once you reached Floor 200, you couldn't proceed unless you were a Nen user.

"Traditional Greeting..."

"If you have no nen when you reach Floor 200, the ones there will be attacking with the nen without caring about whether you die or not."

"There are some who can pass the greeting, but they lose something in return, mostly their limbs..."

He didn't plan to rush it.

The lower floors would give him a controlled environment to practice, adapt, and refine his instincts.

"In the lower floors, as long as I keep on winning, it also means I can make money."

"In the end, in the two hundreds, winning does not pay any money; one must make private deals with the people to make money."

And all the while, he'd be hundreds of miles away from the Begerosse Union and from Nakis.

He smiled faintly at the thought.

As the airship descended into Padokea airspace, the clouds parted to reveal the glittering coastline and the rising silhouette of Heaven's Arena, a massive spire of steel, glass, and aura.

Even from this distance, it dwarfed the city around it.

This was a place people came to test themselves or die trying.

By the time Arin stood at the base of the colossal structure, the sun was beginning to dip behind the clouds. He looked up at the tower.

"So it begins," he said quietly.

He reached into his pocket and touched the slip of paper with Nakis' number still folded inside.