Chapter 8: 60 Seconds.
The heavy, reinforced steel gates ground upward, their hydraulic hiss echoing through the cavernous training facility.
Kurapika stepped onto the scarred concrete floor. The sheer scale of the arena was designed to make any normal human feel entirely insignificant. At the far end of the facility, submerged in the shadows, a colossal silhouette began to stir. Deep, mechanical groans vibrated through the floorboards as the Zero-Pointer—a towering titan of olive-green steel and thick armor plating—powered online. Its massive, crimson optical sensors flared to life, locking instantly onto the lone boy standing below.
A sharp, electronic buzzer echoed from the PA system. The sixty-second countdown had begun.
Up in the observation deck, Shota Aizawa leaned closer to the reinforced glass, his dark eyes narrowing. "He isn't taking a defensive stance," the underground hero noted, his voice laced with professional skepticism. "He isn't looking for cover, either. Is the kid frozen in shock?"
Beside him, Principal Nezu took a calm sip from his teacup. "Watch closely, Shota. That boy left his fear in London."
Down in the arena, the Zero-Pointer did not hesitate. Recognizing the target, it lunged forward with surprising, terrifying speed for its size. It raised a colossal fist, casting a massive, suffocating shadow over Kurapika. The robotic arm descended like a falling meteor, aimed directly at the ground to crush the boy under tons of unyielding steel.
Kurapika didn't flinch. His gray eyes, entirely devoid of panic, tracked the descending fist with cold calculation.
He exhaled slowly. The latent, heavy energy pooling in his core surged outward. A dense, shimmering aura of pure Nen erupted around his body, kicking up a fierce wind that whipped his blonde hair wildly.
Clink. The metallic sound was sharp, cutting through the mechanical roar of the robot. From the intense aura around his right arm, heavy silver chains violently materialized, wrapping tightly around his wrist and extending outward. At the tip of the chain gleamed a sharp, diamond-shaped dagger.
Behind the glass, Aizawa's posture straightened instantly. "Materialization? His file stated his family possessed a versatile energy-manipulation Quirk. Creating complex physical matter out of thin air is an entirely different classification."
"It is both, and neither," Nezu explained quietly, his black eyes fixed on the silver chains. "The clan's Quirk is called Nen. It is a highly malleable energy governed entirely by the user's will, intellect, and emotional state. It adapts. It takes the shape of their absolute resolve."
In the arena, the giant fist was mere feet from annihilating Kurapika.
With a flick of his wrist, Kurapika launched the chain upward. The diamond-shaped dagger shot through the air like a bullet, piercing deep into the reinforced concrete wall high above the robot's shoulder. Using the chain as a grappling hook, Kurapika yanked himself off the ground.
BOOM!
The Zero-Pointer's fist slammed into the empty floor, shattering the concrete and sending a massive shockwave of dust and debris rippling through the arena.
Kurapika was already soaring through the air, completely untouched. He swung gracefully above the plume of smoke, his movements incredibly fluid and defying gravity. He manipulated the length of the chain, treating the terrifying war machine below him not as a threat, but as a mere anchor point for his aerial dance.
Detecting the target above, the Zero-Pointer recalibrated. It swung its other massive arm in a wide, horizontal arc, attempting to swat the airborne boy out of the sky like a fly.
Kurapika's gray eyes narrowed into a dangerous, predatory glare. He didn't retreat. He released his tether to the wall, twisting his body elegantly in mid-air. As he fell perfectly toward the incoming metallic arm, he whipped his right hand forward.
The silver chain lashed out like a striking serpent. It coiled tightly around the robot's thick, armored wrist.
Kurapika gripped the chain with his bandaged hands. "Harden," he whispered.
He pumped a massive, concentrated surge of Nen directly into the metallic links. The chain glowed with a terrifying, dense light. With a violent, full-body pull, Kurapika forced the chain to constrict. The Nen-enhanced metal sliced through the Zero-Pointer's thick steel plating, internal wiring, and hydraulic lines with a horrifying, shrieking screech of tearing metal.
The colossal arm was cleanly amputated. It plummeted to the arena floor with a deafening crash, spraying sparks and hydraulic fluid across the concrete.
Up in the booth, Aizawa's jaw clenched. The pure, surgical lethality of the move was staggering. He didn't just dodge it. He dismantled it in mid-air.
But Kurapika wasn't finished.
The momentum from severing the arm propelled him directly toward the Zero-Pointer's massive, main facial casing. The robot was staggering, its systems glitching from the critical damage, but its red optical sensors were still glaring down at him.
Kurapika retracted his chain, letting it fade back into aura. He didn't need the blade for this. He needed the monster to feel his anger.
While still suspended in the air, falling right toward the robot's "face," Kurapika pulled back his right arm. His fist was heavily wrapped in the white, blood-stained medical bandages from the hospital. He channeled every ounce of his Nen away from materialization and directly into his physical body—pure, unadulterated Enhancement.
A brilliant, blinding shroud of power enveloped his bandaged fist.
With a sharp, aggressive exhale, Kurapika drove his fist directly into the center of the Zero-Pointer's armored face.
The impact was explosive. A visible shockwave rippled through the air. The immensely thick frontal armor of the robot violently caved inward beneath the knuckles of the fifteen-year-old boy. The crimson optical lenses shattered into a thousand pieces of glass, and a burst of electrical explosions erupted from the back of the machine's head.
The sheer kinetic force of the Nen-enhanced punch sent the multi-ton titan staggering violently backward. It let out a deep, dying mechanical groan as it fought to stay upright, completely blinded and critically damaged.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
The sixty-second timer blared through the speakers. The test was over.
Kurapika landed softly on the cracked concrete, his shirt flaring out slightly behind him. He stood up straight, his breathing perfectly even, completely unbothered by the dust settling around him. He looked up at the heavily damaged, sparking, and practically ruined Zero-Pointer that was currently limping backward, struggling not to collapse entirely.
Kurapika lowered his bandaged hand, the glowing aura fading quietly beneath his skin. He turned his cold, gray eyes away from the wreckage and looked directly up at the one-way glass of the observation deck.
Behind the glass, the room was trapped in stunned silence.
Aizawa stared down at the boy, then at the severed robotic arm, and finally at the caved-in armor of the Zero-Pointer's face. The test was simply to survive the obstacle for a minute. The kid had effortlessly turned it into scrap metal with his bare, injured hands.
Aizawa slowly exhaled, turning to look at the Principal.
"I'll prepare a desk in Class 1-A," Aizawa said quietly. "He starts tomorrow."
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Plz push the story with your power stones!
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The latest chapters I have reached so far;
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