Hunter x Hunter : Germain Joins The Hunt

Germain slowly took off his tricorn hat and tucked it into his coat to prevent it from falling.

Then, his gloved hands naturally fell to his sides. There was nothing in them, only the faint reflection of leather.

At the same time, a cleaver, firearm, flamethrower, Ripper Cyclotron cannon, spiral cane, and the Tachi "Thousand Blades" hovered around him, like stars surrounding the moon.

Silva watched this scene, his eyes widening slightly.

This is...

An astonishing amount of Nen and precise control. I fear his Nen capacity may surpass any of ours.

It's only because of this that he can accomplish such a combination of Conjuration, Transmutation, and Manipulation abilities.

However, it seems that these weapons can't stray too far from Germain. Once they exceed a certain distance, they must lose their conjured form.

So, as long as I create enough distance, I can limit the extent of his abilities...

Wait, something still feels off.

Silva narrowed his eyes and noticed an anomaly.

Among the many weapons circling Germain, there was a long, segmented object split into five parts. Only one of the segments contained a faint blue glow.

A progress bar of some sort?

It doesn't seem to represent time, because it's not steadily increasing.

Then it must be related to combat buildup. The most noticeable difference between before and now is that the two of us have stopped fighting.

Once disengaged, the bar stops accumulating. When combat resumes—likely after comparing nen —the difference is added to the progress bar.

In other words, as long as I outmatch his Nen in any single exchange, the bar won't fill... Easier said than done.

The accumulation couldn't be stopped; it could only be slowed down.

If the battle dragged on for too long, something extremely unfavorable to me would surely happen.

However, if I tried to finish the fight quickly, I might step right into his trap, accelerating the progress bar instead…

At that moment, Silva remembered the rule Netero had set beforehand.

Other than surrendering voluntarily, stepping out of bounds would also count as a loss, right?

Maybe, I could use this to my advantage.

Silva's gaze sharpened, and he made a decision.

He raised both hands, palms facing Germain, and conjured two large Explosive Orbs—each the size of a human head.

Then, Silva pushed them forward, sending them hurtling toward Germain.

"Whoosh—whoosh—"

Germain didn't move. Instead, the spiral staff hovering above his head suddenly extended, like a snake twisting mid-air. With a hiss, it pierced through both Explosive Orbs!

"Boom! Boom!"

Explosions rang out like thunder.

However, Germain, who was completely focused, quickly realized that the two Explosive Orbs were just the appetizer. What followed was a barrage of Explosive Orbs filling the sky.

Countless orbs rained down!

Silva looked like a sumo wrestler, continuously pushing his palms forward.

Each time he pushed, another Explosive Orb—each the size of a head—shot toward Germain.

More than twenty orbs rapidly covered the entire area where Germain stood.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—"

A series of explosions rang out, continuous and relentless, destroying an entire section of the area beyond recognition!

Whoosh—

Germain swiftly moved out of the danger zone, circling around and approaching Silva on his own terms.

Floating weapons like cleavers and firearms surrounded him, forming a defensive and offensive formation.

While close combat between Conjurers and Emitters is considered disadvantageous in textbooks, this was a practical sparring match geared toward real combat.

Given the circumstances, engaging Silva in close range actually gave Germain an edge.

However, Silva immediately ran in the opposite direction, putting distance between them while firing a barrage of Explosive Orbs at Germain.

Then something peculiar happened.

Germain chased after Silva, breaking through the incoming Explosive Orbs with his hovering weapons or simply dodging them.

Meanwhile, Silva kept avoiding close combat, maintaining his distance and retaliating with more Explosive Orbs.

What exactly is Silva trying to do?

Germain quickly realized Silva's strategy.

Bit by bit, Silva's relentless Explosive Orbs were forcing Germain closer to the boundary marked by Netero.

If he stepped out of bounds, he would lose.

Using the rules to secure victory? 

That was a solid strategy.

Realizing this, Germain stopped pursuing Silva directly and instead sprinted toward the center of the basin.

Silva continued his Explosive Orb barrage, but Germain kept moving around the center of the basin, refusing to be pushed any closer to the boundary—let alone outside of it.

Silva sighed to himself.

"So, he already figured out my plan. This is going to turn into a stalemate… No, wait… It's already over."

Silva noticed that the Five Attribute Nen Tank around Germain had already charged up two segments of their blue meter.

"So not just attacks… If his defensive Nen exceeds the power of my offensive Nen, does the excess Nen contribute to his charge meter too?"

It felt as though a noose was tightening around his neck, and there was nothing sharp enough at hand to cut it.

Yes, this was the end.

Silva suddenly stopped running. He let his arms drop and dispersed his Nen.

"Stop, Germain. There's no point in continuing this fight…"

"I admit defeat."

Germain was slightly surprised but stopped his steps.

He slowly dispersed his Nen. As the Hunter's Badge hanging around his neck vanished, all the conjured weapons also disappeared, including the Five Attribute Nen Tank.

However, from now on, the progress of his Five Attribute Nen Tank would be saved.

When he manifested the Hunter's Badge again, the Nen slot would still retain the progress of level two, though it would slightly decrease.

Germain was confused. He hadn't used his decisive moves yet, so why did Silva give up so soon?

"Why stop now?" Germain asked.

Silva closed his eyes, then slowly opened them.

"I just briefly simulated various strategies in my mind and realized that aside from fighting you to the death, there was no other way to break the deadlock."

"And even that would go against the rules of this battle. Besides, even if we fought to the death, I wouldn't gain the advantage. So, I admit defeat."

"I figured that once your progress bars fill up, that's when you'll be at your peak. Should I just stand here, waiting to be taken out in one sweep?"

When Silva said the last part, he actually smiled.

It was hard to imagine this usually serious man smiling like that at anyone other than Killua.

Germain thought about it and agreed. It wasn't a life-and-death battle. 

Did they really have to fight until they were both exhausted and beaten?

That wasn't really Silva's style.

But if word got out that Silva had voluntarily surrendered, it would certainly cause a huge uproar.

However, neither Germain nor Silva cared about such trivial matters. Sometimes, when others underestimated them, it made things easier to handle.

So, the first round of the sparring ended with Silva's surrender and Germain's victory.

The once smooth basin now looked like the surface of the moon, ravaged by the explosion of Explosive Orbs.

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