Chapter 33: Drama at Yorknew

Chapter 33: Drama at Yorknew

*Author's Note*

For those who could not understand the last chapter, that's fine. I only go into technical details once for an ability. You don't need to know HOW it works later. Also, for those who don't like that Rayleigh may get messed up by a YingYang Lightsaber, please note that Rayleigh's comprehension of the Force is nowhere close to complete. He needs more stimulus to learn more about it. More character development. The YingYang Lightsaber is nice for me since it gives a straightforward means of character development. When Rayleigh truly understands the Force, there will be no more limits on what he can do with it.

Chapter 33 Drama at Yorknew

The first of September was a big day for Rayleigh and some other Players as well. Wizard Players currently attending Wizard School started their second year today. Players from most schools had a fine first year, but Players attending Hogwarts ended up fighting a troll, a Cerberus, and the shade of a Dark Lord if they could be believed. Other than proximity to the Wizard MC Harry Potter, attending Hogwarts didn't seem to grant a better education than the other Wizard Schools available.

Rayleigh, Gon, and Killua arrived at the airport and unanimously decided to just start wandering around. As one might guess from the name, Yorknew was a massive city that would take weeks to fully explore, and the mishmash of technology and culture made it all the more interesting.

Gon wanted to check out the marketplace and see how different it was from the one on Whale Island. Killua wanted to check out the arcade. Rayleigh was fine with both but fully intended on eating every meal at the best restaurant they could find so he could steal some more recipes.

First, they had breakfast at an old fashion pancake house that had great reviews. Rayleigh had blueberry, while Gon and Killua both got chocolate chip pancakes. Five stars, they were delicious.

Gon beat Killua in Rock-Paper-Scissors so they decided to head to the marketplace before the arcade. Plenty of stalls sold junk they collected while others sold tourist crap, knick-knacks, and electronics. One stall was completely filled with cell phones.

Gon approached the cell phone vendor and asked, "What kind of phones do you have?"

"Haha, I have everything for everyone! If you don't have a phone, I have the perfect one for you. If you already have a phone, I have a better one for you! Lookie here. This one is the Systex Deluxe. It has a slide-down keyboard. Then we have the Commander Seven. It is as thin as a card and has a built-in map for finding friends and places."

Gon looked interested in the latter, but before he could reach out for it, a familiar voice called out, "Don't get that one. It can't be used in most countries and it's really fragile."

Gon turned back and said, "Leorio!"

The eighteen-year-old who looked like he was in his late twenties replied, "Yo," before looking over the selection from the cell phone vendor. He picked one up that looked like a hercules beetle and said, "I recommend the Beatle, the number seven model. It's pricy and a little heavy, but is durable, has a 48-hour battery life, can be used worldwide, translates over 200 languages, and from it, you can watch and record TV."

Killua looked surprised at all its features and exclaimed, "Really? Gon, get that one."

Gon nodded and Leorio cracked his knuckles and walked up to the retailer. For some reason, Rayleigh felt he heard boss music in the background. He attributed it to playing too many games on the Joy Station over the last month.

Leorio started haggling with the seller. Offers and counter-offers exchanged back and forth with extreme determination. Leorio's loud voice and skillful bargaining drew the interest of a crowd. The seller continued to refute offered prices as impossible and claimed his own were reasonable and already great deals, but Leorio wasn't having it.

In the end, a 200,000 Jenny cell phone was purchased for 110,000 Jenny. When the seller finally accepted the price, the gathered audience erupted into applause. Rayleigh wondered for a moment if Leorio was actually the main character.

As they walked away, new phone in hand, Killua stated, "You went overboard."

Gon laughed and said, "But thanks! I saved a lot of money!:

Leorio nodded sagely, "Haggling is a basic tool of negotiation. If I tried harder, I could have gotten it for even less. I got the same phone myself for 80,000. When the seller tells you to get out, that's when the real negotiation starts."

Rayleigh worked in customer service in his previous life, so he had no intention of applauding Leorio for what he did to that poor man. He also pitied the miserable person Leorio purchased his own phone from and mentally gave his best wishes to the unfortunate soul from which Leorio purchased his next phone.

Changing the subject, Leorio asked, "Have you guys learned Nen?"

Killua answered, "Of course."

Gon added, "Yeah. You were gonna learn after your med-exams, right?"

Leorio pushed up the sunglasses he always wore and said, "I already learned it."

Rayleigh replied, "Is that so? It's about lunchtime, so let's find out over some food. You heard of any good places around here?"

Leorio nodded, "Yeah, there's a really famous Bistro a few blocks away. I was planning to eat there anyways." Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

Gon jumped up, "Then let's go!"

Said Bistro was quite large and Rayleigh and Gon both sniffed around for a bit before entering. The smells within confirmed the chefs knew what they were doing and they found an empty table.

After looking over the menu and ordering, Rayleigh asked Leorio, "So what did you learn about Nen?"

Leorio confidently answered, "Nen is the ability to hold your aura around your body after opening your aura nodes."

Rayleigh, Gon, and Killua all smiled and shook their head.

Seeing something was wrong, Leorio asked, "What?"

Killua answered, "Leorio, that's just Ten. Only one of the four basic principles."

Rayleigh explained, "Besides holding Ten, the other three involve hiding your aura completely, amplifying your aura, and using your aura for a personalized ability. How'd you learn just Ten and not the other three?"

Leorio awkwardly answered, "Well, one of my Professors learned I became a Hunter and passed me some papers that explained how to open my Aura nodes."

Gon asked, "You mean those stretches?"

Leorio nodded and Killua asked, "How long did it take you to open them?"

Leorio laughed and said, "About a month and a half. My Professor said I was pretty fast, a one in a hundred thousand talent!"

As he laughed, Gon, Killua, and Rayleigh shared a look and a nod. They decided not to tell him that Wing said they could have done it in a week and Rayleigh did it in only two days.

After the meal, they spent the rest of the evening at the city's largest arcade and after dinner, headed for a hotel with Leorio in tow.

At the rooms and out of earshot of random pedestrians, Killua told Leorio what they found about Gon's father while leaving Rayleigh's part in the acquiring of information out of the explanation.

Leorio asked, "So you need to play the game but it costs 8.9 billion Jenny?"

Gon said, "Yeah, but the Official Hunter site said its classified as something that is easy to get."

Leorio asked, "Wait, really?"

Rayleigh replied, "Yeah, cause all you need is money."

Leorio laughed at the simplicity of it and added, "I told you, money is everything."

Killua countered, "No, there are lots of things money can't buy."

Rayleigh added, "Leorio isn't that far off. Your parents don't accept favors and treasures for contracts, right?"

Killua looked thoughtful, "That's true." The fact that someone as powerful as his father still moved for something like money meant money was still quite powerful when you had enough of it.

Leorio told the trio what he knew about Yorknew so they would have an idea about the area. Over the next two weeks, various Auction houses would open to the super rich and certain areas of the city would get incredibly busy. The first few days held most of the Underground auctions, where Crime Families and Mafia Dons bought and sold things you'd never find in an open market. The following few days held the legitimate auctions that sold treasures which could be purchased legally.

Leorio said, "The Southernpiece Auction House is the most prestigious of all the Auction Houses. While most Auctions are held once, that place holds an Auction for five days."

Killua nodded, "Yeah, that's the one the Hunter Site said will be selling a few copies of Greed Island."

Rayleigh added, "According to the website, a guy named Battera always buys every game that is sold and hires Hunters to beat it. We'll meet him at Southernpiece and get him to agree to let us play."

Leorio nodded, "If he buys every game, then getting money to buy it yourself would be pretty pointless. But for this plan to work, you'll need to get into the Southernpiece Auction House."

Gon nodded, "Let's go there tomorrow and see how to get in."

The group nodded at that before chatting a bit more. Rayleigh explained the theory behind each of the four principles of Nen while displaying each of them. Leorio might take a year or two to create a Hatsu, but it was better than nothing.

After they finished chatting, everyone went to their own rooms. As usual, Rayleigh spent the night practicing his Ten and Ren. He was still a long distance from being able to sleep in his Ten, but was making progress. Due to all the Hatsu practice he'd been doing, he could hold his Ren for 10 minutes. If he used Overdrive, he could run at about 300km/h for 3 minutes before he needed a break to store more aura into his cells and breathe. During that 3 minute duration, depending on the terrain, he could travel about fifteen kilometers.

Rayleigh knew this was not how Anime Characters trained. Anime Characters could fight faster than the speed of sound without training their heart, muscles, tendons, and blood vessels. Anime Characters also got winded after a single intense fight. Rayleigh thought, 'Nope, not me. I'm gonna be the Flash with a sword. A hundred back-to-back fights or a thousand will be no problem. I can't teleport, so I'm gonna train myself to the point that even if they send an army at me, I will still be standing after everything else is in pieces.'

Overdrive was basically an exercise. It was the fastest he could move without his Nen Enhanced Muscles tearing themselves to shreds. Even if the Nen somewhat protected them, they were still damaged from long uses of Overdrive which made him faster when they healed. Because of this, he intended to make sure he spent at least a couple of minutes in Overdrive every other day, using the off days to fully recover. In this way, slowly but surely, his foundation would steadily increase.

Once his foundation was to his liking, he'd create complex attack moves that boosted his battle speed to the point those Anime Characters could move. As for the reason he did not do so now? It was because he didn't know any swordsmanship.

The Lightsaber Forms were based off Force Puppeteering and the characteristics of a Lightsaber. Actual swordsmen with actual swords moved fast without relying on the Force. Ray needed to learn how that worked before he created any complex fighting styles or he would just be wasting his time.

Rayleigh intended to save Tavern Points for a while and use them to buy an identity in the Pirate World and train under a swordmaster. Preferably one who knew the Pirate Power System. Learning swordsmanship under such a person would grant him the strongest foundation.

Of course, he would still be on the lookout for Nen using swordsmen and see if they could answer a question or two.

On September 2nd, the group headed out to explore more markets. Gon discovered a few treasures using Gy which Leorio proceeded to haggle for. Every time Leorio stepped forward to negotiate a price, Rayleigh could swear he heard Boss Music playing in the background. They each got some treasures, including a lumpy wooden chest filled with actual treasure that Rayleigh purchased. He didn't open it since he didn't have anything to do with it, for now, so it sat in his room without Leorio or the rest knowing about its contents, something he only knew thanks to Psychometry.

On the 3rd, the group headed to the Southernpiece Auction house and learned the rules. In order to participate, you have to purchase the Auction's catalog for 12 million Zenny. The catalog also acted as a ticket which allowed up to five people to attend the auction, thus clearing their requirement to be there and meet Battera.

Killua directly asked, "How did you get strong enough to beat that muscle guy? Didn't you start learning Nen when we did?"

Kurapika explained, "That's because of the Condition and Pledge. You state a condition, a limitation, and then make a pledge to keep to that condition. This has a multiplying effect on the strength of your Nen. My Condition is that I can only use my Chain Jail offensively against members of the Phantom Troupe. My Pledge is that if I ever use it on anyone else, I will die. On my heart, there is a small, materialized chain of my Nen that will automatically kill me if I break my condition."

Rayleigh stated, "So you are giving up all of your offense for every battle in the future against anyone else in exchange for absolute offense against the Phantom Troupe?"

Kurapika nodded, "That's right. Though I can still use my other chains, my Chain Jail cannot be used on anyone else."

Rayleigh shook his head, "That doesn't seem to be enough. How are you able to use different Nen Categories so well as a conjurer?"

Kurapika answered, "When my eyes turn scarlet, I become a Specialist. I developed a Nen ability using my Specialist Aura called Emperor Time. While in Emperor Time, I can use every category of Nen at 100%."

Rayleigh asked, "At what cost?" Such an ability did not add up in the slightest, there had to be a cost.

Kurapika smiled at his insightful friend and answered, "Every second I spend in Emperor Time costs one hour of my lifespan."

The remaining friends looked horrified by that revelation, but Rayleigh nodded. Now it added up. Kurapika didn't just make himself a Phantom Troupe Hunting Specialist, he also burned his life when he fought them. Instead of multiplying his Nen, those two extremely costly techniques stacking together increased the power of his Nen exponentially. No wonder he could kill someone at Hisoka's level with the same amount of training as Gon, Ray, and Killua.

Since the Tavern could revive someone if they died, he'd have to ask how that would work if a Player tried it.

Rayleigh was also quite interested in Kurapika's abilities. His Chain Jail ability, the one limited to only members of the Phantom Troupe, forced the troupe member Kurapika bound with it into a state of Zetsu. He could even use In to make it invisible since it was made of Nen. Since the muscle guy Kurapika fought was physically the strongest, that meant this strategy would work on any of the other members of the Phantom Troupe as well. What was interesting was that although the limit Kurapika placed on this chain meant he could only use it to attack members of the Phantom Troupe, he was free to use it to defend himself from attacks from anyone.

Kurapika also had a chain he could use to pierce someone's chest and wrap a chain around their heart that ended in a blade that stayed permanently affixed within their chest. Kurapika could create a Law while doing so and if the victim broke that law, the blade would pierce their heart and kill them. This chain could be used against anyone, but could only be made when he was in Emperor Time as it required Materialization, Emission, and Manipulation to create such a thing.

Rayleigh wondered if he could break it using Shatterpoint.

Kurapika also had a Dousing Chain he could use to find people and determine if someone was lying, a Healing Chain he could use to recover, and a Chain he could use to steal someone's Nen ability and put them into a state of Zetsu while the ability was borrowed. The catch was that each of them required Kurapika to be in Emperor Time to use them.

The fact that Rayleigh met members of the Phantom Troupe was something Rayleigh would not tell Kurapika unless he was asked.

From his interactions today, Rayleigh's empathy told him that the Phantom Troupe members were selectively apathetic. It meant they didn't care about anyone who was not close to them, not even the teeniest tiniest bit. To those they care about, they could probably be considered good people and close friends. To those they had no connections to, they were the most evil and heartless of devils. Rayleigh had zero intention of ever joining them.

The only thing he'd gain from such a partnership was a good fight. Rayleigh had no doubt that's all some of them really wanted. The material possessions they stole were just excuses to fight against the strong people protecting them and the strong people who came after them for the thefts. But Rayleigh didn't need them for a good fight. He had the Tavern's Arena and an endless supply of dangerous Missions.

After discussing a bit more, Gon asked, "Hey, you said you got some of the eyes of your clan back right?"

Kurapika nodded, "Yes. I will recover every set of stolen eyes and return them where they belong."

Killua added, "You think the guys who had those ones might have had more?"

Kurapika answered, "It is something I've considered, but the sellers of the underground auction are completely anonymous."

Gon exclaimed, "Ray can help!"

Kurapika looked at Rayleigh and asked, "How?"

Seeing where this was going, Rayleigh explained, "I can use Psychometry to see the history of every living person who touched something."

Killua asked, "Can you use it on people?"

Rayleigh explained, "I can on dead body parts, but it's different for the living. If I use Psychometry on someone who is alive, I just see their current health and weaknesses. Trying to look into the past of a living person with Psychometry gives me a headache. I can't use it on myself either. It causes a weird feedback loop which turns everything into static."

Kurapika said, "The eyes are in a container. If the container has not been changed, then perhaps you can find something."

Rayleigh nodded and Kurapika left the room with Rayleigh in tow over to where the Scarlet Eyes he purchased at the auction were stored. Gon, Killua, and Leorio stayed since they weren't needed.

The hallway they arrived at was filled with dogs that gave a cursory glance at Kurapika before leaving him alone. Kurapika knocked on a door and stated, "Squala, I need to check on the Scarlet Eyes."

An older man opened the door. Through the crack, Rayleigh could see that his room was also filled with dogs.

The man named Squala looked at Rayleigh before turning to Kurapika and asking, "Who is he?"

Rayleigh answered for him, "A specialist who can see the history of an object through touch. Kurapika was concerned the item may be a forgery and paid for an expert to check them out."

The man gave Kurapika a raised eyebrow but Kurapika just said, "He just needs to touch it."

Kurapika's stare wasn't something those who knew him could just refuse, so he relented and opened the door. When Rayleigh entered, the man said, "These dogs will tear you to shreds if you try anything stupid."

Rayleigh shrugged without responding and looked into the room. Besides the dogs, the only thing that stuck out was a pair of glass tubes with two scarlet-colored eyes floating within.

Rayleigh gently touched the glass and used his ability. He learned quite a bit.

Rayleigh asked, "Kurapika, you said the Phantom Troupe was dead, right?"

"Correct. I saw their bodies myself."

Rayleigh added, "I'd bet fifty Jenny those bodies will vanish within 24 hours."

Kurapika frowned and asked, "Why is that?"

"Because these are a forgery made with Nen. They are a copy of the originals and will vanish in 21 hours. That's 24 hours after they were made. If the person who made these fakes are a part of the Phantom Troupe, they likely made fake corpses as well."

The dog user said, "What?! You can't be serious!"

Rayleigh ignored him and said, "There's more," but instead of saying it within earshot of the dog guy, he left the room and Kurapika followed, a frown still on his face.

Once they were away from all the dogs, Rayleigh explained. "I saw a bit of the future when I touched it. Before I tell you what I saw, can I ask if you are working with Hisoka?"

Kurapika answered, "He wants to fight the boss of the Phantom Troupe."

Rayleigh nodded and said, "Alright, so if nothing changes, six members of the Phantom Troupe, not including Hisoka, will come here tomorrow. The one who made that fake can track it. They will find you and kill you."

Kurapika had seen enough demonstrations of Rayleigh's abilities to know that he was likely telling the truth.

Rayleigh asked, "Do you want to handle this yourself and die, or do you want some help?" If Kurapika just wanted to die, Rayleigh wouldn't stop him. He also would not offer help unless he was asked.

Kurapika remained silent for a few moments before answering, "Please help me."

Rayleigh nodded, expecting such. "I won't fight your battle or give you a plan. But I can give you the information I have. They will track you down using the eyes tomorrow evening. I don't need to tell you how you can use that. You know that Hisoka wants to fight the boss and that he is not one of the six coming tomorrow. I don't need to tell you how you can use that. I was able to get details on four of the five others besides the boss. The tall male uses a sword. He is extremely fast, but straightforward and seems easy to fool. Likely an Enhancer. The woman with a ponytail is a transmuter who can turn her aura into thread and seems very formidable in combat. The taller blond woman in a business suit can take information from a person's mind through physical contact, she doesn't seem to be a particularly strong fighter. The short male with hair covering his face is particularly weak. He is the one who created the copy and he is needed to track it. The last is a woman with glasses. I don't have any information on her."

Since Kurapika now asked for his help, Rayleigh told him everything he knew. It was the Phantom Troupe's bad luck to encounter him, so he knew about those three and he knew about the Nen Copier from his Psychometry on the eyes. Rayleigh would not assist in making a plan or the actual fight, but the information was more than enough to change the future.

Kurapika nodded after a moment, clearly making a plan after memorizing everything Rayleigh said.

The pair returned to Kurapika's room but did not tell the others about the Phantom Troupe or the mayhem that would happen the next day.

As if the city knew what was to come, the 4th of September called for rain the entire day. Gon, Rayleigh, and Killua stayed in their Hotel and watched TV as the drama unfolded, out of sight, out of mind. On the fifth, Kurapika visited Rayleigh's room. Rayleigh was happy his friend was still alive.

Rayleigh asked, "What happened?"

Kurapika sighed. "It was as you said. After you left, Hisoka contacted me and told me the corpses were fakes. I told my boss that I had a contact in the Phantom Troupe and that they were alive and would come for the eyes. He let me take them to set up a trap. Hisoka agreed to come, apparently finding someone to take his place in disguise ahead of time. According to Hisoka, the boss stole the ability to predict the future from my client and used it. Something in the prediction gave away my connection to the eyes which was how they figured it out. If you hadn't seen into the future to counter that prediction, I would probably have died."

Kurapika continued, "I rented the top five floors of the hotel and set the eyes on the top floor. When they arrived at the top floor, everyone but the boss fell through a trap five floors down. Hisoka remained on the top floor and fought their boss while the others tried to climb back up to the higher floors. Some traps I set in place took them down one by one. The information you gave was very helpful, I took out the Sword User and Thread User first. The girl with glasses made a vacuum that sucked in the traps I made, but by then, it was only her and the other two. As you said, neither of them was a strong fighter. I was able to kill them all."

Rayleigh asked, "What about Hisoka?"

Kurapika remained silent for a few moments. "He won. The boss is dead. Hisoka said he was going to fight the other members and would give me the stolen eyes if he didn't get himself killed. I also confirmed that the Boss's daughter really did lose her ability, but she gained it back when the boss was killed."

The pair remained in silence for a few minutes before it was broken by Kurapika. "Thank you."

Rayleigh shook his head. "Remember. No one is the villain of their own story. Everything happened for a reason. I don't know why the Phantom Troupe decided to kill the members of the Kurta Clan, but I doubt it was as simple as it seems. I don't know if one day you'll come to regret your decision, but I hope you don't die before you find out."

Kurapika didn't answer, he just got up and left the room. Rayleigh doubted Kurapika would visit Gon or Killua to inform them about what happened.

The rain continued until the next day and only let up on the 6th. It was time to head for the Auction and get themselves to Greed Island.

*Author's Note*

For those wondering how much the Players can change the canon, this should give you a clue. Why did Kurapika survive? I literally flipped a coin. But with all the information Rayleigh gave him and Hisoka's help, this doesn't seem like something that could not happen, especially since a prediction did happen which said 6 Spiders would die.

A Battle Between Fortune Tellers. When the Spider Boss used the stolen Prediction ability, he predicted that Hisoka would fight the boss and six spiders would die. Due to the prediction, the boss gained information that changed the course of the future, so that only one spider died. Rayleigh's Shatterpoint gave him his own prediction and he used that to change the future back to what it was before the Spider Boss wrote those predictions.

This will not be the last time multiple guys who can see into the future use predictions against one another to battle for the future, but no one has to worry about that for a while. Time for Greed Island!