"Not accepting."
Kastro was a decent opponent. A year ago they'd fought—Kastro had lost, giving Roy his eighty-first consecutive win at Heaven's Arena. Now, a year later, Kastro remained unchanged, but Roy was no longer the person he'd been.
To be precise, from the day he opened his aura nodes, the two no longer existed in the same world.
"It's not just Kastro," Gotoh said, flipping through recently collected information. "There's also Wing. After losing to the young master, he disappeared for nearly a year. Reportedly, he's now developed Nen abilities and reached the 200th floor. A few days ago, he sent the young master a text message with his greetings."
'Disappeared?' Roy thought to himself. 'More likely Biscuit found him and forcibly took him as her disciple. Now that he's resurfaced, she's clearly molded him into exactly what she wanted.'
Roy kept these thoughts to himself, his expression unreadable as he asked aloud, "What did he say?"
"He said he wants to meet the young master at the top."
"At the top?" Roy smiled faintly. "Even if he successfully challenges a Floor Master, that doesn't mean he'll truly stand at the top. Moreover—" Roy narrowed his eyes meaningfully. "Based on my understanding of him, he would never phrase it like that. Someone probably forced him to send it."
Shingen-ryu versus the Zoldycks? Neither side would back down easily.
"Should the young master reply to him?"
Gotoh pulled out his phone. All the contact information Roy gave out actually belonged to Gotoh.
"The doctors I asked you to contact—any progress?" Roy asked instead.
Gotoh answered honestly, "Two are confirmed; one is still being contacted. The fourth is quite far away, but relatively close to Heaven's Arena."
"Then we'll drop by on our way to see the doctors."
"Yes, young master."
Gotoh jogged to catch up with Roy. Master and servant walked through the mansion, one ahead and one behind, eventually diverging at separate corridors. Roy casually tossed Yukigakure to a young butler for oiling, then returned to his bedroom. After a quick shower and before dinner was ready, he pulled up his status panel to examine it carefully.
[Name: Roy Zoldyck]
[Constitution: 11.75 (Note: Ordinary person = 1)]
[Nen Ability: "Gate of Recognition"]
[Nen Ability Shape Transformation: Beginner (10/100)]
[Nen Ability Nature Transformation: Awaiting Activation]
[Breathing Technique: "Sun Breathing": Beginner (30/100)]
[Combat Experience: Lv2 (35/100)]
[Swordsmanship: Lv1 (10/100)]
[Application Techniques - Shadow Step: Proficient (99/100); Limb Bending: Proficient (84/100); Snake Awakens: Beginner (98/100) (Note: Application techniques ranked by mastery: Beginner, Proficient, Mastery, Perfect)]
[Title: Fledgling "Nen Ability" Newcomer, Green Plant Needing Growth Spurt]
From "sprout" to "green plant"—was this significant progress? Roy wasn't sure. He only knew his training focus going forward remained split between two priorities: Nen and Breathing Techniques.
Nen was his foundation; Breathing Techniques were his stats. He needed to develop both equally. In practical terms, this meant his Shadow Step and Snake Awakens were about to break through—if not tomorrow, then tonight.
Learning Zetsu had given him the ability to sense Nen signatures and track the whip's trajectory. Whether he could actually dodge it still depended entirely on his speed and reaction time. His father's test required him to endure three whip strikes, but Roy refused to accept that outcome.
That evening, after dinner, he closed his eyes and entered the Demon Slayer world. Snow kept falling, showing no signs of stopping. After Tanjiro left, one corner of the warm bed forever lost one living person and gained several curled-up ghosts.
Sakonji Urokodaki had already risen early to boil porridge. The elderly often struggled with uninterrupted sleep—dozing off periodically was normal for them. Roy opened his eyes at the scent, immediately seeing beautiful eyes staring wide at him, as if curious why he didn't blow snot bubbles while sleeping like Tanjiro.
"Makomo, stop messing around." Sabito crossed his arms, leaning against the doorframe. He glanced helplessly at Makomo, who waved her hand in front of Roy's eyes. When he showed no reaction and simply dressed and stood up normally, she floated over to Sabito's side, clearly bored.
"He really can't see us," Makomo said.
"You've known that since day one."
"I know."
The little girl pouted and abandoned Sabito to follow Roy to the kitchen. Listening carefully, she watched the young man mirror Sabito's pose, leaning against the doorframe and silently observing Sakonji Urokodaki for a moment before speaking. "Master, today I want to practice swordsmanship."
Swordsmanship was another key element in cultivating breathing techniques, beyond the breathing itself. Roy felt it was time to follow Tanjiro's example from the original story and begin his own "ten thousand basic swings"—one thousand sword swings daily.
"Did you forget what I told you two days ago?" Sakonji Urokodaki kept his back to Roy, peeling potatoes. This was the Taisho period—after Meiji, before Showa. Fresh green vegetables in winter were extremely rare and valuable. Steamed potatoes with rice porridge would be today's breakfast.
"I haven't forgotten." Roy skillfully opened the cupboard, taking out two sets of utensils and placing them on the dining table. "Master said I'm not allowed to touch a sword before comprehending breathing. But I've already learned it."
The young man smiled and activated Zetsu, instantly withdrawing the aura dispersed across his body surface, perfectly sealing his aura nodes to prevent any outflow. In that instant, he seemed to vanish from the room. If not for Sabito and Makomo standing right beside him, constantly watching, they would never have known a person like Roy existed in this small cabin that held their childhood memories.
"Merging with nature?"
"Whoa—Fukuda, look at this!"
"Why all the noise? Ghosts need sleep too."
Shinsuke had been crouching boredly on the ceiling beam. Seeing this, he hurriedly pushed Fukuda. Poor Fukuda nearly tumbled headfirst down and wanted to strangle him on the spot. But remembering he was a ghost who could float anyway, he suppressed the urge and looked where Shinsuke pointed. His eyes widened immediately.
"How many days has it been—how did he already learn breathing?!" Fukuda exclaimed, leaping down from the beam and circling above Roy's head. A cold breeze passed through the room. The shocked ghosts circled Roy as if he were some fascinating new curiosity.
Sabito and Makomo stood aside, quietly meeting each other's eyes and simultaneously seeing astonishment reflected in each other's pupils. Makomo mischievously poked Sabito. "Hey, ten days."
Sabito shook his head with a bitter smile. He knew Eiichiro was talented, but he hadn't expected him to progress this quickly. A thought suddenly emerged in his mind: 'If Giyu learned that someone comprehended the mysteries of breathing in just ten days, his expression would be priceless.'
Perhaps the same could be said for their master, whose hands had stopped moving mid-potato.