章節 6: Chapter 6: Testing Gate
As the group were left in awe at the gates that made up the perimeter of the Zoldyck family home, there were some who seemed to be here for motives other than sight seeing.
"What legendary family of assassins?... I'll be taking a few heads today just to disprove the legend": ???
Soren's attention was caught by a small group of men who came forward all wearing different types of armor and wielding an arrangement of weapons as they began making their way towards a small guard shack where an rotund elderly man wearing a simple gray guardsman suit with a guardsman hat who appeared to be asleep, was sitting at the desk.
"Hey, old man!... If you know what's good for you, you'll open the door and let us into the property": bounty hunter
"Please sir, don't make me do this… The masters don't like to be bothered, and if I let anyone inside, I'll be at the least fired, but most likely will be killed!... Please don't be the cause of this old mans death": old guard
Soren watched on in amusement as the old guard was truly a great actor, but he truly didn't want to let anyone inside, not because he would get in trouble, but because it wasn't Mike's feeding time. Soren knew the old man as Zebro, he is an old Nen user who is living out the remainder of his life as a janitor for the Zoldyck's, but he poses as a weak old man who guards the gate to incite those stupid enough to try and break in so they can feed Mike.
"We don't care about your life, old man… Just give us the key and we will get rid of your boss for you, how about that?": bounty hunter
Seeing that he was unable to convince the bounty hunters to leave, Zebro reluctantly handed over the key as the hunters made their way over to the door before opening and entering, and a few moments later the screams of the group escaped from behind the wall, and as the door opened again, skeletons began to be thrown out while some of the skeletons still had some flesh left over as they weren't picked clean.
"Oh boy… That was quite the snack… MIKE!!!!... YOU'RE GONNA GET FAT EATING LIKE THAT!!!": zebro
Seeing the man pick up the key from one of the dead bodies, the tour lady along with the rest of the tour group were quick to pile back into the bus and upon seeing Soren wave them off the bus took off at max speed.
"Oh?... Young man, why didn't you join the rest on the bus?": zebro
Seeing that Soren stayed behind, Zebro was a bit annoyed, but still decided to see what the reason was for.
"I came here for that": soren
Zebro looked over towards where Soren was pointing to see the testing gate as a smile appeared on his face before he got serious and spoke.
"Young man… Although I may be a janitor meant to clean up these guys, but I still have a duty to protect the Zoldyck family… And seeing as you know that the testing gate is the real entrance, I must ask, why do you wish to enter the Zoldyck estate?": zebro
Zebro gave Soren a cold and serious look as he waited for an answer while inwardly he prepared himself for a fight, as his senses told him that Soren was dangerous.
"I don't want anything to do with the Zoldyck's I just want to use their public training system": soren
When Zebro heard this, all forms of preparation went out the window as he spoke in a confused tone.
"Public training system?": zebro
"Yes, the training gate over there… It is open to the public, right?": soren
After hearing Soren's statement, Zebro began to chuckle before his chuckle turned into a laugh as a smile replaced his cold glare.
"Although the gate looks public, I do have to burst your bubble as the gate is still part of the Zoldyck's estate… Opening it without their permission will get you in trouble… Why do you want to train here anyway? Do you know how hard it is to open those gates? The first level's weight is 2 tons for each door, and it only doubles going further up": zebro
"I understand the ramifications, but there is nowhere else I can train like this, at least none that I know of": soren
Zebro seemed to understand the purpose behind why Soren had come there, and seeing as Soren didn't have any malicious intentions, he decided to let Soren try to open the first gate.
"How about you go over there and get it a try… If you can't make a budge you will leave, if you can even slightly open the gate, I can oversee while you train… Deal?": zebro
Soren had a smile take his face as he nodded in agreeance and made his way over to the testing gate and as he placed the palm of his hands firmly on the stone surface of each door of the gate, he positioned his feet to get as much leverage as possible before exerting every ounce of his power without the use of Nen as he sent all of the force towards the doors of the gate in equal proportions as the grunts and groans emanate from Soren's mouth.
'He sure is strong, but it's not enough to open the gate, that's for sure': zebro
Just as Zebro expected to see Soren give up and walk away, the door began to slightly open as Soren could see a small bit of the inside scenery before the door closed itself.
'He did it… Although barely, he still managed to open the gate slightly without using Nen… If I were to try the same thing, I wouldn't even get that far, as I rely on my powers as an Enhancer to gain enough strength to open the first gate': zebro
Just as Soren made his way back over to Zebro's side, he spoke with a cheeky smile.
"So?... When do we start training?... You'll be overseeing my training, right?": soren
Upon hearing Soren's words, Zebro was broken from his shock as he spoke with a bit of hesitation.
"Hold on a second… I must make a quick call": zebro
Zebro then went back into his guard shack and picked up the telephone before dialing a direct line to the butler's house. The phone rang about three times before it was answered by a man with a deep voice that seemed to be uncaring.
"This is the butler's house…": head butler (gotoh)
"Yes, yes… This is Zebro from the gate… There is an extraordinary boy who wishes to use the testing gates as training, would I be permitted to train the boy?": zebro
The line had gone silent for a moment before the same voice came back through the call.
"Are you training your replacement?": head butler
Zebro thought how he should answer this question, but after coming up with an idea, he gave his offer.
"I'm getting quite old, and although opening the gate is still quite easy for me, but having a second shift guard would be nice and would also give 24/7 surveillance": zebro
Once again the line went silent before the voice returned.
"Give me a moment to send this through to the family, standby for further orders": head butler
Zebro agreed as the call was cut, and after waiting for 5 minutes the phone began to ring before Zebro picked it up on the first ring.
"Hello, this is Zebro at the gate": zebro
"Yes, this is the head butler from the butler's home… You have been permitted to train this boy, and you can accompany him to the guards house where he will train… You must also find out everything about this boy, such as where he's from, who his parents are, what his birthday is, who his first teacher was, ect… I want a list by tonight… Good day": head butler
After ending the call, Zebro released a sigh before returning to Soren who was patiently waiting as Zebro finally gave a proper introduction.
"Alright, lad… My name is Zebro, I'm a guard and janitor for the Zoldyck family estate what's your name?": zebro
Soren gave Zebro a smile before introducing himself.
"My name's Soren Nightheart… It's nice to meet you, Zebro-san": soren
After introductions were out of the way, Zebro began explaining the deal he worked out to get Soren access to train on the Zoldyck property.
"So the Zoldyck family is under the assumption that you will be taking up a similar position as myself, and this will get you access to the guard house as well as every day access to the testing gate… Since you asked when we will start training, then you can follow me inside now": zebro
Just as Zebro began walking over to the gate, Soren stopped him as he spoke.
"Two things… First, I will only be temporarily working as a guard while training… Second, I have a friend who is traveling with me, but she's currently waiting for me at the hotel we were staying at… I'll have to go get her, so how about we meet here tomorrow?": soren
Zebro thought about it as more and more conflicting things seemed to keep popping up, but he agreed in the end and hoped it would all work out in the end. Soren had decided to go back to the city by foot as his ride had fled without him about half an hour ago, so Soren decided to hot foot it back to the hotel as he arrived before sun down.
"Soren!!!!!!... What do you mean I sound like a pig!?!?": machi
Just as Soren had returned to the room and opened the door, Machi had lunged at him while trying to stick him with a bunch of needles as her Nen thread was starting to tighten around his body threatening to cut him to pieces.
"Hey, hey!... I never said you sound like a pig… I said it sounded like a pig was hiding in the room somewhere… I'm deathly afraid of pigs… Oink oink… hehe": soren
Machi was blushing red like a tomato from all the teasing as she wanted to cut Soren to bits.
"Whatever!... Do you plan on sleeping on the roof again?": machi
Machi looked away to hide the blush, but upon questioning the sleeping arrangements, Machi looked from the corner of her eye as he hoped Soren would be sleeping in the room with her tonight.
"I don't know… The roof was quite cozy, maybe I'll sleep there again": soren
When Machi heard this she wanted to shout her anger towards him, but she stopped herself and stated an obvious fact about the room hoping that Soren would catch on.
"Well there are two beds in the room, so why not you use one of them": machi
Although she spoke in a calm tone, Machi was extremely flustered and embarrassed, but Soren didn't tease her as he could tell that she was doing her best to act normal.
"Yeah, you're right… I guess I'll sleep here for the night… Tomorrow we will be going to Kukuroo Mountain… I found an amazing place to train, so we will be staying there for a while": soren
When Machi heard Soren agree to sleep in the room her mind began to calm down, but after hearing about training tomorrow, she felt it would be a bit boring, but the thought of getting stronger triumphed boredom.
"Alright!... Good night, Soren": machi
"Good night, Machi": soren
That night, both Machi and Soren slept in the same room, but in separate beds, something that would become common in the upcoming months. The next morning, Soren woke Machi from her drooling slumber before telling her that it was time to get ready as he left the room to give her some privacy.
'What a shame… I was hoping for him to sleep in and come into the bathroom while I was in there… Oh how shameful it would be, but it would push our relationship passed friends at the least': machi
After Machi took a shower and put on a new set of clothes, Soren was given the room as he washed his scared up body as he remembered the day he was attacked by a group of drunks he was looking to rob. After the shower, Soren put on a set of clothes before walking out of the room only to see Machi with her ear against the wall leading into their room.
"What are you doing?": soren
Seeing as she was caught, Machi had quickly began making stuff up to divert Soren from the truth.
"T-There are- rats!... Yeah, rats!... I heard some scratching sounds from inside the wall and was trying to listen for them so I can inform the hotel staff": machi
Soren could only smile as he inwardly agreed to play along.
"Oh no… I hate rats, we should definitely get the staff to come and exterminate them… Anyway, it's our last day here so rats aren't our problem anymore, let's get going, shall we?": soren
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