Chapter 13: King X Kindle
Zaban City, Two Months ago…
Gilgamesh snatched the newspaper from a walking bystander. His eyes scanned the words, pictures, and numbers for anything that catches his fancy. Already surmising that some random newspaper wouldn't have crucial information on Heavens Arena or the Dark Continent.
"A test to acquire a Hunter License. Hunters are given access and privileges–"
He flipped to the last page and something hauntingly beautiful caught his eye. An extremely rare occasion for an item to be so captivating to Gilgamesh for him to look at it for longer than a half of a second. Yet, here he was, staring at a single photo of red colored eyeballs sitting in a vase of solution.
*One of the 36 pairs of the rare jewel known as the Scarlet Eyes will be auctioned in York New City on September 1st.*
'The Scarlet Eyes are worthy to be a part of my Treasure,' declared Gilgamish internally.
"I am a King. I will do as I please," Gilgamesh interrupted, his voice carrying the arrogance of the mighty sun. He slammed the sheets of thin paper back into the man's chest. His attention snapped between Sinbad and Alba. "I will not waste my time on something that isn't required."
Not waiting for their response, Gilgamesh turned his back to the two and left. "I am going to Heavens Arena."
Gilgamesh traveled in a straight line for about six minutes and then grew tired of the same scenery and the filthy peasants. He put his hand on a random person's shoulder and stopped them.
"Mongrel," Gilgamesh said, addressing the man. "Do yourself a favor and aid your superior, tell me how to get off this hideous land?"
The random person sized up the strange boy who grabbed onto his shoulder and issued demands. His eyebrows narrowed as he looked at the man's appearance. Ultimately deciding to oblige because he seemed to be born from royalty.
He pointed beyond Gilgamesh's body in the same direction he previously came from. "If you turn back and walk twenty-five minutes, you will reach the harbor and be able to purchase a ticket to leave."
Gilgamesh stared at the man without immediately responding. He released the man's shoulder and pulled out a handkerchief to clean his hand that touched the filthy person.
Quickly, Gilgamesh abandoned the idea of demanding the man for the boat fare because he knew the peasant didn't have the necessary funds. Without saying anything in return, Gilgamesh turned back around and walked toward the harbor.
After arriving at the ferry station, Gilgamesh pinched his nose shut. To the intricate and sensitive nose of Gilgamesh, he couldn't stand the scent of commoners, especially when they decided to hurdle in packed spaces. Even though the tens of people stood in lines outside, Gilgamesh resented their air.
Even at fourteen, Gilgamesh stood taller than most of the crowd and he realized that in order for him to witness the prices of the boat and his potential locations, he needed to wait in line.
But, Gilgamesh was a King and he did as he pleased. So, naturally, he skipped the line and headed straight to the front as he approached, he didn't realize that the line flooded outdoors and the real start was inside of a small building. Three guards protected the entrance of the building and allowed for the next person in line to enter the Ferry Express Building. Gilgamesh didn't hesitate as he walked straight for the glass doors of the Ferry Express Building.
The middle policeman locked onto the approaching Gilgamesh as he began to hear murmurs and buzz of the blonde and handsome man's appearance. Even the thoughts of his mind slowed to a dull as he witnessed the man gracefully strut and ignored everything around him. However, the man didn't stop. In a panic, this middle policeman gained the courage to stand in Gilgamesh's path.
Not wanting to get too close to the policeman, Gilgamesh stopped and then folded his arms across his bare chest. "Move. I need to buy a ticket."
The arrogance of the man's voice slapped the policeman into silence, unable to process what to do next.
A man next in line overheard Gilgamesh's demand. "Hey, pal! We all are–"
Gilgamesh in a casual manner, turned toward the man who dared shout at him. His vibrant red eyes glared at the man as if he were watching a pig roll in mud.
Unable to handle the overwhelming emotions storming from inside of him due to Gilgamesh's intense stare, the man went silent. His heart pounded from excitement, fear, and importance.
Then, Gilgamesh pointed at the insignificant man, quickly sensing that he naturally had fallen for his royal charm and charisma. Of course this low born mongrel couldn't resist the presence of a true King. "I will reward you with my presence, purchase my ticket and I will forgive your sudden outburst."
The man's eyes widened from shock and bliss to be chosen, near tears began to stream from his eyes. But before he could offer his response, a man from Gilgamesh's left fell onto one knee.
"If you are looking for company, it will be my honor to attend for your every desire," this new person wore a gray head covering which contained roughly ninety eight percent of his hair but some revolted and poked through, a large white scarf hung around his neck and fell onto the floor, he had dark brown eyes and facial hair due to self neglect.
This abnormal sequence of events would be a surprise to mostly every person on the planet but not to Gilgamesh. As natural as it may be for living creatures to feast for energy, hydrate to keep their cells alive, or even the carnal desires for the intertwinning of naked flesh, every person should throw themselves at his feet and demand to put their lowly lives to a higher purpose and serve him.
For someone to willingly offer up themselves to be his valet, they needed to meet certain requirements based on Gilgamesh's own criteria. Most of the criteria was based on visual appeal because for them to be around them, naturally Gilgamesh would have to see them.
'He is dirtier than I'd like but he will have to do,' Gilgamesh passed the willing man to be his personal valet.
"You will do," answered Gilgamesh, striding over to stand next to the man without another word. Neither did Gilgamesh question the man's motives or want to know of the man's journey. He simply didn't care.
The unusual scene calmed as some of the audience questioned their sanity from the absurd and charismatic man.
After waiting another two minutes, the middle policeman ushered for the two to enter the Ferry Express building. Gigamesh scanned the large board hovering in front of him but didn't bother actually reading the content. As the man who offered his lowly service will provide.
"Where are you headed?" The servant asked while rubbing his hands.
Gilgamesh looked down at the man. "I will kill you if you don't have the necessary amount of my money to take me to my destination."
The man rubbed his hands harder and his eyebrows narrowed. "Well I don't know where you are headed."
"Wherever the Heavens Arena is," answered Gilgamesh.
"No problem, I can personally take you there," said the man, his tone grew with excitement.
Gilgamesh nodded.
Gilgamesh's servant soon bought the tickets and they waited for about an hour before boarding the wooden ship. A medium sized vessel with two decks available for the general public, a lower deck for the maintenance crew, and an upper deck for the captain and navigation systems.
Soon, the ship sailed to the Republic of Padokea.
After Gilgamesh forced his servant to test out the lounge chair before him, Gilgamesh leisurely laid down on the chair, enjoying the sun's warmth.
"Bring me something to eat," demanded Gilgamesh.
His servant rushed under the deck to chase down one of the crew members responsible for the kitchen services. Later, he brought back purple grapes, cheeses, and orange juice. He arranged the assortment of snacks on a table top next to Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh studied the plate of food and his valet. His stern eyes snapped back and forth between the plate and his personal servant.
Understanding Gilgamesh's implication, his servant removed three grapes from its stalk, picked up a block of cheese, and sipped some of the juice. A face of satisfaction displayed on the servant's face as his facial features relaxed into a look of approval.
Gilgamesh freed himself a purple grape and then threw it into his mouth. "If you were a lovely woman, I would have you feeding me, instead you are an unappealing brute."
After swallowing the contents in his mouth, his servant apologized with a formal bow. "Forgive my mother and father's lack of beauty."
"At least, your tongue isn't vile," Gilgamesh answered, taking a sip of juice. "Why were you in Zaban City?"
"I wanted to see my son," the servant answered. "I was a successful merchant for a long time and the dedication required to do so makes one forget what is truly important."
"Nothing is more important than a man's ambition," Gilgamesh replied, helping himself to a block of rich cheese. "If your son fails to come to this obvious conclusion then he is no man."
The servant's gaze landed on the harbor of Zaban City. "I hope you're right."
"I am right," Gilgamesh snapped. "Tell the one responsible for selecting this fine cheese that they have pleased me."
Gilgamesh paused to point at his servant. "And you, I will grant you the service of the great Gilgamesh of knowing your name. What is it?"
"Ging Freeces."
"Come block the sun out of my face," Gilgamesh demanded. Quickly, Ging rushed to collect an umbrella. Once returned, he opened the black umbrella and held it up before Gilgamesh, shading him from the sunlight. Gilgamesh leaned back and got comfortable, closing his eyes. "You remind me of my foolish brother."
"I couldn't possibly be of the same quality of person as your brother," replied Ging, scratching the back of his head.
Gilgamesh opened his eyes and glared at his servant. "A great person, especially a King, should never reduce their status to gain their desired results. Actors belong in a circus, not on a throne."
Gilgamesh closed his eyes. "You don't fool me, Ging Freeces."
Ging smiled but kept the umbrella up for Gilgamesh. "Is your brother taking the Hunter Exam?"
"I don't care for your son but if you wish to see him again, for your sake, I hope he didn't get on my brother's radar," Gilgamesh responded while stealing a grape by his side. "Because he likes to control the pieces on the board. He enjoys the thrill of the game. I'd rather destroy every piece and get it over with."
"I'm confident in my son's ability," replied Ging, clenching his fist. In response, Gilgamesh shrugged his shoulders knowing that if he were to be confident in his son's ability, that only sealed the boy's fate even more to be manipulated by Sinbad whether it be good or bad. Gon would still be under Sinbad's rule.
Ging scratched his chin as he processed this new bit of information. If he were to reassess the situation in similar terms of Gilgamesh's analogy, Ging initially believed the Contest of Kings would shake up the game at the beginning and then it will smoothen out once the game settles down from the initial addition of extra pieces.
He quickly reshaped his mental framework of the current landscape of the game so he could get ahead of the initial shockwave of destruction and change these two would cause on the world. Because now, with the introduction of these two Kings, the game has been forcefully reseted. At two ends of the checkered square game sat the two Kings who waited for the rest of the pieces to fall in their lap.
"Now it's my turn," Gilgamesh announced. "What is 'Nen'?"
Gilgamesh concluded that the man holding his umbrella for him wasn't an ordinary man but even went so far believing him to be a man of knowing much knowledge and secrets of this new world. Sensing the man's fear for his child, Gilgamesh's keen awareness of reading body language and developing situations revealed to him that Ging Freeces knew about the Contest of Kings. A sacred and secret rite of passage for the Magi Kingdom that only very few people in the outside world should know of. This knowledge was known to Sinbad and Gilgamesh from King David himself.
This man had privy knowledge of the power and influence of the two kings that would descend onto their world and force them to submit to their own agendas. And earlier, Ging spoke a singular truth but he had two objectives: see his son and scope out the arrival of the two kings.
These two facts alone confirmed Gilgamesh's suspicion of Ging being familiar with Nen.
"Nen is life energy–"
"Stop," Gilgamesh interrupted. He didn't want the first person who understood Nen influence and dictate his knowledge of such an important aspect of the Contest of Kings. He especially didn't want to hear him speak at length about anything for that matter. "Demonstrate it."
"Um, I'm not a Conjurerer so I won't be able to show you something you can't see," replied Ging in a serious tone.
Gilgamesh rose to his feet and took a few steps away from his arrangement of snacks. "For only this instance alone, I will allow you to touch me and hit me with Nen."
Ging exploded in laughter as he concealed the umbrella and set it down. "Are you crazy? Hitting someone without Nen to protect themselves will obliterate your body. I will break every bone my fist makes contact with and the surrounding area."
Gilgamesh's eyes narrowed in disgust, aggressively folding his arms. "You dare believe a mongrel such as yourself has the ability to injure me? I will not repeat myself. Hit me with Nen."
Annoyed by Gilgamesh's attitude, Ging enshrouded his right fist with a heavy coating of aura. 'With pleasure, your highness.'
Ging approached Gilgamesh with his Nen enhanced fist and slowly brought the fist closer to Gilgamesh's face, not putting any speed into the punch. He only wanted his Nen to impact against the teen's face.
Gilgamesh did not move, flinch, or fear the man's incoming fist. His eyes tracked the slow moving fist and remained in his stance, keeping his arms folded. As the fist approached, it became five inches from his face and he felt a hot sensation pressed against his perfect skin.
In that very instant, Gilgamesh felt Nen for the first time and his whole being desired to have it.
As the True King of the world, there wasn't anything that didn't belong to him. If it didn't belong to him then he simply wasn't aware of its existence, then that means it's insignificant. Now that this concept of 'Nen' existed and it was directly in front of him and living inside of someone inferior in all levels of criteria, then it was simply impossible for him to not have it. A fundamental law of existence has been broken and it must correct itself.
As the fist approached, now two inches away, the Aura Nodes in his cheek willingly opened themselves up, not because Gilgamesh told them to but because it was only natural for them to be open. Immediately, Gilgamesh's Aura flooded out the gates to combat against the hostile threat.
Analyzing the situation directly in front of Gilgamesh was arguably the most observant Nen User in the Known World, Ging Freeces was in complete disbelief as his fist began to feel Gilgamesh's Nen retaliate.
The petty and childlike Ging put power and power into his two inch punch, going for a real but still restrained punch.
Ging's enhanced fist crashed into Gilgamesh's cheek. The devastating impact knocked Gilgamesh back a few feet, the soles of his feet slid against the smooth wood but his posture remained the same, keeping his arms arrogantly folded.
His body instantly reacted to the Nen infused punch, feeling the remnant energy course through his body. Naturally, his body used this to forcefully rip open the rest of his Aura Nodes. Feeling the overwhelming power flow through his veins, muscles, and bones, Gilgamesh uproared into a hysterical fit of laughter.
Unleashing his aura into a state of belligerent Ren, by his feet and up to his torso, Gilgamesh's Nen was golden. At his neck and head, it blended into orange and above his blonde hair it morphed into a bright crimson red.
The raw power of his Nen alone brought physical damage to the wood at his feet as he continued to laugh and enjoy himself.
All Ging could think about while looking at the impossible levels of a new born Nen User was that this was a twin. He refused himself to even believe that Gon had a chance against such a monster because it would be pure delusion.
The strength of Gilgamesh's Nen outburst started to put the regular people on the ship to sleep, their bodies couldn't handle the unseen tension and power of a King.
Noticing this, Ging began waving his hands to gain Gilgamesh's attention. "Hey! Control your Nen! Reduce the input, you are going to start killing people!"
Gilgamesh took a step forward in Ging's direction as his Nen output spiked. "Are you giving me an order?"
'Shit, I forgot about his psychotic personality,' Ging internalized inwardly. A mistake he would never have made if it weren't for the ridiculous display of Nen and the raw density of it. Ging could almost taste the air thickening into something delightful.
Then, an idea popped into his head to get him to calm down and forget about his blunder.
"Gilgamesh, let's see what Nen Category you belong to," Ging said, running toward the kitchen. On his path, he had to leap over and avoid the fallen staff and passengers. He raided the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water and found a leaf used for tea to complete the necessary requirements for the Water Divination. After returning to the second outer deck, Ging noticed the captain shouting at Gilgamesh below, not in accusation but interrogating the condition of his staff and passengers.
Ging sat down the water glass and searched through his stuff, looking for his Hunter License to put the captain at ease. He rummaged through his things for about three minutes and failed to find the License.
'Why can I never find this damn thing when I need it,' Ging thought in irritation. Finally, he remembered that he had it in his head wrapping. He took out his temporary Hunter License, a benefit of being a Zodiac and constantly hassling Beans to issue him the only current temporary Hunter License.
Ging took control of the situation and calmed everyone down, after ten minutes most people began to regain consciousness and everything went back to normal. Now, Ging sat in front of Gilgamesh with the glass of water resting in front of them.
Gilgamesh scorned the glass of water. "How is this going to help decide my Nen Category?"
"Depending on the effects of your Nen, it will cause changes to the glass of water or the single leaf on the water," answered Ging.
"Thus revealing my Nen Category?" Gilgamesh asked a bit skeptically.
Ging nodded and then coated his opened palms in neutral aura. He moved his hands on both sides of the glass and then imbued his Nen onto the water glass.
Giglamesh's facial expression didn't change as the color of the water darkened to a deep navy blue. He nodded, understanding what to do next and waited for the clear water to return.
Mimicking Ging's actions, Gilgamesh imbued the Water Divination Glass with his neutral aura.
They watched as nothing happened or changed.