The second phase of the Reclamation Exam was chaos made ritual. A war masquerading as a test.
The Faction Battle Royale.
Each group had 72 hours to capture and maintain territory across a twisted, multi-biome arena—a labyrinth of collapsed cities, burning forests, floating tundras, and time-warping temples. The zones shifted every 12 hours, and each "court" was marked by a Nen banner.
Capture a zone, and your team gained resources, safe space, and visibility.
Lose a zone?
You bled.
🏰 The Mind Palace Zone: The Reflecting Throne
Kaen's group, now officially registered as Faction 07 – The Court of Thought, took a zone that shouldn't have existed.
It was a mirrored clearing. Trees reflected light sideways. The floor echoed breath. Anything said aloud was repeated three seconds later. This wasn't random terrain.
This was a psychic trap.
Kaen saw opportunity, not danger.
"Let this be our proving ground," he said.
"The world of thought… is our home turf."
With Mora and Renzu's help, he anchored a Palace Core—a Nen construct planted into the ground like a throne. Around it, he conjured layered fields of spatial awareness and reinforcement.
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👑 New Mind Palace Abilities (acquired from earlier battles):
1. Flash Verge
Using knowledge from Ren's Nen Vision and his own Mirage Step, Kaen creates afterimages that pulse with memory—false versions of himself that reflect his past thoughts and confuse enemy Zetsu-based tracking.
2. Chrono Aegis: Time Loop Barrier
Using a Specialist's space-time fragment Kaen analyzed during the Thought Gauntlet, he creates a localized time echo:
An area where attacks recur once after 3 seconds unless interrupted. Like fighting in rewind.
Only someone who understands time intellectually and emotionally can escape it.
Kaen now does.
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👸 Selva's Summon: Draumurinn – Phase 2
Selva evolved her guardian beast. Now it split into three smaller wyverns—each tied to her feelings toward a different court member:
• Loyalty (Kaen)
• Challenge (Luma)
• Protection (Tern/Yulo)
Each wyvern reacts faster than thought, defending or striking with pure instinct.
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⚔️ First Clash – The Vulture Blades
The first to attack Kaen's court was a savage mercenary faction—Faction 02: The Vulture Blades.
They didn't care about exams or alliances. They were paid killers, operating with brutal efficiency.
Their leader, Scythe-Nen user Gravaldo, laughed when he reached the edge of the Mind Palace zone.
"What's this? A fairy court? A throne of mirrors?
I'll cut your dreams to shreds."
His scythe ripped through a time layer.
But he missed.
Kaen stood behind him, aura humming like thunder, his voice a whisper inside Gravaldo's mind:
"You've entered a story.
And in this one… you're the chapter break."
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💥 The Battle That Turned the Arena Silent
Kaen activated Chrono Aegis.
Gravaldo struck.
But three seconds later—his scythe shattered against its own echo.
Luma moved in, slicing through his exposed ribs with radiant precision.
Selva's wyvern snapped its jaw shut around his aura trail.
Kaen copied the enemy's spinning aura blades mid-battle—then flipped them, creating a swirling Mindstorm Shield that absorbed Gravaldo's Nen and dispersed it across the field like dream dust.
By the end, Gravaldo knelt.
"You're… not human…"
Kaen only said:
"I'm the mind given shape."
The Vulture Blades fled, abandoning their banner. One by one, other factions began whispering it:
"Stay out of the Reflecting Zone."
"The King of Thought has teeth."
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📜 Meanwhile – Other Zones
• Pariston's sponsored assassins are probing weak factions, setting ambushes.
• Cheadle's informants document Kaen's every ability for later tribunal.
• Hisoka? Unconfirmed sightings. But corpses with painted smiles have started appearing near contested zones.
And deep beneath the arena—beyond the official test—a secret faction watches Kaen.
Led by Illumi Zoldyck, who mutters to himself:
"A king with no bloodline. A palace with no borders.
This child is… unnatural."
"Maybe even… worse than Alluka."
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🔥 Ending Scene: The King's First Order
Kaen stands atop the Reflecting Throne. His court assembles around him.
He raises a hand. Aura flows like music.
"We will not be a footnote in someone else's war.
We will not inherit dreams—we will shape them."
"This Palace shall not fall.
And if we must paint the sky in our colors, then let it be known—"
His aura explodes into symbols—scrolls, feathers, eyes, stars, dragons.
"We dream. We build. We reign."
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TO BE CONTINUED in Chapter 30 – The Palace That Defied the Heavens