Although she had lost her chance to leave with Uvogin, she had become a Nen user in the process!
Whether that was lucky or unlucky was a question that really defied a simple answer.
On the very day she awakened her Nen, A Luo eagerly began experimenting.
What frustrated her, however, was that aside from feeling a little physically stronger and being able to sense Nen...
There were no other changes whatsoever.
Even the amount of aura she had was pitifully small!
Of course it was!
This world had so many geniuses. Never mind the one-in-ten-million monsters in the main cast-even the Spiders of the Phantom Troupe each had talent many times greater than an ordinary person's.
Compared with them, A Luo's physical aptitude was utterly ordinary, barely passable at best.
Her aptitude was already inferior, and when the boss forcibly awakened her Nen, he hadn't even warned her beforehand, causing her to waste so much aura!
Naturally, there wasn't much aura left in her body now.
The little girl cast a resentful look at Chrollo, who was sitting on the sofa. That damned bandit chief.
It was all his fault!
And so, without another word, Lola added another entry for Chrollo in her little book of grudges.
As for Chrollo?
Holding a thick ancient book, the man sensed a certain little girl's hateful gaze and spoke flatly, his expression full of disdain.
"As expected, even after awakening Nen, dead weight is still dead weight. I'd better stop indulging in such wishful thinking."
A Luo: "..."
The little girl ground her teeth bitterly, then secretly drew a hundred circles in her mind to curse the sharp-tongued bandit chief.
Twice! I'd nearly died at this guy's hands twice already!
Even if I was a guinea pig and a collectible, didn't I have any human rights?
Had Chrollo never considered what would happen if I actually died?
Besides, if you really thought I was dead weight, then let me go, damn it!
Did you think any normal person would willingly stick around with you people?
Unfortunately, A Luo wasn't strong enough yet to vent her displeasure freely.
So the little cook could only tell the head of the Spider with a stiff expression:
"Sorry! I'm too useless, and I've been dragging you all down. I'll work hard to improve myself from now on and stay out of your way."
Although that was what A Luo said aloud, she was secretly swearing to herself:
Just you wait, Chrollo! One day, I'll throw off these shackles and sing my victory song!
Give me a few years, and just watch how I team up with Kurapika and Hisoka to kill you bastards.
These Spiders had simply gone too far!
A Luo's submission didn't earn her the slightest attention from Chrollo. The man merely curled his lips into a meaningful smile.
Then he instructed the other Spiders to set out tomorrow!
No. 8 had been assassinated by the Zoldyck Family, so naturally, Chrollo's next task as their leader was to scout out a new member.
Since they would be traveling, the Spiders all returned to their rooms early after dinner and went to bed.
Having just awakened her Nen Ability, A Luo was terribly curious about which category she belonged to.
Remembering the Water Divination used to test Nen Ability categories in the original manga, A Luo waited until the Spiders had gone to sleep, secretly poured a glass of water, placed a leaf on it, and brought it back to her room.
She carefully recalled the explanation of this part in the original.
Water Divination was a method of testing one's Nen affinity, devised by the Shingen-ryu school of martial arts.
By placing both hands around a glass of water with a leaf floating on its surface and activating Nen, one could determine one's Nen Ability category from the changes in the water and the leaf.
For example:
Enhancement: the amount of water increased.
Transmutation: the water's taste changed, becoming sweet or something similar.
Conjuration: crystalline substances appeared in the water.
Emission: the water's color changed.
Manipulation: the leaf moved.
Specialization: any unusual phenomenon different from the changes above belonged to Specialization.
Once Lola had it all straight, she held her breath and focused, placing her hands on either side of the glass. Then she drew on all the aura in her body and activated her Nen according to the method taught in the manga.
Since she hadn't undergone any training, the amount of Nen she could release was minuscule!
But it should still have been enough for a test.
Time ticked by, yet even after a long while, the glass of water in front of A Luo showed no change.
The girl refused to give up. Maybe I was a Transmuter?
She withdrew her hands, dipped a finger into the glass, and tasted a little water... Fine, it still tasted like water.
A Luo frowned, utterly baffled, then held her breath and concentrated for another attempt.
Another fifteen minutes passed.
The leaf in the glass seemed to move a little?
A Luo was overjoyed!
But a second later, confusion set in.
A moving leaf should mean Manipulation, but she still remembered Hisoka's theory about Nen users' personalities from the original. Weren't Manipulators supposedly fond of reasoning with people while doing things their own way?
I was a Manipulator?
Why did that feel a little off?
Just as A Luo lowered her head, puzzling over it in doubt and considering another try, a soft chuckle suddenly came from behind her.
Startled, A Luo hurriedly fumbled to hide the glass.
All that earned her was even more blatant mockery.
"Are you doing Shingen-ryu's Water Divination?"
A Luo turned around and met Feitan's dark golden eyes.
"You kept trying without getting anywhere. Didn't want you too disappointed, so I helped move the leaf."
A Luo: "..."
Was that even something you could help with? If you wanted to mess things up, just say so, damn it! Why dress it up like that?
Feitan snickered, keeping his raspy voice low.
"No wonder the boss calls you useless. You don't even have a Nen affinity! Go make me a pot of that witch's soup you made Uvogin yesterday, and maybe I'll protect you a little if we run into danger on the road."
A Luo: "..."
Hey, I was still a little kid!
Yesterday, she had deliberately made all sorts of delicious food to win Uvogin over so he would take her away.
Now it was the middle of the night, and you were ordering your child laborer around so casually. Didn't your conscience hurt at all?
When she didn't move, Feitan looked at the little squirt-the only person in the entire Phantom Troupe shorter than him-and mustered a rare scrap of patience. He leaned closer to A Luo and threatened her quietly:
"Still not going? I don't mind letting you experience how I treat people who don't listen."
A Luo: "..."
Fine! He was stronger, so he got to be right.
Honestly, if she hadn't been eating at the same table as these Spiders every day and become somewhat familiar with them, the A Luo who had first arrived here would have sprinted into the kitchen the moment Feitan threatened her like that. She would never have dared stand here bargaining with him.
Though, at that very moment, A Luo really, really wanted to beat the guy in front of her to a pulp!
Unfortunately, she had no choice. Following the principle that a wise person didn't invite needless suffering, A Luo scurried straight down to the little kitchen.
After A Luo left, Feitan looked at the glass of water on the table.
Did that little brat really have no Nen affinity at all?
Feitan stepped forward and studied the glass. He even picked up the leaf and tasted a sip of the water.
A moment later, the young man in the skull mask tossed the leaf aside and smashed the glass with a crash, saying in disbelief:
"She really is nothing at all!"
Before you continue