Nen, but Not a Nen Ability!
Pale golden sunlight streamed through the church's stained-glass windows onto everyone's faces as Carl sat on a rickety little stool and spoke at length:
"Nen Abilities-'Nen' Abilities. As the name suggests, the most important thing is Nen."
"Nen?"
"Right! Everyone has 'Nen Aura' inside them, but the amount differs from person to person."
"As for Nen Abilities..." He deliberately drew out the last syllable, sweeping his gaze over six pairs of burning eyes. "The key is to harness the [aura] flowing through your body."
Thanks to having watched the anime dozens of times in his previous life, he still remembered the basics fairly clearly.
Who hadn't cupped their hands as a child and imagined awakening a Nen Ability?
Unfortunately, humans had their limits in his previous life, and Carl had never managed it even once.
"Then how do we sense Nen Aura?" Machi's purple hair trembled in the air, Uvogin's muscular back tensed into an arch, and even the usually calm Chrollo leaned forward half an inch without realizing it.
"After all that, you must know a few ways, right?"
"Of course! I know a whole four ways to awaken Nen Aura!"
Carl tucked in his thumb and held up four fingers.
Machi rolled her eyes. "Then spit it out!"
Carl wasn't angry. Instead, he grinned and said:
"The first requires a Nen user to personally open an ordinary person's aura nodes, allowing them to sense the existence of 'Nen.' But this method is considered unorthodox, and people who lack sufficient skill or aptitude might die if it's used on them."
"The second requires an ordinary person to survive an attack infused with a Nen user's Nen Aura, then master the technique of keeping aura inside their body in a short time."
Everyone exchanged glances and fell silent.
Was it worth gambling their lives for such power?
"Of course, there's a safe way too!"
"The third requires an ordinary person to sense the existence of aura through meditation and seated meditation under a Nen user's guidance, then gradually learn it step by step."
Carl stopped keeping them in suspense and quickly explained the third method.
Phinks' eyes lit up. "That method's good! We're still young, so we can take our time. There's no rush!"
"However, I can't do any of those three."
Carl smiled faintly, showing eight pearly white teeth.
He'd only said he knew four methods; he'd never said he could use all four.
If you can't do them, why bring them up?
The members of the Phantom Troupe ground their teeth, inexplicably feeling that the boy in front of them was asking for a beating.
Seeing that he'd achieved his goal, Carl quickly raised the ear of wheat. "The fourth method: a Nen user can use their own unique Nen Ability to awaken other people's Nen Abilities, letting ordinary people skip the learning stage and gain Nen Abilities directly."
"This is called Nen Komugi. It's a special product I grew. Eat a hundred stalks, and it can take the place of a Nen user and help everyone awaken Nen Abilities without side effects!"
Suddenly enveloped by six shadows, Carl spoke at breakneck speed. "It's absolutely safe! I swear on Uvogin's biceps!"
At that, everyone's eyes darted to Carl's hand. The golden ear of wheat shone brilliantly, and it looked delicious.
A moment later, Chrollo was the first to think of a question. His gaze fell on Carl. "How much of this plant is there? Do you have enough to eat yourself..."
There was no such thing as a free lunch in Meteor City! You had to give something to get something!
They would benefit, but would Carl lose something as a result?
The golden wheat awns floating in the air suddenly froze. Carl looked at seven pairs of blazing eyes, his Adam's apple bobbing.
"No..." The boy's hand, hanging at his side, unconsciously gripped the hem of his shirt. His undershirt, corroded by years of acid rain, gave a faint tearing sound.
What flickered in these children's eyes at that moment wasn't greed, but worry.
Faced with such enormous benefits, the first person they thought of was him...
"So what's the yield of this Nen Komugi? How long does it take you to grow one stalk to maturity? Can it be grown in Meteor City's soil?"
Chrollo pinched the bridge of his nose, a gesture that meant he was rapidly working things out.
"I can grow nine stalks at most at a time. They mature once every twenty-four hours, and each stalk yields one ear of wheat. They can only be grown in a certain special place."
Carl raised an eyebrow and gave a lighthearted smile.
After doing some mental arithmetic, Chrollo arrived at the result.
One hundred stalks in twelve days. There were eight people in the Phantom Troupe altogether. Eight times twelve... ninety-six days!
In other words, in just over three months, all of them could awaken Nen Abilities!
"So this pomegranate you gave me... is it also a special plant you grew?"
Suddenly, Chrollo pulled the dark green pomegranate from his clothes and held it up for a closer look.
Ever since Carl had given him the fruit, Chrollo had kept it with him. Now that Carl had explained it himself, he finally understood-Carl had actually given him something so precious.
"It's called a Bomb Pomegranate. Its lethal radius is six meters." Carl raised an eyebrow at the others, his words pointed.
After a while, everyone understood-the little fruit before them was probably responsible for the remains of those corpses in the woods.
Chrollo, however, suddenly laughed, his slender fingers gently tracing the Bomb Pomegranate's surface.
If he remembered correctly, when Carl had given him the thing, he'd only said one thing: "Throw it and run!"
He hadn't made its lethal radius clear at all...
Machi suddenly tugged at the ends of her purple hair, interrupting Chrollo's thoughts. "So, after three months..." She deliberately paused and glanced at Uvogin, who was counting on his fingers with sweat pouring down his face. "We can all awaken Nen Abilities?"
As her words fell, Uvogin, who had been struggling to count on his fingers, and Phinks and the others relaxed their shoulders, feeling as though their minds had grown a little clearer.
Chrollo noticed this and wasn't surprised. They were all orphans who spent their days trying to survive in the garbage mountains, with no chance to study. It was only natural that they weren't well educated.
That was how children in Meteor City were, but it was precisely why they had to change it all!
"No." Carl shook his head and waved the ear of wheat in his hand, golden light spilling into everyone's eyes.
"What we'll awaken is Nen Aura. I'm not a professional teacher, so I can't guide you in developing Nen Abilities."
Knowing something was one thing; putting it into practice was another. Carl was fully aware of his own limitations!
He didn't want to harm his companions in the Phantom Troupe by giving them the wrong guidance!
"But there must be Nen users in Meteor City. When the time comes, we can ask the priest to take us to seek their guidance!"
Carl's gaze lingered briefly on Chrollo's face. Their eyes met, and much went without saying.
There was only one church in Meteor City. Surely the priest in charge of it had some standing?
"Carl." Uvogin's Adam's apple bobbed a few times before he spoke haltingly. "Sarasa still has a high fever. Do you have any of that pumpkin left?"
When he'd eaten the pumpkin earlier, he'd already noticed the flesh's special healing effect. If it could heal the scars on his body, did that mean it could heal Sarasa's lungs too?!
"Yes. I'll take some to Sarasa in a bit!"
Carl nodded gently. The slice of pumpkin flesh he'd deliberately saved was for the girl who had dared to come back and save him!
A brave child deserved all the help she could get!
"But I only have one slice left." Catching sight of Franklin's expression, he added that.
Franklin, who was leaning against the wall, froze for a moment, then silently swallowed the words on his lips.
After Sheila had come back through the rain, she'd developed a low fever and was now resting in another room.
Whenever he thought of what Sheila had said earlier, Franklin didn't know how to ask Carl for something for her.
Carl's words instead left him relieved!