Member X Candidate X Nen Ability

Qi Zhou leaned against the sofa and sat on the floor.

Chrollo put him down on the floor and let him sit leaning against the sofa, then gracefully took a seat on the sofa.

"Nobunaga Hazama." He pointed to the black-haired man wearing a braid and carrying a sword.

"Feitan Potoo." He pointed to the short person who had been peeking-openly looking at him-outside the door just now, with half his face covered.

"Machi Komacine." He pointed to the ponytail girl.

"Phinks Magucap." He pointed to the man with no eyebrows and short blond hair.

"Shalnark." He pointed to the rather handsome blond boy.

"Franklin Bordeaux." He pointed to the huge guy with a terrifying build and face, many scars on his face, and very long earlobes.

"Pakunoda." He pointed to the loose-haired girl who had given him food to eat last night.

"Bonolenov." He pointed to the person wrapped in bandages from head to toe like a mummy.

"Uvogin." He pointed to the afro-haired big guy.

"Kortopi." He pointed to the person with very long hair covering the whole face whose gender could not be told.

Introducing them to him was Chrollo, who was sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, using a certain ability from his book that made eyes turn purple to make Qi Zhou understand what he was saying-though these names were very strange and hard to pronounce.

Finally, he introduced to the few people in front of him in their language: "Qi Zhou."

Read in their language, this name was actually not so awkward to pronounce.

"His ability was used by all of you this morning; if no one objects, I will list him as a candidate.

This sentence was not avoided from Qi Zhou, so Qi Zhou could understand. But what did "candidate list" mean, and did this kind of joining-the-group (team) activity not consider the wishes of candidate members?-Could it be a pyramid scheme?

Machi glanced at Qi Zhou and said bluntly, "He looks reluctant."

She then asked with doubt, "Also, aren't there vacant positions?"

Chrollo lowered his head to look at Qi Zhou, who wore a bewildered, doubtful, and slightly resentful expression: "His wishes don't matter."

He smiled again: "To become a member directly, he's not qualified enough."

Qi Zhou understood, clenched his teeth, and puffed up his cheeks.

These days, even pyramid schemes didn't recruit the illiterate, is that it?

"If it's just a candidate," Uvogin said with zest, "I agree."

Nobunaga gave a light smile: "No objection."

Phinks grinned: "No objection."

Shalnark smiled: "Sure enough, Enhancers care a lot about the boost brought by that kind of ability."

Machi said dismissively: "Typical Enhancer idiots."

The three of them raged: "What did you say-? Do you want to fight?!"

"Stolen Nen cannot be trained anymore," Chrollo ignored them and slowly said, "If he can continue to practice it, perhaps it can bring more improvements."

Every word could be understood, but put together they made no sense.

Chrollo's words made the eyes of the three people called "Enhancers" light up. If going from 100 to 105 was a weak improvement, then going from 199 to 200, that breakthrough improvement after reaching the limit, was extremely precious.

It was not that they cared about the improvement itself, but rather that if they had the insight of 200, then at least there would be traces to follow regarding how to raise it to 200-after cultivating to a level close to the limit, wanting to improve even a tiny bit was incomparably difficult, and they couldn't even find a direction to strive for.

Shalnark said: "Even if one dislikes the boosts in power and speed, the improvement of stamina and manifest aura is also useful for Troupe activities."

Feitan held the opposing opinion: "Even as a candidate, he's too weak, a burden."

"We can teach him slowly," Chrollo said.

Deducing what Feitan had said based on this sentence, Qi Zhou glared at Feitan, gritted his teeth, and puffed up his cheeks.

"Heh, he even dares to glare at me." Feitan's gaze suddenly turned sharp, and killing intent burst forth.

His killing intent was blocked by invisible Nen, so he curled his lips. Seeing that the little burden was completely oblivious to what had happened in an instant, utterly unaware that he had almost died under the killing intent and Nen pressure, he curled his lips again.

"I don't have any objections," Pakunoda furrowed her brows, "but... we'll need to spare manpower to protect him during Troupe activities, which will affect combat efficiency."

Chrollo withdrew his Nen: "Mm-but if there are no special requirements, grouping can be voluntary."

"Qi Zhou is it, Big Brother here will cover you from now on!" Uvogin patted his chest and said.

Shalnark smiled: "With the language barrier, he doesn't understand what you're saying-you'd better tell the Boss."

Chrollo also smiled with a noncommittal attitude, then looked at the remaining few people.

Kortopi whispered: "No objection."

Franklin shook his head: "No objection."

Bonolenov shook his head.

"Since no one objects, then..." Chrollo stood up and directly lifted Qi Zhou's collar like grabbing rabbit ears, "Find another opportunity to notify number four; we can dismiss now."

Qi Zhou: "..."

Hey, so you really aren't going to consider the person concerned's opinion at all?

The little white rabbit was carried back to the room and set down on the cardboard-covered floor.

Chrollo crouched in front of him and met his gaze. Then he turned his hand over, and Skill Hunter appeared. He began flipping through the book. When he reached the page with Qi Zhou's portrait, he glanced at Qi Zhou and tore the page out.

Qi Zhou watched him with a bewildered, almost amused expression. Then he felt something strange happening to him. It was as if a part of his body-or perhaps his heart-that had been missing had suddenly returned.

He flipped a few more pages. Purple light.

Chrollo: "Don't act alone. Report to me before you do anything. If you dare run away, I'll take your ability, break your arms and legs, and lock you in a box."

Qi Zhou: "...?"

He'd "borrowed" it yesterday and had to return it today. Even borrowing money on Huabei didn't work like that. And what kind of troupe had such strict rules? Then... then would he have to report it whenever he went to the bathroom or got a drink of water? No, why was he linking drinking water and going to the bathroom? And that threat-actually, it wasn't a threat, was it?

Qi Zhou met the gaze of the black-haired, black-eyed young man.

Chrollo smiled faintly and walked over to his sofa.

Qi Zhou sat quietly on the floor, eyes wide open.

He... had probably really come to a place even more terrifying than that box.

In Chrollo's eyes, he seemed to see a bottomless abyss, as if in a hallucination.

"Do you know what Nen is?"

Qi Zhou had seemed to be resting with his eyes closed, but in reality he'd been slowly trying to control and move his legs. Hearing Chrollo's voice, he lifted his head to look at him.

Chrollo sat on the sofa reading a book, without looking back at him.

Qi Zhou shook his head to show that he'd never heard of it.

As if he'd seen Qi Zhou shake his head, Chrollo smiled, though his voice turned a degree colder.

"Since you don't know about Nen, I'm curious how your ability came about. Can you explain?"

Qi Zhou: "...I don't know."

Chrollo gave a soft laugh. He didn't comment on Qi Zhou's answer, but closed the book in his hands.

Then Qi Zhou froze.

The sunlight outside the window was lovely, but he still felt as if he'd been thrown into an icy cave, or pushed beneath the pitch-black, suffocating sea-or both.

The cold shot up his spine and into his brain, then took complete control of his body. His soul screamed at him to run, but his body was as if frozen stiff: he couldn't breathe or move...

His heart beat both frighteningly fast and unbearably slowly. A shrill ringing filled his ears, but in the next instant, all he could hear was the silence of a dead sea.

He didn't know how long it lasted. So long that he thought he'd already died.

When he realized he wasn't dead, he felt a damp liquid trickling from his nose and ears. In a daze, he raised a hand and found it covered in blood.

He stared at his hand, then looked at Chrollo in bewilderment. He didn't understand what kind of ability had just been used, or why Chrollo had suddenly used such a terrifying ability on him for no apparent reason.

After his confusion gradually faded, he belatedly felt afraid.

He slowly lowered his head, trembling almost imperceptibly.

So that was what it felt like to take the final step into hell.

Chrollo withdrew his Nen and gazed down at the boy sitting on the floor.

When an ordinary person underwent the baptism of Nen pressure, there was some chance that the pores throughout their body would open and they would learn "Nen." But it was more likely that they would be unable to control their aura from spilling out and would die.

If someone who had already learned Nen endured Nen pressure, they would instinctively use their own Nen to resist.

But in either case, the aura inside the person being subjected to the pressure would burst outward.

Yet the boy had remained in a state of "Zetsu" the entire time. Either he'd already unconsciously trained his "Zetsu" to the point of perfection, able to resist the instinctive reaction even under Nen pressure, or his "Nen" was bound by some kind of restriction, leaving him passively trapped in a state of "Zetsu."

More disappointing still, even though the gray-blue-eyed kid was nearly dead, the silver-blue-eyed one hadn't appeared.

Chrollo spoke. "Close your eyes."

Qi Zhou was silent for a little while, then did as he was told.

Chrollo: "Think about using your ability, but don't actually use it. Feel the aura gathering in your hand."

Following his instructions, Qi Zhou held out his palm as if preparing to take a book. As he focused, he felt the book gathering in his palm, held in the form it had before becoming a book. That was the "aura" flowing out of his body. It had no physical form, but... it felt strange. He seemed able to control it however he wished.

Chrollo saw a cluster of pale blue aura appear in the boy's palm and said softly, "Can you feel what's in your hand? This is your 'Nen.'"

Normally, people learned Nen by progressing from "Ten," through "Zetsu," to "Ren," and finally to "Hatsu." But this kid already had "Nen" that he could release outward, so going in reverse would be relatively easy for him.

"Now let the Nen in your hand disperse and do it again. This time, remember where in your body the 'Nen' comes from."

Qi Zhou let the cluster of aura in his hand disperse.

He focused on every detail of his body that might change or move after his thoughts summoned his ability.

It was a strange sensation, but also like a part of his body. The comparison might not be quite right, but it was as natural as breathing air into his lungs. Most people didn't notice the air entering their bodies when they breathed, but with just a little focus, they could feel it.

Unlike breath, though, these countless threads of aura came from inside his body.

"Gather your 'Nen' around your body and hold it there. Don't let it leave your body, and don't let it run wild."

Chrollo lowered his head and flipped through the book.

He was looking through this "textbook" for the first time. It taught how to practice "Nen" the orthodox way, and he had no idea when, where, or how he had gotten hold of it. It didn't even have a publication number.

He didn't need to read this useless thing. He and the others all had their own ways of learning and improving their Nen.

His method was quick and efficient, and the subsequent rate of Nen improvement was quite impressive. The only drawback was that using it on this brat might turn him into a dead brat.

Although the teacher was learning as he taught, it helped that the student was pretty decent. It might also have been because he could already use "Hatsu" and was training in reverse. It was like going from a single endpoint toward multiple exits: finding the maze entrance was much easier than trying to get from the starting point to the endpoint.

In Chrollo's eyes, gleaming violet in the light, a layer of blue aura about two millimeters thick had appeared around Qi Zhou. It was the brat's "Ten."

If the brat was ten years old, then when Chrollo had been ten, his "Ten" could already reach five centimeters.

Chrollo was a little disdainful.

Qi Zhou felt as though a thin film were wrapping his entire body. He could barely feel the temperature around him-or rather, that wasn't quite right. He could feel the temperature, but he didn't get much of a sensation of heat or cold.

What's more, the feeling of the wind brushing past him, of tiny bugs crawling over his skin, and of blood flowing past a certain point had all become clearer.

"Your current state is called 'Ten.'" Chrollo stood up. "Stay like this until I get back."