Chương 15: I'm Not Making This Up

Aren created four cold cans of soda and placed them on the table. Uvogin grabbed one immediately. Nobunaga took his after checking the seal with suspicious care. Machi did not touch hers until Aren opened one for himself.

"There are three common ways to awaken Nen," Aren said. He raised one finger.

"First, the orthodox method. You train slowly until you sense your own aura and open your aura nodes by yourself. It's safe, stable, and takes time." A second finger rose.

"Second, a Nen user can send aura into your body and force your dormant nodes open. It's faster, but dangerous. If your aura starts leaking and you can't control it, you'll drain yourself dry and die." Uvogin nodded as if that sounded perfectly reasonable. A third finger rose.

"Third, baptism. A Nen attack hits someone who doesn't know Nen and tears their nodes open through force. If they survive, they awaken. If they don't, they die. Oss survived, but it cost him an arm." Machi's expression darkened.

"That was what he did to you."

"Yes." Nobunaga leaned forward.

"Which way did you use before that?" Aren drank his soda. The truth was that he had not awakened Nen in any normal way. He had been dragged into this world by an impossible thing, died, revived, fused with the Undying, and then had his aura nodes smashed open by Oss. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it That explanation would raise more questions than it answered.

"Probably the first," he said.

"My case was unusual." Nobunaga stared at him.

"That sounds made up."

"It does," Aren said.

"But I'm not making this up." Uvogin crushed his empty can in one hand.

"So we pick one or two, right?"

"Right."

"Second."

"You didn't even think."

"Thinking won't make me stronger faster." Nobunaga sighed.

"Second for me too." Machi looked at Aren.

"Second." Aren expected nothing else.

"Then Uvogin goes first."

"Hell yeah." Uvogin ripped off his shirt with one pull and turned his back to Aren. The boy's frame was already broad for his age, packed with the kind of raw strength that made ordinary training look unfair. Even without Nen, he was built like something Meteor City had failed to starve properly. Aren stood behind him and raised one palm.

"When the nodes open, you'll feel aura pouring out. Don't panic. Picture it staying close to your body. Don't let it scatter."

"Got it."

"If you mess up, you die."

"Loud and clear." Aren pressed his palm against Uvogin's back and pushed aura in. Uvogin's entire body jerked. A rough wave burst from him. It was wild, hot, and unstable, rushing out of every open node like steam from a cracked pipe.

"Hold it," Aren said.

"Around your skin. Don't let it run." Uvogin gritted his teeth. The leaking aura wavered. For a few seconds, it looked ready to collapse. Then it pulled closer to his body, forming a ragged but functional layer. Ten. Uvogin opened his eyes.

"I see it."

"Good."

"I feel like I can flatten Nobunaga."

"Say that again." Nobunaga's hand went to his sword. Uvogin laughed.

"After you awaken, I'll prove it."

"Take your shirt off," Aren told Nobunaga.

"Don't say it like that."

"Take your shirt off and turn around."

"That's worse." Nobunaga complained, but he obeyed. His awakening was smoother than Uvogin's. Not safer, exactly. No forced awakening was safe. But his control was sharper from the first breath. The aura wavered, dipped, then settled close around him. Nobunaga exhaled slowly.

"So this is Nen." Uvogin slapped him on the shoulder hard enough to make the floor creak.

"Let's fight."

"I just awakened."

"Perfect time." The two of them ran outside before Aren could stop them. The room fell quiet. Only Aren and Machi remained. Machi stood near the table, steel thread wrapped around one finger. Her face was calm, but the tips of her ears had turned red. Aren coughed once.

"For your turn... the clothes need to come off." Machi looked at him.

"I'm serious," Aren said.

"Direct contact makes the process easier to control." The silence grew strangely heavy. Then Machi lowered her eyes.

"My room," she said.