Chương 17: Nen Types

Machi's hand remained against Aren's until the meal ended. She pulled away before Uvogin or Nobunaga noticed, but Aren had already seen the change. It was small. For Machi, small meant enormous. Uvogin leaned back from the table, stomach full and expression lazy.

"So you had a hometown, huh? I thought you were always from Meteor City."

"In this world, I am from Meteor City," Aren said.

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one you're getting." Nobunaga glanced at him.

"Different places leave different marks. Feitan speaks like he swallowed knives from another country. Meteor City accepts everyone, so it's not strange."

"Exactly." Aren clapped his hands once.

"Enough about me. You awakened Nen and immediately ran outside to beat each other up. Now you learn the basics properly." Uvogin grinned.

"Training?"

"Study first."

"Cruel." Aren created paper and a pen for each of them. Uvogin stared at the pen as if it were a weapon made for someone else.

"Do I have to write?"

"Yes." Machi had already taken hers. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Nobunaga sighed and followed.

"Nen has four major principles," Aren said.

"Ten, Zetsu, Ren, and Hatsu." He raised one finger.

"Ten keeps aura close to the body. It protects you and slows the natural loss of life energy." A second finger.

"Zetsu closes your aura nodes. It hides your presence and helps recover from fatigue, but leaves you vulnerable if someone attacks." A third.

"Ren increases your aura output. More power, more pressure, more danger to anyone nearby." A fourth.

"Hatsu is personal expression. It is your aura shaped by your nature, training, and rules. That's where individual abilities come from." Machi wrote quickly. Nobunaga wrote less neatly but paid attention. Uvogin drew something that might have been a fist.

"Uvogin."

"I'm listening."

"Write words."

"This is a word to me." Aren decided to keep moving.

"Nen doesn't replace the body. It builds on it. If your body is weak, Nen can strengthen it, but the foundation still matters. A master with a trained body and refined aura will crush a beginner with talent." He paused. Kurapika's future flashed through his mind. Emperor Time. Chains. Talent turned into a terrifying weapon through conditions and resolve.

"Rules matter too. But we'll get there later." Uvogin's eyes sharpened.

"Types."

"Right." Aren drew a rough hexagon.

"There are six Nen types: Enhancement, Transmutation, Emission, Conjuration, Manipulation, and Specialization." He pointed to the first.

"Enhancement strengthens the natural properties of people or objects. Bodies, fists, weapons, healing. Simple and powerful."

"Me," Uvogin said immediately.

"Probably."

"Definitely." Aren ignored him.

"Transmutation changes the properties of aura. You can make aura behave like something else: thread, electricity, rubber, whatever your training and imagination can support." Machi's eyes moved slightly.

"Emission projects aura away from the body while keeping power. Blasts, remote effects, techniques that travel."

"Conjuration materializes aura into objects. Real things, or things close enough to act real." Nobunaga pointed his pen at Aren.

"That's you."

"Maybe."

"You create food, clothes, knives, furniture. How is that maybe?" Aren smiled and continued.

"Manipulation controls people, animals, objects, or aura through conditions. And Specialization covers abilities that don't fit the other five."

"Sounds like cheating," Uvogin said.

"It often is." Aren drew lines between the categories.

"Your own type is your best field. Adjacent types are easier. The farther away a type is, the less efficient it becomes. You can train outside your type, but forcing yourself into the wrong field wastes effort." Nobunaga frowned at the hexagon.

"So if I'm Enhancement, I shouldn't try to control people."

"Not as your main road."

"Good. I didn't want to." Machi looked at the word Transmutation on the paper. Aren noticed.

"We'll test everyone tomorrow."

"How?"

"Water divination." Uvogin raised a hand.

"Can water fight?"

"No."

"Then I hate it already."