Kevin looked at Mito, and at that moment, he recalled a conversation he once had with Kite.
He hadn't reached the 200th floor himself, so he didn't know much about what went on there. Most of what he knew came from Kite's descriptions.
For someone like Mito, who knew nothing about Nen and entered the 200th floor completely unaware, there were usually only two outcomes: either die a tragic death in battle, or survive and awaken to Nen.
No matter how he looked at it, Kevin couldn't just let Mito charge into battle clueless. Emotionally, they were at least friends, and Kevin still owed him a favor. Logically, Kevin needed that rare petal material known only to Mito's hometown—a crucial ingredient for fusion.
"What you're feeling is called Nen aura." Kevin said, quietly raising his hand while gazing steadily at Mito.
Mito immediately lowered his head, sweat beading on his forehead.
"Do you feel it?"
Mito stiffly nodded. "It's like there's a pressure weighing down on me. Feels just like what I felt on the 200th floor—except this doesn't carry that same bone-chilling malice."
"And now?"
Kevin unleashed a powerful wave of malice, mixed with Nen.
In an instant, Mito's face turned deathly pale. Luckily, the malice only lasted a moment.
Kevin had already sat back down and was calmly munching on a skewer of grilled meat.
It took quite a while for Mito to recover from the pressure. He slumped into his chair, wiping sweat from his brow.
Kevin spoke while still eating, "If you go onto the arena just like this, clueless, you'll receive a little something the fighters up there call a 'gift' for newcomers."
"A gift?" Mito looked confused.
"Yeah. They call it a baptism," Kevin said, recalling what Kite had told him.
"During this so-called baptism, they'll hit you with attacks laced with Nen. For someone like you, who hasn't learned to control your aura, those attacks can be deadly. Then you'll face two possible outcomes."
Kevin held up two fingers.
"First, serious injury or death. Second, you survive—but awaken Nen."
"You can awaken Nen just from being attacked?" Mito was surprised. He'd thought he was just marching to his doom.
Kevin nodded. "Otherwise, why do you think there are so many fighters above the 200th floor? You must have seen them—the ones who paid the price in baptism."
Mito thought back. He had indeed seen people with disabilities: blind, missing limbs, limping.
"It's a steep price, right? But if you're lucky, or your body's resilient enough, you might even recover." Kevin chuckled.
After pondering for a while, Mito looked up at Kevin, a bit nervous. "You… can do it too, right? I mean, if those fighters can help others go through baptism in battle, you should be able to as well, right?"
Honestly, Mito trusted Kevin more than those strangers in the arena. After all, they already had a bond.
"Of course I can," Kevin replied. "I still owe you, and I'll need your help again in the future."
It never hurt to make more friends—especially ones with potential. And Kevin could tell that Mito had potential.
Or rather, anyone who made it to the 200th floor must have some potential.
Helping him awaken Nen wasn't a problem for Kevin.
Though he wasn't a top-tier powerhouse, the Nen he practiced came from formal training—not half-baked shortcuts. He hadn't undergone the awakening process himself, but Yun Gu had taught him the essentials, and Biscuit had given him insight into awakening techniques.
There were two methods: one was long-term training, taking months to a year or more to awaken Nen naturally—safe and reliable, with no side effects.
The other was forceful awakening: injecting one's own Nen into another's body, forcibly opening their aura nodes.
In this process, the recipient had to learn to control their aura, and only upon mastering Ten would they truly gain Nen.
Of course, forceful awakening had its risks. If one failed to master it quickly, the leaking aura would weaken the body drastically.
Extended failure could result in severe physical damage.
"I've got two options," Kevin said plainly. "The first is gradual training. The second is riskier, but faster."
"It's essentially the baptism I mentioned earlier—but without the physical attacks, so it's relatively safe."
"I'll take the second one." Mito said without hesitation.
"In that case, let's eat first."
So their meal continued—with Kevin devouring his food, and Mito silently fretting.
Afterward, they went to Mito's residence—which, unsurprisingly, was a luxurious rest suite within the Heavens Arena, similar to Kite's.
"Ready?" Kevin asked.
Mito, wearing a thin vest, nodded.
Kevin placed his palm on Mito's shoulder. With precise control, he sent his Nen into Mito's body, successfully opening his aura nodes.
"What is this?!" Mito immediately sensed the strange change in his body.
"Calm your mind," Kevin instructed. "Control the aura bursting from your body. Visualize it surrounding you…"
With Kevin's guidance, Mito closed his eyes and focused.
From Kevin's perspective, Mito's aura became unstable—clearly struggling under the pressure of controlling it.
Half an hour passed, yet the aura still hadn't settled into Ten.
The prolonged energy surge was starting to drain Mito. He could feel weakness creeping into his limbs.
Suddenly, his aura exploded again—stronger than before.
Kevin was momentarily puzzled.
But he quickly realized—this was similar to what had happened in the arena.
"Don't let your emotions take control. Calm down. Do what I said—"
Before Kevin could finish, the surging aura began to condense, wrapping tightly around Mito's body. It no longer scattered wildly.
What just happened? Did emotional outbursts actually help control the aura?
Clearly, Mito realized he'd succeeded.
He opened his eyes, visibly delighted.
Kevin looked at his eyes and asked, "Hey, what's with your eyes?"
Mito's pupils shone a brilliant, gem-like red—intensely vivid and beautiful.
His expression changed. He rushed into the bathroom.
Moments later, he returned, face calm, his eyes back to normal.
He looked at Kevin.
Kevin seemed to understand and casually waved it off. "Don't worry. I didn't see anything."
Since Mito wanted to hide it, Kevin had no intention of digging further.
He was curious—but not nosy enough to pry into a friend's secrets.
In fact, given Mito's previous words and actions, it wasn't hard to guess a possible explanation.
Maybe that nomadic tribe Mito spoke of all had eyes that turned red when emotional.
Constantly on the move, deliberately hiding themselves—perhaps to avoid danger.
"Thanks," Mito said.
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