Chapter 20: Nen X Nen
After Sinbad and Killua reached the 100th Floor, they secured their temporary living situation. After losing rock paper scissors to Sinbad, Pokkle will be sharing the room with Killua. With their stuff inside of rooms, they headed toward Wing's apartment.
Once they arrived at the front door of Wing's apartment, he received them warmly and ushered them toward the living room. Zushi persisted in putting a major effort on cleaning and showmanship, putting extra caution on Wing's shady appearance.
Now with everyone settled onto the couch or chair, Wing asked the same previous question. "Have you boys ever heard of 'Nen'?"
Like being hit with a bolt of lightning, Killua felt tied with this unknowing word. As if being transported to a new and unknown world but it was familiar, eager to understand the meaning.
Pokkle, still upset with his humiliating defeat, went along without any expectations.
Going as planned, Sinbad hoped that Wing would be a competent teacher.
Sinbad, Pokkle, and Zushi sat next to each other on the couch while Killua pulled a chair to sit by the couch. Wing pulled a large whiteboard in front of them to begin his explanation.
Understanding the possible dangers of learning Nen with insufficient knowledge, those underlying gaps could limit and harm the users, Wing started his explanation with the basics. This was the stuff Sinbad already learned from Netero. The technique to manipulate one's own life energy through aura and its open nodes.
The four major principles of Nen: Ten, Zestu, Ren, and Hastu. He drew the characters and wrote on the whiteboard for a visual representation.
After waiting for Wing to finish, Pokkle raised his hand aggressively. Wing snapped the cap onto his marker and pointed at Pokkle.
Pokkle pointed an accusatory finger at Zushi. "Is that why my attacks did no damage?"
A bit ashamed, Zushi hung his head and nodded. The boy was an honorable fighter and truly wished for everyone to learn Nen and be able to fight on even playing field.
"Yes," answered Wing.
Pokkle jumped back into his seat. "That's basically cheating!"
"I can see why you would say that," mumbled Zushi.
"If you wish to climb and achieve the title Floor Master of this Heavens Arena, then you must learn Nen," announced Wing.
"Let me see?" Killua leapt onto his feet, taking a step toward Wing. "Show me your Nen?."
Wing waved his finger. "Without the proper defense, Nen could shatter bones and kill you instantly. However, I will express my Ren without the intent to do harm."
Wing shifted into a similar stance Zushi did in his fight with Pokkle and released his Nen. Even though Killua didn't have his Aura Nodes open, he felt the intense pressure hitting against his body. He stiffened from the impact, his instincts screaming at him to run.
Pokkle was able to somewhat notice Wing's aura but it was more vague in nondescript like words shouting in a blizzard.
Of course, Sinbad noticed and was able to see the white glow encompassing them but his body subconsciously activated Ten to protect himself.
Wing continued releasing his Nen and then raised his open exposed palm at Killua. "Now, I will give my aura the intent to kill.
"I will kill you," stated Wing in a calm and determined tone.
Sinbad saw the color of his aura flicker to a dark purple and restrained himself from showing signs of reacting to the bloodthirsty intent to kill. Impressed by Wing's Nen, Sinbad clenched his fists from excitement, deeming him worthy to be his teacher.
Subconsciously, Pokkle's Hunter mind broke down from the threat, tears flowed down his eyes.
While his life was threatened and felt an unknown pressure at his face, Killua didn't think of running out of fear to preserve his life but instead he stood his ground. Sweat and tension built on his forehead but he remained undaunted in his spot, ready to fight if necessary, prepared to lay to his life if needed. This wasn't possible if it wasn't for Sinbad who sliced Illumi's needle.
Killua was done running.
Wing ended his drastic demonstration. This overreaction from Wing was unknowingly due to his fright of Gilgamesh's power and the exploited rookies of the 200th Floor. He wished to protect these kids from suffering the same fate. Calmly, he approached the wall to his right and like he did before, exposed his open right palm at the wall. He shot his neutral Nen at the wall, causing the cement to crack and pieces of it fell to the carpet floor.
Killua and Pokkle gasped from shock.
"Getting hit without Ten to reinforce your body will result in permanent damage," added Wing. He turned to face his listening students and readjusted his glasses.
"How do we open up our Aura Nodes?" Sinbad asked, rising to his feet. "Because, I may have unknowingly done it before."
Skeptically, Wing glanced at Sinbad. "Normally, I would disagree outright with you but since you mention Gilgamesh being your twin brother then I would be more inclined in believing you."
"Why?" Pokkle asked. Killua nodded his head, approving this question.
"Nen works in mysterious ways but for the most part, family lineage may play an important starting role," Wing answered, uncapping his whiteboard marker. He started writing on the whiteboard. "Powerful Nen Users children have a much higher plausibility of mastering Nen compared to first generation Nen Users. After witnessing Gilgamesh's Nen in person, I wouldn't doubt you being able to achieve great Nen feats."
"Really?" Sinbad asked with his eyes lighting up. He closed his eyes and ended his near perfect Zestu of suppressing too much of his aura from releasing but only releasing the right amount of an average strong person.
Wing nodded. The man was still unsure of this purple hair kid, because of his long experience as a Hunter and the many enigmatic personalities he had come across and more dangerously, fought against. He was confident that Sinbad wasn't giving the full or even half truths of anything he says, but as an Enhancer Wing trusted his judgment and ability to analyze people. He deemed Sinbad to be a person that will not cause harm to him and more importantly Zushi.
So, in the end, he didn't mind going along with this momentum and teaching these new Hunters Nen as a part of them, truly completing the last steps of becoming Hunters.
"Was he really that special?" Zushi asked, pumping his fists in excitement.
The sensei didn't answer but instead walked past them and the couch, he collected something off of the kitchen table. Once he returned he flashed a black disk. "It would be much easier to explain, if we watched the fight together. However, we will save that for later."
Wing cleared some space in the living room, moving the rolling white board closer to the back wall. "Now, I will open up your Aura Nodes. There are two methods: a slow and gradual process of meditation with little to no harm and the other is much more dangerous but quicker, I can forcefully open the Nodes with my own Aura."
"The quicker method," Killua and Pokkle said simultaneously.
"Kids nowadays, always in such a hurry." Wing sighed, unbuttoning his wrist buttons. "Are you sure?"
Killua and Pokkle nodded aggressively. Both were overly determined to increase their strength.
"Okay, remove your outermost layer of clothing," Wing responded. "I need a good portion of your Aura Nodes exposed."
Understanding this reasoning, Killua and Pokkle removed their shirts, underneath they wore tank tops. Wing directed them to stand in front of him with their backs facing him. He then reached out with his hands and closed his eyes, focusing on staying in control of his Nen, feeling for the Aura Nodes of the two boys in front of him.
"Prepare yourselves!" Wing shouted with resolve.
The boys nodded.
With their approval, Wing began injecting his Nen into them and forcefully opening their Aura Nodes. The two boys shouted from the strange sensation that eventually brought them pain and discomfort. Their shouts lasted for about a minute as Wing started his procedure from the head and continued this process all the way down.
Once complete, Wing brought his hands back closer to his body. "Finished."
Activating his own Nen, Sinbad watched as a gray mist of aura oozed off the two boys, now having their Nen awakened. Killua and Pokkle analyzed themselves, watching as if a hot steam radiated from their own bodies.
Zushi felt happy to be there and witness this moment.
"Now," Wing said, snapping their attention away from themselves toward their new teacher. "Close your eyes and focus. Feel the flowing aura inside of your own bodies, sense for its strength and vitality, reach out to it."
Killua and Pokkle closed their eyes, mentally diving deeper into themselves, exploring this new sensation. Killua's mind imagined a mansion of hundreds of doors. He entered different rooms, only to be met with darkness and silence. Walking through the connecting hallways, he heard a sound calling out to him. He located the sound and chased after it. After two seconds, he stopped in front of a door, and a light shone underneath the door. He opened the door and entered the warm healing light.
Pokkle's mind imagined an expansive meadow, the sun was bright and the day was perfect. In his hands was his trusty hunting companion, his bow and on his back, arrows. Riding on the winds was a smell of his prey, his head snapped toward its direction. He chased after the appealing scent, carefully kneeling and concealing his movements in the high grass. After what felt like three minutes, Pokkle arrived at his destination. Beyond in the distance was a glowing luminescent deer. Without making a sound, Pokkle knocked an arrow back and fired.
At the same time, back in Wing's living room, the two boys exploded with Nen. Around their bodies chaotic spikes of white Nen erupted. Wind and pressure pushed from them, Zushi covered his face with a protective arm. Sinbad watched with great interest as he stood off the couch.
"Now, imagine controlling the energy, command it to protect you in a thin layer of defense," instructed Wing, to help them activate the first major principle of Nen, Ten.
Killua understood immediately and before Wing's help, he was already trying to imply the technique and by the time Wing finished his sentence, the aura surrounding him cooled down like a calming flame. In the next three seconds, the flame vanished and then enveloped Killua in a thin viscous layer, achieving Ten.
"Wow," admired Zushi.
Killua immediately began running in place and jumping with glee, feeling the added power in his bones and muscles.
Next to Killua, Pokkle's Nen was still being released uncontrollably. The muscles on his face were tense and full of forced concentration. Thick beads of sweat drenched his forehead, his releasing of aura brought immense fatigue.
"A natural stance may help bring stability," said Wing, in a comforting tone.
Sinbad rushed to grab Pokkle's bow and bring it toward him. "Here."
Pokkle grabbed onto the bow and held it at a ready position, down in front of him. The tension in his face disappeared as soon as he held onto his bow. His eyes remained closed while taking deep breathes and taking control over his releasing Nen then achieved Ten.
He opened his eyes with a tired smile, giving the rest of them a thumbs up.
"Congratulations, both of you," commented Wing.
Similar to Killua, Pokkle was quick to test out his new strength by flexing his hands and taking a few jumps.
Zushi turned his attention toward Sinbad. "What about you?"
Sinbad unsheathed his blade with flair and activated Ten, covering his whole body and sword in Nen.
"Now, let's see which Nen Category you all belong into," said Wing while walking over to the kitchen. He turned the faucet on, filling up a glass of water up to the very tip.
Zushi cheered. "Sensei, am I finally ready to learn?"
Killua and Pokkle garnered confused looks.
Wing smiled, returning to the rest of them with the Water Divination Test. Carefully, he placed the glass of water on the kitchen table and waved for the rest of them to join him by the table. "Now, listen carefully children. As I mentioned previously when discussing the four major principles of Nen, I spoke briefly about Hastu."
He paused, waiting for visual confirmation from the four of them.
He continued, "On the 200th Floor, you will be vital to develop a Nen Ability, but before you can even consider an ability, your Nen Category must come first."
'This is what I have been waiting for," thought Sinbad.
"What are the categories?" Pokkle asked.
Wing left the table, returning to his whiteboard. He retrieved his whiteboard marker from his pocket and started drawing a diagram. After three minutes, he was finished.
At the top of this connected hexagram was called Enhancement, down to the right of it was Transmutation, beneath that was Conjuration, down to the left and creating the bottom of the hexagram was Specialization, rising to the left was Manipulation, and above that was Emission which completed the circuit.
Sinbad analyzed the diagram but didn't come into any grand conclusions.
Without saying anything about the content of what he drew, Wing returned by the table. "Now, to determine your Nen Category is simple."
He placed both of his exposed palms on each side of the Water Divination Glass. Now with all of their Aura Nodes open, the novice Nen Users saw their sensei glow with white neutral Nen. Then, Wing's Nen encompassed the entire glass of water.
Defying the laws of nature, more water flooded out from the Water Divination Glass. All of the spectators awed in surprise.
"This is the result of being an Enhancer," Wing revealed. He rushed into the kitchen to get a clean washcloth, he ran back and cleaned the water mess. "An Enhancer's Nen is the most basic but it's the strongest, these Nen Users can strengthen or increase their natural abilities. Thus increasing the volume of water in the glass, causing it to flood."
The listeners attention fell onto the water glass, all of them filled with excitement to know their own Nen Category.
Noticing this, Wing chuckled. "So, who wants to go first?"
Killua jumped forward with his hands ready. "Me!"
"Okay," Wing said, walking to the opposite side of the table to get a better angle of the glass and Killua. He lifted a finger in the air before speaking. "Imbue the Water Divination with large amounts of Nen and then depending on the results will determine your category."
Killua flashed a cocky grin and then focused, closing his eyes to replicate the same sensation as before. His facial features tensed in concentration to pool the energy out and focus the majority on his hands. White neutral Nen encompassed the water glass as beads of sweat fell from his forehead. After doing this for three seconds, Killua's Nen vanished and he heaved to catch his breath.
Pokkle and Zushi leaned over the table, looking intensely at the water glass. Their eyebrows twisted upward in confusion.
"Nothing happened?" Zushi uttered.
"Quite the contrary," Wing said, dipping his finger into the glass. He licked the dripping finger. "It's sweet."
Immediately, they all rushed to dip their fingers in the water, nearly knocking over the glass. At the same time, they tasted the water.
"It is sweet," said Pokkle.
"Like syrup," continued Zushi.
Pokkle shook his head. "Nah closer to honey."
"Changing the quality of the water means that Killua, you are a Transmutter," Wing said, putting an end over their dispute over the correct sweetness of the water. "These Nen Users can change the properties of their aura to mimic or replicate natural elements, substances, animals, and other strange phenomena."
"Woah," Killua gasped. He folded his arms in satisfaction. "Awesome."
"Let me go next," announced Sinbad, playfully pushing Killua out of the way.
Wing nodded. "Okay."
Sinbad unleashed his Nen in a controlled manner, bringing his hands to hover on both sides of the glass. His Nen surrounded the water glass and then the leaf on top of the water started to move, flowing in circles around the rim of the glass.
The watchers gasped in surprise.
"This means you are a Manipu–"
Before Wing could finish his sentence, the leaf flew off and out of the Water Divination glass. Sinbad's eyes traced the air and the leaf–glowing in white neutral Nen–flew in the air on his intent. And then, to everyone's surprise the leaf exploded in a blazing ash.
Silently, they all watched the ash fall from the air.