“I can see it.”
Machi’s voice was filled with surprise and excitement.
“The technique of concentrating aura in your eyes is called Gyo. It enhances your vision and allows you to see Nen. When fighting another Nen user, activating Gyo is something you absolutely have to do.”
“Because only then can you tell what kind of Nen techniques your opponent is using.”
Renn remembered this very clearly.
At Heavens Arena, many self-taught Nen users had been toyed with by Hisoka precisely because they didn’t know how to use Gyo.
Kastro was the most obvious example.
Renn thought Kastro had actually possessed considerable talent.
Unfortunately, he had never met a proper teacher.
Not only had he developed his abilities in the wrong direction, he couldn’t even use Gyo properly, leaving him completely unable to understand how Hisoka’s ability worked.
“Next, let’s test your Nen affinity.”
“Nen affinity?”
“That’s right. Nen can generally be divided into six categories: Enhancement, Emission, Manipulation, Conjuration, Specialization, and Transmutation. Different affinities are suited to developing different kinds of abilities.”
Renn already knew that Machi was a Transmuter, but he obviously couldn’t simply tell her that.
A glass of water.
A leaf.
This was the standard method of testing Nen affinity in the Hunter world—
Water Divination.
“Place your hands on either side of the glass.”
“Then release your aura into it.”
Machi nodded.
The leaf showed no change whatsoever.
“Renn?”
“Take a sip of the water.”
Machi immediately took a large gulp.
“So salty!”
“We have the result. Your affinity is Transmutation,” Renn said.
“That was just plain water. I didn’t add anything to it. Your aura changed its taste.”
“What affinity are you, Renn?”
“Specialization.”
Renn had no intention of hiding it.
There was little point. This story is hosted at g.com.
It was something that could be discovered fairly easily.
“Is Specialization the strongest?”
“No.”
Renn shook his head.
“There’s no strongest Nen category among the six. Any category can become extremely powerful. What matters is the person using Nen, not their affinity.”
Many people believed Specialization was inherently stronger simply because several Specialists introduced early in the story had been particularly impressive.
For example, Chrollo, the leader of the Phantom Troupe.
Then there was Kurapika while his Scarlet Eyes were active.
Kurapika with his Scarlet Eyes and Kurapika without them were practically on two completely different levels of strength.
“For now, focus on training Ten, Ren, Gyo, and Zetsu.”
“I’m going outside to take a look around.”
Machi nodded.
Renn left the courtyard and surveyed the surroundings.
Compared to the areas outside the residential district, conditions here were far better.
It truly wasn’t much different from the outside world.
But if you stood somewhere high enough and looked beyond the district, you could still see what life was really like for those at the bottom of Meteor City.
There was a market inside the residential district.
Renn wanted to see whether he could find any Nen-infused items there.
By now, he had already figured out several patterns regarding the Disassembler.
What he obtained from disassembling an object depended heavily on the state and history of that object before it reached him.
If he disassembled a gun, he could gain Firearms skills because the gun had actually been used before.
If he disassembled a brand-new gun, the most it would probably give him was Clear Cube Fragments.
When disassembling a corpse, he could only obtain Biological Energy if the person hadn’t been dead for too long.
He could gain Firearms skills if the person had used guns while alive.
He could gain Combat skills if the person had known how to fight.
And he could gain Nen skills only if the person had been a Nen user while alive.
Because of that, Renn preferred old, well-used objects.
There were dozens of stalls in the market, each selling different things.
Food.
Weapons.
Luxury goods…
“Gyo!”
Suddenly, an antique-looking handgun caught his attention.
It carried a very strong trace of Nen.
“How much for this?”
Renn stopped without showing any change in expression.
After some bargaining, Renn obtained the handgun in exchange for a gold wristwatch.
Both sides were satisfied with the trade.
With a thought, Renn stored the handgun in his Inventory.
After renting the house, Renn had taken some of the food out of his Inventory and stored it in their rooms.
That had freed up quite a few slots.
At present, he kept only the most important things inside:
Clear Cube Fragments.
Some food and water.
And high-value luxury goods.
After walking through the entire market, Renn failed to discover a second item worth buying.
He returned home.
Machi was inside her room training her Nen.
Now that she had seen the possibility of a better life, Machi had no intention of giving up.
She wanted to push herself as hard as possible.
And Nen was the foundation.
“DNF Panel!”
Eight panels appeared before Renn.
He took the handgun out of his Inventory.
“The Nen residue is extremely strong. The owner of this gun must have been a Nen user.”
“I don’t know whether they were a Manipulator or an Emitter, but that doesn’t really matter.”
“What matters is whether I can place this gun into an equipment slot and increase my character’s attributes.”
That was what Renn truly wanted to test.
This wasn’t a game world.
And the DNF Panel itself was a manifestation of Renn’s Nen.
That meant obtaining actual equipment from the game was impossible.
“Equip!”