Chapter 115: Rules and Restrictions

With their first successful day as blacklist hunters behind them, Auren and his group return to training with renewed focus.Vanessa and even Eren throw themselves into practice, giving it their all—even when it comes to the dull Nen exercises that demand patience, like Ren endurance training.

Auren spends his time teaching both of them suitable training techniques for Enhancement while also delving deeper into Transmutation and Conjuration with Eren. Finally, he sits down with him for a longer talk, offering him real guidance for his future direction, something he has neglected to do for now.

I guess I owe him that much at least, huh? The truth might hurt, but he deserves to know.

“It’s a little depressing to say this...” Auren admits, looking torn. “Aura capacity is mostly inborn... at least to a large extent. Despite how hard you train, I can tell your total Aura is, at best, average. If I’m honest, maybe even slightly below average. But that doesn’t mean you’re hopeless. Your Aura control is exceptional, and your Zetsu is incredible. You’re even starting to grasp In.”

Eren sighs before replying, “I know... does that mean I should give up on Enhancement exercises altogether?”

“No,” Auren says firmly. “Even if you’re not naturally gifted with a strong, powerful Aura, training will still be just as important for you. Your Aura capacity might grow slower than that of more talented people, and you also have a lower starting point, but if you keep at it for years, you can make up the difference with pure effort. Enhancement will also let you cover some of your weaknesses. You should focus on Transmutation and Enhancement. Conjuration is just an option, but it depends on your goals. I know quite a few talented Transmuters who can use some incredible Hatsus—there’s even someone out there who can transmute his Aura into a substance with the properties of both rubber and gum. If he weren’t an insane killer clown, I’d tell you to learn from him. As you know, I also use Transmutation to turn my Aura into one that has the qualities and properties of water. There are almost no limits with Transmutation.”

Eren thinks for a while before speaking. “Which substance should I choose then? Or should I invent something new, something that doesn’t exist? Maybe mix different substances...”

“You could also come up with a Hatsu that focuses on shape manipulation. It’s much easier,” Auren explains. “But the most important thing is that your Hatsu has to reflect you. Just choosing something that sounds powerful almost always backfires—or results in something mediocre. If it were possible to pick something objectively powerful, everyone would do it! You need to feel your Hatsu—it has to be something you can identify with.”

“Until you decide,” Auren continues, “do Transmutation exercises along with Enhancement. Also, think about Conjuration. Maybe there’s something you’ve always wanted, something that doesn’t exist or would be useless without Nen. Conjuration can create objects that are almost magical, but you should definitely combine it with Transmutation. Using it alone would waste your potential, especially with your average Aura capacity. And don’t stress yourself. Take care of your siblings as well. This isn’t a race. You have all the time in the world.”

“I... I see. Thank you. I’ll think about it,” Eren replies with a meek smile.

The street rat I picked up has gotten soft. Back then, he was desperate, aggressive, decisive—he even tried to rob me. Now, with his siblings safe and no longer struggling, he’s changed. Is that good or bad? Either way, there’s nothing I can do about it. As long as he’s satisfied, it’s okay. He also did quite well on missions, so there is no issue with being a little too careful and indecisive.

With Eren now having all the advice he needs, Auren turns his focus to Vanessa.

Because she’s an Emitter, he decides to teach her the same Enhancement exercises he gave Eren, since they are equally, if not a little more, important for her. They involve strengthening a weak object and then forcing it to endure increasingly stronger attempts to break it.

Vanessa, under Auren’s supervision, trains using cheap plastic knives—easy to buy in bulk for almost no cost. She strengthens them with Shu as much as she can, then repeatedly cuts and stabs them into hard materials like wood and even stone.

“You’re pretty good at Enhancement,” Auren says. “You’re definitely leaning towards it.”

“What difference does that make? I’m still an Emitter, right? So all my Enhancement applications are stuck at eighty percent efficiency,” Vanessa asks.

“It isn’t that simple. Nen isn’t just a numbers game—it’s a living thing. If you lean towards Enhancement, it means you’ll learn everything related to it much faster. The quicker you learn, the sooner you can improve and master your Hatsu. It also shows you’re naturally gifted in Enhancement, and you should consider including it in at least one of your Hatsus. In fact, in straight combat, your skill with Enhancement is what makes you dangerous. You won’t regret training it.”

He then gestures at her knives. “Continue what you’re doing. And keep up the Emission exercises too. Keep firing those Aura balls until you improve. Even without creating a Hatsu, you can always rely on pure Emission for Aura blasts. That alone is strong enough. Train hard enough and you’ll be able to fire flying sword slashes—or even empower bullets with Shu, relying on your skills with Emission. It all counts.”

Auren then walks toward her, stopping a few meters away. He stretches out his hand and releases a sudden Aura blast. The impact is strong enough to knock Vanessa back several meters.

“Even something like this doesn’t count as a Hatsu,” Auren says. “It’s pure Emission. Train properly and you’ll be able to do this fairly soon.”

“That’s cool,” Vanessa says, eyes wide. “But I want a Hatsu! Teach me more about how Emission can be used. You also mentioned Restrictions and Conditions, right? Konrad chewed me out for forgetting about it.”

“How to use it? I already told you! I’d suggest something really simple. Do not delve too deep into manipulation. I’d absolutely not advise you to come up with a Hatsu that involves Nen beasts, sorry, I don’t think it suits you. I’d pick something really simple. Those are the Hatsus that have the most potential and will be the strongest, at least in the long run,” Auren says.

“As far as Restrictions and Conditions, both are self-imposed limitations,” Auren explains. “Nen isn’t very logical. Sometimes adding limitations makes an ability stronger—to downright ridiculous levels.”

“For example, I could easily create a Hatsu that boosts my Aura by twenty times. That would make me the strongest Nen user alive. And I could probably complete it on the first attempt.”

“How?!” Vanessa asks, baffled.

“I’d create a Hatsu that grants me a temporary strength boost. The condition would be that it lasts exactly sixty minutes... and I’d die afterward.”

“... That’s dumb!” Vanessa says. “Why not pick something easier? And who would even have the willpower to make something like that? Sounds very difficult.”

“Yeah, exactly. Something like that is nearly impossible. If you fail, you just die—with no benefit. You’d need insane talent and conviction to even attempt it, especially since you can’t practice it without killing yourself. It was only an example. Don’t even think about trying it. A milder version would be something like: I’ll gain a massive Aura boost for one hour, but I can only use it once a year.”

“That’s still dumb!” Vanessa complains.

“True. And the power would drop significantly,” Auren says, shrugging. “If dying gave me a twentyfold increase, a condition like once per year might only give me half that—or less. But do you see the principle? What about once per month? Once per week? Once per day? The stricter the rules, the greater the gain. Adding punishments also increases the effect. For example, making your own death the penalty for breaking a rule would make the ability stronger. But if the punishment is something silly, like losing your Aura for ten minutes or requiring you to make a donation to charity, your Hatsu will be much weaker. Balanced penalties—like losing your Aura for a full day or even a week—are the way to go, if you are unwilling to stake your life. The important part is to think about what you really want.”

He crosses his arms, looking serious. “The easier the condition or restriction, the smaller the increase in power. People come up with all sorts of things. Some restrict themselves to only target men, some swear off relationships, some forbid themselves from sleeping more than six hours a day. I’ve heard of the dumbest rules being added—and some failed miserably, stuck with silly limitations that barely improved their Hatsu at all. Honestly, I think it’s a shortcut. And shortcuts aren’t the way to go in my opinion. The strongest Nen users don’t depend on limitations to fight.”

“So you wouldn’t consider using one?” Vanessa asks.

“It’s too late for me. I made an oath,” Auren admits. “Let’s just say I was in a difficult situation and desperately needed strength. My oath, however, is fairly unique and not very limiting. In fact, I don’t have any regrets. Don’t just add random conditions, rules, or vows to your Hatsu. Half-baked restrictions like that will be useless and can even backfire. Thankfully, by a stroke of luck, my oath worked perfectly.”

“I see... yeah, I’m not good with rules in the first place. I’ll think about it once I have an idea for a good Hatsu. I’ll work hard on it, but in the meantime, I’ll continue practising with firearms and doing the exercises you taught me. However, I’m struggling with your manipulation one. As soon as I separate Aura, it’s way too hard to control it...”

“Keep at it. Once you get the hang of it, it’s mostly mindless repetition like some of the other drills. You just need to succeed once and figure out the trick behind it. If you can’t do it directly, try shooting a few nen balls and practise curving them to the right or left. That’s easier, and it trains your ability to use Manipulation as well.”

“Okay!” she says with a grin. “I’ll do it!”

With Vanessa and Eren training intensively, and Konrad training at his own pace while still tending to his various businesses, the group only takes a few easy H- and G-rank missions from the Clan. The higher rank doesn’t make much difference for now, as the tasks are almost identical, dealing with armed mercenaries and thugs or simply investigating. Between that and a few rare hints from Zenji, allowing them to pick up a few more bounties, time passes without incident.

Finally, exactly a week after delivering the twenty heads, Auren receives a mail from Zenji informing him of the Soup Witch’s location.

Since Neffi seems content with training and spending time with Killi and the others, Auren calls Goreinu for a private chat.

“What do you say?” Auren asks after telling him the news.

“You paid me a small fortune and even gave me a share of the missions we complete—how could I refuse? With our combination attack, I think we can take down anyone we want,” Goreinu replies, looking prepared.

Fine... we’re doing it then.

“We’re making our move tonight!” Auren declares.