Chapter 2: Nen Training

Chrollo then brought Soren to his hideout that was right off the river bay, and upon getting closer to the river, Soren could see his reflection in the small amount of water present. He appeared to be a 10 year old boy with wild red hair that went down to the nape of his neck, as his light blue eyes seemed to glow on the surface of the water.

"Careful, the water is quite toxic here": chrollo

Upon hearing this, Soren stepped away from the water and began following Chrollo into the old building as he began explaining his backstory.

"I used to live here as a small boy with my parents, but they both perished due to famine, leaving me to fend for myself… Even when I was a small boy, this house was still just an abandoned building that my parents found and occupied, but this building is the last thing I have to remember them by, and now you will live here with me": chrollo

Soren could only nod as he listened to the story, before Chrollo showed Soren to a room that he would use, before going to his own room for the night, while for the next few weeks, Soren and Chrollo continued eating from the dumpsters, and sparring with each other to build muscle, and during breaks Soren was actively trying to use his monstrous talent and potential to learn shadow step and rhythm echo, as these techniques would be very helpful during fights, and as expected, he was able to learn both techniques, but was still lacking in the mastery of both techniques.

'I wonder what would have happened to me if I had been born in the Zoldyck's household… To be honest, I might have died during the torture': soren

Soren and Chrollo would often scour the city in search of drunk rich people that they could rob, but one night when Soren had separated from Chrollo he had gotten cornered by a group of drunkards who all have knives with them, and in the end was stabbed and slashed by the men while he covered his vitals, and upon hearing his screams, Chrollo came over and killed the group of men before taking Soren back to their hideout for treatment.

"What were you thinking, going up against 5 grown men alone?... You're lucky I was nearby, otherwise they would have killed you": chrollo

Soren could only look on as he listened to Chrollo speak, as the blood loss brought him to the verge of unconsciousness, and after Chrollo began stitching up the gashes, Soren could only pass out from the pain. After a month of recuperation, Soren was able to move around once again, but chose to stay put, as that bloody night still rang clear in his mind, so he chose to start training his Nen.

'I remember that there are two ways to awaken Nen… The first is constant meditation to feel the aura leaking from your body and try to force it through all of the aura nodes, while the second method is to have someone send their Nen into your body and forcefully open your aura nodes… Although the second method is dangerous, but it's the fastest, but I also lack the ability to get in contact with a master who can use Nen, so I can only go the long route': soren

Soren then sat in lotus position as he put all his focus into feeling the aura that was seeping from his body, but he couldn't feel anything and it stayed this way for the next couple of days. When Chrollo noticed Soren's meditation, he wanted to ask what he was up to, but decided to let him do his own thing, while he went out to steal food and look for potential members.

'I can feel it… I can feel it!': soren

Soren shouted inwardly as he could finally feel a warm sensation slowly leaking from his body, but it was so miniscule, as he had yet to open his aura nodes, so the next step was to try and direct the aura to gather and break through each aura node. After three days, Soren was able to open a single node, as it released more aura that he could direct to open more aura nodes, and only after an hour did Soren achieve a state of awakening, where every node in his body was opened, as all of the life energy kept within was leaking out at a rapid pace, but Soren didn't let this bother him, as he kept a calm mind and sat in a relaxed position as he pictured containing this aura to keep it from escaping, and within seconds, Soren was able to use Ten, as he lifted his hand to see a thin coating of a film-like substance, that was Soren's life force, his aura.

"Alright!... This might take a bit of practice to maintain, but before I move onto the other stages, I'll need to strengthen the quality of my Ten, and the way to do that is to keep meditating and practicing": soren

Soren let his Ten dissipate as his aura nodes began to close, and after summoning forth the aura from within his body, the nodes opened once again as Ten was formed. Soren did this a few times before he felt comfortable with using Ten, and then he began meditating as he focused on the flow of his aura once again, and only after Chrollo came back, did Soren stop meditating as he got up from the floor as he began stretching.

"Chrollo!... You back?": soren

Soren walked into the receiving area as he saw Chrollo sitting on the couch with a sketch pad in his hand as he began drawing.

"What'cha got there?": soren

Chrollo took his attention away from his drawing as he looked at Soren who was leaning against the couch with his arms folded, displaying that the stitched up wounds turned into scars.

"I'm drawing… I was thinking that our group would need a symbol… Do you have any ideas?": chrollo

Soren thought for a moment before he spotted a spider nesting on a web in the corner of the room as he spoke.

"How about a spider?... They look cool and some spiders are deadly, even though they are small and appear harmless, they can still kill a human if provoked": soren

When Soren gave his idea along with his insight, Chrollo thought about it before he began smiling as he quickly began drawing in the sketch pad, and what came out of the drawing was a single spider with a number marked on its back.

"Wow, Chrollo… You're very talented!... That spider will definitely strike fear in people's hearts… But what's the number for?": soren

Chrollo began to chuckle after receiving praise for such a simple sketch, and when he heard the question about the number on the back of the spider, he spoke.

"Each group member will be marked with a number relevant to their strength within the group… Since I'm the strongest, I'll be #0, and you will be #1 for now, as you are the only other member": chrollo

Soren could only agree, as Chrollo was indeed stronger than him, but that was only for now, as Soren would be focusing on training his Nen until he feels comfortable with his strength.

'I should also find out what my class is… Perhaps I'm an Enhancer, or maybe a Transmuter?... I'll figure it out tomorrow": soren

The next morning, Soren woke up and took a cup from the kitchen before heading down to the river and filling the cup before picking up a leaf from the ground and going back inside. Soren then went to his room before closing the door as he sat down and placed the leaf atop the water before placing his hands on either side of the cup, and in the next second he began pouring his Nen into the cup that began affecting the water as bubbles began forming before the water began boiling, making Soren stop.

"Hmm… I'm not an Emitter, Conjurer, Manipulator, or Transmuter… I can either be an Enhancer or a Specialist… The water didn't directly change volume, rather it began boiling, thus it decreased in volume… So I'm most likely a Specialist… This gives me quite the options for what I want my Nen ability to be": soren

Soren then spent the next week meditating to increase the quality of his Ten, while he would occasionally make time to train with Chrollo, furthering his skill in combat, and before bed, Soren would check the quality of his Nen through water divination, as the faster it could boil away, the better the quality, where by the end of the week, Soren could immediately evaporate the water inside the cup.

"Soren, let's go into the city tonight": chrollo

Soren heard Chrollo speak from the other side of his door, and got up to answer the door.

"Do I have to?... I don't really like the city": soren

Although Soren had been healed, he still had the lingering fear deep in his mind in fear of what had happened the last time he went to the city.

"I understand your fear, but tonight I think we will get a new member to our group": chrollo

Soren was surprised to hear that there would be a new member, and seeing as he was interested who would join, Soren decided to head to the city with Chrollo, but what Chrollo didn't see, was that Soren was covered in Ten, as Soren had begun to sleep with Ten activated for training. Upon entering the city, Soren began looking around while Chrollo made his way towards a specific direction, and Soren just followed without saying anything or asking any questions. They soon arrived at a small bar, and hearing some commotion, Chrollo quickly made his way down the alleyway next to the bar and witnessed 3 brutish men beating on a kid around the age of 16. The kid was thin and malnourished, and he was currently bruised and bloodied due to the beating, as the 3 grown men began laughing as they kicked the kid cowering on the ground.

"Hahaha!... Hey boys, this brat is quite resilient, right?... I wonder how many times we can kick him before he kicks the bucket… Hahaha!!": bar drunk 1

"Ahahaha!... Let's see!... One!... Two!... Three!!... Fou-": bar drunk 2

Just as the drunk was about to send another kick into the kids side, Chrollo appeared behind him with a knife as he rammed it into the drunkard's throat. Soren saw this and jumped into action as well, as he pulled out the switchblade he was given by Chrollo and charged towards the first drunk without a single sound, as shadow step was in full use, and without thinking about the consequences, Soren stabbed the man in the neck before pulling on the blade to completely cut through the man's throat.

"W-What the hell!... Somebody help!... My mates have been murdered!": bar drunk 3

Both Chrollo and Soren looked at the drunkard as he pissed his pants, and without a second thought, both Chrollo and Soren lunged at the man and killed him before he could react. After wiping away the blood from their hands and bodies, both Soren and Chrollo walked over to the kid that had seemed to have fallen unconscious, and the two of them dragged him back to their hideout for treatment, while Soren just went back to his room to contemplate.

'I just killed two people today… Yet I feel nothing after doing it… Perhaps it was because of what they were doing to that kid?... They seemed more like monsters than human beings to me': soren

While Soren was trying to work out his moral compass, Chrollo was waiting near the boy they saved today. After waking up, the boy saw Chrollo sitting nearby, as his first instinct was to run, but he didn't have the energy to run due to hunger and his injuries.

"Where am I?... What do you plan to do with me?": boy

The boy began to question Chrollo who just sat there in silence while sipping on some clean water, and after seeing the boy go silent, Chrollo spoke.

"Would you like to be my brother?": chrollo

"What?": boy

The boy was surprised by the sudden question that he didn't know how to respond, while Chrollo explained.

"I'm sorry… My name is Chrollo Lucilfer… I want to start a group that is like a family, and our goal is to take what belongs to us at whatever means necessary… The only rule is we don't steal from or kill innocent people… So, would you like to become my brother?": chrollo

The boy thought about it for a moment before answering.

"Nobunaga Hazama… I would like to thank you for saving me, and to repay your kindness, I'll join your group, but if you try to force me to do anything I don't want to do, the I'll leave": nobunaga

"Then it's a deal… Welcome to the Phantom Troupe": chrollo

A few weeks had gone by, as it had become a new year, the year was 1987, and this years hunter exam would soon begin, but Soren was not focused on the hunter exam, as he was currently training with Nobunaga, as he was quite skilled with a sword, but due to the lack of experience, he couldn't fight multiple people at once. Soren was training both physical combat as well as Nen, as he was currently utilizing Zetsu to suppress his aura, similar to what wild animals due when hunting as to not get caught, and this proved useful as it was harder for Nobunaga to predict and sense Soren's next attack. While Soren and Nobunaga were training, Chrollo was currently doing his own training, as he had recently met with a Nen master who had taken interest in him and begun training him to use Nen, and as a result, Chrollo would be taking the next step in being the leader of the most notorious criminal organization.

'I have mastered both Ten and Zetsu, now I have to refine my Ten and make it more explosive to achieve Ren, but this method will consume my Nen at an unbelievable rate… And I need an absurd aura to create my Hatsu': soren

Soren quickly exploded his aura, causing it to send sharp tendrils of aura outward as Soren felt that his physical capabilities were enhanced, but he didn't know by how much, only that he could make quite the impact if he were to release his punch towards the wall, but such a feeling didn't last for more than 3 minutes, as his aura quickly diminished as it began running low.

'This will take some time… It takes normal people about a month just to increase the time by 10 minutes, while it would take a genius about half the time, but for me, I will need to figure it out as I go': soren

Soren then spent the next month and a half training Ren, as well as sparring with both Nobunaga and Chrollo. Although Chrollo doesn't know Soren knows Nen because he doesn't use it outside of practice, but Soren can see the Ten surrounding Chrollo, making him smile a bit as they spar, while Chrollo just continues his practice none the wiser.