It was a shock for Conrad; he did not expect that these mostly ordinary-looking octopuses had innate nen abilities on their own.
In a sense, when he read them at first, he did notice the aura on them, but it was not at the level that they should be capable of using nen abilities.
A nen user that just awakened and a nen user that is ready to develop their "Hatsu," or nen abilities, are not hard to see, but it seems like when it comes to the beasts and nonhuman beings, the difference is still there.
"I think their nen ability also involves some sort of a condition..."
"Something that is in line with the rule of the Ancient Deep."
"The nen ability can only be used against the targets who try to leave Ancient Deep coming from the deep..."
"Something like that."
Conrad kept on pushing his nen around his head, using Gyo to keep his brain protected, as mental-based nen attacks most likely hit there. After some use of nen, the pain and the dizziness vanished, and Conrad vanished and appeared behind the three-meter octopus and sliced it with his blade instead of cane.
When it comes to the beasts, he does not need to say the words to use "blade"; just thinking of it was enough.
After slicing the octopus pieces, he took its head and some parts from its tentacles and then took a deep breath.
"If all those octopuses have the same mental-based attack..."
"I can not fight against them."
"I have no real ability to protect myself against mental-based attacks, as they were too rare in this world of Hunter x Hunter..."
Conrad then started going up; this time, when he was about to enter the level of the five-meter-sized octopuses, he started spamming his "Blink" ability.
With his En, each time he teleported, he passed one hundred meters of distance.
In just seven to ten seconds, he appeared at the top of the Deep without even needing to fight the octopuses.
"Great."
"I managed to survive without needing to fight."
"I guess that is something..." he smirked as he thought and then closed his eyes for a moment.
"I guess this also makes it so that I should end the Deep Point venture to focus on Heart Ice and the real target."
"This deep point goes nowhere, and I can always come back."
Conrad trusted his fighting capability and knowledge, but he only went to four thousand meters.
He did not know about at least five to seven more different kinds of beast races.
If he wants to go to level ten, the bottom of it.
He believed it makes sense to have more power before trying it.
What if there are more creatures at the lower levels that are capable of using nen abilities, and the number of them is more than hundreds?
If they attack from a point where he is not capable of defending himself, such as a collective-mental-based nen ability, that would mean his end.
"I am not going to risk it."
"I am not in this world to die in pitch-black darkness by a horde of weird beasts." Conrad thought; he took one more look at the deep point and then vanished.
-
Coming back to his room, Conrad quickly took a shower, ate something, and then landed on his bed and entered deep sleep in just minutes.
All the fighting, constant use of nen, and Ancient Scripture pages for location sensing—everything he did really made him tired.
He needed a good sleep before moving forward.
About ten hours later, he woke up and shook his head.
"It's been such a long time since I slept like this..." he said to himself and then washed his face and went to the hotel restaurant to eat some good food to recover his power.
Now that he was rested and his belly was full of good food, he started preparing for Heart Ice.
While he prepared, he also made a note.
"After the total resistance ability is completed, a new ability targeting ordinary humans should be created for gathering nen in return for something..."
Veridian Vein, Deep Point, or Ancient Deep all had one thing in common.
There are new rules and most likely abilities and systems that target huge amounts of creatures.
As he walked towards the Heart Ice Area, he thought about his future and what he wanted to do too.
"If there is a new ability, it could be made from using ordinary people without harming them..."
"It would be great."
"I can make some sort of a collecting system too..."
"The possibilities are endless."
Conrad always had such thoughts, but before right now, he did not have confidence in himself to create such an ability with effective means.
Now that his wisdom in terms of nen is much more than many hunters' and nen users', he believes he can do something like that.
As long as he does not harm people and it is hidden, nobody should think much about it.
"Okay..."
"I guess I may try to meet with some of the original characters..."
"I'm always scared of changing the future and similar things like that."
"But my power is at this point capable of dealing with different futures."
"I will do what I want with caution..."
He did not care much about Gon or Killua; he felt closer to Killua than Gon, but they were still kids in his eyes, and there was not much to share with them.
But Kurapika and Leorio are another story.
He did not want to mess with Kurapika because his actions changed many things in the story, from the point of the Phantom Troupe to the Succession Arc and the Black Whale.
He did not want to touch those at all. When the time arrives, he wants to be there to make the change as he wishes.
But Leorio is an open business for him; also, compared to all the other characters, Leorio is the most likely the most ordinary among them in terms of morality.
Not to mention that he is the one with the most pure heart, as Melody herself said while she was leaving with Kurapika.
"I may teach Leorio nen to make him a great doctor..."
"That would be great."
"Also, it may make him show himself more in the story, as in the original series, he was not that involved in the matters..."