Hunter X Hunter: Tombbound Power

When Ronnel approached the two corpses lying closest to him in the garden, he quickly examined their lifeless forms. It was clear that these two unfortunate souls had fought to their last breath, leaving both wounded and eventually succumbing to their injuries. A familiar scene in the streets of Meteor City—fighting until exhaustion, only to be exploited by others.

Ronnel crouched down, carefully extending his hand towards one of the bodies. As his hand neared the corpse, a soft white mist began to form around his palm. The mist moved as though it had a life of its own, reaching out like a phantom hand, grasping the dead man's body.

In an instant, the mist withdrew, and a delicate white orb of light materialized in Ronnel's hand. As his fingers brushed the orb, the tense, pained expression of the corpse seemed to ease. The flies buzzing around the body vanished, and the faint odor of decay dissipated almost immediately.

The stench of blood and death evaporated entirely, as though the body had been purified by a holy monk, leaving behind nothing but an empty shell of flesh.

When the ghostly hand merged back into Ronnel's palm, the glowing orb vanished, and in its place, a shimmering blue book appeared in his mind.

"Acquired skill: [Basic Palm Technique—Intermediate]"

A row of text flashed across Ronnel's thoughts.

"Heh, looks like I found a skill book."

It was a good sign that the first body he touched yielded such a useful skill.

Without hesitation, Ronnel pressed the mental image of the blue skill book to his forehead, and it dissolved into tiny starlike fragments, merging into his body.

Within seconds, his palms hardened, developing thick calluses that were visible to the naked eye. Such hardened skin would normally take years of intense training to develop.

Satisfied with the changes, Ronnel grinned.

This was exactly the effect of his Nen ability combined with his mysterious cheat—his golden finger.

[Gravekeeper's Grasp] was the name Ronnel had given his Nen.

Nen: Gravekeeper's Grasp

Effect: Allows Ronnel to retrieve items or skills from the corpses of the dead. The stronger the deceased, the higher the chance of obtaining rare or valuable abilities.

Limitation: The higher the value of the item or skill retrieved, the stronger the grudge left behind on the corpse. The grudge must be dispelled by a skilled Nen user before the item or skill can truly be claimed.

In the world of Hunter x Hunter, Nen abilities are balanced. Developing powerful abilities always comes with equally powerful restrictions.

Ronnel's [Gravekeeper's Grasp] was no exception—it was both simple and fair.

He could extract valuable skills and items from the dead, but the catch was that he had to dispel the powerful grudges that clung to the bodies.

In Hunter x Hunter, resentment wasn't just an abstract concept. It could manifest as a deadly force—sometimes as a lingering obsession from the deceased's life, or an overwhelming hatred toward someone specific. Left unchecked, it could cause serious harm or even death.

Grudges, especially ones tied to strong emotions, could be incredibly dangerous.

[Gravekeeper's Grasp], in essence, was an auxiliary ability among the many Nen techniques. Its power lay in the fact that it could make Ronnel stronger over time, provided he grew strong enough to deal with the ever-growing danger of the grudges.

At his current level, Ronnel could only handle small grudges. But as he grew stronger, he could start seeking out the corpses of stronger individuals, which would yield greater rewards.

However, Ronnel had a special advantage—a cheat.

While [Gravekeeper's Grasp] alone would be useful, this cheat made it incredibly valuable.

This cheat stemmed from the tomb-raiding game Ronnel had played before he crossed over into this world.

It had two key functions. The first was a personal space—a backpack that could hold inanimate objects. Ronnel had already stored two black cards that could be exchanged for supplies inside this space.

The second function was even more important: it could dispel all negative statuses lingering on corpses.

In the game, tomb raiders would often struggle with the corpses they looted being contaminated by decay or other negative effects. To ease the difficulty for players, the game developers had added a feature that allowed these negative effects to be cleansed.

And now, in this world, that same feature could dispel grudges.

After being rescued and taken back home, Ronnel had realized the true potential of his Nen ability and cheat. That realization had set his heart racing.

Meteor City thrived on chaos, where the strong preyed on the weak, and battles broke out every day.

In this lawless place, where survival of the fittest was the only rule, there were more than 8 million inhabitants.

With such a massive population, how many people died each day?

On the street where Ronnel lived alone, at least ten people perished daily for various reasons.

Many of these individuals had no one to claim their bodies, so they were dragged to small gardens, like the one where Ronnel now stood, and left to decompose until the cleaners arrived to dispose of them.