Note: Switched from calling Rammot "it" to him/he: It's better...Though personally, Rammot will always be an IT to me.
-----------------------------
Rammot pushed himself up, shame twisting into fury, and his glare at Ron grew even more vicious.
Ron regarded him with a calm, detached expression. "Your speed isn't bad. But when facing a speed-type Nen user, this level is nothing special. Compared to Feitan, you're far inferior. At most, you're on par with Rabid Dog among the Shadow Beasts.
Your physical strength is greater than his, your aura reserves are higher, and you also like to rely on your teeth to attack. Altogether, you're essentially just a physically enhanced version of Rabid Dog. Your strength is ordinary, perhaps about the same as Worm's. You don't seem to possess any defined Nen ability—just basic mastery of Ten. Against low-level Nen users with no knowledge of your abilities, your physique would give you an advantage.
But once your abilities are known, even a C-rank Nen user could kill you without difficulty. You certainly aren't harder to deal with than Uvogin."
Seeing the disdain in Ron's eyes only made Rammot more agitated.
"Damn you! A mere human! Food! How dare you look down on me?"
His rage pushed his speed higher than before, but to Ron it was still insignificant. His dominance over Rammot was total—strength, speed, Nen mastery, even physical durability.
As a Chimera Ant, Rammot naturally possessed a tougher body than an ordinary human, yet Ron himself was no ordinary human or ordinary Nen user. With the existence of his Gourmet Cells, every meal strengthened his body further. At this point, his physical durability already exceeded even Uvogin's, who specialized entirely in Enhancement. Ron's true body was no weakness at all—he only pretended it was.
Bang!
A single knife-hand strike landed cleanly on Rammot's neck. The immense force drove him down, and in the next instant he lost consciousness, collapsing with a muffled groan.
When he awoke, he was stunned to find he was still alive. He hadn't even been tied up. Ron sat calmly across from him, while beside Ron sat a little girl—the same one Ron had found in the basement of the collapsed building earlier, the sister of the corpse Rammot had been gnawing on. The girl had yet to recover from the destruction of her village and sat in a daze.
Rammot kept his eyes fixed on Ron, wary and confused. Why hadn't this human killed him? Between humans and Chimera Ants, wasn't the only relationship kill or be killed?
"Want to make a deal?" Ron asked, lifting his gaze toward him.
"What kind of deal?"
"I'll teach you Nen. Once you've learned it, you'll fight me. If you win, I'll let you go. If you lose, I'll kill you."
That was why Ron had spared him. Partly because he wanted to see just how far a Chimera Ant like Rammot could grow after learning Nen fully, giving him a benchmark for the species potential. And partly because if Rammot proved impressive enough after mastering Nen, Ron could kill him then and throw his corpse into the Trial Grounds, where his value would be much greater. To put it simply, Ron was fattening the pig before slaughter.
Rammot blinked. "You won't kill me, and you even want to teach me?"
"That's right."
"Aren't you afraid that once I grow stronger, I'll kill you?"
"That's not your concern. If you can kill me, then that would be good for you, wouldn't it?"
Rammot's eyes flickered. "But what I know now… isn't it Nen?"
"It is Nen, but only just the entry level," Ron replied. "The foundation consists of the Four Principles: Ten, Ren, Zetsu, and Hatsu. Ten is what you already know. Ren is refining your life energy and expanding it. Zetsu is closing the aura nodes to hide your presence. Hatsu is your personal ability. Beyond that, there are advanced techniques like Ko, En, Shu, and more. I'll demonstrate them all for you."
He began displaying the basics one by one. Rammot's eyes widened, as if a door to a new world had opened.
"So this is Nen? What I had before was nothing. If I can master all of these techniques, how strong could I become?" His heart burned with excitement, eager to learn.
"I don't know what you're planning," he said finally. "But I'll learn this. Just know that when I kill you afterward, I'll do it cleanly. And I'll savor your flesh and blood."
Ron smiled faintly. Even if Rammot mastered every technique, he was certain Rammot would never surpass him. Otherwise, what would all of Ron's years of effort, accumulation, and experience amount to? He had talent, the advantage of a transmigrator, and most of all his own relentless work. No mere squadron leader–class Chimera Ant could overtake that just by training for a while.
"Then let's begin," Ron said.
Rammot threw himself into learning, progressing quickly under instruction. Ron observed from the side, while the little girl slowly regained some awareness.
"Uncle…" she murmured.
Ron froze for a moment. Uncle? Considering their ages, perhaps it wasn't wrong—he was indeed more than ten years older than her. The realization made him unexpectedly wistful. He had been busy for so many years, always moving forward. Even after Maha Zoldyck had told him to slow down, he had only eased his pace slightly. Compared to other Nen users he was still pushing relentlessly. Even in slowing, he was working on things like absorbing properties and creating Nen beasts.
Time had flown by, and though he hadn't felt himself aging much, in reality many years had already passed.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"Benas."
"Benas… what do you want for your future?" Ron said softly. "Your village is gone. Your family has all been killed."