After about one to two hours, Conrad decided to make some sort of study, like an exercise.
He already started thinking about Greed Island and cards in the game.
So, he focused on the cards and asked himself a particular question.
"What would it be like if I wanted to have a card in the game as a Nen ability?"
This question also brought up other questions.
"How would I create it?"
"What kind of conditions and limitations would I need to replicate?"
He chose one of the easy ones that is also in line with the Manipulator category.
"Night Shift Dwarves."
Conrad nodded slowly.
"Perfect."
It was a manipulator-type ability.
Simple on the surface.
Exactly the kind of ability that revealed how conditions and limitations shaped Nen.
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and began breaking it down in his mind.
"In Greed Island," he muttered.
"Night Shift Dwarves summon small dwarves that work while the user sleeps.
They perform simple labor cleaning, repairing, and organizing.
Nothing complex.
"They don't fight. They don't think independently. They don't act unless given instructions."
Conrad picked up a pen and began writing.
"If I wanted this as my own Nen ability… what would it cost?" He asked the same question but this time with a more serious face and thought.
Nen was fair.
If an ability provided constant value, the price had to be equally constant.
The dwarves weren't alive in the true sense.
They were controlled constructs, likely a mix of manipulation with a touch of conjuration or emitter.
But the core was command and control.
He wrote:
Core Type: Manipulation
Sub-Type: Conjuration (minor) Emitter (minor)
Next, activation.
"In Greed Island, the card activates when used," Conrad thought. "But for me, it needs a clear trigger."
He tapped the pen against the paper.
"The strongest condition would be unconsciousness."
He nodded.
"They only work while I sleep."
That felt right and powerful to him.
"Not resting. Not meditating. Actual sleep."
"There is no reason to try to trick, Nen..."
"I don't think it would work anyways."
He wrote it down.
Condition 1: The ability only activates when the user is asleep.
That alone was a strong limitation.
While the dwarves worked,
Conrad would be completely vulnerable.
"High risk," he murmured.
Next came duration.
"They don't work instantly. They work overtime."
Conrad leaned back.
"If I sleep for six hours, they work for six hours."
Simple, but it made sense.
Condition 2: Work duration equals sleep duration.
Now came the dwarves themselves.
"How many?" he asked himself.
In Greed Island, the number wasn't infinite. Too many would make the ability absurd.
"Let's say… seven, as in the game."
Limitation 1: A maximum of seven dwarves can exist at once.
Next, intelligence.
"They shouldn't think."
Conrad was firm on this point.
"No creativity. No improvisation. In the game it says that they can do anything the "player" can do, but I am not in the game, and they are not cards in the game with the power of hundreds of conditions to back them up..."
"So, they will be simple."
He imagined giving them a broom and telling them to clean.
They would clean exactly what he specified—nothing more, nothing less.
"If the instructions are unclear," he whispered, "they fail."
He wrote:
Limitation 2: Dwarves can only perform simple, clearly defined tasks.
No decision-making or creativity.
That felt balanced.
Now came range.
"They shouldn't wander far."
He crossed that thought out immediately.
"Close range only."
Limitation 3: Dwarves can only operate within a fixed radius of the user's sleeping location.
Maximum range: 50 meters.
That locked the ability into a utility role.
Conrad exhaled and looked over the page.
"So far," he thought, "this ability is strong for daily life… but useless in direct combat."
But it was not important; in the end, he was just studying and trying to understand Nen better. He did not want these dwarves as an ability anyway.
He then thought about how they look.
"They should look simple, almost cartoonish."
The more realistic and complex a construct became, the more aura and control it required.
As Hisoka said for Kastro, trying to conjure a human being is already a hard thing, and controlling it is hard too.
But of course, as a manipulator, Conrad was not in the same situation as Kastro.
Still, the simpler the conjured or emitted creature, the easier it is to control.
He nodded.
"Low detail means low cost."
He added one last rule.
Limitation 4: Dwarves disappear instantly if the user wakes up or loses consciousness unnaturally.
That sealed it.
Conrad leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
"This would work," he thought calmly.
It wasn't exciting, but logic was there, and he can feel it.
If he works on this for one or two weeks, he would have seven dwarves that work when he is asleep.
Greed Island abilities weren't powerful because they were magical. They were powerful because they were designed with precision and stacked with many conditions and limitations.
Conrad opened his eyes and smiled faintly.
"I don't need to create this ability now," he said to himself. "But as an exercise… it's perfect."