It was something new for Conrad; he always thought that having a calming ability, an ability that let him stay calm and collected in the midst of a fight, would do good for him.
"I need to think about all of these..." Conrad thought. He then thought about an idea, something that may be useful.
"Can I ask you something?" Conrad said to Biscuit that she observed him.
"Hmm... what is it?" Biscuit said.
Conrad smiled.
"I want to fight you again, just a spar; this time it will be different. I would like you to tell me the difference."
Biscuit thought for a moment and then nodded.
"Sure..." she said. Conrad then nodded and closed his eyes for a moment, and Black Ring—State Of Calm was deactivated.
The moment it was deactivated, Conrad felt a huge brunt of emotions that he was using to keep hidden; due to his experience and power, he was able to resist it and not show it to Biscuit.
"Okay..."
"Let's try fighting like this." Conrad thought and then nodded to Biscuit, which she took as a signal to start.
The battle did not take long, just five minutes of exchange of fists and kicks.
"Okay... I don't know what you did, but I felt like I was fighting a different person..."
"It is something not natural at all. " Biscuit said as he looked at Conrad, who looked pretty tired.
Conrad let out a cold breath and smiled.
He closed his eyes for a second to understand all the changes on him when he fought without the use of the Black Ring.
It was different; something was not right. Every time he saw a punch coming towards him, his mind was not able to comment on it like he always did while he fought.
"Usually... people with experience in battles learn to stay calm in a battle."
"But I used Black Ring to replicate the need for the experience."
Conrad then asked.
"Can you tell me the differences in our exchanges?"
Biscuit nodded.
"First, your attacks were more powerful and your defense was more robust... But you hesitated more, scared more from blocking and dodging attacks."
"Your speed of taking action decreased a lot; your decision-making capabilities in the midst of the battle changed a lot."
"If I were to make a comparison, you were much more dangerous a fighter when I first fought you and much more powerful a Nen user when I fought you for the second time."
"Young man... I am not a fool. I can see that you're using some sort of a Nen ability. The new ability must be giving you clarity, but that clarity is not hard-earned, so it creates friction and inconsistency when you are not using it."
Conrad nodded.
"I understand..."
Biscuit then smiled.
"I can see that your training on Nen, your control, everything is at the top... I would even say you are better than me in most applications of Nen."
"I don't know if that clarity is your only ability... But I did not expect to encounter a new user like you."
Conrad laughed.
"Thank you for the compliment."
Biscuit nodded.
"If there is nothing, I should go and do my own thing."
Conrad then came in front of her and spoke.
"I would like to take your phone number. If I know and hear something about gems, I will be sending you information."
Biscuit nodded, and then she left after giving her phone number to Conrad.
-
Conrad sat down on a bench and smiled.
"Now."
"I am too reliant on Black Ring. But if I let it go, my combat capability and effectiveness will go down."
"I also don't know what I would feel if I were to enter Death Battle while Black Ring—State Of Calm is not active."
"It is a weapon and also a liability."
While he thought about these, his phone rang.
"Conrad, I got the news that Adarte and Anisa also finished with their creational conditions; Lina too completed it."
"I say we shall meet."
Conrad nodded.
"I understand. I am from Yorknew City, Hotel Beitacle. Come here, and we shall have some good food and drinks."
Reginald.
"That is what I would like to hear... I will contact Adarte and Anisa; we shall be there in two to three days."
-
Leorio worked at night, keeping solving more questions and learning about the art of medicine as much as he could. While he worked, he could not help but also think about how important the knowledge he got from Conrad was.
"The new ability is tied to values of the individual..." he murmured.
He looked outside from the window and smiled.
"I want to create a new ability that I can help and heal people with..."
-
Two days later, Conrad met with his teammates and smiled as he looked at them.
"They all matured..." he thought.
"I can see that the nen surrounding them are more powerful and stable; their confidence and general mental capabilities too are elevated to an even higher level."
"It seems like they have chosen hard conditions to complete and learned great things about themselves." Conrad thought.
"Hey, Conrad, what have you been doing while we worked our asses off?" said Adarte.
Conrad smiled.
"I have my own things to do, you know," Adarte smiled.
Anisa nodded at Conrad while Reginald and Lina just arrived.
"Okay."
"Now, we shall go and eat," said Conrad.
The group went to a generally relaxed but still great pub and ordered many foods, shared stories with each other, and drank.
As Conrad spoke to his teammates and had fun, he could not help but remember what Ging said after he completed his first purpose about the ancient excavation site.
He said to Gon on the top of the World Tree that what he valued most were the faces of his friends and the happiness that he got from them.
"I understand..."
"Despite all the power and new knowledge, I still feel most happy when I can share good times with my friends."
"It seems like I need to improve myself even further to discover and learn more."