There is no truly unsolvable Nen ability.
Liam stared through wolf-eyes at the bullet wound in Musse's temple. At the space where the rose-gold pentagram used to be.
Gone. Completely.
No residual pattern at the wound's edge. No fading glow. The Star Mark had vanished the instant the bullet destroyed it—same as when Liam touched a mark with his hand to release it.
And the wound? Not healing. Body temperature dropping. Blood congealing.
He's actually dead.
Liam recalled the moment before he'd woken—that familiar cold-hot sensation drilling into his chest. Another dose of death energy. Another deposit in the bank account he couldn't close.
How much more can my heart take before I black out again?
How many years older will I be next time?
He shoved the thought aside. "When the Star Mark bearer gets injured, the mark activates automatically. Uses the carrier's own aura—or something deeper, life energy maybe—to trigger healing. Powerful effect. But if the mark itself is destroyed..."
I lose a controllable puppet. They lose the healing buff.
Mutual termination clause.
So killing someone under his control just required destroying the mark?
Not that simple.
That only worked if the mark was placed somewhere vital. Blow apart someone's hand—where you'd marked them—and sure, you'd free them from control and remove their healing. But they'd still be alive. Pissed off. And now you'd given them an opening to counterattack while you were surprised they weren't dead.
Gotta mark vital spots. Head. Heart. Throat.
One-hit-kill positioning or the whole strategy falls apart.
Liam gestured to Lumos—still watching from the doorway. "Come help."
The tiger padded in. His own Star Mark remained dormant on his belly—inactive, not triggering any manipulation. Which meant Lumos was helping of his own free will.
Good boy. You're earning your keep.
Lumos grabbed Musse's corpse gently in his jaws. Followed Liam out.
Fenrir trailed behind, licking up blood splatters along the corridor.
They emerged onto the deck. Sea breeze. Salt air. The horizon glowing pale gray with approaching dawn.
Lumos started to push the body overboard—
"Wait."
The tiger stopped. Flicked his tail. Looked back.
Fenrir dragged out a crate of junk. Heavy machinery parts. Metal scrap.
Liam tied it all to Musse with rope. "Can't have you floating back up. Down you go."
Lumos shoved. Splash. The weighted corpse sank into black water. Waves resumed their rhythm. Everything normal. Nothing to see here.
Liam leaned on the railing. Stared at the ocean.
I'm handling corpses with the emotional investment of taking out trash. That's either trauma response or I'm a sociopath.
Probably both.
Dawn was coming fast. No point trying to sleep. Liam turned back to the cabin. "Time to pack up and get out of here."
By all rights, he should be dead. Three-year-old body. Fought wolves. Fought Musse. Barely slept. His previous life's experience suggested he should wake up unable to move, muscles screaming, body refusing cooperation.
Instead?
Liam touched the Star Mark on the back of his neck. Thanks to this thing, I feel fantastic. Refreshed. Zero soreness.
This is basically Biscuit's Piano Massage but permanent and DIY.
He grinned. If I had time, I'd camp here and train for a month. Ren until collapse. Heal. Repeat. Infinite stamina exploit.
But I don't have time. Someone's going to come looking for Musse eventually.
"Shopping list." Liam walked through the cabin with purpose. "Rope. Fuel. Lighters. Coarse cloth. Kitchen knife. Lumos, hold this—yes, with your mouth, don't give me that look. Shovel? Perfect. Water. Food... just compressed biscuits. We'll survive."
He split up with Fenrir. They ransacked the ship. Found plenty of useful supplies but couldn't carry most of it. In the end, Liam loaded Lumos like a pack mule. Bottles. Rope. Tools. The tiger shot him a long-suffering look.
"With great power comes great pack-carrying responsibility," Liam said. "Deal with it."
He made a quick stop in the bathroom. Brushed teeth. Washed face. Looked at his reflection—still a kid, but slightly less of a kid than yesterday.
"Let's move out."
Lumos and Fenrir jumped ashore.
Liam stood at the bow. Patted his pocket. Hunter License. Cash. Everything important accounted for.
"Lumos, stop staring at birds and get back here. I need a ride."
Dawn had broken. Lumos's markings no longer glowed—apparently that was a nighttime-only feature. The tiger leaped back aboard, let Liam climb onto his back, then bounded to shore with the weight distribution of nothing at all.
"Head toward where we heard the first gunshot last night."
Fenrir's nose led them straight to the target. Crows scattered from the corpse as they approached—a murder of them, literally.
"Birds..." Liam muttered. "Birds are good. Useful."
For later. Table that thought.
He studied the body. Male. Black suit. Dead for hours. Could be the Hunter License's original owner. Could be someone else Musse killed. Either way: friendly casualty versus the bad guys chasing us.
"Load him up, Fenrir."
The wolf dragged the corpse onto his back. Liam oriented himself using the beached cruise ship as a landmark. "Now back to where I woke up yesterday. The corpse pile."
They reached the tall grass cluster—still standing like an obscene monument.
Liam drew the kitchen knife. Started hacking. "This. Needs. To. Go."
Fenrir dragged bodies out of the grass one by one. Lumos helped tie them together in bundles. Then both animals hauled the mass grave to the ocean and dumped it.
Fifteen corpses. Sixteen? Lost count. All of them feeding the crabs now.
When they returned, Fenrir used the coarse cloth to scrub away obvious bloodstains. Then deliberately smeared other random spots to confuse any forensic analysis.
Probably useless. Probably outsmarting nobody. But it makes me feel better.
Liam was panting, exhausted from grass-cutting. Lumos finished the job with claws like machetes.
"Lumos." Liam sat in the dirt. "When this grass grew yesterday—after I absorbed all that death energy and passed out—you were nearby, weren't you?"
Lumos approached. Rumbled. Nuzzled Liam's shoulder.
"You didn't just witness it." Liam looked at the tiger's eyes. Both fully healed. "You were injured. And when I was unconscious, leaking energy... you absorbed it. That's why you're so attached."
I accidentally healed you. You imprinted like a baby duck.
Lumos made a sound that might've been agreement or might've been "stop talking and pet me."
Liam obliged. "Alright. Doesn't matter. You're good people. Or good tiger. Whatever."
He had Fenrir pile all the cut grass into one spot. Doused it with fuel.
Liam held the lighter. Paused.
My Nen can control targets AFTER I place a Star Mark. That makes sense. But I've also been controlling hair and blood droplets WITHOUT marking them.
How?
He turned the lighter over in his hands. "The Four Major Principles—Ten, Zetsu, Ren, Hatsu. I don't know Zetsu. Can barely manage Ten. My Ren is pathetic. But my Hatsu? That I can use perfectly."
I learned to fly before I learned to walk.
Which means controlling hair and blood—wrapping them in aura—is ALSO part of my Manipulation Hatsu. Just the other side of the coin.
Heads: Star Mark. Control via mark placement.
Tails: Direct manipulation. Control by wrapping objects in aura.
He concentrated. Felt the invisible water-warmth of his aura. Wrapped it around the lighter.
The lighter floated.
Rose three centimeters.
Dropped like a stone.
Liam's arms went limp. His aura reserves bottomed out instantly.
"Okay. Different costs." He picked up the lighter. "Star Mark manipulation: one-time activation cost, then it runs on the target's energy. Direct aura manipulation: continuous drain based on mass and volume. WAY more expensive."
The lighter nearly emptied me. Good thing I've only been using this on hair and blood droplets.
Need a better name than 'Star Mark' though. Something that covers both modes...
Liam lit the haystack. Flames roared to life.
He tossed the coarse cloth in. Watched it burn.
Ability name. What sounds cool but not edgy? Powerful but not pretentious?
He considered "Golden Spirit" and "Dark Will" for exactly two seconds before his brain rebelled.
No. Those are terrible. I'd have to introduce myself like an anime protagonist and I'd die of embarrassment.
Something earthy. Grounded. Manipulating things through marks and aura...
"Shepherd's Song." Liam nodded. "Control the flock. Guide the herd. Yeah. That works."
Pretentious enough to sound like a Nen ability. Practical enough that I won't cringe saying it out loud.
He pocketed the lighter. "Come on. Two more burials."
Fenrir carried the dead hunter's body. Lumos carried the woman in the gray trench coat—Liam's suspected biological mother. Or godmother. Or random corpse. The jury was still out.
They walked away from the burning crime scene.
Liam found a spot. "Dig here."
Fenrir grabbed the shovel in his teeth. Started digging. When he tired, Lumos took over. It was awkward—four-legged animals using tools designed for hands—but faster than Liam doing it alone.
An hour later: one hole, one buried hunter.
They moved to a new location. Dug another hole. Deeper this time.
Liam lowered the woman's body into the earth. Filled it in. Patted the soil flat.
He sat back. Covered in dirt. Drenched in sweat. "I can't really call you my mother. Don't know you. Don't know if you're even related to me."
He wiped his face. Smiled tiredly. "But godmother? Yeah. I can do godmother."
Liam knelt. Performed three kowtows—forehead to dirt, traditional respect.
His legs nearly gave out standing up. He leaned on Lumos. Caught his breath.
The sun was higher now. Seven or eight AM. Morning breeze carried salt and seabirds. The ocean behind him. Woods ahead. The sound of waves and wings and a world that kept moving whether you were ready or not.
Liam took a deep breath. Looked at the unmarked grave. "Goodbye. I'm leaving now."
He climbed onto Lumos's back. The tiger took off at a run. Fenrir followed close behind.
Three figures disappeared into the tree line.
The graves remained. Unmarked. Unremarkable. Just two patches of disturbed earth that would be grass again by next week.
The ocean kept doing what oceans do. The sun kept rising.
And somewhere in the Kakin Empire, people who'd sent Musse on his mission would eventually notice he wasn't coming back.
But that was a problem for later.
Right now, Liam had a Hunter License, a glowing tiger, a wolf with separation anxiety, and absolutely no idea where the nearest town was.
Standard isekai protagonist start. Could be worse.
Could always be worse.