Ken—maintaining maximum aura output—burned 1 aura per second in training.
In actual combat? 6 to 10 per second.
Because combat required constant technique-switching. Gyo for enhanced vision. Ryu for redistributing aura to specific body parts. Shu for weapon enhancement. Each transition cost extra. Each defensive adjustment drained reserves.
Plus Hatsu usage. Special moves. The expensive stuff.
"Hey! Are you listening to me?!"
His spirit-gun technique consumed massive aura per shot. And charging increased both cost and power. Ten-second charge? That was probably 200+ aura in one attack.
I only HAVE 1,000 total. That's five shots before I'm empty.
Can't spam the ultimate ability. Gotta pick my moments. Three seconds max charge unless it's a guaranteed kill.
The realization hit hard. He thought about Phinks from the Phantom Troupe—the guy whose Ripper Cyclotron got stronger with each arm rotation. Same principle. Same problem. Wind up too much, miss the punch, and you've just wasted your entire aura pool looking like an idiot.
Restrictions are power multipliers. But they're also efficiency traps.
"YOU LITTLE BRAT, DON'T IGNORE ME!"
Liam raised one hand toward the green-haired girl. Wait.
She stopped mid-rant.
He crouched beside Fenrir's corpse. Touched the Star Mark. It vanished.
The wolf's severed head—slowly crawling toward its neck—stopped moving.
That familiar cold-hot sensation drilled into Liam's chest. Death energy. Another one.
So: even fatal injuries can be healed by Star Mark. Decapitation, organ removal—as long as the mark isn't destroyed, the target stays technically alive. Just... really slowly repairing catastrophic damage.
Good to know. Horrifying, but good to know.
He moved to the other bodies. The strong man with half a head—already penetrated Liam's heart with death energy. Gone.
The unconscious one—still breathing. Alive.
The two Men Aura... wait, no, the two poachers with headshots—Liam examined them with Gyo. The entry wounds had healed over. But something squirmed inside their skulls. The bullets were still lodged in brain tissue. Star Mark kept healing the damage. Kept regenerating tissue around the foreign object. Over and over.
They're experiencing continuous traumatic brain injury in an infinite healing loop.
That's... actually worse than death.
Liam touched their necks. Released the marks. Mercy kill via mark removal.
Two more death energies hit his chest.
That's five total. I'm collecting these like Pokémon and I hate it.
He was an Manipulation-type user. And for Manipulators, the best-case scenario was nobody knowing how your ability worked.
Information security was defense. Mystery was armor.
From now on: pretend to be Emission or Enhancement type. Hide the Star Marks. Play dumb about the real mechanics.
The green-haired girl watched him "loot bodies" from a distance. Called out: "Hey! That last guy—he's not dead yet. Be careful."
"Obviously he's not dead." Liam stood. Dusted his hands. No death energy from Garo's direction.
He looked at the girl. "Why are you still standing there?"
"YOU TOLD ME TO STAND HERE!" Her eye twitched. "I don't even know what's happening!"
"Oh." Liam walked toward Lumos. "Right."
He helped the tiger drag the second Misery Moon Tiger from the poaching bag. The captured one was drugged. Groggy. Alive.
The girl stomped over. "OH WHAT?! Explain yourself!"
She reached for his ear—the universal "I'm going to discipline you" grab.
Liam dodged.
She tried again.
Swish. Dodge.
Again. Dodge. Again. Dodge—
Okay this is getting ridiculous.
Liam caught her wrist. "What are you doing? I just finished fighting. I'm exhausted. You're bullying a tired child. Is that what you want on your conscience?"
The girl sputtered. Why do I feel like the bad guy here?
She took a breath. Forced calm. "My name is Menchi. I'm a professional Hunter. NEW professional Hunter. I heard gunshots and came to investigate. These poachers are wanted criminals. Those two Misery Moon Tigers are protected endangered species. Now let go of my wrist so I can show you my Hunter License."
Liam studied her. Tank top. Bike shorts. Mesh jacket. Young. Confident. Spunky.
Menchi. THE Menchi. Gourmet Hunter. Second-phase examiner in the canon Hunter Exam.
She's famous. Or will be. Timeline's fuzzy.
He released her wrist.
"LOOK!" Menchi whipped out her license. Waved it like a flag. "See? Official!"
"Wow. A license." Liam's voice dripped sarcasm. He pulled out his own—Musse's stolen card. "Impressive. It's not like anyone else has one."
Menchi's confidence faltered. "Wait, you—"
"And as for the Misery Moon Tigers?" Liam gestured at Lumos. "Nobody knows them better than ME. You think I don't know this is a protected area? This one's literally fighting poachers WITH me. Use your eyes."
Menchi blinked. Looked at Lumos. At Liam. "Did... did Blanchett Company hire other Hunters? But you're so young. Are you actually—"
Who the fuck is Blanchett Company?
Liam activated Gyo. Examined Menchi's aura coating. Loose. Inefficient. Probably 600-800 total aura. Less than his current 1,000.
I outstat her. I can bluff this.
"Young people shouldn't be so narrow-minded." Liam adopted his most condescending tone. "The world is vast. The Nen world is full of possibilities. Age is just a number. Speaking of which—how old are you?"
"I'm twenty!" Menchi said defensively. "I'm an adult!"
"Twenty. Wow. So young." Liam nodded sagely. "You haven't been learning Nen long, have you? Have you mastered the basics? Ten, Zetsu, Ren? Developed your own Hatsu yet?"
Menchi's face colored. "I mean, I learned recently, but I had REASONS. I was preparing for a cooking competition for MONTHS. As for my ability, I think I'm close? Maybe? There's inspiration but it's not quite—"
"So no. You haven't developed it yet."
"I—"
"Keep working hard!" Liam clapped her shoulder. "The Hunter Association needs motivated young talent like you. I'm very optimistic about your future. You'll definitely make One-Star Hunter soon."
I'm three years old gaslighting a twenty-year-old professional. This is amazing.
"Anyway." Liam turned toward Lumos. "I'm leaving. You handle the cleanup. I won't steal credit from a rookie Hunter like you. Contact your company people to collect these poachers."
"I—what—" Menchi's brain tried to process. "You're leaving me here ALONE? Aren't you waiting with me?"
Liam mounted Lumos. The tiger rumbled. Looked at Menchi—assessed her as "not a threat"—and left the drugged Misery Moon Tiger in her care.
"You don't want your captured criminals to wake up and escape, right?" Liam said reasonably.
"I... guess not..."
"Exactly." Liam patted the tiger's flank. "Lumos, let's go!"
Lumos roared. Launched into the forest at full speed.
"WAIT!" Menchi's voice echoed behind them. "WHAT'S YOUR NAME?!"
"HEY! COME BACK—"
Her protests faded into distance.
Liam rode the glowing tiger through trees. Five birds circled overhead. The wind felt amazing in his face.
He laughed. Actually laughed out loud.
I just gaslighted a canon character. Pretended to be a senior Hunter. Got away with murder—literally—and left her holding the bag.
This world is INCREDIBLE.