Liam's first reaction was: that ability sounds way too simple.
If resurrection only required trading life for life on a one-to-one basis, plenty of people would happily cultivate armies of expendable "resurrection coins." Dead men walking, ready to die so their masters could respawn.
But then he reconsidered.
Whether a Nen ability could be successfully developed depended on two things. First, the effect had to be roughly equal to the price paid. Fair exchange, no robbery. Second, and more importantly, it depended on the person developing it.
Nen development could be visualized as a balance scale with two weights: talent and effort.
The closer you leaned toward talent, the more likely your ability would manifest naturally, almost unconsciously. These abilities often appeared automatically, forcing the user to slowly figure out what they'd even created. This pattern was most common in the bottom three categories: Manipulation, Emission, and Conjuration.
The closer you leaned toward effort, the more you had to grind. The most extreme example would naturally be—
Actually, Liam had first thought of Isaac Netero, President of the Hunter Association. But thinking about it more carefully, Netero was probably a monster who had both talent and effort maxed out.
When Netero was middle-aged, he felt his martial arts had hit a ceiling. Out of gratitude for the discipline that had raised him, he threw ten thousand punches every day as an offering. 4 years of that demonic training regimen later, Netero's strength had reached an inhuman level. That was probably when he'd ascended to become the strongest human combatant in the world.
Liam guessed that Netero's Hyakushiki Kannon had formed naturally during that period.
On the balance scale of talent and effort, having one could greatly accelerate Nen development. Having both? You'd progress at terrifying speed.
But there was a lever that could tip that scale even further: vows and restrictions.
Deep self-awareness, binding oaths, self-imposed limitations. It was like slamming the accelerator to the floor and rocketing down the highway of Nen development. Succeed spectacularly, or crash and burn. No middle ground.
Liam looked at the "Resurrection" book in Kurapika's hand. Given Kurapika's personality, he'd probably made some brutal vows and restrictions in exchange for an effect as outrageous as bringing back the dead.
"You'd have to reach the Dark Continent and find the Longevity Rice before you could use this ability safely," Shizuku observed. "Isn't that a pretty strict restriction by itself? Otherwise, if you used this ability even once, you probably wouldn't survive more than a few years."
"Even if it's just one life for one, that's already beyond the norm," Liam said. "Kurapika, this ability isn't that simple, is it?"
Kurapika lowered his eyes. Silence stretched between them. Then he looked up and spoke calmly. "This ability only works on Scarlet Eyes. It can only resurrect the owners of Scarlet Eyes."
He paused. "If I use it to resurrect anyone other than my tribe... I'll immediately die of cardiac arrest."
Shizuku's eyes widened slightly. "Oh. You used your own life as the oath. No wonder it has such a powerful effect."
Liam thought: Is this because of what I said to convince him to join the organization?
He asked, "Why cardiac arrest specifically?"
In the manga, Kurapika had made a vow with his Chain Jail: if he used it on anyone outside the Phantom Troupe, he'd be pierced through the heart by the chain wrapped around it and die.
And that chain around his heart was created by Kurapika's own Judgment Chain ability.
Verbal oaths backed by practical enforcement mechanisms carried far more weight. The leverage effect of vows and restrictions could accelerate Nen development to absurd levels. Like pouring gasoline on a fire. The more you burned, the brighter it blazed, until you were consumed entirely. Only that kind of extreme resolve could enable Kurapika to defeat Phantom Troupe member Uvogin in single combat after less than a year of training.
But why cardiac arrest now instead of chain piercing?
"That's the ability I'm planning for Book Five," Kurapika replied. "'Judgment.'"
"But that book hasn't formed yet." He closed his eyes, his voice firm. "When it finally does, the first name written in it will be my own."
Liam opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.
So the Judgment Chain just turned into a Death Note?
Don't tell me, Kurapika. You're starting to look a lot like Light Yagami.
Shizuku counted on her fingers. "Book Three is for dealing with the Phantom Troupe. Book Five is for making oaths. Book Six is for resurrecting your tribe. What about the other books?"
Kurapika had developed his Nen under their guidance. He'd already agreed to join the organization. There was no reason to hide anything. "Book One is 'Redemption.' Book Two is 'Hell Fire.' Book Four is 'Revelation.' I've added effects from the Enhancement system and Transmutation system respectively. After I enter the Specialization state with my Scarlet Eyes, all six books will function at one hundred percent efficiency."
He sighed. "But only Books Three and Six have taken shape so far. The other four still need to be refined."
When Kurapika entered Scarlet Eyes mode and transformed into a Specialist, his aura capacity increased dramatically. But his Specialization also granted him a unique ability: Absolute Time.
While Absolute Time was active, Kurapika became a perfect hexagonal warrior. He could use all six Nen categories at full efficiency with zero weaknesses.
What Kurapika didn't tell Liam and Shizuku was that Absolute Time had a fatal restriction: for every second it remained active, one hour of his life burned away.
When Liam heard that Book Four was called "Revelation," half the tension in his chest evaporated.
Simple, isn't this just the Dowsing Chain with a different name? You think I wouldn't recognize you if you changed your outfit?
Liam clapped Kurapika on the shoulder. "Keep practicing. I've got high hopes for you."
Kurapika's expression went blank.
"Then I'll continue training," he said. "I want to develop all my abilities as soon as possible."
"Haste makes waste. Don't neglect your basic skills either." Liam reminded him, then asked, "By the way, how much aura do you have now?"
Kurapika thought for a moment. "I've been able to maintain Ken for nearly fifty minutes recently."
"Oh, that's close to three thousand aura." Liam nodded. "What about in Scarlet Eyes state?"
Kurapika shook his head. "I haven't tested it in Scarlet Eyes mode. But it feels like there should be a two to three times improvement."
The real reason he hadn't tested it was more complicated. With his current level of basic technique proficiency, when using Ken in Scarlet Eyes state, it was too easy to accidentally trigger Absolute Time. His subconscious would categorize Ken as an Enhancement technique and automatically boost it to full efficiency.
The moment Absolute Time activated, one hour of life burned per second. Even if his aura only doubled in Scarlet Eyes mode, maintaining a full Ken cycle would take six thousand seconds. A full six thousand hours of life burned. Two hundred and fifty days.
Kurapika hadn't yet reached the point where he was willing to throw away that much of his lifespan casually.
"Really? That means your total's close to ten thousand aura. That's incredible!" Liam grinned. "But we need to keep pushing. If we're going to the Dark Continent together, this level of strength is nowhere near enough. Let's work hard together."
Kurapika smiled faintly. The expression faded as he turned to leave.
He hadn't told Liam and Shizuku all the restrictions on "Resurrection."
The truth was, all his conjured books could only function at full power while Absolute Time was active in Scarlet Eyes state. Resurrection was no exception.
Even if they became stronger one day. Even if they were lucky enough to reach the Dark Continent and find the Longevity Rice.
If he wanted to resurrect his fallen Kurta tribespeople, it wouldn't be as simple as placing their recovered Scarlet Eyes on the book and having them instantly come back to life.
How long the resurrection process needed to last depended entirely on how long he could maintain Absolute Time.
As for the consequences of successfully resurrecting even one person? That wasn't something Kurapika was willing to think about. In his mind, no cost was too high. No consequence was worth considering.
After Kurapika left, Liam continued thinking about his own new abilities.
After one month of training, his total aura had finally increased to 14,700. Close to 15,000.
The time required to maintain Ken each cycle had extended yet again. Now it took a full four hours and five minutes. If you didn't have enough focus, just standing still for four hours was a form of torture. And maintaining Ken required intense concentration every single minute.
But even with this improvement in aura capacity, he still had no realistic chance of winning against Wing.
One month ago, Wing's aura output had been nearly twice Liam's. That meant Wing probably had around 20,000 aura at the time. One month had passed. Wing had definitely improved too.
Trying to win in a straight fight was a losing proposition.
He didn't want to use the Star Mark's control ability in the ring. Too identifiable.
Spirit Gun needed to be used carefully, with precise angle control. One stray shot into the audience could kill dozens of civilians.
Which meant he needed to find a way to defeat a stronger opponent with weaker fundamentals.
Liam recalled Wing's elegant, easy-going face. For some reason, it made him think of Razor, who also always had a smile on his face.
Thinking of Razor made him think of Razor's Nen type: Emission.
Thinking of Emission made him think of Razor's ability to throw Nen balls like volleyballs.
And thinking about that...
"Then steal a page from Razor's playbook?"
"Well, I just want to borrow the basic form of the Nen ball. Then add my own restrictions however I want. It's not like it costs anything to try. What's the worst that could happen?"
The ideas in Liam's mind gradually crystallized into something solid.
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