The experimental verification on the training ground continued.
After Pairo finished explaining the process of using his first-stage Nen ability, he rubbed his eyes. This novel and strange feeling made him temporarily unable to adapt. Is this Nen ability? It's truly magical.
"So, your first-stage Nen ability establishes a connection with the other party's eyeballs through eye contact, and your two eyeballs are independent entities that can connect with the other party's eyeballs separately?" Kevin asked. With Pairo's explanation, such conditions were easy to figure out.
Pairo thought for a moment and nodded.
"That means you can use your left and right eyeballs to establish connections with the left and right eyes of different people respectively—meaning you can connect with one eyeball of up to two people simultaneously." Kevin immediately thought of possible effects Pairo's ability could achieve. Thus, the maximum range was two people.
Obviously, Pairo had also considered this point.
"Alright, now we understand the first-stage mechanism. So, after establishing the connection, what kind of ability manifests?" It certainly couldn't be just a simple connection—that was merely the initial activation condition. The key was what could be done to the other party after successful connection.
This was the crucial point of Pairo's Nen ability.
Pairo thought for a moment but gently shook his head. "I... I'm not quite sure. I can feel that my two eyeballs and Kurapika's two eyeballs have established some kind of connection, and I should be able to do something. But only after actually trying will I know exactly what I can do—otherwise I can't judge," Pairo said cautiously.
Kevin nodded, indicating understanding, then looked at Kurapika.
Kurapika said straightforwardly, "No problem. Give it a try." He had enough trust in the other party.
Pairo quickly added, "Though I'm not sure what this ability is specifically, I can tell if it's offensive or not. Even if it is, I should be able to control it, just like when I established the connection." He could still feel this point—after all, he had no intention or desire to attack, and Nen ability was usually controlled by will.
Kevin nodded. Since both agreed, they would begin the experiment. Logically, for safety, they should find an outsider to experiment on—or even, if afraid of danger, pull a death row inmate from prison. But time and circumstances...
Pairo nodded and closed his eyes again.
Kurapika stood aside, vigilantly watching for any abnormalities in himself. However, he still felt nothing. Did I not learn well enough? Kurapika muttered to himself. Otherwise, why can't I feel anything?
At this moment, though Pairo had his eyes closed, he could "see" clearly. But the scene he "saw" was no longer before him—it was the scene Kurapika saw. He "saw" himself through Kurapika's eyes.
This feeling was truly too wonderful.
He tried opening one eye. Sure enough, the moment that eye opened, the scene returned to the view before him. But his other closed eye could still "see" the scene Kurapika saw.
This feeling was extremely strange, as if his brain was split into two parts. This peculiar visual experience made Pairo uncomfortable, but it didn't make him dizzy or nauseous. He thought, with specialized training, he should gradually adapt.
But is this ability just this much? If his Nen ability was only like this, Pairo would be very disappointed. This was not the powerful ability he had hoped for. This was not the strength that could allow him to achieve revenge.
This was clearly an ability for stealing information and collecting intelligence. At least in Pairo's opinion, it was a bit weak. If it was just like this, it would be better not to be Specialization and let himself construct his own Nen ability.
If Nen ability reflected the heart's desire, then this was clearly not the ability he had always longed for. Could it... really not be?
He couldn't help but recall the past, when his eyesight was worsening, and he indeed yearned to see more clearly. He'd even made a promise with Kurapika, who was about to leave—to let him see the outside world in his place. He'd wanted to go outside back then, but his legs, his eyes, and his weak body simply didn't allow it.
From this perspective, this seemed to be the Nen ability he once wanted, but it was not what he needed now. What he wanted now was powerful strength sufficient to support his revenge.
Pairo closed his eyes again and observed his surroundings through Kurapika's vision, completely "seeing" from Kurapika's perspective. He couldn't control anything, couldn't change anything. He could only "see" what Kurapika saw.
He was simply stealing the other party's vision.
Stealing the other party's eyes. This thought flashed through Pairo's mind, and he felt a bit ironic.
He shook his head, cast aside these distracting thoughts, and continued focusing on exploring his Nen ability.
In his continuous exploration, he finally discovered something unusual. This wasn't simply sharing the other party's vision—he seemed able to make subtle modifications to what the other party saw.
Thinking this, Pairo decided to try.
"Hmm?" Kurapika startled, because in his field of vision, a small heart suddenly appeared above Neon's head. Subsequently, this change became more obvious. Pink heart bubbles began constantly appearing around Neon. Finally, pink hearts even appeared in Neon's eyes, looking like special effects from an anime.
This obviously didn't conform to normal visual reality.
"Did you do that, Pairo?" Kurapika turned to look at Pairo beside him and asked.
At this time, though Pairo's eyes were closed, a strange smile appeared on his face. "How is it? Interesting, right? Don't move for now—stare at me."
Kurapika nodded obediently and stared closely at Pairo's face.
After a while, he saw Pairo open his eyes.
"And then? Watch you open your eyes?" Kurapika asked confusedly. After waiting a long time, he noticed no strange changes like before.
Kurapika didn't notice the change, but Kevin and the other two standing beside him saw the abnormality. Because Pairo was actually still closing his eyes at this time.
Kevin understood instantly. Could this be some kind of illusion? A deceptive hallucination? From the moment Pairo started making eye contact with Kurapika, Kevin had been considering what kind of Nen ability could be produced through eye contact. Now he had clues.
Pairo had just asked Kurapika to stare at him, combined with Kurapika's subsequent actions. Sharing the other party's vision, then performing illusory deception? Kevin pondered, nearly analyzing Pairo's ability completely.
In Kurapika's vision, Pairo's open eyes blinked at him. Immediately after, the eyes suddenly disappeared, and Pairo returned to having his eyes closed. But this was different from normal eye-closing—the open eyes just dissipated like a gust of wind.
This strange visual change immediately made Kurapika react. Just like the heart bubbles appearing above Neon's head, this must be Pairo's doing.
"Are you changing what I see?" Kurapika asked. At this time, Pairo had already withdrawn his Nen ability. He reopened his eyes, looked at Kurapika, and smiled.
If it was just simply stealing the other party's vision, Pairo felt this ability was a bit weak. But if he could change what the other party saw while stealing their vision, that was completely different. This one ability directly raised the entire Nen ability's level significantly.
Though the things he could change at the moment were subtle—adding an eye, producing colorful small bubbles—he still couldn't make his entire body disappear from the other party's vision. But he could create the illusion that when he threw a right punch, the other party saw him throwing a left punch. This greatly increased the ability's value.
This made Pairo very satisfied. This was an absolute killer move in combat. Whether fighting one-on-one or providing coordinated assistance, this ability could exert a deadly effect—requiring only a momentary change.
Watching the two complete the experiment, Kevin walked over. Everyone here was trustworthy, so Kevin directly asked Pairo to explain his understanding of his Nen ability.
After listening to Pairo's detailed explanation, Kevin nodded—it matched his guess. He further understood Pairo's ability characteristics.
"So, besides the first stage requiring marking, you can mark at most two people's eyeballs, and it must be one left and one right?"
Pairo nodded, listening as Kevin summarized for him—Kevin had more experience.
Kevin then asked, "Can you mark more people and then choose whose vision to connect with?"
Pairo shook his head. "No, only two connection slots. One eyeball connects to the other person's one eyeball."
Understood. Unable to connect with multiple people and switch perspectives at will. The connection for each eyeball was fixed. To connect to a new target, he needed to remove the original mark first. Fortunately, removing marks was convenient—as long as Pairo wished, he could do it anytime, without further contact. Though limitations existed, they weren't significant and were completely acceptable.
"Besides this question, I have a crucial one." Kevin's tone grew serious. "If you only connect with one eyeball of the other party, is the image you modify limited solely to what that eyeball sees? You should understand this question's importance. Humans have a pair of eyes. If you only modify the image seen by one eye, the other party will easily notice something wrong—it will seem very strange."
Illusions, after all, needed some effect of blurring the real with the fake to be truly deadly.
Hearing this question he hadn't yet considered, Pairo simply closed one eye.
Kurapika felt the object before him modify again. This time, only the cup's color changed. The cup was originally transparent, but now a layer of red superimposed—the red too obvious. The two colors overlapped, creating a phantom-like illusion. This peculiar visual effect synchronized with Pairo, who personally experienced the image Kurapika saw, following the principle of manipulating one eye's change while the other eye remained unchanged.
Subsequently, Pairo regretfully shook his head. "I cannot use the image from one eye to simultaneously modify the images seen by both eyes. To achieve the effect of blurring the real with the fake, I need to close both eyes and connect both eyes to the left and right eyeballs of the same person respectively."
This was one of his Nen ability's limitations.
Kevin nodded. A very reasonable limitation, within expectations. After all, the basic mode was one eyeball connecting to another—from this condition, such limitations could be inferred.
"But don't be discouraged. In intense combat, suddenly modifying the image seen by one of the opponent's eyeballs will seriously interfere with their judgment." To put it bluntly, this single-eye modification ability had a "first strike kill" effect. When battle raged, the opponent suddenly seeing themselves throw both a right punch and a left punch—this overlapping image would lead to misjudgment, making them think the opponent was punching with both hands simultaneously. In combat, such misjudgment could very likely turn the tide.
Moreover, if he first performed single-eye modification, making the opponent notice and think they'd figured out his ability, then simultaneously modified both eyes—this could pose a potentially fatal threat.
However, judging from Pairo's current modification speed, he still needed to strengthen his training to use it effectively in actual combat.
Pairo thought for a moment and felt Kevin's words made sense. Experienced people indeed operated Nen ability differently, quickly conceiving various applications.
"No matter what, this is a pretty good Nen ability. Cherish it well, work hard developing it—it will definitely become very powerful." Kevin smiled.
Furthermore, as Pairo's strength increased, the range and degree of image modification would improve accordingly. Perhaps he could eventually completely control the opponent's vision. Though misalignments in touch, taste, etc., might exist, for normal people, vision was always the most important sense. People trusted what they saw most. As long as modifications were subtle and clever, perfect deception could be achieved. The simplest application: invisibility in the opponent's eyes.
Pairo named his Nen ability [Elegy of the Scarlet Eye]. The meaning was self-evident—reflecting the special significance of eyeballs to him, hinting at the helplessness and sorrow of having them taken. He specifically called the ability used to modify the opponent's vision [Curse of Resentment].
After understanding Pairo's ability, Kevin let him and Kurapika train on their own. Neon curiously approached. She wanted Pairo to try this ability on her eyes—she was too curious how this magical Nen ability would perform.
They played around for a while before Kevin called them back.
"Now, I'll explain special details and functions of each system in depth. Whether developing your own abilities or encountering enemies, this knowledge will help." Though Pairo had already awakened his ability, Kurapika and Rosana still needed to construct theirs.
Kevin looked at Rosana. "First, Rosana's Emission type. Emission reaching 100% efficiency means Nen you release maintains the same effectiveness as inside your body—no decay."
He picked up a wooden board and demonstrated. "Watch. I'll use the same Nen intensity." Kevin condensed Nen at his fingertip, extended it slightly forward, and gently tapped the board—a penetrating hole appeared. Then he pulled back distance and shot this Nen out—only a small dent appeared; it didn't penetrate.
"You see clearly—Nen effectiveness decays after leaving my body. The intensity I used in both instances was identical."
Rosana nodded, understanding.
"Emission applications generally divide into three main categories: Nen Bullet, Nen Beast, and Space."
Kevin continued his explanation, ensuring each person understood their respective system's foundations.
"Nen Bullet—I think you can easily understand this. It's simply releasing Nen outward, like firing a bullet. Simple and direct, and its power is not to be underestimated."
"Nen Beast, as the name suggests, involves releasing Nen outward to form various objects of different shapes that assist you in achieving your goals."
"Space—though it sounds a bit abstract, because Emission allows Nen to leave the body with 100% efficiency, it can create space-related effects. For example, teleportation, spatial exchange, opening up space, connecting different spaces, and so on. Besides Specialization, these effects can basically only be achieved by Emission."
Everyone listened attentively. They hadn't expected that seemingly ordinary Nen ability systems would have such significant differences between them.
Kevin briefly described characteristics of different systems. When discussing Materialization, he looked at Kurapika. "Materialization and I have a bit of a connection, so I have some experience here. First, it must be clear that Materialization must materialize an object—usually physically present, a tangible item that even non-Nen users can see."
He paused, studying Kurapika's expression. "What do you want to materialize? Judging by your face, you already have an idea."
Kurapika nodded. The moment he'd been identified as Materialization, an idea had formed.
"Then I'll explain Materialization's characteristics: amplifying rules and setting rules. It sounds mysterious, but it's actually easy to understand." Kevin explained briefly, just as he'd summarized before.
After listening, Kurapika easily understood and nodded. Now he had a preliminary concept for his Nen ability. However, due to their agreement, he could only keep these thoughts to himself for now.
Kevin looked at him. "Though I won't allow you to construct your ability within the year, you can spend time understanding the thing you want to materialize in daily life. You need to reach a level where, when you think of its name, the object seems to already appear before your eyes." Simply put, Kurapika could prepare in advance.
After explaining these fundamentals, Kevin's expression grew serious as he regarded the three Kurta survivors.
"Now, let's talk about your special characteristic—the Scarlet Eyes."