After picking up Paper C, Conrad focused for a moment before beginning to fulfill its conditions.
First, he poured a few drops from the original beer onto Paper C.
Then he took a sip from the beer, let out a slow breath, and finally injected Nen into the paper to activate it.
The moment his aura entered the page, the effect took place.
The beer appeared almost instantly.
It had taken less than half a second.
Conrad looked at the newly materialized beer and smiled.
"This time, I only had to use one percent of my total Nen."
He lightly rubbed his temples before recording everything he had learned in his notebook.
"Without any conditions or limitations, Paper A consumed twenty percent of my total aura to activate a Conjuration effect."
"With a single simple condition, Paper B consumed only five percent."
"Finally, Paper C, which included one condition and one limitation, required only one percent."
"If I add another condition and another limitation, bringing the total to two conditions and two limitations, reducing the cost to one-tenth of a percent should be possible."
Conrad was beginning to understand the concept more thoroughly.
Fake conditions and meaningless limitations did nothing.
For a condition to truly qualify as a condition in the eyes of Nen, it needed to make the intended objective more difficult.
"The more difficult you make the goal, the less Nen is required."
"The more directly and purely you wish to achieve something, the more Nen must be spent."
Conrad snapped his fingers, and all of the copied beers disappeared.
"If I use Ancient Script papers for Emission rather than Conjuration, the required aura cost should decrease further. As a Manipulator, I'm naturally much closer to Emission than Conjuration."
"And if the objective itself falls under Manipulation..."
"The cost could potentially reach incredibly low levels."
A thought entered his mind.
"In that case..."
"There's something I'd like to test."
Most Manipulation-type Nen abilities revolved around controlling a target through some kind of medium.
Black Voice.
Illumi's Needles.
Examples immediately came to mind.
Conrad pulled out another sheet of paper and began writing.
"When activated, the person carrying this paper falls completely under Conrad's control."
"Complete control."
After writing the details, he paused to think.
If he activated the paper and placed it on an ordinary person, he could likely seize control immediately.
However, controlling another person's autonomy was an entirely different matter from creating a beer.
Even though Manipulation was his natural category, he estimated that activating an Ancient Script capable of complete control would consume at least thirty percent, perhaps even forty percent, of his total aura.
If the target were a Nen user, the cost might rise even higher.
He might have to expend his entire aura reserve.
The effect could even fail completely.
"But..."
"If I add activation conditions, I can improve the efficiency."
A smile appeared on his face.
"Let's play a little game."
Conrad glanced toward the waiter serving him.
The young man appeared to be a university student, perhaps in his early twenties.
Conrad had no intention of harming him.
This was merely an experiment.
He looked back down at the paper and began writing.
"Condition One: I must ask the target's name and receive a truthful answer."
"Limitation Two: No more than three people may be controlled simultaneously."
"Condition Two: The target must be given at least one thousand Jenny, and they must willingly accept it."
"Limitation Three: Both conditions must be completed within thirty minutes of creating the Ancient Script."
Conrad smiled as he finished drawing the symbols.
Then he began his test.
He ordered another beer.
A few moments later, the young waiter approached.
Conrad looked at him.
"What's your name?"
The young man was not accustomed to customers asking such a question, but he answered automatically.
"Nate. Nate Lamia."
Conrad nodded with satisfaction.
He pulled five thousand Jenny from his wallet and handed it over.
"Here."
Nate blinked in surprise before smiling and accepting the money without hesitation.
At that moment, Conrad rose from his seat.
He infused the Ancient Script with Nen and slipped the paper into Nate's pocket.
The instant he did so, Nate's eyes turned completely black.
A few seconds later, they returned to normal.
"Hmm..."
"What a strange sensation."
Conrad concentrated.
"Raise your hand."
The command never left his lips.
It existed only in his mind.
Immediately, Nate raised his hand.
"Turn to the right."
Nate turned right.
Conrad nodded.
"To activate this Ancient Script, I only spent one percent of my total aura."
"The greatest reduction in cost comes from the fact that maintaining control requires the target to continuously carry the paper."
"As long as Nate keeps the paper on him, he remains my servant indefinitely."
Conrad thought carefully about the implications.
"If I reduce the duration from permanent control to a single day..."
"Or even a single hour..."
"I have a feeling the cost would fall from one percent to one-tenth of a percent."
"Of course..."
"My expectations are being influenced by the fact that the target is an ordinary person."
"If I want to affect Nen users, the situation may be entirely different."
After reaching that conclusion, Conrad quickly removed the paper from Nate's pocket.
The effect disappeared immediately.
Then, without drawing attention to himself, he slipped one million Jenny into the young man's pocket.
Afterward, Conrad walked over to the bartender, paid his bill, and quietly left the bar.
The experiment had been successful.
And more importantly, it had revealed something fascinating.
Ancient Script was far more flexible than he had originally imagined.