Nen script appeared rapidly across the three-dimensional model of Sensui Mountain on the screen. Ancient characters like talisman arrays covered cave interiors, mountain wall corners, hidden crevices. They spread across a full third of the mountain's internal and external surface area.
Gel waited. The screen stopped refreshing. "I thought you said the entire mountain?"
"I've only been here half a day." Pyon pointed at the display. "The President disappeared as soon as we arrived at Sensui Mountain. I got bored and investigated on my own. This is all I've found so far. The rest of the mountain probably has similar coverage."
Gel nodded. Then shook her head. "The scope of the script is too large. Pulling everyone at the summit into a conjured dream world seems like overkill."
"Can't say for sure. These divine characters are too complex. Full analysis will take time."
Gel understood. Pyon was already the foremost expert on ancient script. Divine characters fell squarely within her research specialty.
"What about you?" Pyon tapped the keyboard, switching the screen back. "The President specifically called you here. You must have a purpose. Dealing with some kind of difficult poison?"
Gel thought for a moment. "I wasn't called by the President. After I heard something, I asked the President to bring me along."
Pyon considered this and understood. "So I had cause and effect backward. You're a Poison Hunter. You heard there was some troublesome poison here, so you came."
Gel nodded slightly. "It seems to be related to the Dark Continent."
Pyon was mildly surprised. Then again, the Dark Continent was mysterious and dangerous. It also carried an ancient, timeless quality. V5 had concluded a treaty not to invade the Dark Continent almost two hundred years ago! This sounded exactly like something President Netero would want to meddle in. No one could say exactly what unknown adventures this martial artist and Professional Hunter, who'd lived over a hundred years, had experienced throughout his long life.
The video compiled from analyzing the "dream" played on screen. Petals filled the night sky, forming the image of a Bodhisattva. The stone Buddha under the peach tree cracked and disintegrated.
"That's the President," Gel said.
"Obviously." Pyon closed her laptop. "Since the President is still in the mood to play around and hasn't contacted us yet, everything should be fine."
"About forty years ago, I accompanied President Netero to a Sensui Mountain Conference."
In the back mountain hotel, everyone listened to Bisky's clear, girlish voice playing through the phone.
Liam knew the truth. This "girl" was actually fifty years old. She just pretended to be young all day.
Wing was even more aware of his master's age. He repeated in surprise, "Forty years ago?"
Silence fell on the other end. Then Bisky's voice rose with a sharp nasal tone. "Huh?! Wing, do you have a question?"
Wing spoke quickly. "No, I just—Master, if I remember correctly, you passed the Hunter Exam a little over thirty years ago."
"Master, when you attended the Sensui Mountain Conference, how old were you?"
"I was twelve."
Bisky's answer left Liam baffled.
Why can't any of them get past age twelve?
Menchi won the World Food Competition championship at twelve. Ging passed the Hunter Exam at twelve. Ging's future son Gon would become a Professional Hunter at twelve. Come to think of it, the physical age Liam had set for himself before the last transformation was also twelve.
So I guess it's fine.
Wing said in surprise, "Then Master, at that time—"
Bisky on the other end understood what surprised him. She replied calmly. "Yes. At that time, I was just an ordinary young disciple at the Shingen-ryu dojo. Still learning step by step. I hadn't mastered the use of aura yet. Though the details are a bit fuzzy, I didn't officially learn Nen until I got my Hunter License at age seventeen."
You call the twelve-year-old girl Netero personally brought to Sensui Mountain 'ordinary'?
Hart was stunned into numbness.
Never mind that Senior Brother Wing's master had a voice like a little girl but was actually fifty years old. This Shingen-ryu senior had successfully climbed the Long Steps to Immortality at age twelve without having mastered aura?!
Bisky continued. "Precisely because I didn't understand Nen when I attended the Sensui Mountain Conference, I'm not sure whether a situation similar to yours happened back then. Looking back in hindsight, that conference about forty years ago seemed to be a watershed moment."
Shizuku and Liam exchanged glances. Both remembered the information they'd researched earlier. Beginning about forty years ago, the Sensui Mountain Art Exhibition started appearing.
"That's right. Forty years ago and earlier, going back a hundred years, the Sensui Mountain Conference was just a small-scale martial arts exchange meeting. The organizer was the Sky Master, but President Netero sometimes participated, sparring with younger generations from different schools." Bisky paused. "President Netero and the Sky Master seem to be close friends."
Seem?
"I didn't ask specifically!" Bisky's voice made everyone imagine a vein popping on her forehead. "They looked like old friends."
President Netero is an old monster who knows how old. How could anyone know what friends he had when he was young?
Over the phone, Bisky added, "Since that time, as far as I know, President Netero has never attended the Sensui Mountain Conference again. Probably because of this, the conference has steadily declined in the martial arts world. Fewer and fewer participants. Smith, according to your description, the so-called dream contained a stone Buddha suspected to be President Netero's incarnation. The final scene was a Bodhisattva made of petals clapping its palm and dispersing the dream. If that's the case, President Netero must know about this dream. If there were truly dangerous consequences, I think the President would contact you. At least contact Wing. Wing, are you listening?!"
Hart jumped at the raised volume.
Wing wiped cold sweat from his brow and smiled awkwardly. "Of course I'm listening." He looked at Liam. "It's just, Master, I'm thinking—since that dream may be a Conjuration ability, why could it still pull in Smith, who'd already manipulated himself in advance?"
"Are you asking for this friend of yours?"
Bisky didn't sound annoyed at all. She explained patiently. "Very few people have abilities that are one hundred percent a single Nen category. At the same time, many Nen abilities aren't purely one hundred percent Conjuration or any other single type. For example, some Emission abilities often have manipulation features mixed in. Obviously incorporating Manipulation characteristics. And some Transmutation abilities can change aura into different shapes and properties, but usually come with Enhancement characteristics from the Enhancement category."
"In other words, even if this dream is primarily a Conjuration ability, that doesn't prevent it from having some Manipulation characteristics mixed in. 'Conditional' traits often belong to Manipulation applications. And this kind of conditional feature isn't limited to pure Manipulation abilities. The fact that the dream could pull Smith into it only means the 'conditions' it contains were partially fulfilled. It doesn't mean it could 'manipulate' John Smith."
"But the most significant and core characteristic of a true Manipulation ability is the capacity to truly and effectively control the target. Whether it's complete direct control or indirect conditional control, at minimum it must achieve actual controlled intervention on the target. For Nen users who are themselves Manipulators, this is the situation they try to avoid when they manipulate themselves in advance. This can also be considered a baseline and measure of whether they're impacted by other Manipulation abilities."
"Let me ask you: although Smith was pulled into the dream, was he directly or indirectly controlled? He just slept. Part of his consciousness entered another layer of space. He stayed awake in the dream. He could wake up at any time. After waking, You and the others had peach petal marks on their bodies, but Smith and his companion didn't. That's the biggest difference."
Shizuku raised her hand. "So the peach petal mark is a Manipulation ability, right?"
"Exactly. So this may be a cooperative Nen ability." On the other end of the phone, Bisky wore cute princess-style pajamas. She flicked her nails. "The peach blossom tree you described is probably responsible for the Manipulation aspect. And whoever created this dream and pulled you into it may need to be calculated separately."