After Reflection consumed a layer of aura from Kurapika's body, it separated and flew out.
But it didn't go far. Like a black eight-armed demon, it floated around Kurapika, never taking its eyes off him.
Specifically, it kept staring at the original location of the wound Kurapika had given himself.
The reason it was the "original" location was because the wound had already healed.
"It's not just eating the aura on my body..." Sweat appeared on Kurapika's forehead. "What it just absorbed was about one-eleventh of my total aura. The maximum intensity of manifest aura I can release at one time."
"The way Reflection absorbs the target's aura is through possession. The first drop of blood forcefully drains a portion of the target's manifest aura." Shizuku calmly summarized. "Different people have different proportions of manifest aura. The worst should be one-twelfth of total aura. A very powerful master might be able to reduce this ratio to one-tenth, or even higher."
"After entering Scarlet Eyes state, my total aura increases significantly, and my manifest aura also increases to one-tenth of my total..." Kurapika thought to himself. "This way, Liam's Nen beast will have a devastating effect on opponents with higher total aura and stronger cultivation. Even if it only takes the first bite, it can cause serious trouble."
One bite could eat one-tenth of you. Even if a Nen user was at peak condition, how many bites could they withstand?
What's more, the consumption every minute and second in actual combat—offensive and defensive exchanges, testing rounds—couldn't be ignored. Ultimate techniques were massive aura drains and couldn't be used carelessly.
If you were accidentally bitten by this eight-armed Nen beast, worst case scenario, your remaining potential aura might not be enough to support using any trump cards...
"Can you please stop staring at me like that?" Kurapika felt uncomfortable being watched by Reflection. He looked at Liam with dead fish eyes. "It doesn't want a second bite, does it?"
Liam sat with his legs crossed. "No use telling me. Like I said, it's similar to a guardian spirit beast. It attacks you out of defensive instinct. I can't directly 'use' it..."
According to Liam's analysis, it probably went like this:
The clone with the characteristic "The Solitary Shadow in Heaven and Earth, Drunk to Death and Dreams of Life" that Goya Hui Guo Rou left behind back then had probably been developed with reference to his own guardian spirit beast.
Although Goya himself couldn't see his guardian spirit beast and couldn't control it, he'd still succeeded in winning the Succession War with its help. It was impossible he knew nothing about it. Goya himself couldn't see it, but his subordinates could. If he asked his subordinates for advice, he'd definitely grasp the various characteristics of his guardian spirit beast.
Otherwise, a proper Emperor of Kakin wouldn't be so obsessed with wandering the world, even going to the Dark Continent to wander around, eventually dying from wandering.
He hadn't been willing to accept it before death, and he wasn't willing after death either. So much so that the clone he left behind—"The Solitary Shadow in Heaven and Earth, Drunk to Death and Dreams of Life"—also inherited this unwillingness. Referencing the Seed Urn and the Hui Guo Rou royal family's guardian spirit beasts, "The Solitary Shadow" used self-destruction and poisoning to transform itself into a new variant guardian spirit beast, continuing to survive in a new form.
Unfortunately, the Seed Urn ritual required blood to be dripped into that special prayer pot. The pot would feed back rosary beads according to the blood dripped in. Ceremony participants who ate the rosary would get their own guardian spirit beast—which they couldn't see or control. Liam hadn't gone through the process of dropping blood into a pot to eat an exclusive rosary, so he could see the Nen beast parasitizing his body.
Being able to "deceive" this Nen beast Reflection to some extent and trick it onto targets controlled by his Star Mark was an unexpected benefit.
If he didn't even have this level of control, Liam figured he'd rather feel regret later than ask Netero to get rid of this thing.
He didn't want an uncontrollable eight-armed Nen beast hanging around when he was on dates with Shizuku in the future...
After twenty minutes, the eight-armed black shadow Nen beast Reflection seemed to lose interest in Kurapika and flew back to Liam like a personal bodyguard.
"For the first attack, after eating the target's maximum manifest aura, it continues to be on alert for about twenty minutes." Shizuku wrote down this rule.
"What about the second time?"
Kurapika touched the healed wound on his finger. "According to what that Twelve Zodiac Rabbit said, the Nen beast parasitizing you, Liam, could possibly suck out even fundamental life force, right? But based on its behavior pattern, it probably won't directly absorb life force the second time..."
"I'm guessing the second time will absorb all remaining potential aura, then continue being vigilant. The third time it'll start draining life force until the target dies." Kurapika spoke slowly. "Judging by severity progression, having a middle step that extracts the target's aura and forces them into Zetsu makes more sense."
Liam asked with interest, "Want to try it?"
Shizuku grabbed her chainsaw vacuum, ready to cooperate.
"I'll die!" A tic-tac-toe mark popped up on Kurapika's forehead. "What if the second bite directly extracts life force? Don't forget you can't control this parasitic Nen beast yourself..."
Liam consoled him. "Don't worry. If something happens, I can activate the Star Mark on your body and transfer it to parasitize you instead. It definitely won't suck its host, right? ...Probably?"
Shizuku asked curiously, "Want to try that too?"
"Try what?" Liam turned to look at her.
"Whether it would hurt the host?" Shizuku turned to look at him. "Transfer it to Kurapika and try."
"I thought you were going to experiment on me, Shizuku!" Liam's expression was exaggerated.
Shizuku shook her head.
"I'm the one you're talking about!" Kurapika looked at these two people, unable to stay calm.
So Liam and Shizuku both turned to look at him.
Soon another attempt began.
But unfortunately, when Reflection returned to Liam after those twenty minutes, the Nen beast's counterattack ability seemed to have reset.
This time Kurapika pretended to attack Liam while simultaneously pricking the wound on his finger and flicking out a drop of blood. After Reflection sucked away the drop of blood, it responded exactly the same as before.
Disappeared from sight, wrapped its armor around Kurapika's body, opened wide and swept away Kurapika's maximum manifest aura.
After having two elevenths of his total aura extracted twice in a row—close to one-fifth total—Kurapika looked exhausted and refused to help anymore.
Calculated numerically, with these two bites from Reflection, an estimated 2,000 aura had been taken from Kurapika's body.
Kurapika rubbed his brow and got down to business.
He glanced at Masuo Harrison, still sleeping like a dead pig. "I may need to ask you for help with something."
Liam smiled but cupped his ear and turned it toward Kurapika, as if to say the wind was too loud and he didn't hear clearly.
"Boss, I need your help with something." Kurapika said calmly. "When I interrogated him, besides getting the pair of Scarlet Eyes he bought, I unexpectedly found he's been in contact with three other people holding Scarlet Eyes recently. Among those three, Masuo Harrison can confirm the identities of two of them."
He looked at Liam and Shizuku. "I can't handle three targets at the same time, and I'm worried they'll transfer the Scarlet Eyes they're holding."
After all, these three people maintained contact with Masuo Harrison with the intention of changing hands on Scarlet Eyes.
Liam said, "Easy. You want us to help you find the two whose identities are known?"
"Just one of them is fine. I'll handle the other myself," Kurapika said. "I'll also investigate the remaining target whose identity hasn't been confirmed yet."
Liam nodded in agreement.
He originally didn't want to separate from Shizuku anyway.
Kurapika breathed a sigh of relief. He was happy to help friends, even at his own expense. But asking others for help made him very hesitant.
After returning to his room, Liam tried sealing the aura nodes on his body. The aura on his body became weaker and weaker, and Reflection—the eight-armed Nen beast hanging around him like a guardian spirit—also became fainter and fainter.
Liam maintained the surface aura at a very thin level. Sure enough, just like the experiment with the rock sparrow, Reflection was barely visible, leaving only a faint afterimage of eight arms. If you didn't specifically use Gyo to look, you'd probably simply overlook such an anomaly.
"Speaking of which, this guy can eat aura. Can it help with training?"
Liam was eager to try, but no matter what, he was Reflection's host. Even if he attacked himself, it wouldn't provoke Reflection to fight back.
As for having Shizuku attack him to provoke Reflection's retaliation?
Forget it. Liam didn't want to sacrifice that.
"It's been a while since I practiced seriously." Liam and Shizuku looked at each other and started training together in the room. "You go first or should I?"
Soon, the two of them maintained Ken one after another and trained in the room.
A few hours later, when Liam's aura reserves began to dwindle significantly, a sudden change occurred.
Reflection's eight arms swayed, attached to Liam's back like armor, and its head banged against Liam's skull like a berserker's helmet.
Shizuku immediately manifested Blinky with the chainsaw attachment and stared at the abnormality on Liam's body.
"Wait." Liam raised his hand to stop her.
Shizuku focused her eyes and was surprised to see that the aura in Liam's body, which had weakened from long-term practice, suddenly recovered significantly.
Liam stood there, taking in the changes in his body for a moment before suddenly understanding.
"It gave me the aura it sucked from Kurapika."
He maintained a calm expression, holding his much-recovered Ken.
After extended practice, before reaching the last quarter stage where he genuinely couldn't sustain it anymore, Liam could maintain a relaxed mental state no matter how exhausted he was. He wouldn't be distracted by the intense strain.
"It probably started reacting when my remaining aura... dropped below one-tenth, which is less than my maximum manifest aura."
Liam speculated. "Does the Nen beast think that when my aura level is lower than this threshold, the risks I face increase dramatically?"
However, the amount of aura Reflection had sucked from Kurapika's body was only about that much.
Roughly 2,000 aura, absorbed across two bites...
Liam's current total aura was close to 20,000. Restoring 2,000 at once was helpful, but not overwhelmingly so.
"If it was the 'second bite,' it should at least be able to absorb all of the target's aura. That would definitely be enough for me..."
Such thoughts flashed through Liam's mind, startling even himself.
Holy shit, isn't this basically the Star-Absorbing Technique? Am I becoming a demonic cultivator?
He always felt it was too easy for him to turn into someone from the devil's path... Then Liam thought about it—the Nen beast wasn't under his control. It was a counterattack type. It only reacted when others attacked him, and it also had to consume a drop of the target's blood. If he wanted to do whatever he pleased, it wouldn't be that easy.
Shizuku suddenly raised her hand.
"What's wrong?" Liam asked.
Shizuku pointed at him, then at the clock nearby.
Liam looked closer and saw the timer had exceeded his usual maximum time. Although he was tired, he felt like he could last at least another half hour.
It was because of the 2,000 aura he'd replenished in the middle...
Therefore, Liam maintained Ken for over 2,000 seconds before finally releasing it.
While Shizuku practiced and Liam rested, he sealed all the aura nodes in his body and entered Zetsu state to speed up recovery. With the Star Mark on the back of his neck, his recovery rate soared.
Shizuku wasn't even halfway through, but Liam was already fully energized and back to being a healthy man again.
Just super hungry.
Liam picked up the phone to order food. Because he released Zetsu, the eight-armed Nen beast appeared on him again.
Feeling it was in the way, Liam activated the Star Mark on the rock sparrow and transferred Reflection to the little gray bird.
"Hello? Please send dinner for five people to room 502." Liam seemed to hear a "mm-hmm" from the other side and hung up.
After hanging up, he remembered—weren't the waiters in this hotel all transformed from gray-scaled snakes separated from "The Solitary Shadow in Heaven and Earth"?
He'd already put away "The Solitary Shadow in Heaven and Earth" himself. Now it had become Reflection hanging on Jaku's body. How could there still be waiters?
Was it actually haunted this time?
After Shizuku finished practicing, she'd already taken off her jacket because she was covered in sweat. She gave Liam a confused look.
Liam said, "I'm thinking—because Reflection gave me a boost in the middle, it caused me to maintain Ken for longer. Logically speaking, the core principle behind why this method of practicing Ken can increase total aura isn't the consumption of aura itself, but the consumption of willpower and concentration to maintain Ken. And of course, there's also the consumption of aura."
"In short, it's all about suffering."
He continued. "If you use aura techniques to drain your body's aura, you're skipping class, so it's ineffective. You must persist through the whole process and suffer every minute for it to increase your Nen. Now, just because of Reflection, the total duration of my suffering exceeds what I should normally endure, so I can't help but feel..."
Shizuku understood and said suddenly, "Your aura increased even more? Is your efficiency higher than usual?"
"I have this intuition. Won't know until I try it." Liam said with a smile.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
Liam, shirtless, went to open the door. The bunny girl Pyon came in pushing a dining cart. "The dinner you ordered for five people... eh?"
She looked at Liam, who was shirtless, then at Shizuku, who was wearing only underwear and covered in sweat.