Within the hexagonal frame, a gray little figure sat cross-legged with a sword across its chest. The number on its chest read about 26,101, floating in the single digits with Liam's heartbeat.
Eleven gray streams circled it.
With a thought, Liam injected ten gray streams into the corner directly above the hexagon. The upper limit of the Enhancement system rapidly increased from 71.2% to 81.2%.
A single move affects the whole body. As the Enhancement system's upper limit increased, the other systems followed suit.
Emission: 82.2% → 90.2%
Transmutation: 62.6% → 72.6%
Conjuration: 81% → 91%
The Manipulation and Specialization systems were already at 100%, so naturally they couldn't be upgraded further.
One gray stream still wrapped around the sword-bearing figure. That would be left to slowly digest into aura later.
Liam opened his eyes and felt the cool breeze blowing across the hospital rooftop.
At first, he could only refine about 800 aura from death energy and use it. Make it part of his total aura. With current experience, the efficiency of this refining had improved. He could refine a wisp of death energy into 900 aura. With luck, reaching 1,000 wasn't unthinkable.
Therefore, when it came to aura, Liam was no longer as anxious as before when he'd hit the bottleneck. Eight or nine out of ten death energies he obtained were invested in his side Nen systems like Enhancement and Transmutation. Expanding those upper limits. If he could click all six major systems to 100% early, it would be refreshing and beautiful.
Shizuku sat on the ground studying Gungi book.
After leaving the small seaport town near the Eye of Death whirlpool where they'd landed and coming to this slightly livelier city, Liam immediately took Shizuku around hospitals in various districts.
The radius of Liam's death energy absorption was one kilometer. So whenever he went to a hospital, he often went straight to the emergency center's top floor, picked a deserted spot, and killed time with Shizuku while waiting for death energy that might appear.
In the past three days, he'd received no more than eleven death energies. He'd just spent ten points on the Enhancement system in one go, which also raised the upper limits of other systems a bit.
The Enhancement system's upper limit had been extended to 81.2%. Liam figured that now if he practiced an Enhancement Nen ability, the effect should be no less than that of a natural Emitter or Transmuter.
He followed the old method. Removed the Star Mark on the back of his neck, then scratched his palm, leaving bloodstains. At the same time, he concentrated Nen in his other hand.
Recalling the feeling of the Star Mark's healing, he applied the aura pressure in his hand to the wound.
Visibly to the naked eye, the blood stopped and the wound healed and scabbed.
Shizuku was watching at some point. She asked curiously, "Did it succeed?"
"According to my expectations, it has to be at least comparable to the Star Mark's healing ability to count as success. This small wound healing so slowly isn't enough!" Liam said. He suddenly looked into the distance and muttered, "It should be done by now, right?"
With a thought, he sensed a distant Star Mark with activated healing power and projected his consciousness there.
Possessed by his consciousness, the familiar somatosensory feeling of tiger limbs and tail washed over him.
He found himself lying on the ground with crooked eyes and mouth. A pale, ghost-like little boy squatted next to his head, staring blankly. The "little blonde princess"—Bisky—looked at the beaten Tiger as if nothing had happened. "He's finally back."
At least it's not broken!
Liam-lumos grinned, climbed up, shook his head. He looked at the tiger paw scratches on the ground that said "Aunt Bisky, I'm Liam, don't you recognize me? I even had dinner with Wing."
The first half was already blurry. He simply scratched twice, erased and rewrote the entire paragraph.
"Since we know each other, why did you still hit me?"
The watery tiger eyes blinked and blinked, looking pitifully at the opposite side.
Standing on all fours, the Misery Moon Tiger was half a head taller than the little blonde girl in front of him. But he still felt like he was being looked down upon by her.
Bisky glanced at the new words on the ground. Put her hands on her hips. "During that video call, didn't you say you were John Smith?"
Liam-lumos rolled his eyes. Erased the words and rewrote: "Liam is John Smith, and John Smith is Liam. Also, we didn't video call. Just a phone call."
He wrote here, and Bisky read along.
Fortunately, Lumos was in good physical condition after successfully losing weight. His claws were flexible too. Liam's hand speed wasn't slow when he popped out tiger claws and scratched on the ground. But after all, it still wasn't as good as talking. Who told him to use a tiger body now? When he opened his mouth, he could only roar. No human words.
Only then did Bisky nod.
Of course she remembered that the kid Wing mentioned on the phone was probably a Nen user of the Manipulation type.
In fact, Wing had also mentioned Liam's real name to her when helping carry a message after leaving Mountain.
With this two-phase confirmation, Bisky could initially confirm the identity of the consciousness residing in the Misery Moon Tiger's body in front of her.
She touched her chin. Took two steps back and forth. Suddenly said, "If you have business with me, you can always call. Why do this?"
Wing's told her there were gems on this island. There happened to be a Misery Moon Tiger on this island that could be controlled by Liam and was following her. This didn't look like a coincidence.
The Misery Moon Tiger scratched his paws and wrote: "You are a Two-Star Hunter, How can get I get your help with a single call. Since when did I have this much pull?
Bisky glanced at it. Said nothing about the second half of the sentence. Just said, "Help?"
"It's paid." Tiger claws quickly added.
Bisky tapped her toes, signaling to continue writing.
Liam-lumos wrote the words "Blue Planet," then raised his head, just in time to meet Bisky's eyes.
Bisky's expression didn't change much. She stared at those big eyes for a long time and asked, "The Blue Planet is indeed the gem I must obtain. Continue writing?"
"The Blue Planet gem can only be obtained on Greed Island." She said suspiciously, "You don't think you can get me to help just by providing the gem's name, do you? Do you have the JoyStation console for Greed Island?"
JoyStation console was a special game console suspected to be manufactured by Nen users of the Specialization type. This was information that could be bought on the Hunter website. Bisky certainly knew it.
As for whether this game created a different dimension out of thin air or was connected to a place that really existed in the real world, Bisky had never actually been there, so it was still unclear.
In response to Bisky's doubts, Liam-lumos wrote: "In short, if the invincible and lovely Sister Bisky helps me, I'll risk my life and definitely help you get the Blue Planet. P.S.: I've already been to Greed Island, by the way."
He recalled the plot timeline.
Anyone who'd read the Hunter manga couldn't forget the timing of the Yorknew auction—it started September 1st. That was September 1999. The JoyStation console would definitely be put up for auction at that time. No matter what, there would be a chance to enter Greed Island. No need to worry about the big talk now.
Bisky cupped her cheeks in her hands, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Oh, since you put it that way, I suppose it's perfect! That's the price you pay for being Wing's friend, isn't it?"
"So, what's the business?" She didn't forget to ask.
The furry tiger claws scratched the ground. He scratched and wrote: "This Misery Moon Tiger"—he pointed at his head—"please help adopt it. so it can follow you out..."
The Misery Moon Tiger was a protected animal. As an old Hunter who'd been traveling around the world for decades, Bisky didn't need Liam to dwell on this common sense.
But Bisky ignored Liam. She looked the Misery Moon Tiger up and down, especially at the eyes that reflected human wisdom in the tiger's pupils. Said bluntly, "With your level of power," she said bluntly, "you could easily pass the Hunter Exam yourself and adopt this tiger the official way. All this dancing around... you're just using this as an excuse to get close to me, aren't you?"
Liam-Lumos lowered its massive head, looking uncharacteristically sheepish at being found out.
"Also... Princess," it started, pawing at the dirt.
"Oh, stop it. I'm no princess," Bisky replied, though she didn't look displeased. She tilted her chin up, adopting a regal, reserved air. "Just spit it out, kid. If you need something, I'll take it under advisement."Liam thought for a while. Finally decided to treat her with sincerity.
He wrote on the ground with Lumos's claws: "Although I have some small talent and am a rare unpolished gem, after all, I'm just a self-taught amateur who stumbled into this. I really want to find a famous teacher who can give me guidance on the path of Nen..."