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Chapter 71: The First Contractee After Awakening Nen
As for Shizuka Marikawa's request...
Suyan had agreed to all of it.
As for Yuriko Takagi's side of things...
It seemed he would be forced to become a Time Management Master tonight.
He continued to discuss the details with Rika Minami regarding her upcoming excursions with Shizuka to train her Nen.
Having received a satisfactory answer, Shizuka sat on the edge of the bed, her ears perked up as she listened intently.
Suyan's requirements were naturally not as simple as they imagined. He wasn't just going to let Rika casually follow Shizuka outside to slaughter zombies.
After all, the vigilance and mobility of the zombies were far more sluggish than when they were alive.
Aside from their dangerous infectiousness, as long as one was careful, the actual threat they posed to someone like Rika was far lower than a living human's.
Not to mention, Rika would be using firearms for long-range combat rather than engaging them in close-quarters melee.
Under these circumstances, for a special forces elite like Rika, this was basically no different from playing on easy mode.
So, Suyan's goal was to crank up the difficulty. He needed Rika to be entirely hyper-focused during her zombie-killing missions.
Only through that intense concentration could she stimulate the potential to awaken her Nen.
For example, he required her to take out at least two zombies with a single bullet.
Of course, that depended on Rika herself.
If she enjoyed the challenge, she could increase the difficulty on her own—going for triple or quadruple kills with a single shot.
"We'll go with that for now."
As he finished speaking, Suyan couldn't offer any better alternatives. After all, this was all just a working theory of his.
With the serious matters out of the way, it was time to move on to personal matters.
Rika looked at Suyan, slowly licking her lips.
On her first day becoming a true woman, truth be told, she was already hooked on the taste.
Coupled with the fact that she had genuinely been stirred up by the ambiguous implications in Suyan's words just now, she was feeling quite eager.
It was only because she had just lost her virginity and her body was still aching slightly that she managed to hold back. Otherwise, she might have already thrown Suyan onto the bed.
Should I wait until tonight when I recover a bit and join Shizuka? Rika wondered.
She didn't feel any resistance to the idea.
Rika opened her mouth, just about to speak.
"Mi?"
Suddenly, a YukimiBotamon bounced into the room from outside, interrupting the words she was about to say.
Suyan asked in surprise, "YukimiBotamon? Did something happen with Rei?"
After helping Rei Miyamoto awaken her Nen, Suyan naturally wasn't comfortable leaving her alone in her current state.
So, he had arranged for two idle YukimiBotamon to stay by her side and watch over her.
If anything went wrong, the YukimiBotamon would immediately come find him.
Its sudden appearance could only mean one thing—something had gone wrong.
"Mi!"
The YukimiBotamon replied.
Suyan paused. He absolutely could not understand this Digimon's cat-speak.
"Never mind. You two carry on, I'm going to check on Rei."
Suyan tossed a quick word to Shizuka and Rika. Then, stepping briskly toward the door, he prepared to expand his En to observe Rei's situation on the other side of the house.
"Suyan~"
At the exact same moment, a voice filled with pure joy rang out from the hallway.
It was the very person he had been worried about—Rei Miyamoto.
Caught off guard, Suyan bumped right into the girl who was just about to step through the doorway.
The ridiculous, accidental kiss cliché from anime did not occur.
Instead...
"Ouch, ouch, ouch."
Rei gently rubbed her slightly reddened forehead where she had bumped into Suyan, wincing in pain.
"Are you okay?" Suyan asked, a hint of concern in his voice.
At the same time, he shot a vicious glare at the YukimiBotamon.
What is this? Passing along false intel?
Did Rei look like she was in any kind of trouble?
The YukimiBotamon returned his glare with a look of pure innocence.
"You really are here."
Seeing Suyan, Rei's eyes sparkled. Her voice was brimming with an indescribable joy. "Suyan, I did it! I've successfully controlled the life energy!"
"Really?"
A flash of surprise crossed Suyan's eyes.
He couldn't help but marvel internally. The success rate of this Nen awakening is pretty high.
Both Yuriko Takagi and Rei Miyamoto had managed to successfully grasp their Nen immediately after having their Aura Nodes forced open.
Is it because they have the status of anime heroines and supporting characters?
"Look, Suyan, look!"
Without waiting for a response, Rei eagerly began to demonstrate her newly learned control over her life energy—her Ten.
Suyan didn't even need to use Gyo to see it.
He could tell just from the girl's current physical state. After all, when her Aura Nodes were fully opened earlier, her body had been leaking life energy like a leaky bellows.
Now, she looked perfectly fine.
The results were obvious.
"Good job. So, do you want to form a Contract with me now?"
Suyan smiled. A piece of Contract Parchment materialized in his hand, and he held it out to the girl.
"Yes!"
The flaxen-haired girl nodded emphatically.
She snatched the Contract Parchment right out of Suyan's hand, not even bothering to glance at the contents to see if anything had changed.
Without a second word, she signed her name at the bottom.
As far as Rei was concerned, this piece of Contract Parchment was way better than any marriage certificate.
With this, she would have a perfectly justifiable reason to launch a night attack on Suyan later.
As Rei made the final stroke on the parchment, the paper dissolved into a streak of light and flew straight into her chest.
In an instant, it flowed through her limbs and bones, merging seamlessly with the faint traces of Nen already present in her body.
"So comfortable~"
The girl felt as though she were enveloped in Suyan's embrace, her entire body surrounded by his scent and aura.
A blissful smile spread across her face.
Unfortunately, the sensation faded all too quickly.
Rei opened her eyes, a lingering look of longing still painting her features.
Then, she noticed several expectant faces staring right back at her.
Even the usually lazy Shizuka was now brimming with curiosity about the flaxen-haired girl's condition.
"How do you feel?" Suyan asked.
"I feel amazing. The aura inside me has definitely grown quite a bit, too." Rei thought about it carefully before adding, "As for anything else? I don't really know."
Suyan wasn't surprised by this.
After all, a portion of the Nen he had shared had merged with the Nen the girl had cultivated herself.
How could the aura inside her not increase?
As for the rest, Rei had only just become a Nen user. It was perfectly normal for her not to understand the finer details yet.
"Let's do the Water Divination test," Suyan suggested.
He had already felt some wonderful, synesthetic sensations syncing over from the girl through the Contract.
It felt like something special had been added to his own Nen.
Is it the feeling of the Enhancement Type? Or maybe Transmutation?
Suyan himself wasn't entirely sure.
Under these circumstances, performing the Water Divination test was the best way to get concrete answers.
"Is that the same thing Ms. Takagi did earlier?" Rei asked curiously.
"Exactly. Wait here for a second, I'll go grab the stuff we need."
With that, Suyan turned and left the room, leaving Rei alone to face Shizuka and Rika.
"Ms. Marikawa, could you please not look at me like that?"
It wasn't until Suyan left that Rei finally noticed the strange, intense stare Shizuka was giving her.
"Ehehe."
Shizuka smiled, explaining, "I'm just curious! After all, I made a Contract directly with little Suyan without going through the Nen awakening process."
"And it was the same for Saeko, who made the Contract after me."
"So, that means you're the very first person to form a Contract with little Suyan after having your Nen awakened, Rei."
Hearing Shizuka's words, a goofy, lovestruck smile spread across Rei's face.
The first?
I'm the first?!
Immersed in the sweet sound of being 'the first', the girl's heart fluttered with absolute delight.
Standing beside Shizuka, Rika realized for the very first time just how terrifying her seemingly harmless, airheaded best friend could be.
With just a few simple sentences.
She had managed to make this seemingly clever little girl lose her damn mind with joy.
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