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Chapter 72: The Powerful Effects of the Contract
"I'm back."
Suyan returned to the room carrying the items needed for the Water Divination test. Seeing the unstoppable grin plastered across Rei's face, he couldn't help but ask.
"What are you so happy about? Care to share?"
"S-Suyan?"
Suyan's sudden return snapped Rei out of her daze. She quickly shook her head. "No, it's nothing! Let's just hurry up and do the test."
Suyan tilted his head, glancing at Shizuka to see if he could read anything from her expression.
But her face retained its usual delightfully dense look. He couldn't spot a single thing out of the ordinary.
Rika, on the other hand, had a slightly weird expression on her face.
"Alright then."
Suyan had no intention of digging deeper. As long as they weren't fighting, he didn't care.
He placed the glass of water on the floor, gesturing for Rei to come over and begin the test.
Seeing this, Rei reined in her expression. She knelt gracefully on the floor, mimicking how Yuriko had placed her hands around the glass earlier.
She glanced at Suyan. After receiving his nod of approval, she slowly began to channel her Nen into the glass.
It is worth noting that unlike most households back in his original world, Japanese homes generally did not use tiled floors.
Instead, they favored wooden flooring, evenly coated with a protective layer of natural beeswax.
When cleaning, they would simply use a damp cloth to wipe away the dust.
This detail was accurately reflected in the majority of Japanese anime.
Combined with the fact that Japanese families usually changed into clean indoor slippers right at the entryway, the floors were pristine.
Although Shizuka was usually a bit lazy, thanks to Suyan's presence, the floors of Rika's house were spotless.
Consequently, everyone sat down comfortably on the floor, focusing their attention entirely on the glass of water in front of Rei.
Before long.
As Rei continuously channeled her Nen into the water.
The previously calm surface began to ripple.
The leaf floating on top swayed unsteadily, like a tiny boat caught in a turbulent sea.
Manipulation Type?
No, that thought only flashed for a second.
The water inside the glass began to overflow, quickly spilling out and wetting the floorboards.
Enhancement Type?
The answer seemed to be right in front of them.
"Rei, that's enough..."
With the results clear, Suyan was just about to call off the test.
Suddenly, as if noticing something, his eyes narrowed.
He immediately stopped Rei, who was just about to pull her hands away. "Wait, don't stop yet. Keep pouring your Nen into the glass."
Rei didn't know why Suyan had suddenly changed his mind.
But she didn't object. She obediently placed her hands back on the glass and continued to slowly feed her faint aura into the water.
"Huh?"
Shizuka was the first to point out the anomaly. "That's so weird. Isn't Rei an Enhancer? Why is the water acting just like my test result? The color changed!"
She was right.
Although it was incredibly subtle.
The water in the glass had shifted from completely transparent, taking on an extremely pale blue tint.
If one didn't look closely, it would be impossible to notice that the water had changed color right under their noses.
"What's going on?"
All three women turned to look at Suyan in perfect unison.
Everything they knew about Nen came from him. If they wanted a real answer, he was the only one they could ask.
However, even Suyan was seeing this for the first time.
He theorized that this might be the bizarre chemical reaction of their auras fusing after she had signed the Contract post-awakening.
Did it grant a person the talent to learn two entirely different Nen categories simultaneously?
"It's even sweet?!"
Before Suyan could figure it out, Shizuka picked up the glass and took a tiny sip.
Hearing this, Suyan quickly snatched the glass from Shizuka's hands.
He took a sip himself.
Instantly, a look of profound shock washed over his face.
Just as Shizuka had said.
The taste of the water...
It had become sweet.
What the hell is going on?
For a moment, even Suyan was completely stumped.
If she simply had an affinity for two categories, one could argue that her natural talent didn't rest squarely on a single point of the Nen hexagon, but rather on the line connecting the Enhancement and Emission types.
But possessing an affinity for three categories at once?
Wasn't this starting to look like the traits of a Specialization Type?
To be honest, this was getting ridiculous.
In Hunter x Hunter, when Kurapika activated his Scarlet Eyes, he transitioned into a Specialist and entered a state known as Emperor Time.
In that state, he could utilize 100% of the potential of all Nen categories.
But the cost was equally severe: every second spent in Emperor Time cost him an hour of his lifespan.
Suyan looked at the utterly confused expression on Rei's face, unable to make sense of it.
If only he could travel to the Hunter x Hunter world and formally study Nen from a true master.
Ultimately, Suyan decided to test it himself, utilizing the Emission Type ability he had synced from Shizuka earlier.
The flow of Nen felt significantly smoother than before.
In fact, using the exact same amount of Nen, the radius of the En he deployed was noticeably larger than his previous attempts.
While it still paled in comparison to the terrifying 300-meter radius of Killua's grandfather using his full power, it was no longer a small area.
After a series of experiments, Suyan finally reached a conclusion.
Rei was not a Specialist with talents in three categories.
She was still fundamentally an Enhancement Type Nen user.
Because her efficiency in learning the Manipulation and Conjuration categories—which were adjacent to Specialization—was not at the 80% mark typical for Specialists.
Instead, she had the standard 60% efficiency of a normal Enhancer.
Therefore, Suyan deduced this anomaly was strictly the result of signing the Contract with him after awakening her Nen.
However, Rei's learning efficiency for Transmutation and Emission—the categories adjacent to Enhancement—had unexpectedly skyrocketed to at least 90%.
This was exactly why she exhibited different traits during the Water Divination test, albeit subtly.
Under these conditions, Rei could perhaps be considered an unorthodox type of Specialist.
Having a high affinity for three categories had its pros and cons.
The pros were obvious: having more options was never a bad thing.
As for the cons?
Spreading oneself too thin across multiple disciplines easily led to being a jack of all trades, master of none.
Of course, no matter how bad it got, she wouldn't end up like Kastro from Heavens Arena.
That guy actively sought out his own ruin.
He was an Enhancement Type, but instead of developing his innate category, he chose to focus on Manipulation and Conjuration, where his power and efficiency were capped at a miserable 60%.
You could only say he brought his death upon himself.
Whereas an ability like Gon's Jajanken, which simultaneously incorporated Enhancement, Transmutation, and Emission, worked flawlessly because it utilized adjacent affinities.
Thinking of this, Suyan couldn't help but look at Rika with immense anticipation.
If simply signing the Contract post-awakening yielded such incredible benefits, what would happen if someone managed to comprehend and awaken Nen entirely on their own before signing?
What kind of effect would that produce?
Would it boost the learning efficiency across all six categories?
Or would it push the affinities of the adjacent categories to a perfect 100%?
"Beautifully done."
Pulling his thoughts back to the present, Suyan returned his gaze to Rei. He playfully ruffled the two ahoge sticking up from her head and praised her warmly.
"Mhm."
Rei nodded, her heart swelling with joy.
Even though she was still a little annoyed that Suyan treated her ahoge like a toy.
Regardless, she had finally signed the Contract with him.
With this, she finally had the confidence to launch her night attack.
Rei swept her gaze around the room, making a point to lock eyes briefly with both Shizuka and Rika.
Of course, she needed to make all the necessary preparations beforehand.
With so many wolves and so little meat, she had to make sure she didn't accidentally pave the way for someone else to steal her prize.
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