The Prize

Getting Vision Sharing was within Moyu's expectations.

As for expanding his abilities further...

Moyu wasn't in a hurry, and he had a plan.

Simply establishing Pain Sharing as a Restriction had already allowed him to obtain Vision Sharing as he'd hoped.

If he wanted to make Soul Echo's overall abilities stronger in the future, he could also consider establishing Damage Sharing as a Restriction.

However, compared to Damage Sharing, Moyu was more willing to accept Restriction conditions such as Double Stamina Consumption, Double Nen Consumption, or Lifespan Consumption.

He could even establish a mechanism that put no upper limit on pain, on top of Pain Sharing.

But until he had a need for it, Moyu wasn't in a hurry to expand his abilities further. Firming up his foundations in the Four Major Principles was more important.

Besides, there might still be some return left from the Vow brought about by this Restriction.

"Thump, thump..."

The sound of fists and feet striking flesh rang out in the room.

Moyu was using some basic hand-to-hand combat moves Light had taught him to attack the Shadow Person.

Every punch, every kick—

The resulting pain was all faithfully reflected back onto Moyu.

Moyu frowned, but didn't hesitate as he threw his punches. The Shadow Person stood motionless like a wooden post, taking every attack.

If Cheadle weren't staying in the guest room on the other side of the courtyard, Moyu would probably have made a lot more noise.

But in fact, Cheadle wasn't in the guest room at the moment.

In the pitch-black forest, the din of insects came from every direction.

Cheadle took out her phone and answered Hawk's call.

"You've met Moyu, right?"

Hawk's voice came through the phone.

Compared to how weak he'd sounded last night, Hawk's voice now had a lot more strength to it.

His physical condition must have improved over the course of the day.

"I have. I'm satisfied with him in every respect, especially his looks."

Cheadle gazed ahead as she spoke, casually flicking out one slender, fragile Nen Thread after another and hanging them between the bushes and trees.

"His looks?"

Confusion crept into Hawk's voice. "Moyu is certainly handsome, but from what I know of you, you're not the sort to include appearances in your evaluation, are you?"

"Oh, I won't deny that..."

Cheadle gave a cold laugh. "But when I saw that Moyu looks nothing like you, it was hard not to be satisfied."

"Uh..."

On the other end of the phone, Hawk seemed as if someone had grabbed him by the throat. He couldn't get a word out.

That didn't sound right at all.

Cheadle could imagine Hawk's reaction. Unperturbed, she asked, "You didn't call at this hour just to ask me about that, did you?"

"Of course not."

Hawk asked solemnly, "How far has Moyu's Nen... developed?"

"..."

Cheadle was silent for a second or two, then slowly replied, "Judging by my own eyes, his Ten feels like the level of someone who's trained for at least half a year."

"He's improved that much?!"

Hawk sounded horrified rather than delighted or proud. "He only awakened Nen less than half a month ago!"

"That's right. So you were correct when you said Moyu was exceptionally talented. I've taught plenty of gifted youngsters, but the gap between them and Moyu is obvious."

Cheadle walked slowly through the forest, scattering Nen Threads at regular intervals.

Despite such high praise from a Two-Star Professional Hunter, Hawk didn't feel happy in the slightest.

"We can't let Moyu keep going. If we fail...and that Nen-devouring Power of Price transfers to Moyu, he'll probably wither away in an instant..."

"Hawk, I don't agree with your assessment."

Cheadle understood that Power of Price, but she and Hawk saw it differently.

"The strength of the price returned by that Balance is indeed proportional to the host's Nen, but don't forget: Nen is also the only thing that can protect Moyu in this situation. Besides..."

At this point, Cheadle's voice grew colder.

"You're the one who keeps acting recklessly and making things worse. Don't say the word 'failure' in front of me, even if you preface it with 'if.'"

"I..."

Hawk's voice grew noticeably weaker, betraying his lack of confidence. "Acting on my own was my mistake, but you can rest assured. I made a lot of preparations beforehand. I won't..."

"Hawk."

Cheadle cut him off sharply, speaking one word at a time.

"Could you stop being so optimistic? Never mind that you can't use Rat Treasure's ability right now—even if you could, have you forgotten your Restriction? As far as your overall combat ability goes, even an E-rank rating would be generous! If your reckless actions draw those people from the Old Qinglin Squad here, we may not even have the strength left to deal with the price!"

"..."

Hawk was left speechless.

Cheadle was right. Rat Treasure was currently in a state where it couldn't be used, since it was helping suppress that Balance.

On top of that, Hawk still had to shoulder the Restriction he'd set when he created Rat Treasure. As far as direct combat ability went, he certainly wasn't reassuring.

"I'm sorry."

Hawk lowered his head in apology, then said cautiously, "At least we still have you."

"You idiot..."

Cheadle ground her teeth. "I'm not a fighter to begin with. Knowing that, don't count on me to solve every difficult problem for you."

"..."

Hawk was left speechless once again.

That was right. Cheadle was a Professional Hunter who valued practicality, and her talent was first-rate. Every Nen Ability she'd developed so far had perfectly reflected that practicality.

But that was also where the problem lay.

Because of the demands of her profession—

The practical Nen Abilities Cheadle had developed were mostly geared toward non-combat fields.

In other words, Cheadle herself wasn't suited to combat.

If the Old Qinglin Squad found them...

A team made up of him and Cheadle would have nothing going for it in a fight.

When there was no response from the other end of the phone for a long while, Cheadle tried to calm herself down.

This matter had put a lot of pressure on her, too. She just didn't normally show it.

But Hawk's optimism had finally gotten to her.

After venting, though, she felt that letting Hawk make her angry was a terrible experience.

Cheadle took a deep breath and said coldly, "The Nen Exorcist I contacted should arrive in about three days. For now, you should worry more about the payment."

With that, she hung up.

--

Late at night, atop a building somewhere.

A tall, slender man in a black suit stood outside the railing, the cigarette in his mouth losing what little life it had left in the oncoming gale.

"Beep."

The phone in his hand chimed with a message alert.

The man picked it up, and a text message appeared on the screen.

"You've won."

Reading it, the man narrowed his eyes with a smile and was about to take a long drag—

Only to find that the cigarette had already burned out.

Oh, how boisterous the wind was...

The man felt a pang of melancholy.

"Why bother acting cool when you're not?"

A woman's voice came from behind him, dripping with disdain.

Everyone, get ready for the big update era!