Extraction X Conversion

Viscon Forest Park.

Several miles deep.

Oink, oink, oink!

The sound of wild boars rooting for food echoed through the forest from time to time.

The deeper one went, the more frequently Great Stamps appeared in groups of three to five.

As the most ferocious breed of pig in the world, Great Stamps were enormous, standing around two meters tall and generally reaching nearly three meters in length. Their massive bodies were covered in skin that looked pink and tender but was actually as tough as leather armor. Most dangerous of all were their upturned snouts, large enough to cover their entire heads.

Like sharpened lance shields, they gave an impression of dangerous, unmatched sharpness and toughness.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!

Several enormous Great Stamps charged through the forest, leaving a mess wherever they went.

Rustle!

Nearby, Baishi sat quietly on a thick branch of a giant tree, watching with interest as the Great Stamps gradually receded and disappeared.

"If I remember right, their weak point should be their foreheads... Man, I didn't realize how big these things really were until I saw them for myself. How did Buhara eat so many of them?"

He had lost track of Gon and the others after entering the forest, but he didn't particularly mind. After deciding to take care of Advent Emulation, he had deliberately avoided the larger crowds and traveled a considerable distance into the forest before finding a secluded spot like this.

There was no helping it. The examinees were so excited that they had occupied nearly every part of the first kilometer or two.

After making his remark, he moved on.

Taking the three strands of hair from Kurapika and the other two out of his breast pocket, Baishi grinned and closed his eyes slightly, once again scanning the information on their three panels in his consciousness.

I'll try [blue] first...

Unlike the Advent Emulation that had triggered passively when he first activated the Talisman Wheel, this was his first time using Advent Emulation to convert a talent into a Talisman. Anything could happen in the process, just as it had when he had forcibly awakened [Nen] before, so he had no choice but to be careful.

He had already decided which talent he wanted to emulate on the way here, so he didn't hesitate, using his mind to initiate and confirm it.

Advent Emulation! [Dynamic Copy (blue)]!

Hum! In Baishi's hand, the black strand of hair belonging to Gon rapidly vanished like particles turning to vapor.

Streams of cold information then gathered and compressed before the Talisman Wheel in his consciousness, until they finally condensed into an illusory, translucent blue Talisman in the shape of an octagon.

[Ding! Solidifying talent Talisman requires nutrient extraction... Life energy... Error, error... Host has awakened Nen... Nutrient extraction switched to higher energy source... Passively extracting Nen Aura...]

Hiss-

By the time Baishi reacted, the [potential aura] in his body was rushing through his aura pathways toward his brain like a surging torrent.

For an instant, Baishi even thought the impact would turn his brain to mush. As fierce as it seemed, however, the Aura Nodes and aura pathways throughout his body had already been forcibly opened during his awakening.

So this is how I was forcibly awakened...

Understanding flashed in his eyes. He could feel his aura pathways being violently battered by Nen Aura and widening as if in response. The persistent stinging made him increasingly alert, but a grin spread across his face instead. Every aura pathway was connected to an Aura Node!

Widening his aura pathways was a genuinely good thing. It meant that the Aura Nodes would grow larger and wider along with them, allowing him to release more [manifest aura] at once!

It was like a faucet: once it grew bigger, the water flowing out would surge more forcefully.

The amount of aura consumed when condensing an Advent Emulation Talisman was rather high, though. He hadn't felt much when his life energy had been extracted as nutrients before, but after merging his will into [aura], he could clearly sense how much Nen Aura he was using.

A little over a third...

Silently calculating the consumption of his potential aura, Baishi saw the Talisman finish shifting between illusory and solid. His rough estimate left him somewhat surprised. By the [aura] figures on the panel, it had consumed at least thirty or so.

Hiss!

No... If I go on to emulate a [purple]-level talent, what if it drains me completely dry?!

Baishi drew a sharp breath and glanced at the two remaining hairs, then hurriedly put them away in his pocket. No matter what, he had to wait until his Nen Aura had fully recovered.

But if he wanted to restore his Nen Aura quickly, he couldn't avoid using [Zetsu]. Only by closing all the Aura Nodes in his body could he rapidly recover and accumulate life energy, then convert it into Nen Aura.

Hmm...

Proficient-level [Needle-Person Control] should involve [Zetsu], right?

He recalled the scenes from the memories he had integrated and absorbed when it reached the proficient level. Although he had no memories or experience related to [Zetsu], he had a gut feeling that he could do it.

Great... Now my sixth sense is showing up too. Heh... If I'd known, I would've picked Gon's [Wild Instinct] first. Oh, right, I haven't tested the Talisman yet...

But there's only one socket. Wasn't the Talisman Wheel supposed to be upgradeable? Why hasn't anything happened? What are the conditions for upgrading it?

Seeing the translucent blue Talisman engraved with the words [Dynamic Copy] automatically slot itself into the spare socket on the back of the wheel, Baishi couldn't help muttering to himself. Surely he couldn't be expected to use a single socket for every Talisman he emulated from now on.

Leaving aside the time it took to swap them out, the clear distinction between talent Talismans and Nen Ability Talismans showed that their effects were passive and active respectively.

Ding!

[Advent Emulation of two Talismans complete... Talisman Wheel triggered... Evolution restrictions...]

[Talisman Wheel (stone)]

[Evolution restriction 1: emulate one talent Talisman and one Nen Ability Talisman (2/2)]

[Evolution restriction 2: raise the mastery of any two Advent Emulation Talismans to the proficient level (1/2)]

[Note: Once all evolution restrictions are fulfilled, the Talisman Wheel can evolve from stone to black iron, while unlocking a corresponding number of sockets...]