Fifteen thousand Honor points and one Talent point. It was exactly as I predicted.
After the anticlimactic battle with Illumi, Allen immediately checked his status panel. He found that, apart from the Honor points being about five thousand less than what he received for defeating Hisoka, there were essentially no other differences.
As for the disparity in Honor points, it was either due to Illumi not using his full strength, or perhaps Illumi was less capable of adapting in a direct, head-to-head confrontation compared to Hisoka.
In the end, by the judgment of the PVP system, the eldest son of the Zoldyck family was currently rated lower than Hisoka.
Beyond that, Allen was determined to head straight to Heavens Arena after the Hunter Exam to grind out a dozen or two Talent points and acquire the Trueshot Aura talent from the Marksmanship tree.
Attack Power (AP), the underlying attribute, was the base for a person's physical strike and destructive force. Techniques and Nen Aura merely served as multipliers to this base.
Simply put, if a person's pure muscular burst generated a destructive force of 10, and their technique and Nen volume were also 10, the combined destructive power would be 100.
However, if the muscular burst generated a destructive force of 100, and the technique and Nen volume remained the same, the resulting destructive power would be 1,000.
In this respect, Meruem in the Chimera Ant Arc was the perfect example.
Relying on his physical prowess, which far surpassed that of humans, he could effortlessly breach Netero's defense using only the most basic Ten, without even needing to use Ken or Ko.
Similarly, Uvogin of the Phantom Troupe was in a comparable situation, even managing to catch a rocket launcher bare-handed.
One should not assume that many Enhancement-type Nen users can achieve this!
Quite the opposite.
Most ordinary Nen users, let alone catching a rocket, would find sustained rifle fire to be a considerable threat. If it were a sniper rifle, they would likely be severely wounded or killed instantly if they hadn't covered their entire body with Ken.
Just as Allen was sitting alone, contemplating how to make himself stronger, he suddenly heard a burst of exclamations from within the hall.
He looked up.
He saw that, provoked by Illumi, Killua had directly pierced the heart of the martial artist Bodoro.
Bodoro collapsed on the ground in agony, blood continuously gushing from the wound, staining the floor red in the blink of an eye. His pupils slowly dilated, losing focus.
"Damn it! Killua! What are you doing?"
Leorio, who aspired to be a doctor, was the first to rush over, attempting to administer first aid and stop the bleeding.
Unfortunately, for a person whose heart had been pierced, unless an external circulatory machine could be connected immediately, followed by a quick blood transfusion and stitching or a heart replacement surgery, all efforts were futile.
But Killua, who had fallen into a state of mental derangement, was oblivious. After the Examination Committee announced his disqualification for intentional murder, he turned around and walked out through the main entrance, vanishing into the crowd.
Only after he had completely disappeared from everyone's sight did Allen stand up, walk over to Bodoro's body, and say to the unwilling and enraged Leorio, "Move aside."
"What?"
Leorio was visibly stunned.
"I said, move aside!"
Allen pushed him aside, immediately summoned his Nen Beast, the Red Dragon of Life, and, using the Red Dragon's massive body as cover, poured a healing potion into Bodoro's mouth. He then bit his own finger and inserted it into the Red Dragon's mouth, chanting softly, "Activate Ability, Gift of Life!"
Instantly, an astonishing, indescribable Aura descended from the heavens, continuously drawing a certain invisible energy from Allen's body.
Before anyone could react to what was happening, the Red Dragon turned and blasted a cluster of fiercely burning Flames of Life toward Bodoro's motionless "corpse."
In a blink of an eye, the middle-aged man, who appeared to be over fifty, rapidly grew younger at a visible speed, and the terrifying puncture wound on his chest quickly healed.
By the time the symbolic flames of life were completely extinguished, Bodoro had transformed into a robust young man of about thirty years old, his body perfectly whole.
Meanwhile, Allen appeared to have matured slightly.
In particular, his height, which was previously just under 167 cm, grew by three to four centimeters, officially crossing the 170 cm threshold and finally escaping the awkward situation of being "vertically challenged."
After about one or two seconds, the rejuvenated Bodoro also awoke from his shock and coma. He instinctively touched his chest, then felt his younger face, and muttered in disbelief, "What happened? I thought I was dead?"
"R-R-Resurrection of the dead?!!!!!!!!"
Leorio nearly jumped up from the ground, utterly shocked by the sight before him.
Not just him, all the referees, examiners, and candidates were too astonished to speak.
But soon, Chairman Netero, who possessed a wealth of life experience, was the first to regain his composure and asked meaningfully, "This ability of yours transfers your lifespan and vitality to others, correct?"
"Yes, that's right," Allen nodded with a smile.
More accurately, it was the ability to link with a specified target through the unique attributes of the Azerothian Red Dragon.
If the Red Dragon's body had stored vitality and lifespan taken from others, it would consume that stored portion.
If not, it would consume Allen's own lifespan and the Health Points from his Hunter Profession Panel to rapidly heal the target's injuries and even make them younger.
Of course, the prerequisite was that the brain, the human body's most critical organ, had not been destroyed or died.
Allen did this partly because he felt that an honorable and upright martial artist like Bodoro shouldn't die so casually, and partly because he urgently hoped to grow a bit taller and mature faster.
Otherwise, given the Night Elf's long lifespan, which is based on millennia, he might have to wait a century or two to pass through adolescence.
What no one knew, however, was that if this ability were used in reverse, it would extract everything extractable from the opponent...
"Ohohohoho! Self-sacrifice for others, truly a remarkable ability. Since Killua has been disqualified for intentional homicide, I hereby declare that all remaining candidates have passed this year's Hunter Exam."
Accompanied by Netero's characteristic laughter, the 287th Hunter Exam finally concluded.
Excluding Gon, who was hospitalized after being knocked out in his match against Hanzo, most of the other candidates couldn't help but smile with joy.
However, compared to the normal people, the smile on Hisoka's face was one of excitement, madness, and sickness, and he was constantly radiating an astonishing bloodlust.
Fortunately, he couldn't use any Nen ability now, making him like a beast with its fangs and claws removed—no matter how crazy he acted, there was no need to worry too much.
In stark contrast was Illumi, whose eyes were filled with avarice and longing for the Red Dragon's ability.
After all, every person gets injured, grows old, and eventually dies, and Allen's ability could perfectly counteract all of that.
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You can read the ahead chapter on Patr if you're interested: p-atre-on.c-om/Overgod [Just remove the hyphen to access normally]