Bisky offered a small, knowing smile, crossing her arms as she looked at him. "When you get down to it, it's an ability much better suited for companions rather than enemies."
Liam let out a long breath, dropping his shoulders. "I guess I'm just too nice. I'm not aggressive enough, and I really can't help it."
He knew she was right. The constraints on his Talisman Sword were simply too strict for active combat. If he tried to use it against a hostile opponent, capturing their Nen ability with the wooden blade was next to impossible. It made much more sense to stockpile the talismans over time and lend them out to his allies when they needed them.
The first major hurdle was the origin of the power itself. The Talisman Sword was an extension of the Universe in the Sleeve, an ability tied to his Nen beast, Jade. Liam couldn't cast it on his own. To even activate the ability, he had to draw out ten thousand points of his own aura—a full quarter of his current reserves—just to manifest the Nen beast. While he could quickly replenish that missing aura using the Yin Nen Sword, losing that much energy in an instant still carried a very real risk.
Then came the execution. He had to physically pierce his target with the wooden sword and keep it there for five uninterrupted minutes. After all that effort, the resulting talisman was completely disposable. The moment the paper burned, the stored ability was gone forever. It lined up perfectly with Liam's usual intuition, even if it was tedious.
At first, he thought the talismans could only record his personal Nen abilities. Discovering that it could also copy the abilities of anyone carrying his Star Mark had been a pleasant surprise. But naturally, there was a catch. He could only create talismans from Nen abilities developed after the person received the mark.
Shizuku was the perfect example. Her vacuum, Blinky, existed long before she crossed paths with him. Because of that, Jade couldn't store Blinky inside her sleeve. On the other hand, Shizuku had developed her Chainsaw Woman ability gradually, all while carrying his Star Mark. That one could be turned into a talisman without an issue.
By the same logic, even if he gave Bisky a Star Mark right this second, he wouldn't be able to pull a talisman out of her Transmutation type Nen abilities
When he really thought about it, the entire realm of Emission was defined by distance. Long-range strikes and teleportation were the bread and butter of an Emitter. An ability tangled in as many rules as the Talisman Sword felt less like pure Emission, and more like Liam had forcefully grafted his own Manipulation traits onto the Nen beast's Emission system.
Currently, Liam's proficiency in Emission allowed him to project his aura one or two kilometers away from his body without losing any destructive power. But even if he mastered the category entirely and could control an enemy from ten kilometers away, it probably wouldn't change a thing for the Talisman Sword. The core restrictions and the final output would remain exactly the same.
Bisky had lectured him on this before. A Nen user's actual combat effectiveness could never be measured entirely by their training level. She used a hypothetical Emitter as an example. If that Emitter decided that a range of one hundred meters was plenty for their fighting style, they might stop worrying about distance. Instead, they would focus entirely on increasing the explosive, destructive power of their Nen bullets within that one hundred meter radius—which actually tapped into the Enhancement domain.
Even if that Emitter's formal training level in their root category remained elementary, no opponent could afford to underestimate them. A training level only measured a person's depth of knowledge in their specific category. It had absolutely nothing to do with whether they could simply pull out a pistol and shoot their enemy in the head.
If Liam wanted to loosen the conditions for the Talisman Sword, or boost its raw power, his best bet would be to look at his Manipulation training. The problem was, according to his Death Energy panel, his Manipulation was already maxed out.
His ability to manipulate aura so comprehensively and seamlessly was currently sitting at level four. It was just raw talent. He couldn't even begin to guess how to push it higher.
Bisky had mentioned that once a Manipulator reached their absolute peak, the upper limit on how many targets they could control basically vanished. More was always better. But surely he couldn't just go around marking everyone he saw just to practice, right? Was he supposed to slap a Star Mark on every stray dog that walked down the street?
Shizuku rested a finger against her chin, staring blankly at the wall as she thought it over. "In that case, Liam is very well suited to be a master."
Bisky let out a short laugh, her eyes crinkling. "Take in a whole group of young disciples, mark every single one of them, wait patiently for them to develop their own Nen abilities, and then harvest them? You're talking about growing crops!"
Liam dragged a hand down his face, groaning at the thought. "That sounds like way too much trouble. The time cost alone is a huge investment."
The moment the words left his mouth, the room fell quiet. He looked up to find both Bisky and Shizuku staring at him with deeply weird expressions. Bisky, in particular, wore a tight, knowing smirk that didn't quite reach her eyes.
Liam shifted his weight, suddenly feeling defensive. "Why are you smiling at me like that, Auntie?"
Bisky tilted her head slightly. "Just how many Manipulation marks can you maintain at your absolute maximum?"
"I've never actually tested it," Liam admitted, looking between the two women. "Dozens? Hundreds? Maybe thousands? I just haven't really thought about it."
Technically, the training level of his Manipulation sat squarely at level four on his Death Energy panel. According to Bisky's earlier estimates, that meant he should be able to control at least a thousand targets simultaneously.
Shizuku blinked her large, dark eyes. "Since you have so many marks available, you could just mark every young person you run into and teach them the absolute basics of Nen. Then, you just walk away and leave them alone. If any of them actually manage to develop an ability, you can just borrow it."
She said it with total calm, fully aware that anyone branded with Liam's Star Mark would have their aura nodes forced open automatically, making them completely ready to begin Nen training.
Liam stared at Shizuku's perfectly blank face, and then glanced back at Bisky's sly, lingering smirk. He threw his hands up in defeat. "Compared to the two of you, how did I suddenly become the kind and honest one in the room?"
He clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "Come on. My mark comes with a physical resilience that borders on outright immortality. Handing out such an incredible, life-altering ability to a thousand random people for nothing? Even if we ignore whether I actually have the good intentions to do that, someone is going to notice the anomaly eventually. Who knows if there is some obscure Nen ability out there specifically designed to trace marks back to the user? With that much bait scattered all over the world, if someone manages to track the pattern and plots against me, I'd be walking right into a trap."
The sly smirk vanished from Bisky's face, replaced by a firm, satisfied nod. She uncrossed her arms and looked at him with genuine approval. "I'm very happy you think this way. Keep that mindset. Always remain cautious, and never look down on anyone."
Liam huffed, crossing his own arms as he looked down at the petite woman. "For someone who preaches about never looking down on anyone, why didn't you cancel your transformation and go all out when we fought?"
Bisky rolled her eyes, letting out an exasperated sigh. "What happens between us is an entirely different matter. How can a kid be so stubborn?"
Shizuku turned her head, looking plainly at Bisky. "Liam wants to fight you again."
A wide grin broke across Liam's face. He rolled his shoulders back, shaking out his wrists as a fresh surge of adrenaline hit him.
"I see," Bisky murmured, her eyes locking onto his. "That's good." She held out one small hand, palm facing up. "Take the thing out."
Liam paused, his fighting stance faltering. "Take what out?"
"The Yin Nen Sword," Bisky said, a slight, competitive smile touching the corners of her mouth. "I'm going to let you get fully prepared. Once you release that Nen beast of yours, your personal aura is going to drop significantly."
Liam scoffed, though he reached out to summon his weapon. "You can't use that as an excuse. I can call the Nen beast back whenever I want, and the missing aura replenishes almost instantly. Releasing the beast just inherently carries the risk of having a lower aura pool for a moment. Aunt Bi, is this just your pride as a martial artist showing? Are you really that particular about perfectly fair duels?"
Bisky let out a short, melodic laugh, the sound echoing lightly in the open space. "Oh, that's not it at all," she said softly. "I just want you to lose more convincingly."
Liam gripped the hilt tightly, stepping fully into his stance. "The Yin Nen Sword is here! Look at the sword!"