Having understood his Nen ability system, Ryusei bid farewell to Menchi and Buhara. Then, finding a secluded spot, he didn't wait until the very last moment. Instead, he chose to return directly to the Food Wars! world. The instant Ryusei decided to return, he vanished from the Hunter x Hunter world.
The scene before him immediately changed. Ryusei felt much more at ease about his safety in other worlds. After observing the room and finding no signs of intrusion, Ryusei relaxed and slumped onto the sofa. He began to recall his experiences in the Hunter x Hunter world. However, after a short while, Ryusei went into the kitchen and began practicing his culinary skills.
In fact, during his last three days, besides learning about Nen, he also learned some recipes from the Hunter x Hunter world from Menchi and Buhara.
Although the culinary style of the Hunter x Hunter world wasn't as sophisticated as that of the Food Wars! world, it had its own unique features. Not to mention, as Gourmet Hunters, Menchi and Buhara possess extremely high-level recipes. Even in the world of Food Wars!, these are recipes that ordinary chefs wouldn't have access to.
Of course, while honing his culinary skills, Ryusei didn't forget to train his Nen. As for developing Nen abilities, Ryusei wasn't in a hurry. His current Aura reserves are still relatively low. Even if he developed Nen abilities now, their strength would be very limited unless he added strict constraints and oaths.
Of course, this is because Nen abilities are somewhat subjective. This statement only applies to the vast majority of people. There are some people with very little Aura energy, yet possess incredibly powerful Nen abilities.
Furthermore, the constraints and oaths associated with Nen abilities are often quite lenient for those with high resolve. Ryusei doesn't consider himself that kind of Nen user yet. Therefore, Ryusei plans to first increase his Aura energy. Then, during the initial development of his abilities, he will directly develop a useful one.
Although a developed Nen ability can be modified and improved later, laying a good foundation from the beginning is also very important. Regarding constraints and oaths, if possible, Ryusei doesn't want to use them. To increase Aura energy, one needs to understand its nature. Aura energy is actually divided into potential Aura and manifest Aura.
Potential Aura: The amount of energy stored within the body. The upper limit increases with physical and mental training.
Manifest Aura: The amount of energy released from the body, and also the amount of energy usable at a given moment through the Nodes.
Under special circumstances, it is possible to exceed the upper limit. For example, Gon when he transformed to defeat Neferpitou. Of course, Ryusei has no desire to experience exceeding the upper limit at such a heavy cost.
Regarding his own potential Aura, Ryusei was very confident that he could significantly increase it. Because in Ryusei's view, the amount of potential Aura is undoubtedly related to a person's physical constitution. The stronger the body, the greater the potential Aura. Of course, there are exceptions, but this applies to 99.99% of people.
With his Gourmet Cells, Ryusei was quite confident in improving his physical abilities. In fact, given a sufficient supply of delicious food, his potential Aura could increase indefinitely. This increase in potential Aura would also increase his manifest Aura. However, passively increasing manifest Aura couldn't keep up with the rate of increase in potential Aura. Therefore, necessary training was still required.
The training to increase manifest Aura involved using 'Ren' (Refinement)—maximizing the activation of his own energy. This would allow manifest Aura to increase slowly. Maintaining the duration of 'Ren' was the training to increase the overall capacity.
Ryusei no longer planned to train only his potential energy through passive means; he needed to use 'Ren' intermittently. This could be done during short periods of free time, even while practicing his culinary skills. It could be said that he could do both without interfering with each other.
Ryusei stayed home for a few more days. However, on this particular day, Ryusei stepped out of his house. Today was the entrance exam for transfer students to Totsuki Academy. His residence wasn't far from the academy, so Ryusei chose to walk there.
Compared to other examinees who were accompanied by butlers and guards, Ryusei, alone, stood out somewhat. However, Ryusei didn't seem to care. Although arranging butlers and guards would have been easy with his resources, he felt a little uneasy being surrounded by people.
He walked towards the entrance of Totsuki Academy. Upon reaching the entrance, Ryusei saw Soma Yukihira standing dumbfounded in front of the gate. Soma was staring blankly at Totsuki Academy.
When his father had sent him here for the transfer student exam, he hadn't told him that Totsuki Academy was such a luxurious and massive institution. The students coming and going all looked incredibly wealthy and powerful. Soma couldn't help but pick up the phone and call his father, Joichiro Yukihira.
Ryusei didn't approach Soma. He figured they'd have plenty of opportunities to get to know each other once they were inside Totsuki Academy. After wandering around the massive campus for a while, the time for the transfer student exam arrived. He joined the others and went to the exam hall to wait.
The arrival of Erina Nakiri and Hisako Arato caused a stir among the waiting students in the hall. Since they were preparing to study at Totsuki Academy, they naturally knew something about Erina Nakiri, who was famous throughout the culinary world as the "God's Tongue." Well, Soma Yukihira was an exception.
It was precisely because they knew Erina Nakiri that many examinees had a bad feeling about the difficulty of the test. Of course, this did not include Ryusei, or Soma Yukihira, who knew nothing about Erina's reputation.
"Examinees," Erina Nakiri calmly introduced herself to the crowd. "I am Erina Nakiri, in charge of today's transfer student examination." Then she turned to Hisako Arato beside her. "Where's the notification from the entrance examination department?"
Hearing Erina's question, Hisako picked up the documents she was holding. "I'll read them now. First, based on the application materials, everyone will be divided into groups of 10 for a group interview. After that, there will be a three-course cooking practical exam. Those who pass will then..."
Listening to Hisako read the document, Erina Nakiri grew impatient. "Hmph, boring."
Of course, Erina's words weren't directed at Hisako. They were directed at the transfer student exam arranged by the entrance examination department.
If they followed that schedule, the exam would take at least half a day to complete. Her time was extremely precious. How could she possibly waste so much time on mediocrity?