It was around 3:20 PM.
The sun had only shifted slightly westward from the center of the sky.
The Kendo Club.
As the largest school club in Fujimi Academy with the most members, the Kendo Club occupied the school's most spacious room as its base of operations.
It hadn't been long since classes ended, yet many students had already gathered inside the clubroom.
Among them were regular members and freshmen interested in joining the club.
Yet, among the crowd, the most dazzling presence was a cold figure with long, dark purple hair.
With her prestigious background, superb swordsmanship, exquisite looks, and a cool personality that seemed gentle yet kept everyone at a distance.
Saeko Busujima was the perfect embodiment of everything one imagined when hearing the term 'unattainable flower'.
If Fujimi Academy had to choose a representative figure, at least eighty percent of the population would cast their vote for Saeko Busujima.
The remaining twenty percent?
One could only assume they were just naive freshmen who hadn't learned better yet.
Yet this very 'unattainable flower', Saeko Busujima, was currently walking up to a man and offering him a smile unlike any seen before.
In that instant, countless male hearts in the clubroom shattered.
What? You say that man is Su Yan?
Oh, never mind then.
After all, during his year at Fujimi Academy, Su Yan had frequently flattened the Kendo Club members during training to hone his own swordsmanship.
"Su Yan-kun, you're here?"
Seeing Su Yan's arrival, Saeko beamed with joy and walked quickly toward him, her steps carrying a hint of excitement.
At first glance, Su Yan was certain that the girl had signed her name on the contract.
He could sense a seed of Nen within her that shared the same source as his own.
This was the proof of their contract.
Su Yan nodded and suggested, "Let's find a quiet place to talk first."
"Alright, wait a moment."
Saeko started to say something, but after hearing Su Yan's words, she looked around and realized this wasn't the right place for such a conversation.
She nodded, spoke briefly with a few club members, then returned to Su Yan. "Su Yan-kun, let's go."
Before long, the two arrived at an empty classroom.
"How about here?" Saeko asked. "This used to be the room for a defunct club. It's quite isolated, so people rarely come by."
"It'll do."
Su Yan didn't object. "Saeko-senpai, I assume you signed the contract after returning home last night? You should be able to feel that energy—that 'Aura'—within your body now, right?"
"Thank you, Su Yan-kun."
Gazing into Su Yan's deep black eyes, Saeko bit her lip. She had so much she wanted to say, but in the end, only a simple thank you escaped her lips.
"No, you earned this."
Su Yan smiled and shook his head, getting straight to the point. "Anyway, let's save the small talk for later. Since you've already felt the Aura inside you, I'll teach you how to control it."
"Yes."
At his words, Saeko's expression turned serious and focused.
Although both were contracted, Su Yan's expectations for Saeko were far higher than those for that 'lazy woman', Marikawa Shizuka.
After all, Saeko was the powerhouse of the entire series—someone capable of carving through hordes of zombies with nothing but a wooden sword.
Thus, Su Yan looked forward to seeing what kind of special Hatsu ability Saeko would develop once she mastered Nen, as it would be synchronized back to him.
Under normal circumstances, mastering the basics of Nen required long-term training.
Just like Zushi, who trained alongside Gon and Killua in Hunter x Hunter, the early stages involved arduous physical conditioning and honing one's willpower.
First, physical training allowed one to become intimately familiar with their body until they could sense 'Aura'—the faint life energy that normally leaks away unnoticed.
Second, tempering the will enabled a person to use their mind to keep that Aura within their body and utilize it.
This process usually took at least a year.
Of course, for those with sufficient willpower, there was an unorthodox 'fast-track' method.
For example, the protagonists Gon and Killua used this method in the original series.
It was quick, allowing one to reach the basic level in less than a day.
First, a Nen user would strike your body with their own Aura to force open your Nodes, causing the Aura that usually leaks slowly like toothpaste to gush out like air from a deflating balloon.
In that state, even an idiot could feel the presence of the energy.
Then, you would have to find a way to control that Aura.
The only catch was that the process was somewhat dangerous.
After all, this Aura was essentially the life energy contained within the human body.
If someone whose Nodes were forced open couldn't learn to control the energy within four hours, they would likely die from excessive loss of life energy.
However, since Saeko already had the Nen seed formed by the contract, she could skip this entire ordeal.
She would master Nen quickly simply by becoming familiar with the seed inside her.
Strictly speaking, the contract method was also a form of 'unorthodox' cultivation.
Su Yan explained, "First, this energy in your body is called Nen. Those who use it in battle are called Nen users. In the practice of Nen, there are four fundamental exercises."
"Ten, Zetsu, Ren, and Hatsu."
"Almost every technique a Nen user employs is an extension of these four fundamentals."
"'Ten' is the technique of containing the life energy within the body so it no longer leaks out, and then manipulating it to gather where it's needed."
At this point, Su Yan paused and asked Saeko, "Saeko-senpai, do you have any tissues?"
"Huh? Yes, I do."
Saeko was taken aback, wondering why he suddenly needed tissues, but she quickly pulled out a pack and handed it to him. "Is this enough? I can go get more if you need."
"It's enough."
Su Yan took the pack, pulled out a single tissue, and infused it with Nen.
Instantly, the flimsy tissue became rigid in Su Yan's hand.
"Watch closely. This is an advanced application of Ten."
With that, Su Yan casually flicked the tissue.
It spun through the air like a playing card and sliced into the classroom floor like a hot knife through butter.
'How is this possible?!'
Saeko's pupils constricted in shock.
As the owner of those tissues, she knew better than anyone that it was just a regular, ordinary tissue.
It was soft and could be torn with the slightest effort.
Yet now, it had embedded itself effortlessly into the reinforced concrete floor.
Even though she had mentally prepared herself for the existence of superpowers, seeing this still left her stunned.
Even with her lifelong training in swordsmanship and the finest katana, she wouldn't have been confident in achieving such a feat.
And that was just a common tissue. What if it were a high-quality, already-sharp blade?
No, even if it were just the white oak bokken she usually used...
Immediately, the girl's gaze toward Su Yan grew increasingly fervent.