Chapter 28: Quantified Aura
Ronin had also guessed how the Rental Demon determined whether a target could afford the repayment.
It was a simple balance sheet: Interest versus the target's Total Aura Reserves. When the accrued interest reached a critical threshold, the Demon would forcibly extract the aura to settle the debt.
His guess was correct.
Miria's profit model was based entirely on the interest generated from lending Nen.
When she developed this ability, she made a Condition and Vow: From the moment she gained the ability to lend aura, her own training would no longer increase her aura capacity.
However, the interest she collected could permanently increase her aura capacity, and this growth could stack indefinitely.
But there were strict rules. The borrower had to fully understand the terms and sign the contract voluntarily.
Additionally, to collect the "interest" from the Rental Demon, she had to pay a fee using points converted from money.
In other words, from the moment she manifested this ability, every Jenny she earned was converted into points, becoming the fuel for her power growth.
This was why she was obsessed with money despite earning so much.
Under heavy restrictions came immense potential.
Ronin wasn't the first Nen user she had approached. She had groomed several fighters before him.
Miria was confident Ronin wouldn't refuse. For him, the return on investment far outweighed the risk.
Miria quietly hid her hands behind her back again, feeling Ronin's gaze linger on them a little too often.
"Quantifying aura is my personal method of assessment. It's not perfectly accurate, but it works," Miria explained.
"Normally, Nen exists in two states within a user. One is AOP (Actual Ouput Power)—the amount of aura you can release and use at any given moment. This cap increases with training, and in special circumstances, you can burst beyond your limit."
"As an Enhancer, you understand this best. That final punch against Gareg? The AOP you displayed in that split second far exceeded your normal limit."
Ronin understood perfectly.
It was the combination of Big Bang Impact and Cherry Blossom Impact.
The power he unleashed in that instant was indeed far beyond his standard output.
"The other state is POP (Potential Output Power)—the total amount of aura stored within your body. This also increases with training," Miria continued patiently. "By observing your AOP, I can roughly estimate your POP."
Ronin nodded, playing the eager student.
"Using Ren, your maximum AOP is roughly 700 aura units. Typically, POP is about ten times that. So, a rough estimate puts your total capacity between 7,000 and 8,000 units."
Miria's glasses glinted with intellect. "Of course, this is just a rough estimate. For a precise calculation, I'd need to fight you, or see how long you can maintain Ken."
Less than 10,000?
Ronin was slightly surprised.
The number wasn't low. In fact, for someone who had only awakened Nen a month ago, it was exceptionally high.
When Gon cleared Greed Island and started training with Biscuit to fight the Chimera Ants, his POP was only around 20,000.
And that was after extensive training.
Ronin achieved this level solely by forcefully boosting his stats with two pairs of Scarlet Eyes.
Following this logic, Miria's POP must be around 15,000 units, maybe more. She wouldn't lend out all her aura unprotected.
This calculation also aligned with his earlier deduction about the Rental Demon's forced collection rule.
Borrowing double his capacity (approx. 15,000 units) for 10 minutes would accrue interest of roughly 7,500 units—exactly matching his current total capacity.
If he borrowed double from her, Ronin would have a total of roughly 22,500 units at his disposal. With that kind of fuel, fighting Uvogin was definitely viable.
Previously, without the second pair of eyes, his AOP was only around 400. Even with the Cherry Blossom Impact boost, he barely scratched Uvogin.
Now, his base punch hit that hard. Fusing that with the boosted Big Bang Impact would be devastating.
It's doable.
"You haven't been awakened for long, have you?" seeing Ronin's silence, Miria assumed he was disappointed by the low number and tried to encourage him. "To have this much aura with such short training time makes you a genius among geniuses."
"At least among the talented fighters I've seen, your potential is unmatched."
"Thanks for the compliment," Ronin slid the contract back to her. "I will rent aura from you. But not now. I'll sign when the Troupe member steps into the ring with me."
The contract had a time limit: The rental window was valid for 3 days.
Within three days of signing, he could summon the Demon to deliver the aura at any time.
If he didn't use the aura within three days, the Demon would leave, taking only a 5% "booking fee" as interest.
However, if Ronin signed now, Miria would be depowered for days, leaving her vulnerable. He decided to wait.
"Deal." Miria touched the contract, and both the paper and the floating demon vanished instantly.
Uvogin sending a challenge letter meant he wanted to settle this in the ring.
If Uvogin hadn't fought in Heavens Arena before, he would need at least a few days to climb to the 200th floor.
That window was Ronin's final preparation time.
He also had to be wary of Shalnark acting in the shadows. Manipulators were troublesome.
Since Ronin couldn't keep his Sharingan active 24/7 to scan his surroundings, it was hard to verify if random people approaching him were puppets carrying Shalnark's antennas.
"By the way, you should give me the dossiers on the Phantom Troupe members ahead of time. I can start setting things up to maximize the profit from the match," Miria said.
"You'd better be careful. If you promote it too early and expose their identities, I'm afraid they'll come for you," Ronin warned.
"True. A bunch of lawless scum with no bottom line... I definitely need to be cautious," Miria agreed, dropping the bravado.
The Phantom Troupe were Class-A criminals. Combined with Ronin's extreme caution, their strength was guaranteed to be formidable.
Miria was confident, but not suicidal.