Chapter 11: This is Easy, Right?
A small ball of Aura, about the size of a grape, detached from Kai's index finger. It floated silently in the air, like a miniature Spirit Bomb.
Kai had mastered the basics of Ten, Zetsu, and Gyo almost instantly.
But this, his first attempt at Emission, had taken him a full ten minutes to finally succeed in emitting such a tiny ball of Aura from his fingertip.
Emission is, as the name implies, the ability to separate Aura from the body for attacks. Only natural Emitters can maintain 100% power in their separated Aura.
Kai was a Manipulator, so his limit for Emission was 80%. That was probably why it took so much effort.
And as for its actual power...
Kai flicked his finger. The floating ball of Nen drifted in an arc for about ten meters, then dissipated before it even reached the tree.
This was not a satisfying result.
He tried several more times. After another half an hour, he finally formed a solid, grape-sized Nen bullet. But just as he was about to flick it, he had an idea.
"...Let's try this."
He flipped his hand, hooking his thumb against his index finger. The emitted Aura ball settled between his fingers, like a pellet in an invisible slingshot.
He aimed at the tree, "charging" for about three seconds, and then flicked.
Zing!
The Nen bullet shot out like an arrow, crossing twenty meters in an instant. Thwack!
It struck the tree trunk, blasting out a pit half the size of his palm. Just that tiny bit of Aura had this much power. The destructive potential of Nen was incredible.
"Success." Kai smiled. This was the advantage of knowing the rules.
Nen abilities, whether intentionally or not, could be strengthened by placing Restrictions (Vows) on them.
For example, Gon's Jajanken. He truly believed he had to shout "Rock, Paper, Scissors!" while charging up. That was a self-imposed Restriction that dramatically multiplied his power.
The first to mention Vows and Restrictions in the story was Kurapika's teacher, Izunavi.
According to Izunavi, a normal ability is "addition"—the power you get is the power you put in. But a strict, severe Vow... that's "multiplication."
Vows and Restrictions are like gasoline on a fire, multiplying an ability's power by tens or even hundreds of times. But the trade-off is huge: if you break your Vow, the backlash can be severe, even fatal.
Remembering this "hidden rule," Kai had intentionally "restricted" himself. He hadn't made a life-or-death Vow, but by deliberately using the aiming pose and 'charging' for a few seconds, he had created a de facto Restriction. And the result was a clear boost in power.
Of course, even with the boost, it was still capped at 80% of what a true Emitter could do. He was a Manipulator, after all.
"Again!" Kai was excited. He formed another Nen bullet, aimed at a single leaf, and charged for only one second.
Fwip!
The power was much weaker due to the shorter charge, but it was still fast enough to hit the leaf and knock it off the branch.
"This is easy, right? Developing Nen is a piece of cake."
He wanted to play some more, but he suddenly felt drained. His Aura was almost empty.
"My reserves are too small... they don't last at all," he grumbled, sitting down.
Resting, he pulled out a hair and used the last of his Aura for his own Hatsu, Song of the Earth.
The Aura, infused with his Manipulation ability, wrapped around the hair. It zipped up, down, left, and right. It made sharp stops and instant retreats.
As a Manipulator, Transmutation was his polar opposite, with a 40% limit. He couldn't change the shape of his Aura itself. But this wisp of Aura, infused with his Hatsu, could easily twist the hair it held into a pentagram, a crescent moon, or a tiny dancing person. It obeyed his will perfectly.
After finishing his Hatsu training, his stomach rumbled. He got food and water from the bags on Butch and ate.
"Hey, Butch, you haven't eaten, have you?" Kai said, his mouth full of biscuits. He pointed into the forest. "This stuff won't be enough for you. Go on, go hunt for yourself."
Butch whined, hesitating.
"Don't worry about me. I'm a superhuman now, remember?" Kai laughed. He flicked his finger, charging a small Nen bullet for two seconds and shooting it into the ground by his feet. Thwip! "See? Go on. Be back before dark."
Butch finally nudged Kai's head, then turned and bounded into the deep woods.
Kai wanted to continue his afternoon training... but he was full and sleepy. He really didn't want to move.
"Kai, Kai, you can't be this lazy."
He lay flat on his back and gave himself a command: "Get up. Ten more sets. Ten, Zetsu, Gyo, Ren, then hold Ken until you're empty."
As he spoke, the rose-gold Star Marker on the back of his neck flared with Aura.
A seed of Nen was planted in his tiny ocean... well, his tiny puddle of Aura.
His whole body twitched. Like a zombie, Kai's body sat up.
He was controlling himself. It was a bizarre feeling—he felt every sensation, but his body was moving against his will. He was both the puppet and the puppeteer.
And then... the boring, repetitive training began.
Butch returned at dusk, a dead rabbit in his jaws. Kai had lost count of how many sets he'd completed. Even with the Star Marker's healing, his fatigue was building. The amount of Aura he could put into his Ken was getting smaller each time.
Butch looked around. The clearing was a mess. The surrounding trees were pockmarked with holes and littered with broken branches.
That night, Kai sat by the fire, full of roasted rabbit. He leaned back against Butch's warm fur, feeling content... and like he'd forgotten something.
"Wait... where's the wolf?" he said, looking into the dark trees. "It hasn't caught a single bird all day? That poor, useless bastard..."
His command had been to patrol the traps. It hadn't included "eating." Did it just patrol until it starved to death? Probably not...
As he was thinking, he felt a strange sensation from behind him.
He was being watched.
He snapped his head around, his training kicking in as he instinctively activated Gyo. In the pitch-black forest, he saw... a blurry human silhouette, watching him. But when he tried to focus, the figure vanished.
"It looked like... a pale-white little kid," Kai muttered, scratching Butch's back. "Hey, Butch... you don't think this place is... haunted, do you?"
(End of Chapter)