Envisioning an Ability

"Specialization is unique," Kirkia said. "It doesn't belong to any of the other five categories, and its abilities come in all sorts of forms. I've never seen a Water Divination reaction like yours."

Odin looked at the glass of water in his hand.

Specialization.

He began considering how to develop his Nen Ability.

Ponzu stood beside him, curious.

"What do the other Nen Types manifest as?" she asked curiously.

Kirkia glanced at her and began explaining. "Enhancement increases the amount of water. Transmutation changes its taste."

"Conjuration causes crystals to appear in the water, while Emission changes its color.

"As for Manipulation, the leaf on the surface moves. Specialization produces all kinds of strange phenomena."

Ponzu began looking forward to discovering her own Nen Type. Eager to find out sooner, she threw herself back into training.

Over the following days, aside from thinking about developing his Nen Ability each day, Odin spent all his time learning the Four Major Principles of Nen and solidifying his foundation.

Ponzu was still working hard, but her progress was much slower. She had yet to sense her aura.

Then, one morning over two weeks later, Ponzu suddenly opened her eyes as she sat on the floor of their hotel room.

"I felt it," she said.

Kirkia stood and walked over.

"What did it feel like?"

"Warm," Ponzu said. "All over my body, like something was flowing."

Kirkia nodded. "Good. Next, we'll awaken your Nen."

He had Ponzu stand up and taught her the tongue-and-hair exercise.

Ponzu learned slowly, but every step she took was steady.

A week later, she could perform Ten as well.

It had taken her a little over a month in total, which made her quite gifted.

Kirkia brought over a glass of water and had Ponzu perform Water Divination.

Ponzu pressed her palms together and poured her Nen into the water.

The leaf floating on the water in the glass began slowly spinning.

"Manipulation," Kirkia said. "It suits you well."

Ponzu looked at the glass and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Manipulation..." she murmured. "Then does that mean I can work with my bees..."

"Yes," Kirkia said. "Manipulation is well suited to controlling living creatures."

Ponzu nodded, already thinking about what ability she should develop.

Kirkia packed up his things and stood.

"All right," he said. "You've both mastered the basics. You can train on your own from here."

"Leaving so soon?" Odin asked in surprise. "Why not stay a little longer?"

"I originally planned to stay a week, but it turned into over a month. I've already stayed too long." Kirkia smiled. "Your foundations are solid now. The rest is up to you. Call me if you have any questions."

Kirkia walked to the door and picked up his backpack.

"I'm off. Take care."

The door closed, and his footsteps gradually faded.

The room fell quiet.

Odin and Ponzu stood by the window, watching Kirkia's retreating figure disappear at the end of the street.

"What do we do now?" Ponzu asked.

"Keep training. We need to develop our own Nen Abilities before we can call this finished, at least," Odin said.

Ponzu nodded and followed Odin out of the room.

After checking out, the two returned to their rented apartment.

Sitting on the sofa, Ponzu looked over at him.

"Have you decided on an ability?"

"More or less."

"What is it, then?"

Odin fell silent for a few seconds.

He thought back over his recent deliberations. He believed Nen was a form of energy, and his Specialization Nen seemed particularly active. That had led him to wonder whether his energy could mimic other forms of energy.

After all, he knew it would be difficult to achieve ageless immortality through Nen alone.

Other forms of energy, however, might make it possible.

The anime and novels he had watched and read before coming to this world featured chakra, spiritual energy, Haki, qi, true qi, immortal power-all kinds of energy systems and abilities.

If he could recreate them, his accomplishments might reach an entirely different dimension.

"Tell me," he began, "what would happen if Nen could turn into something else?"

Ponzu paused. "Turn into something else? What do you mean?"

"For example..." Odin raised his hand, and Nen surged from his palm, coating his hand. "Nen itself has no inherent inclination. What would happen if I gave it other properties?"

Ponzu was puzzled. She understood that Odin wanted to turn Nen into another kind of energy, but she knew nothing about those things. She also struggled to understand how any other energy could be stronger than Nen.

Odin said nothing more. He sat on the floor, closed his eyes, and began making a real attempt.

Nen was strange. It responded to a Nen user's thoughts, then produced corresponding effects.

It felt very much like a case of "it works because I reckon it does."

Since thoughts led to results, the more firmly he believed, the easier it would be to achieve his desired effect.

He had held off on developing his Nen Ability so he could build his foundation and think his ability through.

He tried imagining his Nen turning into chakra-the chakra from Naruto.

That, too, was a mixture of physical and spiritual energy, much like Nen.

Yet after trying all afternoon, he still hadn't succeeded. It always felt as though a piece was missing.

Thinking over how chakra worked, Odin reluctantly realized that he probably believed, subconsciously, that chakra required the Divine Tree at its core. That was why he couldn't transform his Nen into chakra.

Well, there goes my plan to slap my hands together and unleash ninjutsu.

At least until he found an energy source he believed could replace the Divine Tree at its core, he wouldn't be able to produce chakra.

As Odin worked on developing his Nen Ability, Ponzu worked on hers beside him.

She hadn't waited to master Ten, Zetsu, and Ren before starting Hatsu. Instead, she began training Hatsu directly.

She felt she was far too behind Odin. If she wanted to catch up, she could only keep pace with him for now and slowly make up the rest after developing her Nen Ability.

It was a good idea. Fortunately, unlike internal cultivation, Nen training didn't require a rigid sequence. Different aspects could be practiced in parallel.

At that moment, Ponzu was trying to attach her Nen to her bees. But whenever it drew close, the bees flew about wildly, out of control, seemingly frightened of her Nen.

After more than a dozen failures, she stopped and looked at Odin.

Odin was still sitting on the floor with his eyes closed and his brow furrowed.

"No luck?" she asked.

"No." Odin opened his eyes.

He stood and stretched his somewhat stiff legs.

"It's too abstract," he said. "Just imagining it isn't enough. I need a concrete reference."

"A reference?"

"Yes," Odin replied. "What about you? What's happening on your end?"

At the mention of her own progress, Ponzu grew dispirited too. "I don't know why, but whenever I bring my Nen close to them, they get scared."

Odin thought for a moment before saying, "Try giving your Nen a scent they like, then see what happens."

"Right! Why didn't I think of that?" Ponzu's eyes lit up.

She immediately rushed back into developing her Nen Ability.

Odin shook his head and turned his attention back to himself.

He had just thought of a type of energy with effects similar to certain uses of Nen-Haki.

Haki from One Piece, especially Observation Haki, offered perception and prediction. It was much like Nen's advanced application, En.

En spread Nen over a certain area to sense movements within it. Observation Haki also provided perception, perhaps over a wider range and with greater precision.

Odin raised an eyebrow.

Let's try it-