"Why isn't it working?" Odin was deeply puzzled. He had tried several times without success, and he began to doubt whether his idea was feasible at all.
"Why can't it turn into another kind of energy? It should be possible in theory, just like what Hisoka and the others do-"
"Wait-" Odin suddenly froze.
Nen was already a form of energy.
He didn't need to replace it with another energy. He needed to make Nen display the properties of other energies.
In other words, he needed his Nen to "simulate" other energies.
Simulate them, not become them.
Even if the final result resembled Conjuration.
He had been thinking about how to turn Nen into Chakra or Haki, but perhaps he had been approaching it from the wrong direction.
Nen would remain Nen. He would simply make it exhibit the properties of other energies.
Just as water could become ice or steam, yet remain water at its core.
Odin closed his eyes and felt the Nen on his hand again.
Nen flowed and swirled, changing shape under the direction of his thoughts.
He tried imagining his Nen spreading outward like Observation Haki.
This time, he didn't force Nen's nature to change. He simply gave it an instruction to "perceive" as it spread.
The Nen responded.
Zetsu poured out around him, rippling outward like water.
It moved swiftly, passing through the air, through the light, and through every corner of the room in an instant.
Odin sensed things.
The walls, cold and rough.
The floor, hard and level.
Ponzu, sitting opposite him, her body warm, her breathing quick, her heartbeat rapid.
The bees inside her hat: a few small ones remained motionless in the hive, while dozens of larger ones crawled slowly.
Outside the window, a bird flew past, its wings beating and disturbing the air.
All that information flooded his mind like a tide.
It wasn't imagery, but a more direct form of perception.
Yet his brain rendered the information as images, allowing him to "see" everything around him even with his eyes closed.
He withdrew his Nen: Observation Haki, and the perception vanished instantly.
He lowered his head and looked at his hand.
"It worked?" he murmured.
Ponzu looked up. "What worked?"
Odin grinned, then closed his eyes.
Ponzu watched him, unsure what he intended to do.
One second later, Odin spoke. "That window behind you. There's a treetop outside it, with three birds perched on it."
Ponzu turned to look out the window.
The window was open, and a treetop was visible outside. Sure enough, three birds were perched on it.
She turned back to Odin.
"How did you know?"
Odin opened his eyes and smiled.
"Observation Haki."
"Observation Haki?"
"A sensory ability," Odin said. "Its range is about thirty meters right now. I can sense the outlines and positions of things."
He walked to the window and looked outside.
"It isn't precise enough yet. I can only sense outlines, though the positions are pretty accurate."
Ponzu walked over beside him and looked at the treetop outside.
The three birds were still there, one of them preening its feathers.
"Is this your Nen Ability?"
"Yes," Odin said. "I gave it a name."
"What name?"
"Thousand Transformations Vessel."
Ponzu paused. "Thousand Transformations Vessel?"
"It lets me make Nen simulate other energies," Odin said. "As long as I understand their nature, I can simulate them."
Observation Haki was the first. He could simulate others next.
He recalled another application of Nen-Ten.
The first of the Four Major Principles of Nen, it covered the surface of the body with Nen to strengthen its defenses.
It was very similar to Armament Haki, which also formed a coating and strengthened both offense and defense.
But what was the essence of Armament Haki? Willpower? Nen was life energy, while Armament Haki seemed to be a combination of willpower and the body.
They seemed somewhat alike.
Odin returned to the floor and sat down again.
He closed his eyes and began experimenting.
Using Ten as his foundation, he concentrated Nen on his hand and imagined it becoming harder, thicker, and more powerful.
The properties of his Nen changed.
Not all of it changed, only the portion concentrated on his right hand.
It grew denser and more tightly packed, as though it had turned from colorless to black.
Odin opened his eyes and looked at his right hand.
A pitch-black layer of Nen: Armament Haki covered his palm.
It seemed heavier and thicker than before. As for how it felt-he touched the back of his right hand with his left.
The surface of his skin hadn't changed much, but it felt as though there was a layer of something underneath.
"Looks like I've successfully developed my Nen Ability," he murmured.
He closed his eyes and continued experimenting.
Ponzu fell silent for a few seconds.
She looked at Odin's hand, then at her own.
She had practiced all afternoon without once succeeding in attaching Nen to a bee.
Meanwhile, Odin had already developed a complete Nen Ability.
"That talent of yours..." she murmured.
Odin opened his eyes and glanced at her. "Take your time. It's only the first day."
Ponzu nodded without speaking.
She returned to the table and sat down.
A few bees crawled out of her hat and onto her fingers.
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and kept trying.
For the next three days, neither Odin nor Ponzu went out.
Both worked hard to develop their Nen Abilities.
That day, Odin guided his Nen through his palm.
He tried simulating another form of energy-the ki from Dragon Ball.
He intended to use this energy to improve his long-range combat capabilities.
His Nen responded, but failed to take shape and eventually dispersed.
Clearly, he still didn't fully understand the properties of Dragon Ball's ki.
Odin considered Dragon Ball's ki immensely destructive, so he tried giving his Nen explosive properties to simulate it.
However, he failed.
His Nen could indeed carry explosive properties, but it remained ordinary Nen, not Nen: Ki.
Clearly, Odin's Nen Ability didn't involve Transmutation alone. It also incorporated Conjuration, Emission, Manipulation, and Enhancement.
Odin lowered his hand, knowing that he couldn't fully simulate Dragon Ball's ki without first analyzing all its properties.
He set aside his attempts to simulate Dragon Ball's ki for now, just as he had temporarily abandoned simulating internal energy and Qi.
He turned to Ponzu.
Her eyes were still closed, her brow furrowed, and several bees crawled over her fingers.
She was still trying, but this time she had changed her approach. Instead of attaching Nen directly, she first wrapped a small bit of honey in Nen, then let the bees approach it.
A bee crawled over, touched the honey with its antennae, and began licking it.
The Nen attached to the honey slowly seeped into the bee's body.
Ponzu's eyes lit up. "It's responding!"
She continued guiding it, sending more Nen into the bee's body through the honey.
After finishing the honey, the bee didn't fly away. It remained on her finger, its wings vibrating gently, having adapted to her Nen.
Ponzu closed her eyes and tried to sense the bee.
A few seconds later, she opened them.
"I can feel it!" she cried in delight. "I feel like I can control its movements!"
"Congratulations," Odin said with a smile.
Ponzu smiled and continued experimenting.
Odin looked away and resumed his own training, releasing his Nen: Observation Haki.
His perception spread, swiftly covering the entire nearby street.
The positions and outlines of pedestrians appeared clearly, while all manner of unpleasant things happening in the surrounding houses entered his mind as well.
He tried to distinguish each person's individual features.
He could sense them in broad strokes, but couldn't perceive fine details.
"It's enough for wide-area searches and combat, at least." He opened his eyes.
Thousand Transformations Vessel Specialization Ability: By consuming Nen, the user can make his Nen simulate the properties of other energies. Conditions: 1. The user must thoroughly understand the target energy's nature and operating principles. Superficial knowledge alone is insufficient to simulate it. 2. The more advanced and complex the simulated energy, the greater the Nen consumption.
His Nen Ability was now fully developed.
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