Manipulation X Commands

My perception has improved a lot...

When Baishi had first awakened, his perception of the Nen Aura enveloping him had been hazy. To perceive it clearly, he could only practice [Ten] step by step, observing himself to improve his perception.

Now that his [Spirit] had been strengthened, he could skip some of those steps.

His abundant mental will now allowed him to perceive clearly that the rough film of Aura covering his body was constantly moving in a stable cycle. The points where it flowed in and out were those countless, densely packed Aura Nodes, too small to see with the naked eye.

Through focused observation, Baishi perceived an enormous number of Aura Nodes spread across every inch of his skin. There were just as many Aura channels connected to those Nodes, running throughout his body to form a crisscrossing network that transported [Aura].

They connected to bodily tissues such as blood vessels, organs, muscles, and bones. Upon closer inspection, however, Baishi discovered that the Aura channels and Aura Nodes did not correspond exactly one to one. Most Aura channels branched out like threads in a network, connecting to multiple Nodes.

The two complemented each other; neither could function without the other!

Once he had confirmed that he could clearly perceive every Aura Node, Baishi did not rush to close them all. For a beginner, that was unrealistic. After all, he didn't have some cheat that gave him absolute control over Nen Aura.

So, following the principle of gradual progress, Baishi directed a sliver of his attention to his right hand and gazed at the first joint of his index finger.

He perceived the many tiny, gaseous Aura Nodes in his fingertip. Starting with that small area, he focused his mental will to control the flow of Aura, vividly imagining the Nodes in his fingertip contracting while deliberately suppressing the escape of [Aura] from that spot. Bit by bit, he closed and shut off each tiny Node.

Working outward from that point, he slowly extended the process from his fingertip to his entire finger, his palm, his arm... his limbs... his torso... and finally even the Aura Nodes in his head. As he went from clumsy to proficient, they all reached a closed state.

An unknown amount of time passed.

Realizing that he still had the Hunter Exam to take, Baishi abruptly came to his senses. By then, however, his unconscious concentration had caused the film of Aura around his body to vanish. He could clearly feel that most of his Aura Nodes were shut off.

The Aura Nodes were countless. Even though he could perceive them clearly, Baishi had expended a great deal of mental energy concentrating and could not close them all at once. To close every one, he would need to spend a great deal of time practicing.

Whew!

At my current level, this should be about enough, right?

With no comparison or observer, Baishi could not make an accurate assessment of his progress in practicing [Zetsu].

But there was one glaring flaw. Baishi glanced at his empty left hand. The wheel he had been gripping was gone, and it hadn't disappeared because he had deliberately dismissed it.

That meant that when he cut off his Aura to enter [Zetsu], conjured objects vanished along with it!

This was a hidden drawback shared by all Conjuration abilities. The [Talisman Wheel], which had been forcibly loaded with numerous Conjuration restrictions by the rules of the world, evidently had the same drawback.

If he wanted a conjured object to remain, he would have to set specific conditions through certain training restrictions. In that case, the object would not disappear, but it would lose the advantage of being summoned and dismissed at will. The specific conditions might also impose further restrictive costs.

Thinking of all this, Baishi couldn't help frowning.

For now, there seemed to be no need to set any special restrictive conditions.

After all, [Zetsu] was used to restore Nen Aura or erase one's presence to hide, approach a target, launch a sneak attack or assassination, and the like. In a situation that actually involved a head-on fight, no Nen user would be stupid enough to fight using [Zetsu], right?

Putting aside the idea of setting [Restriction and Vows] for the time being, Baishi remembered that he was still taking the Hunter Exam. He couldn't help slapping his forehead, realizing he had wasted too much time.

He immediately maintained his state of [Zetsu] and ran quickly toward the herd of boars.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap!

Fortunately, the herd of Great Stamps was still lingering there.

Seeing this, Baishi glanced at the black cane hanging at his waist. After a moment's thought, he silently picked up several thin, relatively straight twigs from the ground.

The advantage of twigs was that they could be found everywhere and were easy to obtain. Their drawback was that they were brittle and broke easily. Even when reinforced with Nen Aura through [Shu], their piercing power could not compare to metal needles.

Rustle~

A Great Stamp's weak point is the forehead behind its snout, right?

With his presence faint, Baishi calmly and silently approached the Great Stamp at the very edge of the herd.

Its size was barely average among the Great Stamps, but it was more than enough as a cooking ingredient.

Seeing it irritably rub its upturned, horned snout against a tree, Baishi's lips curled slightly. This was the one that had been charging into the surrounding trunks like a boar every now and then.

With that much exercise, its meat should have excellent springiness...

After appearing beside the Great Stamp at close range like a silent ghost, Baishi inwardly marveled at how [Zetsu] concealed his aura. He glanced at the rest of the herd, who seemed not to have noticed him, raised a brow, and instantly opened all the Aura Nodes in his body.

Whoosh!

Transparent Nen Aura surged from his body, but in an instant it wrapped around him as [Nen]. Baishi's suddenly overpowering presence made the Great Stamp beside him turn its pink head, then freeze on the spot as though its CPU couldn't process what had happened.

The next second, however, it flew into a rage and charged with savage fury, as though intending to smash Baishi to pulp.

Heh~

"Easy, calm down..."

By then, Baishi had already conjured the Talisman Wheel and activated a Talisman. The instant the Great Stamp prepared to charge, he swiftly and precisely drove a hand-length twig, covered in black-purple Nen Aura, through its forehead and into its brain.

Buzz! The manipulation command he had temporarily prepared and set was triggered instantly!

[Manipulation command: Keep running according to my orders, until you stop just before reaching the edge of the forest!]

Swoosh~

Baishi vaulted directly onto the Great Stamp's back and sat cross-legged, smiling as he patted the vacant-faced giant boar beneath him.

"Go right."

As soon as he spoke.

The giant boar, controlled by the twig Nen Needle, ran blankly to the right, toward the warehouse.

The bizarre sight left the Great Stamps that had wanted to charge at him utterly bewildered, as though they didn't know whether to continue attacking or flee.

But during that pause of just a few seconds, Baishi had already ridden the giant boar into the dense forest and disappeared.

Thud, thud, thud! Bang, bang, bang!

The ride was more troublesome than Baishi had anticipated. Perhaps because of a flaw in the Great Stamp's intelligence, it didn't turn at all while running, charging without hesitation even when a huge tree blocked its path. As a result, he had to change the twig used to control it from time to time.

While testing adjustments to his control, Baishi discovered that even though [Needle-Person Control] had the characteristic of absolute control over living beings...

The prerequisite was that a clear command had to be implanted before controlling the target!