Chapter 15: Assigning Missions
As he headed toward the amusement park on the east coast, Kai was already running a post-mortem on his first real Nen battle. He was keenly aware of his weaknesses.
He wasn't an Enhancer, so he'd avoided melee. His total Aura pool was tiny, so even while keeping his distance and maintaining a basic Ken, he'd avoided using other advanced skills like Gyo unless absolutely necessary. This had drastically reduced his per-second Aura drain.
Even so, that three-minute skirmish had burned through more than a third of his total pool—close to 400 Aura.
He'd already calculated that applying a single Star Marker cost him a flat 60 Aura.
As far as Hatsu activations go, that was incredibly cheap. But when his total pool was only 1,000, those two marks had cost him 130 Aura right off the top. It hurt.
Then there was Divine Flick. His Ken output was about 80-90 Aura/sec, which (due to his 60% Enhancement efficiency) only gave him the defensive power of about 48-54. But Divine Flick, with its built-in Restriction, had a base power of 100 Aura, plus another 10 Aura for every second he charged it. Even with the 80% Emitter efficiency cap, he was satisfied with its power.
He'd used it three times. The first two shots were quick, costing maybe 110 Aura total. But that final, 10-second blast had cost him 200 Aura on its own, crippling his already low reserves. Thank God it had worked. If it hadn't, his only option would have been to flee on Butch.
Adding it all up... a three-minute, low-intensity fight had cost him 90% of his total Aura. Nearly 900 points.
He technically had 100 Aura left—more than he'd started with!—but he felt completely gassed. 'Easy to get used to having power, hard to go back to being weak.'
The biggest lesson was clear: Don't act like a pro when you don't have the reserves of one.
With only 1,000 Aura, why the hell had he maintained Ken the entire fight? He'd just "evaporated" more than a third of his pool for no reason. It was a painful waste.
"But that's a trade-off," he thought. "To fight using only Ten, I'd need insane perception and a mastery of Ryu to flow my Aura into a Ken defense at the exact moment of an attack. If I try to conserve Aura but end up getting killed, that's just stupid."
He laughed out loud on Butch's back. Nen combat was hard... but it was fun.
In this world, you couldn't have those ridiculous 10-day-long brawls from his old mangas. Every single point of Aura had to be managed. Just thinking about it made him want to start training again, right now.
He'd been so lost in thought, he hadn't realized they'd arrived. His birds showed him the amusement park, bustling with people.
"Finally," he thought. "Civilization. I'm sick of living like a wild animal."
He hopped off Butch. His Star Marker had restored his Aura, but that just made him even hungrier.
Kai waved, and his five bird-scouts landed in a row on Butch's head. The little gray one was feisty, nearly shoving the others off.
"You," Kai said, pointing at it. "You've got spirit. You're with me."
The gray bird chirped, landed on Kai's shoulder, and smugly preened.
"You two," Kai pointed to the two green-feathered birds, "fly back to the shipwreck on the north coast. If you see any humans, peck yourselves, activate the Star Marker, and ping me." They nodded and flew north.
"You two," he said to the last pair. "You're with Butch. One in the sky, one resting on his back. Switch when you're tired. Same rules: see a human, ping me."
The two small white birds chirped, and one even gave a comically human-like salute with its wing. This world's animals are something else. The first white bird took to the sky, beginning its patrol.
"And as for you, Butch..." Kai stroked the big tiger's head. "You know this, but you're an endangered species. I can't exactly walk into town with you."
Butch just nuzzled his hand and took a step back, watching him.
"Don't think you're getting off easy," Kai grinned. "You have a mission, too. Scout this forest between the reserve and the town. Find me a new training spot. I need water, flat ground, and seclusion. I have to keep training. I'm still way too weak."
That one fight had proved it: 1,000 Aura was nothing. And he needed to drill his fundamentals.
No wonder masters like Biscuit still drilled their fundamentals every single day. It was the core of Netero's Shingen-Ryu philosophy: flashy Hatsu are unreliable, but a deep, unshakable foundation is everything.
"Rooar~" Butch nuzzled him one last time, then turned and vanished into the woods, his own scout-bird perched on his back.
Kai watched him go, then turned to the noisy bird on his shoulder.
"You're loud, you know that? Chirping like a sparrow." He poked the bird, then started walking toward the sounds of the crowd. "How about I call you... Taliyah? Nah, too long. I'll just call you Rock Sparrow."
He felt the wad of cash and the stolen Hunter License in his pocket.
First things first. I need a real, hot meal.
(End of Chapter)