The first thing i remember is the smell.
Wet grass… and something suspiciously close to rotten fruit. The kind of smell that warns you you've made a mistake even before you know how.
I stood inside a crooked wooden hut, the walls slanted like they were trying to escape their own construction. And I wasn't alone.
A whole crowd of monkeys surrounded me.
Yes. Monkeys.Dozens of them. All sitting in a circle and staring at me with the same expression:
"Oh, this one's going to suffer."
One of them held a drum. Another a banana. Another wore half a shirt that definitely used to belong to a human.
I tried not to panic.
Tried.
In front of me sat Ardan—Serik's grandfather. Legs crossed. Back perfectly straight. Eyes half-closed.
He looked peaceful. Wise. Like a monk in a painting.
But is was a lie. A dangerous one.
"Listen well, Jons," he said in a tone that implied I wasn't listening at all."Normally, Nen is awakened gently. Slowly. Through calm breathing, meditation, and a soft opening of the aura nodes."
He nodded as if delivering ancient wisdom.
A monkey beside him stole a banana from his sleeve. He didn't react. (This should've been my first warning.)
"Very gentle," he continued."Very safe. Very spiritual."
I swallowed. Hard."…That sounds good. Le... lets do it that way."
Ardan finally opened one eye.
Instant dread.
"But," he said, voice brightening in the worst possible way, "I prefer a different method."
My stomach dropped. "H-how different?"
He smiled. That expression has haunted me ever since.
Before I could step back—
S M A C K !
Something slammed across my face. Hard. So hard I spun through the air like a broken umbrella.
I crashed into the wooden wall, felt a burst, and realized several important things all at once:
I was upside down.
My teeth were vibrating.
The monkeys were cheering like they'd bet money on me dying.
My aura nodes exploded open violently, not gracefully like Ardan first described. It felt like someone had ripped open invisible doors inside my body with a crowbar.
My breath caught. My heart ricocheted in my ribs. The world tilted sideways.
Ardan stood up, dusted off his sleeves, and smiled brightly.
"Excellent! The abrupt-shock method works beautifully on you!"
I tried to speak. A noise came out. It did not qualify as speech.
"Good, good," Ardan said, nodding proudly."You probably feel like your brain is rotating."
It was. Clockwise.
"Now," he continued, rolling up his sleeves, "lesson two. Ten."
A staff appeared in his hand. I swear on every god in existence—a monkey handed it to him like this was a rehearsed performance.
I tried to get up. Absolutely not happening.
Ardan flared his aura—Ren so thick the air bent around him.
He approached.
I closed my eyes.
This was going to be a long, painful education.
I woke up the next morning in a pile of hay, my face sore, my body hot and cold at the same time. The monkeys were gone. Ardan wasn't.
He stood above me, chewing something green that looked poisonous.
"Ah, good. You survived. That means we can continue."
I tried to sit. Failed. Tried again and managed half a rise.
Ardan clapped his hands. "Excellent spirit!"
I had no spirit left. Just regret.
He knelt down beside me. "You must understand, Jons. Gentle methods work for gentle people. You, however…"He placed a hand on my head."…are uptight."
I blinked. "I—I am not uptight."
"You are very uptight."
"I—"
He poked my forehead. "See? Tension everywhere. Makes you stiff. Easily surprised. Not ideal for anything."
I wanted to argue. I also wanted to cry.
Ardan stood again. "Come. Today we train Ten."
Ten. Stability. Retaining aura. Keeping it close.
I did not feel stable.
We walked outside into the jungle clearing. Morning light filtered between the canopy, dust swirling through the beams. Beautiful, peaceful place.
Bad sign. Ardan never did peaceful things without violent intent.
"Ten is about calm," he said. "So you must learn it in discomfort."
He gestured upward.
I looked.
Monkeys were gathering coconuts.
They began aiming.
"…No."
"Yes," Ardan said, stepping aside. "Begin."
The first coconut hit my shoulder. The second hit my knee. The third hit my head.
Ardan shouted over the barrage,"Don't block normally! Block with aura, not hands! Ten! Ten!"
I tried. Aura sputtered. Monkeys cheered each time I failed.
One hour later, I could finally hold Ten steady.
Ardan nodded proudly. "Progress!"
I was bleeding from three places.
That was lesson two.
Lesson three was Zetsu.
Ardan dropped me in the middle of the jungle at night and said:
"Hide your aura or die."
Before I could ask what, something growled behind me.
I ran. A lot.
I didn't master Zetsu that night. But I learned to close individual aura nodes through sheer terror.
Ardan called that"promising."
Lesson four, Ren.
I'll summarize:
Ardan hit me. I learned Ren.
Much faster than expected.
By the end of the week, I wasn't the same person. Something inside me had cracked and reformed.
My aura was awake. My instinct was sharper. My fear was replaced with… clarity.
Ardan stood before me on the final day, arms folded behind his back, eyes glowing with something almost like pride.
"You did well," he said."You're no longer upright. You're balanced."
I didn't know what that meant. I still don't.
And that…was only the first week.
Only the beginning.
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ps?