A full week after intense meditation training, Starkk felt bummed out. As far as he knew, no progress was made, Non null nada whatsoever. At least that's what his subjective judgement is, based on his own senses. There was no feeling of super natural aura overflowing his veins, no icky mucus layer covering his body, no white steam… steaming from his skin.
He knew from the anime that life force is dwelling deep inside him, and not just him, every living being on this flat marble of a weird world! It was a great tragedy to him truly, unable to capture that energy that is so essential to survival in this very world, this life-altering step. He felt like a dog being teased by its owner for some snacks, juggling them in front of his eyes… so near, yet so unbelievably far.
It's not strange though, if awakening Nen came naturally to everyone, the whole world would be filled with Nen users. But that's not the case, only a handful of humanities best achieved such feats.
Although Starkk appreciated the anime greatly, it is misleading. It gives off this wrong feeling that Nen users are at every corner, but that's far from the case.
Starkk furrowed his brow and reflected more on the hunter x hunter manga. Even the 5th prince of Kakin had no idea what Nen was, and he was a filthy rich prince and mafia family leader. It made no sense whatsoever! A person of his caliber would long ago stumble upon Aura, but reality was much different.
How the hunters kept that secret deeply puzzled him. Starrk thought of weird conspiracies and lizard people —
STOP
A powerful shout formed in mind, he vigorously shook his head, trying to get rid of all those silly Hunter conspiracy theories. After all, he never intended to end up like his weird conspiracy uncle he frequently met at… family gatherings.
…
…
Starkk sighed and closed his eyes, immersing himself once again in his Nen training.
The thought that life energy was escaping him at every second was strange to him, where does it even flow to? Does it dissipate in the atmosphere? Many thoughts circled around his little head as he tried to make sense of all these absurdities.
It seems like he has a very long way to go…
. . .
A month passed, as he trained vigilantly through these busy work days, it's been really eventful, the most action he had since arriving.
Initially, he was a bit surprised to find the police along with his boss, Anona, visiting him on a seemingly random afternoon.
Starkk had panicked a lot, the police are very scary after all. Fortunately Anona had quickly calmed him down and told him that they were here to "search for his parents" or whatever. He had laughed at this notion and internally a small bitter laugh escaped him.
Nevertheless, it had made him quite happy that even in this dangerous world, there were people that were trying to help him out. After talking to the blue uniform people and taking his fingerprints and whatnot, he quickly made haste back to his room to train again, that happened approximately 3 weeks ago.
Anona, he felt a bit irked thinking about his boss. She was a very demanding person, although not to an extent where people would get annoyed at her, but in such a way where most people would comply with her words but then curse deep down inside.
His green haired boss was truly a hassle, always so demanding, even on the first day of his job, yet he was glad to have met her. She provided for him, fed him enough food (and some more) each day, gave him shelter, a sanctuary of some sorts. He couldn't help but gaze at her with gratitude.
Deep inside him, a new feeling began to blossom. He didn't know when it happened, or why, but originally it seemed so small, but ever so slightly it began to change and grow. This connection he has with the people in this world, it makes him feel so, bizarre.
It's so so strange to him. It makes no sense at all. He knew this was in a sense fake. This whole world is nothing more than a story drawn by a japanese mangaka. This reality, this knowledge gnawned hard on him. But is this really all there is to this whole existence? He didn't know.
However, the one thing he knows is… I doesn't want her to die.
Back to the Nen training, in terms of sensing aura, there hasn't really been a leap of progress made.
Thinking about how Gon and Killua forcefully awakened their Nen and almost instantly knew to wield it with proficiency, he couldn't help but admire those two boys for their immense talent. A fire blazed in his eyes, he wanted to be like them…! From the very beginning he knew this path would be a rocky one, a steep way to the top, but that never discouraged him. It only helped motivate his young spirit.
A sly smile split his face in two. I know that I may not be the most talented, or the strongest from the getgo, but I, I don't think it's impossible.
With little evidence to back him down, he had full trust to achieve his goal, to get so strong nothing could bother him.
Well, saying that there was no progress is a small lie. Although Starrk felt nothing of his Aura, he did physically feel much 'healthier'. He had more endurance, work wasn't tiresome anymore, giving him much more time and focus for meditation at the end of the workday.
This small victory over Nen made him feel exhilarated. Although not awakening him, he knew he was on the right path.
Having Nen in this world is such a cheat! You can just do things formerly thought off as impossible. Even when not accounting silly things like Hatsu, having aura alone elevates you to the top of this world.
Enhancing your body explosively! Going from a scrawny kid to being able to bend pure metal bars with zero difficulty. No physical training compared to this, even Killua with his immense strength had difficulty opening that box of Ging enhanced with Nen, it's just such an insurmountable power.
Just thinking about it made him feel all so giddy.
…
...
Half a year has passed since meditation training began. After endless hours of meditation and strong focus, Starkk could feel the slightest hints of aura flowing through his veins.
'I… I did it!', from going to being unable to sense his own life force, to being able to trace the smallest hints, to now being able to control his seemingly infinitesimal aura to form the smallest Ten on his body, he proudly puffed his chest with pride.
This small tampering layer of Ten encompassing his skin, although it seemed like nothing much, in terms of power, he felt invincible.
He had become the strongest human in this small hamlet settlement just by meditating and mastering his aura flow.
"I would still not be able to defend against guns…", he muttered under his breath as he reminisced about Uvogin.
He was a true monster, being able to withstand the prowess of modern firearms and even anti tank missiles. Uvo was by no means the standard for enhancers. He's more like the exception of his category. There are many Nen users unable to properly defend against firearms- or at least with little difficulty.
Don't lose yourself in arrogance…! He thought to himself. Pride often comes before the fall. And he had by no means wanted to end up as a corpse in a random ditch. Even Uvogin, with all his unbelievable might, died because he underestimated the scrawny girly looking blondy. Had he gone with full 100% power from the beginning and just used Gyo the outcome of that fight would be vastly different.
But who am I to judge the arrogant? Starkk reflected on the initial ecstasy he felt when he formed his Ten.
This is nothing… I shouldn't even dare to feel happy for such small steps or it will bite me back, I should only be proud- confident, when I surpassed the true Nen-Masters.
…
Oh! And through working in this hotel all week he had finally accumulated enough money for him to finally depart from this tiresome place.
Hotel Transylvania, that's what it was called. Bit spooky but the people, they are the nicest he knew.
When the police revisited the place, they came back with the result that he was "unregistered", with no fingerprints anywhere matching his. It wasn't really surprising to him since he was an alien, kind of. Having transmigrated from a different world after all…
Well, what followed this police visit were endless bureaucratic paperwork to issue him a state ID.
For school… yuck! He was glad he lived in the Hunter X Hunter world, apparently he didn't have to visit a school program if he were to show potential of becoming a hunter, similar to what Gon did.
Ah, what a hassle~
…
"I have lived long enough in this restrictive place… even though Anona offered me an apprenticeship, I will have to decline that. Training in this place will just drag me down…" Currently, Starkk sat at his desk, an empty page greeted him. "I have no idea what to write, it's not like I can just leave this place without saying anything, I'd be spitting on all the kindness they have shown me… Anona the chief, Mark the waiter, Ylappo the janitor…"
Fidgeting his pen in his hand, he deeply contemplated the text he would be writing… "Aarghh! I knew I never was much of a writer but I never expected writing a simple text to be this difficult. It's like all my thoughts are intertwining with each other with no clear start or endpoint, my mind's a total mess! … I should keep it simple."
Dear Anona Arlinden
I want to thank you for all your kindness, for giving me food in a time of need, for looking after me and for providing me with a sanctuary I may call my home in this chaotic world. I thank you with all my heart.
But unfortunately, I need to leave this place. I need to keep walking, to be as strong as I can, and when I get to this point, I'll come back and pay you back 100 times! I'll promise this to my Soul.
With the greatest appreciation and warmest regards,
Starkk Arlinden.
…
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