Chapter Ten – What is the Ability?
The clock had struck 6:00 PM.
The digital display on the cheap alarm clock by the bed glowed with soft, green numbers in the gathering gloom of the small room. For (Tokito), the day had felt both endless and terrifyingly short.
He had finished his meeting with (Kanami Kyoto) a long time ago.
The silence after the boy had left, taking his cold green eyes and his implied threat with him, had been profound. The air still felt charged, like after a lightning strike.
He decided to rest now, in the period that he had at this moment.
There was nothing else to do. No missions could be taken at night. No training halls were open to D-Ranks. The academy settled into an eerie, watchful quiet, broken only by the distant sounds of other students in the dormitory block—muffled voices, the thump of a door, the faint bass of music from someone daring enough to waste points on a portable speaker.
He sat in the chair and leaned his back a little.
The chair was the same hard-backed wooden one from the desk. He didn't sit at the desk, but turned it to face the room's single, narrow window, which now showed a deep indigo sky pierced by the harsh white lights of other academy buildings.
The chair was not comfortable.
The wood was unyielding, the back straight and unforgiving. It dug into his spine.
But it gave him some tranquility at this moment, especially since he needed to calm down.
The adrenaline from the high-stakes bluff, the careful parsing of every word and micro-expression, had left him mentally drained and physically shaky. He needed to process, to plan, to understand the meager tools he actually possessed.
Sigh.
(Tokito) began to think about something important.
His crimson eyes, reflecting the dim light from outside, stared blankly at the opposite wall.
And he looked at the shelf that did not possess any books in it and said sarcastically:
"As expected, this place does not train people. Rather, it only uses them."
The shelf was a sad, empty expanse of particle board fixed to the wall, a promise of learning that went unfulfilled. It gathered dust, not knowledge.
"Even to raise books, they didn't put any books in it to teach the students."
The irony was bitter. A library existed, but the personal quarters, the place where a student might actually study in private, was a book desert. It reinforced the message: your education is your own problem. Figure it out or die.
"But this is also not a bad thing. In the end, I know some things about abilities in this world."
The thought was a small, cold comfort. My meta-knowledge was my library. My manga memories were the books on this empty shelf.
(Tokito) now remembered the things he had done a week before transferring to this International Academy.
The memories of that desperate, lonely week in the filthy apartment surfaced. The frantic internet searches. The clumsy, private attempts to understand his new reality.
First, he trained his cloud ability.
He had spent hours in that squalid room, trying to make clouds of different shapes and sizes, feeling that strange, staticky tingling in his palms until he grew dizzy and had to stop.
But before that, he needed first to remember the things that make him able to use the ability.
He had scoured forums, read crackpot theories and dry scientific papers published by the Hero Commission, trying to understand the fundamental rules of this world's power system.
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In the world of heroes and villains, every person possesses a limited amount of spiritual energy.
The term varied. Reiatsu. Psychic Potential. Mana. Odic Force. The government called it "Awakened Genetic Expression," but the deeper, esoteric communities and the manga itself pointed to something less… scientific.
Which can increase over time with training and with continuous use.
Unlike the words that say abilities are genetic developments, in truth, abilities are nothing but spiritual energy that has been activated inside chosen people.
The official story was a lie, or at least a gross simplification. Powers weren't just random mutations; they were a form of energy manipulation, a tapping into a universal field that some people were naturally attuned to.
And these chosen people are lucky people for having the potential to awaken distinctive abilities.
"Lucky." The word tasted like ash. My "distinctive ability" was a party trick that got things damp.
Of course, that needs a lot of time, and therefore most people who awaken abilities must be at the age of ten or fourteen.
The optimal window. When the body was still plastic, the mind open, the spiritual channels fresh.
People who are older than twenty can also awaken their special ability, but they need greater activation.
The energy required to kick-start the process in an adult was supposedly much higher, often requiring external catalysts or extreme trauma.
The younger you are, the more your body can absorb the spiritual energy in the atmosphere.
The theory went that children were like sponges, naturally soaking up the ambient spiritual energy that permeated the world post-1950. Adults were like sealed jars.
As for how the atmosphere can be beneficial, this is not the topic I should think about at this moment.
It was a rabbit hole of metaphysical speculation I didn't have time for. The "how" didn't matter as much as the "what" and the "how to use."
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The ability that awakens in a person is, by nature, part of his personality or even a random potential hidden in his body he was not attentive to, or simply something he was thinking about during the activation of the ability for the first time.
A pyrokinetic might have been obsessed with candles. A teleporter might have always hated being late. My cloud ability… what did that say about me? That I was vague? Fluffy? Prone to precipitation when under pressure?
Of course, the thing (Tokito) focuses on is Spiritual Power.
This power is what allows the activation of the ability. It works as the fuel on which the ability works to function.
It was the battery. The MP bar. The gasoline for the supernatural engine.
Without spiritual power, the ability cannot work at all.
A simple, brutal equation: no energy, no power. Run out of gas, and you're just a normal person in a very abnormal situation.
But this is not the matter I am searching for.
The basics were important, but they were just the entry point.
He focuses on a bigger concept, which is an advanced concept in this world that students will discover in the future when they rise in ranks and become seeds of a higher rank.
The hidden curriculum. The knowledge reserved for those who proved themselves "worthy" by surviving the meat grinder.
And that is that spiritual power is not only used to activate the ability, but it also puts the body in a state of stronger evolution, which allows it to increase its strength and speed, and even allows it to exceed human limits.
Enhancement.
The word glowed in his mind like a neon sign. This was the real secret. Spiritual energy wasn't just for firing lasers; it could be turned inward, used to supercharge the body itself.
This can be clarified in several ways.
(Tokito) decided to bring an example from the manga.
His mind conjured a specific chapter, a training arc.
In one of the manga chapters, when (Sasuke) reached Rank B, he was able to know that the spiritual energy and the feeling of exhaustion he suffered from using his ability came from him depleting his spiritual energy greatly.
The protagonist had hit a wall. He could copy abilities, but using them drained him quickly, leaving him vulnerable.
And therefore, he cannot use many abilities.
A limitation of his otherwise broken power.
Of course, in the end, when he realized that, he began to train his spiritual energy.
The classic shonen training montage: meditation, pushing limits, learning to feel and control the flow of energy within.
Why does (Sasuke) not know about spiritual energy? It is simply because the state, in addition to the heads of state, have hidden this information from most people.
The conspiracy theory from the manga felt chillingly plausible here. Of course the powers-that-be would hide the full potential of spiritual power. If every low-level schmuck knew they could become superhuman by meditating correctly, the carefully constructed hierarchy of the hero system would collapse. They wanted obedient tools, not self-actualized demigods.
Only the skilled, the talented, or those who try to explore their abilities greatly might realize the foundation that the spiritual energy that is used only to activate the ability can also enhance the body.
The elite discovered it on their own, or were taught by elite mentors. The rest remained in the dark, burning their spiritual fuel inefficiently, like using rocket fuel to power a cigarette lighter.
This information can be obtained by heroes if they rise in rank and understand the foundation of spiritual power.
Another carrot on the stick. Another reason to climb the brutal ladder: unlock the true manual for your own existence.
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(Tokito) stood up from his chair.
The wooden legs scraped against the linoleum with a harsh sound.
Screech.
And began forming several clouds.
He held out his hands, palms up. He focused, reaching for that internal wellspring, that tingling sensation behind his breastbone.
Poof. Poof. Poof.
Three small, fluffy cumulus clouds, each the size of a baseball, materialized above his palms. They bobbed gently, radiating a faint coolness.
He felt faintly that there was a part of him being exhausted even while activating clouds the size of a handball only.
A dull ache started behind his eyes. A subtle draining sensation, like a slow leak in a tire. It wasn't painful, but it was unmistakable—a cost being extracted.
And that is not because the amount of his spiritual power is small, but because the amount of spiritual power he uses is very large.
The realization clicked into place. He was a terrible driver, flooring the gas pedal to go five miles per hour.
It can be said that he releases enough to create a cloud the size of a human, but instead, he uses this energy to create a smaller ball.
He was overcharging the effect. Pumping vast amounts of spiritual energy into creating a tiny, pathetic result. It was spectacularly inefficient.
And that does not make the density of the ball greater; it only consumes his spiritual power more.
The clouds weren't harder, or heavier, or more useful. They were just… over-saturated fluff. He was boiling an ocean to make a cup of tea.
This has become trivial, isn't it?
The observation was depressingly accurate. My one power, and I was using it wrong. I was the spiritual equivalent of someone trying to light a candle with a flamethrower.
But there is a way for improvement.
Hope, as always in this world, was a thin, frayed thread, but he clung to it.
From the manga, (Tokito) learned from (Sasuke)'s experience that to use spiritual power more efficiently, he first needs to understand the method of enhancement.
The protagonist's journey was my textbook. His mistakes, my lessons.
What is the method of enhancement? It is simply learning how you can strengthen your body using spiritual power.
Turning the energy inward. Using it not to power an external effect, but to reinforce the vessel itself. To become stronger, faster, more durable from the inside out.
People who master the method of enhancement can reach stronger levels.
It was the foundation of all high-tier combat in the manga. The flashy abilities were the show; the enhanced body was the engine that made the show possible.
But why is (Tokito) using this method now? The matter is simple.
He hadn't mastered anything. He was theorizing.
He couldn't understand the matter in the end. He had transferred only a week ago.
The timeframe was laughably short. One week to go from a normal office worker to a spiritual energy adept? Impossible.
It is impossible to master the feeling of something you have never felt before in one week.
Spiritual energy wasn't a muscle you could flex. It was a sixth sense, a new layer of perception. You couldn't just decide to feel it.
And (Tokito) was not a genius to be able to do that.
He had no special talent for this. In his previous life, he'd been middling at everything—average grades, average job, average life. There was no reason to believe he was a hidden prodigy at supernatural energy manipulation.
And he did not possess a person who could teach him.
No mentor. No wise old master. No secret scrolls. Just a cheap, empty room and the ghost of a manga he'd half-remembered.
He did not possess anything except theoretical knowledge from the manga, and this is certainly not the best way to learn how to use an unfamiliar supernatural power.
It was like trying to learn brain surgery by reading a comic book about a brilliant surgeon. You might get the gist, but you'd probably kill the patient.
Therefore, I must intensify this spiritual power. I must reduce the amount of energy necessary to form clouds.
The goal was clear: efficiency. To get more cloud for less spiritual buck. To stop wasting his limited, precious internal energy on pathetic puffs.
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His ability was (Cloud Formation).
The name floated in his mind, simple and unassuming.
This ability seems simple and easy, in addition to being weak.
On the surface, it was the punchline of a joke. The "what's the worst superpower?" thread made manifest.
But in the end, a week of researching clouds, especially when he was at home, made him understand that this ability has a very large development path.
The internet deep-dive had been surprisingly enlightening. Clouds weren't just fluffy white things. They were complex atmospheric phenomena.
In the end, clouds can absorb carbon dioxide in addition to oxygen.
A chemical sponge. Could he purify air? Create a localized, breathable atmosphere in a toxic environment?
They can be a foggy curtain to hide him.
Obscurement. A smokescreen. Basic, but potentially life-saving.
Or even in extreme cases, he can also release water from them by converting the cloud into water or even into gas.
Hydrokinesis. He could create drinking water in a desert. Or he could flash-boil a cloud into scalding steam. The potential applications, while not city-leveling, were versatile.
All these abilities are possessed by his ability.
The theory was sound. A cloud was a collection of water droplets or ice crystals. With enough control, he should be able to manipulate its state, its composition, its movement.
But of course, he needs to understand how he can do that.
The chasm between theory and practice was a yawning abyss.
In the end, he cannot simply order the clouds he creates to do what he wants, isn't that right?
The clouds were dumb. They were extensions of his will, but his will had no fine control. It was like having a robotic arm but only knowing how to make it slam down on a table.
Therefore… (Tokito) asks himself in a moment of sarcasm, but he returns to seriousness quickly.
The internal smirk died. This was work. Hard, frustrating, potentially futile work.
I must first try using the cloud ability normally, like forming clouds simply or even spreading them on a wide scale and testing the amount of spiritual power he possesses.
Basic experimentation. Establish a baseline. The scientific method, applied to the utterly unscientific.
At the same time, he must measure all of that.
He needed data. How long could he sustain a cloud? How big could he make it before exhaustion hit? How quickly did his spiritual energy replenish?
(Tokito) remembers that the main characters will be promoted after one month and become Rank C.
The manga timeline was vague, but there was an early timeskip after the academy's start. A month of "training" before the first major exam arc.
That is because all of them have been trained by experts.
Private tutors. Family resources. Legacy knowledge. They had a head start he could never match.
In addition, they possess very strong abilities that can help them rise quickly.
Their powers were inherently combat-viable or had obvious utility. They could earn points by doing what came naturally to them.
Unlike those who do not even understand the basic concepts of enhancement for power, they use only the human body in addition to weak abilities to rise.
The great, uncaring divide. The haves and the have-nots. The main cast and the cannon fodder.
(Tokito) feels envy of those people, but he couldn't say anything.
What was there to say? Life wasn't fair. Transmigration wasn't fair. The narrative certainly wasn't fair.
In the end, every person is born in a different place and with a random start.
The cosmic lottery. He'd drawn the short, damp, fluffy straw.
But nevertheless, he was aware that he had a chance to rise up the ladder if he used his information well.
My meta-knowledge was my one wildcard. My cheat sheet in a test I hadn't studied for.
But he certainly needs first to master his ability to a basic concept.
I couldn't just rely on bluffing and scheming forever. At some point, I might actually have to use my power in a way that didn't immediately get me laughed at or killed.
In the end, he is now going to work on trying to make himself seem mysterious.
The plan was taking shape. My strength was deception, so I had to deepen the deception. I couldn't be a strong fighter, so I had to be an enigmatic weak fighter. A puzzle. Someone whose true power was unknown.
Certainly, it would not be correct to show his weakness very clearly to the people he wants to recruit.
(Kanami) was the first, but he wouldn't be the last. I needed more allies. And no one would follow a leader who was visibly the weakest link.
(Tokito) realizes that it is impossible for a strong person to work under a weak person, especially since that weak person does not possess any real resources to give them.
I couldn't offer power. I couldn't offer wealth or influence. All I had was…
All he possesses is simply a lot of information from the manga, and most of it is confused.
My "vast knowledge" was a haphazard collection of half-remembered plot points, character backstories, and world-building details, all filtered through the lens of a reader who sometimes skimmed the boring parts.
So much so that he decided to write it all down in a book in his original language.
The thought had come to him earlier. His memories were fragile. Stress, time, the trauma of this world—they could erode what I knew.
Since the language of this world is Japanese, he used the English language.
English. My native tongue from my previous life. In this manga-Japan, it would be a foreign language, obscure to most. A simple code.
In addition to making the matter look as if it were a novel, so that no one can understand the matter.
I would write my spoilers as if they were a work of fiction. A story within a story. If someone found it, they'd think it was just some weird, self-insert fanfiction by a homesick exchange student.
And hide the matter at the same time and keep this book in which he wrote everything in a clear place, which is on top of his desk.
The best hiding place was in plain sight. A notebook among potential school notebooks. Nothing suspicious.
So that if any person reads this, they will not understand the information in it.
The double layer of protection: a foreign language and a fictional framing.
Of course, that is because he also wanted to keep the information related to the manga. In the end, he is human and can forget.
My memory was already fuzzy on details. I needed a record. A bible of spoilers to consult.
Therefore, he decided to document everything he knows.
He stood up from the chair again and went to the small desk. In a drawer, he found a blank, cheap notebook and a pen.
Click. The pen's tip emerged.
He sat down, opened the notebook to the first page, and began to write in careful, precise English.
The clouds are not just clouds. They are a medium. Potential routes: absorption (CO2, toxins), obscurement (fog bank), state change (water/steam). Spiritual energy efficiency is terrible. Must learn enhancement to strengthen vessel first, then refine output…
The soft scratch of pen on paper was the only sound in the room for a long time, as (Tokito) began the arduous, lonely task of building his survival not on strength, but on the careful, paranoid curation of stolen secrets.
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End of Chapter.
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Author's Note:
Thank you for reading as(Tokito) begins the tedious, unglamorous work of self-improvement and record-keeping. Your patience is the spiritual energy fueling this slow-burn ascent. ❤️ :)
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