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The next day, Rinku didn't wake up until nearly noon. After a leisurely meal, he slowly began preparing for his training.
He was very clear about the path he wanted to take. Life back on Blue Star had been difficult enough already.
Now that he had the ability to protect himself, he had no intention of exhausting his energy through relentless training.
At most, he was willing to spend a bit of effort honing his skills—nothing more. He had no intention of imitating those protagonists in Hunter x Hunter fanfics who begged Biscuit to become their master and trained until they dropped.
Not that he had the talent for it anyway. That kind of long-term, intensive training might sound romantic in a novel, but in real life, barely anyone could stick with it…
Even so, Rinku had to admit—Nen really was something intricately tied to one's physical self.
A journey-based path like "Pokémon Master," where you could gain both Pokémon and Nen power just by traveling around? It couldn't suit him more perfectly.
But before beginning today's training, there was one thing he needed to confirm.
Before long, a hotel staff member handed Rinku a freshly printed newspaper.
The first thing he checked was the date in the top right corner—it read 1998.
Rinku remembered that Gon and the others took part in the 287th Hunter Exam in 1999, and the exam was held on January 7th every year.
If memory served, Hisoka had lost his eligibility that year for injuring an examiner and had to retake it the following year.
That meant the timeline he had entered through his transmigration was still a good distance before the main story began. He still had plenty of time to grow stronger.
This was exactly why he had asked for the newspaper, other information was secondary. Pinpointing the timeline was crucial for planning his next steps.
Yesterday had been his first day in this world. With the confidence granted by Gardevoir at his side, the first thing Rinku did was settle his finances.
As for why he had won every round of gambling, well, that was obviously thanks to Gardevoir's help.
With her telekinetic powers, peeking at a dice roll through a tiny cup was laughably easy.
With that critical task out of the way, Rinku could now focus entirely on his first training session.
He changed into a loose martial robe, standing in a naturally relaxed posture, and began to sense the flow of Nen within his body.
According to what Wing had taught Gon and Killua, this was the best method to train Ten.
His Nen flowed through him like blood—cycling from his head to his right shoulder, to his hands, down his legs, over to the left side, and finally sinking low again. In his mind, he visualized the energy moving through and around him.
These techniques were all things he had learned from the anime and was now putting into practice. This was another reason he felt he didn't need a formal mentor.
As a devoted Hunter x Hunter fan, he had memorized tons of Nen theory. Practicing it now was just a matter of applying what he already knew.
Though there were still gaps in his understanding, he was confident in laying a solid foundation.
After a long period of meditation, Rinku suddenly opened his tightly shut eyes, a gleam of sharp focus in them.
The once-quiet membrane of Nen began to swell like a balloon being filled with air, gradually encasing his entire body.
Then, reaching a critical threshold, it burst outward like a flood, erupting from Rinku in every direction.
The sheer pressure of the release created a powerful wind that made his martial robe whip loudly around him.
Since the Nen was erupting outward from his body, the upward surge even made his hair rise and flutter giving him a slightly Saiyan-like look.
This was Ren.
A forceful release of condensed Nen all at once.
And Ren was also the most basic way to gauge a person's Nen capacity.
The longer one could maintain Ren, the more Nen they currently possessed.
As Rinku performed Ren, he also tried guiding his Nen upward—toward his eyes. His goal was to coat his vision with aura.
The technique known as Gyo wasn't particularly difficult; with practice, one could pull it off.
But it wasn't exactly easy either. Because it concentrated Nen in the eyes, misjudging the amount could lead to self-injury.
Another challenge was managing Nen consumption. Beginners often overexert and deplete their aura reserves too quickly.
In battles between Nen users, fights don't end in mere seconds. If you run out of aura after just a few seconds of Gyo, you're basically done for.
Half a minute later, the turbulent surge of aura finally stabilized, but now appeared thinner and more subdued than before.
Rinku, now drenched in sweat, sat there with his soaked robe clinging to his lean frame.
Thirty seconds of full-force Ren.
That was the result of his very first training session.
It might sound short, giving the impression that he wasn't especially talented.
But compared to characters in the original series, Rinku's performance was actually quite solid.
After a short break, Rinku replayed the entire session over and over again in his mind.
Until he received his identification papers, he would be staying in this room to train every day.
After all, he had nothing else to do right now, aside from eating, sleeping, and training.
…
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, Rinku had already spent seven days in the hotel. It was now the evening of the seventh day.
According to what the boss had promised earlier, today was the deadline for handing over his identification.
And yet he hadn't seen a single scrap of paper.
Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Rinku's delicate features looked a little worn, but his eyes remained sharp and focused, faint streams of white aura coating their surface.
He had already achieved basic mastery of Gyo.
"Heh. What a frog in a well… still thinking so small," Rinku sneered, his voice dripping with mockery.
The truth was, he had already figured out days ago that Piers had no intention of keeping his word.
Forget the photo, sure, maybe you didn't need that—but at the very least, shouldn't there be a name on the ID?
Otherwise, how would it prove your identity?
And Rinku hadn't given his name to the man at all that day.
The only reason he'd waited until the deadline was because he had been too busy training to bother dealing with it.
Now, seven days had passed. He had learned Gyo, and his patience had run out.
He was itching to travel, eager to explore unfamiliar lands and meet new Pokémon that would become his own.
So today, if Piers could produce the ID, that was fine.
But if he couldn't…
He'd still better hand it over.
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Hey everyone! I'll be dropping an extra 1 chapter once we hit 100, 200, 300 power stones! If you're enjoying the story, don't forget to spend some power stones. I'd really appreciate the support. Thanks a bunch!