After agreeing to live from now onward with Kai and Elsa, Ash fulfilled his promise and was ready to initiate Kai.
The three came to the living room. Elsa sat on the couch, while Kai and Ash stood in front of her.
Kai stood in front of Ash shirtless, revealing his sculpted bronze-like muscles.
Ash extended his hand and put it just a few millimeters from Kai's back.
"Relax, empty your mind, try to focus on where my finger is pointing on your back, because my aura will spread from this point like ripples across your body. On its way, all the closed aura nodes will be forcibly opened."
"At that moment, you will be like a balloon poked by countless tiny needles. The 'air' inside you will gush out in all directions. Your main job is to control that air, and instead of letting it dissipate, you must guide it and let it circulate around your body. The method I used to control it is by visualizing a full body armor made of aura. Try this method, and don't worry about falling. I'll back you up. Even if your whole body's life energy escaped, I'll forcibly stuff it back."
Kai nodded his head and said, "I'm ready, please start Shiro-san!"
Hearing this, Ash muttered in his heart, 'Kai's Body, I order you to open your aura nodes!'
A little bit of Nen was consumed to realize this order. Then Kai opened his eyes wide from the sudden change in his body.
Kai only felt a warm breath coming from the place Ash's finger was pointing at, spreading across every inch of his body. Then this warm breath escaped from his skin pores, enveloping his whole body in what felt like hot steam.
Kai looked at his palm and could clearly see a faint mist-like gas covering it.
"This is... my aura!" Kai looked at the aura covering his body and felt excited. Finally, he became a Nen user. Finally, he could have a power that transcended the ordinary, and most importantly, he could protect his sister!
Elsa looked at her brother with an intense look, trying hard to see his aura, but no matter how much she focused, she couldn't see anything. Instead, when she squinted her eyes, she saw a blurry double image of both Ash and Kai.
"So I can see the aura in this way!" Elsa naively thought.
"Kai, stop being in a daze, hurry up and use the visualization method I told you to control your aura!"
Ash saw Kai looking at his palm in a daze and hurriedly warned him to come back to his senses.
"Ah, sorry sorry." Kai quickly apologized and closed his eyes, trying to sense the aura flowing out of his body.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes... after five minutes, Kai finally managed to sense all the aura coming out of the various pores in his body.
Beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He felt his energy getting drained at a quick rate.
This feeling hindered him from having a clear sense of his aura.
After doing this first step, Kai started trying to control it.
But the life energy was like an untamed wild beast that had been caged its whole life and now found the opportunity to escape. So how could it listen to Kai after regaining its freedom?
Five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes...
Kai slowly started getting proficient at manipulating his aura. The escaping rate of the life energy was slowing down. The aura around him finally showed signs of shrouding his body.
Elsa saw her brother's body being soaked in sweat as if he had just come out of water, and his complexion turning pale after each passing moment.
She asked Ash worriedly, "Shiro-san... my brother is going to be fine, right?"
Ash turned his head and smiled at Elsa as he said in a comforting voice, "Don't worry. With me here, even if he wants to die, I won't allow him. Now he is just a little bit away from controlling his aura, so please Elsa-san, be quiet. Any little bit of distraction may cause him to fail!" Ash whispered quietly. Elsa nodded her head and made a zipping gesture indicating she would stop talking.
Ash looked at the basketball-sized aura ball he gathered from the life energy escaping out of Kai. The moment he opened Kai's aura nodes, he ordered it to gather next to him, just in case Kai failed, he would return it back to him.
Ten minutes later, Kai slowly opened his eyes. He looked at Ash and said with a smile.
"Shiro-san, I succeeded!" Kai said excitedly. He managed to keep the aura entangled around his body, and according to Ash, this was the last step to become a Nen user.
Ash patted Kai's shoulder and nodded his head. "Although it took you a lot of time, it doesn't matter. You officially stepped into the realm of extraordinary. From now onward, as long as you practice hard, you will become a real superhuman, so congratulations Kai!"
Kai nodded happily. He suddenly thought of something and asked, "By the way, Shiro-san, I wonder if there are any methods to test someone's talent in Nen? I want to know if I'm talented or not."
Hearing Kai's sudden question, Ash was surprised at first. He recalled the information he knew from the manga and the anime. With his hands below his chin, he said, "If I remember correctly, there is no precise way to measure someone's talent in Nen, but there are some signs that can be used to roughly determine the potential of a Nen user."
Kai asked eagerly, "What signs?"
"For example, the speed at which you take control of your aura after initiation," Ash replied.
"In that case, can you roughly judge my talent? How much time did I spend to stop my aura from escaping?" Kai asked with expectations.
"You spent no less than thirty minutes," Ash said.
"30 minutes, is it good or bad?"
Ash pondered before saying, "If we classify talents from low, medium, high, and peak, then based on your speed you would be considered as having medium talent."
"Those who could control their aura after more than one hour are low-level talent, those who took between ten minutes and one hour should be medium-level talent, those who took between five minutes and ten minutes are high-level talents, and those who took less than five minutes should be considered peak-level talents!"
Ash used his knowledge of the anime and the talents shown by the protagonists as a reference to fabricate a simple and rough talent judging system based on the speed of mastering 'Ten' after Nen initiation.
"So I'm just a medium talent. Heh, I thought I would be some kind of genius." Kai smiled bitterly and said in a self-deprecating manner.
"Although having talent is good, hard work is even more important. Don't be disappointed. Instead, you should work even harder than others, and with my support, even if you are a low-level talent, I'll help you grow your strength at a rate that doesn't lose to those high-level talents. It's only a question of whether you are willing to put in some hard work or not."
Ash comforted the disappointed Kai, and what he said wasn't a lie. With absolute order, Ash was confident he could let his brother-in-law achieve a speed of improvement that didn't lose to the protagonists!
"You are right. Even if my talent is bad, as long as I put in a lot of effort, then I won't lose to them! Shiro-san, how long did it take you to control your aura?" Kai asked curiously.
Ash looked at him with hesitation. He was afraid of destroying Kai's motivation, but he didn't want to lie either.
"My case is very special, so please don't compare yourself with me."
"Don't worry, I'm just curious," Kai assured.
"Well, it took me less than ten seconds to keep my aura entangled around my body."
Kai's smile froze and slowly faded away.
"Ten... Ten seconds... you are joking, right?"
This answer exceeded his expectation. He was expecting to hear ten minutes, five minutes, and even 1 to 3 minutes.
But ten seconds... this was simply not what a human could do!
He had just experienced how hard it was to sense all the aura nodes within his body and try to guide the aura, coupled with the feeling of losing his energy, which made concentration even more difficult. Yet Ash did all of this in ten seconds?
"I told you my case is very special," Ash replied seriously. He didn't take pride in this achievement at all, because he cheated using absolute order. If he were to rely on his own ability, then he might be even worse than Kai.
"Shiro is so cool!" Elsa on the side muttered. She felt that Ash was amazing, to achieve the thing her brother struggled to do in less than ten seconds was really cool.
...
Ash told Kai about the four fundamental Nen techniques: Ten, Zetsu, Ren and Hatsu, and demonstrated to him how to practice them.
As for Elsa, Ash used Kai's life energy as a price to improve her physique slightly, then waited until her body reached a suitable degree of endurance before initiating her.
Then Elsa took Ash to his room, which was spacious, with just a simple bed and wardrobe full of her father's clothes.
Ash rested on the bed and took the harmony hummer from the system's inventory.
He adjusted the parameters according to the way Master Shen told him, then clicked on the button to start the device.
*buzzzzzz*
Ash heard a buzzing sound coming out of the speaker, which was the frequency he needed to imitate.
Ash closed his eyes and listened carefully to the frequency.
After one minute, the sound stopped, and a frequency meter appeared on the device's screen, with a ten-minute countdown below it.
"Hmmmmmm..."
Ash started humming. The frequency meter numbers kept on dancing, but Ash never hit the correct frequency.
Ash didn't give up and kept on attempting until the ten-minute countdown ended.
"Damn, it's so hard! This isn't what a normal human could do!"
Ash took a sip of water to moisten his dry throat. After this attempt, he realized the limitation of his ordinary physique. He could hear the frequency, but that was all, unlike that time in the trial when he could even differentiate frequencies from others and rely on sound only to map out the entire maze.
So...
"My body, I order you to use all my energy to enhance my sense of hearing permanently!"
Ash didn't waste time and decisively chose to enhance his hearing to a superhuman level.
All of Ash's Nen disappeared into thin air, and immediately he felt a sense of weakness and hunger wash over his body.
He slumped on the bed like a soft noodle, almost fainting from this sudden hunger.
But Ash didn't have time to relax as he felt his ears getting hot at the same time a painful sensation was transmitted towards his brain. It was as if someone was hammering his ears.
Ash's ears were undergoing a huge change from the inside. The eardrums became more sensitive and accurate. They were modified at the genetic level to be able to hear frequencies that ordinary human ears can't detect.
"AGHHH!"
Ash bit the pillow hard, preventing himself from letting the painful howling scream escape.
Fortunately, the process was quicker than expected. After less than three minutes, the pain started fading out, and instead, Ash felt as if a new perspective had opened to him.
He closed his eyes, relying on the sense of hearing only. He could 'see' the world around him in a unique way.
Things that the eye can't see were now clear in his hearing perspective.
The fly that was struggling to escape from the spider web at the right top corner of the room.
The sound of air entering through the gaps in the window or the door.
And when Ash concentrated a little bit, he could expand this perspective even further. For example, he could hear the quick breathing of Kai below who was training and even map out a rough outline of his body based on the various sounds coming out of it.
He could sense that Kai was doing a handstand push-up in the living room.
Then Ash tried to locate Elsa.
His perspective moved to the kitchen. He could hear the humming and whispering singing of the girl, the sound of the water, the sound of the dishes being cleaned.
Ash started feeling a headache. He quickly retracted his senses and shrank the range of his hearing perspective.
Ash was relieved to find that he could fine-tune his hearing as he liked. He could make it work at any level he wanted, either the level of ordinary people or the superhuman level, or between.
So he didn't need to fear being deprived of sleep because of the enhanced hearing.
Ash reached his hand into the void and grabbed the food he stored in the inventory and started eating it to replenish his energy.
After half an hour, Ash regained some strength, then launched the harmony hummer again.
"BUZZZZZZ..."
This time, the sound emitted by the device was clear in Ash's superhuman ears. Just like how a normal person can distinguish between the vocals of people, he could hear the frequency more clearly and feel its uniqueness.
Then Ash tried to mimic the frequency. He recalled how it sounded in his mind and started humming.
'Not like this... not this... not even this...'
Ash's voice was low and started rising higher and higher. Even if he could distinguish the frequency of his humming, mimicking the exact frequency of the harmony hummer was difficult.
Ash didn't want to keep being stubborn and try to prove to himself that he was a genius. After all, he was just an ordinary human with good looks, and his talent was just above average. The only thing that separated him from ordinary people was the addiction to thrill and playing dangerous games in his previous life.
So without hesitation, he decided to cheat his way into mastering the roaring dragon fist. After enhancing his ears, the second target was...
"My body, I order you to have the ability to mimic any voice I've heard!"
As the order fell, the energy he had just regained disappeared, and Ash felt the change in his throat taking place immediately.
The vocal cords, under the power of absolute order, were reconstructed and reshaped in a way that allowed them to perfectly mimic all the voices that Ash's superhuman ears could detect, sounds beyond the ordinary human hearing spectrum.
He also instinctively realized how to use these newly modified vocal cords to mimic any voice he heard, just like how he could manipulate his hands. It was very simple and easy.
After resting and recharging, Ash relaunched the harmony hummer, then listened to the frequency emitted from it.
Then came the key moment, to replicate the frequency using his voice.
The frequency meter appeared, and Ash recalled the sound he had just heard.
"Hmmmmm..."
The frequency meter numbers shifted quickly before stabilizing at a certain number. Ash was able to maintain the same frequency coming out of his mouth the whole time.
"BINGO!"
The harmony hummer's screen turned green and a smiling emoji with a thumbs up appeared on the screen, with happy music and a voice repeating "bingo" sounding from it.
Ash smiled with satisfaction.
"There is nothing better than cheating!"
Ash played with the harmony hummer a few more times and confirmed the accuracy of his superhuman hearing and voice mimicking ability.
After making sure these abilities were working correctly, Ash was ready to move on to the next training, which was to break glasses using frequency resonance.
Ash was too lazy to leave his room, so...
"I, Ash Bernard, order three glass cups in the kitchen below to immediately appear in front of me!"
Ash solemnly declared his order. 10% of his aura was consumed to implement this order. Ash was surprised; so much aura was consumed just for three glass cups. Moreover, he specified the location, which was just the kitchen below, so it shouldn't have consumed too much energy.
Ash realized the source of this problem.
"Sigh, my aura is too little after all. That's why every order I issue gives me the illusion that it consumed a lot of energy."
In the kitchen of Elsa and Kai's house, three glass cups vanished into thin air, then they appeared on top of Ash's bed.
Ash took one cup and started tapping it with his finger, hearing the frequency it produced. Ash cleared his throat and started humming in front of the water cup.
"Crack!"
The water cup in Ash's hand started cracking and Ash stopped.
"I order you to repair yourself."
As if time went back, the crack on the cup disappeared.
Ash did the same thing with the remaining two cups.
Without suspense, he was able to break them with his voice only, thanks to his ability to mimic any sound.
Ash repaired all the broken cups and sent them back to the kitchen.
After achieving the first step in mastering the roaring dragon fist, Ash planned to go tomorrow and ask Master Shen to let him know the next training program.
As for now, he continued practicing his Nen.
The first thing he would do was to consume all of his aura to enhance his all-around body aspects.
Ash noticed that after he consumed his aura several times before using absolute order, when he recovered it again, its amount increased slightly, so he thought of using this method to increase his aura reserve.
"My body, use all my aura to become stronger permanently!"
With the fall of this order, Ash's entire aura reserve was emptied, but at the same time his body received an all-around empowerment forever.
Ash bit the pillow and swallowed his scream. He endured the pain akin to having every inch of his body being constantly hammered.
His whole skin turned red hot with steam emitting from it like a piece of molten iron.
Unlike the temporary power boost he received when fighting in Heaven's Arena, which was painless, this time, because he ordered his body to get stronger permanently, his body was forced to change, to get stronger. From the bones, meridians, lungs, heart, cells, skin, and all other components were forced to grow quickly.
Five minutes later, the enhancement ended. Ash rested for a while, stuffed some food to calm his roaring stomach, then felt the change in his body.
"With the amount of aura I used, this physical enhancement probably saved me 4 months of disciplined body training. Without using Nen, in terms of physical strength only, I'm probably able to lift no more than half a ton. As for my speed, it's just nearly double that of ordinary people. If I used Pre-Nen Killua as a unit of measurement, then I'm 3% as strong as him."
Ash estimated his strength. At the same time, he had to sigh at the talent of the protagonist group. Even Leorio, who seemed ordinary compared to the other three, was stronger physically than Ash before the enhancement. Now they were probably equal.
"Well, it won't take long before I could catch up to them in terms of body strength. At most 6 months, and with the assistance of the Nen ability I envision, it will take less than 3 months!"
Ash continued his Nen training, practicing the fundamental techniques without the assistance of Absolute Order.
The reason he was doing this was because he didn't want to waste his energy just to manipulate his Nen. In some cases, like a life-and-death situation, even a little bit of difference in aura reserve could determine the outcome.
Once Ash finished his aura manipulation training, he took a pen and a notebook from his inventory, Then he started jotting down all his ideas about his Nen ability, from its functions to its conditions of work, its form, its limitations and restrictions, and even the oaths he could use to strengthen it.
Ash intended to wait until he reached the 200th floor to create this ability with the aid of absolute order. He was also concerned about the lack of Nen to realize it.
At night, Ash and Kai, accompanied by Elsa who intended to watch their match, went to Heaven's Arena. Ash and Kai easily reached the 140th floor. After that, they went to a nearby restaurant to eat before they returned home.
...
Ash at that night waited until he heard with his enhanced hearing the snoring of Kai and used absolute order to teleport inside's Elsa's room, which was also in the second floor, next to Kai's room, if he used a normal way to enter it, then Kai will notice him easily.
Even without light, Ash could see the beautiful and kawai face of Elsa with the aid of the moonlight and his enhanced body.
Seeing that Elsa is in a deep sleep, Ash quietly lifted the quilt and entered inside.
His action alarmed Elsa, Her orange pearls like eyes slowly opened, when she saw the silhoute of someone in front of her she was frightned and screamed.
"Shhh, that's me, Shiro." fortunately Ash was paying attention so he quickly sealed her mouth with his palm.
'Shiro-san! why he is in my room at such a time! and why he is inside my quilt!'
Elsa's face checks and her ears turned crimson red from shyness and embarrassment.
seeing that she won't scream, Ash took back his palm and approached her until the bridge of their nose meet.
Elsa avoided his sharp gaze and asked in a trembling voice : "Sh-Shiro-san...why are you here?"
The golden eyes meet the orange pearls, Ash smiled and said : "Elsa, we will become a couple soon, it's only natural for us to sleep with each other, don't worry i won't do anything against your will, I only wants to sleep hugging you that's all!"
Hearing his words, Elsa's heartbeat accelerated and her face turned red.
'sleeping with Shiro and hugging each other in sleep! but...'
this thought made her nervous and excited at the same time.
Elsa said in a low voice anxiously : "shiro-san, we promised my brother that we won't do anything inappropriate until we got married, moreover i'm afraid if we slept together brother will caught us easily!"
Ash saw her hesitation and said in a confident tone : "don't worry, he won't find anything, My Nen ability allows me to teleport wherever i want, that's how i entered your room, I'll wake up before him and return to my room in the morning, so don't worry about anything."
Hearing that Ash had a nen ability that allows him to teleport, Elsa was surprised, just how many abilities he had? first he showed her the ability to store things in a pocket dimension, now he had the ability to teleport, even if she had just known about Nen she could tell that Ash is awesome.
'shiro-san is really cool, his talent in Nen probably is at the peak.'
knowing that he could teleport, Elsa calmed down her anxiety and accepted Ash's proposal.
"just a hug, nothing shameful, promise me, shiro-san!"
"when did i ever lied to you? i promise you, i'm only going to hug you!"
"um..."
getting Elsa's agreement, Ash approached her even more and wrapped his right hand around her waist and put his right leg above her left leg.
feeling that her knees touched something round and soft, Elsa froze in her place and tried to move it down.
Ash chuckled inside, just know, Elsa's knees touched his balls, just this simple contact made Elsa wants to run away like a deer.
'so cute, I really want to taste her now, no i have to wait. sigh...now i understand the feelings of Hisoka.'
"have a good night, Elsa." Ash kissed her forehead and whispered in her ear.
Elsa shrunk her head in embarrassment and only whispered : "um."
that night, Elsa had the first most exciting night in her life, as for Ash, he pretended to be asleep while 'unconsciously' caressed and touched some areas of Elsa's body.
In this way he is slowly familiarizing her with the feeling so she won't get scared when the real action happens.