ONE PIECE: NEN MASTER - CHAPTER 4 (Patreon)

[5 YEARS LATER]

It took me six years to graduate from the Mink combat academy at the age of ten. Being the youngest graduate so far, according to Nekomamushi, who happily gave me my diploma, which was nothing more than an empty piece of paper rolled into a tube and tied with a ribbon.

“Here’s your diploma nya!” I remember Nekomamushi saying with his usual smile.

“Thanks,” I replied, holding the diploma as my in the back parents were in full cheerleader mode on the back, dad had even brought some fireworks that spelled my name in the sky, and other things like, my kid is better than yours.

Seriously, where does he get all of this?

Anyway.

During my time in the academy, I learned many things, but for the most part, the entire syllabus revolved around the use of Electro.

Which at first, was a concept hard to grasp for me, but eventually, I managed to understand it, after a lot of struggle, learning the skill that made the tribe so famous across the world. When we weren’t talking about Electro, we would talk about the Sulong mode.

Only talk though, they never taught us anything regarding that particular subject, beyond the fact that it was an enhanced form that a Mink could take upon by looking directly at the full moon. In turn, unleashing the Mink’s primal animal instincts, while giving the Mink a massive increase of power.

They also talked about how using that power without a clear mind was akin to suicide, as the power of the moon would burn the life of the Mink away, turning said mink into a feral beast, one that would attack anyone without remorse until its body collapsed.

Beyond that, they taught us nothing about the Sulong mode but instead opted to remind us, not to try and use that power, unless we were ready.

All and all, I had fun, sure, at first, I expected to be hated by my classmates, I mean, most of them were six to eight years older than me, and well, I had read enough novels, and watched enough TV shows to know how being the kid exceeding expectations was not a plus in the popularity contest.

Surprisingly, from day one, they welcomed me with open arms.

I had no friction whatsoever with any of them. Not even when I was kicking their butts, which I expected to put one or two against me, but, no, they had no problems at all, by the fact a kid three times smaller than them, and younger than them, had completely destroyed them in the sparring sessions.

If I had to say, this had been the best school experience I had ever experienced, socially speaking, a school without the drama.

After that, well, I was pretty much doing nothing.

Finishing the training school was something each Mink was supposed to do, after that, there was nothing, it was the only thing that was technically obligatory, that and taking Nekomamushi’s toys, but I’m quite certain that last one is just Nekomamuchi adding stuff.

So, with the academy done, and a whole lot of freedom given by my parents based on the fact I had graduated, I decided to retake my Nen training, which had been on stand by for the most part during my training within the academy.

Beyond meditation, and other basic exercises here and there, I had done nothing much to improve my control. And that was something I needed to tackle early on, I had no master to teach me Nen, and while so far the ride had been considerably smooth, there was no guarantee it would remain that way.

I had to become stronger.

If coming to know the world I was in, had done something, it was dawning upon me the great threats of this world, threats that I was not prepared to deal with should they bare their fangs at me, I remembered a few of them, and those that I remembered, were terrifying.

It also helped I was thrilled to test Nen out.

“Valor, are you hungry?” My mother asked walking inside my room with a smile, carrying a small plate with some sandwiches cut into tiny triangles.

I smiled at her sight, nodding as I approached to grab the plate, “I will go out later,” I said, grabbing one of the triangles before biting into it.

“Remember to be at home before night comes,”

I nodded, as I continued to devour the tuna sandwiches she had brought, purring in satisfaction.

Purring, even to this day it felt weird.

—--------------------------------

[2 YEARS LATER]

I was finally twelve years old.

And puberty was starting, if I thought human puberty was weird, Mink puberty was beyond feeble human comprehension.

Not only I had to deal with my hormones screwing me on a consistent basis, but I also had to deal with the more animalistic sides of puberty. It was hard, really, my sense of smell was able to pick things like the smell of a female somewhat bothered by… well, you know, amongst other things.

I was at times, territorial even.

It was an intricate time to be alive, that was for sure.

Worse part is, this was only the beginning, puberty in humans at least, lasted until the late teens, progressively getting worse for some, I never had to experience much as a human, beyond the sporadic mood swing, and the occasional pimple here and there.

But enough above the talk.

When my mind wasn’t otherwise occupied, dealing with hormonal obstacles, I was working on my Nen, I had yet to create any kind of ability, as I had soon found soon, what I had learned in the manga, and anime was a very loose guide of how to use it.

So far, I had pretty much mastered Ten, and Zetsu.

I was still improving my Ren, with currently being able to keep it running at full power for around eleven hours or so, no idea how Bisky made the training look so simple, I guess it does make a difference having a teacher when it comes to these things, especially considering her Hatsu.

Beyond that, nothing much.

Training, eating, and going home to sleep.

Rinse and repeat.

I was preparing, for one day, I wanted to leave this island.

I had no idea if it was the prospect of a new world awaiting exploration, or my new body having new desires, but I wanted to see the world, and what it had to offer, sure, there were dangers outside the comfort of Zou, but somehow, the idea of them thrilled me.

I honestly didn’t know what was going through my head, but truthfully, I didn’t care. Of course, this was not to say, I would leave unprepared, preparations had to be made, to avoid making my journey harder than it had to be.

For that, I needed to know where in time I was located. As far as I knew, the One Piece timeline from the anime had yet to start, with the only known event for me that had already happened benign Roger’s death, but beyond that, I had yet to hear about the Straw Hats or even Ace for that matter.

Another thing was, that Shanks while famous enough for some if not all Minks to know at least about his name, he didn’t seem to have the title of a Yonko just yet.

But, that didn’t really tell me much, after all, I had no idea if he had acquired that title during the beginning of One Piece or after, so that point of reference was quite worthless.

In fact, the only point of reference I was quite positive I could use, was Luffy sailing away.

I guess time will tell.

“Ha, a time pun,” I snorted, resuming my training.