Author’s Corner: Yes, there is chakra. No, this is not Naruto, nor will it ever be Naruto! I am not going to milk this for 700 chapters, just to later release a sequel series that is almost identical! >.>
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To start my training, I first activated my new Charge Chakra ability through the game system. Although I managed to perform the basic fusion of energies on my own, the system method would give me a better insight on how to do so more efficiently. And indeed, once I let the system take over, I found that my Ki and Mana were merging together along my skin.
Rather than pushing them together physically to let them fuse, this ability directs them along the surface of the skin to meet at key points. The result is an almost gaseous blue energy radiating an inch out from my skin. Thankfully, I found that I could still control this new energy, similar to how I would control its individual components.
The first main difference I noticed between Chakra and both Ki and Mana was that I had no natural storage. Just like how there was no mention of Chakra in my status window, I can’t naturally store it in my body. The moment I tried, I felt it starting to break up into its component energies. Within ten seconds, it had fully turned back into Ki and Mana.
Now, although I could not store it internally, I was able to hold it externally, as long as I focused on it. Once that focus was lost, it would begin spreading out into the air around me, outside of my control. This made Chakra a rather inconvenient energy to use for now, though I had yet to explore its applications.
For this training I was about to do, I decided that it was important to understand both the applications of Chakra, and the differences it possesses with Ki and Mana. Since I already had Chakra formed, I conducted my first test. Moving the energy to the soles of my feet, I wanted to see if it had the same property to enhance physical aspects that Ki had.
When I took a step after charging my foot with Chakra, I felt the world around me blur for a brief instant. The next moment, I was roughly ten meters away from my starting position, without a single sound betraying the boost in speed. My eyes went wide at the implication of that, this movement ability exceeding my expectations.
As a test, I repeated the action, this time using Ki instead of Chakra. After experiencing the power of the Ki Fist, I had no doubt that this would produce another movement ability. And sure enough, there was a small explosion beneath my foot when I stepped forward, and I felt my body rocketing through the air.
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Unable to catch myself in time, I slid face first along the ground for nearly twenty meters. Thankfully, the damage was reduced drastically due to my Keeper body. However, I had been able to gather some useful data from this.
With Chakra, I was able to perform a short-range ‘Flash Step’, carrying me ten meters. I felt no sensation of instant acceleration or deceleration, almost as if it were a teleport power. When I applied the same amount of Ki instead, what I got was an ‘Explosive Charge’, carrying me fifteen meters before I lost my balance and slid another twenty. This time, I was clearly able to feel the acceleration, and my face certainly felt the ground slowing me down.
Groaning, I decided to repeat the test, this time with Mana. Two out of three granted tricks for movement techniques, so it was worth a shot. Closing my eyes, I guided the mana to the soles of my feet, and took a step forward.
Upon opening my eyes, I found that I had moved forward exactly one step… So, I tried again, and again, until I noticed something strange. My foot felt… heavy, just before I took the step. Don’t tell me… Ki enhances the physical aspects, Mana defies physics…
Looking around, I ran towards a nearby tree, maintaining the constant stream of Mana to my feet. In order to test my theory, I lifted my foot up and placed it vertically along the trunk of the tree. Glad that nobody was around to see me make a fool of myself, I lifted my other foot off the ground, half expecting to land on my ass.
One moment passed, and then another, and I did not crash into the ground like I had expected. I still felt the pull of gravity drawing me downwards, but my foot was firmly rooted in place. So, Mana really does let you walk on walls… Wonder if it works for water…? I turned to cast my eyes at the ocean, a mischievous glint shining in my eyes.
Pushing off from the tree, I ran back towards the shore. At the last moment, I channeled Ki into my feet to leap high into the air. Confident in my theory, I began channeling mana into my feet at the apex of my jump, preparing to land on the water.
However… things don’t always go the way we want. Rather than sticking to the water’s surface like I had to the tree, I simply fell through the water, causing a large splash to erupt around me. Once I had reached the bottom, my feet became stuck to the ground, prevent me from rising up.
Frustrated, I cancelled the Mana going to my feet, and allowed myself to swim back to the shore. No Jesus imagery today, I guess. I couldn’t help but let out a sigh at that, before going back to my training. Though, as soon as I arrived back at the island, I found a series of messages waiting for me.
Ninja has leveled up!
Monk has leveled up!
Well, two levels out of that experiment was still pretty good. Though, since I wanted to focus on ninja levels, I should probably stick to Chakra training now. This test gave me the information I needed, anyways.
Like I had suspected, Ki seems to amplify physical aspects, such as impact, strength, and possibly defense. Mana defies nature, allowing magic to take place. Chakra, as a combination, has aspects of both. That ‘Flash Step’ possesses the speed boost of Ki, while also taking aspects of Mana to make the movement instantaneous, without any sensation of actually moving.
With that knowledge, I was able to imagine some other abilities I should be capable of performing with Chakra. Letting a small grin break out over my face, I stood up and got to work. My next ability that I wanted to test required a tool, so I picked a random rock from the ground. If I wanted to go back to the Admin Room, I could get some daggers that Terra made me craft while training, but this rock should do for now. A rock is also less likely to stab me if I mess up.
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Slowly, I followed the method I had learned to charge my hand with chakra. I watched as the blue mist appeared around my hand, and the rock contained within it. Focusing, I wrapped the chakra around that rock, leaving only a thin trace of it on my hand. Finally, I flipped my hand over and released the rock.
I didn’t just watch as the rock fell from my hand, I felt it. It was as if the rock had become an extension of myself, and the moment I willed it to stop, the chakra surrounding it seemed to tighten. The rock sat there, roughly five inches below my hand, suspended in midair by an almost invisible strand of blue mist. This was the second ability that I imagined to be possible after briefly studying Chakra, the ability to control items with my Chakra.
For my next trick… I was going to do something far more advanced, and I was not even sure it would work. I had a theory, though. A theory that I would be able to use more than just pure mana to make chakra. A theory that I could use a half-completed spell for it, as well.
Bringing my hands up in front of my face, I joined my thumbs and index fingers together to make a large circle. Next, I imagined a spell diagram in my mind, but only part of one. I focused on a single element, excluding the rest of the spell, and passed my mana through that image before joining it with the ki in my hands.
The result of this was a hazy red mist, different from the blue Chakra I had previously created. Knowing that I was on the right track, I took a deep breath and blew into that circle formed by my hands. A roar sounded out through the surroundings, belonging to no man or beast. A cone of flame shot out from in front of my mouth, scorching everything in front of me for thirty meters.
This ‘Fire Breath’ lasted for nearly five seconds, before I ran out of air in my lungs to support it. The moment I stopped blowing into the red Chakra, the flames stopped spewing forth. I let my grin grow wider as I saw the effect this ability had. Though, that joy I felt faded when I saw the amount of energy that had been used. Out of roughly a thousand Mana and Ki, that one attack had burned through well over half of each. Of course, that was only a temporary loss, because both bars were again quickly filled.
Ninja has leveled up!
Camouflage ability unlocked!
Hmm? An ability at level three? My curiosity successfully piqued, I went ahead and activated the ability. Immediately, I felt the image of a shape forming in my mind, acting as a filter for the mana to pass through before it formed into Chakra along my skin. However, after the Chakra was formed, nothing seemed to happen.
Unsure of what was going on, I looked down, seeing a hazy outline of my hand. Surprised, I cancelled the ability, watching as a yellow mist gradually dispersed from the air around me. At the same time, my hand became visible. Activating the ability again, I focused on the image that I saw formed in my mind.
That is… the Light element, if I recall. So… light chakra around the body forms a basic stealth ability. Blowing into fire chakra creates a flame attack. My excitement for the possibilities of this class only continued to grow with each new ability.
If I had to give this class a weakness, it would be that it is impossible to train by itself. In order to form Chakra, you need both Mana and Ki. So, you need to train both as a Mage and a Monk before you can unlock the Ninja class. For normal people, that severely limits the amount of levels they can gain in the class. Especially since the Ninja class does not enhance any of the base attributes that amplify those two energies.
Though, I soon thought of another weakness, and that was the inability to use multiple types of energy at the same time. I wasn’t sure if this was a skill that could be trained, or a set limitation. However, it did not seem likely that I would be able to use multiple Ninja abilities at the same time, such as the ‘Flash Step’ and Camouflage.
Shaking my head, I dispelled those thoughts in order to focus on my training. There was still one more ability I wanted to test. This was the Chakra counterpart to the Ki Fist. If the Ki Fist amplified the impact, I wanted to see what the ‘Chakra Fist’ would do.
In order to conduct this test, I moved back to the same tree I had previously stood on earlier for my ‘foot test’. Feeling excited for what I was about to do, I flexed my fingers while charging my hand with Chakra. I knew that my physical abilities far exceeded what anyone else in the world right now should be capable of, aside from maybe the strongest monsters. If I went all out, punching through this tree should be entirely possible, even easy if I used the Ki Fist.
However, what I wanted was to test a new ability. If there was nothing left of the tree when I was done, I could not accurately gauge its strength. So, I planned to hold back a little. Balling up my fist, I pulled it back, taking a basic stance with one palm out in front of me.
When I threw my fist forward, I felt as if something changed in the Chakra I was holding. And, when my fist landed against the tree, there was no crash of an impact, no pain from punching wood. On my end, it instead felt as if I had lightly tapped the tree with my fist, and the Chakra had moved into the tree.
I could still feel the existence of the Chakra at the center of the tree, and even was able to move it around within the tree itself. However, I was not able to figure out what this ability was supposed to be until I had given up. At the moment I decided that this ability was only good for transferring Chakra harmlessly, and loosened my hold over the energy in the tree, the thick wooden trunk exploded outwards from the very point that the Chakra had been stored.
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I felt tiny stings as splinters crashed against my body, staring dumbfoundedly at the tree. The area where the Chakra had previously been held was no more, and the top of the tree crashed into the ground at the side, sending tremors throughout the ground. This was definitely on the same level as a Ki Fist, but with the added property of internal damage and a delayed response.
Ninja has leveled up!