Chapter 2: Water Divination

Saruto saw the newly formed "nen" in the palm of his hand.

He understood in his heart...

This "nen," emerging abruptly within him, was essentially similar to the "vast information" that had inundated his brain alongside the transmigration.

Both were "gifts" bestowed by the act of transmigration itself.

Perhaps, this could be considered as the "golden finger" he possessed as a transmigrator.

However, it only occurred with transmigration, making it somewhat redundant.

Now, Saruto could feel the changes in his body, not just the emergence of nen, but fundamental changes in his body's structure.

It was as if his body, in response to the stimuli of transmigration, had evolved forcibly in accordance with the rules.

Now, he, too, could generate aura like any other native of this world, and lose aura...

In other words, he had become a native of this world, subject to the rules of the current world.

"Just a moment ago, I could only 'see,' but now I can vaguely 'feel' the presence of aura..."

Saruto closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to perceive the presence of aura around him, surmising that the sudden emergence of nen had opened some of his "pores" to it.

This allowed him to sense the presence of nen and attempt to manipulate the aura around him.

"Although it's not very clear, it seems somewhat similar to manipulating 'cursed energy'..."

Saruto attempted to gather his curse energy at his fingertips. The black and white forces of nen and cursed energy intertwined without any conflict. Instead, their compatibility was remarkably harmonious, merging into a black liquid-like substance enveloped in mist, showing no signs of anomaly.

Seeing this, Saruto felt fortunate.

"Thankfully... the emergence of nen hasn't affected my precision in manipulating cursed energy."

After all, his greatest asset was the "Limitless Curse Technique" engraved deep within his soul.

If the emergence of nen had intruded upon his control over cursed energy, or even rendered him unable to manipulate cursed energy, it would have been a loss outweighing the gain.

Because, as he saw it, the development of nen beyond the level of "Limitless Curse Technique," which involved manipulating atomic-level matter and controlling space, was quite challenging.

"However, since nen has awakened, I still need to test its attributes."

Thinking this, saruto rose and headed towards the cabin door.

As he walked... he calculated in his mind. Next, he would ask the kind old captain for a glass of water and then find a secluded place to test his nen's attributes.

Five minutes later,

Saruto didn't find the kind old captain but encountered a friendly young crew member instead. After briefly explaining his request, he learned that the captain was busy piloting the ship and couldn't be disturbed.

It made sense... amidst the turbulent waves, only the old captain could handle the ship.

And if someone else took over, even a single wave had a high probability of capsizing the ship.

In that case, even Saruto would end up fish food...

As he only possessed abilities such as attraction, levitation, and short-distance teleportation for now, Saruto could only ensure he wouldn't sink to the bottom of the sea in the middle of the ocean.

Fortunately, although Saruto didn't meet the captain, the crew member kindly brought him a glass of water after he explained his request.

After a simple thank you, Saruto didn't return to the cabin but slipped into the ship's restroom.

He ignored the smell and thought:

"Testing here shouldn't attract attention..."

Then, Saruto placed the glass on the toilet lid and pulled a thread from his sleeve, gently placing it in the center of the water.

Water Divination.

In the original story, it was the most common method to test one's nen abilities.

—By placing a leaf in a glass of water and channeling one's nen into it. By observing the changes in the water, one could determine the category.

Even though the glass wasn't full and the leaf wasn't present, and the entire glass was shaking due to the rocking of the ship, Saruto had managed to achieve this much through his efforts.

"In this terrible testing environment... although it might not yield results, it can still eliminate some options."

Usually, specific phenomena would occur with Enhancement, Emission, Manipulation, Conjuration, Transmutation, or Specialist abilities.

If he was lucky and one of these happened, Saruto could plan his nen abilities accordingly based on the results of the test.

"Although in most cases, it's the Specialist category that can develop abilities related to the rules."

"But in the Conjuration category of abilities, there have been many powers even more peculiar than those of the Specialist category... such as Knov's 'Hide and Seek' or Kite's 'Crazy Slots.'"

After a few minutes,

No changes were observed on the swaying surface of the water.

"No reaction..."

Saruto furrowed his brow slightly, showing his puzzlement.

He lifted the glass and examined it closely, still channeling nen into it.

After all, the lack of sufficient nen being infused might result in imperceptible changes in the water, which was one reason why many people couldn't obtain results.

Saruto observed the color of the water, confirming no change had occurred, immediately ruling out the Emission category.

At the same time, he increased his mental focus, allowing more aura to be infused into the water.

Additionally, Saruto employed the Limitless Curse Technique on the glass of water, adding a slight "attraction force" to it, causing the water to stick closely to the glass walls, making it easier for him to observe.

Before long, tiny black dots resembling sand particles began to appear in the water.

After a few minutes...

They gathered into a black sphere the size of a pupil, its material indiscernible.

Impurities?

"It seems like the Conjuration category..."

Seeing this, Saruto understood. He extended a hand and used the "attraction force" of the Limitless Curse Technique to lift the black sphere from the bottom of the water into mid-air. Then, he rotated his palm to make it float, holding it in the air between his fingers.

The black sphere floated in mid-air...

After observing for a while, Saruto pinched it between his fingers, finding it to be ordinary sand. With a gentle pinch, it shattered into pieces, scattering grains of sand all over the floor.

"It appears to be the Conjuration category..."

Having obtained his answer, Saruto felt much calmer.

"Although in most cases, it's the Specialist category that can develop abilities related to the rules."

"But in the Conjuration category of abilities, there have been many powers even more peculiar than those of the Specialist category... such as Knov's 'Hide and Seek' or Kite's 'Crazy Slots.'"

Now that he had determined his nen category, Saruto's next goal was to devise a nen ability that suited him.

Before leaving, Saruto also took a sip of the clear water in the glass, faintly detecting a sweet aroma.

He took a sip and realized that the water had acquired a slight sweetness.

"This is a characteristic of the Transmutation category..."

Moreover, since the sweetness wasn't too pronounced, Saruto guessed that his nen category was somewhat between Conjuration and Transmutation, leaning slightly towards Conjuration.

...