It wasn't long before Orchid returned home. Before heading back, he had hidden on a distant rooftop, curious about how the NYPD would react to the woman's description of him.
It was then that he discovered the identity of the police captain. He recognized him almost immediately—it was Captain Stacy, father of Gwen Stacy. The revelation confirmed his suspicion: this universe was a fusion of several others. While there might be pieces he'd overlooked, the information was still valuable.
Slumping onto the couch, Orchid opened the system interface. A notification blinked on the screen, one he'd received not too long ago.
[System Notification]
– You have successfully defeated three thugs with malicious intent. Achievement earned: Small time hero
– You have been rewarded with 10 Achievement Points.
Orchid nodded at the message but shifted his focus. Achievement Points weren't his priority right now. What he needed were Reputation Points to purchase the Mystic Palm technique. Still, he understood that fighting crime and spreading his deeds across the city would naturally increase his reputation over time.
Closing the interface, he headed to the kitchen, prepared a quick dinner, and decided to turn in early. Tomorrow, he planned to leave the city before sunrise to dedicate time to his Mana Nature transformation training.
The next morning, Orchid woke before dawn. Moving quickly, he began his preparations for departure. He packed food snacks and other miscellaneous, storing them in the system inventory.
Unfortunately, the inventory had its limitations—non-system-related items couldn't stack, and with only fifty slots available, there was a hard cap on how much he could bring.
With that, he set off toward the outskirts, moving between rooftops at blinding speeds. In just under thirty minutes, he reached the city's edge, where tall, lush trees provided ample cover.
Once there, he created twenty shadow clones, replacing those from the previous day. With the clones dispatched to their tasks, he focused on his goal: mastering Mana Nature transformation.
After taking a sip of water, he settled into a small clearing, sitting in a lotus position. His mind went blank as he prepared to begin.
What exactly was Mana? He questioned himself internally. Like Chakra, Mana was a pure and clear form of magical energy. This meant it could be manipulated into different forms, much like a tree branching in several directions.
Through precise manipulation and vivid imagination, Mana could be reshaped into entirely new forms. Infused with an elemental nature, it could then be molded into specialized techniques. This was the core principle of Mana nature transformation.
As a versatile energy, Mana could seamlessly transition from one form to another, requiring only a profound understanding to harness its full potential.
Having recalled the basics, he turned his focus to the practical aspects. His preferred element was lightning—there was something about its raw power that resonated with him.
Now came the most challenging part: transforming his Mana into lightning. Mana could be molded and manipulated using hand signs, each with its specific function. The correct sequence of these signs could yield a variety of results, even aiding in the intricate process of nature transformation.
However, he had no prior experience with this. A lightning jutsu was not part of his arsenal, meaning he lacked the knowledge of its specific requirements or the process of creating lightning mana.
All he could do was rely on what little he understood. Lightning was erratic—defined by its speed, sharpness, and raw, jagged energy.
"Focus," he muttered to himself. Lightning is sudden, an energetic surge of crackling intensity. It's a natural discharge of static electricity, triggered when water and ice particles collide. Maybe he could mimic that by causing similar collisions while gathering mana.
Activating his Sharingan, he brought two fingers close together, his concentration at its peak. He directed his mana, visualizing the properties of lightning with meticulous focus. Nearly an hour passed, each second demanding unwavering effort, before he finally began to make progress with the visualization.
Too much mana, and the chance of success would plummet. Too little, and it would be a complete failure. He needed to find the perfect balance, a precise amount that could produce lightning mana within his current level of control and limits.
He sighed, deep in thought. This was one of the drawbacks of possessing an abundance of mana—the more you had, the harder it was to control.
Suddenly, in a short burst of release and collision, a spark of lightning danced between his fingers. If not for the tingling sensation and his activated Sharingan, he might have missed it entirely.
Encouraged by this small success, he reviewed the process again, relying on his Sharingan's perfect photographic memory to capture every detail.
With its aid, he began making steady progress. Out of every ten attempts, two would succeed, and with each success, the bolts of lightning grew thicker and more defined.
After several hours of continuous, rigorous practice, he had made solid progress in creating lightning mana. With his palms open and fingers arched upward, lightning crackled between them, sending a tingling sensation through his hands. The phenomenon mesmerized him, the raw energy both thrilling and humbling.
Eager to push his limits, he began gathering the lightning mana into one fingertip. He pointed his finger toward a tree a few meters away, focusing intently. But before the mana could fully gather, it burst into a spark of electricity and dissipated harmlessly.
"I still suck at shape transformation," he muttered, frustration creeping into his voice. "Maybe I should've started with that instead of nature transformation."
He sighed in resignation. Once he gained a solid grasp on nature transformation, he'd move on to shape transformation.
For now, his focus shifted back to nature transformation. Just because some jutsus required shape transformation didn't mean they all did.
With that in mind, he turned his attention to the D-rank Jutsu, the Body Flicker Technique. It was one of the simplest jutsus he could think of, yet it held immense potential.
The Body Flicker Technique was essentially a high-speed movement technique. By using mana to temporarily vitalize the body, it enabled the user to move at extreme speeds. The farther the distance, the more mana it consumed, and the stronger the user, the faster they could go.
This time, instead of using normal mana to power the technique, he planned to use lightning mana—a guaranteed speed boost.
The sun was dipping toward the horizon, painting the sky in hues of orange and pink. Time was running short, and he knew he had to act quickly. He stood in a small clearing, the gap before him only a few meters wide.
The choice of location was deliberate. This was the first time he would attempt the Body Flicker Technique using lightning mana, and he had no idea how fast it would make him. Just to be safe, he activated his Sharingan in advance, ready to analyze every detail of the attempt.
"Ready," he mused internally before quickly activating his mana.
Whoosh! His form vanished for a split second, reappearing a few meters away. In his wake, only a faint flicker of lightning lingered, crackling briefly before fading.
As Orchid reappeared, his expression darkened into a frown. He had expected more—a dramatic increase in speed from using lightning mana to power the Body Flicker Technique. While there was some improvement, the difference was almost negligible.
Still, he knew the fault lay in his execution. His mana flow was rough, unrefined at best. He had yet to properly channel lightning mana with precision.
'But then again, i just started,'he thought, a sigh escaping his lips. 'It's not like I'm expecting insane progressin one day.' His expression softened, resignation giving way to quiet acceptance.
Eventually, it was time to return to his apartment. Using the normal Body Flicker, he arrived quickly and slumped onto his couch. Grabbing the remote, he turned on the TV, aimlessly flipping through channels.
It didn't take long to land on the news he'd been waiting for: Tony Stark had been kidnapped.
"This is it," he thought, a grin tugging at the corner of his lips. The Marvel universe had officially taken its first step. Now, all he needed was to tread carefully and plan his moves wisely.
His plan was straightforward: save Tony Stark at the perfect moment, ensuring his journey to becoming Iron Man remained intact. Yet, he couldn't ignore the possibility of his actions triggering a butterfly effect.
Still, as the saying went, you can only cross a bridge when you come to it. That was a problem for his future self. For now, all he could do was prepare.
For tomorrow, his plan was simple: scour the depths of New York for any crimes he could find. Only by doing this could he quickly accumulate enough reputation points to purchase the Mystic Palm Technique.