The start to power
2000 ryō in cash, no strings attached. Enough to spend 5 nights at Konji's with a frugal breakfast, or 3 nights if he felt less thrifty and treat himself to a complimentary dinner as well.
Cole was still shocked by the stylised leather purse and the way in which Hiruzen fished 2 grands out. The man had pressed the money into his hands without a second thought. All businesslike and casual, walking away with a: 'For the troubles.' and he was gone.
The sun was beginning its climb back down and Cole enjoyed the afternoon on a parkbench, but he wasn't lazing around anymore. He had spent 50 ryō on a pen and a dozen sheets of paper, carefully writing down the script of Naruto how he remembered. It must have been a stroke of luck that he was transported right when he and his siblings got really into it.
Though he had to make some concessions and accept that some parts would change perforce. Everything was being derrailed by his presence and he had to plan around that margin of error. Not eventually, but certainly. How severly the future was affected was written in the stars.
He jot down everything of importance, outlining arcs, listing powerful tools and weapons and highlighting movie events in particular, as these tend to be world-ending threats in most cases. The time overlap worried Cole the most. Some events happened concurrently with the main story and others were difficult to place, movies and filler respectively - he prayed to every god he knew, that the games weren't included. If every day, to the last hour and second, of a ninja was crammed full of missions, they could theoretically make do. The catch was that this won't be necessarily the case. One simple solution would need him picking up the slack and be where the main-cast should have been. That would include a lot of travel and put Cole right back at problem number one.
He had no funds - if one disregarded the small donation he got by Hiruzen. And although bounty-hunting was a viable source of income in this world, it wasn't a solution he... wanted to explore for himself. Then again, it would necessitate power in the first place anyway, which was as lacking as his finances - he also wanted some shades for his freakish eyes.
That was issue number two.
Cole had sketched out some abilities that might come in handy, focusing on defensive measures first, because he really didn't want to get necked by a stray kunai. In retrospect, the durability of fighters in Naruto left a lot to be desired. Offensively, they could disintegrate metric tons of rock like sheets of drywall, with but a simple wrist-snap; but defensively, a puny throwing star took them out. Cole had no desire to follow the same path.
With mind-boggling abilities like Kakuzu's Exploding Flame technique, that set entire stretches of land ablaze and had the properties of chakra-infused napalm, or Madara's habit to call down meteors, he would get hit, for sure. And when it happened, Cole didn't want to end up as a smear of different reds.
He flexed the coiled thread of energy within him. It was thrumming with unrealised potential after it had recovered. The loose filaments had tightly plaited into a writhing spool, radiating an eagerness to be wielded. Zoning in on the energy pinged back two new abilities, ones he must have formed while the string was out of comission. It reminded him of a log entry.
---
Screen:
Designate abilities and gain additional information about them. Limited to the User's field of vision. User's Intelligence checked against target's Intelligence. (Cannot evolve further.)
---
Repose (Level 1):
Passive: Regenerates Resources every second. [Currently: Health]. Increases Level of Repose with usage.
+ 0.1 Resource Regeneration per Level.
Currently: 0.1 RR
Active: Calms the User down and reduces stress and mental trauma. Increases Level of Repose with usage. Additional effects added with Level.
---
A this point in time the skills were rather on the weak side, Cole grinned nonetheless. 'Screen' was blatantly an offshoot of 'Insight', created when he tried to analyse Tenten's diagnostic jutsu. That meant potential hybridization and specialisation of his skills.
'Repose' was incredibly useful for the long-run. Feeling around the skill, Cole could tell its regeneration would include any future energy sources he implanted into himself. How he would do that was a mystery.
But that wasn't enough. The thread had energy to spare and it was emoting a growing greed for more. Apparently he wasn't the only one that wanted to progress.
Cole would disregard offensive skills for a start. He could, theoretically, become a bounty-hunter, however, factoring out his distaste for bloodshed - the downsides of being civilised -, firstly he would have to grow alongside his power, which was neither here nor there. A healer in contrast was always needed and it didn't pit him against murderous mountain bandits that made a living off of killing naive fools like him. At his core he was a risk-averse person and dying was on the top of the list of things he wanted to avoid.
He needed an ability that could heal others. A cruth through which he would gain the respect and renown from the Konoha villagers.
'Imagine it Cole.' Priests and clerics. Golden hearths and bellows that animated the soul and body. Ecclesial power at his fingertips, to mend flesh, knit muscles and set bones. A touch of divinity, a spark of miracles. Warmth that carries away all woes and reinvigorates hollow forms. Curing disease and giving peace. The agonized and the destitute shall be healed.
The thread bunched with the invoked imagery. It battled against invisible constraints, more savagely after each thought. Chains rattled, a belltower chimed. Then it burst free, rooting widly through his body, shooting through his veins and locking around his hands.
He could see his bones shining through his skin with an ivory light, his palms draped in gold and his blood turned into panacea. Absolution was his name and he was the purge of the wicked. The change lasted a moment and faded just as quickly, leaving him wondering. Another skill was tickling at his consciousness.
---
Lay on Hands (Level 1):
Mode One: Restore a designated Resource every second, or Cure a single Ailment, of a selected target via touch. Increases Level of Lay on Hands with usage.
+ 0.5 Resource Restoration per Level. Increased speed of Ailment Cure per Level.
Currently: 0.5 RR | Very Slow
Mode Two: Channel Lay on Hands to greatly restore a designated Resource, or greatly Cure a single Ailment. Effect dependant on channel time. Activated via touch. Increases Level of Lay on Hands with usage.
Mode Three: Exchange User's designated Resources to restore a target's designated Resource and Cure a designated Ailment. Effect dependant on the amount of used Resources. Increases Level of Lay on Hands with usage. Increases Vitality with usage.
---
Cole pumped his fists in the air and jumped from the bench. This was a skill that was worthy of a transmigration system. He had a hunch that stats could be increased after seeing his first statuses. And now he was provided a unique way to bolster his stats without bleeding himself dry - which would be a probable way to augment a stat like vitality.
The thread wasn't yet satisfied. Loaded like a spring it sent zealous feelings down his spine. One more skill could be fit inside before it would need to acclimatise and grow again.
Four skills gotten for a bargain felt like a lot to Cole, but he wouldn't want to disappoint his helpful companion.
For healing he had two skills already, now it was a question of whether or not he wanted a sensory or defensive ability.
In the end it was an easy choice. Assuming he advanced a sensory ability enough that he could sense people in a noticeable radius, he wouldn't have the perception or the strength to keep up with them anyway. Defense was his safest bet, should some unforseen trouble reach Konoha.
After seeing the result of symbolism and intense focus in the form of 'Lay on Hands', Cole knew what he had to do next.
He collected the papers he had scattered when he broke out into a spontaneous, happy dance and centered himself on the bench. Some passerbys had given his clownery the side-eye - he let them - and retreat back into his mind. A moment of inspiration made him activate 'Repose'. He could kick himself for not using it in tandem with the heal spell - he wanted to kick himself often as of late. A cool sprang forth from his core and washed through him. It smelt of mint and honey and pines and home. 'Focus.'
Toughness came in many different forms and shapes, changing with the elements. You had the hardness of cut diamond, a perfected carbon lattice. The unbending nature of tungsten. The perpetuity of iron, metal that would last to the end of the cosmos. But there were also mountains, ecosystems that climbed past the clouds and hewn by time. They offered shelter in crevices and caves, or they seethed in primal rage, setting of avalanches and rockslides and shaking the earth. Trees were another matter. Living and breathing things that stood firmly on the most uneven grounds. You could burn them down and cut them to pieces, but leave the roots and they grow anew. Trials and hardship were part and parcel, walls of stone just a path that hadn't been dug yet.
And all of it existed at once, in a complex testament to life and its tenacious nature.
Something pound powerfully within the thread. A beat that resonated on a deeper level with Cole. It was a fiery heat that needed release, a thunder that brewed deep in his chest. It was his heart, marshalled by the energies of the thread and pumping pure vigour through his veins.
The string burrowed into his heart, made it resplendent like gemstone and fired it up in a blaze of molten rock. Power diffused from his core through his flesh and bones, collecting as sheets and inpenetrable scales over his skin, reflecting light... and even time. Then the thread rallied its last reserves, folding into itself, a loaded spring of tension, and anchoring to his legs. Now, as he sat, he heard the echo of the world through his feet. A dim voice that was happy to see him and welcomed him whole. All too soon the high was chased away and the thread, satisified with its work, settled back for a well-deserved rest.
---
Aeon (Level 1):
Passive: Regenerates Health every second. Increases Level of Aeon with usage.
+ 0.25 Health Regeneration per Level.
Currently: 0.25 HR
Passive: Increases Health Regeneration per second and Durability of the User when in contact with earth or stone.
+ 0.25 Health Regeneration per Level.
Currently: 0.25 HR
+ Minor boost to Durability. (Does not increase.)
Active: Increase User's Durability. Durability boost increases with Level. Increases Level of Aeon with usage.
Active: Temporarily attain minor version of a designated solid's properties. Touch required. Increases Level of Aeon with usage.
---
The effect was immediate. His body tightened, his muscles flexed off their own accord, his spine straightened and his bones were fortified. Passively his skin had now the properties of leather, though he could terminate the effect by willing it or lifting his feet from the cobbled ground.
It was a world of difference and Cole was itching to test the active parts of his new skill. Privately of course, he didn't want to scare anyone by turning into a freakin' golem.
(Hope you guys enjoy the chapter. Finally our MC gets some abilities. Tell me what you think of the skills and the Aeon name. I think my imagination ran a bit too wild there, but I love overly descriptive scenes, ahhhhhhh. [Aeon means eternity, or rather, an infinite span of time.])