Author's Note

So... in the last post, I posted a small challenge in the Author's Note at the end asking you all if you wanted to guess what Nen category Bastian falls into. Judging by the complete lack of response, I can only guess that either nobody read it, or nobody cared.

Oh well. My life in a nutshell, anyway.

Anyway, if you are interested in answering, go ahead and post a comment stating your answer. If someone can guess correctly, I'll post the next chapter as soon as I notice.

More Research

Bastian once again sat in the chair as Twilight hooked him up to her modified machine.

"Alright, I've increased the measuring system to be able to take up to 350,000 MU; that's over three times as much power as the Princesses can put out! There's virtually no risk of anything going wrong!" She declared as she strapped some more wires to him.

"'Virtually no risk?' Yeah, I feel very reassured." Bastian chuckled. "Anyway, just let me know when you're ready to begin and I'll apply a normal coating of Nen. Once that's done, I can try using Ko."

"Ko?" Twilight asked, confused. "What's that?"

"A technique used by Nen-users when they need a lot of defense or offense." Bastian explained. "Essentially it's focusing all your available aura into a single point in your body. Still, I'm not sure even this machine could take that much..."

"Nonsense!" Twilight declared, checking several readouts. "I guarantee you, you won't be able to break this machine!"

"Well... if you're sure. Anyway, ready when you are."

"Alright, let me just get this set up... and... done! Alright, you're good to go!"

A thin coating of Nen appeared around Bastian's arm, just like before. Just like before, the MU result was 85,000. This time, however, Bastian slowly increased the amount of Nen covering his wired-up arm, the needle rising more and more.

"Alright, this is a normal coating of Nen, at least for me." Bastian said, stopping the increase.

Twilight quickly scribbled down the result before doing a double take - Bastian's 'Normal Coating' read 150,000 Mana Units! His 'normal' was beyond even that of the princesses!

"Do you want me to use Ko?"

Twilight considered her options. This level of power was unprecedented, but still... she was curious to see how high it could go... not to mention the machine was more than likely to take it. She made up her mind.

"Alright, go for it."

The glow around Bastian's limb abruptly multiplied in size as the Hunter used Ko. A moment later, the machine started to spark and sputter, error-ridden printouts beginning to spew from the machine as it was quickly overloaded. Bastian quickly shut Ko off, the Mana Unit levels quickly dropping back down to the safer levels of the scale. Twilight couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief; from the sounds of it, the machine couldn't have taken much more.

"So... guess you might want to modify the machine again." Bastian stated, stopping the flow of Nen as he began removing the wires. "Anyway, I told Applejack I'd go and help her with her apple stand, so I've got to go."

Twilight gave a distracted 'Hmmm.' of confirmation as she stared at the measuring machine - how much higher would she have to raise the bar to receive an exact estimate of Bastian's power?!

Bastian stood behind the counter, handing out individual, bags of, and even a barrel or two of apples while Applejack supervised the jar that she used as her cash register. He was just handing a customer their freshly-bought apple when a Pegasus stallion with a mask suddenly jumped at Applejack, holding what looked like a club over his head before swinging downwards toward the now-just-noticing mare.

Applejack gasped as the club came closer and closer. She wouldn't be able to dodge, there wasn't enough time! How was she supposed to-

Her thoughts ground to a halt as the club stopped inches from connecting with her forehead, so suddenly it was as if time had frozen. Judging by the surprised gasps from the spectators, however, that wasn't the case.

Following the limb that had stopped the weapon cold, she found Bastian glaring at the thief with a look so cold, the Crystal Empire during Sombra's reign would have seemed like a warm day at the beach.

"W-wha-" Was all the stallion got out before he suddenly found a fist smashing into his underside, lifting him up, before Bastian spun and kicked him clear into the center of the stunned crowd, who quickly cleared out when he landed. Bastian stalked forward, Nen surrounding his body.

"I may not be a resident of this world, but I sure as hell hate the idea of a criminal like you ruining such a peaceful place. Now then... surrender." Bastian ordered, his Nen flaring up. The stallion struggled back to his feet, raising the club again.

"Well then, if you won't surrender..." Bastian's smile twisted into a cruel smirk as he raised a hand blazing with Nen. "I suppose a demonstration is in order."

To the shock of everypony around, what looked like blue tridents appeared in the air surrounding the human, each one simply floating in the air before Bastian's hand twitched. The bandit's wings flared as he jumped back, avoiding one of the tridents suddenly shooting forward and spearing itself into the ground with ease. His eyes widened as the remaining eleven tridents quickly surrounded him, even from above, leaving no escape routes.

"So here's what's going to happen." Bastian said, the smirk still in place. "Either you wait here for the local authorities to come along and arrest you... or we do this the 'Other Way'. Your choice."

The stallion, trembling in fear, dropped his weapon and huddled in a small ball, beginning to cry. Seeing that his opponent surrendered, Bastian's cold and dangerous look disappeared, replaced by a calm look of indifference as the tridents vanished. After a moment of staring at the traumatized bandit, he glanced around at the silent mass of stunned ponies and chuckled a bit, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry you all had to see that; I was a Blacklist Hunter back home, which meant I tracked down criminals on a daily basis. I told this to Applejack the other day. Sorry for not mentioning it sooner; could have sworn I'd said that during the meeting."

The ponies just continued to stare, some of them backing away a bit at his gaze.

Bastian sighed, his shoulders slumping a bit. "Great... another town is scared of me now. Freakin' fantastic."