"Benjamin's visible aura is probably around Lv. 40..."
Retreating into the forest, Moro immediately turned and quickened his pace away from the lake.
The Nen users he had encountered since his death and rebirth, as well as the increase in visible aura after each level-up, gave Moro a relatively clear understanding of "levels."
Using his own "Visible Aura" as a reference, he roughly estimated Benjamin's level to be around 40.
Experienced Nen masters have their own ways of evaluating an opponent's strength.
Some use mission ratings to initially determine an opponent's level; others use the most intuitive numbers or monster classes in games...
Everyone has their own method.
But the common thread in all methods is that the evaluator possesses rich experience.
And what Moro lacked most was experience.
The reason he could even arrive at an evaluation result was because the Tree Ring tattoo quantified his visible aura level.
With his own level data as a reference, he naturally had a general direction for evaluation.
Moro's evaluation of Benjamin was Lv. 40.
As for its accuracy, he wasn't entirely sure, but he could confirm that Benjamin's visible aura was one level higher than his own.
Although the strength of visible aura doesn't entirely represent a Nen user's actual combat power...
It is the most basic information that can be observed directly with the naked eye before formal contact between the two parties.
The Benjamin in Moro's eyes appeared composed and calm from the moment he showed up.
However, the Nen on his body was not relaxed at all; it was even consistently in a strong state.
It was this very point that made Moro immediately label Benjamin as hypocritical.
Unwilling to create unnecessary trouble, he naturally could not linger there.
However, the knife Benjamin used to carve the antler still made Moro quite envious.
This wasn't entirely due to the Nen swirling around the red crystal blade, but also the boning knife's inherent sharpness.
Moro was certain that Benjamin did not use Gyo (Enveloping/Advanced Ten) to enhance the knife's durability when carving the antler.
This proved the quality of the boning knife.
Moro mused that if he had the opportunity in the future, he would also prepare a small knife of similar quality.
Creak—
Stepping on damp, decaying leaves and branches, Moro moved through the woods, occasionally looking back in the direction of the lake.
Due to Benjamin's sudden appearance, he couldn't choose his direction carefully just now and could only retreat directly into the woods based on the situation at hand.
Now that he was in the woods, he simply continued along this route.
After walking quickly for several kilometers, as the density of the trees increased, the visibility in the woods decreased visibly, and it became difficult to see a single ray of moonlight.
Moro took out his flashlight from his backpack and continued forward.
It must be said that the appearance of the few poachers solved his most immediate problem, allowing him not to worry about survival supplies for a short period, as well as providing various practical tools.
One should not underestimate the wilderness areas of this world, especially regions like forests, mountains, grasslands, and deserts that humans have not fully explored.
They are all filled with danger.
Not to mention various supernatural Magical Beasts and animals, even an inconspicuous poisonous insect could silently claim your life.
In this environment, professional knowledge is often more important than Nen ability.
Moro had essentially no experience in wilderness survival.
After crossing over, he spent most of his time running the antique shop.
After interacting with those who could lie without batting an eye, he once believed that these creatures with a face were the ones who knew best how to devour a person alive.
But in this deep, wild-smelling forest, he genuinely had to worry about being eaten alive.
The flashlight's beam pierced the nearby darkness, only to be swallowed by the darkness further away.
The information received by his eyes and ears was uniformly one of gloom, dampness, and stillness...
It was unsettling.
Moro felt he had to get out of this forest quickly.
Unknowingly, he kept picking up his pace.
As he traveled, while maintaining constant vigilance, he would intermittently release En to more specifically probe his surroundings.
His En radius was only twenty meters.
Moreover, En is a technique that heavily consumes physical and mental energy, making high-intensity, continuous use impossible.
By using it intermittently, Moro could keep his physical and mental state stable.
After an unknown period of time, he finally saw moonlight falling through the gaps in the canopy, indicating that the tree density was decreasing.
Bathing in the silvery rays, Moro accelerated again, quickly seeing more light and the faint, visible surface of a lake through the sparse trees ahead.
Then Moro involuntarily slowed his steps and turned off his flashlight.
"Did I walk in a circle?"
Seeing a lake again, Moro suspected he had gotten lost and circled back to the original lake in the forest.
To confirm the situation, Moro closed his aura nodes and entered the state of Zetsu. Then, he minimized his footsteps and slowly approached the edge of the forest.
In the distance, silver light fell upon the lake surface, twinkling as the night breeze wafted over.
Moro stood behind a tree, observing the situation on the shore.
He saw neither Benjamin nor the corpses of the poachers, and the surrounding terrain and vegetation were different.
This was another lake.
Moro relaxed slightly, then his eyes narrowed again.
On the bank of the lake was a weeping willow tree covered in vines, about two hundred meters away from his position.
Moro stared intently at the tree with dangling vines, clearly seeing seven motionless, upright figures and one person sitting against the tree trunk in front of them.
"That is..."
His pupils contracted slightly.
Moro slowly closed the distance along the edge of the forest.
As he drew nearer, he saw the Nen on the bodies of the seven people more clearly.
Very weak aura...
And those seven people looked strange, like lifeless puppets.
This was Moro's first impression.
Just as his gaze lowered, preparing to observe the person in front of the tree trunk, he suddenly noticed something unusual.
Under the moonlight, the seven motionless figures had no shadows.
Seeing this, Moro's eyes changed.
He instantly confirmed the identity of the person in front of the tree trunk.
The phenomenon of shadowless manipulation had to belong to the Manipulation-type user who controlled the passengers on the airship.
Moro focused his gaze on the Manipulation-type user, whose Nen flowed like water ripples.
Thinking of the opponent's targeted actions, a flash of killing intent immediately crossed his mind.
He hadn't expected that the route he was forced to choose to avoid Benjamin would lead him to encounter the same Manipulation-type user who also crash-landed in the forest.
It was truly by the strangest coincidence.
Moro resisted the urge to sneak closer, as that might expose him.
Although the current distance exceeded a hundred meters, he could utilize the Gliding Star's return mechanism.
"Deceptive Gliding Star"
After finding the right angle, Moro could no longer suppress the urge to strike.
He immediately mobilized his Nen and shot two Gliding Stars behind him.
A moment later.
The returning Gliding Stars passed over Moro, who had just made an evasive movement, slicing through the moonlight toward the figure in front of the weeping willow.
In front of the tree trunk.
Kawahara's eyes snapped open.
He looked in the direction of the attacking Gliding Stars, and a flash of light was instantly reflected in his fluctuating pupils.
Almost simultaneously.
The seven puppet humans, instilled with a protective command, rushed forward in front of Kawahara, forming a thick wall in the path of the Gliding Stars.
The next moment.
The two large Gliding Stars crashed into the human wall, instantly detonating.
Accompanied by a violent sound, the tightly packed human wall was figuratively torn into pieces.
In an instant, severed limbs mixed with a large amount of fresh blood fell onto the grass.
The thick plasma crushed patches of grass leaves.
Kawahara looked at the scattered limbs on the ground, his pupils trembling.
The puppet humans he had struggled to preserve were so easily shattered.
As his emotions violently surged, Kawahara stood up and drew his sword.
His gaze was directed toward the woods, but he quickly calmed down.
With his emotional control, the Nen surging from his body gradually ceased to be chaotic and loose.
"Hmm?"
Then, Kawahara saw Moro step out of the woods.
He was first startled, then his face turned chillingly cold:
"I haven't even gone to find you yet, and you've actively delivered yourself to me..."
"Ninja?"
Moro walked in the moonlight.
After seeing Kawahara's attire, he was surprised.
A black head covering and mask, and a black, tight-fitting suit cinched at the waist...
This was distinctly ninja-style clothing.
But this Nen user, who seemed to be of ninja origin, was holding a samurai sword.
Facing Moro's scrutinizing gaze, Kawahara had no intention of speaking again.
He held his sword level in front of him, adopting an offensive stance.
The prerequisite for activating "Shadow Has No Retreat" was the presence of normal people nearby to serve as ability material.
In a place like this, there were naturally no normal people, which meant Kawahara couldn't use the "Shadow Has No Retreat" ability.
Often, the restrictions inherent in a Nen ability will cause trouble for the Nen user.
Although one can subjectively try to avoid them, or even turn the restrictions to one's advantage...
There are always times when luck runs out, or when an enemy with prior knowledge sets a trap.
Unable to use his ability, Kawahara could only revert to a primitive combat method.
However, a question flashed in his mind:
Why has the opponent's aura suddenly become much stronger?
This doubt was immediately suppressed as he focused all his attention on the mission assigned by his leader.
The next second.
Kawahara pushed off the ground and charged forward, his figure pointing toward Moro in front of the woods like a sharp knife.
The fate of the human puppet wall gave him a basic understanding of Moro's Nen bullet lethality, and he immediately determined Moro's Nen category.
In this situation, closing the distance to engage in close combat became Kawahara's only option.
Just as Kawahara had closed the distance by half, he suddenly noticed a fluorescent green Nen bullet the size of a basketball flying out of the woods behind Moro.
"How could this be...?"
Kawahara was slightly alarmed.
He saw the Nen bullet pass him and Moro, heading straight toward him.
In a flash, Kawahara swung his sword at the Nen bullet.
Using the solidified Nen wrapped around the blade, he actually sliced the Nen bullet in two.
Bang! Bang!
The split Nen bullet halves fell onto the lake, sending two columns of water into the sky.
As Kawahara swung his sword to deflect the Gliding Star, Moro remained rooted in place, holding his hands level.
Disregarding the consumption of Nen, he continuously released Gliding Stars.
Now at Level 18, he had a noticeable improvement in the speed of Nen bullet release.
As long as he controlled the size of the Gliding Stars, he could consistently fire them in rapid succession.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...!
In barely a second, more than ten Gliding Stars shot toward Kawahara, who was dozens of meters away.
"The power and size have both decreased!"
Seeing the more than ten egg-sized Gliding Stars coming in rapid succession, Kawahara's eyes were sharp.
Instead of retreating, he charged forward, rushing towards the barrage of Gliding Stars.
Slice—
Kawahara's sword sliced through the two leading Gliding Stars.
Then, while sprinting, he shifted his body position, avoiding the remaining Gliding Stars.
However, as he charged, Moro did not stop releasing his ability, with Gliding Stars continuously shooting out from his level palms.
But the density and power of these Gliding Stars were not enough to restrict Kawahara's movement; they could only delay his approach.
30 meters, 20 meters...
The distance between the two was rapidly decreasing.
But Moro, a Specialist, didn't seem to care about Kawahara's gradual approach.
Based on conventional wisdom, a Specialist should prevent the enemy from getting close.
In fact, this notion is not absolute.
Take Franklin of the Phantom Troupe, for example.
He is a Nen user who can utilize Emitter and Enhancer categories with 100% efficiency.
Therefore, even when the advantage of distance is lost, he can still clash with Nobunaga, who is also an Enhancer, in close combat.
Moro is different from Franklin; the focus of his Nen category leans toward both Emitter and Manipulator.
However, regarding being forced into close combat...
While Moro couldn't engage with the same 100% Enhancer offensive and defensive conversion rate as Franklin, he did have a countermeasure, which was...
The return of the Gliding Stars.
Ten, twenty, thirty, forty...
Among the many Gliding Stars, some were shattered by Kawahara's sword, but more were dodged.
The Gliding Stars that Kawahara dodged remained suspended in mid-air behind him like stars.
Moro could freely adjust the return time of the Gliding Stars between 1 and 5 seconds.
This meant that by setting the return time for all Gliding Stars in decreasing increments, he could achieve the phenomenon of having all Gliding Stars return simultaneously after 5 seconds.
And the issue of power dispersion due to the excessive number of Gliding Stars...
This unavoidable mechanism within the Nen system could be compensated for through the use of Vows and Restrictions.
Under the restriction of "Self-Harm," the returning Gliding Stars gain double the power, which to a certain extent overrides the power dispersion mechanism.
This was the unique advantage of the Gliding Star.
It was also the noticeable change Moro could feel in combat after reaching Level 18.
When the set time arrived, Kawahara finally entered the ten-meter range.
And at that moment, the numerous Gliding Stars hovering behind Kawahara all returned at an even faster speed, shooting toward Kawahara, who was standing on the same line as Moro.
In an instant, it was like a meteor shower!
By the time Kawahara realized something was wrong, it was already too late.
Because Kawahara was unaware of the ability mechanism that "the returning Gliding Stars will harm Moro," and Moro never stopped releasing Gliding Stars.
This was a pincer attack!
More importantly, a Manipulator who couldn't use their Nen ability was essentially a beast without claws.
Kawahara abruptly stopped.
When he looked back, a starry sky was reflected in his pupils.
Puff, puff, puff...
The meteor-like Nen bullets continuously hammered Kawahara's body.
The relentless impact force caused Kawahara's body to shake back and forth.
In less than a breath, his entire body was utterly ravaged.
"I actually... failed..."
After the meteor shower, Kawahara fell to the ground, his face full of unwillingness.
Moro looked at Kawahara on the ground and instinctively prepared to follow up with a few more Gliding Stars, but seeing the change in the level tattoo on the back of his hand, he stopped the urge to finish him off.
Lv. 18 to Lv. 22
He gained 4 levels in one go...
(End of this Chapter)
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