Level 22.
His aura output and potential aura had increased, but the feedback wasn't as significant as during the airship incident.
After all, he had previously jumped directly from Lv7 to Lv18; such a doubling of levels was unlikely to happen again.
Level 22.
Morrow stared intently at the numbers on his Tree Rings tattoo, as if waiting for something.
This leveling ability, which came with Death Rewind, was fundamentally derived from Morena's Etude of Love.
Though the difficulty of leveling was worlds apart, their essence was the same.
And the most crucial aspect of Etude of Love was that upon reaching Level 21, one would effortlessly awaken a Nen ability tailored to their personal needs.
This mechanism eliminated the most agonizing and arduous process Nen users faced when developing their abilities.
Now that Morrow had reached Level 22, it was only natural for him to anticipate this.
Would he get one?
And if so, what would it be?
The curiosity and expectation rising in his heart were soon answered.
Under Morrow's gaze, the characters at the very center of his Tree Rings tattoo seemed to activate some kind of switch, their edges suddenly glowing faintly.
Then, a tiny orb of light emerged from the glow, connected by a thin strand of light, floating quietly before Morrow like a balloon.
Morrow looked at the orb, his eyes reflecting its radiance.
The orb's glow was soft, and upon closer inspection, it was composed of slender rays of light arranged in some orderly pattern.
Rather than a glowing balloon, it more closely resembled a dandelion illuminated from within by a gentle light.
Is this... the reward for leveling up?
Morrow extended his Index Finger forward.
As if possessing a will of its own, the glowing dandelion lightly touched the tip of his fingernail.
Upon contact, Morrow's mind was suddenly flooded with new information.
Direction of need, design formulation, development integration.
This was the process of creating a Nen ability granted by the glowing dandelion.
As long as Morrow input his desired ability into the glowing dandelion, it would automatically generate the corresponding Nen ability.
If developing a Nen ability as a Nen user was akin to traversing various paths on foot:
Some paths were treacherous, others smooth;
These paths represented the abilities themselves.
Scaling perilous heights might reveal breathtaking vistas.
Walking an easy road might offer monotonous scenery.
Their commonality was that they could only be measured step by step.
But the glowing dandelion's effect, like programming a script, required only Morrow's mental effort.
Not that mental work was necessarily easier, but comparatively, it did save considerable effort.
After absorbing the information from the glowing dandelion, Morrow was genuinely astonished.
Was such a convenient ability mechanism truly free of cost?
He even doubted whether this manifestation truly originated from Etude of Love.
Regardless, Morrow would accept it without hesitation.
This glowing dandelion before him, embodying the essence of freedom, would be an irreplaceable resource in his quest to kill Feitan.
He would utilize this resource meticulously, maximizing its full potential.
Instead of immediately creating a Nen ability, Morrow stored the glowing dandelion away.
A Nen ability tailored to his needs... In reality, it was an ability that could completely "checkmate" Feitan.
This was something that required careful consideration.
Morrow suppressed the impulse in his heart, his peripheral gaze flickering toward the corpse on the ground.
A ninja, likely from the same place as Hanzo in the original story.
In this world, it seemed to be called Jappon.
As for why this ninja had targeted him...
With insufficient information, Morrow couldn't be bothered to delve deeper.
From the moment he decided to head to Heavens Arena, he had already mentally prepared himself for all kinds of attacks, and his attitude remained unchanged.
No matter how many came for him,
Want to kill me?
Then come.
Fail, and obediently become stepping stones.
First, find a quiet and suitable place.
Morrow stopped looking at the corpse and instead surveyed his surroundings.
A modestly sized lake, forests encircling it.
Uncertain which direction to take, Morrow could only choose a path different from the one he had come by.
—--
Over an hour later.
Morrow found a cave about ten meters high, nestled into the mountainside.
Just as he entered, dark clouds rolled in from the distance, obscuring the moon behind them.
Looking back, it was as if a curtain were being drawn across the sky, gradually swallowing the silver radiance from afar.
Soon, a fierce wind began to rise, and the vast expanse of trees responded in kind, their canopies swaying incessantly.
The weather had shifted abruptly, without warning.
Morrow withdrew his gaze, pulling a camping lamp from his backpack. Turning it on, he stepped deeper into the cave under its soft glow.
The cave was small, no more than a dozen square meters.
But it was enough for Morrow's needs.
Placing the lamp on a protruding rock along the cave wall, Morrow sat cross-legged, raising his right hand. With a thought, the glowing dandelion reappeared.
The hardest thing about dealing with Feitan is his ghostly speed, along with his incredibly refined Ryū that keeps up with it. Compared to that, his Nen ability isn't much.
A contemplative look flickered in Morrow's eyes.
Approaching it from this angle was genuinely frustrating.
If the one who had tried to kill him had been Uvogin, things would've been much simpler.
He could've easily followed Kurapika's example, establishing a Limitation as a prerequisite to develop an ability similar to Chain Jail, one that could forcibly put the target into Zetsu.
With such an ability, dealing with Uvogin would've just been a matter of waiting for him to charge in.
But with Feitan, the problem became how to "catch" him.
First, consider how to restrain Feitan's speed. Before that, I need to ensure I have a means of defending against his rapid assaults...
His thoughts scattered, the outline of the ability not yet formed, but the sequence of priorities was already clear.
A method to counter Feitan's high-speed combat style was the fundamental prerequisite.
Only then could he restrain Feitan's speed and guarantee a 100 % chance of killing him.
It was like holding a chain: to bind a hawk, you first had to evade its deadly dive.
Once bound, a hawk that couldn't take flight would have no means of escape.
Having settled on the direction, Morrow began structuring the ability's framework.
When it came to evading rapid attacks, the first thing that came to mind was Killua's Lightning Speed ability.
It was a Transmuter-type ability that allowed the body to reflexively dodge attacks without conscious thought.
A shame it was a Transmuter ability... However, Killua's ability reminded Morrow of a word.
Warning!
Morrow still remembered that strange sensation when dodging the sniper shot, as if catching a whiff of death's aura at the last possible moment.
Thinking of this, Morrow instinctively glanced at the back of his left hand.
There was a red "X" symbol there.
Faintly, Morrow seemed to see a path...