Late June brought a slight chill to the mountain breeze. Perhaps that was why the spot where the knife had pierced Moro's skin felt persistently cold.
That was too close—
If circumstances allowed, Moro wouldn't have put himself on such a precarious tightrope. It all came down to his weakness. At critical moments, he had no choice but to stake everything as his bargaining chip.
He looked at Zazan, collapsed on the ground. The information he had couldn't confirm whether Zazan's knives were conjured. He had to prioritize the outcome of Zazan's decisions over speculative analysis. Guessing correctly spared him from the knife's harm.
Among the six Nen types, Conjuration likely demanded the most stability. Whether conjuring objects, Nen beasts, or even clones, maintaining focus was essential to sustain their existence. For less skilled Conjurers, a moment's distraction could cause conjured items to collapse instantly, especially under the intense pain of an attack.
Experienced Conjurers worked to mitigate this, ensuring pain didn't disrupt their conjurations. But Zazan—cold, cautious, and decisive when stability failed—was lacking in Nen mastery. When struck, his conjured knife disintegrated. Had he held it together for even half a second, Moro might not have died but would've been gravely injured, giving Zazan a chance to turn the tables.
This battle deepened Moro's understanding of Conjuration's traits. Absorbing it as experience, he approached Zazan, gathering aura in his right hand and aiming it at the barely conscious man.
Though Moro had just awakened his aura nodes, his unique nature allowed him to use Nen abilities immediately. However, his manifest aura capacity couldn't improve quickly. Even doubling Deceptive Meteor's power hadn't killed Zazan outright.
No matter.
"Cough…" Zazan's consciousness wavered between clarity and haze, sensing the blade hanging over him. Death loomed. Fear and resentment welled up. He tried to lift his head but couldn't. Even his eyelids drooped powerlessly.
"You… monster…" Zazan murmured. Even now, he couldn't comprehend Moro's phenomenon. As death counted down, he felt an odd sense of inevitability. If he hadn't taken this job, if there wasn't an incomprehensible monster in the truck…
Thud.
Moro fired a Nen bullet, piercing Zazan's head. His body shuddered, then stilled.
"Hm?" Immediately, Moro noticed a change in his body. In an instant, his fatigue lessened, his vision sharpened slightly, and his manifest aura capacity grew noticeably.
Sensing this, he glanced at his hand. In the center of the tree-ring tattoo, the Lv.1 had become Lv.2.
"Love Etude…" Seeing the level increase and feeling the physical changes, a spark lit in Moro's eyes, followed by elation. Though he didn't know how Melena's Love Etude extended to him or fused with the tree-ring tattoo, the tangible boost filled him with excitement.
Killing Feitan within a year was no easy task, even with six months of Nen experience. Beyond Nen abilities, Feitan's speed, blade skills, combat experience from countless kills, and vast manifest and latent aura pools were gaps Moro couldn't close in a year. Add stamina, physical strength, reaction speed, and mental acuity—too many factors required time to build.
The Death Node made time his greatest scarcity. A year was too short to match Feitan's decade-plus prowess in aura or strength. But Love Etude's fusion with the tattoo offered a shortcut to accelerate his growth, addressing his biggest weakness.
Moro couldn't stop smiling.
To the captives near the cargo door, his reaction carried a different weight. Unfazed, Moro calmed his excitement and turned to the middle-aged man, impaled in the abdomen by the iron bar. The throw hadn't hit a vital spot, so he clung to life. But excessive blood loss would soon claim him.
Moro approached, looking down at the man's face, his gaze naturally turning cold. Melena's Love Etude granted a level-up per kill, boosting manifest and latent aura pools. Above level 20, it could awaken a new Nen ability tailored to the user. Its cap was level 100, allowing the user to grant others the "kill-to-level" ability.
Whether Moro's ability matched Melena's exactly was unknown. For now, leveling up was his priority; awakening a second ability was secondary. The key was increasing his aura capacity.
Moro grabbed the man's neck and snapped it with a twist.
Crack.
The man's head lolled, dead. Moro stood, checking his hand—Lv.2. No change?
His expression shifted. Drawing on experience, he quickly realized the issue: only killing Nen users triggered a level-up. Disappointment hit, but he soon accepted it. If killing ordinary people leveled him up, he'd worry about hidden risks or conditions. Killing Nen users was safer.
Still, as levels rose, the difficulty might increase. "Wait…" Staring at the man's corpse, an idea struck. If he forcibly awakened someone's Nen, wouldn't they become a Nen user?
"Find a wanted criminal or scumbag to test it…" he muttered, but a sound from the hillside behind interrupted him. Instantly alert, he shifted into combat mode, peering toward the noise.
Among the foliage, a slender figure emerged. Moro's brow arched.