It was late June, and yet the wind blowing from the mountains carried a hint of coolness.
Perhaps because of this, a persistent chill lingered where the throwing knife had pierced his skin.
That was too close—
If conditions had allowed, Moruo would not have put himself on a high-altitude steel cable.
Ultimately, his strength was still too weak.
So much so that at a critical moment, he could only put his life on the line as a chip.
Moruo looked at Zazan, who was lying prone on the ground.
The information he had previously gathered made it difficult to deduce whether "the throwing knives were conjured objects."
He could only rely on the opponent's decisions, placing "the observed outcome" above "the process of deduction."
Because he guessed correctly, he didn't have to suffer damage from the throwing knives.
Among the six Nen types, Conjuration is likely the one that requires the most "stability."
Whether it's conjured items, Nen beasts, or even clones...
One must concentrate and maintain focus to ensure the continued existence of the conjured object.
A Conjurer whose mastery is not yet complete might even momentarily lose focus, causing their conjured object to instantly dissipate.
Not to mention the intense pain experienced when under attack.
Therefore, Conjurers with a deep understanding of Nen abilities usually put effort into this aspect.
At the very least, they must ensure that the pain from injuries does not affect the form of their conjured objects.
And this guy...
Ruthless, cautious.
When he realized that playing it safe was not an option, he could decisively make a change.
However, his Nen ability mastery was lacking; when he was attacked, his conjured throwing knives instantly dissipated.
If they could have held on for even half a second, Moruo, though not immediately killed, would have been severely wounded.
In that case, the opponent might have even had a chance to turn the tables.
Regarding the characteristics of the Conjuration type, Moruo gained a deeper understanding through this battle.
Absorbing this as part of his experience, Moruo approached Zazan.
His right hand slowly gathered a ball of aura, aiming it at Zazan, who had not yet completely drawn his last breath.
Even though his aura nodes had just opened, he could indeed use Nen abilities directly due to his unique circumstances.
However, the amount of visible aura, a hardware aspect, could not be increased in a short period.
Therefore, even after "Deceptive Flying Star" doubled in power, it failed to kill Zazan instantly.
But it didn't matter much.
"Cough, cough..."
Zazan's consciousness wavered between blurry and clear, but he could sense the sharp blade hovering above his head.
He was going to die.
This thought naturally flashed through his mind.
Zazan felt fear, but also resentment.
He wanted to look up but was powerless to do so.
Even his upturned eyelids drooped powerlessly.
"You... monster..." Zazan muttered.
Until now, he still couldn't comprehend the phenomenon happening to Moruo.
So, as the countdown to death began, he felt a sense of "it was meant to be."
If he hadn't taken this ride, if there hadn't been a monster in the car that defied common sense, he wouldn't have...
Splat.
Moruo fired an aura bullet, which pierced directly into Zazan's head.
Zazan's body suddenly convulsed, then became motionless.
"Huh?"
After killing Zazan, Moruo immediately noticed changes in his body.
In that instant, the fatigue in his body dissipated slightly, and his vision seemed a little clearer.
The most obvious change was that the visible aura surrounding him had actually increased slightly.
Noticing this change, Moruo subconsciously looked at the back of his hand.
In the very center of the Tree Ring Tattoo—
The Lv.1, which represented his level, had turned into Lv.2.
"Love Sonata, huh..."
Seeing his level increase and feeling the changes in his body, a gleam flashed in Moruo's eyes, followed by immense joy.
Although he didn't know how Molyana's "Love Sonata" had extended to him, or why it had merged with the Tree Ring Tattoo...
The obvious improvement at this moment was enough to make Moruo excited and delighted.
He had to kill Feitan within a year.
Even with an extra half-year of Nen training experience, achieving such a feat was easier said than done.
Putting aside Nen abilities—
Feitan's mobility and swordsmanship, developed based on martial arts, already represented a gap that Moruo found difficult to bridge within a year.
There was also his combat experience built upon countless killings, and the critically important total visible aura and total latent aura in Nen battles.
Looking further, stamina, physical strength, reaction awareness, explosive thinking power...
There was just too much.
All these things, closely related to overall combat power, needed to be slowly accumulated over time.
And due to the existence of the death node, what Moruo lacked most now was time.
For him, one year was truly too short.
So short that no matter how hard he tried, he might not even catch up to Feitan's visible aura and physical strength, which had been developing for over a decade.
But now, with the ability of Love Sonata, which had fully merged with the Tree Ring Tattoo, he could greatly accelerate the efficiency of his strength improvement.
This compensated for what he currently lacked most.
Moruo couldn't stop smiling.
His reaction, however, took on a different meaning in the eyes of the captives closest to the door inside the carriage.
Moruo, of course, paid no mind to this. Calming his excitement, he turned to look at the middle-aged man lying not far away on the ground, his abdomen impaled by an iron rod.
The iron rod he had thrown earlier didn't strike a vital spot, so the middle-aged man still had a breath left.
But before long, the middle-aged man would surely die from excessive blood loss.
Moruo walked over, looked down at the middle-aged man's face, a hint of ruthlessness naturally appearing in his gaze.
Molyana's Love Sonata ability was to gain a level by killing one person.
Each level gained would increase the total amount of visible aura and latent aura.
Once the level surpassed 20, he could easily awaken a Nen ability that suited his own needs.
Judging from the ability's effects, the level cap granted by Love Sonata was one hundred.
If Moruo reached max level, he could also grant others the ability to "kill to level up."
However, whether Moruo's overall ability was exactly the same in effect as Molyana's Love Sonata remained an unknown.
Right now, Moruo was more concerned about leveling up.
Whether he could awaken a second ability was secondary.
The most important thing was the increase in visible and latent aura.
Thinking of this, Moruo reached out and squeezed the middle-aged man's neck with a little force.
Crack.
The middle-aged man's head twisted to the side, and he died instantly.
Moruo immediately stood up and looked at the back of his hand—
Lv.2.
No level up?
Moruo's expression subtly changed.
Relying on his experience, he quickly realized the problem.
Only by killing Nen users can one level up?
Moruo was momentarily disappointed, but quickly felt relieved.
If merely killing ordinary people could grant a level, he would instead have to consider the potential unknown risks of restrictions.
Only by killing Nen users can one level up.
This at least put his mind at ease somewhat.
However, seeing the small, understanding the large, perhaps when his level was higher in the future, the difficulty of leveling up would also increase accordingly.
"Oh, right..."
Moruo looked at the middle-aged man's corpse and suddenly thought of a method.
If he forcibly opened an ordinary person's Nen, wouldn't that make them a Nen user?
"Then I can just find any wanted criminal or scoundrel to try... Hmm?"
Suddenly, a sound came from the road slope behind him.
Startled, Moruo quickly entered combat mode and looked in the direction of the sound.
Between the branches, leaves, and dense grass, a slender figure came into view.
Moruo raised an eyebrow.
(End of this chapter)
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