Upgrade

At the end of June, the wind blowing in from the mountains carried a faint chill.

Perhaps because of that, a lingering coldness clung to the skin where the throwing knife had pierced him.

That had been far too dangerous—

If circumstances allowed, Moro would never have put himself on a steel cable high in the air.

In the end, he was still too weak.

So weak that, at a critical moment, he could only put everything he had on the table as a wager.

Moro looked at Zazan, who lay sprawled on the ground.

The information he had before had not been enough to determine whether the throwing knife was a conjured item.

He could only base his decision on his opponent's actions, placing the "result he saw" above the "process he inferred."

Because he had guessed right, he did not have to suffer the throwing knife's damage.

Among the six major Nen types, Conjuration specialization was probably the one that demanded "stability" the most.

Whether it was conjured objects, Nen beasts, or even things like doubles...

One had to focus and maintain concentration to ensure the continued existence of conjured items.

An inexperienced Conjuration specialization Nen user could sometimes let a conjured item collapse instantly from nothing more than a momentary lapse in focus.

Not to mention the intense pain suffered when under attack.

Thus, Conjuration specialization users with a deep understanding of Nen abilities usually put effort into this aspect.

If nothing else, they at least had to ensure that the pain of injury did not affect the form of their conjured items.

And this guy...

Cold-blooded and cautious.

When he realized playing it safe was unsuitable, he could decisively adapt.

Yet his Nen proficiency lacked polish. When he was attacked, the conjured throwing knife directly dissipated.

If it had held on for even half a second, Moro might not have died on the spot, but he would at least have been severely wounded.

In that case, his opponent might have had a chance to turn things around.

Through this battle, Moro gained a deeper understanding of the characteristics of Conjuration specialization.

Absorbing it as part of his experience, Moro walked over to Zazan. A cluster of Nen gathered slowly in his right hand, aimed at Zazan, who had yet to fully breathe his last.

Having just opened his aura nodes, he could indeed use Nen abilities directly due to his own special nature.

But the amount of aura his body could produce was hardware that could not be increased in a short time.

Thus, even after Deceptive Flying Stars had doubled in power, it had failed to kill Zazan on the spot.

Still, it did not matter much.

"Cough, cough..."

Zazan's consciousness hovered between clarity and haze, but he could sense the blade hanging over his head.

He was going to die.

The thought naturally surfaced in his mind. Zazan felt fear, but also unwillingness.

He wanted to raise his head, but lacked the strength.

Even his rolled-back eyelids fell weakly shut.

"You... monster..."

Zazan murmured.

Even now, he could not understand what had happened to Moro.

Thus, as the countdown to death ticked away, he strangely felt that this was simply his fate.

If he had not boarded this train, if there had not been a monster aboard who could not be judged by ordinary logic, he would not have...

Squelch.

Moro fired a Nen Bullet straight through Zazan's head.

Zazan's body jolted sharply, then went still.

"Hmm?"

The instant he killed Zazan, Moro noticed a change in his body.

In that brief moment, some of the fatigue in his body faded, and even his vision seemed to become a little clearer.

The most obvious change was that the amount of aura surrounding his body had actually increased slightly.

Noticing the change, Moro instinctively looked at the back of his hand.

At the very center of the Growth Rings tattoo—

The Lv.1 representing his level had become Lv.2.

"Love's Practice Session..."

Seeing the level increase and feeling the changes in his body, a glimmer flashed through Moro's eyes before he was overwhelmed with joy.

He did not know how Molena's Love's Practice Session had extended to him, nor why it had fused with the Growth Rings tattoo...

But the obvious improvement before him was enough to make Moro excited and delighted.

He had to kill Feitan within a year.

Even with an additional half year of Nen training experience, accomplishing that would not be easy.

Setting Nen abilities aside—

Feitan's mobility and swordsmanship, developed on the foundation of physical combat, were already gaps Moro could hardly make up within a year.

Then there was his combat experience built on countless killings, as well as the total amount of manifested aura and potential aura, both immensely important in Nen battles.

Looking further ahead, there were stamina, physical strength, reaction speed, mental awareness, explosive thinking power...

There were simply too many.

All these things, closely tied to overall combat power, needed time to build up.

And because of the Death Node, time was what Moro lacked most right now.

For him, one year was truly too short.

So short that no matter how hard he worked, he might not even catch up to Feitan's manifested aura or physical strength, both honed over more than a decade.

But now that he possessed Love's Practice Session, fused with the Growth Rings tattoo, he could greatly accelerate the rate at which he improved his strength.

It made up for what he lacked most at the moment.

Moro could not stop himself from smiling.

But to the few human cargo near the carriage door, his reaction took on an entirely different meaning.

Of course, Moro did not care about that. Calming the excitement in his heart, he turned to look at the middle-aged man some distance away, whose abdomen had been impaled by an iron rod.

The iron rod he had thrown earlier had not struck a vital point, so the middle-aged man still had one breath left.

But before long, the man would surely die from excessive blood loss.

Moro walked over and looked down at the middle-aged man's face, a trace of coldness naturally appearing in his gaze.

Molena's Love's Practice Session had the ability to raise one's level by one for every person killed.

Each level increased the total amount of manifested aura and potential aura.

Once the level surpassed 20, one could easily awaken a Nen ability suited to one's own needs.

Judging by its effects, the level cap granted by Love's Practice Session was one hundred.

If Moro reached the maximum level, he would also be able to grant others the ability to "level up by killing."

But whether Moro's overall ability had exactly the same effects as Molena's Love's Practice Session remained unknown.

Right now, what Moro cared about more was leveling up.

Whether he could awaken a second ability was secondary.

The most important thing was increasing his manifested aura and potential aura.

With that thought, Moro reached out, gripped the middle-aged man's neck, and exerted a little force.

Crack.

The middle-aged man's head lolled to one side, and he died on the spot.

Moro immediately stood and looked at the back of his hand—

Lv.2.

He had not leveled up?

Moro's expression shifted slightly. Drawing on experience, he quickly realized where the problem lay.

Could he only level up by killing Nen users?

Moro was briefly disappointed, but quickly accepted it.

If killing ordinary people could raise his level, he would instead have to consider the potential risks of unknown restrictions.

He could only level up by killing Nen users.

At least that put his mind somewhat at ease.

Still, from this small sign, perhaps leveling up would become correspondingly more difficult once his level grew higher.

"Right..."

Moro looked at the middle-aged man's corpse and suddenly thought of a method.

If he forcibly opened Nen for an ordinary person, would that not turn them into a Nen user?

"When the time comes, I can test it on some wanted criminal or scum... Hmm?"

Suddenly, a sound came from the slope behind the road.

Startled, Moro swiftly entered a combat stance and looked toward the sound.

Amid the branches, leaves, and grass, a slender figure came into view.

Moro raised an eyebrow.