Still Far From It

Holding it in, holding it in—

Then letting it all out once he reached his limit.

That was the meaning Moyu had barely managed to extract from Light's terrible analogy.

Still...

He really wanted to know who had introduced Light to Nen in the first place.

Resisting the urge to ask, Moyu silently looked away and stopped looking at Light.

To keep Light from sharing even worse "words of experience," he simply closed his eyes and entered a training state.

Light had originally wanted to continue imparting his experience to Moyu, but seeing that Moyu had already begun training, he could only let it go.

"I really am suited to guiding others."

Watching Moyu immediately begin training after hearing his guidance, Light's square face showed a hint of smug satisfaction.

So-called guidance was simply explaining principles in the most straightforward and understandable terms.

Just like earlier—

He had merely tried out an analogy, and Moyu had instantly understood.

"If my ultimate dream weren't to capture the Phantom Troupe, becoming a Nen Ability teacher and guiding newcomers might not be a bad choice either."

Light folded his arms, with nowhere to put the pride welling up inside him.

Moyu had no idea what Light was thinking. He focused his mind and did his utmost to stir the "aura" within his body.

First gather the aura, then expand the Aura Nodes all at once...

There's no need to rush. If I fail once, I can try again.

Before that, closing the Aura Nodes should let me accumulate more strength.

Moyu concentrated and sorted through his thoughts.

Although Light's "words of experience" gave off a rather terrible Perception, he had to admit...

The words might have been crude, but the reasoning was sound.

At the very least, they had given Moyu some inspiration.

Inside the Temple courtyard.

Mist filled the air, while faint morning light streamed through and shone upon Moyu.

The hazy glow complemented the radiance of his Nen.

About ten seconds later—

The Nen glow floating over Moyu's body faded away at a visible speed.

Moyu had closed his Aura Nodes and directly entered the state of "Zetsu."

This way, he could gather more strength within his body.

Seeing this, a trace of surprise crossed Light's square face.

"A smart choice, but taking too big a step isn't a good thing. Nen training... is about taking things one step at a time and building a solid foundation."

He seemed to have guessed Moyu's thoughts, but neither approved nor opposed them.

There was no denying that his ability to guide others was excellent, but he could not determine the upper limit of his student's training efficiency.

In any case, the best outcome would be for Moyu to expand his Aura Nodes as much as possible before noon, bringing the Manifestation Aura leaking from his body to a level where he could be squeezed for sparring value.

If he could not do it before noon, Light could also use his own "aura" to help Moyu expand his Aura Nodes.

Still, succeeding through one's own efforts and succeeding with someone else's help were completely different gains.

If circumstances allowed, Light naturally hoped Moyu could meet the requirement through his own abilities.

"Moyu, I believe in you. You, you...?"

Light's eyes suddenly widened.

A large mass of bright light gradually reflected in his eyes.

Under his gaze, a huge amount of aura surged from Moyu's body, flowing back and forth like a rushing waterfall. Clearly, he had already expanded his Aura Nodes beyond the baseline.

How long had that taken?

Had it even been ten seconds?!

Damn, what the hell?!

Light was utterly shocked.

He had assumed Moyu would need many attempts before expanding his Aura Nodes to a passable degree, but he had never expected him to achieve the goal in one go.

No.

He had far exceeded expectations.

"A genius, an absolute genius among geniuses...!!!"

"I have to find a way to take Moyu in!!!"

Light was ecstatic!

This was more than just a guarantee...

He was practically a treasure that could reliably send Light to Two-Star status.

Moyu did not pay attention to Light's reaction. A vast amount of "aura" poured from his body, continuously impacting his senses and stirring a strange feeling within him.

It was not quite omnipotence. It was more like... feeling capable of doing more things.

"This should be enough, right?"

Moyu slowly opened his eyes and looked at the stunned Light.

When Moyu looked over, Light quickly concealed his shock, pretended to cough twice, and then said sternly, "Not bad. It seems my 'guidance' played a crucial role."

"..."

Moyu fell silent for a moment and wisely chose not to correct Light's perception.

"Then let's start quickly. I can't keep this up for long."

Rather than withdrawing his Nen, Moyu retreated a short distance, then raised his eyes toward Light, signaling for him to begin the sparring session as soon as possible.

By opening his Aura Nodes with Ren, he could release more Manifestation Aura outside his body. However, the Latent Aura within his body was limited to begin with, so he simply could not maintain it for long.

"Don't be so impatient. We still have plenty of time."

Light's gaze flickered as he too opened his Aura Nodes, releasing Nen to cover his body.

However, the amount of Manifestation Aura he released was surprisingly not much different from Moyu's.

Clearly, he had deliberately controlled it to that level.

"During the sparring session, I'll keep my Ren suppressed to roughly your level. So don't shackle yourself with thoughts like 'the other person's Ren is stronger.' Show your offensive and defensive power to your heart's content."

As Light spoke, he assumed a stance with his left fist guarding low and his right fist held across his body.

"Then I won't hold back."

Moyu's gaze sharpened as his right foot stepped forward and violently stomped the ground.

Bang!

The bluestone bricks, weathered by the years, could not withstand the heavy stomp and suddenly shattered, fragments flying everywhere.

Moyu's body shot toward Light like an arrow released from its bow.

"Now that he knows both sides' Ren are at the same level, he immediately chose a frontal assault without hesitation. That really is the fastest way to squeeze value from a sparring partner. But... he's so young. Where does that urgent desire to become stronger come from?"

Watching Moyu charge at him with overwhelming momentum, Light remained as immovable as a mountain, prepared to respond to whatever came.

However—

The next moment, Moyu abruptly braked to a stop.

"Hm?"

Light looked at Moyu, who had suddenly halted his attack, without understanding why.

But Moyu turned back to look at the shattered blue bricks beneath his feet. Before the fight began, he had not considered the condition of the training ground at all.

So he had not expected that, in the Ren state, merely stomping down to propel himself forward would allow the strength enhanced by Nen to shatter the blue bricks so easily.

Wouldn't ten days of sparring turn the courtyard into a complete wreck?

When Hawk returned...

Moyu could practically imagine Hawk endlessly nagging in his ear.

"How about... we change locations?"

Drawing his gaze away from the scattered rubble, Moyu turned to Light and made the suggestion.

"..."

Light was rather speechless.

He had thought something was wrong when Moyu suddenly stopped attacking, only to find that he was worried about damaging the Temple courtyard.

"Let's stay here. There isn't a suitable place outside."

Light rejected Moyu's suggestion. At the same time, to ease Moyu's concerns, he gave him a promise. "You don't need to worry. Once the sparring is over, I'll hire professionals to restore this place to its original condition."

"Then I can relax."

Moyu's eyes lit up. Professional Hunters really do have connections everywhere.

With no more concerns, he stepped forward again.

Bang!

The blue bricks cracked apart.

Moyu dashed in front of Light, bent his knees into a slight crouch to reduce his target area, and threw a probing straight punch at Light's abdomen.

Enhanced by his Manifestation Aura, the straight punch carried considerable force.

But in Light's eyes, Moyu's attack pattern was not only immature, it was full of openings everywhere.

"His combat experience is practically nonexistent..."

A look of surprise appeared deep in Light's eyes. Then, just before Moyu's punch could land, he raised his knee even faster and drove it into Moyu's chest.

Bang!

Moyu's chest took the heavy hit, sending him flying backward. He crashed hard onto the ground and rolled six or seven meters before coming to a stop.

However, because both sides had maintained nearly equal levels of Manifestation Aura, and because Light had deliberately held back, the solid blow did not injure Moyu.

This was also one of the unique advantages of Nen Ability users. Without worrying about injury, they could engage in exhilarating offense-and-defense exchanges during combat training and rapidly accumulate experience.

But in an actual fight—

If Light had merely concentrated over fifty percent of his Manifestation Aura into his knee, that single knee strike could have killed Moyu on the spot.

"My frontal combat ability really is a complete mess..."

Moyu rose from the ground, unsurprised by the result.

He possessed a fairly abundant store of Nen knowledge, but his experience in physical combat was nearly zero.

That was the current state of Moyu's strength.

Therefore, with the factor of Nen Abilities excluded, any Hunter who had learned Nen after passing the Hunter Exam could easily crush the current Moyu.

After all, combat experience and physical fitness were indispensable components of strength.

The reason he had been able to "instantly kill" Ian last night...

Was entirely due to strategy and the information gap regarding Nen Abilities.

If he had been forced to face Ian head-on, he would have had absolutely no chance of defeating him.

Simply put—

Combat experience and physical fitness established the lower limit, while Nen Abilities and Nen techniques raised the upper limit.

Still far from it.

Moyu murmured inwardly, then raised his eyes toward Light, a solemn fighting spirit showing on his face.

It did not matter if he was weak.

Because after countless twists and turns, he would inevitably become strong.

All he had to do was keep moving forward, stepping firmly onward one step at a time.

"How... did he defeat Ian?"

Light concealed his surprise and silently watched Moyu rise from the ground.

Now that he clearly understood Moyu's combat experience was nearly nonexistent, the question that had gone unanswered last night surfaced in Light's heart again, even more intensely than before.

Comparing Moyu's current strength with the information he had on Ian—

No matter how Light imagined it, he could not picture any possibility of Moyu defeating Ian.

Because whether in Nen techniques, combat experience, or even physical fitness, Ian was clearly stronger than Moyu.

While Light was thinking, Moyu launched another attack, once again charging straight at him from the front.

However,

This time, Moyu changed his positioning before striking, attempting to use a feint to increase his chances of landing a hit.

But it was still far too immature.

Light sent him flying without the slightest effort.

Moyu crashed heavily onto the ground—

He did not get back up. Having already consumed nearly ninety percent of his Latent Aura, he clearly could not continue.

After all, he had only awakened Nen two days ago...

The total amount of Manifestation Aura was not something that could be increased in a short time.

Lying flat on the ground, Moyu began reviewing the previous exchange of offense and defense, trying to draw experience from it.

Ten days...

He had to cherish every minute and second, growing as much as possible!

Thanks to Slug Great King for the 20,000 Qidian Coin reward. Readers can check out his Hunter from Meteor City; the link is below. You can add it to your reading list. Also, my condition flared up today... I had a headache, so I could only combine two chapters into one. Otherwise, with my writing speed, two chapters would have been no problem. The original plan was to finish the short-term growth arc today... but alas, π_π