Chapter 9: Nen Capacity +10

In this world, all information related to Nen is hidden from the public.

　　Therefore, the general public knows nothing about nen.

　　Even if they have witnessed the use of special abilities by nen, they only see people who can use nen as supernaturalists, psychics, supermen, and so on.

　　The many phenomena that were once thought to be caused by "grievances" were considered to be ghosts and apparitions.

　　Mo Yu did not have a shadow.

　　If the woman had noticed this, she would have directly regarded Moyo as a ghostly apparition or other existence.

　　Footsteps sounded inside the monastery.

　　Mo Yu faced the door and backed away slowly toward the atrium, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the woman who was writhing forward on the ground.

　　Darkness, mountains, monsters,

　　and the woman who fled in a panic to the temple for help.

　　In this kind of scenic spot with a dismal flow of visitors, this kind of script had never been staged before.

　　He'd never heard of "fatalities" or "accidental deaths" from afar.

　　But it just so happened today, after he had learned to use ten and had awakened his hatsu, that all of this would happen.

　　Was it a coincidence, or was it something else?

　　Mo Yu thought silently in his mind.

　　If it wasn't for the fact that "Entanglement" and "Soul Echo" had given him a certain degree of confidence, he really didn't know how to deal with the threat at hand.

　　In front of nen, ordinary people were really defenseless.

　　If the situation allowed, and with the premise that there was a way to retreat, he could now use this so-called "monster" as a practice dummy to improve his skills.

　　Actually, calling it a "monster" was not entirely accurate...

　　Although there was no way of getting more information from the woman, based on the size and strength of the "qi", the other party was most likely a nen user who had some understanding of nen abilities.

　　With a plan, Mo Yu retreated all the way to the atrium, where he stopped and asked, "What is your name?"

　　"Monica Hope." She replied.

　　The woman crouched on the ground, gasping for breath while answering breathlessly.

　　"Monica, right, I want you to stay here for now, can you do that?"

　　From the beginning to the end, Mo Yu's gaze never left the nen in the darkness.

　　In the process of retreating from the front door to the atrium, the speed of the nen coming this way had obviously become faster, showing him that it had, more or less, a desire to attack.

　　He was not certain whether the owner of this nen was coming specifically for Monica or if they were simply an indiscriminate attacker who wanted to satisfy their desire to hunt and kill.

　　But whether it was the former or the latter, he needed Monica to play the role of "bait".

　　There was no psychological burden in making this decision, after all, the trouble had been invited in by Monica.

　　"What... y-you, you're telling me to stay here and not move?"

　　Monica froze, looking at Mo Yu, thinking that she had heard him wrong.

　　The sound of her companions' miserable screams were still ringing in her ears, and now, she was told to just stay here and not move; what was the difference between this and sending her into the tiger's mouth?

　　"Right."

　　Mo Yu said briefly and concisely, and then slowly looked at Monica.

　　From the opening of the door until now, this was the first time that his gaze had rested on Monica's face.

　　There was only one choice.

　　Although Mo Yu did not open his mouth to explain anything, Monica, who had a stronger than normal will to live, was able to read some vague information from Mo Yu's gaze, one that was so calm that she could not see any ripples in his expression.

　　Immediately afterwards, her brain began to work at a speed that she had never experienced before.

　　'A decoy!'

　　Monica instantly understood her value in this situation.

　　She needed to volunteer to stay behind as bait to assist the young man in dealing with the monster that had killed her comrades.

　　Or, if she refused to stay, then the boy would simply leave her behind, leaving her like a helpless worm in an atrium, waiting for death to come.

　　There was no other choice for her…

　　Monica slowly came back to her senses and, without even asking, she said with difficulty, in an almost desperate tone, "Alright, I will stay here and not move."

　　"You're smart."

　　Mo Yu took a deep look at Monica.

　　That kind of will to survive that would desperately catch even a straw was never a meaningless stance.

　　In response, he would let Monica live as long as the situation allowed her to.

　　[The system approves your decision: Chi Capacity +10%]

　　Mo Yu was about to go to turn off the extra electric light when the voice, which could not be distinguished as either male or female, sounded once again in his consciousness.

　　When the last syllable of the voice faded away -

　　Mo Yu could clearly feel that the amount of nen released from his body had increased.

　　"Is it because of my decision this time?"

　　Mo Yu's eyes changed.

　　The first time, it was because his outstanding looks had satisfied the system, this second time, it was because the decision to decisively leave Monica in the atrium as bait was approved by the system.

　　How could he make sense of this...?

　　Mo Yu's thoughts moved quickly, yet the steps he took forward were stopped right in front of him.

　　He thought of the strange calamities from beyond the story, but also thought of another answer that he subconsciously rejected.

　　The situation at hand did not allow him to look deeper, and what he could be sure of at the moment was -

　　The existence of the system was to his advantage.

　　Putting these thoughts aside for the moment, Mo Yu turned off the extra electric lights in the monastery as quickly as possible.

　　In just a few moments, except for the atrium where Monica was, the rest of the temple was plunged into darkness.

　　The only remaining light source, like the lights focused on a stage, enveloped the helpless Monica.

　　Mo Yu had hidden himself in the darkness of a corner, waiting for the arrival of that cloud of nen.

　　Not even a moment later.

　　The sound of footsteps sounded outside the temple gate, first stepping up onto the stairs, and then stepping over the threshold -

　　The other had come into the light of day.

　　In the corner, Mo Yu's pupils shrank slightly.

　　In this thick, ink-like night, the light of their nen was as conspicuous as the moon.

　　That was to say...

　　The previous Mo Yu at the gate could see the other party in the night, so naturally, the other party could also see Mo Yu standing in front of the gate.

　　So, knowing that there was also a nen user here, but still choosing to enter straight through the gate.

　　Was it simply courage? Or did the other have both an offensive and defensive form of hatsu that was specialized in frontal combat?"

　　Mo Yu's thoughts were spinning fast.

　　A few breaths later, the sound of footsteps got closer and closer.

　　Finally, a figure emitting nen came into the atrium, walking straight towards Monica, as if not aware of Mo Yu's presence.

　　But how could Mo Yu be so naive as to think that the other party hadn't noticed him.

　　And Monica, who was honestly huddled in the center of the atrium, was trembling violently with fear.

　　Mo Yu, hidden in the darkness, quietly looked at the person coming in.

　　The other party was a blood-stained, slender man, who left a trail of red on the ground with every step he took.

　　He immediately thought that all this blood hanging on the man's body had come from Monica's companions.

　　What was more alarming than the amount of blood on the man's body, what had caused Mo Yu to become extremely alert was...

　　The nen coming from the man's body was different from what he had observed before, obviously more abundant and powerful.

　　This was also enough to show that -

　　The other party certainly did know that there was a nen user here, and so they squared up their attitude.