Just as they were descending the mountain and letting Menchi collect the white fruits along the way, Moses unexpectedly sensed the presence of a strand of Post-Mortem Nen among a pile of scattered rocks.
Moses squatted down and lightly touched the trapezoid-shaped rock in front of him. A cold chill passed from the pitted surface of the rock to his palm.
'Is it inside the mountain...'
Moses could sense the approximate strength of this strand of Post-Mortem Nen and also sense that it was still some distance away from him.
Judging from the terrain and environment, Moses concluded that this Post-Mortem Nen of unknown origin should be located in the mountain diagonally below.
"Master, did you find something?"
Menchi's eyes showed curiosity.
She just used Gyo to scan around the pile of rocks, but found nothing, and she couldn't feel anything strange at all.
"Post-Mortem Nen."
Moses looked down at the edge of the trapezoid-shaped rock and said softly:
"It's right under this ground. I'm not sure what it is, it could be an object, a corpse, or some kind of active ability."
The intensity of the Post-Mortem Nen he perceived was very average, or in other words, he didn't sense any danger at all.
So, no matter what form this Post-Mortem Nen takes, what is certain is that there is no need to worry about the threats.
Hearing Moses's words, Menchi became even more curious.
Ever since she learned Nen, she has never seen Post-Mortem Nen before.
She had only heard some related knowledge from Moses, which led her to understand that most Post-Mortem Nen only posed a threat to ordinary people.
"Master, do you want to dig it up and take a look?"
Menchi squatted beside Moses, her eyes sparkling.
She is still very curious about Post-Mortem Nen that she has never seen before.
Moses turned his head to look at Menchi's reaction, smiling somewhat helplessly.
He felt that this future Single-Star Gourmet Hunter next to him was always full of curiosity about various unknown things.
It's just that her curiosity was mostly about food ingredients, but this time, she was interested in Post-Mortem Nen.
"We have about two hours before the test ends..."
Moses rubbed his chin, pondering if they had enough time.
Given the current state he and Menchi were in, descending the mountain was a piece of cake. And it's just a matter of time.
If they were to stop here and investigate the Post-Mortem Nen hidden in the mountain, it might be delayed until the end of the second phase of the exam.
Compared with the Post-Mortem Nen from unknown sources, the ongoing Hunter Exam was undoubtedly more important.
Moses is still clear about this point.
However, if time permits, it might be worth trying to excavate it, which would also be a chance to practice his Shu.
With this in mind, Moses drew the long sword from his waist and turned to look at Menchi, then said seriously: "Let's dig and see first. If time is tight, we'll finish the test first."
"Um!"
Menchi nodded vigorously, then ran into the pile of rocks to look for a suitable rock.
Meanwhile, Moses released his Nen and wrapped it around the long sword.
Shu…
This was a Nen technique that attached Nen in the form of 'coating' onto tools, enhancing their hardness and attack power.
If one wants to fight with a sword, they must master this Nen technique.
Moses raised his sword and stabbed it into the bottom of the trapezoid-shaped rock.
With the enhancement of Nen, the blade easily pierced into the rock.
Then, Moses rotated his wrist, soon cutting out a gap between the mountain wall and the trapezoid-shaped rock.
Putting the cut stone to one side, Moses continued to cut downward.
In the face of solid Nen, the hard rocks were as fragile as tofu.
Just as Menchi found a suitable rock, Moses had already cut out a square pit more than two meters deep.
At this speed, it was uncertain how long it would take for him to reach the strand of Post-Mortem Nen.
Anyway, as long as there was enough time, Moses doesn't mind practicing his Shu here.
Then, with the addition of Menchi, the efficiency of the digging increased slightly.
As more and more stones were cut out, the depth of the pit exceeded ten meters.
Standing at the bottom of the pit, Moses had shortened the distance by only ten meters, yet the presence of Post-Mortem Nen he felt had become very clear.
'It's closer than I imagined…'
Feeling the presence that seemed to be at his fingertips, Moses began to slow down his cutting speed.
"Hmm?"
After making a few more cuts, Moses suddenly saw a strand of black Aura quietly seeping out from the cracks in the ground.
"Menchi, go up first."
Seeing the seeping black Aura, just in case, Moses asked Menchi to leave the pit first.
"Master, please be careful."
Menchi readily complied and brought out the cut stones as she left the pit.
During the digging process, her task was to transport the cut stones out of the bottom of the pit.
After Menchi left, Moses gripped the sword handle upright and controlled the tip of the sword to cut out a layer of rock.
Clang—
With a slight flick of the sword's tip, the cut rock was flicked aside.
But in the shallow pit, a stone slab with strange characters engraved on it was revealed.
These characters on it were neat and orderly, very similar to the shape of Divine Script.
The black dead Aura that previously seeped out from the cracks in the ground is flowing irregularly along these characters.
"Is this some kind of entrance or...?"
Moses looked at the characters on the stone slab. After guessing, he used the tip of the sword to push away the scattered sand and gravel on the side, inevitably touching the stone slab.
Suddenly—
The black Nen, flowing like threads of gas, split and increased in number abruptly, covering the characters on the stone slab at an extremely fast speed.
"Hmm!?"
Moses's expression changed slightly.
Although he didn't sense any threat, he still leaped out of the pit, stepped on the rock wall in the pit, and jumped out of the square pit as quickly as possible.
In the face of unknown changes, it was always right to create distance first.
Menchi was startled when she saw Moses suddenly leaping out of the square pit.
Before she could ask anything, she saw many black characters on the stone slab at the bottom of the pit.
The reason why it is black is because those black Post-Mortem Nen are attached to the characters.
"Is this Post-Mortem Nen?"
Menchi observed the black Nen on the stone slab.
From her point of view, the black Nen didn't feel strong at all. It was just a mass of energy like rootless duckweed, and it seemed to have no threat at all.
Moses also frowned as he looked at the sudden movement of his Post-Mortem Nen.
'The presence is gradually getting stronger…'
The Post-Mortem Nen submerged in the strokes of the characters did not change again, but Moses could feel the presence strengthening.
Suddenly…
A thin black cloth-like surface rose above the characters surrounded by black Nen.
"Menchi, step back."
Moses's pupils shrank slightly as he pulled back, increasing the distance.
But the black cloth-like surface came at lightning speed, enveloping him and Menchi.