Monica is a woman who can be described as meticulous.
Nevertheless, despite her attentiveness towards Moses, she failed to notice a phenomenon that defied logic about him – he has no shadow.
Before entering the room, no, to be precise, after the struggle had ended, Moses did three things:
First, he placed the unconscious Monica in a safe position.
Second, he checked the information she wanted on her phone.
Third, he released his shadow to stand guard.
The reason for the third action was considering the possibility that the "threat" might not be just Ian.
Ian is the name of the murderer outside.
Although there probably wouldn't be any other assailants in the nearby woods, what if there were?
Just based on the 'what if', Moses believed that even if sending his shadow out was a waste of time, he'd still do it.
Just moments ago, the shadow, which served as his lookout, relayed a piece of information to him-
Someone had stepped over the shadow.
So, Moses knew that there was someone outside.
And he judged that the newcomer was not a police officer based on the lightness and deliberate steps.
'There's only one person, and they deliberately walking lightly.'
This information was enough to indicate that the person was not a police officer.
After turning off the wall lamp in the room, Moses pressed himself against the side of the bookshelf, holding his breath.
From this position, he could monitor both the room's door and window.
'At the moment, I can confirm that there is only one person.'
Moses frowned.
At this hour, anyone sneaking into the temple likely had impure motives.
Although it could be a thief, what could a poor temple have to steal? The small coins tossed in the courtyard's release pond?
It was too suspicious.
Compared to a thief sneaking into the temple at night to steal a pile of coins, Moses was more inclined to believe that the person outside might be Ian's accomplice.
'Let's observe the situation quietly for now.'
Moses quickly glanced towards the single bed's direction.
The worst outcome at the moment would be if the newcomer was Ian's accomplice and had even greater strength than him.
In that case, Moses might struggle even to protect himself, let alone take care of Monica.
'Regardless of whether the shadow outside has been noticed by the other party, I need to stealthily position the shadow to where it can assist me in combat at a moment's notice.'
Moses gave instructions in his consciousness to the shadow outside while keeping his attention focused on the situation outside.
So far, he hadn't heard any noise, indicating that whoever was outside was very adept at concealment.
This isn't good news.
Because this implies that the other party is probably more formidable than Ian.
Time passed silently, second by second.
Moses held his breath, while Monica, who was huddled in the corner of the bed, was beginning to feel uneasy about the situation.
She didn't understand what was happening, but she could infer from Moses's reactions and expressions that the situation might be grim.
One minute, two minutes…
From turning off the lights until now, five minutes had unknowingly passed, yet there was still no sound outside.
'Soul Echo' was still in its infancy. And without the developed ability of 'Shared Vision', being able to detect the footsteps of an enemy was already the limit.
In order to prepare for the possible upcoming battle, Moses had no spare capacity to dispatch 'Soul Echo' to the vicinity.
This was because he had to minimize the presence of the shadow figure to the minimum, so naturally, it was impossible to use the shadow to investigate the situation again.
Unfortunately, his Nen ability was still rudimentary, and he hadn't yet learned to use 'En'. Otherwise, he could expand his Aura outward to perceive the situation outside.
The room was eerily silent.
Monica's unease intensified.
She was just an ordinary person, so her endurance was ultimately limited.
In contrast, Moses remained calm and composed.
"I somewhat understand why Ian Archer fell into your hands."
Outside the half-open door, a slightly deep male voice suddenly rang out.
Hearing the words, Monica's heart trembled.
However, Moses, leaning against the bookshelf like a stone, did not show the slightest change in his gaze towards the door, fully prepared for combat.
The male voice continued with a tone of curiosity, "Although my Zetsu isn't perfect, it is still quite outstanding. I'm curious, how did you discover me?"
"…"
Moses's pupils narrowed slightly, obviously not willing to respond.
At the same time, he obtained an important piece of information from the other party's words.
The shadow left outside for vigilance had not been discovered by the other party.
Currently, 'Soul Echo' had two forms.
One was two-dimensional form, and the other was three-dimensional form.
The former was not within the material category, so its essence was closer to the nature of Aura.
This meant that even if the regular shadow could blend seamlessly with the environment, in the eyes of a Nen user, it would inevitably leave traces of Nen.
The latter was the actual materialization of substance, so even ordinary people who didn't know Nen, could see the transformed shadow.
For ambush or setting up a surveillance network, the ideal method would be to use 'In' to erase the Aura's traces from the normal shadow.
Another method was to shape the transformed shadow into a black veil that perfectly blended with the environment, merging with the surrounding shadows, thereby avoiding the enemy's 'Gyo'.
Moses currently could not employ either of these techniques, so the shadow surveillance network he set up outside was just regular shadows with traces of Nen.
However, the unidentified man outside the room managed to infiltrate while using Zetsu.
This meant that with all his Aura nodes closed and suppressing all his Aura, he couldn't detect the Nen traces on the normal shadow, even if he stepped over it.
This discovery was good news for Moses.
But the subsequent development was somewhat unexpected.
"Don't worry, I have no malicious intent, nor am I the enemy you expected."
The man outside, who had not received response from Moses for quite a while, revealed his identity with some helplessness, "My name is Wright Bulvo, a professional Blacklist Hunter. Here's my Hunter License."
To gain further trust, this man named Wright actually threw the hunter license accurately in front of Moses.
This indicated that Wright had pinpointed Moses's location.
"You can verify it, but be careful not to damage it."
After tossing his Hunter License, Wright reminded Moses.
Moses frowned tightly and, of course, did not pick up the so-called Hunter License, and remained silent instead.
Seeing that Moses was still so cautious and reserved, Wright did not find it strange because this was the behavior expected of an experienced Nen user.
"I understand that you're also a formidable Nen user. To show my sincerity, I will use Zetsu next, and then walk inside."
After saying this, Wright put his words into action. He closed his Aura nodes, suppressed all his Aura, then walked in, his gaze aimed directly at the side of the bookshelf.
"Sigh…"
Moses let out a sigh, then came out from the side of the bookshelf.
Wright looked at Moses.
Upon seeing that Moses was just a young boy, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. He then quietly opened the Aura nodes around his eyes, and the slightly overflowing Aura allowed him to see the Ten on Moses's body clearly.
'Uh…'
'Inexperienced, crude.'
'It was simply at the beginner level.'
That was Wright's initial judgment.
Of course, he didn't believe it.
"Sigh."
Wright sighed softly, and said helplessly, "I thought I had shown enough sincerity. Do you still have to hide your true capabilities in front of me? Do you really think that with that clumsy Ten, you can make me believe you're a novice?"
"This is my true level, and currently, I only know Ten," Moses stared at Wright without turning away.
"Stop joking around!!!"
Wright's mouth twitched, and he involuntarily raised his voice, "Based on this Ten, which can be described as beginner-level at best, how could you possibly defeat Ian?"
"Believe it or not, it's up to you," Moses didn't bother to explain further.
Seeing Moses's reaction, Wright felt a slight unease.
"You're not joking, are you?"
"…"
Moses couldn't be bothered to speak.
"Really, really not joking?"
"…"
After reading some information from Moses's Aura, Wright started to believe him a bit and fell silent.
"Unbelievable!!!"
He exclaimed in a tone that didn't conceal his astonishment.