Five days later.
Moses and Menchi arrived at the Milsy Wetlands.
As usual, they spent some time finding a suitable temporary residence.
After that, Moses used up the buff Regular Ten Thousand Sword Swings.
Currently, completing ten thousand sword swings requires twelve hours of time, but after three months or six months, Moses believed that it might be possible to shorten it by a few more hours.
'One year…'
Moses stood on the edge of the river, looking focused.
'I don't know what results will be achieved in one year.'
'What is certain is that this will be a relatively long process.'
'Perhaps—'
'From the moment it is completed, it is no longer difficult to conjure a long sword.'
"Let's begin."
Moses was enveloped in a surging aura and immediately swung his sword forward.
A buzzing sound rang out, and the sharp sword light flashed past, scattering the fine gravel on the ground to both sides.
Then came the second slash, the third...
Time passes slowly—
Half a month later.
Swardani City.
Pyon struggled to complete the translation work of a bunch of rare and obscure Chinese characters, and suddenly felt a sense of joy of breaking through the prison.
But her joy lasted less than three minutes.
Because she found that Moses's cell phone was turned off again.
"That rascal!!"
Pyon, who had no idea what was going on, was instantly furious.
This time, she did not go to Cheadle, but went to find Sanbica.
"Moses... didn't he tell you?"
Sanbica stopped what he was doing and cautiously looked at Pyon, whose face was full of anger.
Bang!
Hearing the familiar response, Pyon couldn't help but slam the table.
"Uh, sorry..."
Sanbica didn't know what she had done to upset Pyon and instinctively apologized.
Pyon took a deep breath and asked, "Where did that guy go?"
"Moses didn't tell me where he was going. He only said he wanted to find a place to retreat quietly for about a year."
"A year?!"
Pyon was stunned.
…
October 31, 1994.
Over the course of nine months, the time it took Moses to swing his sword each time changed from 4 seconds to 1 to 2 seconds.
After gradually stabilizing, it only takes less than six hours to complete 10,000 sword swings.
Compared to the considerable time shortening, what is more important is the feeling that Moses gradually accumulated during countless swings of the sword.
Starting from this day on, Moses threw away the sword and swung his bare hands.
[1/10000]
Even without a sword in his hand, Moses could still perfectly meet the standard.
So—
On the twelfth day of swinging without a sword, a pitch-black long sword suddenly appeared in Moses's hands as he swung forward.
He naturally and effortlessly conjured the outline of a long sword out of thin air.
It has no name yet, and has not been given a shape.
"No rush."
Moses retracted his hand.
The conjured black sword simply disappeared.
Then, Moses swung his hand forward again, and the black sword suddenly appeared in his hand again.
Once, twice, three times…
Appearing when swinging, disappearing when retracting, repeating endlessly.
Until the end of November, those hundreds of thousands of sword swings allowed Moses to master the retractable characteristics of the Conjuration Category.
However, even now, Moses still has not given a form to this black sword that has conjured naturally.
Because the system was not yet fully matured, and he hadn't considered using it in combat.
On this day, Moses completed ten thousand sword swings in just five hours.
After nearly ten months of hard training, in addition to naturally conjuring the outline of the black sword, Moses's Potential Aura also made significant progress.
His original Potential Aura was only enough for him to use Shadow Shifting ability five times.
But now, he can use Shadow Shifting ability about eighteen times in one go.
This is equivalent to nearly quadrupling his total Potential Aura.
Just like that, the time came to mid-December.
And Moses thought of the Hunter Exam.
'Last year, when I just started swinging the sword ten thousand times, it took at least sixteen or seventeen hours to complete it in a day. Naturally, I couldn't participate in the Hunter Exam.'
'But now it only takes more than five hours to complete 10,000 sword swings, it gives me enough time to participate in the Hunter Exam.'
'Even if there are problems, at worst, I can just give up the qualification and wait until next year.'
"Menchi, get ready, it's time to go."
After making up his mind, Moses never hesitates.
Hearing this, Menchi didn't ask any questions and immediately began packing.
It wasn't until they were about to leave that Menchi asked: "Master, where are we going next?"
"Go to the nearest city to find a computer to sign up for the Hunter Exam."
Moses looked into the thick fog ahead.
There was a group of butterflies flying in front of him.
The affinity given by Star of Mankind's Shine seems to make him loved by most animals.
But it doesn't work that well in front of the ferocious beasts in the Milsy Wetlands.
"Ah, time passes so quickly."
Menchi almost forgot about the Hunter Exam.
In the past ten months, she had been immersed in developing her Nen Ability, and she had not noticed that the registration for this year's Hunter Exam was about to end again.
The two came to a city called Lumbis, and first found a hotel to stay and wash up.
After that, they borrowed a computer from the hotel's owner to complete the registration, and obtained the clues to the first exam location.
'There is still half a month left before the test starts, so there is no need to rush to find the exam's location.'
Moses sat on the hotel bed and turned on his newly charged mobile phone.
Ding ding…
As soon as he turned on his phone, the notification sound for text messages continued incessantly.
Moses casually placed the incessantly ringing phone on the table and walked to the balcony, looking out at the bustling street below.
This city is close to the Milsy Wetlands and does not have many modern facilities. There are green plants scattered on the streets and buildings.
Even the cracks between the stones on the roads were filled with green algae.
Moses silently gazed at the street scene until the noise behind him became too quiet. He then returned to the room and picked up his phone.
Among the countless messages, most of them were from Pyon.
Of course, most of the messages sent by Pyon are meaningless, full of friendly greetings but lacking substance.
Moses filtered them out with a single tap and then checked the messages from Wright, Biscuit, and Sanbica.
There is basically nothing too important, just updates on their current situations.
But one of the messages from Wright mentioned the Phantom Troupe.
About two months ago, the Phantom Troupe robbed an airship transporting antique treasures.
It is said that those antique treasures were excavated from an ancient ruins, which caused quite a sensation at the time.
Who would have thought that on the way to the exhibition venue, they would be robbed by the Phantom Troupe.
This incident aroused the outrage of the country where the ruins were excavated, further increasing the bounty on Phantom Troupe's members' heads.
In response to Wright's message, Moses only replied with a 'Remember the agreement'.
No matter what shocking things the Phantom Troupe will do in the future, Wright can't attack the Phantom Troupe unless provoked.
For the next few days, Moses stayed in the hotel to train and continue his ten thousand sword swings.
When the time was almost up, he and Menchi went to the location of the first exam together.
According to the clues, the location for the first phase of the exam is a place called 'Aragas Mountain'.
When Moses and Menchi arrived here, it was already crowded with people.
Due to the year of hard training, Moses has lost a lot of his immaturity, so he didn't attract much attention because of his age.
Having said that—
Among the candidates who took the Hunter Exam, there was one person who paid special attention to newcomers.
'They looked unfamiliar.'
Tonpa narrowed his eyes and looked at Moses and Menchi who had just arrived.