Martial arts dojo, training ground.
Moses and Kurapika stood fifty meters apart, facing each other.
Shizuku and Menchi stood outside the arena and watched the two of them.
There were only four of them in the huge training ground.
"You can have the first move."
On the court, Moses looked calm.
Kurapika didn't hesitate and raised his right hand. The chain coiled around it rattled as he moved.
Whoosh--
In silence, the Nen wrapped around the chains rippled like water waves.
Kurapika's eyes sharpened, and with a sudden flick of his arm, he sent the chain hurtling straight toward Moses.
It was a straight-line attack without any fancy moves.
At the same time.
Kurapika moved, charging forward alongside the flying chain toward Moses.
Moses looked at the chain flying in the air, and calmly sidestepped, letting the chain shoot past his body. At the same time, with a quick reverse grip, he conjured the black sword and pinned one of the chain's links to the ground with the tip of the sword.
A sharp, vertical flash of black light accompanied the move as the chain was firmly anchored to the ground.
The force transmitted through the chain tugged Kurapika off balance slightly during his charge.
But Moses' reaction was one of the outcomes Kurapika had anticipated.
[Thorn Chain]
Aura gathered in Kurapika's eyes, and then he activated one of the chain's abilities.
The chain nailed to the ground by the black sword suddenly burst into chains of thorns covered with sharp spikes, sealing off all of Moses' potential escape routes.
The cold, glinting thorns closed in tightly, ready to ensnare Moses within their spiked embrace.
At this time-
Moses's figure vanished into thin air.
The countless thorns aimed at him struck only empty space.
In the next instant, Moses appeared behind Kurapika.
Earlier, when the chain passed in front of him, Moses had made two moves, one obvious and one hidden.
Openly, he conjured the black sword and pinned the chain to the ground, which draws Kurapika's attention.
Secretly, he created a shadow using In, concealing its Aura. Then, while the black sword was nailing the chain, the shadow quietly went behind Kurapika.
So, at the moment when the chain of thorns bloomed, Moses swapped places with the shadow, instantly teleporting behind Kurapika.
By all accounts, the fight should have ended here.
However, Kurapika had ingrained Moses's teachings deeply into his instincts.
One of those teachings was the habit of using Gyo during combat to see through the enemy's hidden moves.
So, Kurapika noticed the shadow hidden with In, but he did not respond immediately. Instead, he planned to take advantage of the situation.
[Soul-Guiding Chain]
When Moses appeared from behind, Kurapika, who was prepared in advance, controlled the Soul-Guiding Chain hidden beneath his clothing to pierce through the fabric on his back and strike at Moses.
"Oh…"
Seeing the Soul-Guiding Chain coming through Kurapika's clothes from behind, Moses's lips curled into a faint smile.
'Very good.'
'Too bad it's too slow.'
'And-'
Moses waved his sword and gently deflected the Soul-Guiding Chain that was coming straight at him.
If this chain had wrapped around him, it might have extracted his soul...
Clang!
Sparks flew as the flame-shaped lantern at the chain's tip was sent flipping upward.
Moses took advantage of the movement to guide his sword past Kurapika's cheek. Then, with a smooth wrist rotation, he placed the edge of the black sword against Kurapika's neck.
"It's only been four months since you learned Nen. It's unreasonable to expect perfection, but I still have to say..."
With the fight decided, Moses stood behind Kurapika, speaking in a calm tone:
"The synchronization rate between your Aura Flow and your body movements is too poor. Your Aura moves one step ahead of your body movements. The consequence is that your intentions have been exposed to the enemy before you even make a move. Do you understand?"
"…"
Kurapika was silent for a moment, then nodded and said, "I understand."
As he spoke, he dismissed the conjured chains, and as his Aura returned to his body, he felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
'The gap seemed insurmountable...'
In this spar, Kurapika of course knew that the probability of him winning was zero. Although he had clearly taken the initiative, he was still defeated in the first clash, which made him somewhat uncomfortable.
Moses also dispersed his black sword and withdrew his hand. Then, he praised: "In fact, you've done quite well. If you hadn't learned Nen so recently, even I might not have been able to counter that last move."
In his opinion, although Kurapika had learned many Nen Techniques that could play a key role in Nen Battles, the time he spent learning them was too short, and his proficiency and control over Nen were still unsatisfactory.
This also resulted in Kurapika being unable to support his strategies better.
"But... it could have been better, but I just couldn't do it."
Kurapika said in a deep voice, with his back to Moses.
Moses raised his gaze slightly and spoke softly to reassure him: "Holding yourself to high standards is good, but don't overdo it. Kurapika, you're already exceptional... When I first learned Nen, after four months, I was nowhere near as strong as you are now."
"Huh?"
Kurapika looked back at Moses in surprise, obviously not believing it, and asked, "Are you saying that just to comfort me?"
"Yes."
Moses nodded, admitting it outright when faced with Kurapika's doubt.
"…"
Kurapika put his hand to his forehead and sighed softly.
Outside the arena.
Shizuku and Menchi had been observing the spar and weren't surprised by the result.
However-
Kurapika's method of using his clothes to cover up the chain attack made Shizuku and Menchi feel inexplicably familiar.
When they saw the spar was over, they walked towards the arena.
Meanwhile, Moses looked at the exasperated Kurapika and said:
"Before the Phantom Troupe comes knocking, Kurapika, you should train your Nen Techniques at the Heavens Arena. During this time, keep your chains in a constant state of conjuration, but you cannot use the abilities of the chains."
"Understood."
Kurapika nodded.
The purpose of maintaining the conjured form of the chain at all times is to create the illusion that the chains are real physical objects rather than conjured ones.
The critical point here was-
Physical objects only gain enhanced control and destructive power through the reinforcement of Aura.
In contrast, conjured objects often come with unique abilities tied to their creation.
This is the essential difference between Manipulator and Conjurer.
Once the enemy determines that the chain is a real object rather than a conjured object, they will naturally misjudge that Kurapika is a Manipulator and fail to guard against the potential special abilities of the conjured chains.
Moments later …
Kurapika goes to the Heavens Arena alone.
In the days to come, he would fight his way to the upper levels of the Heavens Arena at an accelerated pace. He cherished every battle as an opportunity to refine his still-developing Nen Techniques.
After Kurapika left, Moses turned to look at Shizuku and Menchi.
"When it comes to dealing with the Phantom Troupe… Kurapika has reasons he can't back down, but you two don't."
"How could I not?"
Menchi put her hands on her hips and said with a glare: "I am Master's disciple, that's reason enough! But someone else here is a different story."
As Menchi spoke, she glanced at Shizuku out of the corner of her eye. Her targeting intention was very obvious.
Shizuku, sensing the jab, tilted her head slightly and calmly stated her reasoning: "I'm a Blacklist Hunter."
"An amateur one."
Menchi curled her lips.
Shizuku replied seriously: "Even amateurs count."
"No, they don't. You don't have a Hunter License, so even if you take down the Phantom Troupe, you won't get any credit. That reason is way too weak!"
Menchi refuted Shizuku's reasons with righteous indignation.
Moses watched the two people bickering from the sidelines, rubbing his forehead with a helpless smile.
After listening to Menchi's rebuttal, Shizuku thought about it seriously and then gave another reason calmly.
"I like Moses, is this an acceptable reason?"
When saying this, there was no obvious emotion on Shizuku's face, and her demeanor was so natural that it gave people the feeling that she was talking about what to eat tonight.
But Menchi was completely thrown off by the bombshell of an answer.
"???"
She stared at Shizuku in shock, and a series of question marks popped up in her head.
'What the heck!?'
'Was she serious?!'