Half an hour later.
The shadow clone once again effortlessly thwarted Killua's team's coordinated attack. Meanwhile, in Moses's consciousness, the full moon was finally charged, unlocking the reward.
[Your Ken: Bone-Plated Armor +1]
Moses was surprised when he saw the unlocked reward's information.
'This is... a derivative skill of Ken?!'
As he absorbed the information, Moses found it almost unbelievable.
Ken is one of the application skills of Nen, and it is also a standard by which a Nen User's strength is often judged.
In this already mature system of Nen Techniques, Nen Users often focus on Ren when it comes to endurance.
Under normal circumstances, only those who can maintain Ren for more than thirty minutes in a fierce battle can be called true Nen Masters.
But Ken: Bone-Plated Armor is a technique that increased Ken's durability, which is equivalent to opening up a new path in this mature system of Nen Skill application.
And that was what surprised Moses.
It's not just the impact that Bone-Plated Armor has on the current Nen Skill System, but also because the emergence of this skill, which is beyond his understanding.
Looking back at previous rewards, as long as he divides them, he can see that those rewards basically come from his understanding and cognition of the work [Hunter x Hunter].
So, when it came to rewards related to Nen Techniques, Perception, which it is unknown what kind of energy is used as the driving force. can give Moses advanced Nen Techniques such as Ryu or Ken that he has not yet learned.
Because even if Moses doesn't know these advanced Nen Techniques, he knows that these advanced Nen Techniques exist in the Nen Skill System.
But the reward unlocked this time is an applied skill that does not exist in the Nen Skill System, it was more like a derivative skill.
So, Moses couldn't help but wonder-
Was this derivative skill, called Ken: Bone-Plated Armor, a new product born purely from 'imagination'? Or was it an actual part of this world, yet unknown even to Nen Users from the known world?
Since there are derivative skills of Ken, could there also be derivatives of skills of En or In?
Moses didn't know...
At the moment, he wasn't inclined to delve into the philosophical implications, rather, he was eager to test Ken: Bone-Plated Armor.
And this award gave him an idea that he had never thought of before.
The principle behind Ken: Bone-Plated Armor was to create a dense layering effect within the Aura, similar to overlapping bone plates.
Therefore, when enduring the first or even the second wave of attacks, this layered form of Aura could achieve greater defensive hardness.
However, once it endured an assault, the layered bone-like structure would compress back to its normal state.
In simple terms-
The effect of Bone-Plated Armor increases the hardness of Ken, but it disappears upon taking a hit.
After that, reapplying this armor requires a brief moment to reconstruct the bone-plating form of Aura before the defense can activate again.
But in the fierce battle where there is no room for distraction, this would obviously be difficult to achieve.
Therefore, the role of the Bone-Plated Armor in Nen combat is limited to weakening the opponent's initial attack.
Moreover, if Moses had not practiced Divine Script intensively for two and a half years, which had enabled his control over Aura to reach a very high level, it would be a challenge to shape the Aura into a bone-plated form in the first place.
So, after Moses learned about these abilities, he had an intriguing idea.
He wondered-
Could he create a type of Divine Script on his body in the form of a 'tattoo' that would independently cycle the bone-plated Aura layer?
If this idea is feasible, the Ken: Bone-Plated Armor could form autonomously during combat, significantly enhancing its practicality.
'Let's wrap up this test now.'
Moses cleared his thoughts.
Now, he is eager to test the effectiveness of Bone-Plated Armor in real combat and explore the potential of combining it with the Divine Script. At this point, he no longer wished to waste time on the exam.
So he decided to make it easier for the others.
At this moment, night enveloped the entire island.
The urgency of time pressed down on the examinees, causing their initial tenacity to begin wavering.
Would they fail?
Except for Gon, other examinees began to doubt their initial idea that they could win as long as they persisted.
This was mainly because the defensive methods displayed by Moses and his shadow clones were so flawless and so strong that they were filled with despair.
It was clear that the rules of the third phase had given them an advantage, but after three days of hard work, they still achieved nothing.
This feeling is so uncomfortable.
As the test is about to end, the morale of each team is no longer as high as before.
"Damn it... Even if I die of exhaustion, I refuse to get eliminated this way!"
Leorio, with his whole body soaked with sweat, staggered to his feet and looked with gritted teeth at the unmovable shadow clone.
Meanwhile, Geretta, who was on the same team, was too exhausted to move and had obviously given up.
Killua's condition was not bad, but he was always one to give up easily. After failing again and again, all he saw was a success rate of zero.
Gon, though weary, shared Leorio's resolve and didn't want to throw in the towel just yet.
In fact, had it not been for Moses aiming to unlock the reward and thus raising the difficulty...
Their persistence would likely have paid off.
Because according to Moses's original plan, if they persisted, they should have successfully grabbed the number plate by the second day.
But now, all that had accumulated was deeper despair.
"Killua, let's try one more time."
Gon looked at Killua, who had completely lost interest, and suggested.
Killua sighed and said weakly, "Don't you get it yet? Unless Moses goes easy on us, even if we spend another year, we'd never get the number plate."
"But the test is not over yet..."
Gon held the fishing rod tightly, showing no sign of giving up.
Killua watched Gon's determined expression and was reminded of the scene on the airship when they were toyed with by the old man.
"Fine…"
Killua let out a sigh and nodded towards Gon.
Anyway, the test is almost over, so he'll just treat it as an opportunity to play with Gon for a while longer.
Seeing Killua nod, Gon smiled happily.
At this moment, Leorio let out a loud cry and, despite his exhaustion, charged at the shadow clone.
"Hey, don't rush in alone!"
Killua's expression darkened.
'With our energy nearly depleted, at least coordinate properly instead of rushing headlong!'
Leorio reached the shadow clone and, with no real technique, stretched out his hand toward the number plate on the shadow clone's chest.
The shadow clone had a calm expression on his face, and raised his palm forward, ready to slap Leorio away.
But at this moment, Leorina's legs suddenly gave out, causing him to lose balance and fall forward.
The unexpected stumble made the shadow clone's strike miss, just skimming over Leorio's head.
Then-
An unbelievable scene, one that would shock Killua and Gon for an entire year, unfolded.
As Leorio lost balance and fell toward the shadow clone, his outstretched right hand managed to grab the number plate they'd struggled to seize for three whole days.
Just like that...
He took it with ease.
Killua and Gon's jaws dropped, standing there like statues, dumbstruck.
'So, what is the point of our desperate efforts over the past three days...'
The same scene happened in two other locations.
Thus, at similar points in time, three teams successfully snatched the number plates and passed the third phase.
But they all knew it was because Moses had gone easy on them.
When the examinees who passed the third phase arrived at the assembly point where the airship was located, they looked at Moses, who was standing in front of the airship's gangway, with complex expressions.
Among these looks, the most common sentiment was a sense of awe beyond words.
"Master ended up letting them pass after all."
Menchi reclined in her chair, arms behind her head, watching Beans head outside to gather the examinees by the airship.