Chapter 5 Soul Echo

Moses had once overlooked this world from the perspective of a reader.

Now, having crossed over to become a member of this world, he didn't feel any sense of superiority. He didn't claim to have a profound understanding of this world.

After all, a reader's perspective, at most, allowed him to see a partial view of this world, not to mention there's still vast unknown land beyond the 'known' world.

Therefore, under the condition of not leaving his place, Moses believed it was necessary to deepen his understanding of this world through extensive reading.

Swamp Man was one of the fantasy novels he had read to lighten his mood. It delved into the themes of "soul" and "what am I exactly?".

The story began with a man struck dead by lightning while passing through a swamp.

However, the lightning and the swamp had a miraculous reaction, creating a duplicate of the deceased with the same body mass and even the same soul.

Starting the story with this "restart" method raised a question— If the preservation of the soul grants a new beginning, am I still me?

Moses stood in front of the bookshelf, flipping open the Swamp Man book.

Having recently read it, the story was still fresh in his mind.

His slender fingertips flicked through the pages, stopping at a certain place.

"Shadow."

Moses stared intently at the most conspicuous word in between the lines.

Shadow, the vessel for the duplicated soul…

But what if it's not duplication but fusion?

Moses pondered, then looked at his own shadow, his thoughts stirring.

A small amount of potential Aura recently replenished in his body began to flow slowly from his pores, merging into his shadow.

Mimicry—

With the infusion of Aura, Moses's shadow first separated and then slowly transformed into a three-dimensional figure, constructing a pitch-black human form identical to Moses.

"This is my Nen ability, but it's still just a rudimentary form…"

Moses carefully observed the motionless, mannequin-like black figure in front of him and muttered to himself:

"The burden of using the ability has significantly reduced, and the Aura's consumption has also decreased."

The first time he used this ability, the shadow only manifested as a bubble shape, lasting for 3 seconds, but nearly depleting all the Aura from Moses's body.

But now, Moses only consumed a small portion of his Aura to shape a human form, and the duration has exceeded 3 seconds.

"As the thought process behind my ability becomes clearer, I can use it more smoothly. Even the difficulty of constructing has decreased."

Moses roughly understood the reason.

This Nen ability linked to the shadow was still just a prototype. Once his maximum aura capacity and Nen mastery advance, he could further perfect more ability effects.

However, the prerequisite is that his memory capacity could accommodate the developed ability effects.

The more complex the Nen ability is, the more it would occupy the memory capacity.

Typically, a Nen user would fill up all their memory capacity by developing a mature Nen ability.

However, a few exceptionally talented Nen users could develop a second or even a third Nen ability without any burden.

"Let's call it "Soul Echo"."

Moses named his ability while planning to do the Water Divination to determine his Nen type after stabilizing his fundamentals skills.

Only after discerning his type can he improve his Nen ability along the right path.

"Soul Echo"

"Nen Type: Not tested yet"

"Initial Ability: Mimicry using the shadow as a medium for Nen."

"The maximum extent of mimicry is currently unknown, but preliminary estimation suggests it can be expanded based on setting conditions."

After naming his new ability, Moses began to manipulate the shadow figure.

"Raise your left hand."

Applying the Manipulator category mindset, Moses gave a simple command to the shadow figure.

However, despite the command, the shadow figure showed no reaction.

"Huh? Could it be that I'm not a Manipulator? No, even if I'm not, there should be some feedback from such a basic command."

Moses put his hand to his chin and pondered.

Then, he reduced the difficulty of the command, instructing the shadow figure to just move a finger. However, the shadow figure remained motionless.

"Something's not right."

Moses frowned, and began contemplating the reasons.

"Ah, I see."

Looking at the motionless shadow figure with no sign of vitality, Moses chuckled, "Even though you've separated from me, we are essentially the same entity, so…"

With that said, Moses closed his eyes and issued a command to the shadow figure within his consciousness.

In the next moment, the shadow figure successfully raised its left hand.

Moses then opened his eyes, watching the shadow figure maintain the raised hand position, and a satisfied look appeared on his face.

Due to his lack of proficiency in the ability and an insufficient amount of Aura, he had to close his eyes to enhance his concentration.

However, once Moses became more adept at the Nen skills, such efforts would no longer be necessary.

In his consciousness, Moses continuously gave various commands to the shadow figure, playing with it gleefully, like a child with a new toy.

After approximately ten minutes of playing, Moses suddenly blacked out, collapsing to the ground due to the depletion of his Aura.

The shadow figure subsequently dispersed, returning to its normal state.

From awakening Nen to the birth of his ability, this entire process took less than twelve hours.

If someone had witnessed this, Moses's case would likely be described as a "special exception".

As time slowly passed, the sun rose from the east, dispelling the morning mist and emitting scorching heat. Then, it gradually set in the west.

When the last trace of twilight disappeared in the distance, and night fell, Moses finally woke up.

"So hungry."

The hunger from his stomach tormented Moses, who had just woken up.

"I got too carried away…"

Moses got up from the ground and, in passing, put the Swamp Man book back on the bookshelf.

"Let's go to the kitchen and get something to eat."

Perhaps due to the excessive consumption of Aura, Moses felt exceptionally hungry for the first time. He fumbled to turn on the light in the dark room.

Click—

The bright light filled the entire room.

Moses walked out of his room and looked up at the sky.

The night sky was covered with dark clouds, with no trace of moonlight.

The surroundings were eerily quiet, and the distant darkness seemed like a gaping and intimidating abyss.

Moses turned on the corridor's light.

The bright light illuminated everything, providing a sense of security.

Moses walked through the corridor and headed straight to the kitchen.

…

In the quiet and dark forest, a sudden sound of rapid panting echoed.

A figure ran staggeringly through the forest, with eyes filled with panic and fear.

Suddenly, the figure spotted the lights on the mountaintop ahead.

Like a drowning person spotting a piece of driftwood, a glimmer of hope flashed in the figure's eyes.