Chapter 14 The Hunter Exam Begins

The Guide told Rayleigh he could release his camel after they left the Purple Swamp and it would find its own way back. When the pair entered the city limits, Rayleigh felt a dozen pairs of eyes looking around. He instinctively used Force Stealth to reduce his presence to the minimum.

The citizens of Zaban knew the Hunter Exam took place there this year, so hundreds of stalls were opened around the city to sell their goods to the gullible travelers.

The Guide seemed to notice they were being watched and made a few circles while looking like tourists before ending up at an Eatery.

The chef noticed the pair entering and casually stated, "Hello, what would you like?"

The Guide placed a hand on the counter and answered, "A steak."

The chef replied, "How would you like that cooked?"

"Slowly, rare."

The chef nodded, "Okay," and motioned to a waitress who walked over.

The waitress gestured to the back and stated, "We have a table in the back room, Sir."

The Guide nodded and led Rayleigh to the back, followed by the waitress. The back room has a few chairs and a table.

The Guide sighs and says, "I can't believe someone so young made it this far on his first try. I wish you the best of luck."

The Guide then turned a nob on the wall and closed the door. The next moment, the floor shook and started to slowly descend. The room was actually an elevator.

Rayleigh was slightly disappointed he would not be getting his steak, but he had three more food containers in his backpack, so it wasn't an issue.

The door opened again and Rayleigh stepped through into a massive underground space that led into a seemingly endless tunnel.

A short man with a lime green jelly bean-shaped head noticed him and walked over. He handed Rayleigh a clipboard to sign and then handed him a badge. "Hello. Please take your number badge. Here you go. Be sure to wear this at all times, please, and be careful not to lose it."

The white tag he was given had the number 58 on it. Once he arrived, he checked out the Hunter Chat.

The Chat Room was exploding. Some Players have gotten to Zaban, but none of them had a guide. Not a single one.

[Dyna_Might: Where the hell is the Exam Site?!]

[Green_Lantern: You can't find it? Are you even trying?]

[Demon_Hunter: They aren't Hunters, they're Pirates. They're probably looking for a building with a big red X on it.]

[Armory: They probably didn't pay their driver enough.]

[Green_Lantern: They probably got there too late.]

[Dyna_Might: That's BULL. I paid a guy to take me here by Plane! I was definitely the first to get here!]

[Glitter: I should have taken a plane too. The bus kept driving in circles.]

[White_Knight: The Taxi drove me to the wrong city! I only found out after I paid him and he left!]

[Stoner: I'm almost to Zaban, who is at the Exam Site?]

[The_Invisible_Man: I'm already here, can't you see me?]

[Justice: He's lying, we both got on a bus and ended up in the wrong city.]

Rayleigh wouldn't comment. They might still be able to find someone who had a guide and follow him inside.

The wall he came through had a couple of elevators, showing the diner was not the only method of entry.

Rayleigh glanced over his competition and confirmed he was the only kid, meaning he was the only Player who showed up. He didn't want to talk to the others, but he had to stay out of the Chat too, so he went to a corner and pretended to pull HK-47's head from his backpack when he was really taking it from his inventory.

[Reluctant Query: Where have you taken me now?]

"I am about to take the Hunter Exam. This world has people with powers different from those of the Force, and I want to learn it. To do so, I need to pass this Exam." Rayleigh then moved the head around so he could look at every one.

[Observation: Of this room's occupants, the one with the highest threat level is the human with the red hair and facial war paint.]

Rayleigh nodded, taking special note of number 44, the man with the face paint who was dressed like a clown. He was a predator looking for a meal and had a far stronger life force than those he'd felt before.

The small bean man continued passing out badges and Rayleigh actually spotted someone his own age, a silver-haired kid carrying a skateboard. Rayleigh didn't know if he was a Player, so he checked the Chat Room again to see if there were any braggers, but didn't see any.

The silver-haired kid got the number 99 badge and had something of a cold appearance. He looked around and met Rayleigh's gaze before coming over.

"Hey, how old are you?"

Still not knowing if he was a Player, he answered, "I'm turning twelve in a few months."

"Oh? I didn't think I'd see anyone the same age as me here."

"You're eleven too? Cool. Why do you want to become a Hunter?"

"Well, I just wanted to try the Exam. I heard it was really hard. What about you?"

"I heard there are a lot of neat things only Hunters can do. So I'm gonna become one."

"That's cool. I'm Killua."

"I'm Ray." With that, Rayleigh confirmed that Killua was not a Player. Just to be safe though, he used his shortened name.

"What is that?" Killua pointed at the severed robot head in Rayleigh's lap.

"Hey HK, introduce yourself."

[Greeting: I am referred to as HK-47. A fully functional Systech Corporation droid, skilled in both combat and protocol functions.]

"No, not that, tell him your primary function." He wanted to show off and make friends with a possible Main Character.

[Disclosure: Very well. I am a Hunter-Killer Assassination Droid Model 47. I am skilled in every form of meatbag disposal, and prior to my status being rendered less effective due to my disembodied state, my primary purpose was to track down and terminate targets selected by my Master.]

Killua's calm exterior actually looked shocked for a moment before turning skeptical. "You're an assassin? Well, so am I."

[Observation: You do not appear to be an assassin. Therefore, you must be a very good one.]

Rayleigh asked, "Cool, are you really an assassin? HK is the only assassin I've met so far."

Seeing only curiosity in Rayleigh's eyes, he affirmed, "Yeah, so were my parents. They wanted me to stay in the family business, but I didn't want to kill anymore, so I beat up my brother and mother and ran away."

[Objection: If you have grown tired of killing, you obviously lack creativity. There are countless ways to kill, the true pleasure does not come from the act, but in the comparing of efficiency between the different methods to end a meatbag's pitiful existence.]

Rather than be horrified, Killua just laughed at HK and asked, "Why is he just a head? If he had a body, couldn't you use him yourself?" Rayleigh shook his head and, in response, said, "HK, tell Killua what fate awaited most of your previous masters."

[Reluctant Statement: Err, a majority of my previous Masters were terminated directly or indirectly by... this unit due to accidents for which I bear no responsibility.]

Killua just stared at the head for a few seconds before he completely broke down laughing. He laughed so hard he fell to the ground with tears streaming down his face.

After Killua recovered, Rayleigh patted HK's head reassuringly and said, "It's okay, how about you tell us about one of your best assassinations? That usually cheers you up."

[Recollection: Vey well. I shall tell you about the instance in which I killed a senator by framing him for adultery with a mobster's wife. The mobster's retaliation was most creative.]

Killua looked interested and was quickly engrossed in the story.

Rayleigh checked out the Hunter Chat Room. It was already 6 AM and there was only an hour to go until the Exam started and over a hundred participants had arrived, but no one else of Ray's age besides Killua.

[Green_Lantern: If you ask nicely, I'll tell you how to get to the Hunter Site]

[Dyna_Might: PLEASE!]

[Green_Lantern: Alright, since you asked nicely. There are a bunch of vendors around, right? Well, here's the trick. You need to find whichever one is selling the most expensive item. Then, you need to pay them double for it. About five minutes after you do, someone will find you and tell you there is another location where the good stuff can be found. Follow him and he'll take you to the Hunter Exam Site.]

[Stoner: Wait, really?]

[Demon_Hunter: Didn't he tell you to bring money? Poor people can't be Hunters, the first test filters out those who can't afford it.]

[Dyna_Might: **** Fine! I'll buy every piece of **** this place has!!!]

[Green_Lantern: Be careful, it only works for the most expensive pieces.]

[Demon_Hunter: Though if you spot a piece and don't buy it and come back later, someone else might have already purchased it.]

After HK-47 finished his story, a short, stocky, middle-aged man with a used car salesman's hair cut came over and said, "Hey, you kids are first-timers right? My name's Tompa." The badge he wore was number 16.

Rayleigh politely introduced himself, "Ray," followed by Killua.

Tompa said, "Seeing you kids really brings me back. I was ten when I took my first Hunter Exam. This is my 35th attempt, so I'm quite the veteran. If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

Ray pointed at the dangerous clown and asked, "Do you have any information on him?"

Tompa looked over with a smile, but suddenly paled when he noticed who Rayleigh was pointing at. He answered, "Yeah. I know him. Hisoka the Magician. He could have passed last year's Exam, but he almost killed a judge he didn't like and got disqualified. He's definitely one of the most dangerous guys around. Last year, he mutilated twenty other participants so badly that I haven't seen any of the survivors come back this year. Try to avoid him as much as you can."

Tompa started listing off the other interesting participants, but Ray's eyes caught the person coming off the elevator. It wasn't a player though. It was a bald man following a man with a giant hammer.

Rayleigh called out, "Hey, Hanzo!"

The self-proclaimed Ninja spotted Rayleigh and walked over. He then noticed Ray's tag of 58 while his own tag marked him as 294. Looking constipated, he asked, "How'd you get here so fast?!"

Ray shrugged and answered, "Poisonous Camel got here this morning. What took you so long?"

"Arrg! I couldn't find the entrance. Eventually, I just followed this guy into a store and snuck in before the door closed. There was another brat following him, about your age. I knocked him out though."

Rayleigh shook his head. There was less than a half hour until the test began and the Players were getting trolled or worse out there. Was it really that hard to follow the provided instructions, not wander off, and meet a guide? He wondered who got knocked out and noticed that Stoner was no longer making noise in the Chat Room.

Just as Rayleigh was going to head back to Killua, he got a menacing feeling from the next elevator. Rayleigh turned his head away to prevent himself from staring, but he checked from the corner of his eye the man that walked out. His face was covered in pins and his expression looked completely frozen and unnatural. He was handed the 301 badge.

Rayleigh returned, and Tompa offered a soda, which Killua already had two of in each hand. Ray shook his head politely and retrieved a soda can from his backpack to show he was covered, before thanking him for the offer.

Tompa then left to chat with Hanzo and Ray stated, "You know that's probably poisoned, right?"

Killua downed the whole thing anyways and said, "It's fine, it's not a poison that can hurt me. I've trained myself."

Ray nodded. Poison resistance training did seem like an assassin thing to do.

Things were coming to a head in the Hunter Chat as the clock got closer to 7 AM.

[Dyna_Might: I will pay 20 Million Zennies to whoever can tell me how to get to the Hunter Exam Site! Payment on ARRIVAL!]

[Armory: Didn't you bring 50 Million? What happened to the other thirty?]

[Green Lantern: Oh my god, did you actually spend your money on that tourist crap?]

[Demon_Hunter: I think he did. Wow. None of us are even at Zaban. Why would we know how to get into the site? It changes every year, by the way.]

[Dyna_Might: **** YOU. I'M GOING TO ****ING KILL YOU ****ING ****S. YOU PIECES OF ****! I'M GOING TO SHOVE MY FIST UP YOUR *** AND SHOW YOU THE TRUE MEANING OF EXPLOSIVE DIARRHEA!!!!!!!!!!!]

[Green Lantern: Chill out, it was a joke. Why so serious?]

[Demon_Hunter: You should be happy. You just helped out the economy of a poor inland city. Pat yourself on the back.]

Rayleigh just shook his head. If Dyna Might actually asked him where he was in the Chat, he wouldn't lie, but it seemed that the bombastic bomb boy and glorious glittering girl didn't even think Ray was in the City yet and never bothered to ask for him in the Chat.

Dozens more participants came through the elevators in droves while Tompa climbed up the wall to get a better look and count them all.

Near the end of the time limit, a trio of three more came out, with one of them being Ray and Killua's age. Player, Main Character, or Extra? He didn't know. Since even Tompa said he took his first Exam was when he was ten, coming at eleven didn't seem like that big a deal anymore. That being said, the new kid had massive spiked black anime hair with green highlights. If that didn't stand out enough, he was carrying a fishing rod. As they started rubbernecking, Tompa showed up.

Ray continued chatting with Killua and told him about his trek to the Hunter Exam. Apparently, Killua didn't find a Guide either. He did the same as Hanzo and found someone being guided and followed him. He heard the password and mimicked it to gain entrance. Ray told him he missed all the fun parts, like riding a Poisonous Camel through a poisonous swamp in the dead of night.

When Killua finished his sodas, he went to Tompa to grab some more.

There were three Pirates who seemed to be in Zaban City and filling up the Chat with requests for the location of the Hunter Site, but the grim realization was coming over them all. None of them had found it.

From what Rayleigh could see, every native Hunter Player either had their license or had a different way to obtain it. Rayleigh was the only Jedi Player to show up, and of the Pirate Players, only those three had made it to Zaban, but none of them found the Exam Site.

Oh well.

Killua returned with four more sodas, and a skinny man entered the space through a pipe along the wall and pulled out a tiny green head. He tapped on it and the thing started sounding out like an alarm until all eyes were on the skinny man.

"Here I am. The time for the reception is over."

After confirming all eyes were still on him, the man stated, "Now the Exam can begin."

He then gestured down the tunnel, "This way please," before turning and walking down the tunnel himself. He spoke aloud as the crowd started to follow him, "We'll begin with a short verification. It's an extremely difficult exam. Sometimes you can miss a chance and can end up hurting yourself or you can simply die. Getting irreparably hurt in an accident with companions is something that can't be avoided. Now please follow me,"

After a few moments of watching, he stated, "Count is ok, 405 participants for the first round of the exam." Rayleigh wondered if they counted on the off chance someone died after they got their badge.

The examiner continued walking at a brisk pace that seemed to be accelerating, and the participants started jogging to keep up.

Once everyone was jogging at a steady pace, he stated, "I forgot one detail. I'm Satotsu, and I'm in charge of the first round. So I must lead you to the place of the second round."

Hanzo the Ninja asked, "Second round? You mean the first...?"

Answering the question, Satotsu stated, "The first round has already begun. If you're able to follow me to the place where the second round starts, you'll have passed the first round. I can't tell you where or when we'll arrive. You must be content with following me."

Rayleigh jogged lightly, and Killua kept pace on his skateboard. Ray asked aloud, "I wonder how many days we'll have to run for?" Killua glanced over the crowd and answered, "I don't think too many would be left if this took longer than half a day."

A man who looked about twenty-five or so and carried a briefcase shouted at Killua, "Hey kid, that's not allowed! That's cheating!!!"

"Why?"

The business suit-wearing man replied with confidence, "'Cause it's an endurance test!"

The spiky-haired MC candidate running with him said, "You're wrong, he just asked us to follow him."

The man poked the kid's head, and Killua realized he also looked pretty young and asked, "How old are you?"

"Almost twelve."

Killua and Ray shared a look and a smile. Killua jumped off his skateboard and said, "I'm Killua."

Rayleigh added, "I'm Ray, also turning twelve this year."

"I'm Gon."

Killua then looked up at the man with the briefcase and asked, "What's your name, Mister?"

"Mister?! I'm not that old! I'm only turning nineteen this year!"

Ray, Gon, and Killua all froze in shock. The 'young adult' did not look anywhere close to eighteen.

Killua almost shouted, "Are you sure?!" They couldn't believe he was only seven years older than they were.

Rayleigh motioned for them to stay near the back and told HK-47 to tell them more stories. He used Force Muffle to prevent the candidates in front of them from hearing the insane tales of the murderous, bloodthirsty assassin droid he tied to his backpack.

Gon's friends introduced themselves as Leorio and Kurapika. Leorio suggested throwing HK-47 in a trash compactor, and Kurapika was not particularly fond of guns for hire, though HK claimed it was just a tool.

The group ran at a steady pace of 12 miles per hour or 20 kilometers per hour. After about three hours, Leorio collapsed but got his second wind after leaving behind his suitcase. Gon threw out his fishing rod's line and snagged it while reeling it back in, impressing Killua, Rayleigh, and HK-47.

[Observation: Such a technique would prove remarkably useful for assassinations.]

This caused the trio to laugh, though Kurapika didn't seem to think of it as funny.

Soon a chubby nerd seemed to have been broken by Tompa's teasing and fell out of the test. This started the signal for more and more to drop out.

Killua shook his head as they passed each one. Ray also sighed and said aloud, "These guys have never been chased by a giant, flesh-eating monster for hours on end, and it really shows."

Both Killua and Gon nodded, having both seemed to have experienced the same thing at least once.

At the four-hour mark, the group approached some stairs which slowly ascended upwards. The tunnel was one hundred floors below ground level from Zaban City, and though it was remarkably level, he didn't know the elevation of their destination, so they could be ascending for a long time to come.

Still, Rayleigh wasn't even tired. During this four-hour, eighty-kilometer trek, Rayleigh found that his body seemed completely different than it should have been. It was much, much stronger. He wondered if this was a side effect of unlocking his Hunter Power System. Did possessing the Hunter Power System passively grant the body a greater ability to strengthen itself through training? Was the effect retroactive? Was this how he could have been if he did all his crazy training in this world instead of on Tython? If that was the case, then there was no hurry to get to the Pirate World. If passive strengthening effects were retroactively applied, then he could take all the time he needed to train in the Hunter World before heading to the Pirate World.

He wondered how many kilograms of weight he'd need to reduce his max speed to half now. He wondered how fast his max speed actually was without using the Force. Was it faster than using the Force? Using the Force to increase speed didn't take into account natural speed. If his natural speed was faster than what he could use the Force to accelerate to, then it wouldn't have any effect.

As he absentmindedly wandered about pointless things, he realized that he, Gon, and Killua were at the front of the pack, running up the stairs right behind Satotsu.

Gon also noticed this and said, "I didn't notice we were in the front."

Killua replied, "It's because the rhythm isn't very fast. Not moving the fastest way is more tiring."

He actually sounded dissatisfied and stated, "The Hunter's exam seems very accessible in reality, it's not even funny."

Ray said, "Well, it's just the first test. It will probably get more interesting later."

Gon decided to ask, "Why do you guys want to be a Hunter?"

Killua elaborated once more, "I don't really want to be a Hunter, I've heard it was something extremely hard and I thought it sounded interesting, but I'm disappointed."

Rayleigh answered, "I heard there are lots of things only Hunters can do, and I don't want to be limited in anything."

Killua asked back, "What about you Gon?"

"My father is a Hunter. My goal is to become a Hunter like him."

"What kind of Hunter is he?"

"I don't know."

Killua laughed, "That's weird."

"You think so?"

Rayleigh asked, "What do you know about him? Have you ever met him?"

"No, my aunt Mito raised me and I've only ever seen photos of him. A few years ago, I met this guy named Kite who taught me a lot of things about my father."

A glint of excitement shined in Gon's eyes as he continued, "My father discovered the ruins of the Luluka's civilization. He found out how to mate two-headed wolves. He discovered the thieves who were taking from the Mines of Konga and took down Kurt's Band. The fields of action he takes part in have no limit. He was someone who did everything, and even triple-star Hunters envy all of his accomplishments."

Rayleigh had no idea what any of that meant, and neither did Killua, who asked, "And that's a big thing?"

Gon apparently didn't know what any of it meant either and answered, "I don't know, but Kite seemed really happy and proud to be able to speak of him like that, so I wanted to become a Hunter like my father."

Half an hour after they started up the stairs, a light could be seen up ahead that marked the end of the tunnel.

Rayleigh, Gon, and Killua followed the Examiner to the top of the stairs into the open air and saw around them a vast and wild field.

The Examiner waited about five minutes for most of the candidates to exit the tunnel before closing it at precisely 11:15 AM. There were a few guys crawling up the stairs, but the door closing marked the end of their Hunter Exam.

The examiner then addressed the rest and said, "The Numelle's Marsh, nicknamed the Crook's Nest. This is the place where the second round will take place. You'll have to go through here to get to it. The rare animals you'll find in the marsh eat humans for lunch. They're birds of prey as well as tricksters. Follow me and pay close attention. Losing the way results in death."

From the side, someone shouted, "That's False! He's lying to all of you guys!"

A battered monkey-man wearing human clothes came from around the entrance and shouted accusingly at the examiner, "He's an imposter! He's not a judge at all. Because the real Judge is me!" If it wasn't for the fact that Rayleigh could recognize an animal on sight, he thought this monkey could probably have passed for human.

The pretender then dragged another monkey-man that bore a passing resemblance to the Judge and confidently exclaimed, "It's a monkey-man. One of those that live in the Numelle's Mash. The monkey-men like fresh flesh, they have long thin limbs but overall they're weak. They let themselves get tamed by men and use our language to trick men into the marsh where other monsters they get along with capture them alive! His only purpose is to get rid of all the candidates at once!"

Rayleigh's senses shook with danger as he felt the predator within the group's urge to kill flare up. The Magician threw some playing cards at the monkey-man and the Judge.

Rayleigh wasn't the only one surprised when those playing cards pierced through the monkey-man's face like steel through styrofoam. He dropped dead as a fountain of blood erupted from his wounds.

Hisoka then calmly stated, "I see, I see."

The dragged-in monkey noticed the gig was up and fled for its life, but was immediately killed by another playing card in the back, thrown once again by Hisoka.

The first shot was too quick for Rayleigh to sense, but he got a clear feel of the card that killed the fleeing monkey-man. It had a sense of life-force, but not Midichlorians. Something lifeless pretending to have life? It was paradoxical. He felt it would have been difficult to block with telekinesis alone due to an edge sharpening force of some kind, which also made the card slide too easily through the air. But it would not have been difficult to push or re-direct to the side. He also figured a Lightsaber could strike it down without a problem.

Hisoka shuffled the cards in his hands and stated, "With this, it's all cleared. He's the real judge. In fact, judges are Hunters that do this freely at the jury's request, so there's nothing odd about a Hunter stopping that kind of attack."

Satotsu had caught the cards thrown at him, showing he was capable of blocking whatever sharpening force Hisoka had applied to the cards. He stoically stated, " I'll take that as a compliment. However, the next time you use such intervention against me, whatever the reason, you're disqualified. Am I understood?"

"Yes, yes," the deranged killer amiably stated.

Some predatory birds descended on the monkeys and started eating them. The fate of those tricked by this land was left bare for all to see.