To be a Hunter is to be free. With Nen my mind is the key that opens any lock. With the right Hatsu, no prison can hold me; no hand or leg irons or steel locks can shackle me. No ropes or chains can keep me from my freedom.
"Never try to fool children, they expect nothing, and therefore see everything." - Harry Houdini
****(The Criminal)****
Coal.
The miners take it from the Earth.
The factories use it as fuel.
And is what almost killed me.
I was a just a street rat as a child, then I did whatever it took to survive. As an adult I had money and people respected me. But by then the damage was done.
Smoke, pollution, whatever you want to call it, the Doctor said he never saw lungs as black as mine before, he saw he was surprised I was still alive.
The Doctor was a good man, he did whatever he could to keep me alive, but my body was too damaged. I almost feel bad for having leverage on him, but I couldn't risk him getting ideas, one is never as vulnerable as when you are in a dentist chair, or when you trust a Doctor to give you the right drugs.
And then she came, the Saint, someone from a far away land, she healed me.
I asked her why, why save me?
And then she smiled, and in her smile I saw a demon, I was proven right when she explained that she now owed me.
Six months later I donated all my money to charity and then I tried to kill myself.
I failed.
****(The runaway)****
I am a healer but an old saying of my city is that if you know enough to heal, then you know enough to kill or cripple someone.
Take this Mob boss, the one who just tried to kill himself, he still lives, because I still have use for him yet.
Granted he is not a Nen user, so he
shortened his lifespan a lot when I healed him this time.
Maybe it shouldn't work this way, maybe I should be the one paying the price when I heal someone who is not a Nen user. I don't know and I don't care, everyone back in the hidden city of Lyonesse was a Nen user unless they were too young and I never healed anyone who wasn't a Nen user before I left the city.
Lyonesse, one of the hidden cities that still have people on it, it used to be under the sea but then the nuclear tests started in some islands and so the city was moved to the continent just to be safe.
Or so the official history says, for all I know we could just have taken the name from a Legend to make our city more important.
Anyway, I can only Heal with my Nen, but the ways I can do it... they vary.
As I said I don't know exactly why, but the costs of my healing are always paid by the ones I heal.
Well if there is a reason is because I don't want to pay any cost but the use of my own Nen.
If I heal a Nen user, then nothing is wrong if I do it the usual way as their own Nen helps them to heal.
If I heal someone who isn't a Nen user, then that person pays the cost by shortening their lifespan.
If I want my healing to be better than normal, then six conditions must be fulfilled.
I must not have hurt anyone in at least a month, note that means me doing it in person or ordering someone to get hurt. If someone is hurt in front of me but is not my fault then that doesn't break the condition. And if I fully heal anyone that I have hurt then this condition is still fullfilled. If I kill someone of course, then forget using this special method, also called Hatsu, for a month.
The person must beg me to heal them and I must accept.
Once healed, the person owns me a favor.
The favor must be fullfilled or the person body will revert to the state it was before I healed him or her.
If the favor is not fullfilled in less that a year then I might lose the ability to heal others. That also means that no favor can have a condition than lasts more than less that a year.
And lastly; I must explain these rules to the person who owns me a favor. Note that this doesn't mean I must explains things before the healing or that I must explain anything but the basic rules.
The favor I asked the Mob boss? Be my slave or die.
Of course the idiot doesn't know, that he only needs to be my slave for less than a year.
Anyway, I still have use of him for a few months more.
All I did was make him invest in some charities and shut down the coal mines. Yet the fool donated all his money away and tried to die.
Why?
I don't know and I don't care.
****
[Ten years ago...]
Just... just shut up and listen, okay?
I know is not right, I know is bad for me, but right now, I want to feel bad. I want to stop trying, to stop fighting. I don't want people to give me advice, I don't want their pity or hearing lies about how things will get better.
I tried, but no matter what I did things just keep getting worse. So why not just stop? Is not like I am making any real difference.
No matter what I do, I just save people lives today for them to die tomorrow.
So I want to let things go, to just stop and walk away.
I want to give up really badly, but they won't let me, they won't let me just walk away. If I tried they would just pull me back.
So... I know you are a Pro Hunter... can you make me disappear?
****
Another day, another body buried on the ground and yet another false friend gone. Is in times like this that I wish I had never become a Healer.
But I had the "talent" for it and I needed money to survive.
Nobody wanted to listen when I said I didn't want to be the next Saint, my screams were just ignored.
Becoming the Saint was closing all windows and locking the door of the house, trapping myself under a mask.
I don't care at all anymore, staying means I will just die inside.
If the Pro Hunter just kills me right here and now at least I will die free.
But if I don't get killed then I wish to move on, to stand with my feet steady on the ground instead of being chained at the top of a crystal tower.
I am no fool, I am not a princess and the Hunter is not the prince that comes to rescue me. That's why I stole something that the Hunter will want from the secret vault.
So I can fly away, pick the pieces of my broken heart and make it whole again.
I just wanna move on from this hidden city, see the outside World and stand up on my own. Is that such a big crime?
I let them shut me in a cage, but now I see the key of the lock, maybe the World outside is full of cats and I am just a mere mouse, but so what?
For the first time in years the choice is mine.
The Hunter, a boy younger that me looks at me like I am crazy, even raising an eyebrow, smug bastard.
"Yes, I can make you disappear, but is not worth gaining the whole city as my enemy." Says his voice and I feel like strangling him but I don't because I need him.
"You are a Relic Hunter, right? What if I give you this?" I show him the rarest book in our hidden city.
****(The Pro Hunter)****
I don't meant to offend anyone by saying this, but some parts of Africa are basically a living Hell.
But as they say in every crisis there is an opportunity
So I went to some place near South Africa, killed a minor Dictator, got my reward money and collected a few not so rare Relics for a different job afterwards.
That left me with two free weeks until I was supposed to deliver the Relics for my second job, so I ended going someplace in Africa I had wanted to visit since I hear about it.
A secret city, hidden from those who are not Nen users, and were anyone who causes too much trouble, even Hunters, would get killed by the locals since not only freaking everyone is a Nen user but a few of the locals are really strong.
The place has so many names I don't want to bother saying all of them, but basically we Hunters call it Lyonesse because it used to be under the sea at some point, then World War II happened and they moved the city to the surface.
Or so they say, even the locals are not sure about the history of the city or just like to lie. Anyway the point is that a place like that is one that most likely had either a few rare Relics or information on were to find them so I had just to go.
My Hunter license let me enter there with no problem but I barely had time to look around since the local Saint wanted to see me.
Did I forget to mention that? Due to a weird mix of Western and local religious beliefs the city of Lyonesse has always had the best local healer Nen user named as a Saint and forced to stay in the city until death.
The position is both a honour and highty beneficial as they basically end ruling the country but upon talking with the Saint it turned out said Saint hated the job and wanted to leave. Because that would put the whole city against me there was only one answer I could give.
"Yes, I can make you disappear, but is not worth gaining the whole city as my enemy."
"You are a Relic Hunter, right? What if I give you this?" Was the Saint answer.
I looked at the book she was offering me carefully, at first glance it didn't look like anything special to my Nen sences, and it didn't register as having a fake cover using Gyo.
Now, why did she think that book would be of any interest for me?
And then like an idiot I realised I had forgot to read the title.
Then I found myself confused... I was about to... wait.
"What's the book name?" I asked while being careful to not look directly at the cover.
"Illusionists by the Ages, a reference guide."
"Deal, I will get you out in exchange for the book." I said before I could even think about it.
****
Dammit! Why it had to be one of the Relics I really freaking wanted? Worse, the book is so freaking protected the only way I would be able to copy it was by memorisation. Even trying to write the book contents by memory would fail. Thankfully the information would still help me perfect my Nen abilities and Hatsus anyway.
Did you ever heard about that mage that helped to hide whole armies in the desert during WWII? He was a fraud, but the people who actually did the job did so using information from one of the "Illusionists by the Ages" books.
Of course they also used a lot of more mundane means since the whole "Is magic/Nen" would have been a hard sell to the troops and is not like there is such a thing as being undefeatable when it comes to Nen.
Anyway, to make who is basically the most important person of a city disappear is not usually an easy task. If a nobody disappears most people doesn't care, if the leader of their country does? They do.
Worse, Lyonesse is a city of Nen users, most people here might not be at the level of a Pro Hunter, but there is more of those here that I can deal with and live to tell the tale.
So... how I disappear such an important person, get paid and make sure I don't end with a bounty on my head from one of the few places I would really like to not piss off?
Normally I would accept this is a job too big for myself and call for help, but any extra Hunter who gets here won't go unnoticed. Heck the only reason the Saint guards don't know what we are talking about is due to both respect to the Saint and her orders.
And I already accepted the job, plus is a book I really want.
Wait... maybe that's it?
"Could I give the book a read?"
"And let you just steal it?" The Saint says with anger in her voice.
"No, just to see if it has information to help you get out the city without freaking everyone here wanting my head."
"And how do I know you won't memorise the whole book and then leave?"
That's a good idea, but not only I already accepted the job, I do not have any Hatsu that let's me memorise things fast since usually I just study things over and over until they stick. I should definitely make Hatsu that let's memorise things in the future.
"I swear on my Nen that I won't steal the book, just take it as payment once the job is done."
The flare of Nen that goes out my body shows that I actually meant that. Of course there always ways to loophole agreements done with such few words, for example making her disappear could meant killing her and destroying the body so she is never found.
But I am not that kind of asshole, a deal is a deal, and no one forced me into this one. Whatever people says, when I give my word on my own free will, I do my best to keep it.
"Fine." The Saint FINALLY let's me take a look at the book and when I do I finally know how to do this freaking hard job.
****
"So... how did you do it?" My student asks and I am almost temped to tell her everything, but I know better than doing that. I might need to repeat the same trick someday after all.
"Eh my cute student, a true magician never reveals their secrets!" I say using my best fake smile. "But I will let you guess."
"You faked her losing her ability to use Nen or her Hatsu. Then she faked suicide with some help from the book information and then someone who didn't look like the Saint left the city and you got the book as payment." My student says with the same kind of fake smile.
"That's... a good guess." I say and pat her head. The girl looks uncomfortable for me doing so but doesn't move away or tries to hurt me.
Progress!
When I first found my student, she was in a real bad place, both mentally and in body. Not bad enough to need to call a favor to save her, but it took months to heal her body and her mind is still a work in progress.
"So Magician... did you fake the Saint getting their Hatsu stolen? That seems dangerous and sloopy." Of course the 'hired help' would butt in.
"No, we faked a situation were she needed to do a great sacrifice to save someone. She healed people for hours every day, so it was just a matter of time until someone almost as important as the Saint had a medical check up... Oh noes brain tumour? What can I do? I know, I will sacrifice my Nen to save him! And then before the fraud was discovered... the Saint dies, what a tragedy!"
"And no one in the city found out?"
my student asks.
"I don't know, but just in case I never went back to Lyonesse. A shame, I would have been able to learn so much about Nen there, but whatever, I still got the Relic book I wanted so it was worth it."
To be a Pro Hunter is a way to have the freedom to do whatever you want, but each choice you make means that other choices won't be taken.
Having taken that job means I cannot go back to Lyonesse without it being very likely that I die. Maybe some of the Saint "fans" knew what we were doing and just faked ignorance but even if that's what happened that doesn't mean everyone will agree to what I did.
Maybe in ten and so years I will be dumb enough to go back there, but for now that's just another door that got closed due to my choices.
Was it worth it? Of course it was! But I fear that some day just doing whatever the fuck I want is gonna be the worst idea ever.
Then again, this is still my path and while I have a few regrets, is still the way to get what I want.
I don't think that makes me a bad person, does it?
AN: We aren't having any Hunter X Hunter fics lately so why not?
More like a fusion. Still not decided if the Dark Continent exists or not. I like more the idea that the entire world has dangerous things and creatures on it and that's why Hunters exist.
For example:
The Chimera Ants Ark could be the result of someone stealing a mutant Chimera Ant Queen from a protected Zone.
And Gon self inflicted curse could be removed by someone sacrificing himself to cure him. That way it would be way more meaningful and give Gon a huge reality check.
Not to say stuff and creatures as dangerous as the ones in the Dark Continent don't exist, but let's be honest humans are bastards. With Nen blowing up entire cities would have been something posible since thousands of years ago, more so in societies that practiced regular human sacrifices. Also doing a bloodline extinction curse and a whole lot of nasty shit.
And then humanity invented big nukes, and then nuclear bombs.
Hunters are powerful but even the most powerful of them can't risk angering governments too much or being a Hunter would become too inconvenient.
On the other hand Nen has caused the rise and fall of many civilisations, there is a lot of lost knowledge, and if you recover some of that knowledge you can benefit humanity... and or benefit yourself.
Look how much power Gon got by almost killing himself, imagine the power you can get by doing ritual sacrifices for CENTURIES. That's part of the reason Relics are valuable, not only the.methods of making (most of) them is lost but it would take centuries to make them even if you know how.
Now the Phantom Troupe... I have plans for them... and let's just say the death of an almost an entire tribe with rare eyes wasn't just because they were paid to do so.
After all if you are going to massacre a lot of people you may as well get something extra out of it, uh?
"My advice is, never do tomorrow what you can do today." - Charles Dickens
****(The Magician)****
Nen is wonderful; Nen is amazing, Nen can do (almost) anything but always at a price, always at a cost, always at a risk. The more you sacrifice, the more you can do.
That's what a Hatsu (also know as a Nen ability) truly is, a sacrifice, nothing more and nothing less.
Now while it sounds simple, why is so hard to develop a Hatsu that works right for you? Why even most experienced Nen users don't tend to have more that one or two Hatsus?
Because not everyone is the same, not everyone is as talented, not everyone is as powerful, as smart, as resourceful or have the same abilities or personality. A good Hatsu reflects a person's own character, no matter how complex or simple; one can never truly master Nen if they only copy someone else's Hatsu.
To give you an example of why Hatsu are not easy, here is how m Serpent of Paradise works. Is a mind control Hatsu that manifests as a serpent biting someone to make they a single thing I order them to do.
To use it the name "Serpent of Paradise" must be said by me loud enough for a person with normal hearing to hear it. Those who hear the name, as long as they are not myself, can be affected by it's power.
For the Hatsu to take effect, no more than a hour must have passed since hearing the Hatsu name being said. If the three first conditions are meet, then I must touch a person to activate the effect. Once the four first conditions are meet, the victim of the Hatsu will be bitten by the Serpent of Paradise and be very willing to to fulfill a single order I tell them.
After being given the order, they will forget they are under the effect of a Hatsu and do whatever they can to fulfil that order; that includes believing in something I ordered them to believe. After 24 hours, any leftover influence of the Hatsu on the victim disappears but they still won't remember that they were affected by one. That means that if the order was to believe in something the victim will suddenly stop believing that.
The Hatsu cannot be used more than once a week on the same victim and the Hatsu can be resisted if the order is something contrary to that victim beliefs. For example to order a vegan to eat meat or a pacifist to kill someone. However that can be bypassed by changing a victim perception, for example making them believe meat are vegetables or making them believe they aren't actually killing someone.
Seems complicated and not that good compared to other ways of mind control, right? After all the Hatsu, can be resisted and if you do not hear the code phrase or avoid me touching you then you are safe.
For comparison let's go for something simple, okay? Like "If I touch you you will do as I say while I am touching you".
Seems simple enough, right?
However even if that Hatsu is done by someone stronger that me, Serpent of Paradise is still stronger. Because the way Nen works all of Serpent of Paradise limitations just make the Hatsu stronger.
And if I added conditions that put my life at risk then it would be even stronger. For example let's add something really stupid like "If the mind control fails I will die." That would increase the power but kill me the first time the Hatsu fails and there is no such a thing as being invincible. Now if the condition was "If it fails I will be unable to use Nem for a day" the risk is a lot less and so will be the power boost, but is still quite dangerous because for a Hunter a whole day without being able to use Nen is basically a death sentence.
By the way, I don't have a Serpent of Paradise Hatsu, I made it up, otherwise now I could control you by touching you. But if anyone else is explaining how their Hatsu works, is most likely because doing so benefits them, most likely because explaining it is part of the Hatsu activation conditions. For a Nen user, hearing your enemy talk to you may actually be an attack, do you understand?
Oh I see you do, I can see it in your face my cute student, but you can't say it or ever move, why? Cause you fell for one of my Hatsu, no, is not mind control. Is one I made because I like to rant and have people listen to me. But once I finish this lesson you will get free of it. You are lucky is me and not that madman that can talk for eight hours, that could actually kill you ya know? Cause not going for a potty break and all. For a Nen user "Kill them by talking" can be quite literal. There, lesson over.
****(The Student)****
My teacher is the scariest person I know but not the scariest person I know of. That's because in every lesson he keeps mentioning other people, never by name, but is all people who are either stronger that him or can do things that he cannot.
The way he uses Nen, the way he uses a Hatsu, the way he wants me to use it, is for it to not be as natural as breathing, but as natural as running, because there is always some effort and to forget that in his words, is to be a complete idiot.
At some point you have to stop running, to take a break, to take air, to rest, eat food and sleep.
That's the way he uses Nen, when he is safe, when he has taken all precautions possible; he just stops and takes a break.
That's why he goes into Zetsu, even if maintaining Ten at all times would be beneficial and would make him live longer.
That's because in his own words "Resting well is very important, it may even save your life one day."
Personally while I agree that not having enough hours of sleep is bad I think he just says that out of laziness.
Then again what he is lazy about depends on his mood. He saved my life not because it was the right thing to do but because he felt like it and because he needed to take on a student.
Not even to get promoted, but because he said that "When one person teaches, two learn."
And he definitely was not lazy while helping me, my body was broken; almost dead and now is better that it ever was.
He ever cared to help to try to fix my mind, I see a therapist at least once a week. When I complained that I was already okay and having to see the therapist interfered with training... he showed me why for a Hunter a stable mind as is valuable as their Nen.
Thankfully it was by using illusions instead of doing so for real but it was still the second scariest thing in my life.
The first will always be... What those human monsters did to me.
I may no longer wake up screaming but despite my new stronger body, despite training to be a Hunter... I can't forget.
What I can do is to not let it stop me, to make my weakness into a strength, to make it into a motivation.
I like my teacher a lot, he is like the father I never had, a cool big brother, that crazy uncle that always make you smile. I almost pity the fact men do nothing to me but then again, any romantic relationship with someone who has power over me is just... not gonna work for me.
Maybe is the trauma speaking but I heavily dislike others having power over me; so I honesty hope I never fall in love with a person who has that or it will be a tragedy.
Upon hearing that you may be surprised that I am a Conjuration Nen user but then again, if I actually had money I wouldn't have fallen with the people that almost killed me. If I had the key to my handcuffs I would have been able to get free, if I had a crowbar I would have beaten-
No; I would have tried to beat those monsters to death but they would have klled me instead.
To sum up most of the problems in my life, at least before my teacher saved me, could have solved if I had the right things.
That's how I developed my first Hatsu, anything I need, I get.
Of course there is limitations. No living beings, nothing that cannot be done without Nen. My creations last until I no longer need them or a hour, what happens sooner. And I do not chose what to get, I get what I need instead.
I call my Nen Ability "Mother of Necessity" and yes my teacher suggested the name but I liked it.
Is in a way an insult, my creations are not real inventions, they are copies of things someone else has already made and worse, besides being made out of my Nen they are complete mundane. Sure the limitations I put into my Hatsu make them stronger but my entire Hatsu could be replaced by a backpack of useful items... or so it looks at first glance.
My Hatsu gives me what I need and no matter how smart or wise you are, you will sometimes find yourself in situations you need things you don't have.
That's the brilliance of my otherwise complete waste of a Hatsu, as I said, whatever thing I need I get.
By the way, that's how my teacher ended finding me, upon facing death I found myself wishing I had something to get people attention and get saved. That's how a fire alarm sound lead Teacher to me and how said fire alarm disappeared once I got rescued. The building had no fire alarm, I had awoken Nen upon being close to dying and subconsciously used it to try to get help.
And as bad as it sounds, that's not the worst way I could have awakened my Nen... even if it almost got me killed.
Maybe I should be angry that I only got saved because I can use Nen? That my teacher is not a good samaritan that goes around rescuing princesses from tall towers? That's stupid!
No matter why or how the thing is that I still got saved. And is not like my teacher knew the fire alarm was caused by my Nen ability, right? When he chose to do something about the supposed fire without knowing what was going on, for all he knew it could have been a trap or something like that.
****(The Hired Help)****
Mac and I don't like each other but money is money so sometimes we work together. There is nothing personal, mostly a class of ideologies, Mac believes in Freedom and I believe that Hunters should be more responsive with their actions. Then again is not like we are in the Zodiacs or anything so even if we wanted to, we cannot push either of our ideologies on how the Hunter Association should run.
Mac The Magician is the example of what I hate; a Hunter using their Hunter license and their power to do whatever their want even if it breaks the law.
The funny thing is, Mac is not a bad person, as much as he denies it, he can be outright heroic sometimes. He will never will do anything without getting paid but the jobs he picks... well is not hard to see how he tends to target dictators, slavers, abusive companies and any so called "Evil" that restricts his precious Freedom.
And when he is not doing that he is hunting Relics, but even then he will try to get them by legit means if possible; even if with his talents stealing is extremely easy.
Not to say Mac won't steal, if is someone he considers evil he won't hold himself back. Entire companies have got bankrupt overnight, museums have been emplied out of their most valuable pieces and those replaced by very convincing fakes. And banks holding mostly laundered money have found their entire cash reserves burn to ashes or just gone.
And good luck trying to pin it on him, otherwise he would have so many bounties on his head it would be ridiculous.
He always is somewhere else, so far away it gives reasonable doubt. Or the one they see doing the crime did so by complete mundane means and looks nothing like him.
Not something that will fool anyone that knows him well, but with no proof, any bounties can't be official.
Not to say that no one ever tried to take him out and almost got him killed but even that has not changed his way of thinking.
In fact months later he was back, completely recovered like if he had not been hurt at all... or maybe he never was.
Mac is not a good liar but he is also is not a bad one, he lies so much is hard to find when he is actually saying the truth.
He hides a tree of truth in forest of lies and he is at his most honest when teaching someone else.
That's part of the reason of why I accepted this job, because is extremely rare to see him talking about his past mostly without lying and he does that as part of his way of teaching his student.
That being said, even his student is no safe from his lies. He just told her a lie to teach her a lesson. Granted he admitted to it being a lie but is still extremely irritating.
Heck I am not even sure if Mac is his original name and is the one that shows in his Hunter license!
****(The Magician)****
Now my cute student, all Hunters need to Hunt something and I Hunt Relics. Once you pass the Hunters Exam you can decide if you want to follow my path or hunt something else but for now let me explain things, okay?
A Treasure Hunter hunts valuable and rare items. A Ruins Hunter is a Hunter that is dedicated to uncovering, restoring, and preserving ruins in order to try to "revive" ancient societies. A Relic Hunter can be considered a mix between the two or a subtype of a Treasure Hunter, depending on who you ask.
A Relic, as a Relic Hunter sees it, is
something that has survived the passage of time, especially an object or custom whose original culture has disappeared. That means a Relic can be either an object or information thought to be lost. Something that is cherished for its age or historic interest doesn't count as a Relic if is not rare enough. And a memento doesn't count at all.
To give an example, the Illusionists by the Ages books are considered Relics because they cannot be copied, the information on them can only be memorized and even sharing the information you memorized from them with others is impossible. They are unique, made over a thousand years ago by a group of Nen users that called themselves the Illusionists.
If person finds one of the books and they have no Nen then they just see an ordinary boring book and complete ignore it. If the reader has Nen they have to fight off the compulsion to ignore the book, and it helps if they do know the exact title of the book.
The books language is always the main language of the Nen user who is able to read it.
Every one of the books has different information about illusions and the legend says the one to read them all will become a true Illusionist. I own one of the books and was allowed to memorise another. As someone who considers himself a Magician memorisation of all the books is a priority. To own them all would be even better but beggars can't be chosers.
Now as you already know the basics of Nen, know self defence and even have your own Hatsu, I decided to give you a small test. If you fail it I won't train you any longer until you pass the Hunters Exam but if you pass... I will give you a Relic as a gift.
"A Relic? Didn't you say those things are very rare and valuable?"
"Yes my dear Marceline; they are, that is why this test is not going to be easy at all."
I then put the most fake of my nice looking smiles.
"Tag, you are it!" I poke my surprised student and then I disappear.
****
I am terrible at names. Not to the extend of having to make a Hatsu to remember them, but bad enough I had to put pictures on my contact list on my phone or I wouldn't have any clue who the heck is calling me.
So for me to remember someone name, that person has to be important to me.
That's why I am being a bit unfair with my cute student, that's why this test is harder that anything she is likely to face on the Hunters Exam.
When I just 'disappear' is very hard to find me, even using Gyo and enhanced senses.
Even Adam; the "hired help", has a hard time finding me like this.
Despite having moved about eighty meters away I see my student is looking at Adam instead of trying to look for me. But he shakes his head, she is not getting his help for this.
Then my student uses her Hatsu and gets a smartphone... it looks like a copy of mine. Then she makes a call... my smartphone sounds in the bag I left behind.
Strange, isn't her Hatsu supposed to give her what she needs, then she goes to my backpack... and her power gives her a lighter after she turns my phone off?
"Hey teacher; anything valuable here that could catch fire?"
Oh... very good, aceptable even.
I think she is ready.
"Fine, you barely pass." I say appearing again and then letting her "Tag" me. I then get my bag back, I really should get my notes more protected.
"Barely?"
"I could have decided that my backpack was a good sacrifice for you to not tag me. The backpack could have been a decoy or I could have got my backpack back without you touching me. And those are just the most evident ways things could have gone wrong. Still, here is your reward."
I open my backpack and give my cute student a ring made of stone.
"What does this do?" She asks, good, she didn't just put it on.
"It seals your Nen in such a way even Pro Hunters will have a hard time finding you have Nen at all. I suggest you take the Hunter Exam while wearing it, as it will both make things harder and avoid giving away your Nen to others." The ring is actually better than that in her case; as she lacks the usual tells experienced Pro Hunters have in their body language.
"What if I don't want to pass the exam without my Nen?" Marceline asks.
"Then is okay, you will just have to get a different teacher, I already taught you the basics after all."
She groans then puts the ring in her pocket.
"How long until the Hunter Exam?"
"Two weeks." Adam says. "I can take you to someone who will take you right to the Exam site, for a price."
"What do you want?"
"Once you get your License, you will be my unpaid assistant on one job of my chosing."
"Forget it, I will just figure it on my own. After all I only have to use the ring while taking the exam not before, right teacher?"
I give her a honest smile. "Yes, but try to not be too evident while using your Hatsu, okay?"
"No promises, I will leave tomorrow."
And so we expend the rest of the day just goofing off, Adam tells terrible jokes, Marceline has the bad sense of actually liking them and I make some pasta despite being in the wilderness.
The rext day once she leaves Adam gives me a look.
"What?" I ask annoyed.
"Not gonna follow the brat?"
"She can't become a Pro Hunter if I baby her." I admit I want to follow and protect her but that's a bad idea so I don't. She is way more prepared that most people that takes the exam and she is also not stupid enough to keep wearing the ring if she needs her Nen to survive.
"Then my job is done?" Adam asks, he almost sounds disappointed? Nah must be my imagination.
"For now at least. If she passes and comes back to me for more training I might give you a call. Catch!"
I then throw him a rare gold coin, not a Relic but still worth a lot of money. For a Treasure Hunter like Adam, is an aceptable payment.
Adam catches it with ease, tells me to go to hell and leaves.
That just leaves myself... and the uninvited guest.
"So is just the two of us now, are you going to show yourself?"
For a moment nothing happens but I know I am not mistaken.
"Impresive, how long since you knew I was following you?" The professional assassin with long white hair asks after showing himself.
"You hired me just two years ago, Silva Zoldyck. How was the knife I got you by the way?" I say sidestepping the question.
"Too good unfortunately, I always fear breaking it so I save it for special times."
The young man, a few years younger that me, then finally decides to tell me why he has been stalking me.
"YOU ARE GETTING MARRIED?"
AN: Yeah decided to go by the 1999 anime white hair, not very fond of the new Anime. Also comments feed me.
While Mac is a self claimed Magician, even if he actually did parties he doesn't own a catering business.
Also the Zoldyck Family basically own their own country so they are not lacking in catering services. Still they most likely will do in house because a lot of people want them dead and tampering with food and drinks is easy. Not all their guests are likely to have their poison immunity.
I don't know if It is clear yet but all powerful Nen users tend to be...People outside rhe norm behaviour and thinking wise. Besides Leorio who is the only really good protagonist, we don't see many powerful Nen users that are good people. I decided to reflect this in the story:
Mac is a crusader for freedom yet had to be bribed with a valuable Relic to rescue someone from a golden cage. Granted that was ten years ago and Adam points out he has been a tad more proactive since then but even so he also points out that Mac always gets paid to do what he does. Even with Marceline, he is getting paid in a way, as he sees teaching as a way for not only the student to learn but also the teacher.
Adam may want Hunters to be more regulated but since he is a Treasure Hunter he does takes jobs he doesn't like if treasure is involved. He may also value some kinds of information as a treasure as finding more about Mac is part of the reason why he accepts working for him
Marceline, while she is not a Hunter yet, doesn't want anyone to have power over her, since they can use to hurt her, and she is also in case it was not clear, quite materialist. What with her "Most of my problems could have solved if I just had the right things" point of view.
And Silva... well we know there are things he just doesn't understand, that's canon.
I really like this fic, Hunter x hunter is great and I always like to see new fics, but this is interesting because of the characters, I really like how the characters think its very interesting. You capture the boarder-line Blue and Orange morality of the characters really well.
I really like this fic, Hunter x hunter is great and I always like to see new fics, but this is interesting because of the characters, I really like how the characters think its very interesting. You capture the boarder-line Blue and Orange morality of the characters really well.
Kurapika: Revenge over anything else even if is destroying him both in mind and body.
Leorio: Jerk with a HUGE heart of gold. Wants to be a Doctor to heal people for free.
Hisoka: I am having fun, who cares about anyone else? Has a thing with Illumi that would be the two actually dating if Illumi actually was capable of you know... character development?
Gon: Goes from Good Guy to caring only about his friends to complete broken about a complete stranger he only knew for like a few days at most and ends basically being written off of HxH without really learning anything and only paying the loss of his Nen for being a complete idiot.
Killua: Goes from token evil teamate to become the second nicest protagonist after Leorio. Time will tell if that lasts or not. Also ends being written off HxH in a way I completely hate.
Past Ants arc was were it started to decline, save for the election and Preston, but before that the series was wonderful, I do hope the characterizations get changed though if that ever happens.
Loved Greed Island, actually hated Gon in the Chimera Ants Ark. Don't get me wrong it could have been a good story... if the person Gon was trying to save was someone readers cared about instead a guy Gon barely knew.
So far we have actually seen a Hatsu that paralizes people when he is talking and there is several mentions of illusions. He was also able to get someone out a Golden Cage in a country were everyone is a Nen user and at least some people is as dangerous as a Pro Hunter. And the last thing was ten years ago.
A good Hatsu reflects a person's own character, so how can someone who likes freedom so much paralize people?
[Oh I see you do, I can see it in your face my cute student, but you can't say it or ever move, why? Cause you fell for one of my Hatsu, no, is not mind control. Is one I made because I like to rant and have people listen to me. But once I finish this lesson you will get free of it.]
Because is a transaction!
Remember how Adam mentiomed how Mac always get payment for a job? As Mac doesn't see paying for something as restricting someone freedom that's why the Hatsu works at all. He is teaching her a lesson and she is paying by listening to him without interruption because he likes having people listen to him.
While is not mentioned in the story so far, the reason he hired Adam to help train Marceline is because both are Conjuration Nen users. So either he can't do conjuration or decided to get his cute student someone whose main type is conjuration to better teach her things.
So even when Mac is the POV character don't expect him to reveal everything. This will be further explained later but basically
he is a professional and a professional doesn't give away information without some sort of benefit.
That's because Nen can do (almost) anything so is a way to restrict how much information his enemies get.
Even when he is talking in his own mind he doesn't give away details he doesn't need to, because he has the justified paranoia that someone might be listening.
So... how did you do it?" My student asks and I am almost temped to tell her everything, but I know better than doing that. I might need to repeat the same trick someday after all.
I like the characters approach to things he isn't dangerous because he is a SI but because he has made himself into a dangerous person with the mindset of a dangerous and careful person, which makes him feel like a Hunter. Also from the statements made I think the Hatsu is related illusion and related to transaction which I feel is fitting for his character which is kind of the point.
I like the characters approach to things he isn't dangerous because he is a SI but because he has made himself into a dangerous person with the mindset of a dangerous and careful person, which makes him feel like a Hunter. Also from the statements made I think the Hatsu is related illusion and related to transaction which I feel is fitting for his character which is kind of the point.
He has been a pro hunter for over a decade, of course he has more that one Hatsu. Heck he has keep studying about Nen, is actively looking for more information about Nen and wants to read all the Relic Illusionists books since doing so would make him way better at illusions.
Also he has mentioned at least three times, so far in the story, about making Hatsus to do stuff he has trouble with so it means that he can do so.
"Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die life is a broken-winged bird, that cannot fly." - Langston Hughes
****(The Student)****
"This is all an act." I say to the family of Magical Beasts that tried to play a trick on me. Then again I am not angry about it, they are just doing their job.
"Oh, how did you find out?" Asks the father, still in his true form.
"It was too much like a play and you just confirmed it."
I can see the father eyes widening.
"Fine, you passed. I will personally take you to the place of the exam tomorrow."
Finally! Maybe should have swallowed my pride and get Adam's help, is been ten days, only four days left for the exam.
I bow my head "Thank you, may I stay or should I head someplace else until tomorrow?"
"You can stay. Just one question, who trained you?"
"A delusional idiot." After all my teacher has called himself that more than once.
"Hahaha! An idiot you say? I take this fool is someone you are fond of?"
"That's more that one question." I point out.
"True, say human, how do you feel about eating bugs?"
"Depends on the seasoning." I am not joking, my teacher survival training... well is effective at least?
"Ha! Got you to answer more that one question!" The father says and then his head hit by the mother that has keep her human disguise. As a result I see a woman shorter that myself hitting a tall magical beast, is kind of funny.
"Stop being mean to the poor girl!"
"Dear I wasn't being mean!"
"Yes you were, what kind of example are you setting for our child?"
"Sorry, sorry, I got carried away. But yes, we really ran out of human food."
"I have ration bars, but as long as it doesn't harm me I am willing to try anything at least once."
"Okay, I will prepare an extra bowl of bugs then." The mother says and leaves for the kitchen.
Meanwhile the child looks at me with curiosity, due to his size compared to the father, and not being in human form he must be the equivalent of a toddler or a five year old at most.
"You smell nice!"
"Thanks?" I look at the father for a hint at what to do but he says nothing, is he that much of a prankster or is he still testing me?
"That doesn't smell like perfume." The father points out.
"That's because I am not using any."
Then the mother comes back in her true form, carring four bowls full of bugs in her arms. At least they are not alive and they do seem to have some seasoning.
I sit at the dinner table and as the guest I go first, is actually not terrible, better that the ration bars at least.
"Is... edible." I say honesty.
"So may I ask why do you want to be a hunter?" The mother asks.
"I want to be strong and to have all the things I want." I already had this asked by a navigator before so is most likely not a test.
"Are you sure? The life of a Pro Hunter is quite dangerous."
I eat more of the bugs and mentally count to ten.
"Yes, I have seen the numbers." Half of new Hunters get killed or 'stop being active' in about a decade. Is not a secret, is one of the public facts about Pro Hunters.
"My wife is right, there are safer professions out there."
"You said I passed this test and you would take me to the site of the exam didn't you?"
"Yes."
"Then is not your choice anymore, is it?"
"Correct." He says and we all continue to eat in silence.
If I was not wearing the Relic ring... they wouldn't have asked as they would know that I can use Nen.
But then again... is nice to have someone who is not Teacher worry about my safety.
Did Teacher knew this would happen? I don't know.
Is still interesting, it shows me that not everyone is out to get me but like Teacher himself says, trust is something that has to be earned.
Anyway better finish my meal and rest well because tomorrow won't be easy at all.
****(The Magician)****
[Nine years ago...]
I did it! Not only I completely memorised the 'Illusionists by the Ages, a reference guide' book but I actually understand everything on it. Unlike the crappy Hatsu I made in a hurry before after barely looking at the book, now I can actually call myself a... beginner Illusionist.
Still it took longer that I expected so I can't push this any longer.
I need to make a Hatsu to help me memorise things.
Mmm... better make it a six rules Hatsu, yes that will work.
So... I can only use it on Relics? No, can only use it on what I consider Relics, that's better.
I close my eyes and breathe, in and out, first I go into Zetsu and let myself relax. Then I go into Ten, my body and muscles get tense, then I go into Ren... and then in En. A ten meter sphere of aura envelops me. Then I let the aura shrink and focus it in my head, heart and hands. Three body parts is the best I can do with Ko so far, the rest of my body barely has any aura on it but I picked this place because is as safe as can afford so it will have to be.
"To be a Hunter is to be free. With Nen my mind is the key that opens any lock. With the right Hatsu, no prison can hold me; no hand or leg irons or steel locks can shackle me. No ropes or chains can keep me from my freedom!"
Oh what was that? A mantra and a ritual, not quite a real Hatsu, but it puts me in the right frame of mind. I can skip doing it if I want but I get better results if I do it first. Must be because of the risk of getting killed as it drains my Nen quite a lot and that leaves me more vulnerable.
How does it work? The head is equal to the mind and the mind holds knowledge. The heart symbolises life and with life there is hope. A Hatsu is symbolized by hands because hands were the first tools humanity had and in the end while a Hatsu is made by sacrifice, it is still just a tool.
Now for the rules.
This Hatsu will let me memorise information after reading it once.
One, I can only use this Hatsu on what I consider Relics.
Two, This Hatsu helps me to memorise, understanding has to come on my own.
Three, no matter how strong or weak I become, this Hatsu will take a third of my Nen to- no.
That one doesn't work.
Three, no matter how strong or weak I become, this Hatsu will take as much as my Nen as needed.
No, that's too risky.
Three, the more Nen I use on the Hatsu the better it will work.
There, that is balanced yet carries risks.
Now I still need three rules more.
Four, To activate the Hatsu, I must touch the Relic to do so.
Mmm, risky but doable.
Five, the Relic must at least have some information I do not know.
So far so good... now what do I use for the last rule?
Six, I won't share any information I get using this Hatsu without being paid.
No.
Six, I will use any information I get using this Hatsu to help the cause of freedom.
There, did I went overboard?
Let's review!
One, Two and Three are okay. Four is a bit risky, Five makes sense, and Six...
Six, I must say this Hatsu name before using it.
There, now it just needs a name.
Better make it something short yet meaningful.
"Elephant Memory."
There, all done, I am exausted.
Now this usually would be the most dramatic moment to get attacked by an enemy, but when I said this is the safest place I can afford I forgot to say just how ridiculously expensive the security is.
So even if someone gets past it, it won't be without effort.
Also exausted or not, I still have a bit more that half my Nen left, so I disappear before the assassin cuts my head off with a sword
Sloppy, I answer back to the guy confusion by making an illusion of a giant wolf. He must be quite green or an idiot because he actually falls for it. I take the chance to slip out the room and find that the guards are not dead, they just are knocked out.
The idiot assassin finally notices I left the room and then I let myself be seen.
Now you may be wondering? I am so poor that this is what I consider ridiculously expensive?
Of course not, the fainted guards are merely decoys.
Mister 'green swordman' gets their heart removed out from their chest and showed to him before he dies, thanks to the real bodyguard.
"Sloppy, not only I saw some blood when you removed the heart, but you also let the idiot get inside the room." Sure, let's criticise the extremely dangerous kid technique, why not?
"I don't see you injured." The actually profesional assassin says. He is a few years younger that me and has white hair.
"True, but then again if I wasn't a Hunter I could have got killed by that idiot." Is quite stupid to talk back to someone that actually can kill me, but as I said, this was expensive, I expected better.
"If you weren't a Hunter I wouldn't have let him get so close to you. Also I took care of all the other assassins."
"So this is the only one that got past the guards?" I knew unofficial bounties usually don't have the actual professionals going after them but I feel almost insulted.
"Yes, seems you are yet to get the fame needed to get someone like me after you." Cooky little bastard, he may be the main heir of the Zoldyck family, but his father is still way better. Not that I can really complain, as I said, this kid can actually kill me.
"Anyway, I am done with what I had to do. I will deposit the money in your account." Better end this before my stupid mouth gets me killed.
"Wait, you are a Relic Hunter, aren't you? Would you be willing to obtain something for me?"
"Depends on what it is, a Relic is more that something old and valuable, it has to have some uniqueness to it."
"How about a legendary tablet then?"
"I am listening Mister Silva Zoldyck."
****
[Eight years ago...]
The Tablet of the Feathered Serpent is a Relic made out of platinum. It is one of the oldest Center America Relics in the world, from before the Spanish Conquistadors, that is widely know. Besides the platinum that is
most likely have been melted using Nen, as American civilisations back then lacked the means to melt that metal by mundane means, there is nothing really interesting about it.
Sure, it is written in Olmec language but says nothing that has not been found already by the time the tablet was found. In fact it was at first thought to be a fake until a group of Archeologics hired a young Ruins Hunter to find out if it was real or fake.
The Ruin Hunter proved it was actually old enough to be genuine but could not be completely sure it was made with the help of Nen.
The tablet is usually held in a museum in England but it has been temporarily moved back to Mexico, were it was originally found, borrowed by a private owned museum that's doing an Olmec history exhibition.
And since the thing is made from mostly pure platinum the security is quite high. Not enough to hire a Pro Hunter but I have detected a few Nen users.
Now why did Silva Zoldyck hired me to get the tablet and why I had so much time to plan for this heist?
Simple, the tablet describes the sacrifice of a hundred warriors to the Feathered Serpent God in exchange of rain after a drought that lasted a long time. What makes this particular is that the sacrifice is a battle fought until only one last warrior in standing and then said warrior removes his heart to offer it to the Feathered Serpent God.
In other words, is a written testimony of a very old Hatsu made so it finally rained again.
And I was given time because Silva said that I should take my time to make the heist the best I could do.
The tablet has no Nen in it, it has no supernatural powers, but upon sneaking in while invisible and using "Elephant Memory." on the tablet I find out something even the young Ruins Hunter didn't.
There is a secret code written inside the tablet, in a way that back then would have been impossible to do without Nen.
Elephant Memory gives me information but not understanding, so I don't know what the code says but I can make a guess.
It most likely describes in exact detail how to perform the Hatsu instead of the vague description in the tablet surface.
Including the part of removing your own heart and yet living long enough to yell that you are sacrificing it to the Feathered Serpent God.
Well... looks like I found a way to impress my client.
Imagine this; on a whim you decide to obtain something valuable because it despicts an act you are famous for, removing a person heart. Then you not only get it but also get a code that if you decode will let you do the heart removing even better?
I expect a bonus payment, wouldn't you?
****(The Professional Assassin)***
[Ten days ago...]
I am the main heir of the Zoldyck family and one of the best assassins in the world. No target has even escaped me.
Yet I am flawed, I lack something, something I have been looking for most of my life. I thought that getting one of the most legendary killing knifes to exist would help me get that something but while it helped in my job and is the best knife I ever had, it sadly was not what I was looking for.
And then... I found her, a woman strong enough to be the mother of my children, and some of that feeling of emptyness faded away. Then after thinking about it for a time I found what I truly wanted.
I want a heir, a successor, a child of mine to be better that me, someone who will suppass me.
Now you could argue that's not something so strange, that a lot of parents want their children to inherit the family business and do better at it that themselves.
But no, that's not exactly it, I love my family and will do a great things for them, I love my future wife and I too will do a lot for her... but what I want for my successor... is too much.
I want him or her to stand amongst giants, to be a monster in human skin, to be so powerful as to eclipse all other assassins. I want that when people think of the family name Zoldyck then is my heir the one they think about.
"So is just the two of us now, are you going to show yourself?" Says the Magician.
For a moment I do nothing then I show myself.
"Impresive, how long since you knew I was following you?" Was it from the beginning or I made a mistake and something gave me away?
"You last hired me just two years ago, Silva Zoldyck. How was the knife I got you by the way?" He says sidestepping the question. Then again I should be the one to fix my own mistakes and only a fool gives away their advantage with no gain in sight.
"Too good unfortunately, I always fear breaking it so I save it for special times." While the Relic didn't give me any answers it is still powerful enough that I could probably kill a Pro Hunter with it alone, even if my Nen was sealed away.
After being found out, I decide is a good thing he has yet to be my target. The man has escaped death many times; taking the risk of him surviving is not worth the money, not while he still has use for me and my family.
Or maybe this are just mere justifications, maybe I just don't want to kill him because I like him as a person.
If I was a normal man maybe my mind wouldn't be so twisted, is this why I like him, because he has a mind as twisted as mine?
Anyway better invite Mac to my wedding already, his reaction alone will be worth it.
'I am getting married and you are invited to the wedding."
"YOU ARE GETTING MARRIED?" His reaction is so over the top that is completely ridiculous and at least partially faked.
Maybe that's it? Maybe is because he makes me laugh? Maybe if I wasn't who I am, we could be friends? Unfortunately I cannot have friends, it would be too dangerous for them.
Not that the Magician wouldn't be able to take it if even half the rumors about him are true, but I already decided my path and friends would be a distraction.
"Yes, I am."
"Oh; congrats? Anyone I know?"
"Unlikely, she is from Meteor City."
"Ah that place. Surprised it has not been nuked like the Gone City."
The Gone City, a place that got destroyed during a bomb test just two years after the First World War... or so the official story says. The truth is that it was a place not unlike Meteor City, a place that officially did not exist. And since it officially did not exist, they decided to "test" new bombs on it.
"You are too young to have been born there."
"I knew one of the survivors." Does he? Maybe is the person who trained him, or a relative? Not much is know of the Magician from before he became a Hunter.
"Anyway, are you going?" It will certainly make the event more interesting.
"Depends, will your family try to kill me while I am there?"
"No guests will be harmed." If they are, family or not, they will pay.
"And I will be considered a guest?" A very good question, my father definitely doesn't like him.
"Yes, you are being invited by me personally. After the wedding however..." Unfortunately I cannot protect him during his whole stay in my country; as that would be taking sides.
A shame I don't have any relative willing to marry him, while he is too old to be properly trained his illusions alone would make him a worthy addition to the Zoldyck family.
Then again, with the man stance on "Freedom" that will just never happen. A pity, one day we will may find ourselves in opposition but not for now.
"Is your grandfather still live?"
"My grandfather doesn't care, is my father the one who wants you dead." Yet he is right in fearing my grandfather, fortunately he knows the Magician death will upset me... unless I am the one killing him.
This is why I don't have friends, any people with who I feel anything close to friendship is also people I want to test myself against. And since I am an assassin a mere spar will never be enough.
Yet I can hold on that desire for now, it would be poor taste for at the moment. But one day it will happen, I almost wish for him to escape our first clash, to witness in person how he cheats death, so we can do it again later.
"Fine I will go, I even promise to not steal from any guests, even after the wedding is over and for a year afterwards."
Why is he making such promise? Oh I see he is taunting me, offering a kindness, a favor equal that the one I am doing to the wedding guests. He is also bragging about his ability as a thief; that if he was not my guest, then he would rob the other guests blind despite all precautions. And with his talents is not an empty boast.
Or maybe he is being polite? With a man that lies so much is hard to tell.
"Then here is the invitation." He picks the card with ease, his special gloves most likely protecting him of any chemical agent I could have slipped in the card. I think I have never seen him without wearing gloves. Are they a Hatsu; a requirement he has to make his Nen stronger? Or is he simple taking precautions?
"By the way Silva Zoldyck, have found your dream yet?" Have you found what you are lacking?
"I have."
"Good luck chasing it then." Don't let the chase ruin your life.
"Likewise, may the best dreamer win." Will I get a legendary heir before you become the world greatest Magician? Only time will tell.
I see the trap now, very ingenious. If either of us dies before we fulfill our Dream, then there wouldn't be a real winner of that bet we made years ago. And now with my Dream in sight... I think I want to win the bet more that I want to test myself against him. After all the Magician in front of me is far from the best he can be, he has yet to reach his peak. Ten years more? Yes, at that time both of us will be either at our peak or close to it, if not in knowledge then at least in body and reflexes. After that while we may yet grown in power there is likely to be a decline, as we both are people that chose to not be on Ten all the time. Our reflexes will slow down, even if it becomes unnoticeable for almost anyone and we will more dependent on Nen to keep going.
That gives me a secondary goal besides my Dream, I have to get as strong as possible in a decade without compromising my future Heir training or ruining my body.
Then Mac the Magician smiles, is a honest smile, I like it.
"Whatever child you raise to be your replacement is going to be quite scary."
Just as expected, even without telling him either he guessed or has some idea of my Dream.
He then looks at the invitation, even uses Gyo on it.
"What the heck? This is in just three days!"
"Are you saying you can't get ready in three days?" If I give him more than that, then it will be less fun.
"Fine; hope you like old coins, because that's what you are getting as a wedding gift."
AN: Yes, these two are not friends, honest! I hope the way Mac created a Hatsu makes sense.
I think this is very well written only... the way Mac made his rules makes sense but everything else has something to criticize.
Rule number three for1 thing is something that already happens with most Nen. More Aura or Nen being used usually leads to a lager effect.
Secondly how the ability works is not described..... Does the memory come from Enhancement of the memory or Manipulating oneself to make the memory. And if so how does it manipulate the body to memorize? Neurologically or psychologically?.
Thirdly you are not describing what type the Nen user or ability is and that more than anything is the factor in determining how Nen users go about making abilities and how effective the ability is.
You got the feeling of Nen from HXH though. The feeling of when that guy uses Nen comes across as carrying risk and makes Mac seem capable but not omnipotent.
I especially loved Silva.. His thought process seems not so much twisted but simply different and yet still human at the same time. You nailed it.
Secondly how the ability works is not described..... Does the memory come from Enhancement of the memory or Manipulating oneself to make the memory. And if so how does it manipulate the body to memorize? Neurologically or psychologically?
Is redundant, that's also why Mac put that he won't gain any knowledge he already has. Basically any way Mac Nen can make him memorise the information without breaking the rules, it will do so, then will do the next one it can and so on until the Hatsu runs out of power. That's part of the reason of why is not a simple Hatsu. And also why he put the limitation on how much Nen to use.
You got the feeling of Nen from HXH though. The feeling of when that guy uses Nen comes across as carrying risk and makes Mac seem capable but not omnipotent.
Mac knows that he is not the biggest fish and he is also property paranoid. There is also things he doesn't say even in his inner monologue out of paranoia.
Thanks, we know that in canon he lets his heir get away with a lot and that he also loves his family so I tried to work out what what were the inner reasons he had for that.
And also asked myself why he had no friends.
Then it hit me, anyone not his family would be a huge risk. He actually is a caring person but he knows that's a weakness so he limits the people he cares about to only his family. This may not be canon for HxH but is canon to this story.
And then he meets this guy just a few years older that him that has both abilities he doesn't have and keeps surviving assassinations attempts without the training and resources Silva has.
Also not sure if I made it clear in the story but here the Zoldyck family basically own their country. No government there can run without their approval. Is why they get away with being a tourist attraction, limiting how long tourists can stay and so on.
That gives them a lot of resources, that's part of the reason Silva wants to keep testing himself, because he knows most people at his level or near got that way without that huge advantage. That's also my justification of why her ordered his family to not take contracts on anyone from Meteor City, because he knows how people from there take revenge up to eleven no matter the cost, and the Zoldyck family need their country to both exist and be stable or they would lose a whole lot even if no Zoldyck family member got killed.
That is also my justification of why he believes in canon that Killua will come back, because for a Zoldyck to survive the rest of their life without their family resources would be extremely difficult.
Due to spoilers he had to specify how much Nen the technique uses. Basically...
The one time he did not do that with a Hatsu, Mac teacher had to force him into Zetsu to save his life.
Is redundant, that's also why Mac put that he won't gain any knowledge he already has. Basically any way Mac Nen can make him memorise the information without breaking the rules, it will do so, then will do the next one it can and so on until the Hatsu runs out of power. That's part of the reason of why is not a simple Hatsu. And also why he put the limitation on how much Nen to use.
I only really think it would make more sense to know what kind of Nen type it is. Since that way he could make the ability more efficient. Enhancement , transformation, and manipulation could all accomplish improved memory.
Also in my view Silva thinks that Killua running off is making Killua much stronger by providing Killua of an awareness of his own mortality. I think that is why Killua didnt learnNen yet his youngest sibling Milluki has Nen
Thanks for the response too!!
Edit: if Killua survives without those resources i feel like Silva will be very proud
I only really think it would make more sense to know what kind of Nen type it is. Since that way he could make the ability more efficient. Enhancement , transformation, and manipulation could all accomplish improved memory.
All I am gonna say is that there is a reason why Mac, contrary to the advice given during the Heaven's Arena arc, uses different Nen types and why he prefers Hatsu that can work with different Nen types. And no is not just to hide things.
Also in my view Silva thinks that Killua running off is making Killua much stronger by providing Killua of an awareness of his own mortality. I think that is why Killua didnt learnNen yet his youngest sibling Milluki has Nen
Thanks for the response too!!
I do really like there dynamic and it makes Mac feel like he fits into the setting a lot more with having a connection to someone even though he has a connect to his student this feels like a more setting appropriate relationship for people of that power level with the dichotomy of twisted other morals and vulnerable humanity. Mac is something approaching a peer for Silva I think especially considering their talk about dreams. I also wonder what Mac's dream of being the greatest magician means, like does he want to be the greatest Nen user, or is it a magician in the classical sense like stage magic and John Constantine vibes.
I do really like there dynamic and it makes Mac feel like he fits into the setting a lot more with having a connection to someone even though he has a connect to his student this feels like a more setting appropriate relationship for people of that power level with the dichotomy of twisted other morals and vulnerable humanity.
There is a reason why Mac makes his personal freedom a number one priority. Then there is others freedom, then there transactions.
Our world is not a nice place, add HxH to it and... yikes!
Marceline situation hit all the points to make him care for different reasons, but even if she had no Nen, Mac would have saved her anyway if he knew what was happening to her. There is a reason he has not told Marceline this as is in part because he would not have saved her if he didn't hear the fire flarm so yes, awakening her Nen while being close to death and subconsciously creating a Hatsu did save Marceline life.
The other is because...
Nen depends on a person beliefs, Hatsu even more so, if you shatter a Nen user beliefs too hard you may even leave them unable to use Nen at all. That's why he has been subtly guiding Marceline to understand that while yes the world is full of horrible people there is also some good people out there.
So yeah... in this story breaking a person by talking can be taken quite literally.
Mac and Silva are at similar power levels but have different talents and abilities. If you want to classify what Mac generally focus on as a single thing, is on information. Be information denial, like turning invisible, false information, like illusions, obtaining information, like his hunt for knowledge, and so on.
Silva focus is in killing, all he knows, learns or does tends to be focused on that. So while Silva is the most lethal or the two, Mac information focus means he can trick Silva by faking death, despite being know that Mac does stuff like that. What is not know is the exact way Mac fakes death because as he focuses on information, his abilities tend to improve the more he learns.
What Mac had that Silva didn't have is a personal Dream, a goal, what he himself wants to do with his life. Silva didn't have that until he found a woman he loved. And then he found his Dream was to have a heir that would not only suppass him but become the strongest assassin the family ever had.
I also wonder what Mac's dream of being the greatest magician means, like does he want to be the greatest Nen user, or is it a magician in the classical sense like stage magic and John Constantine vibes.
The latter, a mix David Copperfield, Houdini, Merlin, Tim the Enchanter. He wants to be the closest to a mix of a wizard and a real life magician as possible.
He wants to be so good that almost no one will be able to tell when he is using magic/nen and when he is using mundane tricks.
"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." - Thomas Edward "T. E." Lawrence
****(The Student)****
My first "official" test for the Hunters Exam is a simple written test... at first sight.
See, my teacher taught me that most Nen users just use a Hatsu or two and that's it, because doing so otherwise involves a lot of hard work. There is nothing wrong with relaxing or taking a break but if you are going to do something is better to do it well. And that's a lesson that not only applies to the use of Nen.
I am the first to finish, after reading all the instructions and questions for twenty minutes; I just give the pages of the exam to the examiner without even singing my name.
Then I walk outside the classroom.
For most people it would seem I just gave up on the exam and I am only staying because we are not allowed to leave the building until the test ends and and we all get our results.
To those actually paying attention I read all the text in the exam, including the text that was too small to notice without good eyesight or a magnifying glass. I carry a magnifying glass on my backpack so I used that. Turns out the exam has a simple instruction hidden in plain sight.
Is not even coded, is just in small text together with the legal disclaimer.
After a few minutes of waiting I ask for the location of the toilet, once they give it to me I walk to the opposite direction and open an unmarked door. Then pick my numbered badge and show it to a man that looks like a janitor.
"Oh; so you are the first to past number eighty-six? Congratulations."
See, the written exam has a total of a thousand questions and only eighty minutes to answer them.
It is technically possible, if one is really fast at writing and gets about the seventy percent of the answers right, to pass just doing the exam.
Or you can read the small font in the legal disclaimer that says "Walk the opposite direction to the bathroom; open the unmarked door and show your badge to the second examiner to pass."
And our examiner had told us to please remember to read all the questions and instructions before starting answering the exam.
Is this test fair? No, but is also a kindness. Failing this first test means you failed but you keep your life.
An hour later me and thirty other people passed the exam by finding the hidden instruction.
Two hours later all the written exams are graded and of the two thousand people taking part in this exam, sixty-one passed by answering 70% or more of the questions correctly.
The rest failed due to lack of time or lack of knowledge.
That's a way to reduce numbers, from two thousand to ninety-two.
Then we are given the rest of the day to rest. Since the next exam is most likely going to test our bodies.
Usually the Hunters Exam already has dead people after the first part of the exam, and usually you don't get rid of most of the participants on just the first part, then again, no one died so that's good.
That most likely won't be the case on the next part of the exam.
****
I am getting suspicious something is wrong, because the next test is... a mixed martial arts tournament.
You only have to win a fight to pass but if you lose you are out the tournament.
The rules are not to kill, and we have to either knock our opponent unconscious or force them to surrender.
And if you win the tournament, you skip the next part of the exam.
My first fight is with a guy who looks like a bodybuilder yet is one of the sixty-one that passed the written test without the hidden instruction.
Without Nen, I am not stronger that him and we aren't allowed weapons.
The man doesn't even care to talk to me, just flexes his muscles. I feint a punch and kick him... Between the legs with my metal tipped boots.
He goes down, I keep going, after about a minute of repeated kicking he gives up.
I win but the examiner says that if I want to go to the next round it will be without my steel tipped boots.
"Is okay, I already passed so I drop out from the tournament."
"Are you sure?" The examiner asks, wow he looks so much like a office worker is ridiculous. "The next part of the exam will be quite dangerous."
"I am sure. After all I am not much of a fighter without weapons."
"As you wish."
I watch the other fights with interest, by luck my fight was the first one so I can see how everyone else fights.
After over four hours all the inicial fights are done. To my annoyance seventeen more people decide to drop out after winning.
That leaves twenty-eight fighters and that means fourteen fights.
This time of course it goes faster, in about two hours fourteen fighters are left. Then three of the fighters decide to drop out due to injuries, leaving uneven numbers. So they do Rock-paper-scissors to decide who skips a fight, the winner is a redheaded girl with freckles.
Almost an hour later there is four fighters left but due to injury one of the participants asks if they can make the next fight be decided by arm wresting. The examiner agrees and decides to make the next two fights be arm wresting.
The first arm wresting is by two guys who look very similar in body type and looks, they just look average yo me, so it drags for almost a quarter of an hour and then the blonde man wins while the black haired man takes the loss gracefully.
The next arm wresting, to my disappointment, turns to be the win of the bigger and more muscular man of the two people left.
Was this because none of the two have Nen or there is misdirection going on?
I can't tell.
I rub my hand with the stone ring on it, so annoying.
Still, I don't want to lose Mac as a teacher so I don't take it off.
Then it just the muscular man versus the redhead girl, only the examiner makes it a fight as the redhead got to skip a fight already.
The redhead wins in less that a minute.
Uh, it almost look like it was planned.
The winner gets of course to skip the next part of the exam and gets a paid stay in a luxury hotel room with everything paid until the third part of the Hunters Exam is over.
****
That leaves forty-five people to take the third test... that starts immediately.
That means the people most injured are at a disadvantage, because we are lead to a long tunnel and told to reach the exit of it by running. If we stop running, we lose and get teleported out the tunnel. Seems simple right?
That's because I didn't mention the fact that we are going to be chased by hungry beasts.
Of course we are given an out. We can decide to stop moving so we fail the exam and get teleported away, but if we keep moving and the hungry beasts catch us... is a death sentence.
Eleven people drop out before even trying, due to either injuries or cowardice.
That leaves thirty-four, maybe I should have tried to win the tournament? No, without Nen or weapons that redhead girl would have crushed me.
Good thing that I have more training in running away without Nen that in anything else. After all if the enemy can't catch you is easier to not die.
So for me this is a piece of cake, I comfortably keep away from the beasts and from any other exam takers that may want me to push me to the beasts, big hungry multieyed wolves, while very tempted to whistle a happy tune but I am better trained than that.
Anyone who wants to avoid risking death can just stop running, I am not going to save idiots from their own doom.
Five hours later I am starting to get worried, there is no end in tunel in sight and we are down to seventeen runners.
Seven hours later is just five of us, it would be quite easy to push the other four to their deaths or at least trick them into stop running but I don't feel like it.
Nine hours later only me and another person are still running. Without Nen I am really starting to feel the burn, yet the fellow exam taker looks completely fine. In fact he is the same black haired man who lost the first arm wresting in the previous exam.
Huh, was he hidding his power or something?
I almost pull off the ring but instead I think about it for a moment.
It has been nine hours of running and no end of the tunnel in sight, we were told to reach the exit of the tunnel by running... what if the end is not in front of us?
I take out chalk from my backpack and start drawing a line on the left wall as a run, I only stop when my chalk piece is almost done. After an extra hour or running I see the left wall has the same line of chalk I left before.
So... the tunnel is an endless loop with a hidden exit.
My fellow examinee doesnt say anything, great. Either he is a hidden examiner, he is a Nen user... or he is not even real.
The Hunter Exam has to be be fair, there has to be a way to pass for people without Nen.
Well... Here goes nothing.
I turn around and race to meet the monster wolves, a sword pulled from my backpack at hand, I kill them all quite easily, too easily in fact, also if the tunnel is a loop how come we didn't find any bodies? Probably because the dead got teleported away because they were no longer running.
I end exiting the tunnel... by using the entrance.
Only is not the entrance because I end exiting in a completely different area.
To my annoyance, I am not the only one who pased, there is twelve people more.
Including the guy I was racing against, so the one in the tunnel was most likely a fake. And of course the redhead passed too since she got to skip this test, that makes fourteen.
We are then given two days to recover and get medical attention if we need it, food included, at the same hotel the lucky winner from before was. We also are warned to be careful as there are criminals in the city and our own safety depends on ourselves outside the hotel.
The lucky winner has either to pay the two extra days from her pocket, or find herself cheap accommodation somewhere else in the city, that's because her prize was only while the third exam lasted after all. I can't help but laugh at her and I am not the only one. The redhead just shrugs, takes in stride and goes to a cheap place somewhere else in the island, that's despite the fact she was told it was not safe outside the hotel.
Yes, we are in an island despite the fact that before we entered the tunnel we were somewhere in Mexico. We are now in Jamaica famous for their beaches... and for the drug trade. I wisely decide to just stay in the hotel for the two days.
That turns to be a good choice as we find one of our fellow exam takers dead the next day. Not the girl who went to a cheap hotel, but one who decided to wander the city and have fun.
After that everyone decides to stay in the hotel.
****
And then we face the fourth part of the exam with just thirteen people.
"I am going to make this simple." The examiner says. "There is hidden golden monkey stature exactly like this one-" The examiner shows us a golden monkey stature to us. " - somewhere in this city, bring it to me and you pass, you have ten days starting now."
Mmm, first they tested our brains, then our ability to fight, then our puzzle solving ability an endurance... but this? This is probably completely unfair.
I am proven right when I discover this city has fake golden monkeys everywhere.
At least the fakes are not real gold and they look different enough if you pay attention. I dip into my funds and start to look for information.
Turns out the only genuine golden monkey is a museum piece.
On a heavily guarded museum.
I try to just take the examiner to the museum but he points that while is great that I found it I still have to give it to him.
So I complain, are Hunters supposed to be art thieves?
"Tell me child, is this monkey you found actually hidden?"
I then slap myself in the face, of course it cannot be the one in the museum, that one is both too blatant and not hidden.
"Can't you at least give us all a hint?"
"Oh, why are you asking for a hint for everyone?"
"Because you said nothing about being impossible for everyone to pass, we have to give you the golden monkey statue, you didn't say we can't do it as a team."
"Indeed I didn't; very well. But get everyone else here."
It takes me almost two hours to convince the rest to follow me back to the examiner, my teacher would have done it in twenty minutes or less.
"I see you got everyone here number eighty-six, very well here is the hint."
He takes the monkey and turns it around, showing the monkey back, it has the Japanese kanji for twins in it, something no other monkey in the island has; including the one in the museum.
"Let me guess, the second monkey has the same symbol in the back?" The redhead asks.
"Yes, this is the only extra help you will get, now don't come back without the monkey or you will fail the exam."
I then dip into my funds again, and break a few bones, so I find the golden monkey statue I need to pass... belongs to a local drug lord.
That makes me offer the other participates to team up to get it so we all get to pass. Predictably because I am not teacher, only the redhead girl and the maybe suspicious black haired man from before, the one that most likely lost the arm wresting on purpose, accept. Why do I think that? I am not sure.
I still give the others the location of the monkey.
"What? Why the fuck did you do that?" The suspicious guy asks.
"Because if they fail, that's less competition and if they somehow get the monkey statue, we can just steal it while avoiding fighting a drug lord and their goons. Plus in case you failed to notice, those people will most likely not work together for this."
"Oh that sounds fun... but how can we know you won't then betray us?" The redhead asks.
"Because we can pass as a team while the alternative is to have everyone after me?" Is a good thing this girl got to skip the tunnel, I get the feeling she would have thrown people to the monster wolves chasing us just because she would have found it hilarious.
"Anyway I already told everyone my name is Marceline Star, who are you guys?"
"Chris Lee." The guy says.
"Adeline." The redhead says.
"Okay, so here is the plan..."
Upon hearing the plan Adeline laughs and Chris almosts wants to try his own thing until I remind him that means facing everyone else.
****(The Redhead)****
To be honest I haven't taken the Hunter Exam three years in a row to pass it, but to have free reign to have fun, without getting in trouble with the law.
Unfortunately, unlike last year, the first tests were quite dull.
A written test? A fighting tournament were you can't kill? And then I got competitive and got to skip the tunnel thing were I could have actually killed people... so freaking boring.
Honesty I will admit I was about to quit... or wait until someone else got the stupid statue and then steal it and play keep away while I kill anyone who gets in my way... but if I did that then I would pass and as the last participant they would either give me the Hunter License right away or get me a test I couldn't flunk without most likely getting banned from taking the Hunter Exam ever again.
And then this strange girl Marceline points out we can all pass, if we take the golden monkey statue together.
That means at least another test, so maybe we will get a test were I can have fun.
Unfortunately people is stupid, taking on the Mafia on their own? Even with thirteen people together is a hard task, that scum probably has hundreds people working for him, maybe even more.
Even for me it would be hard work, and this brown haired idiot Chris can't seem to make up his mind, I almost feel like killing him, he looks like he would be fun, not make it too easy.
And those stupid sunglasses, who does he thinks he is? Granted they fit this island weather but they make him look like a wannabe idiot.
Anyway were I was I? Ah yes I think I like this black haired girl, I won't kill her yet because her plan is hilarious!
****(The Student)****
Now, how the hell you steal a golden monkey statue from a drug lord and avoid getting killed? By making it so he doesn't notice in the first place.
As I said before, the island is full of golden monkey statues and while they all look slightly different, the one in the museum is almost identical to the twin of the statue the examiner has.
So my plan is to get a replica of the statue in the museum and swap it for the one the drug lord has.
How do we get the replica? Simple, they sell them to tourists, and while finding one the exact same size as the one in the museum takes a few days, we find it.
Only it is outside our budget, since is a replica made with real gold.
So I just copy it using wood and paint, but don't bother to add the kanji to my copy because I only saw the kanji once. And if they turn it around to see if the kanji is there they probably touched the fake and notice is wood already.
Now how could I carve a copy out of wood? My teacher decided that since I made copies of things I may as well be able to do so without Nen and... I am actually good at it. Unfortunately what I am making is a copy from a copy so at best it won't be discovered for a few hours since it will only survive a casual look, that's why we need a distraction so this heist works.
And since we are three people in my team why not make two distractions while I do the swapping?
That's exactly what we do, Chris throws rocks at the museum windows to trigger the alarm while Adeline makes smoke bombs explode in several of the drug lord buildings, she originally wanted to set the buildings on fire but I changed her mind.
Between the police going to the museum to investigate a possible robbery and the chaos caused by the fake fires, I get in and out the drug lord mansion with no trouble, then we all three pass the test by giving the monkey twin to the examiner.
Everyone else? Well they failed but only five more died. At least the survivors can try again next year?
****
Is the last part of the Hunter exam and only the three of us are left. We are taken by airship to Kukan'yu Kingdom and get to relax and recover during the day and a half the trip takes. We arrive at the top of the Trick Tower and have three days to get to the botton.
We soon find out there is hidden trapdoors to go down and pick one that let's the three of us go down together.
Then we have to solve several puzzles and traps, and we end having to either fight a prisoner to the death or give up.
"I am the thousand killer Tomba, I am a prisoner here because I killed a thousand people. This is a fight to the death, either I kill you all or I die. If I kill all of you my 700 year sentence will be reduced by half so for all I care please accept to fight me!" The man... is huge, he has so many muscles is grotesque and his complete hairless body is covered by dragons tattoos and thankfully by grey shorts. He is barefooted and I.. I am not sure if I can kill him without using Nen.
"Oh that's all? Just a thousand people?" Adeline says not sounding worried at all. "Can I fight you on my own?"
"No, you either all fight me or you fail the Hunter Exam."
"A shame. Well guys either we fight him... or I kill you two." She is not joking, Adeline is definitely not joking!
"Good for me." Chris Lee nervously says.
"I am not giving up just because a serial killer wants to stop me." I say in a serius tone. I then rub the Relic ring in my finger.
Should I pull it out? All of my Nen constructs are mundane but I will probably get something that can kill him with my Hatsu.
Then again... yes that will work.
I pull two swords from my backpack then let it down on the ground. I then start to pull off the weights on my body. Without thay extra weight I am a total of over sixty kilograms lighter, including the backpack, that means I can probably win without Nen with the other two help.
"You... you took the Hunter Exam so far with all that weight?" Chris Lee is almost correct, I didn't use my backpack for the tournament due to the no weapons rule, but otherwise?
"Yes I did."
He looks like he doesn't know who is crazier; me or Adeline.
While the thousand killer Tomba... looks nervous? He eyes me then Adeline and looks like he is not so sure anymore about fighting.
Then he seems to hear something we cannot hear, and tries to beg for mercy, then he goes silent.
"So when do we start?" Adeline asks, holding one knife in each hand.
"Now!" He yells and tries to claw my eyes out with his sharp nails, I easily move away, without my weights he is just too slow, then Chris gives him a kick on the side and Adeline sticks the two knifes on his head, one on each eye. He doesn't even have time to scream, he just falls down and doesn't get up.
"That's it?" Adeline sounds really disappointed, gets her knifes back and starts to kick the dead body. "YOU FUCKER! YOU SAID IT WAS A FIGHT TO THE DEATH! I WANT MY FIGHT TO THE DEATH DAMMIT!"
"You passed." says a voice comming from the walls and then a guy that has the ugliest face I have ever seen just... appears near Tomba's body, then sucks him inside his shadow. That and the fact he only wears black makes him look like a horror movie villain.
"Uh... What just happened?" Chris Lee asks looking like he is about to throw up.
"I store his dead body for later disposal. If it makes you feel any better what he said was not a bluff, he really did kill a thousand people."
That actually makes Chris feel better; at least his face ends looking less sick.
"So... what now?" I ask because that's the important part, not the fact a Pro Hunter disappeared a criminal body. Thankfully Adeline knows better that to start shit with an examiner and calmed down once he showed up.
"I will let you guys use a shortcut, or you can keep going the normal way."
"Oh does the shortcut means more danger?" Adeline asks while making a cute face to the Hunter and licking her lips.
"Yes."
"Then we are taking that, right?" She says looking at poor Chris who silently noods.
"Of course we are." I pick my backpack but leave the weights behind, I can get better weights later on anyway.
"Great, so let's go!" Adeline is so happy is almost contagious, despite the fact she may be a killer more dangerous that Tomba was.
The Hunter opens a passage of the floor and we take it.
Then we end fighting for our lives with several convicted criminals. Adeline kills using her knifes while whistling a happy tune while Chris... tries his best to cripple and knock out instead of killing? Oh, he is such a nice guy. Also he is only using his hands and feet.
Me? I use two swords, I don't go out my way to kill but I also don't spare those who get in my way.
After ten hours; and over a hundred criminals dealt with, most of them by getting them killed; we get to the botton of the tower.
****
"So... did we pass the Hunter Exam?" I ask the examiner, the same horror movie villain lookalike from before.
"Yes, you did." He says and smiles, oh my god that's smile is freaking scary!
"Uh... guess I will have to find another ways to kill people without having the law after my ass then." Adeline says in a perfectly normal hearing tone.
"I PASSED, FUCK YEAH!" Chris yells at the top of his lungs and... does a silly dance? Is even more funny because he looked so sick after seeing all those dead bodies literally just a moment ago.
I then remove my ring because honesty the thing is really annoying to wear. Then the examiner looked at me in surprise.
So it fooled even a Pro Hunter? No wonder this thing is a Relic.
AN: There was no way Marceline was not gonna pass, there was just the risk of her needing to use Nen to do so.
Why was Tomba so easy? Because as impressive as he looked, he killed a thousand people by going after easy targets and avoiding danger. Then he noticed both that Adeline would totally kill him and that Marceline was a weirdo that was taking the Hunter Exam with weights on, as if the exam alone was not hard enough. He didn't want to fight but the examiner told him it was him fighting or the examiner killing him himself. Tomba was right, Adeline totally killed him.
Making the tower more lethal is also why it was made the final part of the exam and also there wasn't many other tests they could do with only three participants left.
Had Marceline got everyone to pass in the previous part of the exam, they still would have used the Trick Tower anyway as tthirteen is too low a number for any other test at that point in the exam, at least of those they had planned.
What the Hunter Association expected to happen:
Between 400 to 600 people to pass the written exam.
Then that number being cut in half by the tournament. leaving between 200 to 300 people.
Then lose about half or more on the tunnel.
They had expected at least between sixty and a hundred people to be there for the heist test. As a result it ended with the test being quite unbalanced and would have been almost impossible to pass if none of the participants had thievery skills. It was supposed to be a test of teamwork, either with everyone working together or people making teams. The drug gang was not aware of the test and like
Adeline said, they had enough members for a direct approach to fail.
After the heist, if there was about twenty or more people who passed, they would have done a gourmet test. But with only three people left, they skipped right to the tower.
While in the heist it was possible to pass without hurting or killing anyone, the tower was supposed to weed away those too soft hearted to kill even human monsters. Unfortunately of the three people who got so far, only Chris had any problems with killing and Marceline and Adeline more that made up to it since they took the test as a team. There was also no point in doing a trial to see if they would betray others to pass because they barely knew each other so they most likely would. Remember that even Chris only keep on the team to pass as he would have bailed out otherwise during the heist arc and only didn't as he couldn't pass on his own.
Once they killed Tomba, they took the most lethal shotcut and massacred, or in Chris case incapacitated, over a hundred of the tower prisoners. Granted the prisoners were weak compared to Tomba, but they were also told they would all get their sentences lifted if they killed all the test takers.
Chris Lee: Basically Leorio if he was fixated on food and feeding the poor instead of being a Doctor and saving lives of poor people for free. He also tends to not talk much and tends to lie about himself because he comes from Meteor City and so basically getting a Hunter Licence was a way to legally exist. Now that he has his licence he plans to get university degrees on nutrition and other food related things then hunt rare ingredients and sell them for money to donate to charities that feed the poor. Without Marceline he would have failed the Trick Tower as he wasn't willing to kill even if he somehow passed the heist test. He will try to help anyone from Meteor City if he can and they meant him no harm but he is not going back there unless forced to as he and his father didn't leave on good terms. Chris hates to kill and dead bodies make him sick, he has actually has killed before; but it was in self defence and hates having done so. What he said when asked why he was taking the exam "I hate hunger and love good food so I want to be a Gourmet Hunter!"
Adeline Stone: A natural born killer that doesn't want to get the law after her, so the Hunter Exam used to be the way she got to have fun. Now that she passed she will go after bounties she finds interesting and so needs to be taught Nen soon or she might get killed in less that a year.
She has been training for the Hunter Exam since she was four and a Hunter saved her life and that of her family by complete massacring a group of terrorists in front of her. And she felt in love with the carnage. She actually comes from a rich family but her parents are not killers, they own some of the biggest hotels and restaurants chains in the world. She herself has no clue why she loves to kill people, she just does. She used her money and her family connections to prepare as best as she could for the Hunters Exam but is not aware (yet) of the existence of Nen. That combined with her natural talent for killing and her tedency to quit when things got too boring (or too difficult) made her survive her first Hunter Exam. From her second Hunter Exam until the third one, that she passed; she keep improving at a rate almost supernatural for someone who has not awoken their Nen. Despite what one would think, she can keep herself in control, so far she has only killed in justifiable self defence or during the three Hunter Exams she took part of.
She defines herself as "Crazy but functional" and her parents and civilian friends have no clue about her love of murder. Without Marceline help she would have quit the heist test and failed her fifth Hunter Exam. If she somehow got to pass the heist test; most likely by stealing the golden monkey statue from someone else, she might or not have beat the Trick Tower. She may have been disqualified from killing her teamates depending on the rules used. Her stated reason to take the exam is "I love to kill people!"
Two hours later all the written exams are graded and of the two thousand people taking part in this exam, sixty-one passed by answering 70% or more of the questions correctly.
