And yes is quite impressive to be able to pass an exam that literally doesn't give you enough time even if you know all the answers. You not only have to know all the answers, you have to be able to write faster that average and you also don't have time to check your answers. Is the written equivalent of a Quiz show, you have to be fast and knowledgeable to win.
That is also why the exam had the backdoor of just "following the instructions" because you do not want a Pro Hunter to be an idiot that gets caught in a cleverly worded agreement. More so when those can be enforced by a Hatsu.
Is not enough to be strong, you also have to be able to use your mind, and also be able to kill the enemy if you have to.
Is why killers can take the exam, because being able and willing to kill is one of the three main requirements that get tested in the exam.
I think you meant "Exam takers"?
And yes is quite impressive to be able to pass an exam that literally doesn't give you enough time even if you know all the answers. You not only have to know all the answers, you have to be able to write faster that average and you also don't have time to check your answers. Is the written equivalent of a Quiz show, you have to be fast and knowledgeable to win.
That is also why the exam had the backdoor of just "following the instructions" because you do not want a Pro Hunter to be an idiot that gets caught in a cleverly worded agreement. More so when those can be enforced by a Hatsu.
No definetly whatever team managed to mark 2000 thousand sets of papers containing 1000 questions each.
Thats 2 million questions marked in 2 hours.
Unless there where 1000 graders they had the much harder task.
They are good at their jobs, which is kind of a given due to the importance of the exam but still they are good at their job, have an Nen ability making it easier, or both.
No definetly whatever team managed to mark 2000 thousand sets of papers containing 1000 questions each.
Thats 2 million questions marked in 2 hours.
Unless there where 1000 graders they had the much harder task.
The exam grading was outsourced, then double checked. It was basically checking if the exam takers had the equivalent of a GED, while also making it so the time was too short and having a backdoor to pass the exam. Also since the Hunter Exam is once a year, they were showing off.
They are good at their jobs, which is kind of a given due to the importance of the exam but still they are good at their job, have an Nen ability making it easier, or both.
The exam grading was outsourced, then double checked. It was basically checking if the exam takers had the equivalent of a GED, while also making it so the time was too short and having a backdoor to pass the exam. Also since the Hunter Exam is once a year, they were showing off.
"Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor." - Sholom Aleichem
****(Hunter Association Airship)****
"Mmm, a woman that is a natural born killer yet prefers to kill legally. A weird girl that was taking the Hunter Exam with weights on, as if the exam on its own was not hard enough. And not only that she also sealed her Nen while taking the exam! And of course, a man that's definitely more that he appears to be. How interesting! I wonder, will these three part ways or stick together for a while?" The chairman Isaac Netero says in an amused tone.
"That being said, they complete demolished the tower, if anything the fact the fights were to the death worked to those three advantage." A person who looked like an average office worker complained.
"Maybe we could make it so next year the tower comes earlier, third or fourth part of the exam? And give the option to not kill." A man who looked like a janitor suggests.
"That's a good point. Anyway is there any complains about these three passing the exams?" The chairman asks.
"That Adeline Stone girl could probably have passed the exam in one of her previous years, she was just holding herself back to kill people. However since she seems to have either respect or fear of the law, she will most likely go after bounties now that she is a Hunter. Better get her trained in Nen fast or she will just get herself killed." The office worker says.
"That Marceline Star... she was trained and prepared for the exam, yet she also took it while making it harder to herself. Do we know who trained her?" The janitor asks.
"Most likely Mac the Magician, the ring she used to seal her Nen is familiar." Netero says while smiling.
"Oh and how about this Chris Lee? What do we know of him?"
"He comes from Meteor city, he and his father left it when he was a small child. His father may have trained him but as far we know he is just a low level criminal." The office worker informs the rest.
"I am curious, what was his reason to take the Hunter Exam?"
"He wants to be a Gourmet Hunter."
"Oh we could add something about that next year."
"We were going to, but the written exam was too effective."
"I still can't believe so few people saw the hidden instruction or were able to pass the exam by actually doing it." The janitor complained. "Worse, we even outsourced the exam marking to make it fast and impress."
"People of all types and parts of the world try to become Hunters, evidently not all of them have a complete education. Also outsourcing was just money, if we cannot even do that, whatever is the point of being a Hunter?" The chairman says; still smiling.
"We could do something else next year then, maybe something more lethal like a swamp full of beasts?"
"Maybe for the second test, the first test should still be something to get rid people who have no business being a Hunter. Maybe make them run but with a low risk of death?" The office worker says, while having a creppy smile.
"There is no rush to decide things yet. So is there anyone against giving these three Hunter licenses?" Netero asks.
No one says anything.
"Very well, then this year Hunter Exam graduates are Adeline Stone, Chris Lee and Marceline Star. Of those two, only Adeline and Chris needs to learn Nen. Unless there is anything else that's urgent; this reunion is over." Since no one spoke up Netero just got up from his chair and left.
A pity, that Adeline Stone woman would most likely be a terror in one to two decades but by then... he would be too weak.
At the moment he was still the strongest man in the world, but not only that meant he didn't had a good fight in a long time, it also meant that sooner or later that wouldn't be the case. Either old age would weaken him enough that they would be able to kill him, most likely by some trick, or he would just die while still being considered the strongest.
Becoming Chairman of the Hunters Association was the biggest mistake he made in his life but unfortunately he couldn't just quit and wander the world for a worthy challenge, no, he had yet to find a successor... That he both liked and would take the job.
That's because he had responsibilities, even enforced by his own Nen, otherwise he would have left decades ago.
Sure the fact he hated the job more and more each year meant that the restriction the job put on him keep increasing his power, to the point that so far it almost was keeping even with the power loss caused by aging.
But "almost" didn't meant he still wasn't losing power.
He had once wanted to be the strongest man in the world but once he fulfilled his dream... he just felt empty. He used to live for the challenge, to have a good fight.. one to the death if possible.
But now... now it was mostly boredom with brief moments of amusement.
The Hunters Exams, it was the only part of the year he still felt alive, watching all those people desperately struggle to become a Pro Hunter... it was never the same and that keep the fun going.
Unfortunately even those candidates that already had Nen were just too weak to give him the fight he so desperately wanted.
Worse, the few times he had taken students with the specific purpose to try to raise someone to the power needed to kill him... it just had not worked for one reason or another.
He still had a decade or two before his loss of power became noticeable to even the dumbest of the Zodiacs. Hopefully by then he would either find the fight he craved or trick a worthy successor into being his replacement.
****(The Magician)****
Most people knows that oxygen is needed to live and that going without it for more than just a few minutes is a death sentence. Oxygen is also the third most common element in the world and more than a fifth of the Earth's atmosphere by volume.
Why I am mentioning that? Because my first Hatsu was about manipulating oxygen. That's because when I first awoke my Nen.... it was as a Manipulator.
It took me a whole two years after awakening my Nen to make my first Hatsu and that's because... I really do not like to control other people, at least not in a way that removes their freedom.
Yes, manipulators tend to get screwed in a direct fight with other Nen users, but for someone who values freedom it felt like a sick joke much worse that any possible weakness.
"Oh you believe in freedom? Your power is to take freedom away from others!"
That's why taking direct control of other people was out and why it took me long to get my first Hatsu ready. Animals also wouldn't help much and plants were situational so I decided to go for something that's not alive.
Also, whatever object or material I manipulated needed to be useful without Nen reinforcing it, water was my first choice but I gave up quite fast because a Manipulator manipulates whatever already exists.
So it would only be useful while next to the sea or at least a river.
Sand was next, I could move to a desert or carry a big gourd full of sand... or something like that, but for practical purposes it was even worse that manipulation of water.
Fire? Regular fire wouldn't do much and I would have to keep setting things on fire just to manipulate said fire. Not to mention I would need to touch the fire for my Nen to control it.
And then it hit me, you are always touching air! However at first it didn't work, I could manipulate wind but the wind had to already be there.
That's when I decided to hit the books and figured out that air... was just too vague to work. I needed something specific, that's why I picked oxygen. Surprisingly what people usually calls oxygen is oxygen gas, basically two oxygen atoms stuck together.
So I limited the Hatsu to oxygen gas... and almost got sucked dry of my Nen and died, because you are almost always touching oxygen gas.
Had not my bastard of a teacher been there to force me into Zetsu, then that would have been my end.
Good news? Apparently I was now a Specialist, bad news? My Specialist ability can very easily kill me if I am not careful.
Not even my teacher is sure how it happened; maybe because it was how controling others was against my core beliefs, yes a Magician tricks and manipulates others, but outright mind control? Is not only wrong, but were is the fun in that?
Anyway my specialist ability makes it so any Hatsu I use tries to use every type of Nen possible to do the task the Hatsu has to do. And since as a Specialist I can use all types of Nen... that literally would kill me as not only every Hatsu would be done several times but also drain me of more Nen that I actually have, then drain my life once I run out of Nen... Because yes my specialist ability also does that.
Why? Because my specialist ability is Redundancy.
So my options are to never use Hatsu at all or be very careful. I chose to be very careful.
That's it, that's the great big mystery.
Is a stupid a hidden condition, a rule zero that applies to all Hatsus I have. I cannot just not use it. Otherwise a Hatsu will not work.
That means that I had to fine tune the control of my Nen as much as possible.
Also by defining the Hatsu rules and how it works, I can make a Hatsu only use up to only two Nen types. I can't do less that two as that goes against the Redundancy of my Specialist ability and so the Hatsu doesn't work if I do that.
But of course because it is Nen, there is a good thing coming from my stupid ability, the more redundancies I use the stronger the Hatsu. Just how much stronger? Now my cute student were is the fun if I tell you everything?
****(The Student)****
This is it, this was my biggest reward for passing the Hunters Exam without using my Nen.
I got to know (most of) my teacher biggest secret.
Sure, you can argue a Hunters License is a really big reward but while rare... a Hunter license is not information not many people has.
Plus I really really really wanted to know his biggest secret.
And of course there are other lesser rewards.
I get to memorise a Relic book of my choosing that my teacher owns, unfortunately being a Illusionist is not for me, but the old book on Pipe Organs teacher has is way more that it seems at first glance.
Intructions on how to build ancient Pipe Organs and how to make Cathedrals that can specifically capture the sound of the instrument itself is valuable information. But the book hides instructions for Conjuration Nen users to improve their creations, so for me is really useful.
Anyone not a Conjurer trying to read the secret instructionsp gets a nasty Nen curse. Yet my teacher somehow tricked the book and was able to read it without getting cursed.
And of course the other lesser reward is a set of twin swords teacher somehow adquired while I was taking the exam. They are not Relics but they fit my double sword style quite well and once imprinted on my Nen they cannot be used against me.
Oh and they cut really well without losing sharpness as long as I feed them a bit of my Nen every day.
"Did... did you commission these swords?" They fit me too well, they are not old enough to be antiques... and the twin crows in the handles is a dead giveaway they are meant for me.
"Is only money my cute crow student, If I can't do at least that, then why the heck would I be a Pro Hunter?"
"Fine. By the way, will you ever stop calling me a crow? I already passed the stupid Hunters Exam!"
Now that the exam is over he is back to calling me a crow as an insult. Granted is quite childish but still annoys me.
"Corvidae are one of the smartest species of birds if you exclude magical beasts. Besides my bastard teacher got to call me a Raven, is tradition!"
"And here I thought you called him Nutcracker for his tendency to kick people in the family jewels."
"Well you are a Crow and you want all the shinnies, don't you?"
"That's a terrible joke."
"True, but I am a Magician not a clown. Now that the gift giving is over, we should get you to make a second Hatsu once you have time to digest the information on the book, so here is the book, you will have to memorise it the hard way."
I groan and get to read the book, this is gonna take a while.
Yet... I am happy Mac is still my teacher.
I could have actually got to own the book, heck I could have got to own any Relic he already had save for any of the Illusionist books but... I am not sure if being a Relic Hunter is for me.
Also as I am already a Pro Hunter, even if I am just a Rookie, getting to read the book on Conjurer secret techniques is something I only got because I asked for it.
After all as a Pro Hunter I am supposed to be more proactive in how I want to further her training.
And I need further training, since my time in the shadows is over. I am a licensed Hunter and a new one to boot so people will be aiming to kill me for my license. That's one of the three big reasons I took the Hunter exam with the restrictions I did, to not lose my best chance of keep getting stronger.
The second is that Mac is the closest I have to a family.
And the third is because only an idiot shows all their cards.
The crazy murder happy Adeline went back to visit her parents and Chris Lee is using his Hunter Licence to study at an university for free.
We did give each other our contact information so we may meet again.
Heck Adeline wás outraged me and Chris didn't have cellphones so she bought them for us... at a discount. That poor seller really thought she had a chance of dating her. The cellphone number she gave him is for a hotline. And she tricked the guy despite being rich. Turns out she is the only child of the Stone family, who owns many restaurants and hotels all over the world.
That's why I am now the proud owner of a Survivalist Nukia Scarab 87, is not pretty but gets signal everywhere in the world and by registering it with my Hunter license I get free calls and Internet for five years. Of course that also means I had to bother to get it modified so is harder to track and also do the same for Lee because I wanted to show off and I didn't want him to get killed so soon.
I didn't do the modifications myself of course, but the guy I know did it for cheap since we are new Pro Hunters and wants the publicity. The bastard charged me a whole lot when I was just Mac student, but the AM/FM Radio he modified for me still gets radio signals from all over the world, so at least he does good work.
Adeline already had her own cellphone modified before taking the Exam, and also didn't register her Hunter license on it so she didn't bother.
She did however order a custom computer from him; and is something so expensive that even with the "Noob Hunter" discount she almost couldn't afford it. Also is something she won't get until a few months later as it needs custom parts that the non Nen specialist will have to build himself.
Yes, the guy is not a Nen user, he is just really good at what he does. In fact my teacher specifically told me to not reveal Nen to people like him, as that might cause a crisis of faith and make a person lose their "beyond normal" ability. In this case making custom hardware and modifying existing machines.
While if he just keeps going ignorant of Nen he may awake it on his own like I did.
So far everything he does is possible but maybe this custom computer job may push him beyond human limits.
Heck if I didn't knew the crazy murder gal doesn't know about Nen I would think Adeline made the order to try to awaken the guy Nen.
But no, she just wants a custom order for her own reasons. That reason being going after dead or alive bounties while being harder for her to be tracked.
Hope she gets trained on Nen soon or she will get killed.
Not that is my problem if it happens but I am a greedy asshole and being friendly with a Pro Hunter assassin might be useful in the future.
****(The Bodyguard)*****
My feelings about Mac are complicated. Half the time I want to kill him, the other half I want him to be my man.
No wonder he seemed so reluctant to hire me for this job.
But with Adam's being busy, I was his second best choice.
"Now Marceline I have a job to do and you still are too green to go with me, that's why I hired Maya here-"
"The crazy bitch? Are you insane? Well more that usual?"
"-To guard you. And trust me, I didn't want to hire her, but... Rookie Hunters remember?"
Mac and her student know how professional I am about my jobs, even if I do not have a Hunters Licence.
That's why they feel safe enough to badmouth me, as long as the contract lasts I won't do anything if it is just words. And after the contract ends, he doesn't call himself a Magician for nothing, he and his student most likely won't be around for me to try to kill them.
I know I am not what people calls sane but no Nen user is sane.
And besides, my payment is more that money or a valuable trinket.
I do this job well? I get a direct pass to take the next Hunters Exam, or as close as Mac can make it. My Criminal record? Complete Gone even if I do not pass the exam. Is an offer so good I will go all out on this, even if it almost kills me, as long as I do not actually die or get cursed, I will recover.
That's quite literal by the way, Nen is bullshit like that.
I may not be able to heal people just by touching them like that former Saint, but as long as I have my potions with me, I can heal most things.
Unfortunately while healing is something I can do; selling my fake gold was a terrible idea, hence why I have a criminal record no amount of healing could help me get rid of.
As expected of 'Maya, the dumbass alchemist' as Mac calls me.
But hey, maybe passing that stupid exam will help get the resources to get better at my Nen Alchemy, and then he will have to marry me... he promised even if I am sure he was being sarcastic.
I become the best Alchemist in the world and he marries me.
Again, I know what I think is right, I do not care.
After all if I cared about those things I would not be following my dreams, my passions. I would just like... work in a bakery or something... maybe?
AN: Here is why Mac does Hatsu the way he does. And about Netero... I think I wrote him as close to canon as I can.
By the way so many insane people being Nen users is no coincidence.
Gon before Nen: Nice Kid.
Gon after learning Nen: Slowly goes batshit crazy.
Killua before learning Nen: Crazy pyscho.
Killua after learning Nen: Slowly becomes a good person.
I think the only people that stayed the same after learning Nen are minor characters we didn't saw much and Leorio.
Plus most Nen users are at least "quirky".
Kurapika well... he was already on the Sasuke of Naruto train of thought before he learned Nen...
But unlike Sasuke at least he doesn't feel right about doing what he does.
So our Guy Mac has a Specialization that makes it so his Hatsu is high risk high reward unless he limits it?
Basically he can't use Hatsu too much because t costs a lot more for him in exchange for the Hatsu being very powerful? Huh he must have4 several Hatsu then.
Cool. He is a Manipulator that is unbound by the need to strike first then. Wonder how good he is at Shu or En?
Can I ask what this guy's reputation is among Hunters? Is this a guy that is trustworthy or is he one of the monsters rumored to be incredibly powerful?
Also is he planning on heading to the Dark Continent?
So our Guy Mac has a Specialization that makes it so his Hatsu is high risk high reward unless he limits it?
Basically he can't use Hatsu too much because t costs a lot more for him in exchange for the Hatsu being very powerful? Huh he must have4 several Hatsu then.
Can I ask what this guy's reputation is among Hunters? Is this a guy that is trustworthy or is he one of the monsters rumored to be incredibly powerful?
Is a know fact that he lies a lot, and that he is good at cheating death. Besides that opinions vary, but he tends to keep his word at least, unless he was coerced.
This is a fusion of real life Earth and HxH so there is no Dark Continent. However a whole lot of those monsters do exist in protected zones and sealed away zones. Think of it as if Pro Hunters and ancient civilisations had sealed away parts of the world due to how dangerous they are. After all even if it is not easy, using rituals is possible to pool the power of a great number of Nen users to do quite amazing things.
Greed Island is only special because of how few people it took to make it, and how refined and efficient it is, not because similar places don't exist, even if their are containment zones instead of Death Games.
That is my justification of why the Hunters Association is allowed to exist, one of their obligations is to keep those sealed away areas sealed because nothing is eternal and the oldest sealed away places are starting to unravel.
Even the most selfish of Hunters are okay with that, as is quite hard to do their own thing if creatures that are so destructive roam free.
Basically if all the sealed away areas Nen disappeared it would be the equivalent of the Old Ones coming to the planet to party and deciding to stay forever.
Is the story ever going to include the myths and legends of Earth in HunterXHunter. For example, having Excalibur as a real thing or Mount Olympus or Tartarus as a seal area?
Is the story ever going to include the myths and legends of Earth in HunterXHunter. For example, having Excalibur as a real thing or Mount Olympus or Tartarus as a seal area?
There are about a dozen Excaliburs know to the Hunter Association and no one is sure if any of them is the real one or they are all just made based on the legend.
There is a Weapons Hunter who has two and wants to get them all.
Mount Olympus was a volcano, it no longer exists. The area is not even restricted as it has been centuries since it was destroyed and nothing has happened besides what happens when a volcano complete blows up.
Tartarus is a sealed zone so restricted only the Zodiac, three star hunters and the Chairman are allowed to go inside it. There is always at least a dozen Pro Hunters guarding it and the job is considered a punishment, although after doing it, if you survive, you get whatever the fuck you want the Chairman can get you. Unfortunately the guard duty is a decade minimum. It is however possible to trade and have a Pro Hunter take the place of one in guard duty if the Chairman allows it.
By the way I think you are misunderstanding part of Zetsu. It keeps Aura from flowing out so while it probably doesn't provide any physical benefits like Ten it probably does mean that life force isn't lost so frequent Zetsu users should still have a longer lifespan without the stronger body so age will affect them more.
How small was that font on the written exam?
Also how does Marceline intend on becoming a good Hunter if all her conjuring is normal objects? You know it is specifically stated that that is useless since it would basically be the equivalent of carrying around a lot of tools.
Does Mac have any offensive options? I know his Hatsu are based around information but does that preclude any direct combat options?
I presume he does have at least one Hatsu for emergencies or last resort..
Hey is the Zodiac different in this Association. Cause the feeling I get is that they are kind of important whereas before they were unofficial advisors.
I really like the world building for this fic. I like how you blended the whole Aztec human sacrifice with Nen, it makes me wonder how other ancient cultures and people used Nen. For example did Alexander the Great have Nen and the answer would be probably which is very cool. I think Nen is more subtle about how it makes people go nuts, and the stronger and more talented you are the more of an effect it has on you. Also Gon was already not exactly sane before he learned Nen but learning it probably made it worse. I like the MC being a manipulator who became a specialist, and it is interesting what would happen if your type doesn't go well with your belies and values.
Maybe but I am not willing to read the Manga and watch the two Animes yet again.
One thing you have to understand that while yes Nen slows aging, it doesn't actually stop it. So sooner or later age starts to catch up with any Nen user. Also as this is a Fusion with RL Earth, nukes are a thing.
Also at least in this story, a lot of knowledge about Nen was lost with the fall of civilisations and how much more secret it was before the Hunter Association was a thing.
The best way for Nen to slow aging is to have the aura released but contained, but for stealth that sucks.
First is only her first Hatsu, she will make more. Second, the only limitation is that the objects cannot be "supernatural" but otherwise anything goes and I mean ANYTHING.
Plus she always gets what she needs, always. That's incredibly useful, plus remember this is fused with RL Earth so yes if that's what she needed she could even get a nuke to blow up an entire city. Or the deadliest poison that doesn't use Nen, or a very dangerous chemical. She may not be able to get food or water cause she would just be eating her own energy but besides that and not being something that can only be made with Nen? ANYTHING!
Yes. Silva pointed out that despite lack of training Mac would be useful for his family due to his illusions. What does Silva's family do? Assassination.
Mac could literally walk into a room, kill someone and leave without anyone the wiser thanks to his illusions, despite not being a professional assassin. Now if you are asking if he has any Hatsu that directly kill people, yes he does.
However most of the time he will use illusions and special weapons and save offensive Hatsu as a last resort.
Due to all the sealed areas and reserves the Hunter Association is in charge of, is impossible to become a Zodiac without the following three conditions:
*Being really strong.
*Being at least a two star hunter.
*Being sponsored by at least two other Zodiacs or being personally picked by the Chairman.
And once you are one you have to take care of certain missions involving reserves and or sealed areas or you get kicked out. Only the Chairman is exempt, as he is considered a reserve member to deploy in case of emergencies.
Due to that Leorio wouldn't qualify to be a Zodiac as he is too weak, even with him "defeating" the Boar. He could however be taken as an apprentice by either the Chairman or one of the Zodiacs.
I really like the world building for this fic. I like how you blended the whole Aztec human sacrifice with Nen, it makes me wonder how other ancient cultures and people used Nen.
I can understand him only caring about his special people but how he fixated on a person he barely knew is still weird as hell. It would be different if for example Gon had been trained by that person. But no, he just gave Gon his father's Hunter licence and then fucked off.
I like the MC being a manipulator who became a specialist, and it is interesting what would happen if your type doesn't go well with your belies and values.
It is said over and over that while certain personalities correspond to certain Nen types, that's not exact or reliable. In Mac case while he has some traits of a manipulator that's because he is a showman, a magician, a wizard. He manipulates people to make a show, to entertain, to show off, mind control is something he really hates and that's why it took him so long to make his first Hatsu.
"Redundancy" awoke due to his paranoia and because he likes to have different ways of doing the same thing. And also because he rejected ever mind controlling people, even when doing a "transaction" he is not outright manipulating a person memories or personality.
I just binged through this and i got to say i love it immensely there are so few good HxH fics that it is unbelievable
A question since this is a fusion of irl with hxh is the hunters organisation still the sole monolith or are there other organisations like it vying for power?
A question since this is a fusion of irl with hxh is the hunters organisation still the sole monolith or are there other organisations like it vying for power?
