The trip to their next location took them almost four hours, which HeeJin spent blissfully sleeping. Even this rest was indispensable - only thanks to it she was standing upright now, an hour before the sunset of this most tiresome and eventful day of her life.

As they got out of the dirigible, she was tempted to lean on one of the girls, but all of them moved all too quickly after the examiners, leaving HeeJin to hurry up after them across the small plateau formed by the flat top of the mountain, which was split all the way across it. This high up, even despite expected echo, there was no sound of the river running at the bottom of the ravine. Dirigible's engines were turned off, both dynastat and rotastat parts of it resting, all two hundred meters of length and seventy of height above four and a half visible floors of the airship still and quiet. Painted face on its front, determined and toothy, was turned towards the pale waning moon, the sunset approaching, Hunter Association's emblem stark on the side.

By Menchi’s request, the Judging Committee dirigible brought them to Split Mountain.

The elderly eccentric man that jumped out of the airship (HeeJin thought that it was her sanity finally leaving her, taking this time form of an old man, for some reason, on the cusp of her mental breakdown) and, actually, saved them all from being thrown out of the exam there and then, turned out to be the committee's head, Chairman Netero.

It was a thing that both nearly pushed her in hysteria and brought her back to reality. HeeJin grabbed onto HyunJin’s tense forearm for stability, wiping away the tears brought just a minute prior by a crashing realization of a total failure and overwhelming fear. Lord, she was exhausted. 

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Chuu’s worried face. For some reason, the girl stood very close to HyunJin and her. When made eye contact, Chuu’s features softened and she hugged HeeJin, a comfort she eagerly took as she listened to the introduction and beginning of the discussion.

Apparently, Chairman Netero saw the need to intervene after disqualification of the whole pool of applicants for possibly unsound reasons, and basically forced Menchi to withdraw her decision with just a few leading words. 

Even if HeeJin was blinking the blurriness away throughout their dialog, trying to regain any semblance of composure, slowly detaching herself from Chuu, barely listening to the start of the exchange, she still caught the staggering amount of respect Menchi had towards the chairman.

All steam left the woman the instant Netero appeared. She backed off, lowering her head.

“...their will to challenge the unknown, you found they lacked the desire?” finished his question Chairman Netero, gaze heavy despite lack of any judgement in his voice. His discolored mustache and long, curled upward beard with its dyed black end sticking upward bobbed with each word. His lengthy eyebrows, reaching two vertically-situated piercings in stretched earlobes, and hair, gathered in a japponese ponytailed topknot, was absolutely white from his age. Despite that fact, his voice was strong, skin, albeit wrinkly, wasn’t flabby and he stood straight and easy on his one-toothed (if HeeJin remembered correctly how that one tall vertical wood plank sole was called) geta. His traditional men’s kimono was, except for a few blue segments on a collar, ends on sleeves and v-shaped symbol on his back, pristine white.

Menchi clasped her hands behind her back, line of sight dipping down for a second, before returning to eye contact. “No…” she paused. She made a motion to shift her weight from one leg to another but aborted the motion halfway, returning to her previous position. “...I got steamed when an examinee belittled the task. And then, when they weren’t taking the task seriously, I got really upset and lost my appetite.”

“Did this inhibit your ability to make a sober evaluation?” continued Netero, keeping a steady eye contact. 

“Well…” Menchi looked down, brows burrowed in helplessness. She closed her eyes, before speaking again. “I admit, I get very emotional about food. And so I’ve failed as an examiner.” She made a deep breath, some tension leaving her shoulders as she lifted her chin up, unclasping her hands. “I’ll resign my post and withdraw my decision.”

Buhara stayed silent during all of it only looking from one of them to another .

HeeJin heard a loud groaning coming from the entrance. The examinee that sailed from the top of the stairs to the top of gates’s tower-shaped support beams was, with effort, lifting himself off the ground.

She swallowed. She wouldn’t’ve survived any of those three hits, not to speak about rising up so soon on her own. Her hand found HyunJin’s fist and held it, for comfort, noticing with a surprise how tense the other girl was.

Chairman Netero contemplatively hummed. “To continue the present test… It would be troublesome to find a new examiner for the stage in the midst of the exam. Instead, I’d like you to keep your task. However,” he leveled his gaze on humbled Menchi, “you will participate in the new test yourself, to set an example for these examinees. How does that sound?”

Menchi blinked in surprise, diving in thought.

“In other words, they’ll know they have a shot,” explained Netero, a hint of a smile heard in his voice.

“All right,” concluded Menchi to herself, lips slowly spreading in a smile. “How about we try boiled eggs?” Rare sounds of surprise drowned in the noise created by the dirigible, landing on the nearest suitable clearing, crushing all trees underneath it. “Chairman? May we get a lift to the Split Mountain?” she asked, a coy smile on her face.

Chairman Netero answered in kind. “Why, yes, of course.”

For the entire time between their agreement and her slumping against one of the corners on the airship, HeeJin was fidgeting nervously, anxious of letting this second chance slip between her fingers.

If this was a test that scrutinized their actual cooking skills again, even a little bit, she was out for sure, exploring unknown or not. She once joked with Thierry, when she was a child, not even ten years old, that cooking an egg was easy and even she can do it properly. Their chef bellowed with laughter and then sat her down and gave her a lecture on what “properly boiled egg” could mean. And then offered to put that newfound knowledge to the test, pointing out all mistakes in the process in his kind, but sly, tone.

She never looked down on boiled eggs ever again.

But looking around the plateau, she did not see any and, edging closer to the ravine, she understood that her worry was silly. Cooking? No, this time it truly was a test of bravery, rather than cooking - half a dozen meters down, between vertical walls, white strings began, with clusters of large eggs hanging on some of them. She couldn’t see the river at the bottom far, far below, covered in mist.

Realisation had her head spinning. Seriously?

“This is your task,” said Menchi, pointing at those. “Those are spider-eagle eggs - a rare delicacy!”

A gust of wind from the ravine hit HeeJin and she instinctively took a step back.

“How are we going to get those?” let out one of the confused, or, rather, disbelieving, examinees. She couldn’t blame them. This was leagues above hitting pigs in the forehead.

To her expectant horror, Menchi smirked. “Like this.”

And jumped down.

The crowd instinctively stepped closer, HeeJin no exception. She followed Menchi’s fall with both dread and resignation sitting in the pit of her stomach, half of her wanting to just look away.

Menchi caught onto one of the strings, swinging full circle once, diffusing the momentum by letting go nearing the apex of the curve, before catching the web again. 

For a few long seconds, she stayed there, hanging above the bottomless ravine, fog covering the bottom of it as dead silence wrapped the mountain.

Then, she did the most suicidal thing HeeJin ever saw to be done: she let go of the string, falling again.

Sailing past the bundle, she swiftly grabbed one of the eggs, but the moment quickly passed and the woman was plunging down the ravine, far from either of the walls. Someone in the crowd gasped in fear, but HeeJin’s eyes were glued to the scene, heart pounding in her chest.

She has never been able to look away from a tragedy.

A heartbeat. Another one. (Menchi’s figure was almost reached the fog.)

And another.

A gust of wind hit her in the face and her sense of self preservation made her subconsciously try to step back again, but it was blocked by somebody else already standing there.

HeeJin wanted to glance back, but a subtle change below caught her eye. Instead, she leaned closer to the ravine, against the wind that was much stronger from this close, almost thrashing against her. 

Quickly growing, Menchi’s form was seen again, flying towards them.

HeeJin made a sharp disbelieving inhale, as the woman rapidly raised above the split, gliding on air currents closer to their side. Menchi landed neatly on her high heels, a spider-eagle egg in her raised hand and a victorious smirk on her face. 

For a second, wind ceased and there was silence.

It was broken by number 255. “This is insanity,” he protested. “No one in their sane mind would jump down there!”

Before the man even finished talking, as if contradicting him, Killua’s voice rang through the plateau. “Neat!”

“Now there’s a test!” seconded Gon.

Several other people, too, were enthused about this test, rushing towards the ravine.

“Let’s go!”

“W-wait!,” Menchi’s boastful expression shifted to alarmed, raising her free hand, futilely trying to make the examinees pause and listen. “There is another thing I need to tell you!..”

She was unsuccessful, as the determined applicants either failed to hear her through the cheering or plainly ignored the warnings as they jumped down.

Like those examinees, HeeJin wasn’t focused on Menchi. She saw excited Chuu, along with Gon, Leorio, and couple others, jump among the first ones. HyunJin was just behind them, rushing alongside, but freezing for a split second by the edge before pushing off of it.

HeeJin attempted to jump with them, but was stopped with a sharp tug on her elbow. She turned around and faced Choerry, who was looking past her at the web. She tried to move her elbow, but it was clasped in a steel grip. 

Her wiggle attempts turned Choerry’s attention to her. “Not here,” she said seriously. “We should jump further down the line.”

Choerry began hurriedly walking by the edge of the ravine, still holding HeeJin’s arm.

“Why?” What was wrong with that zone?

“We should disperse.” At her clueless expression, Choerry added: “I don't trust the strings to hold together with everyone dropping on them."

"I'm pretty sure spider's web is said to be incredibly strong," contradicted HeeJin.

Choerry nodded. "And these aren't nets purposed for catching heavy thrashing prey, they are here just to keep eggs hanging. Besides, this is a spider-eagle's nest, who knows how much they actually got from both sides?”

HeeJin eyed the web, understanding her friend's worry, feeling unease at the realization. “What about the girls then?”  

Choerry stopped abruptly and let go of her elbow. She stepped closer to the edge, spinning on her heels, putting her back to the ravine. “They will be fine, trust me,” a confident smile crossed the girl's face for a brief moment - and she was gone.

Hastening her motions, HeeJin shrugged off her backpack to minimize weight, but decided to keep the sable on, to not waste too much time by herself. She already was a noticeable weak link for anyone gauging the competition, no need to make herself look also overly paranoid, even if it was true.

HeeJin looked back and saw that there were more than a half of contestants left on the plateau, standing far away from the edge, a lot of them staring dejectedly at their feet.

Some were staring at her.

She averted her eyes and pushed off the edge.

For a few seconds of the fall she was absolutely terrified, her subconscious cursing her up and down. Instinctively, she threw her arms and legs wide apart, like a starfish, but before she could take a notice of this, the string was rapidly approaching her. HeeJin shot out her arms in front of her, hands gripping it in a death grip as soon as they connected with something, tense for a few moments as she bounced on it, eyes closed in residual terror.

She opened them and looked up just in time to see a couple of the examinees let go of the string. HeeJin followed them with her eyes. They each grabbed an egg and went down. And down. And down...

“Let’s go then!” she heard Leorio exclaim.

“Not yet!” hurriedly warned Gon. She couldn’t hear the continuation of the dialog from this distance, so she glanced for the answers at Choerry. The girl wasn’t looking at her, but at the falling examinees and HeeJin returned her gaze to them. 

Men that already got the eggs, also understood that something was wrong, judging by the distant panicked screams, finding no wind to raise them up.

Air currents were periodical, realized HeeJin, face scrunching slightly. With effort, she tore her eyes away, and looked around. Beside those few, who were probably already dead, nobody looked like they were letting go. Some people around Gon’s company were looking at the boy, likely listening to his cue, as he was the one to shout out a warning. 

Searching for her friends, she found tight-lipped HyunJin and Chuu hanging on the same string with five other people, causing her to frown. The latter made eye contact with her and brightly smiled. HeeJin tried to answer in kind, certain her’s was not as unbothered or supportive, so she looked away, for the lack of better direction, seeking the closest egg bundle.

It was relatively close to them. Cautiously, she checked her death grip on the string, whether her hands and fingers obeyed her well, and began to slowly inch away from Choerry, wanting to give both of them more space for maneuver when they were inevitably going to fall down. They were the only ones on the string, thanks to Choerry’s analysis, so HeeJin was not too worried about the strain they put on it. Or else she wouldn’t have been able to move at all.

Seconds slowly ticked by. HeeJin breathed. Inhale, exhale. She stopped moving, content with her new position.

They waited. Ten seconds passed.

A quiet ripping sound echoed through the ravine.

She forcefully continued her inhale after the hitch, and searched for the string that was giving out, eyeing HyunJin and Chuu’s first. It seemed fine, but, on the other hand, people on the one nearby were alarmed, all of them.

Suddenly, there were a couple more echoing sounds of the web’s strain. This time HeeJin saw as it happened - just like she was concerned previously, the string’s structure itself was fine, but the point of its connection to the wall was breaking. The atmosphere became heavier, as it became apparent that the majority of the strings were beginning to break, the only unaffected being theirs and one of the lower hanging ones, almost out of reach of the bundle, with a single man hanging on it.

This problem included Chuu and HyunJin’s string.

A wave of worried murmurs rose and ended equally fast, lasting only a couple of heartbeats. Everyone held their breath. So did HeeJin, glaring at her friend’s string, begging for it to hold on.

Scrrp!

Leorio turned to Gon and hissed so loud, HeeJin heard it. “How much longer?! Webs won’t hold another minute!”

“Not yet,” said Gon, after which another wave of breaking rolled.

“ it!” One of the examinees let go of the string, grabbing an egg from the bundle on his way down. After a second of hesitation, accompanied by grunting of the web, a couple more decided to risk their luck. HeeJin closed her eyes with force, half of her face scrunching, refusing to watch any more people fall.

After a few seconds passed and their lingering screams died, she opened her eyes, gaze instantly flying up to check the girls’ string. She felt a pang of relief intermingled with a deep shame due to it, seeing that there were only four people on it now, which bought them more time.

She noticed that one of the men who had let go, didn’t do so completely, now hanging on the low string where previously was only a single person, who was now glaring at the unwelcomed addition.

Well, HeeJin thought, if there was an emergency above, as many people as possible would try to go for that tactic, not instinctively, but consciously, now. She would be worrying too.

She waited, breathing out for longer than she was inhaling.

They all waited. Despite grunting webs, noone else was letting go.

Seconds dragged out. Her fingers began to hurt from the force she was clutching the web with.

Inhale, exhale... Inhale, exhaaaale...

“Now!” shouted Gon, voice ringing through the ravine, letting go, and, with him, everybody else, including startled HeeJin half a second behind.

Twisting in the air, HeeJin outstretched her arms towards the bundle, successfully grabbing the egg closest to her-

And then she was plummeting.

Her heart hammered in her chest, the wind drying her eyes and her coat flapping desperately above her head and she was falling down, falling, voice stuck in the throat, blocking off her lungs; the walls were nothing but a blur in the corner of her eyes, white spots blinking on them, passing so fast she wouldn’t’ve been able to look at them even if she was able to focus on anything but the quickly approaching fog. Blood was loud in her ears. 

It was a miracle she did not crush the egg clasped desperately in both of her hands.

The fourth heartbeat ended and the horrible moment passed. 

A wall of wind slammed her in the chest, forcing air out of her lungs and she was no longer falling!

HeeJin was lifted up, higher and higher! Wheezing, she tried to inhale as the relieved, undoubtedly crazed, smile stretched her lips.

Not only herself, all other applicants were flying up, any noises of surprise or laughter muted by the wind.

She sailed past the webs and the soft light of the setting sun hit her eyes, as they erupted out of the ravine.

HeeJin landed on unsteady legs, almost falling on her knees from lightheadedness.

In both of her hands, the spider-eagle sat.

Cheeks hurting from smiling, her head whipped around, searching for her friends, finding them almost immediately, Choerry landing not far away from her and HyunJin and Chuu standing a dozen meters away from her, all holding their eggs!

She let out a loud overjoyed laughter.

They did it! They all passed the second phase!

---

“I should introduce myself properly to all of you,” said Chairman Netero, turning Chuu’s attention away from the barely-night sky and lush mountains, for now visible to her, as the airship was still gaining height. Feeling the spider-eagle egg’s creamy texture and the softest taste she ever experienced from a delicacy food set her in an incredibly lighthearted mood. Neither tense atmosphere, nor the certain people around her could upset that right now. She looked at the elderly man and a short green person near him that they had already seen before. “I am Netero, Chairman of the Judging Committee for this year’s hunter exam. I figured I didn’t need to show up until the final round but now that I’m here,” he slowly looked around now much smaller contestant pool, only forty-six examinees, smiling crookedly under his bushy mustache, “I suppose, I’ll accompany you for a while and enjoy this nice edgy atmosphere.”

“And my name is Beans,” introduced himself a suit-claden short man by Netero’s side, who was handing out their tags in the beginning of the exam. “We’ll arrive at our destination at eight am tomorrow. Until we notify you, please relax and enjoy the amenities aboard this airship.”

It was little over eight in the evening, which gave them generous twelve hours of rest. What should she do?..

“C’mon, Gon! Let’s explore!”

“You bet!” Killua and Gon had their mind already set. 

Still energetic even after the supposedly taxing day of Hunter exam, they were first to leave the room. Some other applicants halfheartedly grumbled about their enthusiasm, but followed them, the room slowly emptying. 

Chuu approached other girls. If HeeJin felt half as exhausted as she looked, it was a wonder how she hadn’t slumped on the floor yet. There was a small proud thought deep inside of her that Chuu felt pointedly, unused to it being given to anyone but Yves and Go Won.

Choerry, now calm and cheerful and no longer intensely bloodlusting everywhere without care of surrounding people, was, as expected, up and ready to complete this day again several times in a row. 

Albeit it raised some questions, that outburst actually made Choerry more tangible to Chuu. It was irrational and mildly concerning. 

Chuu had to move closer to the nenless girls, expanding her En just barely to cover both of them, forcing out as neutral a feeling as possible while cautiously watching out for the reactions of two openly aggressive people in the room. It was a risk worth taking - if she didn’t, Choerry would’ve hurt them for sure - one of the examinees keeled dead there and then, others had shuddered, gasping for air, frozen in place. None of these even walked out of the airship on the Split Mountain. Grabbing and moving the girls away wasn’t an option - such sudden rapid movements under the nose of a hostile person weren’t a great idea.

But that situation also pinned down several things about Choerry.
She was greatly interested in not failing, despite her going out of her way for the girls. Her own success was a priority.

She was dangerous. Like, properly dangerous, not to trifle with out of boredom. Her nen told everything Chuu needed to now. Very trained, very intense, very ready to kill.

Related to that: it wasn’t something of concern for Choerry. She went right back to her original self as soon as it was clear she wasn’t out of the race yet. Chuu was pretty sure that that change wasn’t insincere so there’s that. Was it Chuu’s issue that she was taking this too seriously? She wasn’t like this usually...

Then there was a new concern that put her problem with Choerry lower on her priority list: something was wrong with Hisoka. 

Both him and Choerry were ready to attack Menchi, leaking bloodlust, it was only natural that a competent and violent nen-user would catch his attention. But, contrary to what Chuu expected him to do, the magician never indicated that he took note of the girl - he never regarded her in the way he usually does! Even at the airship, on their way to the mountain, where they all lined the entrance hall and corridors of the first floor, he just sat down and began building and destroying his card towers, not much as glancing at the girl.

This was wildly out of character for him. Chuu refused to believe Choerry wasn’t strong enough for him or wasn’t showing potential, she knew the type of people he marked down as fruits. Choerry was right up his alley!

And yet he just ignored her.

Chuu shook her head, forcibly shoving her worries aside. There will be time to think about it later.

HyunJin, middle-ground between them (and the one least troubling Chuu, bless her heart) was keeping up the weird staring at Netero, which she was doing ever since the man appeared. No surprise there. Chuu was aware of the Hunter Bylaw that prohibited Hunters from revealing the existence of nen to civilians and could only guess where the twenty - thirty? - meter drop fit into that. No wonder it caught the girl's attention.

In fact, HyunJin was staring at him as he was walking a meter away past them. Chuu liked the girl, but, by god, was she not subtle!

“What’re thee plans?”

HeeJin turned to Choerry, blinking with effort. “Bed.”

“Why, don’t want to hang out a little more, while we have the time?” overly innocently asked Choerry.

“No,” said HeeJin with a blank expression. “Goodnight.”

She turned towards the exit.

“I have some plans too,” hurriedly said HyunJin with a focused frown. “See you later.”

“Goodnight,” they said in unison, watching the girls leave.

After a beat of silence, Chuu glanced at Choerry. “What about you?”

A shrug. “Walk around for a bit, call my friends, maybe eat some more.”

“You want to eat after that egg?” raised her eyebrows Chuu.

Choerry defensively raised open palms. “Hey, I am a young growing girl with quick metabolism, I need to eat my vitamins.”

“Right, you need to eat well after spending energy,” agreeably nodded Chuu. “How old are you, young growing girl? You were the only one not mentioning it in the swamp.” She exited an almost empty room by that point, Choerry following her.

“Seventeen.”

“Aww,” cooed Chuu, grin stretching her lips, “you are a baby!” 

Choerry snorted and leveled her gaze in mock-offence. ”You are not that much older than me!”

Chuu ignored her. “A baby! So cute! I want to pat your head, can I? Or pinch your cheek, which do you prefer? Do you want both?..”

“You sound like my best friend,” grumbled the girl in fond exasperation, looking briefly out of the window, before facing her again. “Well, how about your plans?” ignored her gushing altogether Choerry.

“He-he. Same,” graciously allowed the change of topic Chuu. “Though I, probably, won’t be eating anything. Tea would be nice,” at which Cherry nodded, agreeing.

They were leisurely walking towards the dining hall, orienting by the signs hanging here and there. Some people were talking in the corridors, some were heading in the same direction as they were, but the majority seemed to be going towards resting rooms.

For a while, they walked in silence.

“Hey, I was thinking about your friends…” spoke up Choerry as they were going down the stairs. “You mentioned they passed in the previous years. Do they have a specialization?” 

“No,” said Chuu. “Probably never will. We aren’t really aiming to be full-time Hunters.”

Choerry hummed in understanding.

“And yours?” asked Chuu.

“Sea Hunter and Crime Hunter,” Choerry paused briefly, glancing at another examinee that was stuck deep in thought that they walked by, before she added, “though the first one is more like “Ocean Hunter” and the other tends to operate more within the Blacklist than anything else, but, officially, they are called Sea and Crime Hunters.”

A thought occurred to Chuu. “Do you have a specialization in mind?”

A proud smile instantly bloomed on Choerry’s face, her whole posture puffing out. “Yes! I am going to be a Botanical Hunter!”

Chuu turned it over in her head, which Choerry apparently took as a sign to continue, speaking passionately. “I am not overly interested in the challenge of collecting the rare ones, but the mere idea of discovering new, never previously seen sorts is aaah!” Choerry’s focus was ahead of her, somewhere in the ceiling, raised fists tightly clenched. “Something I am the first to find! Something that could be later used in medicine or new food or or for science or for further breeding, Chuu, there are so many possibilities for newly discovered species! Recent ecological restoration of Majma? Made real by using gnarly violet gurdo - gnarly is a part of the name - as a base for purification solution and it was discovered only five years ago. Vaccine for heyan pox? That was modified costilia vine!..” Choerry broke off in a rant, jumping from one usage of a recently discovered plant to another, be it some amazing innovation or just a new pretty decoration for rich people. She was equally excited about each of them, listing off their usage or unique visuals with the same starry-eyed expression.

At some point, in a middle of heated description of some bioluminescent lichen that Choerry gathered two month ago for her own plant breeding project, the girl snapped her focus towards Chuu, gaze no longer over the horizon, but staring fiercely at her. Her grin was impossibly wide.

Chuu was unable not to smile in kind. It has been a while since she saw someone talk with so much joy about their passion.

It was... really nice. 

She missed that.

“It sounds great!” Chuu said, eyes crinkling in a delight she didn’t feel. “You also get the rights to name then weirdly, don’t you?”

“I do!” Choerry laughed. “When I was a kid I even made a list of made up names, the sillier the better!”

“Were you always sure what you wanted to do?”

“Mmmm, yes? Kinda?” Choerry looked thoughtful. “I always wanted to work with plants, but I didn’t knew the direction or scope until I met my friends. At first I just wanted to tend to my garden at home, then decided to work at a botanical garden and then I learned more about plant selection. I was thrilled by the thought of it, but that then opened my eyes that it was the discovery of something new that was the most exciting part! It didn’t mean plant selection or breeding wasn’t for me, but the action of finding something new in the wilds is different,” Choerry lightly drummed fingertips against her lips in contemplation, entering half-empty dining hall. “By then I already met my friends and it clicked that the life of a Botany Hunter is what I always wanted!”

Chuu nodded along, smiling softly. “That sounds great. My congratulations on being almost there!”

“Thank you!” grinned Choerry proudly as they approached the buffet, conversation coming to a halt.

---

Chairman Netero watched one of the applicants, a young woman with tag 390, practically storm at him. She was focused on him ever since he appeared at the second phase, either overly bold or unbothered to hide her curiosity. Of course there were plenty of people eyeing him almost all the time but rarely one had a look and gall like they were about to demand something from him.

"Excuse me, may I ask a question," she rather stated, than asked, even before reaching the dialog distance. When she did, 390 faced him, confidently making eye contact. He smirked - he liked fighty spirits!

Beans looked between them and Netero nodded to both.

“Sure,” he said as his secretary headed to the examiners’ dining room, leaving their exchange in relative privacy, nobody else currently in the hallway, “you were rather adamant about your interest this entire time, so don’t be shy, I am all ears.”

She did not pause to ponder if that might be sarcasm. With a nod, 390 went straight to business. “How had you landed unharmed?” 

Straightforward indeed. He huffed in his mustache, leaning forward with a kind expression. “I spent my life dedicated to training,” he said, staring her dead in the eye. “It did wonders for my strength and longevity, as you can see. Well over one hundred and still walking by my own!” Netero nodded earnestly, wide-eyed, straightening again.

390 didn’t seem off-put, chewing on that thought for a bit, before squinting. “What kind of training?” 

“You know, martial arts!” Her eyebrow twitched as it clicked that he was full of and toying with her. Netero grinned, watching her look him up and down, jaws clenched. His unwillingness to answer straight away and, likely, no intention of telling her a single thing, was taken as a personal challenge. “We, Hunters, need to be well-versed in them.”

“I am aware of that,” she was now staring at him challengingly. Then, unexpectedly, she pointed at his tall tengu-geta. “Are your shoes also “well-versed in martial arts”? Such a hit that should have been, and they are still able to hold on their own.”

He laughed. Nice to know that at least someone paid attention to details! “They very much are!”

“What,” the girl paused, breathing in and out, trying to think of another approach after reaching a deadend with this one. Netero waited, amused. “What martial art’s school are they from?”

“Why such interest?” he asked instead.

“Your entrance left an impression.”

He hummed. She was yet to look away.

Netero nodded. “Sure did. Say what,” he magnanimously allowed, “if you become a Hunter, I will tell you what martial school it is.”

She huffed, crossing arms. “If I become a Hunter, I could find it on my own.”

“Would you bother? Don’t you have a personal reason for applying?”

She grimaced. 

“It might take time out of your hunt, you know?” continued Netero.

“It is my reason!” she said, dissatisfaction dense in her tone, having to resolve to reveal something she didn’t want to.

Not the first time she witnessed nen, hm? “Then, how about I tell you where to find a willing teacher?” he offered.

Well, he watched wide golden eyes on a round face squint in thought, Netero had a wild guess, where was the first. Unlikely coincidence, but on a rare, rare occasion a Hunter had a child, it wasn’t uncommon of them also seeking the title, whether they knew of their lineage or not. It was unlikely she didn’t know of Areli - the Hunter left a tangible, if relatively small, legacy, settling his child with it, if he remembered correctly. Shouldn’t 390 be older then?.. No, more time had passed than he initially thought, it was Areli’s granddaughter demanding him to tell her about nen.

He smirked under his mustache. In any case, the old pacifist's work had nothing to do with jumping off of high places. Netero went to visit his museum once when the man died, paying respect to the headstrong Hunter’s lifelong work, so dearly his.

The girl hesitated, torn between attempting to go for a lower-hanging fruit, that, she had to intuitively understand, was an impossible one to rip off or even graze with her fingers at all; and going for the agreement that pushed her target further, potentially a whole year more, away from her.

After a minute of thought, where her sight was turned so deeply inward, Netero could have just walked away without her noticing, the girl slowly nodded. “Agreed.”

The word carried weight and he echoed it. That settled it. An empty deal, technically, for a Hunter is required to be proficient in nen, but it won’t be difficult to direct her to someone willing to teach. He could find her someone from shingen-ryu school, even. “What is your name?”

"HyunJin,” responded a much feistier copy of the Nature Hunter.

"Well, HyunJin, I will see you at the last phase, then,” with a short nod, he turned away, heading towards his cabin. After a few seconds, there was rustling behind him and distancing footsteps leading in the opposite direction.

He chuckled to himself. Usually, freshly-minted Hunters were left to find out about the secret second exam by themselves, until they sought out or stumbled over an experienced nen-user. However, since HyunJin already was after it to the point of noticing the unusual, often written off oddities, he could point her in the right direction.

Netero smirked. Whose time was it to get a student dropped on their head?..

He turned the corner, before seeing two children, sitting in the window-lined hall, laughing.

He would think about that if she passes the exam, he decided, sly grin stretching his lips.