Kisho walked toward the hall, looking around as he moved.
As expected, he saw Kite sitting against the wall, eyes closed, resting.
Sensing the gaze, Kite opened his eyes and met Kisho's. A faint smile appeared on his face.
Kisho gave Kite a light nod in greeting, then frowned slightly.
Although he had found Kite, he didn't see his companion—had they been separated when entering Trick Tower?
But the time limit hadn't expired yet, so there was no way to be certain.
With that in mind, he followed Amos toward an unoccupied corner of the hall.
What followed was another long and tedious wait.
Out of sheer boredom, the two boys decided to use this time to practice the techniques of "Ryu" that Bisky had taught them, completely ignoring the people around them.
They slowed their movements to more than ten times slower than normal. To the other confused examinees, they looked even more ridiculous than children playing house.
No one could understand how such childish "games" could be played with such intensity.
They had already been "fighting" for three hours—and were still going.
At first, a few people watched out of curiosity, but by the end, they couldn't even be bothered to look anymore.
—At least these two brats didn't make any noise while they fought. Let them do whatever they want.
What others thought had nothing to do with Kisho and Amos. All of their attention was focused entirely on themselves and each other's movements.
Slow punches.
Slow blocks with their arms.
Slow kicks.
Slowly raising a knee to intercept the opponent's attack…
This kind of training actually consumed more mental energy than a normal fight.
They had to constantly use "Gyo" to observe the amount of aura their opponent allocated to offense and defense, then instantly adjust their own aura throughout their bodies to respond.
Tonpa watched the two brats exchanging blows with serious expressions, his face full of speechless disbelief.
C·L, on the other hand, had stopped reading. He tilted his head slightly, staring at the two boys, their figures reflected in his pupils.
Three hours later, the two finally collapsed onto the ground, utterly exhausted.
Amos sat there and sighed.
"Dead tired."
Kisho pulled out the cola he had swiped earlier from his bag and tossed a bottle to Amos.
"Have some. Rest a bit, then continue?"
Amos raised a hand to catch it and smiled.
"Sure."
With a "pop," they opened the tabs at the same time.
...
Once they found something to do, time passed quickly.
"The second exam time limit has expired. Number of examinees who passed: thirty-seven."
The broadcast from the ceiling made the two boys, who were still sparring, stop at once.
As the announcement echoed, a slab of stone in the wall behind Kisho slowly rose upward.
Beyond the stone door was a world bathed in sunlight.
The examinees who had passed the second stage gathered their belongings and exited Trick Tower one by one.
Outside was a vast grassy field. The airship bearing the Hunter Association's mark—so familiar to them—rested quietly on the grass.
A gentle breeze blew across the field.
Before the second round had begun, the man who appeared on the electronic screen atop the tower—Lippo himself—now stood before them in person.
"Congratulations to all of you for successfully clearing Trick Tower."
He grinned widely, the lenses of his glasses reflecting the cold light of the sun.
Kisho: "..."
Though the glare from his lenses made it impossible to see the warden's eyes, Kisho could clearly feel that Lippo was staring at him.
But only for an instant.
The next second, Lippo shifted his gaze and continued,
"Awaiting you next is the third exam, as well as the final test personally overseen by chairman Netero."
Kisho thought to himself,
"Two more rounds."
Lippo smiled faintly.
"The location of the next exam will be reached by airship."
"Without further ado, please board and proceed to the examination site."
Turning slightly, Lippo gestured toward the airship, its boarding ramp already lowered.
"I wish you all the best of luck in the exam."
After the examinees filed into the airship, the massive propellers roared, shredding the wind as it soared into the sky.
The one-day journey in flight needs no elaboration.
When the thirty-seven examinees were finally released from the airship, they silently surveyed their surroundings.
They stood before a cliff.
In front of them was a massive stone gate. One half had been pushed open, while the other remained closed.
Through the opened side, they could see a long staircase descending into the unknown.
The stone gate was carved with patterns and symbols none of them had ever seen before.
"A Nen array?!"
Kisho suddenly realized that among the carvings on the gate, he seemed to recognize certain patterns.
In that museum in the Republic of Pinsge—on the first underground level, the teleportation Nen array, and on the second underground level, the sealing Nen array—there had been some of the same runes.
Standing on the open ground before the gate was a man.
The moment Kisho saw him, he frowned slightly.
Just like the last time, the man was dressed entirely in black.
A black hood. A black cloak. And dark golden symbols embroidered on the cloak.
Only this time, the treant that had stood at his side before was gone. Instead, beside him stood a blond little boy less than a meter tall, dressed in animal-hide clothing.
The black-clad man's gaze swept across the examinees before he spoke indifferently,
"Sion Seymour, Ruins Hunter, examiner of the third test."
After he finished speaking, the blond boy at his feet mimicked his tone just as indifferently,
"Debest, Beast Hunter, examiner of the third test."
Perhaps because they had already encountered Bisky in the first exam, the examinees accepted quite well the fact that "a little boy who looked no older than ten could be an examiner."
—Who knew? Maybe if he returned to his true form, he'd be a centuries-old old man.
Behind Debest was a huge sack tied with rope.
From inside came a chattering "chirp chirp" sound that made one's scalp tingle.
Sion's gaze swept toward the sack as he said flatly,
"Too noisy."
Hearing this, Debest turned around and lightly kicked the bottom of the sack.
"Hey, quiet down."
Instant silence.
"Now I will explain the rules of the exam."
Sion said:
"First rule: Depart in order according to the sequence in which you cleared Trick Tower. Each pair will leave fifteen minutes apart. Survive for three days within the Truance Ruins Labyrinth and find the exit at the other end."
"Second rule: Shortly, each of you will be given a magical beast capable of guiding direction within the ruins. However, once the magical beast is attacked, it will transform into crystal form and only revert to beast form after one day."
He paused to allow the examinees to fully process his words before continuing.
"Third rule: Only those who possess both a magical beast in beast form and three magical beasts in crystal form simultaneously, and reach the exit within the time limit, will be considered to have passed."
"For this exam, in principle, no methods or weapons are prohibited—those are the rules of the third test."
"If there are no objections…"
He looked at the thirty-seven examinees before him. After waiting a moment, he slowly declared,
"Then I announce that the third Hunter Exam has officially begun."
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