Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter x Hunter! It belonged to Yoshihiro Togashi! That would be so awesome if it is!
The Hunters 4th Hunt
Run in the Swamp X Cooking Exam
It hadn't been five minutes since they arrived at the exit. Just as they thought it was their final destination, it was just the first part of Phase One. Gon, Killua and Sam were the first to arrive due to a stupid bet they came up with. A bet about whoever wins, he/she will buy lunch. And it was a pointless bet. When will they had a proper and safe lunch anyway? There's no guarantee that they would be together after exam. Gladly, the three of them stepped the goal together. There were arguments at first, each telling themselves who won and who's not. Thanks to Satotz-san, he clarified they reached at the same time.
At the end, they finally settled down to treat each other's lunch and waited for the rest to arrive. Again, it was a very pointless bet. Minutes later, Kurapika and Leorio came out from the tunnel; both were huffing heavily and tried to catch their beath. They too thought it was the second phase location.
Sam took time to observe around her. A strong feeling of homesickness and familiarity sipped inside her that she can't help herself from smiling. The strong scent of barks, leaves, grass and mud, the moistness of the forest covered in mist. It was a bit of home.
"Numere Wetlands, also known as Swindlers Swamp. We must cross those wetlands to reach Phase Two of the exam. This place is home to many bizarre animals, many of them being cunning, insatiable creatures that deceive humans and prey upon them. Be careful." He faced them, giving the remaining candidates a warning. "If you let them fool you… you're dead."
Dread immediately wrapped them all. Each gave a look of fear and uncertainty.
"The people are terrified." Gon spoke out what the others observe as well.
"Yeah, they are." Sam confirmed.
Killua stared at the amusement of her tone. Her face didn't even bother to hide it. "You seemed happy. You like people getting terrified?"
The question really pulled her out from missing home and looked at the white haired boy like he was weird. "No, of course not! The place just reminds me of home."
"Really? Is your place exactly like this Sam?" Gon curiously asked. Out of the boys she hanged out with, the innocent boy was much interested about her.
"Not entirely. This place had a different vibes. You should have seen the forest that protects the ruins of the old city, it felt much scary and creepy!" She said, voice lacing with excitement.
"There's something wrong with you. Scary and creepy isn't something to brag about." Leorio commented.
"Just let Sam enjoy. If she's happy about it, then let her. Samara missed her home after all." Kurapika came to her aide. Glad there's someone who understands her. He may not look like it, but he must have badly missed his home. Compared to her, she still had a place to live. Kurapika don't have it anymore. All would welcome him is the ruined place and his dead comrades. The brunette thanked Kurapika and he smiled in return.
"These predators will use any trick to capture their prey. Tricks and deceit ruled the ecosystem… That's why it is called 'Swindler's Nest." The examiner continued his explanation. "Be careful not to be surprised. Do your best to follow me."
'It's the Hunter Exam; there's nothing to be surprised now, isn't it?'
"Don't listen to him! He's an imposter!" Everybody whipped their heads to the owner of the voice. A man, all beaten up, showed himself beside the Exit. He was limping with his body almost covered with blood. "He's not an examiner! I'm the real examiner!"
'Well damn, I'm surprised.' Sam thought.
This caused a ruckus to everyone as they looked at the man claiming to be the real examiner. It disturbed the crowd that some started to doubt the examiner they followed at the tunnel. Everyone is carrying the same question in they're mind. 'Who's the real examiner?'
"Look at this!" He yelled as he pulled something… that made everybody shock.
"He looks just like Satotz-san!" Gon exclaimed.
It was a man-faced Ape. The creature's body was hanging low to the ground as the man held the Ape's arm. He explained that the creatures disguise themselves as humans to get fresh human meat. They trick humans into following them into these wetlands, where they team up with other animals to kill and devour them. And he claimed that Satotz intend to trap every single applicant.
This made another wave of uproar from the applicants. More and more are convinced that Satotz was indeed the imposter.
"Hey Satoz –san, aren't we going to start the next part?"
The question immediately melted the ruckus that's happening with in the candidates. All eyes fell upon the only young girl among them whom was standing near Satotz. Feeling all the stares, she faced back and replied the same stare to them. "The heck is wrong with all of you, I'm not insensitive you know. Besides it's quite rude to stare at people."
"Samara! What are you doing! Get away from him!" Leorio shouted.
"Huh? Why would I step away?" She answered with confusion in her face.
"Girl, you better get away or you'll get you insides ripped!" One from the candidates waned.
So that's what they mean. They were totally convinced that the new guy is the real one. Even with the warning, she just gave them a snort. "Really? And your basis is…?" She asked. "Just because Satotz looked like that Ape doesn't mean he's the imposter. Don't just depend on what you see. Use you other senses to observe as well. Satotz is the real examiner."
Children were known to trust strange people easily and have poor judgement about what's going on around them. That may be some of the things running around inside those stupid idiots' mind. But again, Samara is different from other kids.
"Maybe she's an imposter as well! That girl is one of them!"
Samara found herself wincing. Really? That's how they're going to interpret this case? Eew, and did they just link her to those creatures. That would be the craziest insult she ever heard. The rest followed suit and was convince that Sam was an Ape… Disgusting. Their angry shouts were silenced when something sharp penetrated a flesh. They turned around, only to see the self-proclaimed examiner's body stabbed with three cards. The man collapsed immediately after receiving the blow. On the other side, Satotz perfectly caught the other three.
"I see, I see…" Number 44, Hisoka said while shuffling his deck of cards. "That settles it… You're the real one." He said before laid his eyes at the girl. Sam felt his eyes and a sudden cold ran down on her spine. It made her step back. "You should listen to kids; they tend to tell the truth than adults." His remark, before facing Satotz again. "Examiners are Hunters selected by the committee to perform this duty without pay. Any Hunter would have been able to block that attack."
With his help, everything was settled. Satotz took it as a compliment but forewarned him the next time he attacks him for any reason, he'll be disqualified. The clown playfully approved of it. In the end that man earlier was a man faced aped as well. He was attempting to confuse the applicants, to lure them away. It clearly tells them that they should never let their guard down. The place is full of deception on a regular basis.
"If you lose sight of me in the Numere Wetlands fog, you will never reach the exam's Second Phase. Do bear that in mind." His last warning and reminder before heading out to the forest.
Sam grinned at this as she followed the examiner. This was the challenge she's been waiting for. Because of those dramas with the apes, it took them a few of their time to start the exam again. The brunette can't help but get thrilled to the bone. It's just like home, just a bit. Navigating through the fog should be at least easy, even though it's exactly not the place.
"Sam! Sam!" Gon called out. She was currently at the front, glad that they decided to catch up.
"Sup Gon, where's Kurapika and Leorio?" Sam asked Gon. Leorio's scent was faint, meaning he's not with Gon right now. Leorio has this strong scent of cologne and surely Kurapika is together with him.
"Somewhere at the back." Gon answered which Sam nodded.
"Do you always like to get people's attention?" Killua talked as they ran side by side with Gon in the middle. Oh, of course that brat is with Gon. This boy really is natural in attracting people.
"Well if the occasion counts for it. It's fun sometimes." She admitted.
"And it's easy for you to trust people?" He added.
Gon found himself smiling with it, "Sam is friendly. She made me her friend hours after we met!" He beamed.
'Isn't it the other way around'
"I don't normally trust people. If you're talking about earlier, I did not trust Satotz-san. His warning though, I trust. He just told us that deception in this swamp is almost regular. I just head on to his words. When I was finally near him, he smelled nothing of creatures dwelling from the swamp or the forest, that's where I know Satotz-san is the real examiner." She explained. "I bet Gon would differentiate them better, he's just too engrossed about the man-faced ape looking like Satotz-san." For a few seconds, silence filled the three until Samara opened her mouth again. "Sometimes, our eyes lead us to deception. What we see is what we'll believe, then blocking other senses, blocking our minds to access hidden details."
Killua looked at this girl with awe. "You really don't look blind. Gon are you sure?"
Gon paled and sweat started to form in his forehead. What Killua said made the girl's head rotate 180 degrees to her left, giving Gon a long stare. "Oh perfect."
They really need to talk, like right NOW before Gon tells the whole candidates about her if ever he meets someone who's going to be listed as his friend. The girl was really going to give him a scolding when Killua suddenly suggested going in front.
Gon felt forever grateful to Killua. He took this opportunity. "Right we should keep an eye on the judge."
Killua shook his head. "I mean it's smarter to get away from Hisoka."
This made Samara snort. "Who wants to go near him anyway? His presence alone is choking me."
"I just say staying too close to him is dangerous! I can smell it in the air."
"Smell?" Gon asked before he sniffed. "Hmm... I don't think he smells."
The girl almost face palmed. Oh Gods Gon. "I don't think that's what he meant Gon."
"Leorio! Kurapika!" The boy yelled at their back, completely startling the two beside him. "Killua says that we should move up!"
Sam could only wince at Gon's loud voice. Honestly this kid, couldn't he tell it was not the good time to yell? Everybody is feeling uneasy right now!
"Can't you feel the tension surrounding us?" Killua asked, a bit frustrated.
The other companion beside Gon could only sigh heavily, like she's already exhausted. "Gon is all the time dense so just let him be. You'll get used to it."
The statement bothered him more. "But doesn't that mean he'll be in much trouble if he keeps on doing that?" The girl gave Killua a knowing nod before both of them simultaneously sighed.
"Don't worry about us!" Kurapika's shout got Sam's attention. Gon was clearly not satisfied by it. He's worried about them and same goes for her too but she can't do anything. "Kurapika and Leorio can handle themselves Gon."
"You two, let's go." Killua called. Sam managed to lessen the worry from Gon and they increased their pace to catch up with the white haired kid.
The fog had started to gradually get thicker. Sam could tell it so easily, the way it wrapped around her body. It's cold and so damp that a smile found its way in her lips once again. It instantly flushed away when shrill screams and cries pierced through the forest, making the participants look back in fear.
They badly need to stick with the examiner, which much is pretty obvious. The only problem is he was difficult to locate. Hundreds of scent scattered around making it hard to sniff him out. Not to mention the blood starting to mix in the air as more participants caught dead by the beasts.
"I hear people screaming all around us." Gon said.
"Just stay on guard." Killua alarmed them as he looked around every time there's a scream. The place is starting to become mayhem.
"I wonder if Kurapika and Leorio are okay..." Gon worriedly muttered.
Sam could only bite her lip, trying to get rid of the increasing disturbance piling up inside her. Leorio and Kurapika were among those groups behind them and... The screams belonged to those people. The brunette shut her eyes hardly as she shook her head, shooing the bad thoughts entering.
'They're fine. They're both fine!' Sam scolded her mind.
BONK!
Sam returned to reality when she bumped into someone. "Hey- Gaaah!" The sudden fall made her scream at the top of her lungs. It seems like there was a giant frog in waiting for its prey and they're the unlucky one. Sam scrunched her face as the three landed at something squishy and slimy wet ground. The young teens were stuck inside the frog's gut. She can't help but yelp in disgust. They tried to stand, looking for something to hold on but the sudden movement of the creature made them tumble. They think it was crawling forward. Any moment now, Sam is getting hysterical. She's soaking wet in a spit! A spit! And it got much worse when the fluids starting to rise and fill the space in its mouth.
'Bwak!'
"Ow!" They muttered together.
"Eeew! This is so not cool! It's gross!" Samara said with pure disgust.
"Guess he didn't like the taste of us." Gon rubbed the side of his head as he stared at the frog walking away.
"Does that matter? I don't want to get eaten either!" Sam retorted angrily.
Killua whom was sitting near them, fished out a piece of can from his pocket. "It was this."
"The can from Tonpa-san!" Gon exclaimed with recognition. The mention of that guy's name made her disgust more. Sam dropped the can while they were inside the frog's gut and it luckily landed near Killua. Thanks to his quick thinking, the white haired boy poured the tampered juice on the frog's mouth, causing the vomit. And the thought of gag wants to make her throw up.
"I guess he saved us." Gon said.
"Well, I could have escaped." Killua threw the can.
Gon swirled around, "I'm still worried about Leorio and Kurapika."
"Forget about them. Let's move on. We can still catch up the examiner." He said before marching off.
Her annoyance kicked in. How could they forget about them? For few days, those two became her friends along with Gon. In a short period of time, those boys became important to her. The girl turned around only to feel Gon's presence disappearing. Faint running footsteps reached her ears and it was heading to where the screaming was. All blood drained from her body. Sam felt her heart beat so fast as many more cries echoed.
'That stupid-'
Great! Now Gon is adding up the anxiety level she had all along. "Gon!" She yelled and went off to where Gon is heading too. She was so sure the boy heard something. Maybe something bad happened. There are so many 'maybe' forming on her mind right now. She shook dismissively at her thoughts and hoped for them to be okay.
After running for a while, it was then she realized that she's in a bad situation. Gon was nowhere to be found. His scent vanished. The girl cursed. Now she's in so much trouble. She sniffed around until a familiar strong scent was detected. Relief came to her. There's only one person who owned it, none other than Leorio.
"Leo-" She stopped, sensing that something's wrong. The scent was getting stronger every second until she heard a footstep stopped a few feet in front of her. Where are Kurapika and Gon?
"So you're here to look for your friends too." A familiar voice spoke, a creepy one. His voice alone sent chills to her spine. How could she not recognize it? Number 44, Hisoka was standing in front and what bothered her most was Leorio's scent lingered where he stood.
Her heart beat escalated and struggled a deep breath like something is blocking her airways.
'What is going on?'
"L-Leorio... What happened to Leorio?"
Hisoka chuckled, "He's fine..." He slowly marched to where she was. Sam's body went rigid. Her heart beats rapidly even more. What to do? What could she do? Is he going to kill her?
'I want to run.' That's what the other side of her brain is yelling, but the other kept on fighting back, asking about Leorio and the others.
Sam took out her weapon and readied a stance. "Relax... Your friend is just unconscious and I'm taking him to the second phase site." Hisoka just walked passed the girl, which made her relax a bit. "Your other friends are coming this way too, so you should wait for them." That was his last speech before merging in to the fog.
Sam closed her eyes and held her chest tightly. What the heck was that? That Hisoka is carrying Leorio to the next site? What is he playing at? She exhaled deeply, grateful that he was already gone.
'Wait... What about Leorio?!'
"Samara!"
She blinked, did someone just call her?
"Sam!" Gon called her out. "Are you okay?"
It's good that Gon and Kurapika found her first instead. She weakly nodded. "Yes... Hisoka just passed by carrying Leorio. What happened?"
"We'll explain later, for now let's follow him." Both kids nodded and began to run. Along the way Kurapika filled her everything happened. It seems Hisoka was playing as judge and kills anyone he sees not of worth. He told them to grow up and become good Hunters. Or maybe what he meant was to grow up and be someone who's worth fighting and to kill. Well damn, that guy clearly has a serious case. He loves to fight someone who's challenging and she thinks Hisoka saw potential at all four of them especially Gon.
Gon lead the way to the Second site of the exam. He is currently tracking Leorio's smell. Of course Gon could tell his unique cologne.
"I was powerless against him." Gon opened up.
"Gon we all know Hisoka is at a different level. All of us can't fight him." Sam assured Gon. What happened disturbed his mind.
"You managed to hit him Gon." Kurapika tried to lift up Gon's spirit.
"Only because I surprised him. Besides Leorio passed him though, and he didn't do anything to Sam."
Maybe because Hisoka really was possessed with special talents and people like him are drawn to others with unique gifts.
"Most likely, Hisoka's instincts and experience told him that you had the skill and potential to become Hunters. Killing you now would have been a waste..." Kurapika explained.
Sam thought hard at this. He does have a point. This proves her right what she concluded earlier. He really does have a serious case. That guy is a maniac.
The blonde teen sensed the silence Gon and Samara shared and quickly apologized. "Was that insensitive on my part?"
"Of course not Kurapika." Sam immediately responded. She doesn't want him to think he's being rude at Gon or her.
"I was pretty excited." Gon said. "I was so scared, I wanted to run away. But I couldn't. And at the same time, I was excited." He looked back and gave them a smile, giving positive aura. "Isn't that strange?"
Kurapika and Sam smiled. Well, at least he's not as troubled as they think. Gon is truly different. Maybe in his entire life, it was the first time he felt mortal fear but the excitement he felt was there. His mind is getting more curious as to what lies ahead of him.
Luck was on their side as they safely arrived on time at the Phase Two site. They only halted when Gon turned around, alarming his two companions. Hisoka purposely exposed his presence to Gon and being someone who's overly sensitive in his surroundings, the boy felt it and found the magician pointing something to his right.
They wasted no time and marched to it and saw Leorio unconsciously sitting against a tree, with his left cheek swollen. Kurapika checked him for other injuries; thankfully he's fine except his face. Seconds later, Leorio regained consciousness and was not definitely glad about his cheek. He kept on complaining about it.
"I don't see any problem about it. I think your face is still exactly the same for me." Samara remarked with her face neutral as possible.
"Sam, should I feel enlightened or insulted about what you said?" Leorio uttered.
The girl just rolled her eyes and inserted her left hand to her pocket. She took a small pouch and took some sort of a pill. She crushed it and rubbed Leorio's swollen cheek. They asked what it was but she only vaguely answered them that it just helps to lessen the pain and heals any wound faster. It can't be taken orally though.
Gon took the chance to observe their surroundings and wondered why people are waiting outside the hanger. Satotz, the Phase One Examiner already left the candidates outside a huge sort of like a storage building with a clock at the top center of the large doors.
The boy in green had his answer when Killua suddenly popped out from the crowd saying they can't go in yet. Gon was delighted to see him; on the other hand Samara had a smug expression on her face and crossed her arms. It's quite obvious these two boys had gotten close after a short period of time. Killua was amazed how they found this place; Gon answered him by following Leorio's cologne all the way.
The next trial round will start at noon. All they can hear are some weird groaning noise and all they can do is wait. They could even sense the tense building up which is pretty normal since they don't know what's inside the building. So may be, it would be best to stay put cause it would be part of the exam to get suddenly attacked. At exactly 12 noon, the huge double doors of the hanger slowly creaked open. A very large man and a young fit woman were on the other side of the doors. It turns out that all those groaning came from the big man's stomach.
"I am Menchi!" The woman spoke and then jabbed a thumb at her back. "And this is Buhara. And the theme of the Second Trial will be... COOKING!" The woman announced with a cheerful tone. "We are both Gourmet Hunters, so your task is to satisfy our appetites by cooking us a meal."
All eyes are on them, looking for any sense of humor but found out it was not. Sam continuously tapped a finger as stress started to build inside her. She seriously wants them to cook? Did someone even predict there's going to be a cooking test in the exam? The idea never crossed her mind, not one bit. She'll bet anything that most of the candidates here had zero experience as well. Samara doesn't know how to cook! Cooking was never one of her hobbies! How the hell can she pass this exam with her horrible cooking skills? Couldn't they just make each other fight, hunt something or maybe anything that is not related to cooking?!
"Shit! I've never cooked before." Leorio said, grimacing at them.
Sam snorted. "No kidding."
Kurapika glance at the girl. "We'll take that as a no then." He had a hunch that Sam can't because of her eyes. That would be pretty obvious right?
The girl crossed her arms. "Actually, I've tried cooking before and to tell you, the food ended up inedible."
"We still don't know what meal they'll ask." Gon pointed out optimistically. "For all we know, it must be a simple dish!"
Ah, his optimism is too strong that it hurts them watching the boy. They even doubt it would be the case. They are after all Hunters, and Hunters don't do simple things. The group is so screwed.
"Our order is roasted pig. Not just any pig, but the most dangerous pig in this world that lives in this very forest, the Great Stamp!"
And with the gong sound of Buhara's belly, the Second Phase officially started. Even with all the complaining the crowd of examinees ran straight into the forest to catch pig.
'Okay, so let's assume that the said pig is normal sized… though this place is damn bewitched. I highly doubt it.' Samara thought as they wondered deep into the forest to hunt some pork meat.
But there was no pig on sight. They wonder if there really was one or maybe this was just one of the examiners schemes. "Are there really pigs in here? I don't even see any four-legged animal walking around!" Leorio just expressed what was on their minds.
Kurapika rustled between the bushes and was hoping to see something. "It's an exam. Of course it'll be difficult to capture one!" He yelled.
Samara tiredly sighed. "Shut up you two! There's no pig in sight because you're too loud- GAAH!"A surprised scream escaped her mouth (though it was only 5 seconds) as her feet slipped and went sliding at a sloppy hill. Gon went after her first, followed by Killua, followed by Kurapika and lastly Leorio. They just saw her rolling down a slope. What if she crashed into something and she won't be able to avoid it!
On the other hand, Sam regained her control and was able to sit as she slid down. These boys are over reacting. They must've forgotten how she could properly navigate around her. Samara halted as she reached the bottom of the slope. The four boys were sliding to where she was, and they're going to crash her down if they don't stop. So she hopped to the other side just to avoid getting squashed by them.
"Ow ow ow."
"Hey! You two are heavy!"
"Leorio, move!"
"Glad I jumped last."
The brunette just expressed a pitiful face at them. That must've hurt. But they don't have time to ease their pain right now. "Oh shush it. We have a pig to hunt."
"There's no need." Gon told her.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Kurapika asked after standing up. The boy raised his hand and points something. Three boys followed where he was pointing and finally saw the main course of the meal. Ahead, were pigs… abnormally huge pigs with big and long snout that curved towards their head?
Leorio's jaw dropped and cursed. Nobody told them it was that big. Kurapika only replied that the exam would never be normal anyway.
It was a perfect chance to catch those pigs as they busied themselves eating something… hard? When something bumped into one of the pig's head, completely distracts them from whatever they are doing. Pairs of eyes fell upon the white haired kid with his hand still raised in the air.
WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WAS HIS MIND THINKING?!
He looked at them without care in the world. "What? It's not like they're gonna chase us."
GRAAAAR!
"Gaaah! You idiot kid! They just chase us! They chased us!" Sam and Leorio yelled as the five of them ran away from the angry chasing pigs.
"It was just mad because we stepped into their territory. They thought we wanted its place." Gon reasoned.
Kurapika was as fast as he could. "I think that's not the reason! What's the plan?"
Samara was beyond furious. "Throw Killua as a bait then there's where we make a plan!"
Leorio ignored Sam. "Has anyone figured out its weakness yet?"
"No!"
The Great Stamp, the world's most ferocious pig. They us their large, stout noses to send their enemies flying. If they're too slow, they'll end up as their dinner. Everybody tried to throw any attacks at the pigs. Some threw large boulders and some threw shurikens and knives but all were deflected. Gon didn't want to run away anymore. He turned around and jumped towards the pig approaching him. Gon raised his fishing rod and tried to aim its head but was sent flying by its large snout. The boy evaded the pig as it charged once again, and went straight to the tree behind Gon, hitting the bark, and making the apples fall. The funny thing was, the pig collapsed as some of those apple hit its head.
Upon seeing this, Gon once again jumped and this time directly hitting the unprotected part of the head. Their foreheads are their weakness. That's why they grew large and strong noses to protect their soft head. Now that they discovered its weakness, the remaining four went on separate ways to catch their own pig.
Finally left alone, Sam faced her own pig and concentrated the pig's approach. The loud stomps of the pig were getting louder and louder, signaling that it was getting close to her. Sam bends her legs and jumped, twisting her body to attack the beast with her Kyoketsu-shoge. If she engaged a frontal attack, the snout would just deflect it. She aimed the sharp part of her weapon to the pig's head and it immediately dropped dead. She landed gracefully on the ground and strolled towards the pig.
The candidates hurriedly carried the pig, entering the large kitchen area where they will start preparing the roasted pig to feed the examiners. The brunette placed the pig with a huge 'hump' on the floor and made her way to start a fire. And this is where the problem arises. It was her first time roasting a pig.
"Hey Sam, you need help?" It was Gon. He just arrived from the forest while dragging the pig to a station beside her.
"Hmm? Oh say Gon, what are we going to do next with this?" She asked hoping that Gon would know too.
Unfortunately, the boy wasn't too sure as well. One by one, some of the candidates arrived. That was when Gon suggested observing the others as they start to cook. Sam had no choice but to agree at his idea. The boy obligingly watched the others while telling Sam what to do. They were so preoccupied with their roasting that they failed to notice other people started to introduce their meat.
Minutes passed, candidates started to line up to present their dish. Buhara gobbled down each one of those pigs and they can't help but watch in astonishment as he emptied every plate in front of him. As for Menchi… well they're having a very hard time pleasing her with their 'dishes'.
"No one has passed yet." Leorio said as he, Kurapika and Gon watched Menchi kept on shouting why can't anyone out there satisfy her.
"And Menchi hasn't even taken a bite…" Kurapika added. That's when Kurapia thought of something. According to him, the Second Phase is a cooking test, but they're judging the examinees on originality and powers of observation.
Leorio hummed as what Kurapika said started to sink in. He didn't waste more time to present his whole roasted pig with a hunter's association flag at the top. "This is Leorio's special dish." His voice got their attention and could not help themselves but to get intrigued. Buhara hungrily chomped it down while Menchi was disgusted and failed Leorio without even tasting his roasted pig. She even compared it to a kiddy meal.
Now Sam wasn't too sure anymore if observing the others was a good plan. Menchi failed everyone who presented their roasted pigs and yelled nothing but 'disgusting' and 'inedible'. The little girl sighed. It might be hopeless.
"You fail!" She yelled, throwing yet another dish without tasting the meat.
"Sam, I'm going to let them taste mine. Want to do it together?" Gon proposed.
Samara listened to Menchi's consistently shouting 'you fail' first before returning her attention to Gon again. "Maybe later."
Gon gave her an 'ok' and went up next, with his usual innocent smile. Menchi gave it a stare before throwing his dish just like the others. "You're on the same level as number 403!"
Gon returned to their station with a disappointed look. "I'm on the same level as Leorio." He just did exactly the same but with a floral decoration at his head and the plate.
"I think Leorio's level is not that bad. The rest of the candidates failed theirs too." Sam tried to comfort him and carefully chose her words of comfort. The last thing she'll ever do was to hurt and upset Gon. That would be very disturbing.
Another wave of participants went, Menchi still failed one after another. Kurapika was next. He decorated and arranged his dish before showing it to the Gourmet Hunters. His was a bit different and presentable compared to others, something resembles an actual dish. But it turned out to be that he's no different with Gon and Leorio as well.
The blonde was in mental shock. He too, walked back to his friends with agonizing and defeated look on his face. His mind was floating.
"Don't worry Kurapika." Gon reached his blonde friend and comfortingly patted his back. "I know how it feels.
"I'm not sure anymore if I feared of getting a fail from her or be compared to Leorio's level." Sam told the two before cautiously making her way in front and decided to present hers as well. In the end, she sliced the meat into smaller pieces and placed a small saucer beside it, with lots of sauce in it of course.
"You're the second person to show something a little bit presentable," She said.
"I just did what we always do when eating meat. We always dip the meat into a sauce so it would taste much better. Ah, I tried to adjust the sauce so that it would match with the meat." Sam explained. "But I'm a bad cook so I doubt it would taste good anyway. I just want to tell you before you throw it out."
Menchi tasted it but was rejected like everyone, though she was relieved that she wasn't compared to Leorio. The candidates ran out of ideas. The young woman drank some tea first and faced them. "I'm full. All of you failed! The Second Phase ends here!"
She took out her phone to give her report about the exam. It seems that whoever that is on the other line was not happy at her decision and argued back at her. Menchi was not the type to back down, with her bad temper.
All they ever asked was to prepare the pork in a manner they both found delicious but none of them made anything remotely delicious. They all did almost the same thing. There was no effort made and just when she thought someone actually tried, they only changed the appearance. No one attempted to emphasize the flavor. They didn't take cooking seriously. In other words they don't have the guts to try anything new. What's done is done and she's not going to change her decision. The examiners started to complain about her unfair judgement that they started to belittle the Gourmet Hunters.
Menchi stood up from her seat and watched them intently. "Let me clarify this. We frequently venture into the dens of ferocious beasts, searching for ingredients. Every Hunter knows some martial arts." She lectured as she started to spin her blades and juggled them. "You lack focus and the willingness to experiment. That alone disqualifies you from becoming a Hunter!" She ended her speech pointing her swords to them. They were all speechless.
"That said," A voice emerged from the sky, making their heads turn up." It would be excessive to fail every single applicant."
A blimp was floating in the clear sky with a symbol of the Hunter's Association attached to it. But that's not the only one that really caught their attention. Someone jumped from it and made a huge impact to the ground that it cracked and blasted off chunks of soil.
Smoke mixed with dust started to clear, revealing an old man. Menchi gasped and revealed him as the Chairman of the Selection Committee, the person in charge of the Hunter Exam. He is Chairman Netero.
"So Menchi-kun… You failed all of the applicants because you disapproved of their reluctance to try new things?" He spoke.
"No sir… I lost my cool when one of the candidates insulted Gourmet Hunters. And I made the exam harder than necessary." She admitted and made a slight bow.
"In other words, you're aware that this exam was unacceptable."
"Yes sir… When cooking is involved, I lose my control. I'm unqualified to be an examiner. I will resign as an examiner, so please re-do the Second Phase!"
"But that would be difficult to find another examiner on such short notice." He said, making Menchi apologize. "Very well. How about this? I'd like you to continue serving as an examiner. But you must also participate in the new test you propose. Is that acceptable? I'm certain that will help the applicants to accept the results." Menchi agreed the Chairman's request and changed the test to boiling eggs and requested to take them to Mt. Split-in-Half in his airship.
….
Just as the name of the Mountain, it indeed has a split in between. Samara paled and felt like she's turning blue as she felt the strong breeze at the edge of the cliff, already having a wild guess what the next test is associated with, but just continued hoping it wasn't.
According to Menchi, there's a Spider-Eagle's web attached to both cliffs. That is where the Eagle's wrap their eggs with ravines, to protect their eggs from predators, making their eggs one of the most difficult ingredients to obtain. The say their eggs are also known as dream eggs. When the female examiner jumped off, Sam can't help but sweat a lot even though the air is cool up in the mountain.
"You didn't need to sweat a lot." Leorio suddenly spoke, startling the girl.
"Don't worry, we'll help you." Kurapika assured.
"Yup."Gon beamed.
"Gon wants it." Killua said.
It shocked her at first. Where they observing her since Menchi-san showed the cliff? These three knew her issue with heights. Were they worried? She bit her lip to stop herself from smiling. In normal circumstances, she would have declined the offer. It would just make her look weak and pitiful. Her pride demands her she can do anything even without help. But these guys… she can't say no (only to Gon and Kurapika, sometimes with Leorio). Because she could feel they don't look at her with pity in their eyes instead they always saw her as strong and willed little girl. The girl was indeed lucky and grateful that she met these boys.
Samara blushed and crossed her arms, "Hmmp! Who would sweat cause of this?" She said. "But I won't mind your help though." The boys smiled at this and nodded.
Meanwhile, Menchi reached for the web and hanged for a few seconds before jumping off again and grabbed an egg that was wrapped by series of thick webs. She fell straight in to the abyss until a strong up drift carried her along, like she's flying freely in the air and landed where she once stood in front. "And all you need to do next is boil the egg!"
"Y-you must be joking. No reasonable person would jump down there…" One of the applicants said.
"I've been waiting for this!"Gon said as he and Kurapika held Samara's hands.
"I'm not actually waiting for this." Sam weakly commented before the five of them dived the cliff together, with Sam only making a loud scream. Sam seemed to notice she had a lot of screaming this day. They grabbed the web string and let Sam reach for it as well, with her hands slightly shaking from nervousness. She thinks her vertigo might've kicked in.
"Directly below you, there's an egg. You can smell it right?" Kurapika told her and Sam nodded. In this test, her only problem was to jump off the cliff.
"We can't jump yet." Gon declared.
"There's no wind!" Killua told them.
"Why not?" Leorio asked.
"There isn't always an up draft."
"When's the next one?"
Gon closed his eyes and listened carefully. There was still no current. The webs were starting to detach from the rocks due to the number of people hanging from it. The web can't hold on to the rock any longer. But Gon did not utter a single word. Some of the candidates can't wait for the wind any longer and jumped down. They were idiots for causing their deaths. Back to their situation, any seconds now, it's going to snap!
"Now!" Gon yelled.
They all let go of the web, letting themselves fall through the abyss. The smell of the egg was getting stronger and Sam reached out her hands to get one.
'Please lift us up! Please lift us up!" Sam chanted as she felt the gravity pulling her towards the earth. This was the second time she had little a trip with the cliff ever since she started off to train and the memory of the first experience was not so good at all.
Wish granted, they all were lifted up by the up drift and landed to hard soil. Sam has never been grateful that she's on land again that she could almost kiss it. They started to boil the eggs and ate it after it was well cooked. No doubt it was delicious, completely different from any regular eggs they eat at their home. No wonder it's called dream eggs.
Being a Gourmet Hunter was not a joke. They are risking their lives for that joy. This earned them a lesson, whether you're a Blacklist Hunter or a Gourmet Hunter, calling yourself a Hunter requires an enormous amount of determination.
And with that, only 43 applicants remained. After clearing the exam's Second Phase, the gang and the rest of the candidates went inside the airship, fly through the starry sky, towards the site for the Third Phase.
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End of Fourth Hunt
