I APOLOGIZE FOR SHORT CHAPTERS I know it's annoying I used to have a policy of long chapters all the way but I got lazy because life.
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"I'm quite weak with short-ranged fighting, mainly because I'm not very good with enhancer skills. My doppelganger probably knew that so he went straight for a short-ranged immediately. What he didn't know is that the impulsive move left so many of his (my, actually) weaknesses open that I was able to see through all of them easily and defeated him." Tana explained. "In a way, being impulsive is my weakness too. I guess I'm lucky in a way."
The three old friends were sitting on a sofa, side by side, filling one another up about what happened while they slowly drifted to sleep.
"Yeah, this exam has a lot of luck involved." Zushi drawled. "Whatever you know about defeating the clone, the clone knows too. And you can't really win in terms of skills because you're tired."
Kazumi yawned. "Yeah I'm dead tired. I'm also not very good with one-on-one fights. My Nen ability is only useful for group fights you see. But I thought of something my doppelganger didn't think of. We ran into the two Tanas fighting, and I took Tana's ability. And then I won."
Kazumi's Nen ability has two modes: Defender and Revenger. Defender enables her to absorb whatever damage that was meant for her friend, while Revenger allows her to let out the absorbed blow multiple times (depending on how much Nen she had used to protect herself during Defender mode) at her enemy. The more she sacrificed (aka the less she used Nen to protect herself) the more damage her Revenger would cause. And her revenger caused her doppelganger to blow up into pieces.
Zushi nodded. "Making use of your ability even when the situation doesn't allow for it – that's really smart of you."
Kazumi beamed. "Really?"
Zushi swore Kazumi's smile was the best thing on Earth. "Yeah, you're really great."
"Well, you're great too! Your Nen abilities are off the charts."
"Yeah man, Zushi, you only told us you could manipulate the wind. You didn't tell us that you could do a tornado! Or a blizzard!"
"Well, that's probably one good thing about my Nen ability." Zushi shrugged. "It's so vague that it's flexible, and I can really do anything that I imagine."
"And you're surprisingly good with enhancer abilities." Kazumi added.
"I've been training really hard on that." Zushi admitted, reminiscing the training Wing had made him go through.
"Hey, why didn't any of you compliment me?" Tana snapped.
"Good job on actually thinking while you fight." Kazumi said, slapping him on the back.
"I know right, I've upgraded!"
The three of them laughed.
"I wonder what the next examination will be about." Kazumi said.
"Just give us our sleep, I'm satisfied." Tana grumbled.
"So… we're going to sleep here, on the sofa?" Zushi asked, his eyes drooping.
"Yeah, I need a pillow." Tana said, as he grabbed Zushi and leaned on him like a pillow.
"Argh, you're heavy." Zushi said, but he made no effort in pushing him away. The three of them lay side by side, so close that Zushi could smell Kazumi's hair, and they fell asleep on the sofa.
They arrived at their examination area two days later. It was at a dark, spacious room that seemed to be equipped like a training room. There were weapons hanging at one small section of the wall, and there were differently coloured flags erected at random areas of the room.
The tall, slender man who picked them up from the third exam appeared. "I hope you all had a good rest. I am Rutherford, your fourth examiner." He spoke with a deep and slightly menacing tone. "In this exam, you will be splitting into four different teams. The teams will be competing against each other. If your team loses, you fail. If your team wins, you pass. There can be up to three teams winning, and there can also be zero teams winning; it all depends on you, and your teamwork."
"I like to reward efforts." The man continued coolly, taking turns to make eye contact with each and every examinee. "So I'll let the top performing examinee in the last three exams to choose his or her team first." He took out a tablet and scrolled through. "I have been observing the exams, and I have taken note of all your scores and performances in the previous three exams. The top performing examinee managed to pass the first exam under all criteria, reaped the highest score in the second exam, and defeated the opponent in one of the fastest timing and using the most destructive blows ever. Congratulation, Kazumi Hayashi! Step forward, Kazumi."
Everyone applauded as Kazumi stepped forward, slightly embarrassed. Well, actually, not everyone was applauding, and even if they were, they were not half as enthusiastic as Zushi and Tana.
"Whoots, that's my girl!" Tana exclaimed.
"You may choose five more people to join your team." Rutherford instructed. "What the exam will be about, I will not reveal."
"How long do I have?" Kazumi clarified.
"Try not to take too long." He answered vaguely before sauntering away.
"Okay, first, I'll have Zushi and Tana, please."
Zushi and Tana went to where Kazumi was standing.
"You'll have us? What are we, food in a buffet?" Tana retorted.
"Oh, shush, or I'll kick you off the team." Kazumi rolled her eyes. "But isn't this great? We get to choose the best team ever and win this thing! So far the examiners have focused on performance in the exam, so winning this properly might give us plus points for the next exam."
"It's a little unfair." Zushi admitted.
"Oh who cares." Tana dismissed. "It's even more unfair if we didn't choose our team and we fail because the team members suck."
"And anyway the rest of the groups will definitely target us more. Whatever advantages we gained out of this might not be enough." Kazumi mused. "But anyway, who do we want? We can only choose three more. And I don't think I know the other examinees that well. I'd say Arthur is a definite. He's a really good fighter."
"Oh ho ho." Tana said, looking at Zushi in a funny way.
Zushi glared at him before adding. "Yeah, actually, he's a good addition to the team."
"Bruce is strong and smart, but he's not very good at fighting, a little dim-witted in terms of movements actually." Kazumi analyzed. "Who else? Okay, I know Sasha. She's pretty good. I've seen her during the third exam. And she's quick; I've seen her swoop around like a monkey. She comes up with all sorts of different ideas, but she's a little weird."
"I know Peter." Zushi offered. "He's really resourceful. He's the reason why I passed the second exam."
"I know the rest of the girls, actually. Not a lot, but we do exchange words when we're in the toilet." Kazumi said. "There's Nana, the tall blonde girl over there. She looks really cool and confident, and she found the tests very easy so far. At least that's what she said. Not sure if it's a bluff."
Tana whistled. "I like her already."
"And then there's Peppermint, the small and cute girl over there? She looks our age but she's actually twenty-five, and she said she had worked as a bodyguard of famous celebrities for many years, but she wanted to upgrade as bodyguard of mafia leaders, and being a hunter is the criteria. So she's probably good.
"And the last girl, that shy girl hiding by the sides? Yeah she's Emily. She's super soft-spoken, and hardly speaks, so I didn't get to speak with her at all. Or maybe she didn't have anything to say to me. I sure hope she's not a hidden rare gem."
"We need to get people of different types." Zushi said. "After all, we don't know what this exam will be all about. It might not even be fighting. So we should get smart and resourceful and adaptive people. Who else do we know?"
"Well, we've dueled with some, remember?" Tana said, trying to remember all their names. "Ah, there's Benjamin, Kane… ah I don't remember the rest they didn't make any impression. I guess that means they're all not that good."
"Or they didn't participate in our little duels, probably smart enough to keep information about them hidden." Zushi mused. "Anyway, I'm biased, but I'm all in for Peter. I think he would really help."
"Okay, so we need one more. You've got anybody in mind, Tana?"
"Nah. They all suck." Tana said unabashedly.
"Okay, then, I'll just choose a girl because girls are the best."
"Nana?" Tana inquired hopefully.
"Nah, I don't really like her. Either Sasha or Peppermint. Sasha, because she kind of fits the resourceful thing since she's always doing strange things, and Peppermint, because I think she probably has the ability. I don't know; I'm being really vague here."
"But who are you clearer about in terms of ability?" Zushi asked.
"Peppermint. She's talkative so she told me quite a bit."
"Okay, Sasha it is then." Zushi said. "It's a little unscrupulous but this way we are clearer about what the enemy can do."
"Alright." Kazumi stepped out of the tiny circle of discussion and announced. "We've decided on Arthur, Peter and Sasha."
Bruce looked crestfallen as the remaining three members joined them. The other examinees looked equally as upset while Sasha jumped up in the air and cheered.
"Yay I'm in the same team as magic boy!" She exclaimed, running over to Zushi. "Ne, ne, please teach me those magic tricks!"
"Err…." Sasha had been bugging Zushi in the airship about his Nen abilities, and Zushi was not sure how to go about explaining it. He still remembered how he had been scolded for trying to teach Nen to Gon and Killua five years ago.
Thankfully, Rutherford started speaking. "Okay, so our first group is formed. As for the remaining examinees, please form three groups. You may discuss among each other but try not to take too long." Again with the vagueness.
"Oh, this is bad." Peter said.
"Why?" Sasha asked.
"Up to three groups can win, and they probably hate us right now. So they might all gang up against us."
"But there's no need to worry since we all don't know what the exam is going to be about, right?" Arthur said.
"It's most probably going to involve fighting." Peter analyzed. "Weapons and spacious rooms? There's probably going to be a lot of fighting. Since we're divided into teams, we might need to fight as a team, or even do some role playing, so our abilities are very important. We don't know what all their abilities are, but if they are discussing right, they would know all about our abilities. It's not going to be easy winning this."
"I've thought of that, which is why I picked you guys." Zushi said confidently. "The most important thing is to be smart and adaptive."
"And cooperative." Peter added. Zushi felt as though the comment was for him.
"Yes, cooperative." He agreed. "For now, any of you would like to share what you know about the other examinees?"
Peter and Arthur started contributing. Peter had been very observant of the other candidates while Arthur was just a very outgoing person in general. Sasha was fiddling with her hair, trying to listen, but looking as though it was the hardest thing to do.
Within minutes, they managed to learn more about at least fifteen out of eighteen people in the opponent teams. A few strong fighters, a few professional sports players, a few ex-convicts…
The other three teams were formed, with their leaders chosen. Bruce was the leader of the group comprising Nana, Kane, Benjamin, Alastair and Aikira. Peppermint was the leader of the group comprising Emily, Louis, Barker, Hanfu and Dan, and Avery, the burliest man in the room, was the leader of the group comprising Sherman, Ryan, Karl, Darryl and Nicholas.
"So the four groups have been formed." Rutherford said as he glanced across the groups. "I will now explain the instructions. Each group will get six small flags, with different numbers printed on them. The numbers represent the points each flag bears. There are the following numbers: one, one, twenty, twenty, hundred and five hundred; a total of 642 points. For your group to pass this exam, your group has to make sure to be in possession of more than 642 points worth of flags.
"Every person in the group needs to bear one flag at the start of the game. You can hide the flag anywhere among your clothes (although it has to be in somewhere decent; if you're not sure what it means please consult me later on). Weapons are available, but as usual, you are not allowed to kill anybody. Killing warrants instant disqualification. For the whole group.
"This exam will last one full day, 24 hours. You will get 1 hour of strategizing beforehand. Communication between groups is allowed. I will now assign the colours randomly. Kazumi's group is red, Bruce's group is yellow, Peppermint's group is green and Avery's group is blue."
"Giving us the brightest and most attention-seeking colour?" Tana grumbled unhappily. "I don't think it's very random."
"Alright, the leaders can come forward now to collect your flags."
"Right, I'm your leader." Kazumi said smugly, mainly towards the frowning Tana.
Indeed, their flags were the most noticeable among the flags.
"Your strategizing time starts now." Rutherford said as he strolled away. "I will be observing everyone in another room."
"Okay, let's decide who gets which flag!" Arthur exclaimed excitedly. "Oh, this is so fun. It's like an orientation game back in school!"
"We'd better bring our discussion away from them." Peter looked around suspiciously. He looked at Sasha, who was being restless and rolling about on the ground. "Okay, Sasha, are you bored? Do you want something to do?"
She nodded eagerly.
"We need you to keep us away from any spies, can you do that?"
Sasha jumped away happily.
"Smart, keeping the weird and probably babbling and uncooperative girl away." Arthur said.
"Why did I choose her again?" Kazumi said exasperatedly.
"She's good." Zushi said as he watched Sasha maneuver around the room with her unique skills. "Okay, so who gets which flag?"
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End of chapter! Reviews please! I hope you enjoyed it. Hunter exams are way too long.