Holy shit, I uploaded the chapter by accident once, while I still had a few notes in the middle of the thing that I forgot to delete containing spoilers and plans. PHEW
If I forgot, I would legit kill myself the second I saw it in a review XD
ENJOY!
~oOo~
The annoying alarm ringed loudly, while the wall rumbled as it was opening up, revealing the tunnel that seemingly had no end, in which there stood a man. This man, Satotz, has pale lavender hair, blue eyes, and wore a suit. He has no mouth. He has no mouth, but instead, he has a moving mustache which only moves when he speaks, and wears a red tie.
"Everyone, I apologize for the wait. The entry period for Hunter applicants has now ended," he stated loud enough for all to hear, "The hunter exam will now begin!"
I'm more than ready, so it seemed everyone around was too, as Satotz gave warnings, which none heeded. They who claimed to be confident held their head high, they who claimed to be intelligent smirked but kept themselves out of the limelight, they who knew they were strong did as they wanted, they were either relaxed or determined.
Me? I leaned on a wall near the front of the group, relaxing since I knew Satotz would soon have us run, like, 80 kilometers, which I am sure would be impossible for me, if I didn't have class card installed. With a class card installed, though, I felt like this would be a breeze. It was just a hunch, but it felt like it would barely dent my stamina.
And finally, the man himself started walking, with four hundred-something Hunter-hopefuls following behind him, all determined to end up on top.
The pace was normal at first, and I could tell some were feeling confident due to this. Really, they are underestimating this exam, which is fine by me. I was sticking to the front, as the sooner I reach the end, the more time I will have to prepare for the second part of the exam. If I don't do it quickly, I will end up needing to expose one of my abilities to the rest, so I want to be the first one out.
With that in mind, I kept at a measured distance away from Satotz as he started to pick up the pace. All the others, even the ninja were surprised with how they soon needed to jog to keep up, although the examiner was still walking the exact same way as previously. With long, weird steps.
The pace went from walking, to jogging, to running.
And as it reached running pace, applicants started dropping like flies in exhaustion.
It reaffirmed how good this part of the exam was for weeding out the hopeless cases from the ones with potential. Not only do you need the mental strength that this tests, being able to maintain a hunt which has no end in sight, but also the stamina to chase your hunt down, and the speed to not get outrun. The second part of the test, the swindler's swamp tests your ability to hunt your target through difficult terrain, without letting it escape.
As she was approaching the stairs, she approached Satotz. He noticed, as I was not actively trying to hide my presence, although I feel it may be possible, and looked at me curiously.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
Quietly, so that no other participant heard and decided to follow, I asked him, "Am I allowed to run ahead of the group?"
He proceeded to hum, as he considered it, "Hmm, I don't see anything wrong with that. But, you will not be able to reach the second part of the exam without following me, or amazing luck."
I didn't verbally respond, but nodded before I dashed past him at my full speed up the stairs, covering large distances with every step, and literally leaving the group in my dust.
I glanced back for an instant, to see some had even stopped with their jaws hanging to the floor in surprise at my feat of completely nullifying their previous understanding of the word, speed. Not that there weren't a few who were unsurprised.
Reaching the end, I did not waste any time, but focused, and through muscle memory, something I would describe as either Nen or magic flowed through my shadow at the word, "Zabaniya.."
50 different shadowed beings jumped out of mine, and dashed straight into the wetlands, all in differing directions, while I stayed sitting on top of the tunnel's exit. I could tell my appearance caused some animals at the edge of the clearing to pay attention, most likely one group of them being of the Man-Faced Ape race. None of them chased the clones, as they were hiding their presence.
The clones only purpose was to find the location of the second exam, and if they did, kill themself. They had strict orders not to die, unless by suicide, until the first one died, as the first one to die is the only one I would pay attention to. After that they were to wait for my presence to reach where the first one's disappeared, before all killing themselves.
The clones functioned in a way, that they only act as they are told. They have a mechanical personality, unless I give them an artificial one, and will prioritize accomplishing their predetermined goals over anything else. This is also the Noble Phantasm of this assassin card, Hassan of the hundred faces, and therefore, was exhausting. It isn't a very powerful one though, as it only fragments my own power, and each clone is significantly weaker than me, although I am also weaker now than originally, but not by far.
As I was catching my breath and waiting for a clone's presence to disappear, the group finally reached the end, with Satotz looking back behind him as Gon and Killua finished their race with the cry of, 'Goal!'. Glad to see I have yet to change canon, though that is slightly untrue, considering that Satotz glanced over at me subtly despite listening and answering Gon's question of who won. I suspect his fondness of the boy will be slightly less, considering he only paid half his attention over to him.
As the rabble poured out of the tunnel, so too did two animals of the wetlands, they were two monkeys with long and thin limbs, but they didn't think I could see them sneak through the fog, and I ignored them back.
If I missed the disappearance of the first clone, I would have to follow Satotz, which would be a good idea if I needed to practice tracking my prey, but the assassin card being Hassan of the hundred faces makes that unnecessary due to the Expert of many specializations skill. As far as I could tell, each of the 32 specializations were usable for assassination, but some of them were a relief to have in general. Especially considering it could be used during one part of the hunter exam.
Soon as the group had gathered, and Satotz had started giving his brief explanation on the swindler's swamp, but as soon as when the monkeys started playing their little trick, I felt a clone die, and I hid my own presence, before dashing away at the same speed as when I dashed up the stairs, dodging every animal and tree that got in the way.
~oOo~
As I sat in a large tree close to the second exam's site, sure that no one was watching me as I had made my clones survey the area, I uninstalled my card, and as it emerged from my chest, grabbed it. I was back in my black skirt, and my white tucked in shirt. As soon as I went back to normal, I grabbed another class card from my thigh holster, this one being my caster card.
"Install.." I whispered, and once more was surrounded by a swirling light of red, and a magic circle that passed through my body, this time, though, I was clad in ornate black, red, and white robes fit for a king, with cosmetics of gold, and tattoos to back it up. On my fingers were ten rings.
As I was installed now, I gained all the skills of this servant, and used one of them instantly. My eyes gazed upon the entire wetlands at once, and could see the group were approaching, but I had at least 15 minutes. Satotz twitch made me realize could tell something was observing him, and somehow, he did not know what.
Now, my gaze was not on the jungle, but instead focused on myself. I had a few things I wanted to confirm, and find out, and now was the perfect time, as I was not being watched.
Long, pale blonde hair, bordering on white, ears with a point on the side, and a bored, beautiful face with red eyes that differed from each other, with the left bearing a slitted pupil, while the right had a square. Or more accurately, a 1 and 0 of a manual calculator, though the zero was red inside of the lines making the number, instead of black. My chest is flat, and my figure slim, and I had the appearance of being between 13 and 15 years old.
I was correct in how they copied Neumann's body perfectly.
Next I checked what got me this whole idea of using my caster card. Aura nodes. I needed to make sure that I was not just dropped her in a body fit for a human of my world, and not this one. Imagine my relief when I realized I had them. Luckily enough for me, they were half open already, either due to the gods, or the class cards, meaning it should be easier to get through the initiation, or if I don't have anyone to initiate me, it should not take much time to get it through meditation.
I took more time than expected to inspect the aura nodes, and all the others would be here in less than five minutes, so I swiftly swapped cards before it was too late. I noticed while doing that, that my tag had fallen on my lap after I uninstalled assassin, and now that I was installed with that card, I once more placed it on my chest, under my small cloak, and relaxed back into my seat, not paying attention to the applicants or Satotz as they entered the area, but merely relaxing. The next test wouldn't take much energy, so this was a good time to relax. After the exam we would also get an airship ride to the next test site.
The clones were not as exhausting as I first thought, but it still took around a quarter of my full energy, which I wouldn't consider much considering the assassin class doesn't have much stamina in general. But, the quarter was also a quarter of my real stamina, somehow, which means it translates whatever proportion of my stamina I use to that of my real stamina, even though it's really much worse. And it wasn't recovering fast at all, so I wanted to rest, just in case something were to happen, like Illumi or Hisoka attacking me for some reason during the 3rd or 4th exams.
When the gates opened, I dropped down from my branch. I noticed that I hadn't bothered to check up on Gon's party, but I also found myself not to care. Sort of like, living in a large city, and knowing many famous people lived there. If you weren't a fan of them, you would possibly consider it cool meeting them, or you would just treat them like any other person. Or maybe that's just me.
"Will all applicants who passed the first phase of the exam please enter?"
As the rabble poured into the mansion's premise, the lady lounging on the couch welcomed us, "Welcome. I'm Menchi, the Second Phase examiner."
"And I'm Buhara, the other examiner."
The rumbling stomach of Buhara set into motion the events that happened in canon, as my butterfly effect had yet to reach them, and the rest of the applicants had not been affected as of yet. Now, I just had to beat in a pig's forehead, and cook up an amazing meal, and if I failed, then I will boil an egg.
~oOo~
As I walked up to the examiners alone, seeing as I was the first one to get here, by longshot, as the others had barely just finished getting the pig, I had a confident smirk on my face. In my past life, I liked cooking, but was only average at it.
In this one, though, hehehe, let's say the cards are in my favor. Of the many specializations Hassan of the hundred face's was an expert in, one of them was, to my luck, cooking. I suspect that in life, he learnt this in order to infiltrate high security locations, and kill the target through poisoned cooking.
I decided not to go for something normal, like pork cutlet, or roasted pork. Instead, I made two kebab sandwiches with fresh vegetables, with a dressing I made on the spot. I made a third, for myself to test, and there is not a chance in hell this isn't good. And as I placed both plates before the gourmets, I could tell they were surprised that something outside of an entire roasted pig was in front of them.
Menchi was actually the first one to taste the dish, and picked up the sandwich, before taking a big bite out of it, and smiling at the flavor. Buhara took his sandwich too, and ate it in one bite, but looked to generally like the flavor.
"Well, nice job there, kid! This is delicious, you pass," she said with a smirk, before she took another bite. The hard to please gourmet liking the food I made is akin to bragging rights within the whole food world, if I am not mistaken, considering only a handful of chefs in the entire world were supposed to be capable of pleasing her palate. Her praise almost embarrassed me, and probably would if it weren't for the fact that this was more assassin's skill than mine.
"Thanks," I responded to the praise, before making my way to the walls surrounding the mansion, which I scaled, before lying down, and getting the rest I deserve, while observing the stupid Hunter wannabes roasting whole pigs, and getting mad because they were told that it was trash.
"Pfft, kheheheh– hahaha..!" I tried to keep it together, but this has to be the funniest thing to see. It's simply a comedic scene in the anime, but seeing a bunch of grown men consider themselves creative by putting a flag on top of a roasted pig, or drawing on its face with ketchup was just too much. Oh my, this really speaks for humanity as a race.
In the end, only I had passed, and the rest were told to try again next year. Some were knocked into next year, and some were cursed into it. But all good things had to come to an end, as Netero fell from the sky with the only warning being, "That may be true, but it would be excessive to fail all but one participant like this," before he jumped out of a window or door on the side of the airship that just arrived, and hit the ground with a large impact.
Despite the fall, he was not even slightly injured, meaning he either fell really well, his muscles were just as iron-like as his spar with Killua and Gon led you to believe, or he used nen.
OH! HIS SPAR WITH KILLUA AND GON!
I had forgotten about that event completely! Wait, was the reason I remembered this maybe due to the Librarian of Knowledge skill, and the luck check having succeeded? If so, then great, if not, then still great. I could use this.
But first, I felt like eating a boiled egg, though I did already pass.
~oOo~
Currently, we were back on the airship, and night was approaching. The egg test did not differ much from canon, though the big guy who wanted to become a blacklist hunter did end up jumping this time, for reasons unknown, since I am sure I didn't interact with him. Whatever the case, I knew where Killua and Gon were, and I knew Netero would be approaching soon, so with my A rank Presence Concealment, I leaned against a window, and waited patiently for his conversation with them to end, and for him to invite the two to his game.
"Let's go already, Gon!" Killua finally said, fed up with Netero, though Gon hesitated.
"Now, wait just a moment," Netero interjected, "Would you two care to play a game with me?" the old man finally asked.
Gon seemed interested, "A game?" he asked, as Killua turned around curiously, evidently, he too was interested in this 'game'.
"If you're able to defeat me, I shall let you be Hunters!" he added to the table, and Gon looked positively excited, instantly agreeing, while Killua seemed skeptical..
That's my que.
"Does that offer, perhaps, extend to someone like me as well?"
Though Netero gave off no reaction, other than curiously turning to me, Gon and Killua were caught off guard completely. Netero hummed as he stroke his beard, before smirking a bit.
"Well, I got no reason to say no," he accepted, before turning to the white haired boy who was eyeing me like I was an alien. A slightly familiar alien, but an alien all the same.
"How about it, eh?"
~oOo~
Now, how should I handle this?
"Let me go over the rules," Netero said. He had removed his yukata shirt, and was now wearing a black tank top, with white sweatpants, and no shoes, balancing the ball on one finger, "If you manage to take this ball before the airship lands, you win. I believe we were scheduled for an 8 AM landing," he glanced at the clock, "Well, that gives you nine hours. You're free to attack me however you'd like. I won't lay a hand on you."
"Huh? That makes it too easy!" Gon stated.
"Well, why not give it a try first?"
Killua, who had been silent since he agreed to be part of the game, asked Netero, "We just have to take the ball?"
"Yeah."
"Then, I'll go first."
"Go right ahead.."
As Killua would be going first, I took this as a chance to plan. I sat down by the wall and Gon sat down next to me to watch the spar. I only watched with half a mind, while I was more focused on my thoughts.
Should I risk exposing my abilities? In truth, it wouldn't matter much, but it still is something that could be used against me. I don't particularly want to use another card in case this one fails, but I also really don't want to do the rest of the exam, considering how all the next exams rely on luck, and assassin only has E rank luck. That's really bad.
If only I had more to gain… maybe I could negotiate for something more?
"Killua! Tag! Tag! It's my turn next!" Gon eagerly demanded, and Killua who just slammed his legs into a leg practically made of iron, gladly obliged.
If I expose any card, it would most likely have to be caster again.. Although he is at his strongest casting powerful spells, I believe I would be capable to get the ball, with those two skills in particular, and the B rank agility. That's nothing to scoff at as a caster.
Besides, there shouldn't be much anyone can do to counter my caster..
Okay, I have made up my mind. I am getting this ball, even if I have to expose my possibly strongest card for it!
And by the time I had finished thinking, Killua was already on his second try. He was moving fast, with efficiency. Cutting off almost every single move Netero could take, but Netero nonchalantly surprised him everytime, and made him hurt himself in embarrassing ways.
Quite entertaining, how he was obviously getting mad every time. I thought assassins hid their true emotions, or something like that. Maybe that's just some Naruto bullshit, though.
Not much later, I had enough.
"Switch."
Gon looked at me like he just remembered I was here, and Killua gritted his teeth, but tagged me in.
Netero innocently lifted an eyebrow, "Finally worked up the nerve?" I have to admit, this old man really knows how to act his age, even though his physique does the opposite.
"Correct."
I'll start off strong. Let's not give him the time to get used to my movements. My stamina is completely replenished, and I'm more than excited to test myself against one of the world's strongest.
"Zabaniya.." Out of my shadow came three clones, each identical to me, as intended, and each with the same mechanical personality, with the order, 'Work with the original, and the rest of the clones to get the ball from Isaac Netero.'
With me in the lead, we walked around the curious looking old man, perfectly distanced from each other like a square or a circle, looking for an opening. Unfortunately, the old man that designed a giant nen construct that had 100 different techniques, did not leave one.
So we had to make our own.
All four summoned a knife at the exact same time, and threw, though I threw an extra above him so he had something to look up to. Instead, the old man ducked below, and a clone took the chance to go for him, throwing a knife at his chest while jumping to the roof, and landing upside down on her feet. She dashed in just before the knife would land, but Netero, with only his left hand, pushed himself off of the floor while midair, dodging the knife, and kicking the ball hard enough to hit her face, without her being able to catch it.
The second he kicked the ball, another clone dashed for him, but Netero kicked the ball again as it returned to him, this time it hit the roof, and bounced upon the top of the clone's head, slamming her face into the ground.
But there is only one ball, and with that same ball being out of he way, me and the last clone dashed for him at the same time, as the ball was still mid-air above the second clone, and Netero had just landed on his feet from where he first stood. I threw a dirk at the ball, intending to hit it with a blunt side and knock it further away, but my distraction cost me, as Netero dodged the clone with a quick spin, and with her being mid-air, was not able to dodge me.
Thankfully, assassins thought fast, and I held up my hands, palms first. The clone, understanding this, flipped around mid air, and I braced myself as she used me as a trampoline, aimed to bounce straight at the old man dashing for the ball that just got knocked off of it's course.
She got to him before he got to the ball, and kicked with all her strength towards the back of his head, but the old man anticipated it, and lowered his head, dodging, and making the clone kick the ball into a wall, which in turn, made it bounce back to the old man.
And just like that, we were back in square one.
"Hohoho, that was quite the techniques you displayed there, ojou-chan." he praised with a smirk, as he stroked his beard. The clones were all about to get up, but I really could not be asked for another repeat.
"You're unnecessary."
The clones all nodded, and returned to my shadow.
In the end, strength was not always in numbers. And I myself, am at my strongest with no clones active, though we'll just have to see how strong that really is. I took a deep breath, and got myself low to the floor, with my hands on the ground and my legs spread for explosive power. I breathed in, held it for a few seconds, then exhaled.
I dashed at the old man, keeping just as low to the ground as previously, and I could see the way he tensed up, that he noticed how much faster I am than the clones. I was inside his range before you could blink twice.
I put both hands on the ground, the rest of my body still on the move. With my feet aimed for his chest, and my back facing the floor, I pushed off of the ground with all my might, and would have hit him head on, had he not fallen backwards just before I hit him. No matter, I landed in the corner between the floor, and the wall, and like my clone had done me, I simply bent my knees, before rushing back in with a flip and my right leg out.
Netero simply dodged my axe kick by turning, and let it hit the ground, but I had in fact not put in as much power as he thought. As my left leg hit the ground, despite how much effort it took to completely reverse my previous direction, I pushed myself to dash at him, who stood on my right, with my right knee hitting him straight in the gut.
This would be my best chance to take the ball right now, if not for the fact that he threw it against the opposite wall, behind me while I wasn't looking, and it hitting me in the back of the head, throwing me to the floor face first..
"Oww.."
"Hahaha, you tell me."
"WOOOW, THAT WAS AMAZING! Killua, did you see that!?"
"Y-Yeah."
"The way she bounced around the room was like a one of those really, really bouncy balls, and she even managed to hit Netero-san!"
The praise almost made me blush, or maybe it did slightly, if the tiny increase in heat I felt in my cheeks were any indication, but I now knew that assassin wasn't gonna cut it. I stood back up, just as determined as before to get that ball.
"You still wanna go?"
My answer was obviously, "Yes, I will give it another try, but do you mind doing me a favor?"
"Hmm? What is it?"
"When I win, in addition to making me a hunter without having to finish this exam," I made sure to specify, in case he was going to have us go through with the exam anyways, with the promise that he will someday make us hunters, "I want you to initiate my nen, though I will give you something very valuable in return."
The old man hummed in amusement.
"'When you win', eh? Well, fine. If you manage to win, I will initiate your nen."
"Good. Uninstall!"
The card exited my chest like it had done before, and my old clothes were back on in a flash of light. Unfortunately, I had to reveal my appearance, but that didn't matter more than this fight now did. On the bright side, only Netero, and two innocent kids saw me.
I placed the card at the front of the holster that was barely beneath my skirt, as I pulled out the caster card, and placed it on the floor.
"Install."
In a flash of red light, and with the passing of the magic circle, I was now clad in the same royal robes as before, and the instant I opened my eyes, I also noticed incredibly powerful nen this man had purposely contained within his body. His eyes were wide and surprised though, he should be able to tell that my nodes are half open, but apparently was not expecting my very clothes to be nen, perhaps.
The boys were much more surprised, but I had my eyes only on the man in front of me, and the ball he held.
I used a magecraft that would come in handy for this battle, Reinforcement on my whole body, and with the help my all-seeing eyes, and my extreme skill and talent for magic and magecraft that came with the card, my body was reinforced to the limit, as I used another spell called Thought Acceleration perfectly despite never having used the spells before.
I took a short breath, then dashed.
I kept low to the ground so that I could make any move I wanted when I reached him. Being mid-air right now would only be bad. I got in front of him nearly as quickly as I would if I was assassin, and threw a right hook for his face.
He will lean his head back.
He leaned back with head, while holding the ball behind his back with his right hand. I had already by that point stepped forward, and launched myself into him with my elbow and forearm first.
He will spin counterclockwise around my attack.
He spun counterclockwise around my assault, and as I had only taken a single firm step, I was still ready to turn on the balls of my feet, and finish that right hook, which got him right in the face.
Evidently surprised, he let go of the ball, and I didn't waste no time reaching for it.
He will go with the momentum of my punch, and kick the ball to the roof.
Netero fell faster to the floor than my punch should have made him, and was about to kick the ball, when my right hand caught his leg, and my left– the ball.
Wait, I got the ball! I beat Isaac Netero! I BEAT ISAAC NETERO!
"I won!" I ...squaled… with delight! For most likely the first time since my reincarnation, I grinned with all the happiness a hard fought victory could bring, and stretched my arms high into the air as I let myself fall backwards to the floor
Hitting the floor did not hurt at all, considering my weak, but existing E rank endurance, and the Reinforcement spell. "I won.."
The old man had apparently gotten over the defeat, and held out his hand for me to grab.
"So you did, ojou-chan."
As I released the reinforcement spell and thought acceleration spell, my head slightly ached, and my body did too. I grabbed Netero's hand and let him pull me to my feet, before smirking at the old man.
"I wonder what would happen if people knew the chairman of the Hunter Association, and one of the strongest nen users in the world lost to a 14 year old," yeah, I decided to go with 14, as I have no clue just how old I am. In retrospect, I probably should have noticed that I haven't talked this much since I reincarnated, but it passed my mind, as the bragging rights got to my head.
The old man merely smirked, "Well, I've only been getting old over the years, must have been getting rusty," he said before stretching a bit to emphasise his point.
I accepted the old man's words as they were. I uninstalled my card, and installed my most familiar card, and felt comfortable in the barely loose enough sweatpants and skin tight shirt, while my hair once more got hidden by the cloak, that framed my skull mask.
"Now then, old man, I believe we have a Hunter License to create, and a nen to be initiated."
"Now, now, we still have two more player. What d'ya say, wanna go for another round?"
Both crossed their arms in an X each and shook their heads exaggeratedly at the same time.
"Well, you still had another 5 hours, but it's your loss!" the old man turned to me next, "Well then, might as well get this over with, ojou-chan!"
~oOo~
Haven't proofread or double checked this, so excuse any mistakes, but to be fair, I spent the entire night writing this, and now got school in a few hours. If I edit it, I edit it. But for real, this is my longest chapter yet, across any of my fics, and I am goddamn satisfied with it. I fucking covered my MCs entire Hunter Exam, and can now leave behind Canon!(Edit: I went through the spelling errors, at least major ones I noticed, and now, may or may not sleep.)
Here we got two epic fight scenes, of both a melee caster scene?, and two different assassin battles with the one and only, Isaac Netero. By the way, I don't want to see a single review talking about how it makes no sense that she beat Netero, or how Netero is the strongest Nen user and therefore shouldn't have lost, or some shit like that.
He wasn't allowed to directly attack her, and had to protect that volleyball the entire time.
Now on a more positive note, here we have our second card, Caster! I was having such a hard time deciding which card to fit into this spot, cause you reviewers gave really good suggestions. From Tamamo no Mae, to Medea, to Cu Chulainn. To be honest I was leaning towards Medea at the start, since Rule Breaker should be able to exorcise nen curses, which would be a really good tool to have. I really couldn't pick Tamamo though, since I don't understand her power at all. The wiki's explanation made no sense to me. Would probably pick her if I knew more about her, since nine tailed foxes characters just somehow appeal to me.
But like, the one I chose, I just felt would be so much more useful towards endgame of this fic. I don't know if anyone noticed it, but I dropped a hint about what I was planning to do in this fanfic in the last chapter.
Still won't tell you which caster it is, though, nor will I tell you her name yet ;3
I am having a hard time with lancer and berserker to be honest. I am kind of leaning towards Karna, but I don't really want him since I feel that he is kind of lacking something.
As for berserker, the Asterios suggestion really caught my attention, but I want to give it some more thought. And I want more suggestions.
Actually, just give me suggestions on all cards that I have yet to use, since they might change my mind!
Leave a review, cya next time!