I climbed out of the disguised hatch that served as the entrance to Quixote Panza's cave. Exactly as Panza said, the snow had died down after two days. It was still really cold, so I grabbed the white furs that covered my body and adjusted them so that I could feel a little warmer and comfortable. Not much more I could do about being comfortable though. The fur itched badly and smelled like a wet ape.

But I didn't have much of a choice about my apparel. The only thing on me that remained of my old clothing was my underwear and the lower half of my long johns. The black parka pants were a no-no in this Winter Horrorland, so I left them behind.

Besides, these furs are the key to passing this test...

Before me stood the forest that nearly killed me. The white and black trees of the White Death stood in front of me, almost as if daring me to enter. Monochrome obelisks that stood vigil, waiting for someone foolish enough to enter their shadows so as to consume them. Silence my only company, and one I would need to become friends with to survive this place.

I heard Panza exit the hatch. I turned to meet him, though I kept looking around to make sure the apes weren't nearby. My ears straining to pick up any sounds at all. There were none right now, but I knew it wouldn't stay like that.

One near-death, a vision quest, and two days of being drilled on the finer points of danger had done more than I imagined. My guard was always up and I was as sharp as a blade: mind, body, and soul. Panza had put all my training together into something greater than the sum of their parts. All the components of Mayer's, Briannaisa's, Claudette's, Kalvin's, and Clyde's training that were rushed over in fifteen weeks had been put together like a giant, intricate puzzle.

And I had to say, it was wonderful to be that finished puzzle.

To be honest I hadn't expected much when I first started working with Panza. I didn't think he could do much for me.

I was completely wrong.

The old man was right. He did teach me some things.

Now it was time to use them.

"Good, good. Yer' payin' attention to yer' surroundings. It'll be easier in the light, just don't get cocky. "

I nodded and smiled at the old man. I dropped the bag of supplies in my right hand to the ground with controlled quietness. There was enough food, water, and medicine in it for three days. More than enough time to get me to Mayer's home. My left arm was in a sling, so I offered my other hand to the old man for a handshake. He smiled back and accepted it.

"Thanks, old man. You taught me more than I deserve."

"Tch. Damn straight I did!" the old hunter said without a hint of humbleness.

He let go of the handshake and pointed a dirty finger at me while squinting his eyes, "Now ya' got everything it takes to survive out there, remember that. Mayer thought ta' have ya' brute force the Hunter Exam, but ya' can't be a Hunter without thinking like a hunter. What're the three things?"

"Patience, cunning, and decisiveness," I said easily, the words drilled into my head like a screw over the course of two days.

There was a world of difference between beating an animal to death with a stick or your hands and hunting one. The later took observation, planning, critical thinking, and taking the opportunities that presented themselves without hesitation. It took smarts, and for a smartass like me that didn't use them, that just made me a dumbass.

Not anymore.

He chuckled as he looked away, his eyes focused on the trees around him, "Heh, that's right," the silence stretching between us as he studied the forest, before turning his ghostly white eyes back to me.

They were no longer the eyes of a madman. The Hermit of the White Death was at peace.

"A hunter needs three things: patience, cunning, and decisiveness. No matter if they got a license or not. Better off bein' a farmer if ya' ain't got those three things..." he said simply.

"A farmer has to have patience, right?" I said cheekily with a smirk.

Panza rolled his eyes and huffed, "Thank Christ you're out of my hair. Ya' think yer' familiar with someone and ya' can't stop yappin'."

"Aw, old man, I thought we had a bond! A thing of beauty between us!"

He started waving at me with his arms like I was a pesky animal, "Git, git! Ya' ain't nothin' but a headache! Good riddance ta' ya'!"

I laughed softly, but a pang of sadness hit me. He was rough and weird, but he had a charm all his own.

"I'll miss ya', old man. Not the smell, you smell horrible. Maybe yer rootin' tootin' accent. 'Ragfragin' rabbit!'" I said with the swing of my good arm.

"And I ain't gonna miss a fool like ya' at all," he said with feigned anger in his voice.

I waved goodbye to the old man who taught me so much. I picked up my bag, and turned around and prepared to go. I was ready for this. But before I could even take a step, Quixote Panza spoke.

"Thanks, fer' lettin' this old man live a little. Fer' one last time. An' tell Mayer thank ya' fer' me. He'll know what I'm talkin' 'bout. Also, tell him to let go of his anger. He's got two kids ta' take care of, an' apprentice ta' guide. Ain't no time to start thinkin' 'bout dyin'"

I scoffed, speaking as I continued to scan the horizon for threats, "I think Mayer is going to be fine, and I'm not his apprentice. But I'll tell him anyway..."

He grunted, "Hmph, guess that's all I can ask fer'. Ya' still got a lot to learn, kid. Don't ever stop learnin'. Goodbye," he said with absolute finality.

I rolled my eyes as I turned around, "I told you I'll come back when I become a Hun-"

There was no one behind me, the white, rocky hatch closed shut without even a noise. Without knowing where it was, you would never be able to find it with all the snow around it. I grunted.

The old man had pulled a Batman!

"Well then...now I know how Commissioner Gordon feels like..." It feels like talking to someone who walks away from your freaking conversation. Jerk.

I sighed and patted the ground with my foot. After a minute I found what I was looking for: a white rope. Practically invisible in the deep, white snow. I attached the leather bag in my hand onto a rope harness underneath my fur. After making sure the bag was secure, I grabbed the rope and followed it. Panza used these ropes to guide himself to his next bunker, and now I was using them. The next bunker was the one near my ass-beating, so I'll leave a present for my fellow Sahertans.

"Alright. I got one hundred kilometers. Light-work." I said quietly to myself as followed the rope through the snow. It was thin, only a bit thicker than a shoelace, but strong and flexible. The white rope slid through my hands as I continued forward through the snow. I started humming 500 Miles softly as I started my journey that was a tenth of that.

I had a test to pass.


It had been a day since the four Hunters had set off to capture James and things were already looking bad.

Briannaisa had taken the lead, being the oldest and most experienced. They were lucky that blizzard had begun to ebb by Thursday morning, but it was still snowing bad and the weather was horrific. Ice, snow, and wind had pounded their black parkas as they traveled, the clothing doing little to stop the intense cold that cut right through them. As much as she found James irritating, she didn't wish death on him. She couldn't see how the nascent Hunter candidate could have survived the snow.

The rest of the group believed the same thing, failing to understand how Mayer could send someone as novice as James into this weather. Clyde's bad feeling may have been right when they finally reached the White Death on their second day.

It was a massive forest, in both size and distance. A place where someone could enter and never find an exit, doomed to disappear in the brilliant white forest. Rows upon rows of colossal white and black trees that looked virtually identical to each other. More than once the four had felt as though they were traveling an infinite corridor of white. Never making progress, never moving. Always occupying the same stretch of land and passing the same, identical trees.

Multiple times the group had to regroup when they lost track of their position. The branches were dozens of feet higher than any ordinary tree, making it difficult for them to scale quietly. The only way would be to scale it with Nen or their strength and agility, and either one would make their presence known. But they knew better than to make a sound in this wretched place. So they continued forward, marking trees while moving forward for any signs of James.

What they found in the blizzard made their stomachs drop.

It was the scene of a slaughter. A small clearing that was filled with frozen blood and the bodies of white apes. The snow from the blizzard was doing it's best to make them vanish from the forest, but even it couldn't hide this. The trees around the clearing were scarred with large tears and holes from battle. Many of the apes laid next to the damaged trees in contorted poses of pain. Mouths open in death, as though screaming as silently as the forest itself.

Claudette spoke first, concern in her voice, "What happened here? Do you think..."

Briannaisa looked at the area with hard eyes as she gave orders, "Clyde, see if you can find anything more about what happened here. Kalvin, see if there is any sign or tracks of James. Claudette, there's a smaller tree over there. Get to a higher position; you're on lookout. I don't want us to get caught with our pants down." She snapped out quiet, but forcefully to the other Hunters.

Kalvin rolled his eyes at the young woman, "I do not think James could have done this. He does not strike me as the kind of person to do this," he kicked a dead ape's body, one that was with a crushed head.

Briannaisa stared evenly at Kalvin, "I gave you an order. Follow it."

Kalvin locked eyes with Briannaisa. He did his best to overpower her with only a look. She stared at him impassively, not backing down or being intimidated in the slightest. The staredown lasted a few tense seconds before the boy ultimately relented.

"Fine!" the teen whispered loudly as he raised his hands up over his head in defeat and walked away. Briannaisa gritted her teeth at Kalvin's whispered shout. Kalvin was young and immature, but couldn't he see the situation they were in? This wasn't the time or place to act petulant. She sighed and looked at the other two.

Clyde simply nodded his head, perpetual smile dimmed a little over Kalvin's attitude. Claudette gave a cheery thumbs-up, though her smile did not reach her eyes, before quietly bounding off towards the tree to take her position.

Briannaisa took the initiative to investigate the trees. They had holes, cuts, and pieces missing from them. In an almost twenty meter around the center of the battle. And the battle seemed to have been centered around the corpse of the monkey with a missing head. Too much time had passed and too much snow had fallen. It had hidden any information that could give them a clue as to how the fight started, but she could see how it ended.

The trees along the periphery of the battle were scorched black with the obvious use of fire. The sheer size of the trees and the amount of snowfall stopping the trees from completely catching on fire. This couldn't have been James, could it? He did know that Elder Weiss were highly flammable, Mayer taught him that. Even simple friction, when used correctly, could ignite these trees.

Briannaisa tapped her lips as she thought, staring at the trees with intense concentration. With lightning speed, she rubbed her black glove against the tree, a small fire coming to life. She quickly patted the flame down and stared at the other trees. It was the same rubbing pattern on all the burned trees. It didn't make sense.

James simply didn't have the experience or skill to light the trees on fire. He had the speed and strength, but lacked the initiative or creativity to use them like this. And in a situation like this, surrounded by enemies, he would never have stood his ground and fought. He never showed that kind of spine, toughness yes, but not the spine. He would always do his best to survive with anyone he sparred or in survival training, but never to stand toe-to-toe and win. The man's first instinct was to avoid instead of attack.

It didn't make sense. James would have ran.

But the fire, the corpses, the damage all over the place. It was a madhouse of a fight. If James had fought here alone, he would have died.

The brunette Hunter did not know what to think.

After investigating the area thoroughly, the four of them met back at the ape with a crushed head to present their findings. They tried not to look at the smashed skull and brains that had been frozen and partially covered by snow.

Clyde began first, "There are four large ape corpses, all of them standing more than two meters tall and several smaller ones about a meter and half. From what I could find, it was multiple attackers against a single opponent. The apes had surrounded this person, and from my guess, ambushed him or her. "

Kalvin followed next, "The snow has done its best to hide the path of any tracks. But, I managed to find a trail of frozen blood on the trees. Whoever fought here survived, though heavily injured. I found something, but I shall tell you all after Briannaisa speaks."

Claudette was last, "No signs of apes so far but, even though the blizzard has died down, the snowfall is reducing my visibility. So it's best to be careful. I did find a clue on the tree I was on. Someone climbed it with their bare hands. Not only that, but they started clawing into it with their raw strength. The holes were too deep to be fingernails..."

The four grimaced at their tacit understanding of what transpired. Their brunette leader expressed what they were all thinking into words, turning their shared assumption into grim reality.

"From what I can gather, it had to be James. He must have climbed the tree to get a better vantage point. While learning how to use his strength he got full of himself and alerted the apes. They had time to ambush him, but he managed to fight them off...for a time," she pointed to the blackened trees that surrounded the battlefield, "he managed to figure out how to light the trees on fire to scare the rest of the apes. It feels like... it looks like he was helped somehow, yet..."

She hesitated but continued, almost not believing her own words, "...all evidence pointed to it being James: there are only friction marks, no glass or anything else that points to ignition by something like a torch. And the scorch marks are facing towards the battle. If someone came to help, there would be signs of them entering from the outside," pointing to the forest.

Kalvin's smile seemed fragile as he stared at the woman with intensity, "If he did manage to fend off the beast by himself, he was gravely injured in the process. The blood was no small amount; it was caked on the trees. James was barely on his feet."

Clyde stared at his brother with worry. While his younger brother was more emotional than he was, it was not always in outbursts of anger. And right now Clyde could tell his brother was deeply upset and concerned about James. So while Kalvin may have put James through hell, he still cared in his own strange way.

Clyde sighed and turned to look at the group as a whole, "I believe my brother is correct. The injuries on the corpses were almost entirely on the left side of their bodies. This leads me to believe James was favoring his right arm. I am certain that James had injured his arm during the battle and was fighting one-handed for most of it. Claudette's information cleared up a mystery for me, as it seems he learned how to apply his tree-climbing ability in battle. Many of the apes have holes in their bodies, as though skewered from sheer brute force," he said with a small measure of pride before it was replaced by cold reality.

He pulled a piece of ripped, black cloth from his jacket pocket and presented it to the group, "To fight one-armed against these creatures...he is no doubt suffering from severe lacerations. And no ape that I know of is known for their hygiene. If we do not find him before blood loss takes him, the infection will."

Kalvin smiled widened slightly, but the worry in his eyes remained, "Then it is a good thing I have found something! Come!"

Hope sprang eternal as the group followed Kalvin to the clue. What they found was not what they expected.

It was a rocky-looking, white, metal hatch sticking out of the forest floor. If it wasn't open, it would blend in perfectly into the snow that practically enveloped it.

Briannaisa and Claudette felt uneasy. Something was off. But before either of them could voice their concerns, Kalvin sprinted towards the hatch.

"Wait!" Clyde said as he reached his out to stop his brother, but it was too late.

"We have no time to spare, brother!" Said Kalvin as he reached the hatch and jumped down it without hesitation.

The other three reached it shortly after Kalvin. They stared down the shaft, only seeing darkness.

Claudette was the first to notice something wrapped around the bottom of the hatch, near its hinges. It was white, almost imperceptible in the snow. It led down the shaft...

Her eyes widened as she realized what it was: a rope trap.

She reached out quickly, shifting her aura to the tip of her long nails and applied Ko to coat them. Her nails became as sharp as knives, cutting through her glove like paper. The other two followed her gaze and movement, reacting with shock at what they saw. Both of them dived towards the hatch, ready to catch it from closing.

They were too late. The sound of 'klak' was all that came from the tunnel as Kalvin landed on the trigger mechanism at the bottom. A simple branch. The teen's weight pulling the rope and dragging the hatch down with a crashing thump and a loud 'click'. It echoed through the forest.

The three of them were immediately on alert. Clyde began pushing on the hatch, the disguised entrance not budging in the slightest. Briannaisa gestured to Claudette to keep a lookout while she helped the teen with opening the hatch.

Clyde's muscles strained as he used his fingers to try and pull on the lid, the snow and the surprisingly smooth metal making it difficult to find any grip with his gloves. Briannaisa pushed up at an angle, trying to use leverage to open it. But normal strength seemed useless in opening the hatch.

The two stopped and looked at the hatch with frustration. There seemed to be no obvious mechanism to open the hatch, and they had only minutes to find it before any apes revealed their position. Not that it mattered much, the three were sure that their presence was revealed to James the moment hatch closed like an angry man slamming a door in the middle of the night. Whoever built this knew what the hell they were doing. And James seemed to know far more about it then they did.

"We could open this, but we'd tear it apart in the process. If this stupid thing closing didn't alert James and every ape in area awake, us destroying it will." Briannaisa said as she eyed the hatch, doing her best to melt it with eyesight alone.

Clyde agreed, but was far more worried about another more likely outcome, "Yes. There must be a way to open this, a mechanism or device. We must find it. And quickly, as I fear Kalvin may decide to-"

Thump

The duo looked at each other, frozen like statues. A blank, dead smile on Clyde, while Briannaisa's face was wide-eyed with bewilderment and horror. Kalvin couldn't be this stu-

Thump. Screech.

The metal hatch began to give as the younger Domo Twin decided that he would not wait for escape. Clyde and Briannaisa ran around the hatch in a blind panic, not knowing what to do. Any option they had would alert the apes throughout the forest.

They hung their heads in despair, as with one last enormous explosion of force the metal hatch went sailing into the sky. The sound was like that of a large cannon going off, the high-pitch screeching of metal sounding like the triumphant cry of a wild, mechanical bird. Even though the muting snow the commotion could be heard for dozens and dozens of kilometers, if not hundreds.

Kalvin's head popped out of the hole with satisfaction, "Do not fear! I am safe and aliv-," a hand covered his face, slowly and forcefully pushing him back down the hatch, "Brother! What are you doing?! Ahh!"

Clyde smiled at his younger brother with death in his eyes, veins appearing on his face, "Who are you? No brother of mine would do something so stupid. You must be some sort of goblin or troll, so please enter your home and never leave!"

Briannaisa was far less subtle as she stomped Kalvin down the hole with a flourish, "GO DIE!"

A small, fading yell was heard as the blonde teen fell into the abyss.

Claudette came back, worry in her voice, "Everyone! They're a lot of them comin-"

The two of them stared at the blonde woman with barely restrained fury, Claudette could have sworn she saw smoke rising from the top of their heads. She tapped her fingers and looked sheepishly, "Ehe...I guess you guys know."

Briannaisa mimicked James' favorite reaction to frustration by rubbing her face, "Rrrrgggh. Fine! Let's teach these monkeys who's the superior species."

Red eyes began to peer through the white snowfall. First a handful. Then dozens. Then countless. Lastly were enormous, red eyes that were far too big for regular apes, but not high enough to be in the branches...

Clyde rubbed his blonde hair and sighed, "You are in charge here, Briannaisa. Are we allowed to use Nen? I know my father wished for us to restrain ourselves against James, but these things are not James."

Briannaisa returned his sigh with one of her own, "Yeah, Mayer won't mind..."

She spread her hands apart as if presenting something. Puddles of water began to form all around the group. Countless pools of water appeared as though a rainstorm had just finished, somehow the puddles stayed on top of the snow without melting it. The pools of water were tiny things, no bigger than manhole covers. Dark blue with no reflection, they were easy to spot against the snow.

Clyde lazily began moving his hands in a circular motion as three juggler balls began to form manifest themselves in his hands. His smile grew bold as he began juggling faster and faster with finesse and ease.

Claudette sighed sadly. She frowned, before all emotion on her face ceased to exist. The blonde's shining face now masked by a placid, emotionless look. Her left hand reached into one of the puddles and pulled out a weapon as though the water was deeper than it actually was.

It was an exaggerated thing, more of a long handle with a sharp piece of metal at the end of it.

The weapon was a polearm, but nothing any sane human would actually wield. It was taller than her by two feet, but more than half of it was pure blade. The sharp end used to seemingly kill elephants was as wide as a man's torso. The handle resembled the barrel of a rifle: textured enough to be wielded without slipping, but the pommel of it was far wider than the rest of the grip. There were several holes at the bottom of the handle that revealed the weapon to be hollow.

Briannaisa sighed as she looked at her sister with sadness. She hated it when Claudette had to use her offensive Nen ability.

A sound like an explosion, akin to a missile being fired, erupted from behind the trio. Kalvin slammed down in front of them with the force of a small meteor, crouched in a squat. All the snow around him was sent flying, some of it towards the rest of the group. Claudette blocked the snow with her weapon while the other two shielded themselves with their arms.

"Seriously Kalvin?" said Briannaisa as she brushed snow off her parka. She was growing more and more annoyed by Kalvin with each minute.

"Do not worry! To make up for my disgrace, I shall be the vanguard of this assault!" he then rocketed forward, faster than even the three of them could see. The ground itself held together by sole virtue of being frozen soil, but the snow path he left behind was parted away like the Red Sea.

Briannaisa hung her head and sighed. 'Whatever,' she thought. Kalvin was strong enough, he would be fine. She turned her head towards his older brother and gave him a scornful look.

"Ya' know, this is your fault, right?"

Clyde widened his eyes in surprise, pointing a finger to himself while continuing to juggle the balls with one hand without issue, "Me?! I am at no such fault here!"

"You enable him! With all the weird 'twin' crap you guys do! You're the older brother, you should put your foot down. Instead, you go along with whatever he wishes!" whe snarled. She wasn't really angry at Clyde, just at the situation they were in. She knew it was wrong, but it felt good to take it out on someone.

Clyde looked away, a playfully smug smile spread across his face. He shrugged as he continued to juggle without effort, "You make it sound as if I am years older than my brother. We are only a minute apart, meine Freundin. You believe me to be something I am not."

"What'd ya' you call me?!" she couldn't speak the strange language that was the Twins' birth tongue, but Briannaisa knew he said something from his country of Doits.

Clyde laughed. He enjoyed bothering Briannaisa as well, but in his own ways. The brothers were twins after all. They weren't that unalike, and word schadenfreude did originate from their country.

The teen continued to smile as he caught a juggler ball with ease and dexterity using his right hand, while he continued to juggle the other two balls with his left. He wound back, kicking his leg up and turning his body like a baseball player readying for a pitch. But his arm became more flexible than any humans had any right to be, bending backward across his back. Far beyond the limits of human shoulder anatomy.

With tremendous torque his body twisted forward, his torso and arm became a blur as his throw sounded like the cracking of a massive whip. The ball tore through the air with the speed and power of a howitzer as it tore a clean hole through several apes without any issue. The ball hurtled through the air before hitting one of the massive trees with a tremendous boom. Spinning against the bark, the ball bit into the tree before bouncing off: but not before taking an enormous chunk from the Weiss Elder tree with it. It looked like the tree was hit with a cannon.

Clyde watched as the ball flew into the blizzard, never to be seen again. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. He wanted the ball to bounce back so he could catch it. He guessed a hundred meters was still too great a distance for even him to hope to ricochet one of his juggler balls off of.

Briannaisa clenched her teeth as she stared at Clyde with rage, "Just alert the entire forest why don't you! It's not like we don't have other things to do!"

And with that, the battle began in earnest. The sound of hundreds of apes charging towards the four rang out through the trees and snowfall. The sound of fighting echoed for hundreds of kilometers...


I smiled like a lunatic at the commotion a few dozen miles away. It sounded as if something like a dozen bombs were going. As I listened, I was huddled against a white tree, crouched down and becoming one with the snow and nature. The fur on my body made me practically invisible, even to the apes that lived here. The snow stuck to my body without any problem, making me blend in so much easier. No wonder Belban apes didn't need to evolve great sight to hunt. Just lure in their prey into an ambush with their voice while practically invisible or through sheer brute force.

Those two factors were helping me with the situation I was facing right now.

That situation happened to be the forest had just erupted with life. The sound of screeching apes cut through the muffling of the snowfall. The screams and roars of apes going bananas (hehe) was a thing of beauty. As much as I was getting a kick out of the stress the apes were going through, I couldn't get cocky. The treetops were flowing with countless apes swinging towards the battle with the four Hunters. None of them noticed me as I looked like a pile of snow against a white tree.

What froze my blood with fear were the larger apes that bounded at the ground level. And I do mean larger. Even the one that punched my lights out was tiny compared to the hulking things I saw. Dozens of lumbering, drooling apes twice as tall as me and shoulders wider than a car was long. Watching those colossal things made my blood stop.

But the creature that made me feel bad for setting traps for my four trainers was their leader. The one that took Panza's obsession. The new King of the Mountain. It made all the other apes seem tiny by comparison. The larger apes on the ground level only reached up to, what I assumed was, its belly button. It was taller than a giraffe, and from my low position, it looked like a furry cyclops come to life: on the right side of its face was a single enormous red-eye the size of my head. The other eye was gouged out by Panza many years ago.

It walked across the forest in slow motion, its oversized body making it look slower than it actually was. It had enormous, pillar-like legs and feet so big I now knew where the little old lady who lived in a shoe bought her home from. The beast swept its orangutan arms in front of it as it walked, casually smacking away the twelve-foot tall apes in front of it like a child playing with action figures. The giant accidentally stepped on a smaller (note: my sized) ape with indifference. I genuinely think it didn't even know it stepped on something.

I held my breath as it walked past me at only a few meters away. At its size, it might as well have been right up to my nose. Panza said the one thing that does improve overtime for these creatures was their sense of smell. So I hoped to god it couldn't smell my English blood through all this smelly ape fur.

It paused its movement and sniffed the air, just as I had finished having that thought about giants and English blood. Again, proving once and for all, jinxes in all their horribleness were a real thing.

I made myself as small and as inconspicuous as possible. I didn't dare to move as it slowly turned in my direction and used its good eye to stare at me. All the time in the universe froze as we stared at each other. I hope to god I looked liked like a pile of snow.

It then turned around and continued on its way.

My body reflexively gasped for air. I hadn't even realized that I was holding my breath for minutes instead of seconds. I thought hours had passed, that's how focused I was. I stared at the ground, breathing in and out as I willed myself into calming down. I gathered my wits.

I looked up to find all the apes were gone. I wiped the sweat on my forehead as I continued my slow, but steady progress in the direction of Mayer Mountain. A mad grin on my face as adrenaline and dopamine surged through my body. My first thought wasn't about how lucky I was to survive: it was how lucky I was that the four of them made that much noise.

I had set several traps on my merry way through this hell hole. Two hatch traps and four rope traps that activated either by pulling on something or tripping something. The traps would alert any nearby apes when triggered, and maybe catch or hurt the four Hunters. What I didn't expect was the Battle of Normandy, dear lord. If I had to guess, both the twins got cocky or something, though I don't blame them if they got caught in the tunnels.

The hatches were clever things. Once they closed, you had to press on two hidden buttons that looked like rocks on either side of the metal entrance. Those were the latches the held the thing closed. It took Panza years to set up all his little bunkers around the forest, usually during the winter since the apes were asleep. They were designed so that no ape could open them, only the person who knew about the secret buttons could get in.

If someone got caught in one of those traps, I don't blame them. Finding the buttons would have taken time. And with those two twins and a brunette that angered easy, I was gambling that someone was going to fuck up eventually. It was only supposed to delay them, but by the sound of the battle, it worked too well. It was obvious someone got impatient and used brute force to escape.

I couldn't help but quietly laugh like Muttley the dog. To think that the few simple traps that Mayer showed me could be so effective. While it was Mayer who showed me how to make them, it was Panza who opened my eyes to how to maximize each trap.

And maximize them I did.

I didn't need to hurt them, the apes would do it for me. All I needed to do was stall them enough for me to skedaddle my way back home. But now the entire forest would be on their ass.

I felt a little bad that the traps took advantage of their concern for me. From what little I knew about the four of them: the Twins were assholes, and Briannaisa wanted to get under my skin, but they cared; I think. Unfortunately, I couldn't hold back. While the first hatch trap I set didn't need any setup, all the others did. I used monkey blood or a trail of false clues to lure them in, and I knew that at least one of them would be too worried to think things through.

I felt especially bad about how I was taking advantage of Claudette. She seemed the most kind-hearted of the group. She looked like she didn't have a cruel bone in her body. From what I've seen of her she'd probably hesitate to hurt the apes. She hesitated to hurt me all the times we fought in survival training.

Cruel? Yes. I did feel guilty, but I knew they would be fine. From what I knew of the four of them, if the average apes were weaker than I was, the three of them minus Clauds would rip right through them...

Actually, I am lacking a lot of information on them. The four of them could be way different when serious. I mean, they're Hunters after all, technically peers to Mayer. On top of that, they still have their magic powers bullshit...

Ok. I guesstimated that the final battle between the five of us will really begin at the edge of Mayer Mountain Forest (the name sucks, I know).

They had the skill, the strength, and the experience...

But I have a head start and desperation on my side. They'd be tired from all the apes, the snow, and the travel. And unless they stopped to eat monkey meat, they'll be forced to go without food. That was important since I had a feeling they were like me, having to forage and hunt for food. Putting myself in Mayer's shoes, he wouldn't give them food since I didn't get food. I was sure of it.

Lastly, the most important thing I had on my side was one thing they would least expect.

I was no longer the same person they knew.


For eight hours the four of them fought ape, after ape, after ape... It seemed endless. A never-ending blood bath, the kind of which only the sisters had dealt with before. As much as the Twins believed themselves to be hardened Hunters, they were still new to all this.

Clyde had completed the Hunter Exam two years ago while Kalvin only a year ago. They were no Blacklist Hunters like their father. They were Show Hunters! They hunted for the greatest acts in the world so as to revive their old circus!

One day the Death-Defying Domos would soar under the revived Domo Family Circus!

It was their dream. A dream with very little bloodshed.

But this, this was different. They had fought, yes, but this...this was something else. From Clyde's calculations, he had killed close to two hundred apes and they showed no sign of stopping.

This was because of the Beri Beri apes that decided to join the party.

The black apes were different than the Belban apes, but no less a threat. The Beri Beri ape traded a strange combination of cunning and unlimited growth for coordination and consistency. Where the Belban apes had size and power on the extreme end, the Beri Beri apes had sheer numbers and overall higher intelligence.

If Clyde had to guess, the black apes ranged from a hundred and eighty centimeters (5'9) to two hundred and fifteen centimeters (7 feet). While not as strong or as tall as the Elder Apes, they were drowning the battlefield with bodies. It reminded Clyde of a swarm of ants taking down a scorpion or a tarantula.

Unfortunately, he was in the middle of it.

His Juggler's Delight relied on the ability to juggle the balls he manifested. Clyde was a natural Emitter, and the balls were masterfully shaped spheres of Aura. The more times he successfully juggled or caught a ball, the more powerful his throw would be. He was still mastering the technique, but it was still very potent.

But not in this situation. He didn't have the time or the space to juggle as the monochrome attackers threw themselves at him with reckless abandon. The apes alone were not a threat to him or any of the four, but even a Leopard would die to two armies worth of chimpanzees. Especially when said apes were smarter or stronger than mere gorillas.

He smashed two ape skulls together of two different colors and sizes, after which he turned around to yell at Briannasia. She was drowning apes in her tiny puddles with her bare hands, "We need to escape. We have already taken up far too much time battling these wretched things. We will not be able to catch up to James if we continue for any longer."

Briannaisa snarled as she shoved a black ape's head into her pool of water, followed by shoving the rest of it in and closing the puddle. A large, white ape managed to catch her while her guard was down and smack her into a tree. She barely even felt it through her Ten, but that was the problem. Even if it was an occasional hit or two out of hundreds, they were adding up.

The four of them would kill dozens, only for double the amount to take its place. In a battle of attrition, the apes would win handily. The apes were unskilled, yet the humans had aura and stamina to contend with, as well as keeping themselves alive in a four versus two populations worth of primates. They weren't almost physically invincible like Mayer was, death by a thousand cuts or via exhaustion was a very real likelihood.

The Belban apes, meanwhile, seemed to have lost all sense of self-preservation when they saw the opposite color. Primal instincts exerting control as the threat of a rival who could take over their territory propelled them. Both sides didn't care if only one ape survived, as long as that ape was on their side.

As the four of them fought, it slowly dawned on the Hunters that the Belban apes did not like the color black. On the other hand, the Beri Beri apes had better eyesight than the Belban apes, and on average, were aware they humans weren't 'Elder' apes. They just seemed to hate everything.

Briannaisa realized this and hated Mayer for setting the five of them up.

"I'm gonna' kill your dad when we get back home!" she roared back at Clyde as she got up.

She moved her fingers as though molding invisible clay. In an instant, the puddles moved across the snow and collected under the large, white ape that hit her.

It then immediately fell into the large pool of water.

The ape desperately fought to keep its head above water, thrashing and trying to hold on to whatever ground it could dig its fingers into. The opening of the pool of water began to close quicker and quicker, closing around the ape's flailing upper body. As though being pulled in by an invisible force, its body slowly sank into the water before all that was left was a hand that desperately grabbed air. Even that disappeared as the pool of water towed the beast into its depths before vanishing completely.

Briannaisa snarled and turned to Clyde, "You're right, but as long as we have these black clothing on the Belban apes will keep following us."

Clyde used a small white ape to beat a larger, black ape to death with disgust, "Be that as it may, we do not have much of a choice. Something is wrong with these apes," the twin dismissively kicked an ape away who thought it could leap on the teen, before continuing, "they should be asleep. Instead, we have two species of apes to contend with."

Briannaisa kicked an ape in the chest, caving it in and sending it flying towards a group of apes fighting each other. They scattered like bowling pins, "I noticed, but if we leave now we'll drag the apes to James. He'll spot us coming from dozens of kilometers away. If he's too stupid to notice, we'll be bringing these things to kill him."

Even though the scope of the test was now far beyond what they anticipated, they still wanted to challenge James. But not if meant killing him in the process. They were in a pickle, and that pickle was slowly starting to rot and become a stinking problem.

Briannaisa struggled to understand if James was clever or stupidly lucky. If they tried to use all their Nen to power through the apes, they would be too exhausted to find James. To speak nothing of stopping him now that he seemed to know what he was doing. The brunette Hunter knew there would be more traps and obstacles in there way, though ones less effective than this one. She hoped.

Now that she thought about it...she didn't know what else James was now seemingly capable of and that was the problem. Even exhausted, they would wipe the floor with the old James they knew. But now there were too many unanswered questions.

He should be dealing with as many apes as they were, being in black parkas and injured. How did he deal with the apes that ambushed him in the first place? How did he figure out how to use fire to scare them off (she had tried using fire in this battle, but neither side cared once they became frenzied)? There was no food in this forest except for the apes, and that would involve revealing himself with fire, so how is he sustaining himself? How willing was James to win; would it be to the point of trying to kill the four of them?

This was common during military operations: the fog of war. The lack of intel, as well as the uncertainty of the capabilities of the enemy, tended to paralyze leaders during battle. While Briannaisa was no greenhorn, this was a situation that was as FUBAR as humanly possible. The doubt gnawed on her and made her hesitant to make a move.

That was until the King of the Mountain came crashing into battle.

He tore through everything without any care of who he was attacking. His fellow Belban apes, the hated Beri Beri apes, or the strange intruders that dared to step in its forest. It fought with the full advantage of its size, using arms, legs, and even its body to crush anything in its way. At one point it thrashed its entire body around like a child having a tantrum, smearing apes like they were nothing more than small insects.

Briannaisa's eyes lit up as even the white apes hesitated for a moment upon their leader showing up. The black apes, on the other hand, charged at the King of the Mountain without any hesitation whatsoever. But it was like throwing a bucket of peas at a brick wall. Entire swathes of apes, no matter the color, were crushed by the house-sized ape.

"There! That's our distraction!" Briannasia yelled at Clyde as black apes ran past them to strike down the King, only to die.

The brunette used two fingers to whistle loudly, cutting through the sound of battle with ease. A second later Claudette came crashing to Earth, completely covered in blood. Briannaisa looked away from her sister, not wanting to see what she was reduced to. Even the blonde's face was red with blood. But out of all of them, she was the one least touched by the battle. Nary a cut or scuff on her black (now crimson brown) parka.

"Orders?" The blonde said as emotionlessly as a robot.

Her sister clenched her teeth and swallowed at her little sister's reaction, always upset that she had to go through this when activating .50 Caliburn: Puppet Valkyrie. She pushed through and gave Claudette her orders, "I need you to wound the big white one over there. Just shoot out one of its knees and one of its elbows. That should be enough."

Clyde ran up to the two as a parade of monochrome apes flew past him, ignoring the humans in favor of either assisting or trying to defeat the enormous King of the Mountain. He looked at the two, eyes hovering on Claudette the longest, before speaking, "Let us take our leave! They are sufficiently distracted by that monster!"

Briannasia shook her head, "That thing is going to kill all these apes or force the Beri Beri to retreat. Once it does, it'll come after us."

Clyde looked at her confused, "It is too large and slow to follow us! We are wasting time! We still need to find Kalvin!"

Kalvin had turned himself into a human cannonball with his Nen ability and had disappeared into battle. Knowing the teen, he would somehow get himself in a bigger mess than before.

The brunette Hunter shook her head, not giving ground. She pointed to the giant white ape, "Does that thing look slow to you?"

Clyde turned to see the King of the Mountain leap over fifty meters in a blink of an eye. It collided into a massive Elder Weiss trees and, to the Domo's horror, crashed right through the titanic tree without issue. The King of the Mountain thrashed itself back to its feet, ignoring the skyscraper tall tree that crashed to the ground. It only cared about the creatures in front of it, scooping up several apes of various colors into its hand and eating them like a hungry child eating a hand full of hotdogs.

The eldest Domo twin looked on in fear at the creature. It would be trouble for even an experienced Hunter. To say nothing of four Hunters who have specializations that have nothing to do with hunting or fighting powerful Magical Beasts. Specifically, a magical beast that saw building-sized trees as mere inconveniences.

Clyde swiftly reassessed the situation and nodded at Briannaisa's plan, his smile was one of muted horror. Considering his Juggler ball only left craters in the trees, not complete destruction like that monster, he rather not fight it.

He turned to see Claudette's weapon shift and mold itself into a unique rifle. In fact, he knew it didn't exist anywhere on the planet, a creation solely of Claudette's mind. It looked like a massive sniper cannon with two blades on either side of the muzzle.

She laid the gun down on the ground, two tripods springing out from underneath the gun barrel. The blonde pointed the gun at the ape and waited.

Clyde looked at Claudette. After a minute of nothing happening, he stared up at Briannaisa who sighed.

Claudette had long since become a skilled enough sniper to not need her older sister to be her spotter, but her Nen restriction required someone to order her. And so Briannaisa pointed in the direction of the ape, one hand on her hip, "Fire!"

Two massive gouts of flames erupted from the barrel of the gun in rapid succession. The sound was louder than Clyde had remembered, instantly making him plug his ears after the first shot and still hearing it clearly after the second. To Clyde, it sounded louder than his brother's foolish destruction of the hatch.

Both shots hit their mark.

Only to fail to penetrate the thick fur, skin, and muscle of the creature. The rounds had more power than an anti-material rifle, yet neither this universe nor the ape cared about the petty rules of ballistics or logic. All the rounds did was knock the creature to the ground, only for him to get up a second later as angry as before; completely unphased by the bullets.

What the rounds did do was make him angry, as well as gain his attention.

It rounded at the three of them, roared, and charged at the trio at unbelievable speed.

Clyde squirmed in his spot as he turned to Briannaisa in fear, "That did nothing!"

Clyde knew they could defeat it, but it would be long and protracted. He had never faced a creature this powerful. A creature that the Hunter Association was originally designed for: Dragons, Krakens, Giant-sized Apes; beasts that fairy tales were written about.

He felt completely out of his depth.

Briannaisa was one step ahead, her eyes held steel as she stared at the rampaging beast quickly racing towards them, "Again Claudette, this time use the blades! Fire!"

Claudette nodded. The two blades on either side of the rifle muzzle began to vibrate before the left blade flew forward, as though launched via telekinesis. The second did the same, quickly trembling before propelling itself towards the ape.

The oversized blades hit their marks. The first one cut through the ape's flesh without a problem, slicing through his right knee and nearly severing it off its body. The second blade stabbed through the ape's left elbow, tearing a hole through it. Clyde jumped in the air in triumph.

Briannaisa couldn't help but grin as the King of the Mountain fell face-first into the ground. The beast roared in pain and quickly tried to get up, but found that troublesome, finding out it no longer had the function of both an arm and leg.

Then all hell broke loose.

Every ape in the area, regardless of color, began swarming the King of the Mountain without mercy. It did it's best to defend itself against the traitorous Belban apes who sought to overthrow it, as well as the Beri Beri who would not waste this opportunity to kill their enemies' greatest weapon. It found itself fighting a losing battle.

Briannaisa turned to Clyde and yelled, "This is our chance. Let's get out of here."

She turned to her sister who was prone on the ground, staring through her scope like a statue. Briannaisa spoke softly, sadly, "Come on 'Det, we have to go. Put away your weapon."

Claudette's weapon evaporated as she stood up to face her sister. She stared back at Briannaisa without any recognition or emotion. The blank look of a dead soul.

Briannaisa's mouth twisted as she hugged her sister, "It's ok. Your next order is to go to Mayer's home until your Nen ability wears off, ok? I love you, stay safe," she finished, barely stopping her tears.

Claudette nodded lifelessly before disappearing at inhuman speed. It was as if the wind itself had grabbed her and teleported her away.

Clyde looked at Briannaisa with pity. She was rubbed her right arm as she looked down at the floor, "I am sorry she has to go through that..."

The brunette Hunter rubbed her eyes and looked back at Clyde. Clyde did not comment on it, knowing better.

"We have to go. Where's your bro-," her words were cut short by the sound something crashing into the ground only a few meters away.

The two didn't even look, knowing who it was.

"Brother! You should have seen me! No ape could face the power of Kalvin Domo!" the younger Domo said without a shred of humility.

"Well, that answers my question. Let's go. We got a student to pay back..." Briannaisa said with a wide, vicious smile before running in the direction of Mayer's home.

The Twins followed and began to laugh, and they followed close behind. Faster than any normal human could ever hope to achieve, the three of them bounded through the forest like the hounds of hell...


Author Notes:

Hey all, hope you're doing well!

You guys get two chapters this week. Because I'm a masochist. For those in the future, chapters 8 and 9 came out on 2/23/2020.

Doits is basically Hunter X Hunter Germany. If you're wondering where that comes from, it comes from Doitsu, literally the Japanese word for Germany. 'Cus we have to follow Togashi's lazy style hehe.

Until next time dear readers!