An old man walked forward and instantly Ayano felt humbled. The man wore a traditional man's blue and white kimono, the soles of his feet clad with a pair of Geta, with only one tooth. His thinning white hair was pulled into a ponytail, framed by large droopy ears with three piercings and a beard. His eyebrow hair was astounding! It reached all the way down to his chin and floated around him gracefully. He reminded the fourteen year-old of an ageing dragon; wiser than the stars and more powerful than you could imagine!

"Who is that old geezer?"

"That's the Chairman of the Hunter's Association! He's behind the scenes for the Hunter's Exam!"

"Chairman Netero!"

Taking no notice of the idle gossip, Chairman Netero fixed Menchi with his aged gaze. "Ah, Menchi." His voice was weak and wobbly and he seemed to be a good-hearted man with a splash of seriousness. "Yes, sir." She said. Her posture was strict and she looked respectfully at him. "You failed all the applicants because you disapproved of their reluctance to try new things?" He asked.

Menchi shuffled slightly. "No," she stated. "I lost my cool when one of the applicants insulted Gourment Hunters, and I made the exam harder than necessary." Chairman Netero smiled at he. "In other words, you are aware that this Exam was unacceptable." He pressed.

"Yes." Menchi said softly. "When cooking is involved, I loose control. I'm unqualified to be an Examiner." Her confident aura that had diminished suddenly reared its head and she smiled. "I resign from my Examiner post, please redo the Second Phase!"

Chairman Netero hummed. "Alright. How about this." He lifted a finger. "If you wish to continue judging the Second Phase, you can. You must reconstruct a new test for the applicants, but only if you participate as well!" Menchi looked awed as he continued. "Is that alright? I'm sure the applicants will accept the results easier if you join in."

The fire was back in Menchi's green eyes and she grinned. "That's right!" She said. "Then the new task for the Second Phase will be...boiled eggs!" A secretive glint in her eyes made the applicants look at each other. What was this crazy woman planning now? "Chairman, could you please take us to mount. Split-in-half for this next Phase?" Menchi asked. The old man nodded and waved down at the blimp.

( time skip cause I can and this chapter is really long)

"Now everyone, look down there!"

Ayano was looking at (probably) the deepest crack in the known world. It was incredibly large and impossibly deep! She had read rumours about Mount. Split-in-half but never dreamed of seeing it in person! The air got caught in her lungs as she gazed into the darkness below. "W-what is that?" An applicant asked. She noticed what he was looking at and gasped. Was that-?

Menchi's secretive glint reappeared and she smiled. "A Spider Eagle's Web!" She announced. "Look below the web, what do you see?" Ayano looked beyond the long, white strands of rope and noticed soft lacy sacks dangling from underneath the webs. "Those are Spider Eagle's eggs!" Spider Eagles built their nests in deep ravines, to protect their eggs from predators. This makes their eggs one of the most difficult ingredients to obtain! The eggs are also known as Dream Eggs for their incomparable flavour.

"H-hold on." The big-boned man cried. Yes, he had tagged along too! "You don't mean we have to-" Menchi laughed loudly and cocked a grin.

"I sure do!" She sang. With a hop skip and a jump she careened right off the edge and deep into the crevice of Mount. Split-in-half. The applicants all panicked. What was she doing?!

With athletic flexibility that none of them could match, Menchi swung down the Spider Eagles web with ease. It was amazing! Ayano felt her mouth drop in astonishment as she hung on the first few strands of the web. But there was a problem; the egg sacks were deep deep down into the crevice; even if the woman did get a Spider Egg's egg, climbing back up would be impossible. She would die!

The woman hung for a moment, watching carefully. Then she released her line dropped like a stone towards one of the lower egg sacks! The applicants all covered their faces in fear as she grabbed an egg and disappeared into the misty depths below. "Where is she?" Leorio cried. "Is she trying to get herself killed?" Kurapika frowned deeply. "No. She's not..."

Ayano couldn't help but smile at their concerned expressions. She had read a lot about birds enough to know their favourite nesting spots. Didn't they know anything about the Coriolis Affect and how birds loved that stuff? Kurapika shot her a curious look. "What is so amusing?" He murmured. The girl grinned cheekily. "Watch." Was all she said.

Then a overwhelming gush of wind blasted from the crevice, tossing everyone backwards several feet! With it, the slim figure of Menchi appeared, clutching the egg with an exhilarating gleam in her eyes. Everyone gaped at the woman and Killua bounced on his heels. "That looks fun!" He said.

"This ravine has an updraft," Chairman Netero explained to the astonished applicants. "That help the hatched chicks fly up to the web!" Menchi landed beside him and chuckled. "There! Now I just need to boil the egg!" She said lightly, like jumping off a cliff was nothing at all. "You must be joking!" The big-boned man trembled. "Nobody in their right mind would jump down there!"

"Thank goodness for that, cause if I wasn't this would never happen!" Ayano stated. Without hesitation she hurled herself off the ravine's edge with a loud whoop of excitement! Gon gave a shout and soon the others followed, falling in thin air and aiming for the Spider Eagle's Web. As they all hung on the web, Leorio shot everyone a large grin. "So? Let's go down for the eggs!" He said. Gon shook his head. "Not yet."

"Eh? Why not?"

"There isn't always an updraft." Killua explained. Leorio made a noise between a grunt and a whine. "So when's the next one?" He grumbled.

"Wait."

Anyone who was in ear shot looked at Gon. Over the last fifty-hours, Ayano had noticed something. The applicants seemed to look to Gon for cues and hints! This had aggravated her deeply but now she felt a sense of pride for the young boy! Most grown ups wouldn't care to learn from young children.

The four of them watched Gon and his twitching nose. Slowly the cord in their hands started to break and other applicants around them panicked! "Gon..." Ayano muttered urgently. A few applicants released and fell to their deaths; the air current still hadn't arrived. The cord was inches from snapping and Leorio wriggled in fear. "It's going to snap!"

"Now, Gon?" Killua asked. Gon paused for a moment longer then his eyes flashed. "NOW!" He shouted.

Simultaneously the five released their webs, the other applicants not far behind! Ayano latched onto the nearest sack and ripped free an egg in passing before shooting downwards into the darkness. All of them disappeared into the murky fog below and silence reigned.

Then, like a hurricane, the air whirled them upwards into the sky! Everyone cheered in excitement as they were tossed like wingless birds in the air, clutching their eggs and grinned uncontrollably at the free sensation!

Half an hour later and everyone who had gone egg-diving stood happily munching on their milk white eggs, their cheeks bulging with the delicious treat! It was no wonder that they were called Dream Eggs; it was light and sweet, the creamy sensation sitting on your tongue and melting warmly in the mouth! The applicants who didn't go egg-diving stood dejected to the side, trying to ignore the sounds of delight as the applicants ate their fill.

Ayano watched with a mouth full of egg as Gon offered some of his to the big-boned man. "Todo-San? Would you like to try?" The man humbly took a small bite and his eyes filled with wonder. "This is amazing!" He whispered.

Menchi giggled and smiled at the ashamed Todo. "Now you understand the true wonders of cooking and how good something can taste." She gestured to herself and grinned. "Us measly Gourmet Hunter's risk our lives for such a joy!" Todo lowered his head sadly. "I was completely outclassed this year," he bowed to the woman respectfully. "I'll be back next year!" Menchi nodded in approval before walking off to Chairman Netero.

"Gon was very generous to give him his egg." Ayano said to Killua. Killua licked his lips thoughtfully and shrugged. "Well he did underestimate that Gourmet Hunter. I don't think he deserved to taste this!" With a hungry gleam in his eyes he devoured the rest of his egg like an animal, leaving Ayano to wonder.

"But we all underestimated her, didn't we?" She murmured to herself. "I even scoffed at the idea." Guilt made her lower the egg from her mouth as she glanced around for Menchi. The girl finally located her and walked over with her head lowered.

"Um..." The turquoise-haired woman turned to look down at Ayano as she shuffled on the spot. "I feel bad for underestimating you, Ms. Menchi." She said. "And I was wondering if you would except my a-apology? I should know by now not to judge others." Menchi laughed and tousled Ayano's dull purple locks.

"It's no problem!" The told her. "Just take this as a lesson; never underestimate someone by their title or what they look like, alright?" Ayano nodded sheepishly and Menchi walked off to go talk to other applicants.

With that off her chest, the fourteen year-old turned around and made her way back to the others, munching on the rest of her egg.

Yes. She would take that to heart. There were different types of Hunter's and not all of them involved upfront combat and fighting. But you still needed intense skill and power; something that she wanted more than anything else! A Gourmet Hunter would risk their lives for the joy of culinary delights, just as a Music Hunter would risk their lives for a music piece or for the highest level of musical talent there was!

Underestimation. There will always be more to people than meets the eye!