Chapter 3

Stranger or Acquaintance?

"Cooking?!" The applicants uttered out in shock.

Most of the applicants complained but after Menchi ,the pink hair woman, yelled at them and said that if they just leave. Immediately, they all fell silent.

"Okay Buhara what is your order?" Menchi questioned

"For me it will be... Pork roast! That's what I like the best!" Buhara stated.

Slowly salivating at his own thoughts as he explained that it could be found in the Biska forest which was located behind the applicants.

The round started when Menchi hit the gong. Everyone rushed out to find the pigs. Gon slid down the small slop and the others followed. Once they landed on the lower level, they caught sight of a herd of gigantic pigs.

"Great Stampers... Uh oh..." Nozomi muttered and noticed the questioning gazes of the others. "They're the fiercest type of pigs on Earth and those who can't run away fast enough get eaten by them."

"They're... Carnivores?!" Leorio exclaimed

Once Leorio shouted the pigs finally noticed of the group and snorted. The five immediately ran the other direction as the herd of pigs ran after them. The other applicants took notice of the pigs as well and started to run as well.

The five split apart so that only one or two pigs would follow them. Unfortunately for Nozomi, she ended up cornered by single pig. Memories of when her master found her filled her head.

Calm down Nozomi this pig is not like the men you stole the apple from.

She pulled out an ebony dagger and a crimson dagger from her thighs and held it up protectively before her.

Flashback

"What are these for Master?" Nozomi asked as she admired the two daggers in her hands.

"These are a present for you. With these I will teach you how to fight." He answered. "Since I cannot take your ability away."

"More like curse." Nozomi muttered under her breath.

Her master ignored her and continued, "I will train you so you can join my organization and fight along side with me as my daughter."

Nozomi's eyes lit up to the word "daughter" and a small smile played upon her lips.

"Okay Master!"

"Nozomi! Their weak spot is the head!" Gon shouted, while beside him Killua was ready to jump in.

The girl snapped out of her daze and quickly slammed the heel drop of the dagger on the pig's forehead. She gazed down at the daggers in her hands and frowned.

Daughter huh... like that will ever happen.

Little did she know, the two boys were closely examining her facial expression the whole time.

When the three twelve year olds arrived with their prey, many of the other applicants had presented their food to Buhara, who had eaten every single one of them. After eating about seventy Great Stampers, Menchi announced that the first phase was over and only seventy people passed.

"Now the second phase. My order is sushi!" Menchi announced.

Murmurs of confusion swarmed the crowd.

Menchi smirked at the murmurs and brought the applicants into the building. Inside there were hundreds of kitchen counters with a variety of knives and a container of cooked rice prepared for all the applicants. She explained that sushi was a small islands traditional meal and the equipment provided was a hint of how to make the meal. With that, she left the applicants to figure out what to do.

Sushi... I think I remember a little bit about it, but we're suppose to use salt water-

"Fish?! Where can we find that in the middle of a forest?!" Leorio yelled out and Kurapika immediately scolded him.

In a flash, all of the applicants ran to the rivers and lakes.

By the time Nozomi started to prepare her dish, many of the applicants had already presented their food to the female gourmet hunter. However, everyone who had presented their dish had been rejected. She began to chew on her lip and focused on descaling the fish. Meanwhile, Kurapika observed with interest.

"What's up?" She asked as she finished removing the scales.

"Nothing, but... What are you doing?"

The girl blinked in confusion when she noticed Gon and Killua slowly approaching her counter. A giggle escaped her lips before she made her dish, explaining every step. Just as she finished, applicant number 294 who claims that he is a ninja yelled at Menchi, explaining how the food was made.

After his outburst he realized his mistake and slapped his hand over his mouth, but it was already too late. All of the applicants rushed back to their counters. Meanwhile, Nozomi took the chance while the woman was scolding the applicant to line up behind the bald man.

"That's what you get for making me angry! I'm even hungrier now!" The woman finished as the applicant walked off in shame. "Next!"

All of the applicants were now surrounding the woman, shoving their dish into her face while arguing about who is next. Menchi ate a few dishes before she announced that she was full.

"Second phase of the second trial is now over! Everyone failed!"

The girl stared at the gourmet hunter, gritting her teeth, along with her friends. While the other applicants protested. Applicant number 255 who was extremely angered by Menchi tried to hit her, but he was sent flying by Buhara.

"Buhara... I don't recall asking for your help." Menchi muttered

"Maybe. But if I didn't, you'd have killed him, wouldn't you?" Buhara answered

Admiration filled Nozomi's eyes when she spotted the knives that Menchi was holding. The woman walked to the front, where number 255 lay, while she explained that even all types of hunters needed to have fighting skills.

"That's one explanation! But does it justify such severity?" a voice blared from above.

Everyone gazed up to see an enormous airship with the hunter's confederation sign. Soon enough, an old man jumped down from the ship and started to walk towards Menchi.

"Netero-san, president of the commity. The man responsible for the trials." Menchi stated, her form stiffened.

Netero... Why does that name sound so familiar? The twelve year old thought as her eyes followed the chairman.

"I'm only an executor and I'm here to solve this kind of problem."

Netero specified to the younger hunter about her mistakes and told her to learn from her mistakes. He then told her to pick an easier menu and as compensation, she would have to take the test as well. With a thankful smile, Menchi decided her new dish and asked the chairman to bring everyone to the top of a mountain what was split in half.

"This is where we will get the tarantula-eagle eggs." Menchi stated, pointing down the edge of the cliff.

The applicants stared at her in disbelief. Menchi, on the other hand, dove down from the cliff as she explained what to do. She then climbed up with a spotted egg in her hands.

"Ah cool!" Killua exclaimed

"Yeah! I was expecting something more like that!" Gon added.

Nozomi turned to the two boys with a competitive gleam in her eyes, "Race you guys. Whoever gets back up here wins."

The two boys smirked and ran jumped of the edge, followed by Nozomi, Kurapika and Leorio. Soon after, more applicants jumped off the edge as well. Some were not able to grab the lines in time and fell into the river. While the others were able to execute Menchi's instructions successfully.

The second round had ended and the forty three applicants that remained happily entered the airship. As Nozomi stepped into the ship after the two boys she snuck a peek chairman once more, feeling a dull pain in the back of her head.

Netero-san... Who are you?

That's it for this chapter. Sorry that it is going pretty slow, but I promise later on it will be a lot more interesting.

Please review and thanks for reading.