Okay, hiatus over let's get back to cranking these out regularly if at all possible. I've knocked down those who pass this exam to a lucky 12, and I'll let you try to figure out who they are. Meanwhile I have much more to work on so I'll be off!
Chapter 7- Caged Beast
With everyone but Ruby's team through their first objective, Ruby and her team struggle against the Pro Hunter Hisoka, a well renown fighter and killer. With Weiss injured and Ruby shaken, Knives stands down Hisoka alone, waiting for his teammates to recover and fearing his own fate at the hands of this madman. With over 100 candidates out of the fight, the real struggle begins soon. And so the true darkness of Blood Gulch Prison will soon show itself.
Knives rushed the man immediately drawing his blade and kicking off with his right foot to enter an arcing strike which Hisoka ducked under and tried to strike Knives from. The younger man planted his off-hand on Hisoka's arm and redirected his trajectory tossing himself up to the ceiling and then pushing off as he tried to strike the man. Hisoka jumped away, and lashed out with his finger again. Knives rolled away, but as Hisoka flicked his wrist in Knives' direction and the stone flew at Knives' offhand. Rather than dodge, he took the hit, keeping his eyes trained on Hisoka who grinned, "Interesting, you sensed the attack coming but chose to take it to keep your eyes on me. You must be a glutton for punishment."
"Wouldn't you like to find out." Knives said, doing a poor job of masking his pain. He quickly sheathed his blade and gripped his arm tight and gave it a quick jolt as he relocated it and flinched, gritting his teeth. He tested his range of motion before removing his hoodie and grabbing his blade and making an incision in his arm to drain excess blood and regulate his blood flow. "Much better." He finished deciding to leave his hoodie on the floor. "Ready for round 2?"
The older man rushed in as Knives ran to greet him, quickly sliding when Hisoka slashed wide with his cards. Knives quickly planted his foot and kicked off the ground, going to knee Hisoka in the face and then shifting his weight to kick the magician in the head instead. Hisoka caught the kick and as Knives shifted his other leg into a kick, Hisoka caught it as well. Knives swung his sword and Hisoka released him to block the blade with his "magic" and as Knives' sword cut through the air it slowed down. Ruby saw it as he fought, she couldn't see the nature of it, but the air around Hisoka seemed to shimmer and the area around Knives' blade shimmered the most. She ran in with her scythe and swung, and Knives jumped away as his blade remained stuck in Hisoka's magic. Hisoka blocked her attack and repulsed her with Knives' blade before throwing it into the wall where it lay there stuck. Knives rushed to his blade and tugged on it with all his might, but it wouldn't budge, because Ruby could see it shimmering. "Son of a bitch!" Knives exclaimed as he let go and turned to face Hisoka, "You really put some force in that throw of yours."
"Well there's no fun if it's that easy." Hisoka replied.
"He's lying." Ruby said, "He used his aura to hold it in."
"She's right." Weiss said as she rose, applying extra pressure to the bandage on her neck. "I can't see or sense his aura like you or Ruby, but from what I've seen his aura has two tricks. He can change it to be elastic and adhesive, like bubble gum, or he can use it to coat an object and change it's appearance; like you did with the handkerchief." Weiss finished standing and leveling her rapier.
He stopped and clapped, pointing at the sword and yanking it from the wall from the middle of the room and it floated gently to his hand. "Bravo, bravo! The latest chairman wanted to make sure all the candidates this year were as bright and as strong as could be. She wanted to test their abilities to the limit and ensure that they were truly capable. So I thought it'd be fun to come here and test a few people and see if they could understand what it truly takes to be a Hunter. And you all could figure out Nen, but soon you will truly understand it. Make sure to grow big and strong so one day I can fight you." He said as he licked his lips and stepped aside so they could pass. Knives grabbed his hoodie and backpack, and took his sword from Hisoka as they all walked through the door and into the tunnel before them.
"Well he was creepy." Knives' said getting a bandage from his bag and wrapping his arm while he ate another burger. "I need a drink." He said as he pulled a flask out of his hoodie pocket and took a deep drink. "Much better."
"We barely stood a chance against him." Ruby said, "Is that what being a Hunter means?"
Weiss remained quiet the rest of the time as they walked towards their next challenge, not knowing if she was cut out for this kind of work.
Blue 4- Team Jaune
Jaune scrambled to get behind the barricade as the machinegun opened fire on his team, Pyrrha joined him behind the barricade and Nora and Ren were on the barricade across from them. Pyrrha peeked over briefly before throwing her shield as it arced and knocked the machinegun away from their position as Ren rushed in and disabled it as the shield flew back to her hands. More turrets popped out and in a flurry they were sliced to pieces by Ren, Nora jumped out from behind the barricade with Jaune and Pyrrha as they looked down the corridor. "What kind of a prison is this!?" Jaune screamed in frustration as he looked on at the endless black void before them.
"One designed to keep anyone from leaving." Pyrrha said as she scanned the darkness while Nora and Ren advanced with caution. Jaune and Pyrrha stood side by side at the front with swords and shields in hand as Nora and Ren brought up the rear.
"So this Nen business, what is it exactly?" Jaune asked as they walked along.
"It's an extension of your soul, and a manifestation of your power. Once you can see it, you're close to unlocking it yourself. Most people spend years in seclusion meditating to unlock the secrets of Nen, but there are a few different ways to unlock one's Nen and there are also rare cases of people being able to use it from birth." She explained as if remembering something, "But there are those like Ren and Nora who unlocked it through their experiences, a sort of evolution in order to survive."
"Nen is individual to each person based on their personalities and their own alignments and interests." Ren spoke up as his expression softened looking at Nora, "Nora's very simpleminded, so her power fortifies her body and increases the force of her blows exponentially."
"I call it a Smash!" She beamed, "Then the fortify thing is Valkyrie Armor, based off my super-hero Slothgirl!" She said revealing a poorly drawn version of herself in armor with a mask and cape with a large S on her chest, "And the last of my powers is Shock, which allows me to spread the impact area of my blows through a person's body dealing damage to a broad area instead of Smash where I focus on a single point." She explained.
"Mine is called Twin Snakes, it allows me to clamp on to things from far away, or to quickly lash out with the tails and cut things around me to ribbons. It's very effective." Ren stated.
"A lot of the people gathered here this year seem capable of using Nen or perceiving it," Pyrrha explained, "I'm guessing that the Chairman wants Hunters to learn fast what it takes to survive in light of recent events of the past with the Yorknew Auction and the happening in East Gorteau it seems Nen is a necessity for survival as a Hunter."
"Well then, why don't you teach me?" Jaune asked.
"It's not within my capacity to do so," She stated, "It takes time to unlock one's power and then to hone it to a fine point. In order to do so we'll need time, which is something we do not truly have." She finished as he began to sulk, "But if we survive this ordeal I will take the time to teach you how to use your Nen, and we will work together to make you stronger than you thought possible."
"It's a promise then." Jaune said with a smile as he saw a light at the end of the tunnel. "Let's go! We're almost to the end."
Green 2- Team Pyron
"God these guys are persistent." Pyron said as he flipped over another Hunter prospective. He and Newt had stumbled into a challenge room where the objective was to defeat your opponent within the given time limit. Currently it was three on two, with Newt and Pyron fighting Carlos, Sky, and Russel. Pyron blocked the attack from Sky's halberd as Russel rushed in with his daggers only for his face to meet the business end of Newt's mallet. He flew back into Carlos who simply kicked the green haired boy into the dirt.
"Who's side are you on?" Russel screamed before Carlos kicked his head into the ground with a sickening thud.
"My own." Carlos replied as he rushed at Newt and they collided weapons with a great deal of force as they stood on equal footing. Their weapons were a flurry as they swung again and again trying to knock each other back with the force of their weapon, the sledgehammer proving formidable against the axe. "Man you're tough lady!" He screamed with joy.
"And you're flat out annoying!" She said as she tried to beat him back, "But this'll be over soon."
"And why do you say that?" He replied as Pyron appeared behind him.
"Hi, there." He spoke as he swung towards the other boy who ducked under the blow only to be hit in the back by Newt's sledgehammer.
"Shit!" He cried as he flew up in the air and landed on the ground with a thud as Pyron and Newt pointed their weapons at him.
"Um, I surrender?" He said with a weak smile as the door opened and they walked through to the other side where they saw those who had passed assembled.
"Well that was relatively easy." Pyron stated looking around the room to see the numbers had greatly dwindled. "I guess not everyone thought so though."
"There's about 70 people in this room." Newt said taking stock of everyone, "Oh there's Yang!" She said as they bounded over to Yang, Caradin, and Luxus. "How were your challenges?"
"They were super easy, Caradin's been through all this before so he said there was no trouble in doing it again." Yang replied, "We breezed through this with mostly combat segments, but it sounds like a lot of people actually died on their way through." She said with concern.
"I don't think your sister was among them." Caradin said, "She's got a good bunch with her on the Cross Power Scale."
"Oh yeah and how does that work?" Pyron asked sarcastically.
"I take your power based on physical strength, mental fortitude, endurance, combat experience, and other factors and assign you a number between 1-500." Caradin explained. "Knives is easily 82, Ruby is about 76, and Weiss probably hits about 65. So there's no real problem."
"What about us?" Yang asked.
"Well I'm about a 102, you're definitely an 89, Luxus is a 62, that girl over there is probably a 85, and the boy with her is a 79."
"What, how am I weaker!?" Pyron declared.
"Because I'm your big sister, so shut up." Newt replied.
"More importantly, if you're a 102 that means you're not really all that strong. What's you impression of the others we've seen?" Luxus asked.
"White Rabbit and Taurus are 365 each, Nora and Ren land at about 220 and 243, and Pyrrha Nikos is a steady 235." He added.
"Well then who would be a 500?" Yang asked in disbelief.
"I've only given it to five people as of yet, all of which I haven't seen but only heard about. So I can't say I would know for certain but if the former Chairman ranked them as one of the strongest they're in my 500 category." Caradin replied. "All that's left is to wait for the others to finish up."
With another round of elimination over, Ruby's gang finds themselves on the verge of passing to the next segment. With the realization that this exam is meant to reveal the truths about themselves, Jaune and his team press towards the finish line as more questions swirl in Jaune's mind than answers. The remaining number of candidates is 123.