Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio had already gone ahead to the map at the other harbor. I had to run a little to catch up to them. "Hey, why did you three go on without me?" I asked them after I reached them. "You seemed like you needed some privacy." Kurapika replied. "Exactly, who did you call anyway?" Leorio followed up. "My mom asked me to call her once we reached the Dolle harbor. By the way, you can have my phone to call your aunt if you want to, Gon." I answered them. "I don't want to; I'm going to contact her after I've become a hunter." Gon said with a determined look. "Alright then, what's the next step to get to Zaban city?" I asked them. "The captain told me that we should go to the big cedar tree on the mountain." Gon answered my question. "Alright then, let's go." I said and started going in the direction of the tree.
"Wait! There is a bus here that drives directly to Zaban city, and if we go to the tree, we will be walking in the exact opposite direction." Leorio exclaimed. "You two can take the bus; me and Gon will go up the mountain, right Gon?" I replied to Leorio. "Yeah, let's go; we will see at the Hunter exam." Gon said and followed after me. "I'm coming with you." Kurapika said and followed as well. "Then I'm going to take the bus alone. We probably won't see each other again; bye." Leorio said and stomped away angrily.
It only took a few minutes until Leorio came after saying it would be too lonely to take the bus on his own. After another few minutes we reached an abandoned town. "Why is nobody here? This is really creepy." Leorio said as we made our way through the town. "That's not true, we are being watched." Gon said to him. "Watched? From where?" Leorio asked but before any of us could answer, drums started playing and the door of one of the houses opened. Out came a few masked men, draga cart. On the cart sat an old woman, around the woman were more masked people holding various instruments.
"The Mind-Boggling 'Two-Choice' Quiz" The old woman exclaimed, and at the same time, the masked people began playing their instruments in a weird jingle. "I will ask the four of you a single question. If you answer the question correctly, I will let you pass." The woman explained as we stared at her in shock. "Are you ready?" The old woman asked. "One moment, please. If you only ask all of us one question, how can I be sure that this guy won't give the wrong answer?" Leorio cried, while pointing at Kurapika. "It's way more plausible that you will give the wrong answer." Kurapika replied calmly.
"That's enough from you. I will ask you now. Your mother and your lover have been kidnapped. You can only save one of them. Which one do you choose?" The old woman asked us. "What kind of question is that supposed to be!" Leorio yelled out. "If you four aren't going to answer, I can do it for you." A shady man who has been following us said as he came out from his hiding spot. "Who the hell are you!" Leorio yelled and pointed his finger at the man. "This guy has been following us since we started walking here. He probably overheard what the captain told Gon and can you stop yelling all the time? You are way too loud." I said to Leorio, who only looked at me dumbfounded.
"If the old lady allows it, we don't have a problem with you going first." Kurapika replied with a questioning look to the old woman. "I will allow it." The old woman said, and repeated the question this time, directed at the man.
"I would choose to save my mother. You can always find another lover, but your mother is irreplaceable." The man answered. "You may pass." The woman said and opened up the path for him. "It's simple, you just have to give the answer that the old hag wants to hear." The man said and walked away.
"Now back to you. Your son and your daughter have been kidnapped and you can only save one of them. Who do you choose?" The old lady asked. "That is not a question you can just give a quick answer to!" Leorio cried out. "Stop! You have one minute to answer the question from now. If you talk to each other in that time you will all be disqualified." The old woman yelled right before Kurapika could say something.
As the minute passed, Leorio grabbed a stick and began swinging it through the air. Kurapika watched as he did so with a worried expression.
The minute finally passed without any of us answering, and Leorio ran at the old lady, trying to hit her. Kurapika blocked him at the last moment and explained to him that we had already passed the test. Leorio apologized to the woman, and she told us a shortcut to the tree.
Gon was still thinking about the right answer to the question before we tried to move on, and it took him a second to come after us.
It was already night when we finally reached the top of the mountain, and Leorio began complaining about how much time this shortcut had taken.
Suddenly, Gon told us all to be quiet because he could smell something up ahead. He ran off in the direction, and we followed after him. We stopped when we came across a woman being choked by a yellow fox-like creature standing on two legs. At its feet lay a man with a bloody wound.
"That's a Kiriko. It can change forms to anything it wants." Kurapika explained to us. The Kiriko took the woman and ran away. Me and Gon ran straight after it. Kurapika followed us after yelling something to Leorio. "We should be careful. There could be more than one Kiriko around.!" I yelled to the others who quietly nodded.
Gon soon caught up to the creature and hit it in the face, causing it to drop the woman. I managed to catch her in the air and landed safely on the ground. Kurapika landed next to me, and I gave the woman to him. "Take care of her, I will follow Gon." I said and was off. He yelled something after me, but I couldn't understand him. I concentrated and used En, my range was only about ten meters, but I hoped it was enough.
I ran for a bit but wasn't able to find Gon, but I did manage to make out the other Kiriko. Which in turn meant that Gon and the one he was pursuing couldn't be far. I decided to quietly follow it until it would lead me to Gon.
After a few minutes of following Kiriko, I heard the one Gon followed yell and I went in the direction of the voice. When I arrived, the two Kiriko were laughing at Gon, who had a very confused look on his face.
"Is everything alright, Gon?" I asked as I came out from behind a tree and made them all jump in surprise. "Jojo, since when are you here?" Gon asked me. "I just arrived. I followed one of the Kirikos around until I heard someone yell and then I came here."
"You followed me this whole time?" One of the Kirikos said while pointing at itself.
After the two Kirikos explained to us that they were testing us this whole time, we met up with the others near a house further back in the forest.
What I'm most worried about is Hisoka. Without using nen, my physical capabilities are around the level of Kurapika. I would lose to him even if I were to use Nen to buff myself physically. Star Platinum evens out the playing field, but using my The World ability against Hisoka is too risky. He would probably figure out what is happening, and he is too important for the story. Illumi is strong too, but he is far easier to avoid.
"Jojo, you were able to track one of us down and followed them without being spotted, showing how great your tracking and stealth skills are. Therefore, you passed." The father, Kiriko, told me.
The Kirikos grew wings on their backs and explained that they were actually guides who were supposed to bring candidates who passed the test to the Hunter exam site in Zaban city.
We let them take us, and we were on our way. I had a lot of time to think. Twelve years were a long time. I was still able to remember most of the important things that happened in the series, but I wasn't able to remember everything that will happen during the Hunter exam. I do remember what the tests were, but I don't remember how the group passed them. Same thing for the later parts of the story.
What I'm most worried about is Hisoka. Without using nen, my physical capabilities are around the level of Kurapika. I would lose to him even if I were to use nen to buff myself physically. Star Platinum evens out the playing field, but using my The World ability against Hisoka is too risky. He would probably figure out what is happening, and he is too important for the story. Illumi is strong too, but he is far easier to avoid.
I was lost in thought as time passed, and when the first rays of the morning sun came out from the horizon, we finally reached Zaban city.
I've just realized that I never gave an update on Jojo's current strengths and abilities. So I will just do it now.
Her overall aura is about the same as Gon and Killua after they left Greed Island. While she has the same amount of talent as them, she never had a master, so she wasn't able to grow as fast.
She also knows most of the other applications of nen like En, In, Gyo, Shu, Ko, and Ken.
Star Platinum would physically overwhelm most members of the Phantom Troupe, with the exception of Uvogin.
She can use the world for 6 seconds and three times per hour without it becoming dangerous.