Raphael introduces the two to enemy mechanics

Raphael burst into laughter, with both Killua and Gon frowning from their predicament. He couldn't help but smile at his successful prank. Someone is going to be mad once they realise they got done dirty. They should've listened to him…and ignored the monthly event, but Gon desperately wanted to try one of the main contests to see what it was like.

Although Gon had lost to Killua, since he told him how he won every game of rock-paper-scissors, he enjoyed the contest. What he hadn't enjoyed… was being robbed blind. Raphael laughing about the situation wasn't making him feel any better.

Considering what they knew, it didn't make the situation feel any better.

The Sword of Truth in Killua's Book was a Fake, a game mechanic the boy wanted to teach them so they could look out for any trades that may result in them being scammed.

Whoever got that card wasted their time and resources trying to steal it.

After losing the Fake card, Gon got hangry. After being forced to have a bite to eat, Raphael suggested the pasta eating contest, which winners could net a Galgaida from. They were worth the same amount as the other card, but the reason he suggested the idea was because it would give them a bit of experience in basic timed events.

Although ultimately, they treated the spaghetti the same as the steak, shovelling it down their gullet as fast as possible.

The two relaxed against their chair, satiated from their temporary hanger, and were no longer mad. Raphael had taught them a valuable lesson. Always be prepared to protect your cards… something they couldn't do right now.

"So now do you understand the ruthlessness of the game?"

"Yes…" Gon's mood soured, "Nickes told us it was bad, but I wanted to at least try it… to play the game."

"Hey, don't feel bad. You got to play the game and they got to steal your Sword of Truth. I call this a win-win."

"But they stole a Fake…"

"It's exactly as the game intended. Think about it this way now you only have 99 cards to go."

"Yeah…" The boy looked over to the other, peering at his ring "But you're forced to hold onto it."

"I don't mind. Once we get you decked out with spell cards, I'll return it to you. If you lose it after that point, it's kind of your fault… I'm not going to sugarcoat it." The boy stopped in front of a shop, "We're here. Welcome to one of the many trade shops on Greed Island." Heading inside, he handed the boys his two cards, gesturing for them to exchange them for Jenny.

The three Galgaida and Kanga Matta Roo cards were worth a total of 180,000 Jenny, something he wanted both Gon and Killua to share between them. He wasn't going to accept any Jenny at the start since he was already decked out. As they play, he'll make more than that from other junk cards he could sell off.

"We'll head to a different shop for the map, follow me."

"~"

The pair's eyes fell onto every glass cabinet noting the onslaught of everyday items, all the way to furniture being sold as cards. Having a glance at the many cards, Killua was the first to spot the map "Huh, there's really two…"

Raphael tapped the right one, "Get the blank map so I can show you how Trace works. I've got a couple on me… I tend to get unlucky in that respect. Plus, I already have a detailed map so it's kind of worthless."

The boy then gestured to the price tag of the detailed map, "Also, it's way out of your budget range."

Having made their purchase, Killua called the map "Gain." A single red dot indicated their location "Wow… this doesn't tell us anything."

Raphael pointed at the map "This is where we're going, to Masadora." A single point lit up on the map, Raphael having produced the information for them, "And here is your Trace, use it on Gon."

"Trace on, Gon."

A second point lit up, slightly off from the red dot, "So if you lose Gon for whatever reason, you can find him. The only way for him to remove it is to leave the game, and then come back. But it shouldn't matter at this point because it's not going to be a problem for him. There's a village we should avoid along the way since I've already done the quest, but we'll be heading about 80 kilometres north past the wasteland and a large lake."

The boy then gestured to a large area on the empty map, "This is the wasteland where we'll be doing a bit of farming. Hunting down bandits and monsters, and whatnot."

"Bandits?!" Killua got excited alongside his friend "Monsters?!" The boy turned to his friend, their giddiness bouncing off one another "Now it sounds more like an RPG!"

"I wanna see these monsters!" The boy turned to their guide "Show us these monsters! Hurry!"

"Slow down…" Raphael found himself smiling from their giddiness, happy to see them getting excited over a tiny detail. That's what they were looking for. The fantasy… the excitement of having to deal with monsters outside of reality.

"Well, yeah…" His smile widened further "You're going to need a lot of Jenny if you're going to get your Book armed to the teeth. And that means, we're going to need to collect a lot of cards of these unusual creatures who will be worth a lot of Jenny. Some may not be worth as much as the Kanga or Galgaida, but we should still collect and sell them off regardless."

The boy ushered the boys towards the edge of town "Let's get started. We should be able to farm the wastelands for a bit, and still reach Masadora by the end of the day."

"Please wait!"

The boy froze, oh no… His head snapped in the direction of the voice, finding the girl from earlier when Nickes was making his pitch. He was relieved that it wasn't a player coming after him while he was trying to show the boys around.

She was jogging, almost prancing towards them. The young girl looked stressed about something that happened to her.

He had no idea what it was, but surely Nickes and his team wouldn't have screwed her over somehow after not taking the deal… or at worst, they're using her to steal his cards. Something about her presence told him he should have his guard up "What happened?"

"Please let me join you!"

"Huh?!" Killua reacted out of annoyance. He doesn't want some frilly weak girl trying to get in the way of their fun, their excitement "Why? We're going to fight monsters… not help an obvious nuisance traverse to the next town over. Find some other dude to help you cross the wastelands to Masadora. Let's go!"

"Wait a second…" As Killua turned to pout at Raphael, the boy leaned in to whisper something "Let's not piss the young girl off, hmm."

Raphael turned back to the girl, "Apologies about my friend here. But I promised to help guide them through the game. But if you're happy to wait, I'd gladly take you to the next town."

"Please, I don't want to be left alone…"

Raphael's eyes narrowed slightly, "Then why didn't you want to accept Nickes' help? He'd gladly look after you."

"But… around all those men, and little ol' me… I dread to think of what they'd do to me."

"Sorry…" Killua dismissed her worries, "But still not our problem. If you're scared of a couple of players like them, you shouldn't have joined the game in the first place." Grabbing Raphael's and Gon's shoulders he guided them towards the edge of town "Let's leave her to her own devices."

"We should help her though…" Gon felt pity for her.

"And if she's working with Nickes to steal Raphael's cards, yeah, nah… I rather not trust her."

"Thanks for thinking about me."

"Well, I'm thinking of the cards we won't get to see if someone pinches them."

Raphael frowns, "I feel so appreciated."

"Come on…" Killua whined, "Just show us these monsters already."

"Alright, alright…" As Raphael chuckled, he allowed himself to be pushed out of town.

Seeing the boys leaving, the young lady pleaded for them to let her stay with her "Please, I promise not to get in your way…"

"~"

The trio moved through the forest; Raphael was barely able to detect the girl in his peripheral vision. Even though she was running so daintily, she was keeping up with them without breaking a sweat. Something felt off about that player.

"She's keeping up with us…" Gon looked over his shoulder, still worried about her.

Killua frowned as he glanced in their direction "She's annoying. When are we going to run into bandits? Can't we get rid of her that way?"

"I highly doubt it." Raphael turned his attention back to what was ahead of him, "The bandits would be too weak against her. The fact she's keeping up with us, tells me she isn't normal…" He turned to face the girl once more, "And I think she's hiding more."

Killua looked over to the girl still prancing through the forest, "I think she's strong, just not that strong. Once she's crowded by bandits, she'll lose track of us."

The boy faced Killua's direction, offering him a smirk "I think I know a way to lose her, just try to keep up with me because we'll lose her in the worm tunnels."

"I think we're being too mean to her…" Gon objected to Raphael's plan, not wanting to put a girl in any harm. "Couldn't we just lead her to Masadora and leave her there? It's the right thing to do…"

"Baka!" Killua found himself arguing with his friend once more. They don't know her true objective. Who's to say she won't have another excuse once they reach Masadora, another reason to keep following them to the ends of the Island, like a leech that refuses to let go, "The fact she's in this game means Tsezgerra recognises her."

"He did also recognise the red-shirt dude that died within the first hour of the game…" Raphael offered the counterpoint because even though the man is knowledgeable and strong, he isn't infallible. Everyone makes mistakes.

Killua snorted at the idea, but it was true "I think his name was Jeet…"

"Noted…"

Even though Tsezgerra recognised Jeet's prowess, the man was the first to die. So, like him, maybe she'll also be mediocre. She just happened to meet the minimum bar to get into the game "She's still a problem. We shouldn't have her following us around…"

"The worm tunnels aren't that dangerous… unless you run into one without knowing how to navigate out of said tunnels. But Killua is right, if she's strong enough to get in the game, she's strong enough to play it. Jeet may have just been caught off guard which would be what caused his early demise."

He shifted his attention back to the girl "We'll get rid of her in the worm tunnels. They're not strong, but they're a pain in the ass if you don't know how to beat them, especially if you're a solo player like me. It requires teamwork to beat one. Speaking of teamwork…" Raphael shifted his posture, moving towards the western part of the forest. He wants to avoid the Bandit village, "Try to keep up with me."

"~"

He led the group through a landing, right to the end of a cliff, one of the many overlooking the wastelands. Taking note of rocky formations, Raphael tried to mentally gauge where on the island they were on the map.

He could technically pull out his map, but it doesn't exactly indicate which direction they were facing. Plus, it wasn't exactly good to have your nose buried in a map when you could be attacked in the wilds at any given moment.

He believed they were most likely further to the southwest part of the wasteland, which means… if he goes north, then slightly east, they'll reach the worm tunnels. But given their spot, that means they're closer to where the Cyclops spawn as well "You guys' ready cause once we go down there, we're most likely going to be attacked by everything and anything."

Gon's expression widened, excited about the idea of being attacked "By what?!"

"Cyclopes. Their weakness is their obvious point…" He turned to the boy, rivalling his smile "Aim for their eyes."

Killua and Gon looked at each other excitedly, rushing down the hills before he could say go. He crossed his arms, smiling as he saw them slide down into a group of monsters, several already charging the boys. Drawing his weapon, he moved down the hill to join them, watching as Killua and Gon successfully landed each attack, always aiming for their eyes.

They were a lot stronger than he anticipated, and he was happy to have the assistance rather than doing this alone.

"~"

A few of the cyclopes lay on the ground, more than Raphael had hoped. He counted about six, which means they're down six viable cards to sell. But the wastelands were massive, which means there were other cards they could sell.

Killua sighed "They're way weaker than I thought."

"That's because they're a direct hit instant kill monster. There are several in this area which makes it a viable farming spot. I've figured out most of them which means fewer boring things for you to guess. But…"

He gestured to the bodies lying on the floor "We missed a few. Always remember, they revert from the card back into their original form after a minute while outside of a book, so try to pick them up as soon as they transform."

"Sure…"

"Yes!"

Raphael smiled at the answers given "What I've obtained, I'll keep on me. Anything you do, you can share it amongst yourselves so it's fair. I'll take it as my cut for assisting you."

"Well, that's not going to be fair when you know all their weaknesses."

"You're right…" Raphael thought about Killua's issue for a moment, "Unless I deem it's an issue to take on yourself, or it's an ultra-rare monster, I'll take them out. If they're not an issue, I'll tell you how to beat them."

"That's fair…" Gon agreed with Raphael's terms, "If it's rare, he should be able to get the first bid on it. And if we can't beat it, he should defeat it."

Killua hummed over the rules, coming to terms with the deal. If it's a pain in the ass to beat, Raphael should deal with it.

Raphael heard a loud crash, "Speaking of which…" A figure peeked from behind a rocky formation, a large lizard's eyes meeting them. Gon and Killua on instinct flinched, taking a prepared step back.

"Don't let the Melanin Lizard's size intimidate you…" Raphael gestured to the creature's head "This one is equally easy." Pointing towards the rocky formation next to the lizard's many feet, he shifted the boys' attention to its weakness "One distracts it, the other runs up the mountain to get on its back. Once there, using Gyo, find its weak spot and hit it."

The two grinned, nodding at one another.

Gon moved towards the left, waving his hands frantically "Over here!"

Killua made sure the monster was completely focused on Gon before running up the wall, leaping off it to land on its back. With each step the Melanin's Lizard's body rocked wildly, Killua was forced to kneel so he didn't fall off.

Fuelling aura into his eyes, he scanned the creature's body, finding the wave to be consistent throughout their body… that was until his eyes landed on a single spot, where the aura was thinnest, barely non-existent.

He grinned as he got up, running towards the spot. Bringing his leg up, he slammed his foot down on the spot, earning a loud deafening roar. As it dispersed into a cloud of smoke, Killua snatched the card from the air, smiling gleefully "I've got the first Melanin Lizard so you get the next one Gon."

"Can we hunt another one now?"

"No, these guys are roamers so finding one out in the wild is difficult for now let us keep going."

"~"

As they travelled through the valley, something caught Raphael's eye. A small little puff-ball shook in their direction "On no, get down!"

"Huh?" Killua was barely able to look at it before he saw something hurled itself towards him "Wha-" a fluffy creature smacked him right in the face, barely doing any damage.

He felt like he was slapped across the face with a wet towel.

"Kil-" The creature ricocheted off Killua, bouncing off the floor before whacking itself across Gon's face. It bounced again, moving towards the rocky formation away from the group before it got ready to move again, "It's so weak…"

"That, is a Marimo-chi, creatures that sacrifice damage for speed. I don't think you'll be able to capture it… it's fast."

Killua ran towards it "I bet I can!" He swung his hand out, fingers being swiped through empty air, he was slapped against the face again "Ugh?"

It bounced off a few walls, Gon moving in to try to grab the insanely fast creature "I've got it!" As Gon tried to reach out to grab the creature, it slapped him across the face again.

Raphael looked on with a bemused smile, the boys clapping their hands together, desperately trying to capture it before the other could. Given their clunky speed and movement, it was going to be difficult for them like he had assumed. However, given that they were able to see it moving about, it looks like they could gauge its speed.

Waiting for when the creature moved away. He whistled, the Marimo-chi hurling itself towards him. Moving out of the way at the last second, he grabbed the creature's tail as it sailed past him, yanking it back toward him.

Without a sound, it vanished into smoke, a card being the only indication of its existence "I guess they're too fast for you."

"Yeah…" Gon pouted.

Killua was fuming, eyes twitching after having been constantly slapped across the face by the monster. He should've been able to catch it given that he was faster than Gon when it came to speed. He should've had the easiest time, but it was Raphael that caught it in the end.

He guessed the boy was faster than he looked. "Where to now…"

Raphael broke out into a light jog, moving towards their main goal "Come on, let's go…"

"~"

They didn't get far before Raphael saw a horse coming into view "This one is mine!" He moved towards the creature, the monster letting out a series of bubbles. Avoiding the white bubbles, he slid across the ground before he was forced to switch tactics. Using his aura, he slapped the red bubble out of the way, hopefully far from the others.

Leaping onto the back of the horse, he grabbed the monster by the back of the head yanking it back. It let out a neigh, dispersing into a puff of smoke.

In a second, it was captured. He held up the card to the others "Got it!"

"Wow, that was so-"

"Wait, stop!" Raphael covered his ears just in time as Gon walked into a white bubble, the object exploding into a loud noise.

Both boys covered their ears, the loud noise startling them. Once most of the damage had been done, they uncovered their ears, Killua moving to poke one of the white bubbles.

It sent out a small shockwave of noise, Killua failing to feel any damage whatsoever. The Puffball was the same, but being hit by it hurt a little, whereas the explosion did no damage whatsoever. It just let off an annoyingly loud pop "That's loud… and it generates a small shockwave."

Gon poked the red bubble, the object bouncing away from his finger right into the wall near a white bubble. It exploded on impact generating the same sound and effect, but the white bubble remained intact even though it was within reach of the shockwave.

The boy was startled by the red one exploding "That's strange…"

Raphael shook his head "It's a Bubble Horse." He showed the boys the card before placing it in his book "When it's aggroed, it shoots white and red bubbles. The white ones explode when they encounter aura. The red, however, exploded on everything but aura. White ones can cause a chain reaction of explosions."

Gesturing to one of the white balls from earlier, he smiled at another piece of information he just uncovered. "But what I learnt just now, is that the shockwave from an exploding red one doesn't affect the white ones."

"Glad to have assisted you there…" Killua grinned, "Looks like Mr Know-It-All doesn't know everything."

"Haha." Raphael faked a laugh "How about the next problem we run into, I throw it at you and see if you can figure out what's wrong."

Killua quickly changed his mind. He liked having all the answers at his fingertips, it made his job much easier "I'm good…"

Raphael smirked "Good. Let's keep going, we're almost there."

"~"

Raphael listened out for the cue points, eyes darting towards every dark tunnel. There were a few dead ends, but most points always led towards the exit. When he felt a small rumble, he grinned "Follow me and whatever you do, don't hesitate. We're going to run into a worm, just follow my movements and you won't get eaten."

The teen drew his weapon, spinning it so the spear tip faced the ground.

Killua and Gon freaked out once they realised what they were running towards "You can't be serious."

"You'll be fine…" Moving further ahead of the two, He slammed the spear into the ground, the large worm raising its body. It lunged forward, Raphael forced the bottom of the spear into its chest, making it difficult for it to move across the floor, tiny legs dangled underneath its body, large teeth constantly snapping at the air, searching for its next victim.

"Slide to me now!" Raphael pushed his spear like a leaver, forcing the worm to continue moving along.

They heard a loud shriek come from behind them.

Gon looked behind them, the worm moving ahead chasing down the poor young girl "That's mean…"

"If she gets eaten, it's her own fault. Speaking of which…" He gestured to the creature's tail, "The only way to kill them is by getting around them. They can't turn around given the space, but once you're behind them, you need to aim for the giant blister on their tail. Take it out, and the card is yours."

Having explained the premise of how to beat the worm, he squatted. He ran a hand along the slimy residue, spreading it across his palm and fingertips "The place is designed like a spider web, with interconnecting tunnels. Getting lost is easy, but… there are multiple ways to escape the monsters and the area."

Having spread the residue across his hand, he raised it "She'll escape. But for us, we're going to use another mechanic." He breathed across the slimy fluid, the sludge rippling. It was like twinkling stars in a night sky, shifting and manipulating its form under the gentle breeze.

"Wow…" Gon's eyes gleamed, staring at the goo, "That's cool."

"A breeze changes its properties. So, if you ever get lost, hunt one of these guys down, escape and then come back to use its trail as a method to leave the tunnels." He moved his fingertips, watching the properties change as a gentle breeze coming from one of the many tunnels activated its serene glow "This way."

"Oh…" Raphael turned back to the boys once more smiling at them "If you don't want to hunt down worms, the giant slimes have the same properties. They're not combative, but you can kill them."

As he turned a corner, he spotted one moving about. The figure smiled widely without a care in the world "Speaking of which, these guys."

Killua moved in, kicking one hard across the face. It jiggled, face reforming after the impact. But it made no moves to counterattack. Instead, it just kept moving around idly.

"You can't kill them with physical attacks. Nor can I kill one with my spear." The boy then gestured to one of the slimes eating something off the wall "If you want to kill them, you need to change their properties like so…" Grabbing a few rocks off the floor he flicked them into one of the slimes, the creature slowing down as it hardened from the rocks being digested in its body "Now you can kill them."

Killua kicked the creature again, cracks forming along its body. It wailed; a high-pitch scream being emitted. Grabbing the card that was left on the floor, the other slimes made no move to leave the area even though one of its own kind had gotten killed in front of them.

"Gelatinous Goo? Are they worth anything…"

"About half a pack of spell cards. Although, I wouldn't suggest trying to hunt them since they're helpful to keep around." He pointed at the trail one of them had left behind "They're another way to escape the place. Let's keep going. We'll see what else we can find…"

"~"

They found a way out of the tunnels, nothing else of note for Raphael to explain along the way. But eventually, he ran into a floating box, the creature now lazily moving towards them.

Killua got ready to attack.

"Hold it…" He waited for the figure to bump into him. Its eye twisted upward, the body bopping as though it was giggling without a sound "Trickster Jelly-Box. They're not worth anything."

Gon poked the creature, the monster swaying away in the air "It's weird…"

It bopped again from Gon's action. Raphael pushed it away, the creature swaying as it giggled "They're easily tickled. They'll never harm another player, only fool around with them. However," He gestured to another creature moving around in the area, several eyes snapping in their direction "That creature-"

"Should we kill it?" Gon and Killua got ready to move, "Nope…" The multi-eye figure dug its claws into the Trickster Jelly-Box, floating away as the monster silently giggled, "Those guys are called Sightless Jelly-Box. They hunt Tricksters for…" He looked at the two, confusion etched into their face. How does one bring up mating reasons in a conversation? Now that he thought about it, it was kind of a useless detail to mention "Well, you don't need to know. Just know both are non-issues and are worthless cards to hunt and sell."

Twisting his body, he pointed at one of the rocky formations "I want to get to higher ground. I'll check the map for where Masadora is so we can continue, on our way."

A/N: Leave a review, it helps inspire me.