Reaching a set of stairs that seems endless, as the tunnel continues in a steep incline, Auren can't help but somewhat admire Satotz, as the man keeps up his mechanical walking style, continuing to move his arms in an exaggerated fashion as he easily skips past three stairs with every step.
His body isn't normal. Though he doesn't look like a martial artist and his Aura is fairly average, there is something special about this man. There might be more to him than meets the eye.
"I've trained by walking up Heaven's Arena a couple of times... this is nothing," Vanessa declares, as the group follows after Satotz.
"That's impressive," Auren comments, thinking of the giant, colossal building and imagining climbing from bottom to top, just using the stairs and not a single elevator.
Satotz keeps speeding up the stairs, but slows down again after a while, allowing the examinees to catch up to a certain degree.
Seeing Killua and the spiky-haired boy catch up to them, Auren hears the latter say, "We're ahead of everybody... almost everybody now. Just these soldiers are keeping up without a problem."
"Ignore them, Gon!" Killua says. "It's because of the slower pace. Climbing slowly tires you out faster. Maybe the whole Hunter Exam's like this... tedious and boring."
"Should I kick your butt again? Maybe the exam will get more fun that way," Auren snickers quietly, causing Killua to tense up and glare at him.
"You... is it fun to pick on children?" he asks.
"If they're brats like you... yes," Auren replies instantly. "How about I make this exam more interesting?"
"It's a race. Whichever one of you reaches the exit first wins... whoever loses gets punished," Auren suggests.
"I refuse...!" Killua states, looking away.
"In that case... you'll both lose by default... and the punishment is an early exit from the exam," Auren replies, already inching closer to Killua.
"You devil... Gon, run, we don't have a choice!" Killua yells, sprinting past Satotz, quickly followed by a confused Gon.
"Don't pick up any bad habits," Neffi says, smiling awkwardly.
"If possible... I want them to just run ahead and clear this exam... without getting into trouble," Auren mutters quietly.
Seeing the two boys race in front of Satotz, who is quite surprised by the sudden surge of energy, the endless tunnel finally comes to an end.
Seeing light above, Auren, Vanessa, and Neffi finish right after Satotz, Killua, and Gon, already outside, breathing heavily from the rapid sprint.
Auren takes a deep breath, the air outside quite a bit better and cleaner than inside the moist and dark underground tunnel.
In front of him, he sees a seemingly endless number of trees, a large forest stretching out before him, with a few noticeably empty spots, without trees. Using Gyo for a split second, he sees the entire area in detail, allowing him to ignore the fog that is all around them. Overall, the strange environment and the fog, which is a sign of high humidity, create a unique environment that Auren hasn't quite seen before.
Milsy Wetlands, huh? What did Beans call it... the Swindler's Swamp....
"Hey!" Killua says, looking at Auren. "See. What do you have to say now?"
"Huh?" Auren replies. "See what?"
"Our race. I won!" Killua announces proudly, Gon gnashing his teeth in disappointment. "I want to race again... that didn't count," he complains.
"What race? I didn't pay attention. Go play somewhere else, kid, this is the Hunter Exam, not your playground," Auren replies, turning away from a fully enraged Killua, unable to hold himself back from smiling.
"You two kids," Neffi states, walking up to them. "During the next part, you might want to stay close to the examiner or to us. You know the Milsy Wetlands are a dangerous place."
"Who asked you for advice, huh? Aren't you just a kid yourself? You are barely one head taller than us! Mind your own business," Killua replies, still embarrassed from Auren's treatment, stretching out his tongue.
Neffi's fists are visibly shaking, while Vanessa smiles awkwardly. "Guess I worried for nothing... get eaten by some beast!"
Is she sensitive about her height?
One by one, the other examinees reach the end, exiting the tunnels and joining them.
A few minutes after finishing, Auren hears a mechanical sound, as a shutter slowly closes, about to block the tunnel exit.
A lone candidate, on his knees, trying to desperately crawl to the exit, watches in horror as the shutter closes right before his eyes, ending his dream of passing the exam.
"Lucky guy," Auren comments.
"Indeed," Neffi adds. "Others might not be so lucky."
"Huh?" Gon and Vanessa blurt out at the same time, not understanding.
That's gotta hurt... on the same level as that kid... Gon. Sometimes she's so sharp... but sometimes... hehe.
Finally, Satotz addresses the remaining candidates. By now, it is more than apparent that quite a few have dropped out.
"The Misly Wetlands... also known as the Swindler's Swamp," Satotz explains calmly, his breathing extremely steady. "There are many crafty and voracious creatures hidden in these wetlands, creatures unique to this place. They'll trick you in a blink and eat you with relish. Follow me and stay focused. If you are deceived... you are dead."
Is something supposed to happen now? I don't remember all these tiny details... in fact, I barely remember a thing. This isn't quite helpful at all. I can't tell if I'm doing what I set out to do...
Still deep in thought, Auren notices a presence, a seemingly wounded man appearing just behind the tunnel exit.
Shortly afterwards, the man yells, pointing at Satotz, "He's an imposter! He's not the examiner. I'm the real examiner. I'll show you!"
He then grabs a thin, seemingly dead monkey from behind the exit, dragging it towards the examinees. "He's one of the wetland creatures, a man-faced ape."
Notably, the dead ape looks quite similar to Satotz, having his hairstyle and even his curly mustache.
"Haha," Vanessa laughs. "It looks so stupid. I need to take a picture later."
The panicked candidates stop bickering and stare at her, confused by her easygoing humor.
"Glad you're having fun..." Auren says, smiling softly. "However... as I told you... no time to stand out."
"I guess so..." She immediately relents.
The discussion continues, the wounded man desperately trying to convince the candidates to trust and follow him, only to be interrupted when Hisoka throws a few cards at his face and at Satotz. The man gets hit in the face, the cards burying themselves deep into it and instantly killing him, while Satotz barely catches the other four aimed at him, using both hands, his face completely serious.
"He barely caught them," Neffi mutters quietly. "He's not too fast. Barely an acceptable reaction."
"Not bad... but as you said, Auren... should that creep get serious, the examiner wouldn't stand a chance," Vanessa adds. "I get why we are here. He got disqualified once for almost killing an examiner, so you want to make sure that doesn't happen again?"
Not quite. If that guy were to die... I wouldn't bat an eye. That's what I consider fate... not his twisted version. Creating rules, giving the examiners complete immunity while encouraging the slaughter of examinees, unaware of Nen. I have never seen something this pathetic and vile.
"It's close to that," Auren replies, keeping his thoughts to himself.
The corpse of the dead ape suddenly opens its eyes, realizing what happened, and quickly gets onto its feet, trying to run away, adding a few quick jumps, only for Hisoka to skillfully throw another card directly into the back of its head, executing it with another precise throw.
"He's... pretty good," Neffi says. "I am not sure... I could win against him."
"Don't try," Auren warns her, completely serious. "That goes for you as well... Vanessa!"
"I know..." Neffi replies, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Now we know ♦️... he's the real thing ❤️," Hisoka says, smiling, before continuing. "Examiners are Hunters who do this without pay, at the request of the judging committee ♠️. A simple Hunter, which we ourselves aspire to become, would have no trouble dodging my attack ♣️."
"I shall take that as a compliment," Satotz says, completely serious, his eyes displaying a hint of anger. "But... the next attack on me, for any reason, will be grounds for immediate disqualification. Understood?"
"Sure ♦️," Hisoka replies, grinning cheekily.
The examinees stare in shock at the two apes, as countless birds arrive, pecking at their flesh and rapidly devouring the bodies.
Satotz continues his explanation about the swamp. "Nice ruse, saying I'm an imposter in order to confuse examinees into taking the wrong path... right into their clutches. That's the sort of life-or-death deception that makes the swamp the perilous and fascinating place it is."
"This place is anything but fascinating... it's disgusting. I prefer the swamp on our island a lot more..." Neffi whispers.
With Hellbells crawling through the mud? I don't think so...
Finally, after the small disturbance, Satotz once again speeds up, maintaining his awkward walking style as he moves towards the swamp.
The examinees follow swiftly, not willing to fall too far behind, having witnessed the dangers themselves.
Slowly, the group of runners is enveloped by a thick fog, barely allowing them to see in front of them.
Auren, Vanessa, and Neffi are in the middle of the crowd. With curiosity, Auren witnesses what appears to be a giant strawberry in the distance. However, the strawberry turns out to be part of a large tortoise's body, whose head snaps towards a candidate, swallowing him almost in one bite, leaving only his feet desperately dangling outside.
Using his generic katanas, Auren quickly draws them and cuts off the head of the nearby tortoise in a clean slice.
The man, still struggling, manages to climb out, seeing Auren walk past him, tears running down his face.
"Than—" Auren hears him say, before he's out of reach.
In front of them, the ground suddenly opens up, and a giant frog appears, swallowing multiple examinees.
Neffi, stealthily controlling her scarves, darts forward, cutting off the frog's head in a single clean motion, once again freeing the examinees inside its mouth, still alive and able to recover.
Suddenly, a loud, raspy voice echoes through the swamp, "This way! Safe. Here! This way. Safe!"
Seeing a set of sharp stones, appearing like spikes, it's attempting to lead examinees into a deadly trap.
"A raven!" Vanessa notes, looking into the sky. "It's ugly!" She then punches at it, killing it in a single blow, using Emission, the motion performed so smoothly and efficiently, seriously impressing Auren.
However, despite the group's interference, many more animals appear. Butterflies, deadly mushrooms, more ravens, frogs, and tortoises slowly but surely leading to many examinees finding their end in the wetlands.
Despite his disgust, Auren does not outright interfere.
"This exam is cruel... but this is what I still consider fair. While it's unpleasant... this is what being a Hunter is about. We can't interfere and save them all; that would defeat the entire purpose of the exam and would make me a hypocrite."
"What is the difference between Hisoka killing people and this?" Vanessa wonders. "Is there one? If I estimate correctly, dozens of people will die."
"There is... a difference," Auren replies. "It's simple... it's equality and fairness. Hisoka's actions are completely contrary to those two terms. However, these beasts... are something a Hunter needs to expect and needs to be prepared for. It's expected, and this can reasonably be overcome, while a Non-Nen user can't reasonably defeat a Nen user."
Nodding at the others, all three of them suddenly jump forward into the air, dodging another frog right under them, trying to swallow them.
Caught in the middle of the fog, slowed down by beasts and other examinees, Auren realizes he's lost track of Hisoka, but also of Killua, Gon, and his two friends, having focused too much on the beasts in the swamp.
Briefly using En with his full power, yet also applying In, he senses a large group nearby, relatively far away from nearby plants and forests, providing a relatively clear battleground. Noticeably, he detects a strong Aura in the middle of the scene.
It's happening... time to make a decision.
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