Part 3: Friends X And X Enemies

"Looks like they weren't friendly at all..." I muttered loud enough for them to hear as a hint of sadness and disappointment in my face.

"And they look more skilled than the ones we saw in the port and in the city."

Kurapika was also looking at the other people and it really looks like they were all tough, mostly men with a well-built body. And... so bad, I cannot see a single woman at all. Am I the only one here??

I turned around to see someone in the same sex as mine but no one at all. Until I remembered Kurapika and looked at him very closely. I think... he will do, I mean he really looked like one, as long as I thought of him as one, that's enough. Kurapika noticed my stare.

"What is it?" he asked and I quickly looked away, embarrassed of what I was thinking about him.

"N-Nothing! Hahaha!~"

A green bean-shaped man approached us holding some badges on his hand. "Hello, I'm Mr. Beans. Please take a number and put it on your chest at all times. Be careful not to lose it.", and he gave us each badge. I looked at it and a number '406' was shown.

Leorio and Kurapika had numbers '403' and '404' while Gon has the number '405'. I think this is the number to determine how many applicants joined this year. This means, 406 applicants, I'm kinda expecting it to be 500 or 1,000 but because they hired some trimmers like the captain, the number is smaller than I thought it was.

Then, a fat guy wearing the badge with the number '16', approached us. "Hello, I haven't seen you guys here before."

"You can tell that we're new?" Gon asked in curiosity.

"Well, of course! After all, this is my 35th attempt."

"35th attempt?!" Gon, Leorio, and I exclaimed as we couldn't believe what this man had been doing.

"Wait. That means... he's a loser." I muttered uninterested in this fat guy. I saw Kurapika nodded showing that he agreed to my comment.

"I am Tonpa," he said as Gon introduced himself and us to him. I didn't listen to what he's gonna say and just looked around the tunnel, checking for some incredible people.

Then, we heard a scream from a guy nearby and we knew that the guy who screamed just know, had his arm turned into dark petals and vanished. "Make sure you'll apologize when you bumped into someone.", a clown-looking red-haired man said to the armless guy. I think he is the one who made his arm disappeared. Woah! He's kinda amazing but at the same time, scary! At any time, he could have killed anyone in this tunnel, or maybe all of us if we let our guard down.

"That was Hisoka, the magician," Tonpa informed and that information gave me goosebumps. Better stay away from that guy.

The fat guy grabbed something out of his bag and it turned out to be some canned juices. "Here. I know you've been thirsty."

I can't help myself but to grab a can and quickly opened it while Gon was giving him thanks because of the drink.

Gon drank the juice simultaneously with mine until he suddenly spits out his drink. His action gave me a warning so I also spit mine towards the floor.

"Umm... Sir Tonpa, I think your juice is expired. It tastes funny."

Leorio also spits his drink while Kurapika just pours it to the ground. Wait! Did that fat guy put some laxatives in the drink? But... I thought they're odorless and tasteless, unable to identify, and Gon...

"I-Is that so? Then, I should be more careful when picking juices, huh? I'm very sorry.", and Tonpa left.

When I saw how amazing Gon said, I also thought that he was very stupid sometimes. I mean, he didn't know that Tonpa was intentionally put some laxatives in the drink so we can't perform well during the exam.

"He really easy to read, that Tonpa..." I said as Kurapika just nodded in agreement.

"Hey, Tonpa!" a silver-haired young boy with almost the same age as us, called out to him holding a skateboard on his other hand. "Can I have some more of the juice?! I'm really thirsty!" he smiled like a kid which I found very cute.

"Oh sure..." Tonpa let out a faked smile to him and saw a hint of anxiety in his face. I was about to warn the boy to not get some juices from him when he taunts Tonpa and showed a killer smirk on his face.

"Worried? Don't worry, I've trained so the poison doesn't work on me."

The boy said with the canned juice as I sparkled my eyes in amazement. P-Poison doesn't work on him?! Cool!

"Gon, did you see that boy?! He's so cool, right?! Right?!" I excitedly pointed the silver-haired boy as Gon couldn't catch up with me, his sweat started to drop on his forehead.

I followed the boy with my eyes and a surprise, he also looked at me. Those eyes, those blue eyes the same as mine, do not belong to a person from holy ground. We have similar color, even the shade, but I had a feeling that they're different. And all of a sudden, he turned his head away from me, averted his eyes from mine.

"Hmph!"

My heart beating so fast earlier, finally exploded because of his current impression, with a sweat drop at my face. I think... he hates me.

Suddenly, we heard a high-pitched bell echoing through the tunnel where we all standing and a mustached man with no mouth showed up above.

"I apologize for the wait, participants of the Hunter exam. The exam will now begin!", all of the people in the tunnel paid attention to him as he speaks. He started to walk at a very large pace.

"Now, all will participate in Phase One. I'm the examiner, Satotz, and I will lead you to the next phase. All you have to do is follow me." all the participants started to run, following him from behind.

"Follow you? That's it?" a ninja bald guy asked the examiner.

"Yes. I can't tell you where and when we will arrive. Just follow me."

We also started to run, following the no-mouth guy.

"I see how it is," Kurapika said as he ran while I was beside Gon, listening to him.

"This is an endurance test, huh? Well, I'm right behind you!", Leorio shouted as he ran heavily. I have a lot of stamina so probably I can still run in three hours or more.

"He's also testing our mental fortitude, the mental stress of not knowing when and where we will arrive," Kurapika said.

Now we all started to get sweaty. I'm almost left behind but thankfully I gave myself a boost to catch up with Gon and the others. I made it here with my friends so I can't give up now.

My legs are starting to get hurt because of all this running, but I keep my feet on track to catch up with my friends. If I will be left behind, I cannot see the line anymore and that would be a problem. I'm really no good at this endurance test. I know I said that I can run for three hours but it's almost already five hours passed. If only this is a cargo-lifting test, I would have passed!

"Hey, kid! You should give the Hunter exam some respect!" I heard a familiar voice shouted from behind so I looked and saw Leorio shouting a boy with a silver-hair riding in a skateboard. Wait! He is the boy earlier!

The boy started to argue with Leorio saying that this is an endurance test, cheating by riding in a skateboard but Gon interrupted him and said that the examiner told them to just follow him so it's okay to use a skateboard. Leorio got angry with what Gon said asking if which side he is as I just shut up and laughed at them arguing.

The silver-haired boy rode beside Gon and started to ask him some questions as I just listening to them.

"Hey, how old are you?"

"I'm twelve years old."

Then, he looked at me with his innocent face so I just stared at him with my questioning look, making my eyes grew bigger and tilt my head.

I don't know what is his problem with me so I just smiled widely at him but he ignored it and looked ahead. Then, he flips his skateboard and caught it successfully with his one hand, and just continue running.

"I guess I'll run too."

Woah! The trick he did was so amazing! I can't help my eyes to sparkle in amazement.

"Wow! That was cool!" Gon shouted excitedly who was also amazed by the trick.

"Yeah! It was amazing!~" I praised it as he just ignored it.

"I am Killua."

So his name was Killua, huh?

"I am Gon!" my friend introduced himself lively and grabbed my right hand, and pointed my face. It was a surprise when he did that so I didn't act immediately. "And this is Secco!"

"N-Nice to meet you, Killua!~"

I greeted him as lively as I can and smiled widely, avoiding to end the conversation. He just looked at me with his innocent eyes and then, turned away. I don't know what I did to him but he was ignoring me all of a sudden and earlier.

"G-Gon, I think I'm tired. I'll slow down and joined with Leorio and Kurapika.~" Of course, it was a lie. I actually regained my strength, it's just that I don't want to have conflicts with Killua who were just quietly shooting daggers at me.

"Are you sure?" Gon gave me a sad face but I just nodded.

"Then, see you later!"

I slowed down so Leorio and Kurapika can catch up with me, looks like they are even better to hang out with than Killua. It's not like I hate him, it's actually the opposite. I really like him and I'm really amazed at him. But when he looked at me earlier, he's like he was trying to kill me with his eyes. I think he really hates me.

"Oh, why are you slowing down, Secco?" Kurapika asked as he was just beside me since I showed a sad face and sighed many times.

"I-I just want to be friends with some kids at the same age as mine but... I had a feeling that... I was just a nuisance to those two..." I forced a smile and pointed Gon and Killua who were started to talk right now.

"I see," he muttered and smiled. "You can talk to me if you want to. I'll keep it as interesting as I can."

"Thank you, Kurapika!~" I smiled widely. But I was thinking... where's Leorio?

"Damn it all!!" a scream of a familiar voice was heard and it was actually Leorio doing a boost passing all of the participants in front of him with a high speed that made a wind behind us.

I just laughed widely as I watched him run like there's a lion chasing after him from behind. "Hahaha! An old man is running!~"

I heard Kurapika chuckled. "Let's catch up with him."

I smiled and nodded at his suggestion like his little sister and we started running as fast so we can catch up with Leorio who was almost naked and his briefcase was nowhere to be seen. Until I saw that Gon was holding it using his fishing rod. While we ran, I also knew a lot about my friends. Kurapika's clan actually has special eyes called Scarlet Eyes. It is the seven most beautiful colors in the world and the Kurta Clan possessed these scarlet eyes, the reason they were hunted by the Phantom Troupe.

Leorio actually has a friend that died in a disease, and he didn't do anything to carry him in the hospital or cure him because of high bills. So he wants to be a Hunter, to become a doctor and so the poor people don't need to pay for their treatments. It was really surprised me when he said that, he has actually had a kind heart.

After some minutes, we've finally saw a light and there it is the finish line. When Kurapika, Leorio, and I touched the grass outside, I let myself dropped to the ground and was about to sleep but I realized that the Hunter exam wasn't over yet. If Phase one is really hard, the next phases are ten times than this! I didn't know that becoming a hunter would do things like this!

"I-I'm... thirsty..." I muttered. Kurapika and Leorio were also having a hard time taking some short breaths and then long breaths.

"Gon, is this our destination?" Kurapika asked as he turned his head on the foggy surroundings.

"No, it isn't."

What?! This isn't the final destination?! I lost hope and about to fell again when Satotz started to explain the second level of the first phase.

"This is still the Phase One, The Numere Wetlands, also called the Swindlers Swamp. This is where bizarre animals were living, and some creatures deceive humans and prey upon them. If you don't want to die, then stick with me until we reached the other end of the wetlands." Satotz explained even without a mouth and that's really weird. Where is his voice coming from? " Stay close to me so you won't be deceived."

Then, a man showed up shouting to not be deceived by Satotz and that he is an imposter and the man was the real examiner. Satotz was actually a man-faced ape who was deceiving humans for their food. At first, I didn't know who was the one I was supposed to believe, I mean, they all have flaws in their story. If that man is the real examiner, which means he is a pro hunter, then he wouldn't let himself get deceived.

But when the magician Hisoka throws three deadly cards in each of the examiners, Satotz caught the cards while the other man died, finalizing that the remaining guy was really the real examiner.

Woah! That Hisoka is really scary! If we were running through this wetland, there might be a chance that we will encounter him along the way.

"So... let's start running."