There was stillness and nobody moved.
Some people were checking their watches, while others were sitting against the walls or around the corners, most dozing off while resting on the floor.
But then, footsteps were to be heard.
*Tap*
*Tap*
*Tap*
And it was not long before the brown door opened.
The examiner stood up to welcome this person. "Sir Netero! Nice of you to come!"
Yes, it was the legendary Isaac Netero.
Rex was in awe of him because he had rested his Hatsu on Netero's metamorphosis. 'Netero... The current strongest Nen user known...'
He gave Ishi's hand a brief shake before turning to face the participants who couldn't jump over before Rex sabotaged the path. He then fixed his gaze on the four who had reached the other side.
He jumped over the abyss with ease and shook Rex, but only Rex's hand. "I've seen and heard enough of you to grant you the title of Hunter title now! Welcome Rex!"
The handshake became increasingly firm. "Ah I-I'm sorry about what happened with the exam..."
"The exam isn't the subject I'm referring to."
Rex was perplexed. "Ah... Where else did they hear about me from?"
Oh, I'm sorry, that's not something I can say.
The handshake dissolved and Netero pulled several keys from his coat pocket, with which the opened the next, bright green door.... "Come with me."
Netero gave Ishi one final glance as the door began to close. "What you do with the examiners is up to you, but I would end it with the 4, the decision is yours though."
✹
The fifth room's final door opened onto a very long, slender hallway that ultimately led to an elevator.
When Netero pressed a combination on the number buttons, the elevator went up at high speed, where the two of them entered an office-like room with dark green carpet and bookshelves all around the room.
Netero handed a registration to Rex after filling it out while sitting in the chair behind the desk. "Your signature, please."
Rex, still standing in front of the desk, took the document and signed it, using a fountain pen that he borrowed from Netero.
Netero took the document back and put it in a shelf. He then pulled a suitcase from another shelf, set it on the desk, and used a key from his keychain to open it.
'?!'
Inside the suitcase Rex could see a Hunter license all by itself.
'So fast?!'
Netero took out the license and handed it to Rex.
After noticing Rex's wide and wondering eyes, Netero explained. "I know it looks fast, but that's how it is when you receive a recommendation from a Hunter."
"Oh, so... and this Hunter is? Is it this so-called 'boss' that this pink-haired girl was talking about? Or is it an evil organisation that want's my organs and my Nen?"
Then Netero shrugged. "Well, they told me not to reveal the identity, and you surely have a great imagination.
But rest assured, if they were truly as evil as you just described, they wouldn't be in touch with me...
But..."
Netero removed the bottom layer from the suitcase and took out a piece of paper, with a plane ticket.
"Here are some other crucial details and a message with where you need to be."
Rex took the note and the plane ticket and sensed the protruding letters with his EN.
"... Jappon?"
✹
When the zeppelin finally arrived, Rex stood up, both his legs almost numb.
"Phew, 3 hours of waiting for this shit! Never mind, at least he's here now."
Rex approached the staff in the middle of the airport and displayed his Hunter license. The bystanders were startled, and the slightly wealthier individuals who already owned phones wanted to snap a quick photo, but Rex had already left by the time the staff informed him of the second entrance for the Zepellin that was only accesible by VIPs.
He had to show his license once more to the bodyguards stationed outside the entrance, who took the card and ran it through the scanner. As soon as the license was verified, they quickly went to the side.
All of them were bowing.
"We're s-sorry!" said one.
But Rex just walked through and said. "Don't worry about it unnecessarily."
✹
Rex stood outside his room door.
As a VIP, he had a whole room to himself, which will saved him some worries.
He entred the room then sat on the couch and lastly took off his backpack.
He stretched out on the couch and later then pulled two knives from his backpack.
One of them he stole just yesterday from the leader of the Mad Slashers.
The other he bought at an auction in York New City, with a chunk of his fortune, which he used to kill Gyro only days later.
Rex purchased the Ben's Knife for a variety of reasons, including its razor-sharp edge that could easily cut through steel and the fact that it was a one-shot weapon that would instantly paralyze a target on the ground with no chance of defense.
This was ideal for Rex because he didn't use his Hatsu to battle or strengthen his body like Gon and Killua did.
However...
Something was fishy about the whole thing.
Rex took a 'peek' at Zenid's Ben's Knife.
Then the one he bought.
'I have no doubt, the Two Daggers are the same product in, as the same metal and same smith, but even then... Zenid's is much different...'
"BODYGUARDS!", Rex shouted to get a test subject.
Quickly three men with black clothes, edgy-looking sunglasses and a device on their ear rushed through the door.
They quickly looked around the room, only to spot a bored Rex, lying on the sofa. "What's the matter, Mr. Hunter? There doesn't seem to be a problem."
"Well it's not really an emergency or prob-", He suddenly sat down after raising his upper body. "Hey, where are you going!"
"We've been trained against emergencies, Sir, what you're trying to do here now is not our business!"
"OK!" uttured Rex as he dug around in his bag once more and hollowed out his wallet. "Are these 200,000 Jenny not your business either?"
The three gave it a brief glance before leaving.
'Damn, those bodyguards are really loyal guys', Rex thought to himself as he took a bite of an apple he grabbed from the fruit bowl on the table that was in the middle of the room.
Suddenly he felt 3 stares coming from the door. 'Those bodyguards...'
✹
The three bodyguards took three chairs from the dining room table and sat them in a row in front of Rex's couch.
"The task is quite simple," Rex started to say. "Here's a knife, ok?"
The three bodyguards nodded
"And I'm going to give you this knife for about a minute each time."
The bodyguards nodded once again.
"You have to describe to me how you feel when you hold the blade in your hands."
Again, the bodyguards nodded once more.
"You don't have to nod all the time."
The three bodyguards struggled to keep their lower jaw from dropping, but nothing could stop it, and they nodded.
"..."
"..."
"..."
✹
Rex gave 200,000 jenny to each bodyguard.
"Thank you very much, sir!" they all said and left the room. "Yeah, don't waste it and bye bye!"
Rex then took a seat on the couch once more.
'Interesting...', he remarked upon seeing Zenid's Ben's knife.
It differs from regular Ben's Knives in that it has the power to focus and form a thin layer, of Aura, a tiny Ten, on itself and the bodyguards, controlling their wild aura that would otherwise flow to the sky like for normal people and living things.
But compared to a full Nen user, the Ten which this Ben's knife forms is nothing, however, one gets much stonger than the average person
Rex asked himself quietly, "Why would you create a weapon like that?"
And he pondered little by little... Until an idea occurred to him...
'Don't tell me... That this was done to arouse Nen on the owners of Ben's Knife'.
He initially rejected the notion because he found it to be way too surreal, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it began to make.
When a foreign aura acts on a body, the Aura Nodes are forcefully awakened, if a person does not have the necessary talent to stop their flow of aura, they'll soon grow so exhausted that they'll be unable to stand or even lose consciousness...'
'Also there is the danger that the Stranger Aura was maliciously directed at the body, these two factors alone proved that training someone Nen in this manner is prohibited.
'But what if this Stranger Aura that you needed to awaken is your own?'
Rex once more recalled the tests he had conducted on the bodyguards. 'Every living being has aura flowing out of its body, every living being has aura nodes and that's what this blade exploits...'
'... Namely, this dagger manipulates the person's Aura, it envelops itself and the person with the Aura. Because of the rather small Ten layer it forms, not all Aura Nots open completely at once, instead, they do so gradually over time...So unlike regular Nen users, who rapidly awaken their Aura Nodes, this Method is almost as effective and much calmer and softer, there is no risk in dying, or very little.'
As with normal humans, a certain amount does flow to the sky when the person owning the Blade let it's hands go of the blade, and if it gets too much, you can always reach for the Ben's Knife.'
When Rex took hold of Ben's knife, he could clearly see how his aura was being slightly manipulated.
But even after awakening your Aura, you have to learn controlling your Aura yourself... And if a person holds this blade and opened a critical amount of Aura Nodes without having a Nen teacher or having learned controlling Aura, that person will die if he or she would ever lose the blade...
"This blade is not meant for combat.... But rather to create a Nen army."
That was the conclusion Rex finally came to.
He then directed his EN at the clock. "11 hours remain..."
✹
[Pov: ???]
"How does it look? When will the boy arrive, and how close is he?", Asked a man wearing a big black coat. His thick mustache and long hair were both pitch black.
In the center of the room, on a white throne, he cast a beautiful glance. His followers kneeled all around him out of pure respect.
Everyone of them, including the man on the throne, were dressed in a white military uniform.
The asked man took a glance at his gadget, which resembled a tablet. "He should have arrived in Jappon by now!"
'One day too late', Tought the man on the throne.
Suddenly, one of them, stood up. "Are we really sure he has enough potential?"
But before the man on the throne could respond, his comrades yanked him down and gave him a hard punch.
A brown-haired lad whispered to the girl who had just received a hit. "Are you doubting Boss?"
The girl with pink hair firmly clasped his two hands. "Excuse this piece of scum, please!"
The Man raised a flat hand. "That's okay... Sanbica , don't be upset with him, I did see this happening..."
The man who had just been punched yelled. "Ah! AH!", And knelt down so swiftly that the ground caved beneath him.
Then the long black haired man stood up. "Everyone now leave the room!"
Of course, everyone listened to him, and afterwards he found himself alone.
He moved carefully toward the mirror, looking at his right eye with a big and powerful posture.
His right eye began to produce a yellow glow, and suddenly the pupil
...
...
it duplicated!
He was suddenly overwhelmed with knowledge in a way that a normal person could not handle, but he took it with ease as he was used to instances like that.
'Interesting... So this is how things will proceed?
Raul Leclair... You will be the last piece I need for this...'
Then he turned around...
"I should shave my mustache..."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello
...
...
I needed a lot of time for this chapter, because I want to work on the story first, (I also have to binge-watch/read a certain series before the new episodes come out on the 10th of october!).
Many new characters!
And a lot of story!
...
...
Who is this Boss? And what is he planning with Rex?
Well, I think that's a good ending for this arc...
Please review this story!!!
...
(Does anyone even read what I write here...?)