chapter 4-ship

Coming back to reality he started to run in the direction of the boat.

He hopped over the stream ran past trees getting small scratches from the branches, but he did not care about that as the thought of escaping this island at last empowered him.

As he drew nearer the shore he spotted the boat in the distance sailing away.

He jumped into the sea not caring for his safety and swam trying to catch up to the boat.

But he was not fast enough and the boat was out of sight by the time he looked up and was exhausted, Adam once again lost all hope of escaping.

When he looked back to find the direction of the island he couldn't see it anymore, he swam too far out that it was out of view.

Barely having any stamina left he tried to push his body to swim back in the direction he thought the island was in.

After swimming for a while finally using up the last bit of his stamina left, he did not reach the island.

Left stranded in the empty sea Adam was at a loss on what to do.

That's when he heard a voice from behind him.

Adam heard a gruff voice shouting to him "what are you doing out in the sea in the middle of nowhere"

Turning around he sees another wooden ship with white sails and an old man with a long black beard and a bald head looking down at him from the boat.

"Could you give me a lift" Adam shouts back happy that he finally met another human being and was rescued from nearly drowning.

The old man lowered a rope down to Adam which he used to climb up to the ship, as he got up he noticed people sitting around the deck with all different appearances and weapons while other people ran about moving boxes and controlling the sails on the ship.

The old man looked at him with a curious glint in his eyes and said "my name is Jack, I am the captain of this ship heading to Dolle harbor for the 287th hunter exam, you wouldn't be interested in taking the hunter exam would you?"

Adam thought whether he should take it knowing that it would help him in the future, but he wanted to stay away from any more danger before getting stronger.

Seeing the young man he rescued seemed to make the captain think and ask "there are strange beasts and monsters, secret treasure hoards, undiscovered wealth, mystical wealth, unexplored frontiers. The mysterious unknowns that's what the hunters strive for what about you what's your purpose in life"

Adam pondered on the last thing the captain said.

"My purpose in life?" Adam once again strengthened his resolve and figured out what he wanted to do in this life.

"In this life, I want to be a hunter, a hunter that is not held back by anything, to reach the pinnacle of this world, and why not have fun while doing it, I'll become a hunter like no other!"

The captain, somewhat baffled by this young man's ambition replies "I see that we have another hunter examinee on this ship then, skipper! Add one more examinee to that list"

And a squeaky voice replied back "yes sir!"

"Would you also lend me some cloths as you can see I'm in rags?"

The captain gave Adam a plain red shirt and some plain blue pants

After drying off his clothes Adam sat in a corner of the ship and finally relaxed his body and started to recover some of his energy

Then all of a sudden there was a shout "storm ahead get into the cabin, shipmates get ready there's no time to turn around"

There was a scramble of people rushing to get into the ship's cabin while Adam stayed still and watched not caring to move.

All of a sudden a huge wave slammed into the front of the ship sending people flying into the air as the boat tipped up and then slammed back down into the sea.

The ship went back and forth in the waves rocking up and down while everyone managed to get into the cabin, the ship's crew started to pull ropes and adjust the sail.

Adam then heard the same gruff voice from before shout "hey boy I advise you to get into the cabin you don't want to be lost at sea again do you but this time I don't think you would be lucky enough to chance upon another ship never mind trying to stay afloat in these violent waves"

Adam looked up to the captain who was behind the ship's wheel and shouted back in a calm voice "this is part of the exam right, I need to stay awake during this storm I've already figured it out"

Although Adam actually knew from watching the anime, he thought that bluffing that he had the intelligence to figure out the test after only staying on the ship for a few minutes should be able to help him pass and staying on the ship's deck without falling off as well as staying awake should hopefully help him pass.

The captain replied "it's your choice then" Adam could hear a hint of surprise in his voice alongside the normal rough and low sound.

As the ship swayed and the crewmates ran about a spot of sunlight broke through the clouds and shrouded Adam.

As more of the sunlight came through the clouds and scattered, Adam watched the light shimmer when it touched the water reminding him of the island when he used to wake up from meditating and when the sunlight hit his face it was a moment of peace for Adam and was his only slight moment of release when he didn't feel endangered or trapped.

The ship soon became calm again and the crewmates weren't running about anymore.

When they checked inside the cabin everyone had passed out.

The captain came to Adam and asked "what's your name?"

"My names Adam"

"You pass the test, best of luck in reaching the first phase Adam"

The captain went back to the wheel of the ship.

*********

Soon after they reached the dock of Dolle harbor and the captain whispered to Adam as he was about to leave "you see that big cedar tree on the mountain, head in that direction and you'll find yourself heading in the right direction to reach the first phase, although you could probably find that out with that intelligence of yours this is just an old man's kindness to a promising hunter applicant"

Adam nodded his thanks to the captain and started to walk through the streets filled with the other passing hunter examinees in the direction of the tree.

When he finally came across an old woman with strange people in masks behind her.

Then the woman gave the exact same multiple-choice question from the anime "a group of evil villains have kidnapped your mother and true love and you can only save one of them choose one for your mother or 2 for your true love which of them do you save and which of them dies?"

Adam knowing the answer remained quiet as no answer was the right choice, he knew you cant choose to save one over the other.

She counted down "5….4…3….2…1…Time is up you have passed this trial and can proceed to the exam"

Just as Adam went through the doors and they were almost shut he heard footsteps approaching the old woman and a crows squawk. Adam had his suspicions on who they might be but decided to carry on ahead and not entangle with this troublesome trio just yet.

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