Figuring It Out

Walking down toward the main road leading away from Kukuroo Mountain, the full weight of my task began to sink in. I had to challenge the Hunter Exam and pass without killing, which I considered to be by far the easiest aspect of this assignment. I think the killing restriction was to test my mentality and see if I would use violence to solve all my problems after my years of training. No, the real problem would be reaching the Hunter Exam site.

Let's assume that any of the current V5 nations can be chosen to host the exams, not counting other nations. This leaves me with six possible continents to which I would need to travel for the exams. This is where the restriction of starting with no funds becomes very funny since transcontinental travel is by no means cheap. 

I assumed that finding the location of the exam and the funds to travel there were two of the biggest aspects of the mission. However, this seemed a bit unfair, especially for the continents on the other side of the human-controlled territories. Of course, I wouldn't voice this to anybody in my family since I would just get scorned and scoffed at for that type of attitude. Before I could mentally complain any further, I saw something unexpected.

In the middle of the path was an envelope with my name written on it. Sighing at the theatrics of orchestrating this and not just giving me whatever it was directly, I grabbed the letter and opened it. Inside was a single piece of paper that I read over and recognized quickly. It was a parent-permission form for underaged individuals like myself to take the Hunter Exam legally. With a brief roll of my eyes, I quickly moved on and entered the thick forest leading away from the mountain.

I could have followed the road down the mountain, but it was indirect and fairly undeveloped. It seemed that the tourism industry of busses shuttling people up to Kukuroo Mountain hadn't started yet. For now, only those who came to make in-person contracts with the family or family and servants themselves entered and exited via the road, so I doubted it would lead to any local towns.

Once in the forest, I paused to consider my next course of action. Aimlessly wandering would do me no good and most likely ensure that I missed the exam. My first priority should be to make it to a town or other population center to try and find the location of the Hunter Exam on the internet, I thought. After all, Gon was able to know which city to set sail toward to reach the 287th Hunter Exam. 

While the exact location of the exams could only be reached with hints and clues for doing preliminary challenges, I was fairly certain the city would be posted for everyone to see. Then, the examiners would be stationed on every piece of major transportation leading into the city to weed out the people too weak to take the Hunter Exam itself and guide those who were with more specific hints and or instructions.

I would have to find a way to get on one of these transports with the preliminary examiners so that I can actually find my way to the exam site. I could do this in a few ways. Firstly, I could sneak on board any larger transport like ships, airships, or trains or steal tickets from passengers on these transports or smaller ones like buses, which was another viable solution. With the skills drilled into my body, literally in some cases, it was unlikely that I couldn't get onto transport.

The main problem would be if I were found on a confined boat or airship where I couldn't escape and might be forced to fight my way out without killing anyone, either intentionally or accidentally. However, that was a problem for the future. For now, I jumped up and began to climb until I reached the tops of the nearby trees and looked out for any signs of human life in the sea of green leading down the mountain.

With nothing in sight, I dropped back down and started to jog down the mountain. Of course, the light jog of any member of the Zoldyck family was compatible with the fastest sprint of a peak human Olympic athlete back on Earth. Tearing through bushes and dodging obstacles while moving that fast was easy after all the training I had undergone. I almost flowed like water over the terrain as I moved, graceful as a bird of prey.

Since it was going to be a long journey, I put myself in autopilot mode, which I had achieved after years of meditation. It allowed me to zone out for long periods of time and experience everything going on around me like I was just watching a movie from within my head. It was an especially useful tool for long and boring training exercises like electrical torture and extremely long-distance running. 

. . .

After a few hours, the sun began to set when I reached a small clearing with a notably large tree. I had checked my heading for any signs of life multiple times throughout the journey as I moved but with little success. Now, as I scrambled up and hung from the uppermost branches of the particularly massive tree, I saw two promising landmarks. The first was a river, and the second was a pristine road that looked brand new. 

The river was the safer option since it would provide fresh drinking water, and following it practically guaranteed that I would encounter civilization. This may be a foreign world to me, but some things never change, such as humans building alongside water as much as possible. On the other hand, the road was more high-risk high-reward since it would undoubtedly lead to towns or cities, but it could be a long while until then, with no guarantee of water along the way.

What made me lean toward the road was how new it was. I had no idea exactly when the tourism industry sprung up around the Zoldyck family, but a new road this close to the mountain made me think that perhaps this was one of the new roads connecting the mountain to the outside world on a deeper level. So, it was an easy decision to make my way toward the road.

It was a short sprint to the road, but I slowed before even reaching the edge of the road where the trees parted. Alarms that had been instilled in me over years of brutal training screamed out in my head as I moved forward cautiously. The air was silent. No sounds of construction or traffic emanated from the road as I moved past the edge of the trees and out on the smooth pavement. 

In both directions, a clear line stretched almost as far as the eye could see into the gloom. However, in the direction that led away from the mountain, there was an overturned construction truck. Its headlights cleaved through the growing darkness, illuminating the gravel spilled out over the entire road, but that was only an afterthought as I moved closer.

There were large gouges deep in the metal of the vehicle. The cuts were rough and jagged, leading me to believe that they were caused by some sort of animal. This was still a fantasy world with fantastical beasts, though they were somewhat rare. From my closer position to the truck, a new smell stuck me. One that I was very familiar with, bloo-

I ducked out of the way right as something lunged for me from behind the truck's shadow. A massive shadow slammed into the spot I had just been as I rolled to a stop. One of the headlights flickered and died, but the other highlighted the outline of a massive, sleek creature stalking toward me on four legs. From what I could tell in the darkness, the creature had the shape of a tiger but the build of a lion. 

I groaned and cracked my back before we began to circle one another. The thing lunged fast like a striking viper, but my small frame allowed me to position myself below the monster and avoid its mouth full of gnashing fangs. Not only that but its claws, each as large as my arm, ripped through the ground like butter. I used the Rythm Echo, creating phantasmal afterimages of myself, to confuse the beast while I moved toward its rear.

Just as the beast eviscerated one of the afterimages, dispersing it, I lined up just behind the animal's rear. I ducked low, and from below, I manipulated my hand into a claw and castrated the animal with my sharpened nails as it flailed around, trying to rip into the closest afterimages with its teeth. Each strike only dispersed an echo, of which two remained.

It didn't matter if it was a man or a monster. Hitting them in the balls did wonders for doing damage. The creature howled in pain as blood spurted from the wound as I danced away, severing the tendons in one hind leg as I did so. The beast jumped back, its injured leg buckling upon landing. It growled as its eyes, clouded in pain and rage, locked onto me. I looked back unflinchingly and took a step forward as the animal stepped back.

"Shoo," I said, gesturing for the creature to leave.

The animal took one last look at me, then turned tail and ran, blood still trailing from behind as it ran. There was barely a shaking of leaves as it streaked into the underbrush at the sides of the road. Once I was sure it was gone, I moved to the truck and bent down. The driver's savaged corpse lay strewned out over the road. His or her arms were shattered, evidently from trying to protect their face. 

If this had been even a few years ago, I might have vomited on the spot, but the Zoldyck training regime was brutal psychologically, too. There was a fair degree of exposure and hypnotherapy to normalize extreme gore and violence. Ignoring the viscera and blood, I leaned down and inspected the corpse's pockets. I came up with a phone and a wallet. I tossed the bank cards and I.D. but kept the money and phone.

The phone was fingerprint-locked, so I leaned down and took one of the corpse's hands, testing each finger until the phone was unlocked. From there, I changed the password and rose back to my feet. With the phone in hand, I began walking down the side of the road just outside the tree line. It wasn't long before I was on the web and located the time and location of the 277th Hunter Exam.

The exam location is Tardane, a city in the Mimbo Republic, which was the best-case scenario for me since I am currently on the same continent as the Mimbo Republic, just on the other side of the said continent. Next, I began to do some mapping and other online research as I walked into the darkness of the coming night.