Journey of a Hunter

[Ziguldo]

On a bright, sunny day on January 20th, several hunter applicants were all clumped up together on an air ship sailing through the sky to a place called Gold City, a highly prosperous place that only the richest would be allowed to enter. They were each on their way to find the exam site where they would properly be able to undertake the trials each would have to take to become hunters. Unsurprisingly, despite being forced together, the atmosphere seemed heavy. Every man and woman ready to take the test knew that they'd have to compete with one another, justifying their reluctance to interact with one another. Exceptions to this did exist, however. Low whispers could be heard from small groups of people, the reason for this being fairly blatant. Alliances were being made in preparation for the actual exams, despite the difficulty level of the hunter exams lowering quite a bit since the election of former association chairman, Cheadle.

Even with the heavy mood that was prevalent on the ship, there was still one applicant in particular that didn't seem to understand the challenges he would have to overcome on his journey. As one might expect, he seemed a lot more carefree than all the others, for he was nothing more than a 12-year old boy by the name of Eustace Bell. He was undoubtedly confident in his ability to pass, and rightfully so. He had been working hard to prepare himself for the exams ever since he first decided to take them. Not only that, but the constant digging he did daily while still in his home city was more than enough to toughen him up both physically and mentally. There was a great determination in his heart to pass, but there was still a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that told him that he was doing something wrong. Judging by the fact that there was a lot of space around him, this wasn't too far off.

The reason for this? He reeked far too bad for anybody to even tolerate standing next to him! Naturally, Eustace himself was oblivious to this fact. Living in a city that was essentially a glorified dumpster tends to do that to a person. At the moment, he seemed to be thinking very hard to himself as to why people were avoiding him. He would assume that it was because of the pickaxe he carried, but it was tucked away in his backpack, albeit with the very top sticking out through an opening. "Oh, I know!" Eustace exclaimed. The answer had to be a his hardhat! No one else seemed to have one, so it was likely very strange for others. He quickly took off his hat and stood up from his seat on the floor, showing off his insanely messy messy hair! Eustace rushed to the nearest person around, a particularly nerdy looking man, and attempted to introduce himself. "Hi there, my name's—" Before he could even finish his sentence, the man had already rushed off in disgust, leaving Eustace to once again wonder what he had done wrong.

"Geez, again?" He told himself with a disappointed sigh as he put his hardhat back on.

 

[Castello]

Placing her ridiculously large goggles over her eyes, Yulia leaned over the railing of the ship, feeling the wind cut through her hair. A taken back gasp filled her lungs as she gazed upon the view with awe. In the fog of her vision she watched her home, Yorknew City drift off, feeling a nostalgic feeling course through her veins as she left her uncle and his little jewellery shop. Though, she wasn't sad, she couldn't afford to be. No matter what, she couldn't let anything distract her from passing the hunter exam.

Around her seemed a rather tame crowd, but she studied up and knew there were people to worry about. First off, Xander Winters, wore a suit and owned a series of cat houses around Yorknew, Yulia had seen him a couple of times, he was quite hard to miss. Had so much money he could afford any little gadget he wanted, he'd be complicated to fight. Next, Claire Ira. From a mountainous village, she is a favourite to pass. Apparently good with a sword and even deadlier with a second one in her hand. Not someone Yulia wanted to deal with personally. There were plenty others Yulia could list off, skilled marksmen, prepared tacticians like herself, but it was the group of criminals that stood out. Men who failed the exam just so they could take it again, to either kill or ruin the competition. Yulia had already spotted them out and taken their appearances and alliances down. She gazed around a little more, spotting some unfamiliar faces. The internet was a lovely thing, but she couldn't hack information out of everyone.

To her far left, a large man with a big, bushy black beard and stone cold eyes with a long haired woman next to him with pig tails. She had no clue where they were from or what they did, everything was a mystery about them, but Yulia took notes down, knowing to be careful. The next face she couldn't recognize was some young boy with a silly hard hat on. At first she thought he was some mining town, but as his scent woffed over to her, her guess changed, he was likely from Meteor city. It would explain why there was no data on him. She walked towards him, taking shallow breathes to avoid the smell, curious about the boy.

"Hey, you!" She called out, pushing her way through the crowd, sitting down across from Eustace. "The name's Yulia Fae, from Yorknew. From your smell and clothing, it'd be safe to assume you are from Meteor City, eh?" She asked in a hushed voice, making sure no one else was listening.

 

[Ziguldo]

"My smell told you that?" Eustace said quietly, sniffing at his right arm to determine if there was truth in the girl's words. He wasn't sure why the two of them were whispering, yet he did so anyway because it felt like the appropriate thing to do in the situation. Mostly because Yulia herself had decided to do so. "I can't smell anything..." Eustace had a puzzled expression on his face, until he finally came up with an answer for his previous question. "Oh, I get it, now." Eustace said, slamming a fist into an open palm in clarity. "I completely forgot that people took time to adjust to new smells. Thanks a bunch, Ms.Lia!" As he was laying down on his knees, Eustace took a moment to give Yulia a short, polite bow. "My name's Eustace, nice to meetcha." He introduced himself happily, glad to finally be able to speak with somebody. He wondered where she could've gotten the scars that clearly surrounded her body. Even more puzzling, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he had heard her surname before...

Suddenly, Eustace felt a very odd sensation coming from behind him. A fearful expression quickly replaced his typical carefree one. His first reaction was to turn around, and sure enough, there was a tall man standing behind him. Something was...off about him. He seemed very formally dressed, minus the trench coat he wore. His eyes were hidden by the round sunglasses he wore. Paralyzed with fear, Eustace found it impossible to move as the man crouched down to meet his height. He whispered "49..." into his ears, before moving onto Yulia. As he did with Eustace, the man crouched down once more, whispering "50." to her instead. Without another word, fearsome man left, chuckling to himself. Noticing that his knees were shaking throughout the entire thing, Eustace quickly grabbed hold of them to force them to stop. It was highly unlike him to ever be that scared. There was something different about the man. Though, couldn't put his finger on it. For a few seconds, Eustace stayed silent, making sure to not trip over his next few words.

"Who d'you think that was, Ms.Lia...?" Eustace said with a forced smile, attempting to play off the fear he had just felt. He was absolutely baffled by the fact that one man's presence could elicit such a powerful response from him. Judging by her ability to tell where he himself was from, he was hoping that Yulia had more information to share.

 

[Castello]

Yulia nodded, smiling. Eustace almost reminded her of someone, but she couldn't exactly pinpoint who. Furthermore, a part of her was sad to see such a young boy entering the exams, likely to fail, but it gave her a sense of confidence as well. If a boy this young was brave enough to approach these exams, she needed to be as well. She gave a genteel nod when he introduce himself, finding it cute the nickname he had given her. She was no 'Ms' but she didn't feel right correcting him.

As she was about to say something, brushing her hair over her scar, a man appeared behind Eustace. Yulia's heart sank, she gave a look of warning, but anything else she feared might put her in danger as well. Time froze as the man came to her ear, whispering the number 50. She didn't know what it meant and that's what scared her. She knew so much about this individual, but not of what he was saying. It was probably a code or worse... An order for something. Yulia breathed in slowly, not looking to see if the man had walked away, she knew he left, his presence she felt so profusely was gone. Doing her best to hide her anxiety, she turned to Eustace as he asked a question, almost afraid to answer, knowing she would have to say 'his' name.

"Gustav Gavin." She put simply, checking her surroundings. "He joins the exams every year... This must be his twentieth time or something. You'd think he'd be a lost cause, but he isn't. He's better than most hunters, but he fails the exams for one reason and one reason only." Yulia said, taking a dramatic pause for a breath. "To kill the competition."

 

[Ziguldo]

For a few brief moments, Eustace seemed somewhat nervous after being informed of Gustav's real purpose at the exams. "That's it, huh...?" He seemed like he was seriously considering something, cupping his chin and furrowing his brows, a habit his grandfather had himself. There were likely so many interesting and promising people out there, each with their own reason for pursuing the path of the hunter. To think that all the potential they had could be so easily snuffed out just utterly terrible! At last, Eustace had finally come to a conclusion.

"The best thing to do would be to help him pass too, right?" While his words seemed completely suicidal, which they most definitely were, Eustace was still able to keep calm as he said them. He saw Gustav visiting other groups of people, likely numbering them as he did with Yulia and himself. Just seeing him there made him afraid. Yet he wasn't deterred by this in the slightest. He was actually thinking of several different plans to do this even while he was speaking to Yulia. The hardest part, of course, would be not getting killed in the process.

It would be a lie to say that Eustace was completely confident he'd be able to pull it off. Besides, what kind of hunter would he make if he couldn't even make such a powerful man pass? If what Yulia said is true, which he was very confident in his belief that it was, the Gustav could potentially be labeling them for their deaths. Could he have a quota to fill? If that were the case, the least he could do is try to survive long enough to avoid the deaths of others. Unfortunately, there wouldn't be much he could do to prevent the deaths of the other applicants, which was an awful realization to come to, in his eyes.

 

[Castello]

Yulia let a out a slightly sigh, placing her palms over her eyes disapprovingly. From Eustace, her eyes gazed off towards Gustav, watching him worry other applicants. From head to toe she observed him. He didn't look especially athletic, but then again he was wearing quite a bit of clothing and nor did he seem like the intelligent kind. He was a mystery, but Yulia knew better not to judge a book by its cover. He was dangerous, she needed to keep her distance from him. Best case scenario, she would never see the man again but that was unlikely.

Her eyes returned to Eustace, removing her goggles. "If you want to die, that's an excellent plan. Last year he killed hundreds taking the exam. Rumour has it he was responsible for one of the proctor's deaths as well, but evidence hasn't found him yet, so he's allowed to take the exam again. He's dangerously silent, keep your guard up and stay a good distance; that's the best thing to do." Yulia said, confident in her words.

As she said that, a loud and angry yell filled the atmosphere. Everyone turned, to see a bald skinned man, standing up to Gustav. "The hell is this? You trying to scare me or confuse me with some stupid number?" The man bellowed, backing up and pulling out his sword, a long, two handed sword he carried with one had. He gave a wry taunt, before charging at Gustav aimlessly, the sword raised above his head ten feet. It was an impressive feat, the sword was much too fast for most people to dodge and it was practically unblockable. Though, she had to feeling it wouldn't be the Gustav's head rolling...

"Fool..." She quietly whispered, getting a nod from the man in the suit right next to her who seemed to understand what she was talking about.

 

[Ziguldo]

Eustace looked down at the ground as Yulia warned him against trying anything, somewhat dissuaded by her words. Not even he could deny that there was a great deal of truth in her words. Self-preservation seemed like a much more alluring option when she put it that way. But adamance was unfortunately a common trait held by most members of the Bell family. If he couldn't do it, the best he could do was try. More importantly, in a way that would benefit those around him, yet still allow the others to survive. The scene that followed, however, did nothing to boost his confidence.

Gustav had apparently assigned the man a number, just as he done before. The target, clearly unnerved by this, decided to attack the Gustav. Eustace could barely see the sword as it moved to slash at Gustav. Before the blade had a chance to cut Gustav, a gunshot could be heard coming in the same direction. Immediately, the man's blade dropped to the ground and a loud scream could be heard. If the man's blade was difficult to see, then Gustav taking out his "How bothersome..." Gustav would state in a low voice, as if ending the man's life would be a chore. "I highly dislike altering my order, but I suppose that exceptions must exist. The number 55 must simply be assigned to someone else." Eustace quickly turned his head down before he could witness what was to come. Several bangs could be heard, the man's screams getting louder and louder until they finally...stopped.

Just a few moments into the hunter's exam and things had already taken a drastic turn for the worst. "I'd still like to try." Eustace said quietly before switching his sitting position to sit more comfortably with his legs crossed, making sure to avoid looking at the foolish man who was presumably a corpse at this point. He took off his backpack and laid it on the floor. If one were to look at the contents inside of it, they would find a five total books clumped together alongside, by far the oddest thing in there, a pickaxe. The books' genre varied greatly from one another, but all had the same basic purposes: furthering Eustace's understanding of the past and providing amusement while he wasn't busy with the hunter exams. Although, for now, all he wanted was his pickaxe, which he grabbed out of the bag, holding it up for Yulia to see.

"I found this way back when I was still little. People always dumped a bunch of weird stuff and we'd always like to find out what was new. One day, I found this really cool pickaxe that looked brand new besides some brown stuff that was on the tip. I was really interested by it so I spent a bunch of time just digging! I did it so much it started feeling as easy as breathing. I could even dig as fast as most people could run once I did it long enough! If I've got any chance at pulling off my plan, I know I can rely on my pickaxe to pull through." While his claims seemed like long-winded lies, Eustace was, in fact, telling the truth. Nowadays, there are several large tunnel ways in Meteor City to support this.

Eustace got so into telling his story that he was completely unaware of the man in a suit right next to Yulia. It was surprising to see that someone other than Yulia had already gotten used to his apparent awful smell, or bear it at least. He chose to simply greet the man, but kept in mind to say it quietly, most seemed very frightened because of the heavy atmosphere.

"Oh, hi there, mister."

 

[Castello]

Yulia's eyes widened as blood splattered her way. She had done so much to prepare for something like this, but she couldn't but feel oppressed and frightened. Her pupils twitched frantically, watching the killer walk away. Wiping the blood on her face, she breathed in, collecting herself as best she could, turning back to face Eustace. The kid's confidence gave her some closure, if he wasn't scared... She couldn't be either. A brave look phased Yulia's face as the boy told her the story of his pick axe. It reminded her of the weapon that was placed on her back. A doubled sided hook shot, an excellent tool and weapon, one she had carefully chosen. It had no interesting story like his pick axe though.

A warm smile came towards Eustace as she placed her weapon over her shoulder. "That's a nice story, Eustace. Not sure how a pickaxe will do against a gunshot, though." She replied, looking over to the dead man, being taken away by one of the applicants. A sigh escaped her throat, turning back to Eustace. "Though, I've seen and heard of weirder weapons used. One thing's for certain, people will not be familiar to fighting with a miner." She said with a gentle smile.

"Quite so, quite so indeed." The man in the suit, Xander, said, giving a quick wave towards Eustace. "Variety is such a handy tool, as long as you have another card up your sleeve, the enemy won't know what hit him." Xander said, motioning towards Gustav. "He's an easy kill, might have one trick up his sleeve, but now that we've seen it, he'll be easy to dispose." He added, now whispering to the pair.

Yulia, obviously unnerved by his surprise eavesdropping gave a reluctant nod, still not interested in fighting the man. "What're you doing here anyway?" Yulia asked shyly. Xander gave a hearty shrug, standing up. "Thought I'd see what our youngest applicants were talking about... I was curious... Very. Curious." Xander said, a wry smile forming on his face as he patted Eustace on the helmet. "I'll see you around then, we'll be seeing much of each other I bet... Toodles!" Xander gave a simple, yet refined wave as a he joined the side of the swordswoman Yulia had noted from earlier. Yulia sighed, looking back to Eustace. Normally someone eavesdropping would phase her as a problem, but she knew Xander was no threat unless they went out of their way to provoke him.

"Don't worry about Xander nor Claire, his shadow. They're more interested in being allies than enemies. Don't trust anyone unless I say they're alright, okay? To some, it doesn't matter if they pass or not... They just want to have a good time, crushing others..."

 

[Ziguldo]

"You think so?" Eustace's interest was clearly piqued by Xander's words. Could it be that Gustav had already expended all of his tricks? Somehow, he doubted this was true. If that truly was all Gustav had up his sleeve, then why would he just waste it on someone much weaker than him? There was also an enormous crowd in front of him, would he really reveal his trump card in front of such a large audience. He doubted it. For some reason, he got really strange vibes from the man. Odder still, these vibes are what made Eustace want to speak to the man even more! But before he got the chance, Xander had already patted his head and proceeded to make his way back to another rather interesting looking woman with a sword. By the end of it, Eustace himself was hoping that they'd be able to meet again. It was at that moment that Yulia had once again started speaking to him.

"Don't worry, Ms.Lia, I'll be careful." Eustace smiled warmly at Yulia. It was somewhat comforting to know that he already had a friend willing to look out for him. However, he intentionally avoided agreeing with Yulia's instructions. There were a bunch of interesting people at the exams. There was no way he'd be able to hold himself back from talking to them, even if it didn't seem as if his new friend would approve of them at first. All of them had their own personal reason for becoming a hunter. Trying to take the exams at all despite knowing of its difficulty and high mortality rate was in itself very brave. While his own reason for taking the exams was quite simple, he wondered what motivation the others had for risking their lives? He supposed that the only way to find out would be by asking.

"Ms.Lia, I'm curious, why'd you decide to take the exams?" Eustace asked, genuinely curious to hear Yulia's words.