𝑩𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔-𝑲.𝑲𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒂

6| 𝑯𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝑬𝒙𝒂𝒎: 𝑷𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑶𝒏𝒆

"Very well then, all 405 applicants will now participate in phase one."

The man turned around and started taking big steps forward soon being followed by the crowd of applicants who followed his every step and speed. 

"Yeah, I didn't think anybody was gonna leave but I hoped a few would duck out at least," Leorio stated. 

The group was walking side by side in the sea of people. That pace was generally slow but almost as if he had heard Leorio, he gradually started gaining speed until he was just a full-on sprinting. As the man sped up the participants also sped up, trying to keep up with the man who was getting incredibly quick.

"Woah! What?" A stunned Leorio exclaimed followed by Gon who commented, 

"I think the people up front have started running." 

"It's because he's picking up the pace," Kurapika added 

The four also started to pick up their pace along with the man as it got faster by the second. 

"How rude of me!" was heard loudly from the front, "I've neglected to introduce myself! I am Satoz, your examiner for the first phase of the Hunters Exam! It's my responsibility to lead you all to the second phase." 

"Second? Whatever happened to the first?" A voice in the crowd questioned 

there was a moment of silence before Satoz answered, "The first phase is already underway." 

A commotion started among the crowd as people began to mumble over the information. 

"The first phase is quite simple." Satoz began explaining, looking back at the crowd, "All you have to do is follow me to the second phase, so try to keep up!"

"Follow you that is all?" 

"That is right, I can not tell you when or where you must arrive so all you need to do is follow me."

"See how it," Kurapika commented to the group as they started to prepare themselves for what was coming 

"Seems to me like a basic endurance." confidence found itself on his face through a smirk as he himself started to speed up more, "And that's right up my alley!" 

(Y/n) knew that this phase was probably the easiest it would get so something as simple as an endurance exam was about what she was expecting but if everything that had happened so far had taught her anything, it was to not rely on her expectations because there was always more, This was testing more than just their endurance. 

The speed kept rising more and more with each step the examiner in front of them took. Determination danced in the air as participants of all ages and backgrounds gathered their might. 

And the first phase of the 287th Hunter Exam had officially begun.

• • • • • • •

The exam had been going on for two hours now. People were already starting to drop. Some from being tripped, others from being too slow to keep up with the still-rising speeds, and some just gave up due to exhaustion, but many still stayed strong. 

The four, though slowly starting to get tired, were also still going. They had originally started running together but had now spread out a bit with Leorio farther in front than the rest of the group. Gon stayed close to (Y/n) and Kurapika, finding himself a little further at times but still close enough until he eventually decided to run further to join Leorio. This as a result left the two younger teens behind alone.