Who Says A God Can't Be A Hunter Too?

Chapter 14

Despite the fact that the Third Phase was at hand, I don't feel very light of heart. I can't shake the dream I had this morning. I wrapped my arms around myself, standing silently in the middle of the throng of other applicants.

"Ahem."

Our attention was drawn to the Chairman's Secretary, Beans. Looking chipper as ever, he stood in front of the airship with a smile, addressing the lot of us.

"Everyone, the exam's Third Phase will begin here, at the top of Trick Tower."

"Trick Tower?"

A gut feeling told me we wouldn't be dealing some magician's cute bag of tricks for little kids to enjoy.

"To past this phase, you must reach the tower's base alive. The time limit is seventy-two hours," he explained. "With that, we will now begin the Third Phase. I will pray for your success."

What a nice lima bean.

Airship departing, Beans spoke once again over the intercom.

"Best of luck to everyone!"

With that, we were left alone.

'Well, no sense in just standing around,' I thought, observing my surroundings. Only problem – there wasn't much to look at. Going to the edge of the tower, I could hypothesize that it was an enormous spire, erected atop a plateau with no way down, at least to the naked eye.

'Well then, I guess it's finally time for me to use what abilities I do have if I plan to make it down in only seventy-two hours...' I thought with a heavy sigh, bowing my head and attempting to focus my energy.

A scream suddenly sounded and was cut off just as abruptly, and I jerked my head up just in time to see hideous, bird-like creatures flying overhead, blood leaking from one's jaw. I grimaced and turned away, and stood face-to-face with Hisoka.

I greeted him with the same grimace instead of a smile, sighing heavily once more.

"Sleep well, little fruit?" Hisoka inquired.

I shook my head, the corners of my mouth still pulled downwards.

Unexpectedly he reached out his hand, the pad of his thumb gently tracing the dark circles under my eye. "Your eyes are red," he stated, his other fingers brushing softly against my cheek. Strangely, the gesture made me feel slightly better, and I allowed the hint of a smile to play on my lips.

"Even away from you I didn't get much sleep. Quite ironic, don't you think?" I asked, reaching up and gently pulling his hand away.

Eyes narrowed, he smiled at me, replying, "Quite."

Turning to look at the other applicants who wandered around the top of the tower, I commented, "Now we just need to get past this phase, and just maybe I'll get another chance to rest. Hopefully this one won't be as disturbed. So, what are your ideas on getting down?"

I looked over at Hisoka, who was observing the others just as I was. "There are trap doors scattered all around the top of the tower. So the solution seems simple enough – find a panel."

I didn't feel very comfortable falling through some trap door into God-knows-where, but there seemed to be no other option. Forcing a smile, I looked up at the magician. "Well then, if we survive, I suppose I'll see you at the bottom of the tower."

'It should be easy enough to find a trap door – merely using Gyo in my eyes; I should be able to...'

I took a single step forward and gave a startled cry as the floor beneath me opened up, and I was engulfed in darkness.