Riku slightly narrowed his eyes to clearly see the person approaching through the fog.
The red-haired, demonic, and alluring Murder Clown Hisoka.
The gaze he directed at Riku was incredibly fiery, as if he were admiring an exquisitely beautiful work of art. It also looked exactly like he was examining his prized prey.
"What a true surprise. I originally thought that little guy was already a rare, delicious fruit, but I later realized that you are actually the target of my dreams."
Hisoka stared at Riku, licking his lips, the corners of his mouth curving into a psychopathic smile.
Riku stared right back at him.
However, he was looking at the traits floating above his body!
Na: Hisoka Traits: [Super Intuition] (Red), [Transmuter Nen Master] (Gold), [Taijutsu Genius] (Gold), [Masochist] (Purple), etc.
What a fantastic prey!
Riku also grew visibly excited.
The raw excitent gleaming in Riku's eyes made Hisoka freeze for a mont.
This was an unprecedented feeling.
For the very first ti, he found that his prey did not fear him in the slightest. In fact, the look the other party gave him was so familiar, yet so unnerving.
What exactly was this feeling?
Hisoka furrowed his brows slightly.
A flash of inspiration struck, and in an instant, he understood.
Right!
Prey!
The gaze the other party was using to look at him was exactly the sa fiery, ravenous gaze one uses when staring down prey!
What is going on?
This guy? Is he actually treating as his prey?
Hahahahaha!
This is absolutely the funniest joke in the world.
[Monstrous Strength] (Gold)
[Extre Speed] (Gold)
[Natural Born Assassin] (Gold) (Passive)
[Zoldyck Assassination Arts] (Gold) (Rhythm Echo)
...
In a split second.
Riku vanished from where he stood.
The smile on Hisoka's face froze, and his figure also moved like an elusive phantom.
Bang—
In the fog two ters away.
The two figures exchanged a head-on blow.
Both sides were incredibly fast; the entire exchange happened in a re instant.
Hisoka blocked Riku's fist with the palm of his hand.
But after pulling back, his heart was completely shaken. The intense pain transmitting from his palm made him feel as if he had been ruthlessly smashed by a heavy sledgehamr.
This guy's physical strength was far too imnse.
Caught off guard, Hisoka had habitually used a casual move ant to toy with his opponents. This resulted in the palm of his right hand becoming almost completely numb.
Before Hisoka could even react.
Riku, who hadn't even touched the ground yet, rebounded back like a coiled spring at extre speed, and once again...
Charged up a heavy punch!
This ti, Hisoka didn't dare to catch it with one hand; he could only cross both arms to block.
Boom—
The terrifying power instantly blasted Hisoka backward. His legs dragged heavily across the grassy ground, leaving a deep trail nearly ten ters long before he barely managed to stop himself.
But Hisoka felt an agonizing pain, as if both of his arms were about to snap in half.
So strong!
This fruit he had set his sights on was actually unexpectedly strong; it was simply far too perfect!
He was clearly just a teenager, yet he could erupt with such terrifying physical power.
This level of raw strength was even more astonishing than an average strength-oriented Pro Hunter.
One must rember that this brat currently had absolutely no ability to use Nen!
Possessing [Super Endurance] (Gold), Riku didn't care about this level of energy consumption at all. Once the battle fell into his rhythm, the only thing waiting for the opponent was a storm-like barrage of attacks.
Another terrifying punch rained down.
At this mont, Hisoka's expression finally changed.
Boom—
He was hit again, but Riku's fist punched right through him—it was actually just an afterimage.
The fist landed on the grass, instantly blowing open a massive crater two to three ters in diater.
Riku also stopped his movents.
anwhile, Hisoka's voice erged from the distant fog, growing further and further away.
"How interesting! Little guy, you truly live up to being the delicacy I care about most. But now is not the ti to taste you yet. I look forward to you becoming even more delicious; that will be a truly thrilling and exciting mont, hehehehehe..."
Hisoka's figure completely disappeared into the thick mist.
Riku slowly unclenched his fist, his expression incredibly calm.
[Ding! You and Hisoka have entered a combat stance.]
[Ding! The system has judged that you defeated the opponent. 10% chance to automatically copy an opponent's trait. Copying...]
[Ding! Copy failed.]
...
Heh.
His luck wasn't bad, and he ran away quite fast.
Hisoka.
Riku sneered coldly.
The system judged that the opponent lost this brief exchange.
But in reality, if the two sides were to fight a true life-and-death battle...
Riku was confident he could take down Hisoka, but the price he would have to pay certainly wouldn't be small.
After all.
He was currently still purely a taijutsu master and could not yet use Nen.
But as long as he could open his aura nodes and awaken Nen!
He could even stack the Nen traits of various Pro Hunters. When that ti ca... he wouldn't need anything else; the pure pressure of his Nen alone would absolutely force Hisoka to his knees.
Or, he could completely wipe out the Phantom Troupe!
Those traits... hehe...
Hisoka.
Your good days are numbered, so you better cherish them well.
Riku sneered in his heart, turned around, and left.
...
Four hours later.
At the end of the wetlands.
Rumble!
Rumble!
Two Strawberry Turtles ended their lives under Riku's heavy punches, once again dropping a [Longevity] (Purple) and a [Turtle Shell] trait for him.
"So strong! Riku-nii, you are practically like a monster!"
Leorio and Kurapika, who had just been rescued, were deeply shocked.
They were completely helpless against these giant monsters, yet in front of Riku, the beasts didn't have the slightest power to resist.
Killed in a single direct strike!
"Riku-nii is amazing!!"
Gon-kun's eyes sparkled brightly.
Killua didn't say a word, but he was incredibly astonished inside.
The end zone of the wetland plains was getting smaller and smaller, so it was perfectly normal for everyone to converge here.
Aside from Gon-kun and Killua being swallowed by a Frog-in-Waiting—only to be spat back out because Killua's intense immunity to poison made him toxic to the frog...
Kurapika and Leorio's journey had been surprisingly smooth, only running into the Strawberry Turtles just now.
Originally, they would have suffered through Hisoka's deadly testing.
But this ti, after testing Riku, the man had beco incredibly well-behaved.
In reality, this was the normal content of the exam. As long as ordinary candidates made it through these plains and survived the jaws of these bizarre monsters, they were considered to have successfully passed.
For Riku's group, there was no difficulty whatsoever.
Examiner Satotz and a large number of candidates were already waiting up ahead.
Appearing before everyone's eyes was an imposing, fortress-like estate.
Because Riku spent a considerable amount of ti hunting monsters along the way, he, along with Gon-kun and the others, actually arrived quite late in the pack.
The number of candidates who had arrived here so far was just barely over a hundred.
"Thank you for your hard work, everyone! You have safely crossed the Nure Wetlands! This is Biska Forest Park, which serves as the venue for the Second Phase of the exam!"
"The next phase will be overseen by new examiners. I sincerely hope all of you can smoothly pass the upcoming trials!"
"Farewell, everyone!"
...
The mustache examiner, Satotz, smiled and gave a very gentlemanly bow.
Then, he strode away with his signature, wide-paced walk. The grand gates of the solemn estate before them slowly creaked open.
The situation inside was finally revealed to the remaining candidates.
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