The moment the airship touched down atop Trick Tower, I felt something harden in my gut. This was no ordinary trial, it was a test of wills. Its examiners Lippo and Togari. Lippo, the Blacklist Hunter and prison warden, observed every candidate from his control room. Togari, the former Hunter examiner, returned specifically to face Hisoka, one of the world's most dangerous Nen users.
Forty candidates began this phase. Two died between the Second and Third Phases courtesy of Killua Zoldyck after a lost bet with Netero and I claimed their number tags pinned on their chests. I'd stash them, for... well, future use. That left me and 38 others at the tower's peak, given 72 hours to reach its base.
The roof was a gauntlet: open-air fauna, snarling creatures designed to deter anyone scaling downward. Some used the sparse trapdoors only one use each to drop into the tower directly.
I pushed Tonpa, yes, that annoying candidate and shoved him forward so I'd take the his drop in the trap door. As I joined Gon, Killua, Leorio, and Kurapika, as we meet the inmates ahead.
Bendot:
A hulking, muscled ex-military type tried to fight me first. No sentimentality here, he was death row candidate, no sympathy. I sprayed my pepper into his face before he fully reacted, blinded, tearing, coughing. Then I fired my taser gun into his chest; the voltage curled his muscles like marionettes without strings as he fell to the ground. I delivered a kick that sent him over an edge into darkness. No cheers, just silence. The way the rules went, in the arena.
Sedokan:
Sedokan, a serial bomber, smiled cruelly. He offered a candle duel: each picks a candle; the first to go out loses, regardless of reason. One candle was longer. The other short. His trick? Sleight-of-hand. No matter which cue candle I chose, he gave me an oil‑soaked wick, and kept the regular one. Gon insisted on trying. Once Gon and Sedokan lit candles, Sedokan confidently smirked, his wax smooth. Gon simply blew Sedokan's candle out. A brilliant move.
Majtani:
Majtani, tattoos of a spider's arms and heart-stamps across his chestas he claimed he was a Troupe membership. But Kurapika, ever observant, recognized the inconsistency: real Troupe members engrave their number into the spider design. Majtani had no number. He stuttered when confronted and anger flared. The battle was quick as kurapika's eyes turned red and he beat Majtani with one punch, and than walked back, but Majjtani pretended to be knock-out, and leorio showen everyone than he was pertending, the rounds came to an end.
Together, we beat 3 out of 5 rounds, making us the winners. The next room brought us to a chamber with two massive metal doors. The instructions: we could all press on but face the slower five-hour descent metal door, or leave two behind and use the fifteen-minute metal door.
I didn't waste any time. I strapped on my one‑handed power screwdriver, a weird tool for a normal exam. In silence, I knelt and used the screwdriver to remove the bolts from the fifteen-minute door. Sparks, hand strain. Within moments, the door unlocked and fell to the floor.
"We can go now," I said.
I exhaled as I hit the ground. The final chamber was barren, a wide open room, metallic walls. In one corner: Hisoka, casually leaning, as he plays a card game. In the center: a dead body, an examiner who didn't make it. I moved immediately, kneeling to detach the dead man's two small knifes. Hisoka smiled slowly, almost pleased. I met his gaze.
The Third Phase was over.