Ten blades surrounded him. A whirlwind of steel.
Ryker was forced back a step, but his expression remained calm.
The next moment, Menchi's barrage intensified. But just as she prepared to overwhelm him, Ryker's left hand shot into the curtain of blades.
"Ah! You're crazy! Careful!" Menchi gasped.
She had wanted to teach him a lesson, not maim a candidate before the Chairman's review. Instinctively, she dismissed the Conjured blades to avoid slicing his hand off.
But Ryker didn't stop. He ignored the vanishing aura and grabbed the real knife—the one Menchi was holding in her right hand.
Clack.
With a twist of his wrist, he disarmed her. In the same motion, he spun behind her, pressing the flat of his own fillet knife against her throat.
A single drop of blood beaded on her skin.
Silence.
The courtyard was frozen. Even the wind seemed to stop.
Menchi's mind went blank.
She had lost.
Not in cooking. In combat.
To a candidate.
He had reached through her Hundred-Blossom Blade Wheel and disarmed her. It was humiliation absolute.
[You have defeated Examiner Menchi.]
[Rolling for Copy (10%)... Success!]
[Acquired: [Nen: Hundred-Blossom Blade Wheel (Conjuration)] (Blue).]
[System Note: Fusing trait... Knowledge acquired.]
Perfect.
Ryker felt the knowledge settle in his mind. The ability to conjure multiple blades, control them telekinetically, and form defensive perimeters.
He had it. His first real Nen ability.
Now, he just needed to open his aura nodes to use it.
"Menchi..."
High in a tree, Satotz lowered his binoculars, stunned. Of the three examiners, Menchi was arguably the most combat-proficient. And she had just been dismantled.
"This fruit..." Hisoka murmured, his eyes narrowing. "Just for a second... I felt Nen."
It was faint, but unmistakable. Ryker had used something beyond physical strength.
"HAHAHAHA! Well now, isn't this strict?"
A voice boomed from the sky.
Everyone looked up. A massive airship emblazoned with the Hunter Association logo descended through the clouds.
"The Selection Committee?" someone whispered.
Before the airship even landed, a figure jumped from the open bay door.
He was hundreds of meters in the air.
BOOM.
He hit the ground like a meteor, but the dust cloud was surprisingly small. As it cleared, an old man stood there. He wore a simple kimono, wooden geta sandals, and had earlobes stretched long with age. His topknot was white, but his eyes were sharp as a hawk's.
Isaac Netero. The Chairman.
"That old man... he jumped from 300 meters and didn't break a leg?"
"Monster."
"Is he human?"
The candidates parted, forming a circle around the legend.
"Menchi held back," Netero said, walking up to Ryker with a smile. "But to defeat an examiner is still impressive. Young man, put the knife away."
He reached out and pinched Ryker's blade.
Ryker blinked.
He hadn't seen the movement. One second Netero was walking; the next, he was holding the knife. It was a glitch in reality.
Fast. Impossibly fast.
Ryker released the knife. "Self-defense, Chairman. No offense intended."
"I hate this kid," Menchi muttered, rubbing her neck. But the taste of Nine-Turn Intestines still lingered in her memory, fueling her rage.
"Hahaha! A polite young man!" Netero laughed, his eyes scanning Ryker.
Ryker scanned him back.
Name: Isaac Netero
Traits: [Martial Arts Pinnacle] (Black), [Nen Grandmaster] (Red), [Taijutsu Grandmaster] (Red), [Absolute Will] (Red), [Justice] (Gold), [Lust] (Purple)...