Possessing Lumos had limitations. Liam's observation ability took a hit when operating through someone else's body. He couldn't tell exactly when Bisky had noticed something wrong. Couldn't pinpoint when she'd started watching him watching her.
How could a tiger have any bad intentions? Why'd you run away on the spot, Aunt Bisky?
Liam cursed internally.
Since that day, Biscuit Krueger hadn't appeared anywhere on Ghost Island. Not once.
Had she actually left the island entirely?
Liam could only leave standing orders for Lumos to keep watching. Waiting for Bisky to show up again.
He'd checked in today after landing. Nothing. The woman had vanished like smoke.
After confirming at the town's self-service kiosk that Hunter Exam registration had indeed closed, Liam looked up at the sky and sighed.
Guess the opportunity to stomp newbies and show off would have to wait until next year.
Setting aside the exam for now, Liam and his group found a restaurant in town. Time for a proper meal. They'd been living off fish and seawater for days. Even the normally aloof Kite and the reserved Kurapika didn't hesitate. The speed at which these Nen users demolished table after table of food left Vi standing there with her jaw hanging open.
Most restaurants in the seaside town specialized in seafood.
Liam and the others were so sick of looking at fish that they ordered everything else on the menu. Chicken, beef, pork, vegetables. They almost cleaned out the restaurant's entire non-seafood inventory.
Except Shizuku.
She'd been floating on the ocean for days and could still eat fish and shrimp like it was nothing. Liam had known her for months now and had never seen her have a poor appetite. As long as she needed to eat and the food was edible, she'd finish it calmly without leaving scraps.
Liam bit his straw, staring into the middle distance.
Theo and Vi watched them with open curiosity. Especially Theo. He still didn't understand how his arm and ribs had been shattered, but now he could move freely like nothing had happened. If the memory of breaking bones wasn't so vivid, he'd think it had been an illusion.
Who were these people? Why did they emerge from the sea? Had they been in a shipwreck? If so, none of them seemed interested in seeking help. And why did that sea monster leave quietly like a released pet?
This guy staring into space looked confident about the Hunter Exam. He had to have unusual abilities.
Theo had encountered too many strange things today. He had the excited feeling of someone who'd accidentally glimpsed the corner of a magical world. The world where Hunters lived.
"Do you want to be a Hunter?" The dazed man finally noticed his staring.
"Yes!" Theo nodded enthusiastically.
Vi rolled her eyes in disgust.
Kurapika, who'd already set down his chopsticks, glanced over.
Of course he knew that with Liam's ability, opening this kid's aura nodes would be easy. Once awakened and with practice, Theo's chances of passing the Hunter Exam would skyrocket. Kurapika himself had never taken the real Hunter Exam, but he didn't expect it to be harder than learning Nen.
This boy was like Kurapika last year.
But Liam had treated them completely differently. Unlike when he'd directly awakened Kurapika's Nen, Liam faced the boy's enthusiasm with simple encouragement: "That's great! But I suggest you wait until you're strong enough before applying."
"How strong is strong enough?" Theo asked. "If I dare to dive the Eye of Death, would that be enough?"
"Hey!" Vi snapped at him.
Shizuku was extracting meat from a human-arm-sized crab claw. She looked up curiously. "What's the Eye of Death?"
Liam patted his stomach, which was getting uncomfortably full. He answered casually, "How would I know? Didn't you just see? I wanted to register, but I missed the deadline!"
Theo looked disappointed.
Kite spoke up suddenly. "If you want to become a Hunter, you need basic combat."
Everyone looked at him.
Kurapika knew that Kite was a professional Hunter who'd actually passed the exam.
Liam knew even more. Kite's words were based on the First Commandment of Hunters: "Every Hunter must have basic martial arts." And basic martial arts, in reality, meant Nen.
Kite pulled out another hat from somewhere and put it on. "I'm not in a position to disclose the form and content of the Hunter Exam. I can't reveal that. But at minimum, you should have the stamina to run..." He paused. "Two hundred kilometers."
"Also, try to broaden your knowledge base. It's always useful." He stood up. That second part was directed at Liam and the others.
Liam grinned. "Why? We just didn't register. If we had, maybe Netero would've called us personally and approved us directly!"
Bragging was free, after all.
Kite showed a rare smile and lowered his hat brim. "Anyway, this is goodbye. Maybe we'll see each other again if fate allows."
Liam knew Kite had already received his main quest from Ging. Now he was itching to find his elusive master.
"Speaking of which..." Liam stood from the table. "I'll walk you out."
Liam walked Kite to the restaurant entrance, then asked, "As far as I know, the Hunter Association arranges one-on-one tutoring for new Hunters who pass the exam. Professional Hunters help them learn and master the basics of Nen."
Kite nodded. "That's correct."
"So Ging was your teacher?"
Liam asked curiously, "But your Nen is so strong. You don't look like a newbie who just passed the instructor test."
Kite looked at him. "Your Nen isn't weak either. But you haven't even taken the Hunter Exam yet."
Liam smiled.
Kite gazed into the distance. "It's because of Ging that I wanted to become a Hunter."
"Before taking the exam, I learned a lot of skills under Ging's guidance." He continued, "If not for him, I would've starved to death in the slums."
The words were touching, but Liam still asked in an awkward tone, "In that case, the Hunter Association shouldn't have gone to the trouble of arranging a teacher for you." He raised a finger. "Even if the other examiners were mistaken, I don't think Chairman Netero couldn't see that you're already a Nen user. And a strong one."
In the manga, people like Hisoka, and Illumi, who were suspected to be professional Hunters already, didn't get instructors arranged for them. It was unclear who would guide whom.
"I don't know about that," Kite said. "After I passed the Hunter Exam, Ging appeared again as my mentor on the road to professional hunting. Apparently it was arranged by Chairman Netero."
Liam thought to himself: Like how Menchi's novice teacher was Ginta.
Did Ging volunteer for this? Or was Netero messing around?
Ging's random whims were unpredictable. As for Netero, he was the "wicked Netero" according to Bisky's evaluation. The old man couldn't have failed to notice Kite's ability. He probably knew about Ging and Kite's relationship too. But at the same time, the sneaky old man was well aware of Ging's inconsistent personality. Out of mischievous curiosity, he'd deliberately made Ging Kite's teacher, hoping to see what entertaining chaos would result when Ging had nothing to teach.
So now here they were. Where had Ging, this irresponsible master, disappeared to?
Highlighting his complete lack of creativity. Years from now Ging had left a similar quest for his own son, Gon, back home on Whale Island. Quietly sitting in a small box, just waiting for Gon to get older and develop the idea of becoming a Hunter. Then he'd trigger a similar main quest called "Where's Dad?"
Speaking of which, after Kite left today, his first stop looking for Ging might be Ging's hometown, Whale Island.
That's where he'd meet Gon in distress in the mountains, triggering the bond between them like Red Hair Shanks and Luffy. Though he wouldn't risk an arm like Shanks did, he'd still leave Ging's Hunter License with Gon, just like Shanks left his straw hat.
In other words, three years from now would mark the beginning of the so-called Hunter official history.
After saying goodbye to Kite, Liam returned to the restaurant, lost in thought. He glanced at the nervous and dejected boy. "Is this Eye of Death you mentioned famous?"
"Of course!" Theo said. "It's a... it's a... anyway, it's a super powerful abyss whirlpool! Every year, countless people from all over the world come to challenge it..."
Liam asked, "How powerful? Is it as powerful as the World Tree?"
Shizuku looked up curiously. "What's the World Tree?"
"The tallest tree in the world." Liam said. "Supposedly, every day of every year, countless challengers try to climb to the top."
Theo said, "I've never seen the World Tree, so I don't know. But the Eye of Death, I'm definitely going to challenge it! Because I want to become a Hunter!"
Vi complained, "You should give up that idea. Have you forgotten how many people died just from jumping? I think the two hundred kilometer run goal is more realistic." Both goals were scary, but at least running two hundred kilometers wouldn't kill you by jumping off a cliff, right?
Liam asked, "How deep is this abyss whirlpool called the Eye of Death? There should be official statistics, right?"
"Two hundred and nine meters." Theo answered instantly.
Liam looked at the boy's small frame. More importantly, the aura in his body. Ordinary people had aura too. Since ordinary people didn't control it independently, their aura better reflected their true physical condition in Liam's eyes. This boy's strength was quite average. Less than half of what Kurapika had been before awakening.
Outside the restaurant, Theo watched them leaving. "Are you going to challenge the Eye of Death?" he asked with anticipation and excitement.
"Not challenge." Liam said. "But I want to see it. There seem to be many natural wonders and challenging secrets in the world. If I get the chance, I really want to go see them all..."
People who liked challenging death were everywhere. There were countless cases of people falling to death just trying to climb the World Tree.
True, he wouldn't actively kill people to harvest death energy. But that didn't stop him from preferring to visit places where casualties were likely to occur. Better chance of obtaining death energy, right?
Oaths and restrictions were double-edged swords. Gain one part, lose another.
The price for powerful abilities was tying yourself up.
Liam had tied himself on the Oath, but not completely.
He'd restricted the part about "actively killing and harvesting death energy, letting go of greed." But he hadn't restricted the part about "people are going to die anyway, rather than wasting it on nature, might as well let me salvage it."
Watching the boy being comforted by Vi as they left, Kurapika said, "I thought you'd awaken his Nen."
Liam gave him a strange look. "Did you drink too much? My services are precious. They cost money. Just to awaken your Nen, you basically sold yourself to me, didn't you?"
Kurapika's eyes instantly became dead. How could this guy say such harsh things?
Shizuku spoke up. "It might not be good for ordinary people to be awakened."
Liam and Kurapika both looked at her.
Shizuku continued, "If someone with strong malicious aura passes by, an ordinary person who doesn't know about Nen will remain ignorant and continue living normally. But once they can sense aura, even vaguely, in that case..."
"They'll probably be traumatized for life," Liam said. "Panic all day long."
"More than that," Kurapika pondered. "Reacting to someone with strong malicious aura is more likely to attract their attention and interest. The outcome probably won't be good." He paused, then whispered, "Perhaps this is why Nen ability isn't widely taught." He sighed.
As long as the method was correct, anyone could learn Nen.
But not everyone was good at practicing it, let alone practicing diligently enough to accumulate real strength. If through some method all people could be awakened, then for most ordinary people, the result might not increase happiness. It might even be the opposite.
In a world where extraordinary powers existed, maybe ignorance was its own kind of blessing. The powerful Hunter Knov had sensed the malicious aura of the three Royal Guards from a distance and was so terrified he went bald and aged several years. Replace him with an ordinary person who knew nothing? It wouldn't be a big deal.
At the train station in the small town, Liam looked at Kurapika.
"Are you sure you want to go?"
"Yeah." Kurapika nodded. "I want to continue searching for my clan's eyes."
He stopped Liam's next words and smiled. "You've helped me too much already. Next, I want to act on my own."
"No matter what, remember to register for the Hunter Exam at the end of the year." Liam extended his fist. When Kurapika also extended his fist, Liam suddenly opened his hand and rubbed Kurapika's head, messing up his blond hair into a bird's nest.
Kurapika's eyes closed. His fists clenched. He took a deep breath. "Of course. Having a formal Hunter License will be more convenient."
Kurapika still bumped fists with Liam. "See you next year."
He also nodded to Shizuku, then turned and entered the station, disappearing into the crowd.
"Only us two again," Liam said.
"Yeah." Shizuku said. "Want to go shopping?"
"Let's go." Liam put his arm around her shoulders and walked toward the street. "Let's shop first, then visit the Eye of Death, and then we'll see where the World Tree is. Oh, is there a big hospital here? A slaughterhouse would work too..."