Chapter 15

Time flew by, and thirty hours passed in a blink.

As more and more candidates arrived at the venue, the originally spacious and open passage quickly became crowded.

Moreover, with so many people and mixed gazes, Allen did not use this time to enter a dungeon but instead sat quietly with his eyes closed, gradually adjusting his body and mind to reach their peak state.

During this period, it was unclear whether the aura of Nen that the two had previously released had frightened the other candidates, or whether Zoldyck had been continuously emitting a chilling aura, making everyone feel tense. In any case, everything seemed so calm.

Even the "Great God Domba," who usually liked to secretly cause trouble for new candidates, took the rare step of not taking any action.

"Half-Zang, Bokur, Pons, Amori the three brothers, Baudel... It seems that only these few have the true potential to become Hunters."

While drinking sweet and sour strawberry juice to replenish his fluids, Allen observed the various candidates, especially the life energy, or Nen, that they unconsciously emitted from their bodies.

According to the ancient source Yungu in the anime, Nen is actually the development and application of one's life energy, and theoretically, anyone can learn it.

Even ordinary people, when their emotions change or when they are highly focused, will unconsciously release Nen, sometimes even embedding it into their creations to be preserved permanently.

Moreover, the Red Dragon, the Nen beast, has special abilities in this area, capable of sensing the potential and talent of each person, easily distinguishing who will become more powerful when they learn Nen and who will remain mediocre.

Of course, this only refers to the pure upper limit of Nen, not the various specific abilities they might develop.

As mentioned by Nen Master Morow in the Chimera Ant arc, the outcome of a battle between Nen users is not determined solely by the amount of Nen. It also includes battle wisdom, experience, mental strength, willpower, endurance, observational skills, judgment, environmental factors, and whether one has the strong will and determination to make great sacrifices at critical moments to enhance their Nen.

Theoretically, there is no absolute outcome in a battle between two Nen users.

As long as the disparity in strength is not so great that there is no hope of victory, the weaker party always has a chance to turn the tide.

Without a doubt, Allen was in a favorable position from the start in his upcoming confrontation with Zoldyck.

He knew the two Nen abilities Zoldyck possessed, "Unlimited Love" and "Thin Illusion," as well as his habits and thought processes in battle.

But what about Zoldyck?

He had no idea about his opponent's current abilities.

Just from this point, Allen had a significant advantage.

However, from another perspective, Zoldyck never let his opponents know his abilities.

He always had absolute confidence that he could use his two seemingly weak abilities freely in battle, deceiving his opponents and formulating targeted strategies based on the situation, achieving his goals through deception and tactics.

In short, he was the type of Nen user who liked to adapt to the situation in battle, never needing to prepare in advance and always able to perform at 100% power at any time.

In stark contrast was the leader of the Phantom Troupe, Kurolo.

This guy almost never engaged in battle with unknown powerful enemies unless he had absolute confidence.

Once he decided to fight someone, he would have 100% of the opponent's information and use his Nen ability "Thief's Ambition" to prepare a counter, considering all parameters and meticulously designing a script to ensure the battle proceeded exactly as planned until the enemy fell.

In other words, if he agreed to a one-on-one battle, the outcome was already determined from the moment he agreed.

This was evident in his battle with Zoldyck in the Dark Continent arc, where he even used the power of his subordinates, and the judges and audience became tools in his plan.

Zoldyck, who never even touched Kurolo, was killed by a series of Nen abilities and tactics.

In a sense, this was not a one-on-one duel but a group attack by the entire Phantom Troupe on Zoldyck, with some members possibly hiding in the audience to help.

After Zoldyck was resurrected by his strong will after death, it was not hard to understand why he killed the侠客 and Kube, who had lent their abilities to Kurolo, out of revenge.

...

Just as Allen was deep in thought about the Nen users in the anime and their various Nen and battle styles, trying to find some patterns or take some lessons, the elevator dinged again.

In the next second, Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio walked out.

Especially Gon, with his keen sense of smell, immediately found Allen and Roubus sitting in the corner and ran over with a smile, saying, "Allen! We meet again! And you, Roubus."

"Yes, we meet again. Do you want some strawberry juice?" Allen smiled and offered a drink.

"Thanks! I was just a bit thirsty!"

Without a word, Gon raised the cup and drank it all down, then shouted with shining eyes, "Wow! This is so good! It feels like my mental fatigue has been swept away! Can I have another cup?"

"Of course."

Allen immediately "refilled" the cup for him, while secretly marveling at the sharp intuition and perception of a top-tier Enhancer, who could immediately taste the energy in the strawberry juice.

His strawberry juice was not ordinary; it was a loot item from a dungeon level 40 and above, capable of restoring nearly 2000 points of mana when fully consumed.

However, in the Hunter world, there was no such thing as mana, so ordinary people drinking it would recover mental energy and dispel mental fatigue.

"Hey! Looks like you've had a good rest since arriving early at the exam venue," Leorio said, waving as he walked over.

"Strange... Why are the other candidates so far away? There's so much empty space here." Kurapika, with his keen mind, noticed that the other candidates' attitudes toward Allen and Zoldyck were a bit off. They had spontaneously left a large space around the two, and their eyes were filled with complex emotions like fear and dread.

"Hehe, maybe I'm just not very likable," Allen shrugged, feigning helplessness.

There was no way around it!

Although he did not constantly emit the aura of his battle enthusiasm like Zoldyck, Roubus emitted a warning aura that kept others at bay.

Anyone who entered this range immediately felt fear, hostility, and difficulty breathing.

Like animals using scent to mark their territory, Roubus used Nen to mark a no-go zone.

However, since Gon and his group had met them on the ship and Allen had given the command not to attack, Roubus considered them part of his owner's friend circle and temporarily stopped emitting the aura.

Just as Gon was about to excitedly recount the interesting adventures of the past two days, the iron gate at the front of the tunnel finally opened again.

The first exam proctor, Satz, rang a bell and explained the dangers of the Hunter Exam to the candidates, asking if anyone wanted to withdraw.

After confirming that no one was withdrawing, he decisively began the first test, leading the way down the tunnel and quickly increasing his pace to a speed that required the candidates to run to keep up.

For Allen, whose Hunter class template had a life value that never fatigued as long as it wasn't reduced to zero, this test was completely effortless.

Moreover, he summoned his recently "expensively" purchased Dark Night Elf racial mount, the Swift Thunderblade Leopard, and rode it in full view of everyone.

After all, a "thousand-gold horse" is meant to be shown off.

If he couldn't show off in public, what was the point of spending so much money...

PS: New book, please follow and recommend, thank you very much.