Glass Girl [KilluaxReader]

Say That Again, I Dare You

(Y/N) POV - 3,052 words

We've arrived at Trick Tower and we're all standing at the top. Beans is giving us a rundown of how the next phase is going to work. The green creature clears his throat, drawing everyone's attention, "Everyone, this is the site of the Hunter Exam's Third Phase. You'll be competing here at the top of the Trick Tower."

Some applicants mutter in confusion as Beans continues, unfazed, "In order to pass this phase, you must reach the base of the tower alive. The time limit is 72 hours."

Beans puts his hands up, "And with that, the Exam's Third Phase will now begin. Good luck to each and every one of you."

As Beans departs and everyone looks around, I feel a presence watching us. Must be the examiner from within the Tower. I have to hand it to the Chairman, this is an excellent test. There must be hundreds of ways through, and most of them will take longer than 72 hours if you're not Hunter material. You can't scale the sides either, there are flying, flesh eating creatures who'll pluck you off the side like a worm out of the ground. 

What would you expect? It's a prison for criminals sentenced for longer than life, of course they're going to have precautions in case someone escapes. It doesn't matter if they die attempting to escape, they're never going to have a life outside of here, anyway. 

The others look over the side at the long drop. My fear of heights keeps me well away from the edge, instead sticking towards the middle of the tower. Korako and I finally reunited when we landed, Kurapika having taken good care of him. He yipped and bounded over to me, full of excitement. When he'd gotten five feet away from me, he pounced, knocking me to the ground. I could have stayed standing, but I think it's good practice for him to hunt. It may come in handy later on. 

Korako now stuck to my side like glue, circling around my legs and overall giving me a difficult time walking. It felt like an agility test. I managed to successfully evade every attempt at my heels he'd made, weaving around each other happily. Both of us now start tapping (or scratching) the ground. Trick Tower is hollow, so there has to be someway in from the top. 

Distantly, I hear Leorio ask, "Now what? Are we supposed to climb down?"

"Well, I hope not. That would be suicide," Kurapika says, slightly miffed.

Contestant 86 walks up to them, clearly having listened to their conversation as he says with a chuckle, "Sure, for most guys."

"For an expert rock climber like me, this is going to be a piece of cake," he continues, beginning his descent down quickly and efficiently. You know, it's almost a shame to see him go. He would have been able to put his skill to much better use if he hadn't been so reckless. Oh well, survival of the fittest, I suppose. 

The beating of wings makes him stop in his tracks. Bad move there, buddy. Giant creatures come around the building and scoop him up in their mouths. They look like giant babies with razor sharp teeth and wings. Terrifying. 

"Uh, so, I guess we can't climb down, not this way at least," Leorio's voice quavers. Everyone else is frozen in shock. I can still hear his screams and pleas for help as he's ripped apart. It's making it difficult to hear the hollow knock of a room below me. 

Finally, after an hour of searching, I find a flipping tile. I call Gon and Killua's attention to it, and we all search for more. We find a total of five. There aren't enough for six people, so we decide to try to go two in a tile. After a few minutes of debate, we decide I should go with Killua and Korako will travel with Kurapika, leaving one entire tile for another person. Killua and I will be able to handle ourselves just fine, Gon somehow always finds his way out of perilous situations miraculously. I don't trust Leorio with my worst enemy, nonetheless my best friend—well, that's not exactly it. I'm worried Korako may try to eat him—which leaves Kurapika. My companion seems to like the Kurta boy anyway, so it's a good pairing.