Arrival at the Finish

They ran for another half hour.

The candidates lagging behind were drenched in sweat, their mouths dry and parched.

Even breathing in the scorching air made their bodies feel miserable.

Still, anyone who had made it this far was no ordinary candidate. Lucky observed that over half of them did not appear overly exhausted.

Of course, thirst was unavoidable for many candidates.

Some had come prepared. After learning about the conditions here, they had bought water and would not suffer from dehydration for the time being.

Suddenly, Lucky's car jolted.

They had left the "hard road."

So they were finally changing course!

Feeling the change beneath their feet, all the candidates understood that this should mark the latter half of the exam.

That was both good news and bad news.

The good news was that it meant half the exam time had passed.

The bad news was that leaving the highway meant encountering all kinds of dangers, and running through the desert would require far more effort.

Tina paid no attention to the changes in the candidates' moods. She simply kept running steadily forward.

Lucky's car could have kept going, but the sand suddenly churned.

A massive figure burst from beneath the sand—directly under Lucky's car.

It was so huge that it swallowed the entire vehicle in one bite.

All the candidates stared at one another in shock.

Tina sensed it as well, but merely smiled.

There was naturally a reason she had not stopped Lucky from taking the exam by car.

In the latter half of the exam,

the vehicle would be unable to climb steep slopes, and its size and weight made it easy for it to trigger or sink into quicksand.

Beyond that, the noise of driving and the vibrations it caused in the desert terrain made it far more likely to draw attacks from dangerous desert creatures.

The creature that had suddenly leapt out was a Sand Worm from the Vita Desert.

It was enormous. Sensing the vibrations created by the car, it had mistaken it for some large animal and swallowed both vehicle and driver in one bite.

The other candidates were all startled. They had guessed that dangerous creatures would appear in the desert.

But such a gigantic creature still frightened them.

Some candidates who had gathered information in the city also knew what kind of creature it was.

A Sand Worm, one of the most dangerous creatures in the Vita Desert.

Seeing this, some candidates took pleasure in Lucky's misfortune.

Served you right for showing off.

But they had barely formed that thought

when the giant Sand Worm, which had been about to burrow back into the sand, suddenly exploded all over.

Its body split into four pieces, spraying green blood everywhere.

A figure leapt out from within it, while the wreckage of the car fell into the desert.

Lucky appeared completely unharmed. Not even a trace of Sand Worm blood or remains stained him.

A threat like that naturally could not affect Lucky in the slightest.

Some sharp-eyed candidates had already noticed the scattered wreckage of the vehicle and the clean, perfect cuts on it.

Though they did not know what method Lucky had used,

it had made one thing perfectly clear: Lucky was not someone to be messed with.

"I was careless!"

That Sand Worm probably had not burrowed over to attack him. Otherwise, there was no way his senses would have failed to detect it.

It could only have been hiding beneath this patch of sand from the start. The car's noise had drawn its attention, causing it to swallow both man and car in one bite.

Even now, the Sand Worm was not completely dead.

Half of its body remained beneath the sand, desperately burrowing deeper into the desert.

What powerful vitality!

From the looks of it, it probably had life force similar to an earthworm's.

You would never see things like this in Keli City.

Without looking any longer, he vanished from where he stood and chased after the group ahead.

Some candidates looked in the direction Lucky had disappeared.

"He didn't even leave footprints!"

"That man is terrifying!"

Candidates traveling in groups discussed it with their companions. "If there's ever a chance we might become enemies with Candidate No. 1, don't hesitate—just give up. If we fail this time, there'll be another chance next time. As long as we're alive, we'll have plenty of opportunities."

They continued onward.

Before long, they encountered more dangers.

Some candidates carelessly fell into quicksand.

They were attacked by camouflaged Sand Snakes and packs of Giant Lizards.

All kinds of dangerous creatures in the Vita Desert kept appearing and attacking the candidates.

The number of candidates fell once again, dropping directly to 274.

To avoid trouble, Lucky released his aura.

The dangerous creatures in the desert could sense that aura and did not dare attack Lucky at all.

The candidates behind him watched Lucky keep pace with the examiner and realized that his strength was probably no less than hers.

Tina had not expected Lucky to be so strong either.

Her wild instincts told her that she would not be Lucky's match.

At that moment, Lucky asked, "Do you have something on you that keeps those creatures from attacking you?"

This examiner had neither released her own aura nor shown any sign of using Nen.

Yet not a single desert creature approached her.

"That's my secret." Since Lucky was an expert, Tina no longer treated him as just another candidate.

The running exam in the latter half lasted much longer.

It went on for more than two hours.

During that time, they even saw mirages.

Only when a patch of green truly appeared before them did the air finally begin to lose its scorching heat.

The candidates also realized that what lay ahead was not a mirage.

A small Oasis had appeared before them.

Some candidates who had nearly been unable to continue found strength rising in their bodies again upon seeing the Oasis in the distance.

They ran forward with all their might.

At last, they reached the edge of the Oasis.

Tina finally came to a stop as well.

She checked the time and waited for all the candidates to arrive.

Lucky was the first candidate to reach the Oasis. He did not know whether it was merely his imagination, but he felt that the "aura" of this Oasis was remarkably dense.

Anything that existed possessed "aura."

There were also plants and animals in this world that possessed Nen.

"Still 227 people? Looks like my exam wasn't that difficult!" Tina glanced at the number and unconsciously remarked.

After reaching the Oasis, the candidates began to rest.

"This is the Oasis of God. You may rest here. The second exam will be held tomorrow, and the Hunter Association airship will not arrive until then. You are free to move about now, but keep an eye out for the airship arriving tomorrow."

After saying that, she headed deeper into the Oasis.

She no longer paid any attention to the candidates. Her task was complete.

The other candidates either stayed behind to rest or headed deeper into the Oasis themselves to see if they could find a water source.