Spider Hawk Nest

The airship docked at a towering rock platform, long, narrow, and rugged. Below lay a canyon hundreds of meters deep, with rolling waves of heat rising from its depths. Moisture condensed along the platform's edge, and occasional torrents burst from distant mountain walls. Mist swirled at the bottom of the cliffs, making the place resemble a natural steamer.

Menchi stepped out of the airship and pointed at the steep cliff face shrouded in mist near the platform's edge. Her voice was cold and clear. "This is the Spider Hawk nesting area, and it will be your next trial ground."

She looked around at everyone and continued expressionlessly, "Spider Hawks are spiritual birds extremely sensitive to air currents. Their nests are usually built in cliff crevices near water sources, where temperatures and humidity are high and hot winds surge. Their eggs have thin, fragile shells, and the liquid inside expands easily when heated. Strong pressure, violent shaking, or a sudden drop in temperature will all cause them to crack."

"Your task is simple—retrieve one intact Spider Hawk egg and hand it to us. You may use any method to complete the task, but you may not steal eggs that others have already obtained."

With that, she pointed toward the platform's edge and added in a deep voice, "When I first took the Hunter Exam, I completed this very test among these cliffs. Watch carefully."

Before her words had faded, she leaped forward. The wind roared as her body cut a graceful arc through the air. Her figure swiftly swept into the depths of the mist-filled canyon.

Ryan held his breath and watched. Menchi rose and fell several times amid the mist, each foothold seeming to be nothing but empty air. As she slid into a narrow vortex of airflow, the outlines of spider silk gradually emerged from the fog—translucent strands stretching between the cliffs on both sides, crisscrossing one another and trembling slightly beneath the heat waves like bridges and nets.

Menchi landed on a strand of silk as thick as an arm. Her body bent naturally as she slowly approached a nest-like structure using both hands and feet. The nest was hemispherical, woven from spider silk and feather membranes, firmly embedded where the strands met. It swayed faintly, revealing a grayish-white sheen.

She crouched and took out one of the eggs, gently placing it into the cloth pouch against her chest before beginning her return. Several times, she used the buoyancy of the heat waves to spring back upward. Every landing was as steady as a hammer driven into a nail. In less than three minutes, she reappeared on the platform, landing without a sound as she removed the egg from her pouch.

"This is a Spider Hawk egg." She held it high for everyone to see. "They are laid in these suspended silk nests. The silk is secreted by the Spider Hawks themselves. It is exceptionally tough, but its surface is extremely slippery due to moisture and hot air currents. The nests are usually located where wind pressure is stable and humid heat converges."

"You have six hours. Any examinee who fails to retrieve an egg within six hours, or whose egg is incomplete, will be eliminated."

"Begin!" Menchi shouted.

The examinees began to stir. Some rushed impatiently to the cliff's edge, trying to cling to the spider silk. With a sharp whoosh, someone chose to leap straight down, hoping the heat currents would lift them high enough to grab the silk. But those who misjudged their landing or failed to secure their grip immediately plunged into the canyon below, leaving behind only deafening wind and cries.

Ryan stood motionless in the middle of the platform, his hands behind his back as his gaze swept over the terrain below. He studied the direction and structure of the spider silk. Some strands formed arches connecting the cliffs at either end, while others hung down like vines. Most nests were suspended at the intersections of the silk, their faint luster visible as they swayed.

"That's the thermal center," he murmured.

Suddenly, another examinee tried using a zip-line device, sliding from above toward a spider silk junction. Just as he neared the nesting area, a Spider Hawk hidden higher up swooped down at him. Its sharp wings tore through the air, and the examinee cried out as he fell into the thick mist below, his fate unknown.

Hanzo stood to one side with his arms folded, utterly calm. Yet he had already tightly wrapped his elbow joints with cloth bands. Without saying a word, he suddenly moved. Taking long strides, he ran along the cliff wall and soon vanished into a more concealed path on the right.

At the same time, another examinee used a homemade grappling hook to leap into the web of silk and slid all the way toward an intersection. Though he swayed several times along the way, he ultimately relied on arm strength and body coordination to obtain an egg. On his return, however, he lost his balance and snapped a thin strand beneath his feet. The egg fell straight into the canyon, and his green light turned red—eliminated.

"They are not lacking in courage." "They simply lack the proper reverence for this canyon."

Ryan's gaze narrowed, and he no longer watched the other examinees.

Ryan silently tightened the rope harness around his body, then slowly walked toward the cliff's edge. His steps seemed somewhat heavy, as though he bore the weight of the entire world. When he reached the edge, a violent gust howled toward him, carrying scorching heat and moisture as it slammed hard against his face.

Ryan took a deep breath, feeling that immense force. Then, without hesitation, he leaned forward and stepped off the cliff. His feet rapidly kicked off the rock face, and propelled by the wind, he leaped diagonally downward like a bird in flight.

As he descended, Ryan did not blindly follow the routes taken by others. He keenly observed the pulses of the surrounding air currents and the nodes of the spider silk. After careful consideration, he chose an updraft hidden within a small crack along the cliffside.

As he approached that current, the wind pressure lifted half his body at just the right moment, allowing him to cross into the core of the silk structure with minimal effort.

However, just as he was about to reach his destination, a thicker strand of spider silk suddenly stretched across his path from above. Like a deadly rope, it would spell disaster if it entangled him.

But Ryan did not panic. His body reacted in an instant. He twisted sharply, and his waist clamped tightly around the silk like iron pincers. At the same time, his remaining limbs spread out with the speed of a cheetah, firmly anchoring him in midair and allowing him to remain still in that perilous moment.

Taking advantage of that brief pause, Ryan calmly observed the nest's position. Not far away, a semi-translucent, milky-white Spider Hawk egg rested quietly between two layers of feather membrane. Beneath it was the densest cluster of spider silk, as though it had been specially made into a cradle for the egg.

Ryan approached his target as slowly as possible. After confirming that his footing was stable, he reached into the nest, wrapped the egg in the hem of his clothes, and silently removed it.

Rather than returning the way he had come, he stood quietly where he was and waited for the next surge of heat. When that powerful updraft rose like a raging wave, he borrowed its force without hesitation while skillfully using the silk's elasticity to complete an astonishing backward leap.

His body drew a graceful arc through the air before landing steadily against the cliff wall. Then, using a unique three-point balancing technique, he climbed continuously upward, every movement solid and powerful. In this way, he scaled the cliff all the way up and finally leaped back onto the platform's edge.

As soon as Ryan came up, he handed the egg to Examiner Menchi for inspection.

Then Menchi's voice rang out across the platform. "Number 199, Ryan, pass." This meant that he had cleared this round of the test.

A moment later, Hanzo also climbed up from the path on the right. His body was covered in moisture, but he tightly held an egg that still retained its warmth. Clearly, he had faced no small number of dangers during his climb.

"Number 301, Hanzo, pass." Menchi's gaze swept calmly over the two of them without further comment. Her attention was quickly drawn back to the growing number of examinees below who were desperately climbing.

All kinds of sounds echoed across the cliff face: footsteps, wind, beating wings, and the occasional sound of something snapping. Interwoven together, they made it feel as though everyone had been thrown into some bizarre rehearsal of life and death.

Netero stood quietly at the other end of the platform, watching it all. A faint smile appeared on his face as he murmured softly, "The meaning of being a Hunter is who can risk their life to walk a road others dare not take."