Leorio the Shadow Monarch - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Intervention & A Leap of Faith

The clearing, moments before filled with the greasy smoke of questionable barbecue triumph, now lay under a heavy pall of despair. Menchi’s furious declaration – “Every single one of you FAILS!” – echoed in the stunned silence. Applicants slumped, faces ashen. Some sobbed openly, others stared blankly, the culmination of their intense struggles seemingly rendered meaningless by their inability to craft acceptable sushi. Leorio felt the crushing weight in the air, a shared misery thicker than the earlier swamp fog. He knew, based on the sacred texts of the anime he hailed from, that this shouldn’t be the absolute end, but Menchi’s conviction was terrifyingly persuasive. She believed they had all failed.

Just as the collective hope seemed truly extinguished, a new sound intruded – the whirring chop of rotor blades from above. Heads turned upwards. Descending rapidly from a large airship hovering high overhead wasn’t a rope ladder or a platform, but a tiny figure plummeting towards the earth like a stone. Leorio braced for impact, but the figure landed with impossible lightness, kicking up barely a puff of dust.

It was an old man, small and seemingly frail, dressed in simple traditional robes, with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes that hinted at immense power carefully contained. Chairman Isaac Netero, head of the Hunter Association, had arrived.

Instantaneously, the atmosphere shifted. Menchi and Buhara straightened, their earlier attitudes replaced with clear deference. “Chairman!” Menchi exclaimed, surprise and a hint of embarrassment coloring her tone.

Netero chuckled, the sound like dry leaves rustling. “Now, now, Menchi-kun,” he said, his voice gentle yet carrying undeniable authority. “I heard some commotion. Failing every single applicant? Isn’t that a little harsh?” He stroked his beard thoughtfully. “While upholding standards is admirable, you seem to have let your passion for cuisine overshadow the broader purpose of the exam.”

Menchi flushed. “But Chairman, their efforts… they were an insult to cooking itself!”

“Perhaps,” Netero conceded easily. “But the Hunter Exam tests potential in many forms, not just specialized skills. You inadvertently created a bottleneck based solely on your area of expertise. You need to demonstrate the task yourself, and when you realized none could replicate it, you failed them all. That’s not quite how an examiner should behave, now is it?”

Chastened, Menchi bowed her head slightly. “You are right, Chairman. I allowed my personal feelings to interfere. I withdraw my earlier declaration.”

A collective sigh of relief, fragile but audible, swept through the applicants.

“However,” Menchi added, her pride resurfacing, “they still haven’t truly passed my phase. They lack the spirit! The daring!”

Netero smiled. “Then let us adjust! We’ll move the venue. Show them what you mean, Menchi-kun. Give them a chance to pass by demonstrating that Hunter spirit you value.”

And so, after a short journey via the Chairman’s airship – a cramped, bewildering experience for Leorio, crammed amongst nervous applicants while trying not to stare too much at the legendary Netero – they arrived at their new destination: Split-in-Half Mountain. It was aptly named. A colossal mountain peak was cleft by an impossibly deep, shadowy ravine. Far below, spanning the chasm like silken threads in the gloom, were the webs of the Man-Eating Spider Eagles.

“Behold!” Menchi announced, standing perilously close to the cliff edge. “The nesting grounds of the Spider Eagles! Down there,” she pointed into the abyss, “are their eggs. They lay them attached to the web strands.” She inhaled deeply. “This ravine experiences a powerful updraft, but only cyclically. Timing is everything.”

Before anyone could fully process the implications, Menchi demonstrated. With a wild grin, she took a running leap off the cliff edge, plummeting into the darkness below. Gasps rippled through the crowd. Leorio watched, mesmerized, as she fell, expertly grabbed onto a thick web strand far below, and then just… hung there. Seconds ticked by. Then, as if obeying an invisible signal, she let go, snatched an egg from a nearby cluster, and was immediately carried upwards on a powerful gust of wind, landing gracefully back on the clifftop, holding a single, large, seemingly hard-boiled egg.

“The heat from the ravine boils the eggs perfectly!” she declared, holding it aloft. “To pass, you must simply do as I did! Retrieve one Spider Eagle Egg! Show me you have the guts!”

The applicants stared into the terrifying depth, then at Menchi, then back at the depth.

Suicide. It looked like absolute suicide.

Leorio peered over the edge, the wind whistling past him. The webs looked thin and fragile from this height, the bottom lost in shadow. He thought about the climb back up if the updraft failed or if you missed it. And that’s when a sharp pang of regret, keen and annoying, struck him.

That damned monkey shadow! The `[Shadow Ape Lv1]`. Weak, yes. Pathetic stats, yes. But it was an ape. Climbing, clinging – that was its thing! If he hadn’t been so quick to discard it in favor of his army of pig tanks, could it have been useful here? Maybe cling to the web alongside him? Provide a weak anchor? Offer some simian insight into not falling to his death? Probably not much, but maybe?

“Note to self, Rohan,” he mentally grumbled, using his old name in self-reproach, “Don’t delete potentially unique utility units just because their combat stats suck. You run a shadow army, not just a heavy cavalry division!” Lesson learned. Versatility had value.

But regret wouldn’t get him an egg. He needed a plan. Brute strength (his impressive STR 31) was useless here. This was about precision, timing, and not panicking. His Agility (AGI 31) was key – coordination, reaction, balance during the fall and landing. His Senses (SEN 31) would be crucial for detecting the updraft. His Vitality (VIT 34) meant he could probably survive the impact on the web if he didn’t hit it too badly. His massive HP (around 1700) offered a buffer against… well, he preferred not to think about what it would buffer against if he missed the web entirely.

He watched Gon edge closer to the cliff, vibrating with excitement rather than fear. Killua looked calculating, assessing the wind patterns with unnerving calm. Kurapika was observing Menchi’s landing spot, analyzing the trajectory. They would jump. And if they could, with his system-boosted stats, he definitely could. It was a risk, but a calculated one. Better than failing now.

“Well, no point waiting for engraved invitations,” Leorio muttered to himself, channeling a bit of bravado he absolutely did not feel. He took a few steps back, took a deep breath, and sprinted towards the edge. No hesitation. He launched himself into the void.

The fall was gut-wrenching. Wind screamed past him, tearing at his clothes. The clifftop receded with alarming speed. Below, the web strands rushed up, looking terrifyingly thin. He forced down the panic, focusing all his concentration, using his Agility to subtly adjust his body’s orientation, aiming for a thicker section where several strands intersected.

WHUMP! He hit the web hard, the impact jarring his teeth, but the sticky strands held, stretching taut like monstrous bungee cords. He swung precariously for a moment, dangling thousands of feet above the unseen bottom of the ravine. The sheer scale of the place was dizzying. He clung tightly, heart hammering.

Okay. Part one, survived. Now, the wait. He strained his senses, filtering out the howl of the wind, trying to detect the subtle precursors to the updraft Menchi mentioned. A change in pressure? A specific sound? He saw Gon land on a nearby strand with a whoop, Killua hitting his target with nonchalant precision, and Kurapika grabbing hold with focused grace. They exchanged brief, tense looks across the abyss. The waiting was agonizing, suspended between salvation and oblivion.

Then, he felt it. A slight lessening of the downward pull of air. A faint vibration through the web strand. A change in the wind’s tune far below. His Senses screamed: Now!

He didn’t think, just reacted. Let go of the web. For a heart-stopping second, he dropped further, plummeting towards a cluster of pale, ovoid shapes stuck to the silk. He snatched one, tucking it securely inside the inner pocket of his suit jacket – it felt surprisingly warm.

And then the updraft hit.

It wasn’t a gentle breeze; it was a solid wall of upward-rushing air, catching him like a leaf in a gale. The acceleration was immense, pressing him back against the invisible force. He was soaring, rising incredibly fast, the web strands shrinking below him, the clifftop rushing back into view. It was terrifying and utterly, breathtakingly exhilarating. Using his Agility again, he controlled his ascent, angling slightly to avoid crashing into the cliff face, and landed with a reasonably smooth roll back onto solid ground, the precious egg miraculously intact.

He scrambled to his feet, breathing heavily, clutching the warm egg. Gon, Killua, and Kurapika landed moments later, all successful. Menchi watched them, a grudgingly impressed look on her face. Buhara beamed. Netero chuckled warmly.

“Excellent! The daring spirit! The willingness to leap! That’s what it takes!” Menchi declared, much of her earlier fury replaced with grudging respect. She swept her gaze over Leorio and the others who had made the jump and returned with eggs. “All of you who hold an egg… you have passed the Second Phase!”

As the words sank in, the system chimed triumphantly in Leorio’s mind.

`[Main Scenario Quest: The Second Course – Complete!]`

`[Calculating Rewards…]`

`[+5000 EXP Acquired!]`

`[LEVEL UP!] x 7`

`[You have reached Level 38!]`

`[All Stats increased by 7!]`

`[HP Increased! Current HP: 2300/2300]`

`[HP Recovery Increased! Current Rate: 4.2% per minute]`

`[AP Increased! Current AP: 41000/41000]`

`[AP Recovery Increased! Current Rate: 3.9% per minute]`

`[Fatigue has been reset to 0%!]`

`[New Active Skill Unlocked: Observe Lv1!]`

Another potent wave of energy surged through him, settling deeper this time, reinforcing his already enhanced physique and mind. Level 38. Stats now hovering around the 40 mark (STR 38, AGI 38, VIT 43, INT 39, SEN 38). His HP and AP pools felt substantially larger, reassuringly vast. The constant fatigue reset after major quest completions was also a huge boon.

He focused on the new skill: `[Observe Lv1 (Active)]: Allows the user to gather information about a target or item. The amount and type of information revealed depend on the skill’s level and the difference in level between the Host and the target. Cost: 10 AP per use.`

Interesting. An information-gathering tool. He subtly focused on Isaac Netero, who was excitedly examining his egg, and activated it mentally. `[-10 AP]`. A small window popped into his vision:

—

Target: Isaac Netero

Level: ??

Condition: Bored, Curious

—

As expected, I can’t see Isaac Netero’s level.

Still, potentially invaluable for assessing threats or understanding situations. He’d need to level it up to see its true potential.

Relief washed over him, profound and satisfying. Phase Two was done. He hadn’t cooked worth a damn, but he’d faced the abyss and leaped, relying on his system-granted physical prowess and senses. He had passed. And he had gained more power, more tools. Phase Three, the infamous Trick Tower, awaited. He felt a surge of anticipation mixed with trepidation. It was time to see what other challenges this world – and his system – had in store.