"Attention all passengers, we are about to land."
Awakened by the announcement, Nicolas got up painfully, his night spent with Netero had left him sore all over.
'I probably shouldn't phrase it like that…'
Standing up, he saw Gon at the other end of the training room stretching and yawning. "Oh, good morning Nicolas! How are you?"
Sighing, Nicolas looked at him with a smile. "You have way too much energy in the morning."
"Haha, we're already here. Let's head to the exit quickly."
The duo joined the rest of the candidates atop an immense tower. From the top, Nicolas estimated the height to be around 700 meters.
The president's assistant coughed, drawing the candidates' attention. "You are now on the Trick Tower. You have 72 hours to reach the bottom. Good luck to all."
Before the candidates could ask any questions, he turned around and walked quickly toward the airship.
A few seconds later, the candidates found themselves alone at the top of the tower, watching the airship fly off.
The violent wind pushed Nicolas away from the tower's edges. One of the candidates being eaten alive convinced him to take the regular path.
He had planned to do that from the beginning anyway…
Click!
While he was walking, a click echoed beneath his feet. The tile he was standing on flipped, sending him tumbling inside the tower.
Tap
Nicolas landed nimbly on his feet. He glanced around the room, there were two doors and a dark screen.
'This doesn't look like the same type of room as in the manga. Seems like this one is meant for a solo trial.'
Suddenly, a message appeared on the screen: Continue left.
Nicolas examined the two doors. The screen was suggesting he go left, but faced with such a message, he preferred to try the right.
'Either way, both are probably trapped. I'll just follow the screen's instructions and go left.'
Opening the left door, he heard the sound of keys locking the other door. Ignoring it, he moved down the corridor.
After about an hour of walking, Nicolas again found himself facing two doors. This wasn't the first split like this. He opened the left one without hesitation and entered a large white room.
'Finally, something different.'
In the center stood a hooded man, his hands bound by massive cuffs, clearly a prisoner.
Nicolas stepped forward calmly when a voice rang out from a speaker.
"Greetings, candidate. This is the judge of your trial. Good luck."
Clang!
Turning toward the noise, Nicolas saw the prisoner free from his restraints. He pulled back his hood, revealing a shaved head and deep black eyes staring at Nicolas like prey.
"As announced, I'll be your judge. Your task is simple: I hold a portion of the tower's blueprints. You can steal them, kill me, or knock me out to get them. You're free to leave the room at any time, we won't be able to follow. That's all."
Suddenly, a small trapdoor opened in one corner, and an arrow flew toward Nicolas, who dodged it swiftly.
From the trapdoor, another prisoner emerged, bow in hand, licking his lips as he eyed Nicolas.
"Of course, I'm not alone here…" the first prisoner added.
Two more trapdoors opened, revealing two other armed prisoners. Nicolas felt their murderous intent lock on him and let out a small sigh.
"Alright then, let's begin, no hard feelings."
Without wasting time, he launched himself toward the archer, grabbed his arm, and twisted it in a brutal angle before he could react.
The man screamed in pain, but a kick to the ribs silenced him, sending him flying into another prisoner.
Nicolas quickly turned to a third one, using the man's own sword to slice off his leg.
Less than five minutes later, all four prisoners were on the ground, groaning in pain, each one seriously injured, some likely left permanently disabled.
Nicolas recovered the four map pieces. Once combined, they formed a detailed blueprint of the tower, clearly showing the exit and trap locations.
Curious, he looked up the two initial doors. The right one had indeed led to a trap, depicted with flamethrowers.
Following the map, Nicolas made his way through the tower without too much trouble. He still had to navigate some traps, which slowed him down, but eventually, he reached the base. The loudspeakers came on.
"Second candidate to arrive, number 181, Nicolas! Time: 9 hours and 57 minutes!"
Nicolas examined the massive torchlit room. Hisoka gave him a cheerful wave while shuffling cards.
Wanting to avoid interaction with the clown as much as possible, Nicolas sat at the farthest spot and took out his laptop. Sixty-two hours still remained before the trial ended.
More and more candidates arrived, especially in the last twelve hours. Finally, just as the clock was about to run out, a door opened, and five silhouettes emerged.
Smiling, Nicolas approached the group. He gave a quick glance to the fifth member, probably Tompa's replacement in this trial. His badge showed the number 105.
"You gave me a scare. I thought you wouldn't make it in time."
Gon laughed. "Haha, it was a close call, but we made it!"
Sighing, Kurapika spoke softly, "It's thanks to Gon. He found a shortcut that let us reach the end just in time."
In response, Gon simply smiled and laughed.
"You could've warned us about the system before doing the trial alone, selfish jerk," Leorio scolded Nicolas.
"Haha, sorry. I just fell into the tower, it happened like that. It was too late to come back for you," Nicolas said apologetically.
In truth, he could've avoided falling and rejoined them to complete the trial together. But he had wanted to see how he'd fare on his own in a real combat situation.
The results were quite conclusive. He had felt no remorse about seriously injuring, possibly crippling, his enemies. Of course, the fact that they were criminals with past offenses helped ease his conscience.
"Time is up! 24 participants have reached the end of the third trial. Congratulations!"
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Author here, I've added an image and a brief description of Nicolas in the chapter comments, feel free to check it out if you're interested.
Also, thanks for the feedback in the comments! I'm glad to see you're enjoying the story so far ;)