The applicants started to follow Satotz into the Milsy Wetlands, which was also known as Swindler's Swamp.
Sachiko was running beside Gon and Killua when she overhear some applicants discussing to kill Hisoka. Killua also heard that as he suggested Gon to move to the front.
"Hey, Leorio, Kurapika, Killua says we should move up to the front." Gon shouted.
"We should have kept that a secret." Killua groaned.
"What about you, Nakamura san? We're going to the front." Gon asked.
"I will be there soon." Sachiko told him. She knew she couldn't get anything from hunter store until upgrade but she felt like this was the perfect chance to hunt. The monsters here were dangerous but she could run away in the last case scenerio. Right ?
'That said, I still need a way to get back to the group.' Sachiko thought. She neither have Gon's superhuman senses nor Killua's ability. So, it might not be easy for her to get back to the group.
If only she could find something she could track and gave that to Gon or Killua....
'Wait..can I do that?' Sachiko suddenly remembered that the weapons she made out of her cursed energy were tangible. Other people could carry them like normal tools until they ran out of numbers of attacks but the one who could control those tools would be Sachiko, in the end.
"Wait, Gon!" Sachiko called him.
"Huh?" Gon turned around to look at her.
"Can you carry this with you?" Sachiko asked as she handed him a small dagger. "You can't use it, alright?"
Gon gave a small nod, "Okay, but what is this?"
"My weapon." Sachiko replied, "As long as it's with you, I can track where you are. This way, we won't lose sight of each other."
"Oh, okay. I will keep it with me then. See you at the destination !" Gon said before picking up the pace and running to the front.
"See you!" Sachiko waved. Then, she departed from the group.
'Okay, I got this. I will hunt for a while. Then, I will go back by tracking my cursed energy in the dagger.' Sachiko thought as she searched for something to hunt.
Soon, she saw this giant turtle-like animal. It was about forty meters long.
Sachiko created a sword out of her cursed energy to slash the monster's neck. It took a few tries as the monster evades the attack but Sachiko managed to cut its neck off.
'F rank giant turtle monster killed. Host receives 10 hunter points.'
Sachiko continued searching for something to hunt. She tried to be on her guard to prevent being ambushed but it was harder than she thought.
She nearly stepped onto a landmine releasing poisonous gas and nearly fell into a frog monster's mouth.
Thankfully, her gut feeling told her to throw a cursed energy ball towards the pit where the frog was waiting. Otherwise , she would've ended up getting swallowed alive. She probably would've escaped by blowing up the frog but that was too disgusting to be covered in frog's stomach acid and saliva.
Sachiko still hunted for a while, collecting 70 points. She also levelled up her cursed energy manipulation technique to competent but she wasn't satisfied with her current strength. She was far too weak to roam in this swamp freely. She wasn't strong enough to be free of fear and worry. She had to worry about limiting her use of cursed energy and ambush. She felt like she was on the death's door multiple times as soon as she stepped into the swamp.
'I will become stronger and taste the freedom.' Sachiko told herself.
'I probably should get back for now.' Sachiko also wondered where Gon was. If she followed the dagger and ended up at the scene where Hisoka and Gon were fighting, she would be in trouble. She could tell Hisoka was curious about her ability. She didn't want to fight a battle she couldn't win yet.
Sachiko waited a few moments before tracking her dagger. She started walking to it, hoping she didn't run into Hisoka's fight scene. But fate had to disappoint her.
Hisoka stood holding the dagger that fell out of Gon's pocket and stared at Sachiko who ended up tracking the dagger in Hisoka's hands.
"Sh*t" Sachiko swore.
"You came for this?" Hisoka played with the dagger in his hand.
"Where is Gon?" She asked.
"He probably went back to the group." Hisoka replied. "Now, I just want to know...how strong you are."
Sachiko knew she screwed up. She probably should've run to the front with Gon and Killua instead of going into the swamp alone. She probably should've tried to find her own way instead of trying to track her dagger.
But, she had to act like she knew what she was doing. If she was going to get beaten up, she would rather do it in style. At least , she would be cool.
So, she eyed at the dagger Hisoka was still holding and controlled the dagger to cut Hisoka's fingers.
Hisoka caught a bit off guard and his fingers bled, but he activated his bungee gum quickly to counter it.
"Not bad. But not enough." Hisoka licked his lips and said.
Sachiko tried to think of what she could do. She still had about 300 units of cursed energy so she could still make some moves. She decided to make a sword with her cursed energy as the only skill she had right now was sword skill.
Seeing her make a sword out of nowhere, Hisoka guessed she was a conjurer. He watched as she charged towards him and made a move, then activated his bungee gum. Hisoka then threw a punch at her but Sachiko managed to dodge it after reinforcing her whole body with cursed energy. Her movements had become swifter and her dexterity had improved.
'She's faster now. Could she be a specialist?' Hisoka thought.
As she became faster, Hisoka became more excited. He appeared in front of her and kicked her. Sachiko tried to dodge it but she didn't fully manage to do so. She landed a few meters away. Sachiko made five daggers out of cursed energy and then sent it to Hisoka. Then, when Hisoka tried to deflect them, Sachiko made them explode.
Hisoka didn't suffer much damage but he had this perverted grin he gets whenever he met a worthy opponent. He pulled out a card and threw it to Sachiko. Sachiko was about to take off the bandage covering her left eye but decided against it at the last minute. Fortunately , she still managed to catch it with her hands which were heavily reinforced by cursed energy.
Hisoka seemed to notice her intention to take the bandage off which only made him even more curious. He grinned and said, "We will continue this fight next time, Sachiko. By that time, I will make sure to see what's behind those bandages." Hisoka said with a creepy grin before leaving.
Sachiko sighed in relief as Hisoka left. It was a close call for her. If she didn't level up her mastery in cursed energy manipulation technique, there was no way she could be standing like this. She still got a couple bruises on her body but it was better than broken bones or dying in the swamp.
If there was one thing she benefited from fighting Hisoka, it was her level up in intermediate sword skill.
She rubbed the dirt off her clothes and then prepared to get to the destination. Only then, she realized one problem.
She didn't know how to get back to the group.
Maybe if she followed Hisoka, she would get there ?
Hisoka left in less than three minutes ago. It wasn't impossible to track him down.
'That's probably going to be one of the bad life decisions I made but...' Sachiko sighed.
F**k it, she was following Hisoka.
---------------
Tracking Hisoka down wasn't that hard. Hisoka let out this murderous aura which was almost impossible to ignore and maybe Hisoka wanted her to follow his trail. Frankly, Sachiko didn't care much if he didn't attack her.
After following the trail for some time, Sachiko finally arrived at the destination. Leorio was lying under a tree with a bruised, swollen face. Killua was chatting with Gon while Kurapika just stood there silently.
"Hey!" Sachiko waved to Gon and Killua.
"Nakamura san!" Gon smiled and waved back.
"I almost thought you didn't make it." Killua said.
"Well, I made it. I'll tell you. There's no way you can get rid of me this easily." Sachiko replied.
"About that...I'm sorry I lost the dagger. I think I lost it when I was fighting with Hisoka." Gon apologized after remembering he lost the dagger.
"It's okay. I figured that when I kind of ran into Hisoka." Sachiko told them.
"Wait, you fought with Hisoka too?!" Gon exclaimed in surprise.
"Yeah, why did you think I took this long? And bruised like this?" Sachiko asked.
"Oh..."
"Yeah", Sachiko said, "I can't wait to get stronger so that I can beat his a**"
Gon blinked, "Eh?"
Killua laughed.
At that moment, Satotz appeared and announced that all the applicants who made it here passed the first phase of the exam.
Upon Satotz's announcement, Sachiko heard the system notification.
'Congratulations for completing the sub mission : passing the first phase of hunter's exam. Random reward received. Do you want to open it?'
'Open it.'
'Host received an upgrade card which can be used in cursed technique mastery, cursed energy reserve and skills.'
Sachiko thought about which she should upgrade. In the end, Sachiko decided to use it on cursed energy reserves. Reason was simple, she didn't have enough cursed energy and the time it took for the cursed energy to refill was insane. So, she made it her priority. Second priority would be time manipulation eyes as it was harder to practice on herself. But the reason it was not easy to practice it was also partly because she didn't have enough cursed energy.
'System, upgrade my cursed energy reserves.'
'Cursed energy reserves have been upgraded.'
'Name : Nakamura Sachiko
Alias : None.
Age : 19
Relationships : Gon Freecs (Friend), Killua Zoldyck (Friend), Kurapika (Acquaintance), Leorio Paradinight (Acquaintance ), Hisoka (Acquaintance )
Hunter level : Not accessible yet.
Jujutsu sorcerer level : Not accessible yet.
Cursed technique : Cursed energy manipulation (Competent), Time Manipulation Eyes (Novice)
Cursed energy : 5000/5000
Cursed energy reserves rank : D
Curse points : 0
Hunter points : 100
Cursed tools : None.
Skills : Intermediate Sword Skill (Advanced Beginner).
Mission : Pass hunter's exam and gain hunter's license. Rewards : one chance to spin Lucky Wheel, random cursed tool and system upgrade.
Sub mission : Pass the second phase of the exam. Reward: Random.
Just as the syste gave a new sub mission, the gates opened.