Chapter 80 — Spider Eagle Eggs (Part 2)
"Osren, what kind of egg do you think they'll use for the boiled-egg test?"
Leorio was the type who couldn't sit still. Even after boarding the airship, he immediately started thinking about the next exam.
"There's too little information," Kurapika replied. "We can't deduce much for now. No way to know what kind of egg it'll be."
"No matter what it is, it's probably delicious!" Gon said excitedly, remembering the roast whole boar and the clay-baked pig offal Osren made earlier.
Osren didn't speak—but of course it would be delicious.
Spider Eagle Eggs were incredible.
He'd definitely take the chance to "collect" a few more.
This was one of his few "flaws"—once he encountered a rare ingredient, his desire to "protect it" by storing it in his backpack became uncontrollable.
"We're here," Osren said as he spotted the volcano-shaped mountain through the window.
Here?
His friends crowded toward the windows.
All they saw was a barren, rocky mountain—no trees, no plants, not even signs of life.
Let alone eggs.
"You'll see soon enough. Let's head down," Osren said calmly.
"Alright!"
Once Gon decided on a goal, he feared nothing.
When the airship landed, the candidates disembarked and gathered around Menchi.
Seeing her walk straight toward the cliff's edge, everyone followed—especially since Chairman Netero was also heading that way.
Surely an examiner wouldn't make them all jump off a cliff… right?
The truth was… they were far too naïve.
"We're here," Menchi announced, stopping at the very edge. She raised a hand, signaling everyone else to halt.
"What is this place?"
"Why bring us here?"
"Aren't we supposed to boil eggs?"
Confusion rippled through the crowd.
Stopping at a cliff made no sense.
Were the eggs down there?
Why not fly the airship to the base of the cliff?
Why force them to climb—or jump—down?
"What exactly is below us?"
Todo, who had been boasting loudly moments earlier, now felt his courage deflating as he peered into the abyss.
"Don't worry. It's just a very deep ravine," Menchi said, reassuring them with complete nonchalance as she removed her boots.
"Alright, I'll demonstrate."
Menchi stepped right to the edge, raised her arms gracefully—and jumped.
"AAAH!"
Most of the candidates screamed.
They never expected their examiner to swan-dive off a cliff without warning.
"Osren, are the eggs in the river?" Gon asked.
"No. They should be on the cliff face," Osren replied.
"If the eggs were in the river, bringing us to the mountaintop would've been unnecessary and inefficient."
"What kind of creature lays eggs on vertical cliffs—basically halfway in the air?"
Leorio scratched his head in frustration.
Kurapika was also thinking.
It must be some sort of bird…
but which species nested on sheer cliff walls?
Killua, however, looked intrigued.
"It should be the Spider Eagle," Osren answered.
Once they arrived at the cliff, Osren knew there was no need to keep anything hidden.
Besides, Chairman Netero would surely explain everything soon.
Just as Osren expected, right after he spoke, Netero's deep, resonant voice echoed across the area.
"Spider Eagles inhabit here. She's gone to collect their eggs."
His words immediately calmed the candidates, who had been left bewildered by Menchi's sudden leap off the cliff.
"To keep their eggs from being eaten by land predators, Spider Eagles suspend them between cliffs using extremely tough spider silk.
Retrieve one egg safely and climb back up—that's the test."
Netero briefly explained the creature's habits as well as the real nature of this exam.
Before anyone could fully digest his words—
"Bam! Bam! Bam!"
A few dull impacts sounded from the cliff wall.
In the short time it took Netero to speak, Menchi had already scaled the cliff and poked her little braided head back over the edge.
"This is what you'll be using for the boiled egg."
She lifted a goose-egg–sized orb, gray with tiny black speckles, so everyone could see.
"A word of warning:
The river down below is extremely fast.
If you fall and get swept all the way to the estuary dozens of kilometers away—there's no saving you."
Menchi landed lightly on the ground, gently cradling the egg as she reminded the eager candidates not to get careless.
"Easy for you to say! Who would have the guts to jump into a ravine like that? That's suicide!"
Todo instantly cowered, grinding his teeth in frustration.
He wanted nothing more than to go fight Menchi again—but the aches all over his body reminded him he would lose.
Some people always impose their own limits onto others—
if they can't do something, then surely no one else can either.
Whether it was arrogance or delusion… hard to say.
"Nice!" Killua's eyes lit up with excitement.
He had already been bored by all the running and pig-slaughtering earlier—this was finally interesting.
"This is the kind of test I was waiting for!" Gon grinned.
He felt the earlier running test didn't play to his strengths at all.
"Now this is where stamina matters! Way better than that ridiculous cooking test."
Leorio let out a relieved laugh.
After making sushi over and over, anything non-culinary felt like salvation.
"I agree." Kurapika, for once, shared Leorio's sentiment.
"It's not just stamina—courage and resolve matter too," Osren reminded them.
Then—
"Psssh—"
Osren placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled sharply.
Far off in the distance, a shadow began hopping toward them.
"Huh? What the—?"
Leorio tensed immediately when he saw what looked like… a monkey.
A normal monkey wouldn't surprise him, but this one had his face, which was a whole different level of unsettling.
His entire body locked into combat readiness.
"Relax. I just hired a helper. Ignore the details," Osren waved casually.
"It's a Human-Faced Ape… looks like it ran straight into Osren's hands earlier," Kurapika said.
"Oh."
Leorio scratched his head.
He still thought it was creepy, but since Osren clearly didn't intend to explain further, he let it slide.
"Interesting… Human-Faced Apes are cunning creatures. You can actually get one to obey you?"
Killua tilted his head, studying the ape, then Osren.
Around them, the candidates erupted into confused murmurs.
After all, a dangerous carnivore suddenly appearing—especially one they'd already encountered before—wasn't exactly comforting.
The Human-Faced Ape simply scratched its head and stood there awkwardly.
If not for its different posture, people might have mistaken it for a second Leorio.