After I see him walk into the Gatekeeper's booth, I started to walk up to him. If I can't convince either him or Seaquant to train me after a week of camping out here then I'm just going the head towards the Heaven's Arena. Maybe when I get there, I can find Wing and Zus.h.i.+ so I can train in Nen. a.s.suming that I don't get training from the Zoldycks that is. If the Zoldycks take me in, then I'll train until the next Hunter's Exam. Meeting Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio is an absolute must, and the Hunter's Exam is the best time to do it.

"Hey, you're the Gatekeeper, Zebro, right? I've been waiting all day to meet you. My name is Drake, and I want you to train me so I can open the Testing Gate."

"ho... I see. And yes, I am the gatekeeper, Zebro." I'm a little surprised with how well he's taking this so far. Seaquant was far more outraged. I guess this is the perk of dealing with a nicer person.

"So, what do you say? Will you train me until I can open the First Gate? I'm willing to stay as long as it takes." I need to show how earnest I am about training with him. I just hope he's willing to help me instead of trying to ignore me as Seaquant did.

"I'm sorry to say this kid, but I can't help you. You don't have any business on the property so I can't, in good conscience, send train you only for you to be killed for trespa.s.sing on the Zoldyck's Family property." He makes a solid case but I can't stop now. I have already spent half a day waiting here. I will not give up just yet.

"I do have a reason for going to the mountain! I plan to convince the Zoldyck family to train me once they see that I can open the gate by myself. I need to become stronger, and they are my best bet!" Not entirely true. I could try to become the student of Netero or Ging but both of those options are arguably harder.

Ging is literally so hard to find that Gon didn't get to meet him until Ging was at the Hunter a.s.sociation's HQ because it required him to be there. Becoming Netero's student is also very difficult simply because he is the current Hunter a.s.sociation's Chairman. In conclusion, the Zoldycks are my best bet for a good teacher. They literally have a family member from each of the past three generations as well as the current one, so there is no lack of knowledge on their part. All I would have to do is soak up that knowledge like a dry sponge which is exactly what I intend to do.

Once I get past the gate is when I have to worry. They could just kill me outright for being there, but I intend on finding either Killua or Alluka once I am on the property. Both won't attack me on sight, and both could, and would, help me. If I don't find either of them first and find someone else, the butlers will probably kill or capture me.

Even if they kill me, it's not a big deal. Since Ai-chan told me I would just restart from zero, then there's no issue with me dying this early. I wouldn't lose much from restarting so soon, in fact, I would just gain more time to do something else.

If none of those options work out, maybe I should copy Netero's 10,000 punches per day plan. It definitely worked out for him. Let's leave that as Plan F. Now then, time to work on Plan A, again.

"Look, kid, I seriously doubt that they will train you even if you could make it onto the property. They keep their work in the family for a reason, blood is thicker than water. If they don't have any reason to trust you, then they won't trust you at all. I don't want to send you to your death, so please don't make me." Wow, he's such a good person that I'm feeling bad for asking him to do this for me. I will still ask him to train me though.

"Even if I don't get to receive training for the Zoldycks, I still want to train with you so that I can open the gate. Anyone who can open even the First Gate is incredibly strong. Please Zebro-san, Will you help me? I need to be stronger than I am now. Much stronger."

Zebro sighed. I could see the reluctance on his face. "I'll train you if you promise you won't do anything that will get you killed, Deal?" Yes! That is exactly the answer I needed!

"Yes, I agree. As long as you train me to open the gate, I won't do anything I know can get me killed!" I did it, half a day of waiting and I did it! Finally, I was starting to think this trip wouldn't be worth it. "So, Zebro-Sensei, when do we start?"

"I suppose we can start now. Just wait here while I go get a weighted vest for you. Wear it all the time except for when you sleep." Zebro walked away, presumably leaving for the house so he could get me a vest. I sat on the ground patiently while waiting for him to return. This will be good.

After 10 minutes, Zebro returned, vest in hand. "Here, put this on." He said while pa.s.sing me the vest.

As I put on the vest, he started to speak again, " I'm guessing you don't have a place to stay out, so you can stay with me and the other gatekeeper, Seaquant, while you train."

"Thank you so much!"

"Don't worry about it. Just do any exercises you normally would for now. The real training is to get used to the vest's weight while living a regular day, including exercise." I already figured that much, though there was an actual training montage in the anime.

Now then, it's time to train.