Well, this may or may not have come earlier than you expected.
As I stated in my last post, I will be returning to Bloodied Goddess, but for now im going to be working on this. Let's just go over the gear our good Monster Hunter has.
I cant remember the exact names of every piece of gear, so for some things im just going to name the Monster the gear is from.
Armor:Kulve Taroth's helmet A
Kulve Taroth's chestpiece A
Nergigante gauntlets B
Nergigante greaves B
Kulve Taroth coil A
Weapon: Fiendish Tower
Equipment: That one mantle that dodges an attack for you and the healing spray.
Also one more thing, updates will likely be inconsistent. Depending on how im feeling, the date the last chapter was uploaded and wether or not it is raining or snowing, new posts could range from a day or two apart to 3 weeks or more. Apologies if that is offputting to some, but that's how its gotta be. Alright, lets get right into it then.
Elders Recess.
Entry 79: Day 4 of tracking.
Well, it seems I've finally tracked down that Teostra that evaded me back in the Wildspire Wastes. And who would have thought, it ended up in the Recess. Thankfully it doesn't seem like there is a Lunastra nearby, that would make this much more difficult. Ugh, gotta be honest, even with the cooling properties of the cool drink, the heat of the lower areas of the Elders Recess still kinda get to me. Not enough to burn me, but you still feel it. Especially in armor as bulky as this. I know armor forged from the monster Kulve Taroth is supposed to be highly resistant to fire, but that still doesn't mean I dont feel heat. Ah, I remember that hunt like it was yesterday... Thank the Sapphire Star for that bowman, if he hadnt collapsed that rock onto that thing, it would have gotten away. Anyway, I suppose I should finish this entry and finish off that Teostra.
The Hunter nodded, satisified with his work and closed his journal with a dull *thwap* as the pages hit eachother. He then realized there was a very enticing smell coming from outside the tent.
'The Handler must be done cooking.' He thought to himself, as he stood and grabbed for his weapon. It was a lance, a weapon that was effective at both offense and defence, being a source of constant hurt for the Monster and with its shield as it's brother, it could stand against all but the most devastating attacks in the New World, such as a dragon beam from Xeno'jiiva. This lance in particular was crafted from the parts of a Deviljho, a terrible monster with the power and hunger required to annihilate an ecosystem. And this power was reflected in the weapon. The shield was able to take almost any attack and walk away without so much as a scrape, and the lance itself was an intimidating sight, being covered in spikes and colored an intimidating sickly green and red. The chains and spinning effect also added to this.
He lifted the behemoth weapons with almost no difficulty, having been trained and conditioned to weild such humongous weapons for years. He strapped them to his back. He then stepped out of the tent, brushing against the thin fiber that made it up.
To a bystander that did not know any better, it would have looked likelike a being comprised of solid gold had just left the tent. Yes, the armor of Kulve Taroth was difficult to obtain and was somewhat flashy, but it was some of the best defense a Hunter could hope to obtain, putting the armor of some other Elder Dragons to shame. However, this didn't stop him from wearing greaves and gauntlets that very obviously did not come from the same monster. The black and orange boots and gauntlets came from the Elder Dragon known as Nergigante. The Elder Dragon known for hunting other Elder Dragons. And he could say without a shadow of a doubt that Nergigante earned its title. After all, not just any monster could toss around a Kushala Daora like it was a ragdoll. He wore these bits of armor to even out elemental resistances and because they just looked damn cool with his Kulve Taroth armor. He always thought the dozens of tiny thorns on the heel of the boots was a nice touch.
However, there was something different about this Hunter. One thing that separated him from all of the other Hunters, save a very small few.
He did not have a Palico.
This would cause any hunter in the New World to raise their eyebrow. A Palico was often considered a Hunters best friend, being there to support them by healing them, taking pieces of the monster and even attacking the monster itself. Many Hunters have had their lives saved by their Palico.
So why didn't he have one?
Well, it is really quite simple, if not somewhat saddening.
His Palico had shaken hands with Death some time ago, and refused to take on a new one for a full year as to pay respect to his close ally. As of right now, the Hunter had 5 more months left before he would begin to look for a new Palico. Maybe a Grimalkyne would be willing ti replace that spot? Meh, he wouldn't think about it for the time being.
The Hunter stepped down from the tent, and pulled off his helmet, clipping it to his coil.
His face was rather young, with well kept brown hair that did not go past his ears. His eyes were a deep blue, and seemed to radiate a sort of calmness. He had two scars on his face. One that ran across his forhead, and on the ran down his left cheek, both of which were acquired in his early days of hunting. He was rather careless back then, and although he would never admit it as to not tarnish his pride, the one on his cheek was from a Great Jagras and the one on his forhead from a Tzitzi-Ya-Ku.
He smiled as he walked over to a stone table and chair, sitting down just as the Handler noticed him.
"Hey Partner! You all set to go? Not skimping on potions like you did last time?" She asked, grinning as she walked over to the small stone oven.
"Seriously, you're still on that? Yes, I have everything I need. And get off my back for that, alright?! It was a Tobi-Kadachi, I thought I could afford to keep a few potions stored." He remarked, reminded of the embarrassing memory that was his last hunt.
"Uh-huh, and I bet you were thinking about grabbing a bunch more potions after you got carted a second time. Honestly, I know you defeated Xeno'jiiva on your own, but you still cant be too careless. They may not be Elder Dragons or Superpredators, but a Monster is still a Monster, and they are dangerous." She stated, pulling the giant platter of chicken, shrimp, lettuce and other foodstuffs out of the oven, smiling as she sniffed it and passed it over to his table carefully. The Hunter smiled, once again thanking the Sapphire Star for his job. Because his job was quite literally hunting Monsters that can get as big as buildings, he had to exert his body a lot. Not just tracking and hunting the monster, but staying standing after blocking an attack really takes a lot out of him. After all, he is still Human. So it takes a lot of food to keep a man with a profession like this running, so meals that would be enough to serve six or seven normal people over the course of a few hours, usually gets wolfed down by a single hunter in about 20 minutes. It was fairly common to see a Hunter eat an entire turkey in a few minutes, sometimes two if they were on an incredibly difficuly mission, such as hunting four Elder Dragons in fifty minutes.
Something that this Hunter swore to never again do in all his life.
Well regardless of that, the Hunter immediately began to wolf down the food like a hungry Odogaron that hadn't eaten for days.
Of course, Hunters weren't exactly known for table manners, and this was not exactly a dining hall. So most Hunters chewed with their mouths open, loudly burped, and wiped their mouths with their forearms when eating, even in the presence of other Hunters, whom were always either completely fine with it or doing it themselves.
Yes, the Hunters were a rambunctious bunch. Especially the fifth fleet, which he hailed from.
It didnt take too long for the Hunter to completely decimate the food on his plate, especially the Gajau, which was one of his favorites.
"You know, sometimes I get jealous of you Partner. You and your Hunter buddies going out and slaying giant beasts, but then I see how you all act outside of a Hunt and go back to being glad I am a Handler..." She said sarcastically, taking the platter, which now only had bones and few drink spills on it.
"Bah, you Handlers just dont know how to have fun!" He loudly retorted, putting his helmet back on and turning to leave. He heard the Handler let out an exasperated sigh, but he knew she was smiling.
At first, he found the Handler somewhat annoying and her antics to be the opposite of funny. But over time, he must have rubbed off on her, becase eventually she started acting MUCH more tolerable, and eventually she even became good company. Company that some of his close Hunting buddies would have trouble beating.
He laughed as he hopped up and over the lip of stone that separated their camp from the rest of the Recess, and he began his trek to the Teostra's nest.
He broke into a jog, throwing a flash pod into his slinger before he broke left and began to slide down a long tunnel, which eventually stopped and led to a large chamber, littered with crystals. Some crystals could even be used against monsters, and he would be lying if he said he hadnt dropped the giant logs of crystal on the heads of more than a few monsters.
He leapt down from this chamber, and took the path to the right, which led to another segment of the Recess. He felt the burn, and quickly took a cool drink from his bag, drinking the contents quickly before tossing the now empty bottle into the pit of lava off to his left, hoping that there wasn't a Lavasioth hiding in there. He pushed forward, climing another lip and heading forwards, deep into the volatile chamber that leaked magma from the walls. He then entered a small tunnel that looked red from the heat, and it probably was. He jogged through it, and pushed through to the end, which led to the sight this hunter had been waiting to see.
Set before him was a large, stone platform thay was completely surrounded by magma, which steamed down from the seemingly endless erupting volcanoes ahead of him. It was a beautiful sight, and would be even better if it wasnt hotter than a Rathalos' stomach.
But that wasnt what this Hunter was interested in. Nox he was interested at the majestic icon of fire that was standing on the platform, looking at him with piercing sapphire eyes that screamed royalty. Royal, a perfect description for the Kaiser of Flames.
The Teostra was standing, waiting for him to make a move. Daring him to make a move as it snarled, showing its long fangs as it's mane flowed.
The Hunter smirked, and obliged as he strode down the stone path, and leapt from it, down onto the platform.
As soon as he made contact with the ground, the Teostra let out a burst of heat and flame, as well as spreading it's wings as an intimidation tactic. And it may have worked, if he hadn't hunted these things before. He had gotten rather good at it, too.
He took his lance and shield off his back, extending the lance to full length and keeping his shield at the ready. The Hunter heard an aggressive snarling, and the familiar sound of fire crackling.
The Teostra was getting ready to spit fire. This fire was hot enough to melt through many things, but a Deviljho shield was not one of them.
The Teostra spat the ball of fire and magma at the Hunter, Who knelt down the covered himself with the shield. This tactic was employed by every Lancer in the commission, and waswas often described as being an unbreakable defense. And it indeed was.
The fireball made contact with the shield, exploding on contact at splattering over it and on the ground. It sizzled, and fell from the shield.
Not only was it completely undamaged and the Hunter completely safe, he hadnt even budged.
The Teostra growled at this, before letting out an earsplitting roar. Well, it would have been earsplitting if he didn't have earplugs.
The hunter stood, and entered a stance that was so famous that any Hunter eould recognize it, Lancer or no.
He held his shield in front of him, and held his lance out, ready to impale whatever was in his path.
Then, the Hunter started running.
Ah, yes. This was a tactic known as "Jousting" among the Hunters of the commission. It was a method of attack in which the Lance weilder charges ahead without any regard for their own safety, hitting the monster many times as they pass, and they often do this until they run out of stamina.
Some particularly cruel Lancers do this to downed monsters, running their weapon into the weak spot of the monster, not allowing even the body of the beast to stop their charge as they decimate their target while it is incapacitated.
The Hunter leapt as it got close to the Teostra, which let out a roar as it tried to bite down on it.
Just as planned.
Meanwhile, in another dimension...
Now we will take a look at another world, existing inside a dimension different to the Hunters. In this dimension, there were no Elder Dragons, no commission, and no Gajau.
This was the world of Gameindustri. Mostly an ocean world, but there was a pair of islands that were quite important.
The bigger of the two Islands was home to three nations, each being led by a single Goddess. The first Nation, Planeptune, was known as the land of Purple Progress. It was the most technologically advanced of the four nations, and was led by the Goddess, or CPU Purle Heart, and her sister Purple Sister.
The second nation was called Lastation, was called the land of Black Regality. A few years ago, this name would have been rather untrue, as the nation was somewhat polluted. But now, thanks to the efforts of their CPU Black heart and Black Sister, it was now truly an impressive nation, with technology second only to Planeptune.
The third and final nation on this island was given the title Lowee, the land of White Serenity. It was a cold place, with snow covering the landscape. The nation itself looked as if it was from a children's storybook, and was governed by CPU White Heart, and her two sisters. White Sister Ram and White Sister Rom.
However, there was also a fourth nation. Separated from the other three and located on a smalled island to the south. This nation was known as Leanbox, the land of Green Pastures. It was akin to a tropical paradise to many, with high temperatures and many beaches. It was also home to the fabled R-18 Island, which was essentially just a nude beach given a fancy name and allowed by their CPU, Green Heart. However, the leader if this nation was without a sister.
For many centuries, these CPU's have been at war with each other for title of the True Goddess. However, in time, and with the help of their Human allies, they came to realize that in order to defeat a much larger threat, they must all band together. At first, they only did this out of necessity, but in time, the four learned to respect eachother. And with time, became friends. And with that, the Goddesses decided to out an end to this Console War. Which brings us to present day Gameindustri, where the CPU's all convened outside of the Planeptune Basilicom in order to sign a Friendship Treaty. When this treaty would be signed, the CPU's would all agree to never take each others shares, the source of their power, by force.
Why are we here, you may be asking? Well, the simple truth is that this place will soon be getting a very strange and foreign resident.
Elders Recess, Teostra Nest.
The Hunter grinned as he carved a Teostra Gem out of the hide of his newest trophy. It wasn't the most dangerous Teostra he'd ever fought, but Elder Dragons always provided good challenge.
Except for Kirin. He'd heard many horror stories about those things, and was somewhat frightened the first time he saw one. He then figured out his style of hunting and weapon of choice turned what was a nightmare for other Hunters into the easiest Elder Dragon battle of his life.
He smirked. And was so deep in thought, he failed to notice a strange, violet spiral appear behind him.
That is, until it began to suck him in with strength that would give any Brute Wyvern a run for it's zenny. Even the Teostra started to move, which was alarming since this one was a Gold Crown size.
"Oh Sapphire Star damnit! Did another portal to Eorzea open?!" He shouted to himself as he held on with all the strength he had as the dead Toestra flew over him, getting sucked into the portal.
Now, a Hunter's strength is not to be underestimated. If you've seen them arm wrestle, then you've likely seen a few broken barrels as a result of the sheer power they slam down their opponents hand with. And those were just ones that used Dual Blades! God love you if you get into an arm wrestling match with a man carrying a Hammer at his waist. That poor Longsword user had no idea... They were repairing the gathering hub for days!
But this was something else. The power behind this pull was immense and crushing, and he was starting to feel his grip loosen.
But the ground gave out before he did. The stone he was holding into suddenly cracked, and then shortly afterward shattered, bringing the Hunter with it.
Somewhere?...
The Hunter was awake for all of it, and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. All around him, it looked like story books were playing out as images all around him.
In one, there was a horde of what looked to deformed humanoid things. Some were short and stubby, while others stood tall and had four lips. They seemed to have strange guns, and were shooting at people who also had what looked like guns. But one of them stood out. He was tall, and covered in green armor with a single golden visor on his helmet.
Another showed a Human covered head to toe in knights armor, holding a kite shield and longsword. He was combating what looked to be a giant human, with a large flaming sword. Their arena was covered in ash.
Still another was inhabited by strange, gelatinous creatures with various bright colors and even brighter expressions, being sucked up by a Human holding a strange contraption.
Before he got to see any more however, this strange occurrence seemed to stop, and it spat him out. He sighed in relief at this.
"What in the name of the Admiral was that? Was that Eorzea? They totally lied to us!" He exclaimed, remembering how the floating cat thing described Eorzea to him. There was nothing else that could have been, right?
"Damn, well I guess I'll head back to Astera after I land... wait, this land doesn't look familiar.." He squinted his eyes as he gazed at the rapidly approaching land. Most people would have freaked out by now if they realized they were falling from this height at this velocity.
But this man was a Hunter. Getting hurt by a fall was unheard of and widely considered to be impossible if you were a Hunter.
So he gazed in confusion at the rapidly approaching land, air whistling by him. He did not recognize this landscape, or any of the buildings. He was certain that he would have known about the giant, black building he was currently on a collision course with, after all nobody can build something that fancy looking and keep it a secret. Also the city surrounding it was also huge. Was this Eorzea? If so then A: Thats a problem, and B: They didnt lie. Also, that construction looks really advanced, why did they not tell us about that? Oh hey! There's the Teos-
*CRASH!*
*SHATTER!*
*KA-BOOOOOM!*
Any thoughts running through his head were stopped as he impacted with the building nearly at the speed of sound, shooting straight through the wall and through the floor of that floor, busting through a window and continuing downward as he shot through the building with the force of a dragon piercer, flying out the opposite end of the building after breaking through about... Three floors, a few windows and about seven walls, was the best estimate he could make. He then hit the ground behind the building with a loud crash, creating a crater.
For a second, it was as if the world itself was staring at him, wide eyed at the sheer destruction the man had caused in less then ten seconds.
Astonishingly, the man stood up as if absolutely nothing happened, when in reality something did indeed happen. He dusted himself off, and looked back at the building, which he could see straight through as there was a roughly man sized hole running straight through it. The man sweatdropped, and slowly turned around and began to run.
"If the Commander has taught me anything, it's that really important people live in big buildings!" He said to himself as he ran in the opposite direction of Lastation, and into a forest.
Lastation Basilicom.
Sarah Rose sighed, as she closed the door the the bathroom, and walked back down the hall.
"Of course I get stuck with this job... Black Heart takes everyone else to ceremony except for me, go figure..." Alas, this poor woman had been stuck with the duty of watching the Basilicom while everyone else was away at the signing of the Friendship Treaty. While she would much rather be at the signing, she had to admit things werent too bad here. Everyone would be gone until tomorrow morning, and the silence was quite relaxing when accompanied by the soothing rays of sunlight beaming through the windows.
"...Eh, guess I'll go to the balcony." Rose decided, before beginning to walk down the hall to the balcony.
...Well, she WOULD have done that if an earsplitting cacophony of noises hadn't assaulted her eardrums, accompanied by what looked like a person tearing through the floor in front of her and down into the next one at possibly mach speeds.
She just stood there for a moment, unable to react to what she had just witnesses, she just stood there for a few seconds as her brain processed the scene in front of her.
A person.
Shooting through the Basilicom like a bullet.
Tearing through multiple floors and windows.
"EEEEHHHH?!" She screamed as she looked down through the hole the person had torn in the Basilicom. Her face turned ghost white as she saw that the person had torn through nine entire floors at an angle that probably directed them towards walls, causing damage to those as well. She looked down through the hole and put a hand over her mouth as she saw the massive crater behind the building, and almost fainted when she saw the person walking out COMPLETELY FINE! NOBODY WALKS AWAY FROM A FALL AS BIG AS THAT LIKE HE JUST DID!
Well, apparently the person didn't seem to care about gravity, as he began to run away from the Basilicom and in the direction of Planeptune. Golden armor shining all the way.
Sarah took a second to fully comprehend what just happened, before taking a few steps back and sitting against the wall, shakily pulling out her phone and dialing Lady Black Heart's number. It rang for a few seconds, before she picked up.
"Yes, what is it? I've just signed the Treaty and am enjoying a surprisingly nice celebratory party, so you best have a good reason to call me." Stated her Lady. Sarah gulped, and spoke.
"Um.. Lady Black Heart?.. Something.. unexpected has happened, and it requires your attention.."
A few hours later...
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE!?" Shouted Black Heart in rage and shock, as she and the other three CPU's stared at the roughly human sized hole tearing through nine floors of her Basilicom.
"U-Um, I believe a person fell from the sky at high speeds, resulting in them shooting through the building and coming out the other end, creating a crater behind the Basilicom... And they walked away from all of this completely unfazed..."
Black Heart looked at her with dumbfounded eyes, and her mouth was opening and closing, but not saying anything.
"I believe we've finally found someone that has outdone Neptune..." Stated a one Blanc, as she stood with the other two CPU's.
"Nepu?! Im the protag! Nobody can be better then me at anything!" She stated loudly.
"How about running a nation?" All four, including Sarah, said in response. At that moment, You could see a cartoon arrow pierce Neptune's heart.
Back with our Hunter...
"Praise energy drinks!" He said loudly, as he drank what was probably his fifth one since he started running. He had been running at near top speed for about forty minutes, and he was just starting to slow down to a walk. He looked up at the sky, and from how his eyes were burning in agony, he was able to deduce that it was at least noon, if not later. So, he decided to cook some lunch. He found an open area, set down one of the most famous Hunting tools. Something that any Hunter would vote for if a usefulness poll was put out.
The cooking spit.
Grinning, he readied the spit and placed the raw meat on, and that familiar jingle began to play as he turned the meat. He waited for the incredibly short pause near the end of the tune, before thrusting his meat into the air in celebratory fashion. He wasted no time in chowing down. While it wasn't nearly as filling as the Head Chef's or Handlers meals, it would definetly be enough for now. Loud chewing noises came from the man as the meat passed thriugh his helmet and into his mouth, another thing he didnt know about why it happened but refrained from questioning it. After picking the bone clean, he tossed it aside and burped loudly. He picked up his spit and was about to go, when he heard the darndest thing.
"Dogoo!"
A large question mark appeared over his head, and he looked to the source of the noise. He was greeted with a monster that did not resemble anything he had ever seen before. It was blue and gelatinous, kinda similar to those things he saw before getting spat out of that... thing. But this one had a dog's face. His eyes lit up at this. He had never actually seen a real dog, closest thing was Poogie.
And Poogie was superior to any domestic animal.
He knelt down, and clapped his hands lightly before holding them out to the thing.
...It didn't do anything.
The Hunter sighed in defeat and sadness, and stood to leave when something distressing happened, in the form of the blue thing somehow leaping at him and splattering against his chestplate.
"Dogoo?" It said again curiously, despite being splashed across the ground and body of the Hunter. This, reasonably freaked the Hunter out. And he wiped the blue goo off of himself.
"Ack! Get off! How are you still making sounds after that?!" Exclaimed the Hunter, as he watched the thing reform right in front of him.
"Dogoo!" It said again.
The Hunter sighed. It attacked him, and it didn't seem very smart. Thats usually most small monsters, right? And he is a Monster Hunter.
So. He took his lance from his back, which the Dogoo looked at curiously.
He held it out,
and speared the thing in less than a second.
"DOGOOOOOOO!" It screamed a rather disturbing scream. And then, something even MORE outlandish happened. As if today couldnt get any worse!
The thing then began to glow, before exploding in a shower of blue squares, which very quickly dissapeared.
The Hunter just stood there for a moment, letting what had just happened set in.
"Well... This is bizarre." Was all he could say to comment on this situation. He saw a strange vial on the ground where the thing once was, and when he picked it up, a strange rectangle appeared in his vision, which said:
"Obtained Dogoo Jelly #1!"
It dissapeared moments later, but that still didn't make it any less shocking.
'Okay, so first I get sucked into some thing after killing that Teostra. Then it spits me out here, in this wacky world damned by the Sapphire Star, causing me to crash through a building, and pitting me up against a monster that dissapears when you kill it, and when you pick something up it tells you what it is..."
The Hunter confirmed himself on everything he said, before looking forward.
"Just what have I gotten myself into this time?"
Hopefully the pilot chapter wasn't too bad. I tried to capture the lighthearted tone of both Monster Hunter and Hyperdimension Neptunia with this one, so it wont be all too dark or violent.
