Chapter 1
Malzok was a man, barely twenty-five years of age. He had black eyes and short brown hair. He had three long scar's across his face from a Great Jaggi attack when he was ten years old. He looked around the desert city that housed the Hunter's Guild. He took in everything with a single glance, amazed at all the hunter's around, all with different weapons and armor, showing off their rank and what they have killed. He saw a wide range of armor and weapons, from Bow Guns to Long Swords. From Great Jaggi all the way to Rathalos!
Wow, someone actually managed to kill a Rathalos? Malzok thought to himself as he walked by.
Well, first thing I should do is go sign up as a hunter before I do anything else.
So Malzok headed to the Hunter's Guild for registration. When he arrived a receptionist greeted him.
"Hi!" She said as he approached.
"Hi, is this where I sign up as a hunter?" He asked.
"Sure is! Looking to join the Hunter's Guild are you?"
"Yeah, so how do I join?"
"Just sign these paper's."
"Ok," He said as she handed him paper's to sign. He looked over them quickly and then signed them.
"Great! You are now an official hunter for the Hunter's Guild! Just go down the stair on the right there and choose your starter weapon."
"Ok, thanks." He said as he did what she said to do. Going down the stair's he entered a room that was very hot, he noticed smelting equipment for making the weapons and armor that hunter's use. As he approached the counter the smelter noticed him as he was finishing work on a Long Sword.
"Who 'er you now? From the looks of ya I'd wager a new hunter." the smelter said.
"I am, the receptionist upstairs told me to come down here for my starter equipment." he responded.
The Smelter mumbled under his breath, something about new kids committing suicide by becoming a hunter. He then walked over to a rack and said, "This 'er is yer selection of starting weapons." He waved his hand at them. "You can choose from a Sword and Shield, Great Sword, Hammer, and Bow Gun in either light, medium, or heavy. Take yer pick."
Malzok's eyes drifted over to the Long Sword that the Smelter recently finished work on, this of course did not escape the Smelter's notice.
"I don't think so, newbie." he said, "Switch Axes, Long Swords, and Lances are all fer the higher ranking hunter's, want one? Then you better work hard on ranking up."
With a sigh Malzok looked back at the weapons on the rack and thought about their abilities. He knew Sword and Shields to be very quick with attacks but the range was very short. Great Swords had a very long range but was extremely slow. Hammer never seemed to appeal to him for some reason, always preferring a blade than something blunt. As for the Bow Gun you could attack long range, but as a solo hunter it was very difficult since the monster would be fighting you. Finally he decided, "I'll take the Great Sword."
"Very well," the Smelter said. He lifted the Great Sword off the rack and gave it to Malzok. With his new weapon in hand he could finally fight monsters. "What about armor?" He asked.
The Smelter looked at him surprised, finally after a moment he burst out laughing. "If you want armor go kill the monster's yerself!"
A little annoyed at the Smelter's rudeness he left, going back up to the receptionist for what quests he can take on. As he rounded a corner he ran into someone, throwing them both to the ground.
"I'm terribly sorry about that!" he said as he looked up. And saw a girl about his age. She had sapphire blue eye and dark black hair. He noticed she had a Sword and Shield and figured she was a hunter as well, and from the lack of armor he saw she must also be pretty new as well.
"Oh, heh, don't worry about it. These things happen sometimes." She said as she looked at him for the first time and flinched at the scars on his face. Malzok noticed this as he was getting up. "Don't mind these, I got them from a Great Jaggi when I was ten." He said as he offered her a hand up. She gratefully took it and he helped her up. "My names Malzok, may I ask who you are?"
She looked up at him with a smile and said, "I'm Trana, nice to meet you Malzok!" She looked him up and down and finally said, "You're a new hunter too, right?"
"That's right." He said. "I got this a couple minutes ago." he emphasized by grabbing the handle of his Great Sword. She looked at him happily. "Well then, I guess newbie's should stick together to make sure their not killed, right?"
Malzok looked at her and laughed. "Yeah, I guess your right. So, what kind of quests do they offer new hunter's?" He asked. The smile on her face vanished, "Mostly gathering quests, like fishing or killing harmless monster's, or even just grabbing stones from the ocean floor. The only true hunting quest we can do is to hunt a bunch of Jaggi."
Malzok looked at her in surprised. "You would be surprised at how tough those things are, they might not be as dangerous as a Great Jaggi but they can still be very clever."
She looked at him dumbfounded. "And you would know this... how?"
"Why don't we go find a table to sit and talk at." The place was very crowded with other hunter's so it was very difficult to find a place to sit at. Finally they found a small table in a corner and sat down.
"Now," Trana started, "why don't you tell me a bit about yourself if I'm going to be hunting with you."
"Ok, where would you like me to start?" Malzok asked.
"First how you know so much about Jaggi?"
"Well me and my father would hunt Jaggi very often when I was younger. My father would usually make me use a Bow Gun"
"So how did you end up with those scars?" Trana asked.
"Well one day in our village there was a warning that a Great Jaggi had appeared in the area and until it had gone away no one should leave the village to go hunting. I of course had gone hunting with my father so much I thought I could handle it, so I packed all the ammo I had and set off to kill it." He touched the scars on his face has he thought back. "I finally found the best eating so I loaded up some ammo and took aim, I fired at it hitting it in the left side of it's face, scaring it badly. I was able to take it by surprised but then it got angry and charged after me. I tried to run away for some distance but it was too fast and jumped on me, it's feet cutting at my face which gave me these scars." He said as he pointed at them. "It was looking down at me and I thought I was a goner as it was about to bit down on my face, but then my father came of no where with a Long Sword as long as this table." He said emphasizing, "And cut off the beast's tail half way up. This threw it off of me and one of the village hunter's grabbed me and took me to safety while my father fought the beast. From what I could see from where the hunter took me my father charged and cut off the frill on its right side. Knowing that the beast has met it's match it ran off to lick its wounds, however my father did not pursue the beast knowing my life was more important."
Trana simply listened to this story, completely engulfed in what Malzok was saying. Finally after a few minutes of silence after he finished his story she asked, "Who was your father?" Malzok smiled at this question, proud to have the father he had and answered, "Lagnotan Granfer." At hearing this name Trana was completely shocked at this. "Y-Y-Y-You mean THE Lagnotan Granfer? The one with the Long Sword made out of a monster completely unknown?" Malzok looked at her confused. "What do you mean? I knew my father was once a hunter but I never knew he was famous."
"NOT KNOWN?" She said completely out of it. "He was one of the best hunter's ever known! It's said he went into the ocean one day and came back with parts of a beast no one has ever seen before, and turned them into a Long Sword! He was suppose to become the leader of the Hunter's Guild!" By this point Trana was going into a craze. "I mean your father was Lagnotan Granfer!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, this got the attention of every hunter in the hall. Everyone was staring at Malzok at this point, Trana's face was red from her craze and still stared at him in disbelieve. "That runt is the son of Lagnotan Granfer?" Someone said. They approached Malzok's table, he was wearing full Rathalos armor, with a Lance made out of Rathalos parts. "This guy couldn't even kill a Kelbi!" He mocked as he laughed at Malzok. This also got a few people in the hall laughing as well.
"Shut up you! What would you know about other people? Just because you can kill a Rathalos doesn't mean your all high and mighty!" Trana yelled.
The man looked at her. "I believe it does mean I can act high and mighty. In fact my team is about to go out and hunt what is reported to be a creature very similar to what it is this... 'things' father is to said have killed." He turned around and left as three other people got up and joined him. After this little exchange was over everyone returned to what they where doing.
"What a jerk... who the hell does he think he is anyway?"
"He is one of best hunter's around, goes by the name of Rathaking." Someone said as he approached the table Malzok and Trana were sitting at.
"The names Convis."
"I'm Malzok."
"And I'm Trana."
"So, why does he go by the name of Rathaking?" Malzok asked.
"It's said that at the age of fifteen he was able to fight and kill a Rathalos that attacked his village." Convis said and he took a seat between Malzok and Trana.
"I'm also new, though I've only been here a week. I'm a Bow Gunner, so doing hunts can be a little tricky for me at times."
"Sword and Shield is my weapon of choice." Trana said.
"And I use a Great Sword." Malzok said.
"Either of you done any hunts yet?" Convis asked.
"I haven't, in fact I just joined today and got my sword a not long ago." Malzok answered.
"Same here, I've been a little a busy in the city though. You know need to have some place to stay and all while I'm here on work, have yet to find someplace cheap enough to stay at though." Trana admitted.
"You know there is a hotel that is giving free rooms to hunter's while they stay here on business." Convis told them. Malzok and Trana looked at each other.
"Great! So why don't we go check this place out." Malzok said as he got up. He looked at Trana "You coming?" He asked.
"Of course!" She answered him. Malzok looked at Convis and asked, "So where is this place?"
"Go down the street and make a right turn then keep heading straight, can't miss it." He answered.
So Malzok and Trana headed to the hotel, after about five minutes of walking they finally found the hotel that is housing hunter's free. As they entered the lobby they were greeted by the owner. "'ey there mon! You two be new hunters?" He asked.
"We are." Malzok answered.
"Great mon, great! Now since you two be new hunters I can only offer you my cheapest rooms, have to rank up for the better ones mon." He said as he walked around the counter to show them where they will be sleeping. When Malzok was shown his room it looked like a barn to him, hay everywhere and a huge pile of hay with a sheet and pillow on top acting as the bed. Looking at the place he wasn't very impressed so simple went back outside to meet Trana. As Trana approached from her room he asked, "Not very impressive, is it?"
"No, not really."
"Well, let's go meet up with Convis and try hunting."
"Ok!" Trana said, that smile returning to her face.
When Malzok and Trana returned to where they left Convis they found him talking to someone. As Malzok and Trana approached the table Convis and his friend noticed them. "Ah! Malzok, Trana! Allow me to introduce you to my childhood friend, Jana." Malzok and Trana shook her hand in turn as each where sitting down.
"So, I take it Jana is also a new hunter?" Malzok asked. Convis laughed at this, "That's what you would think. In fact Jana is a rank ten hunter who has been here a year, she agreed to help us with our hunts."
"That's right! I'm sure me and my Long Sword would be of great serves to you all." Jana said.
"Well great! So what are we all doing around sitting and talking? Let's hunt!" Malzok said.
"Haha, ok sure no problem but since you three can only hunt Jaggi I should warn you that it is currently Jaggi breeding season." Jana said as Malzok went to get the quest. When he arrived he was visibly quite happy. "I got the quest, so lets head out!" And they did.