Disclaimer: All content in this story goes to their rightful owners, in no way do I claim Monster Hunter as my own.

The walk back to camp was rather painful, mostly due to the harsh conditions my legs found themselves in.

Our armor took quite the beating as well – mostly Jenny's Ukanlos armor – , my leggings were made out of ore that thankfully resisted dragon elements, but that didn't stop the pain I was experiencing with every step.

Upon our arrival at the campsite, we started focusing on a fire-pit, the sun was already setting, which in turn made the task in hand more urgent.
It only took a couple of minutes before finally finishing and getting an ember, that grew into a successful fire.

Jenny was the first to speak after getting comfortable inside the tent."It was starting to get cold, glad we can sleep at ease tonight."

I was currently sitting at the edge of the mattress, still focus on healing my legs, I respond with a monotone voice.

"Yes, we'll rest and finish the hunt tomorrow morning."

The sound of sheets rustling gave away Jenny's sitting position.

"Don't be so serious, everything we'll be fine." The blonde was quick to reassure me.

"I know," I decided to shift the conversation into a different topic. "Can I ask you something, Jenny?"

"Ah, sure."

"Do you have any siblings?" The question was risky.

I knew nothing about her family and I ran the risk of striking something personal, but I wanted to share my past with someone else, I just needed some leverage or encouragement to do so.

The atmosphere grew tense, and Jenny went quiet for what seemed forever.

"No, I don't have any family members." The answer was sharp, quick, and had hints of aggression.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," I turn and look at Jenny, who's eyes were cast down.

"It's fine, mind telling me what brought it up?" Brown eyes met with mine, they were piercing through me and showed signs of stress.

I was practically forced to tell her now, it wouldn't be fair if I didn't. "I only have a father as a family member."

Somehow, Jenny looked even more annoyed, or rather, wanted to stop talking.

"I'll stop, sorry if I went too far-" Jenny held my hand and interrupted me.

"No, continue, I'm just fighting with bad memories."

I slowly nod in response. "My mother passed away upon giving birth to my Brother and I, which naturally left a hole in our small family."

"Wait, you have a brother?"

"Had." It was Jenny's turn to which and had an apologetic face. "He was murdered around five years ago."

Jenny took her time in picking the following words. "He died under the mark of the Hunter, right?"

"Sadly yes, an Alatreon rip him apart in front of my eyes, I had never experienced such emotional distress before."

My brother, who's name was Storm, was also my twin brother. We did almost everything together, he was there for me and I was there for him.
I still remember his light brown eyes and black jet hair, along with his energetic smile and explosive personality, pretty much the complete opposite of me.

Jenny put her hand on my shoulder. "Now I understand why you acted that way in the past."

After the incident, I had left Loc Lac and Moga, I was just running away from my past upon arriving at Dundorma.
At first, I was just a lone wolf. Then I slowly met people who would grow into life lasting friends, these people would later force me to join the newly built guild, under the name of Beowulf, our guild's representative.

"Sorry if my personality back then was unpleasant," I responded to Jenny's recent statement.

I had mental issues back then, issues that would only affect my social life and cause me to be a shut in, but someone made me change.

"Hehe, looks like you found yourself and reached the surface." Jenny smiled happily.

"Thanks to Raito, I was able to find comfort with myself and move on." I didn't notice the error I committed until it was too late.

"Hmm? Raito, huh?" Jenny had a huge grin on her face. "Sounds like a guy."

I let out a sigh. "Yes, a male."

"Please, do tell."

Jenny's face was now dangerously close to mine, all while having an annoying smirk.

"Want me to cut you open during your sleep?" I say nonchalantly while staring her down with my eyes.

The blonde quickly backpedaled into a corner. "N-No, ma'am! I'm just an innocent girl!"

A yawn escapes my mouth as I finished bandaging my legs. "Alright, let's get some sleep..."

We woke up the next morning at around dawn, minor preparations were made before finally heading out to hunt the weaken Deviljho.

A few hours pass without any trace of the brute wyvern, so we decided to hunt for some quarry and gather the meat in a singular pile, the aroma will attract the carnivore who's most likely starving.

Hopefully, the Deviljho doesn't catch on and avoids the trap completely, I say this due to our current rank and the quest itself.
The rank system is rather simple to understand if a low-rank monster survives an encounter against low-rank hunters; said quest gets promoted to high rank.

That being said, a G-Rank quest usually consists of a powerful Elder Dragon, an adult Wyvern, or a survivor of previous encounters against High-Rank Hunters. All of this indicates that the Deviljho has a high chance of avoiding the trap and making us lose more time.

We decided to wait in nearby bushes, hiding in any way possible in order to not ruin any small chances of luring our target.
Polishing our weapons was the first idea that came to our minds as we sat there in silence.

After what seemed to be an eternity, a movement was heard throughout the forest, the sudden disturbance scared off the nearby Kelbi and other small species.

'The movement is uneven as if the source was limping.' My head turns to Jenny, the blonde gave me a nod and started getting up.

Peeking carefully through the bushes, we observe the creature limping slowly towards the meat.

"Time to hunt," Jenny walks into the clearing, hammer and armor glimmering under the blazing sun. "Don't fall behind, Blizzard!"

'Youthful energy sure is a blessing... Ugh, I sound so old.' I shrug the thoughts away and follow behind.

The sound of armored footsteps alerted the brute of our presence, eyes lit up with rage as it recognized us.

I took out my charge blade and entered its Sword and Shield form, Jenny charged in, expectations were not meant as the Deviljho dodged towards the left instead of roaring.

"Careful, it learned!" I warn the blonde as she narrowly avoided a bite.

"Duly noted!"

'I need to rush in and back her up.' Charging into the fray, I managed to position myself underneath its stomach area.

Switching into axe form, I punish the Deviljho with an upswing, the blade strikes true and cuts the soft underbelly.
A cry of pain was heard as the brute lifted its leg high and went for a stomp; reflexes kicked in, allowing me to avoid both the tremor and the physical attack with a roll.

"You're wide open!" I hear Jenny shout while also landing an attack on Deviljho's head.

It responds by trying to bite her, the sudden movement caused the tail to almost hit me yet again, but I was expecting it this time.
I unlock the hilt from the axe, quickly returning to my sword mode and Guard-Pointed the incoming attack, the shield let out an elemental discharge and shocked the area that came into contact with it.

At the corner of my eye, I saw Deviljho going in for a bite against me, I barely managed to sidestep out of the way and counter with a round slash; the slash went across the neck as it moved passed me.

"Give me a boost!"

I plant my right leg forward and granted Jenny the opportunity to leap off of me, as I felt her legs on my shoulders, I gave her one final boost.

'Go!' I yelled mentally as I saw her closing the distance between me and the Devil.

Jenny managed to slam the Hammer down upon its head, granting her enough height to slam down once more and throw the giant wyvern off balance.

We decided to hold our ground and wait for the creature to attack us instead, seconds passed, enough time for Deviljho to regain its senses and enter Rage mode.

My body grows tense as I enter a defensive position. "Stay on alert-" I ate my words upon realizing what exactly was going on.

The brute's scales had turned into a purple hue, eyes glowing violet, and black saliva drooling out of its maw.

Jenny was the first to speak. "Damn it, a frenzied monster."

I could feel a burning sensation on my right leg, the same location where I received a scar around a year ago.

"Split up!" My command came naturally, Jenny quickly obeyed.

The now frenzied Deviljho was faster and more aggressive, – completely ignoring its limp – it came straight after me.

I shielded the lunging bite, unfortunately, some of the black drooling salivae managed to land on my armor, forcing me to roll and shake some of it off, the rest had already created holes on my silver coat.

"I got your back!" Jenny slams the brute's leg with a spin attack, it sadly didn't do much.

Deviljho retaliated by dashing forward, this, in turn, kicked Jenny out of the way.

I felt anger clouding my mind. 'The frenzy is getting to me, I need to control it.'

With a single dash, I closed enough distance to reach my target with a morphing draw attack.

The transition went smoothly as I went into axe mode and cut deeply into its wounded hind leg, the violent wyvern didn't respond to any hints of pain and decided to toss me aside with a tailspin.

I got up with a bit of pain, but I felt lighter. 'I overcame the frenzy luckily.'

With a new spring in my step, I was able to travel double the distance I usually did, even with such a heavy weapon.

'Monsters aren't the only ones that benefit from the frenzy!'

I spin and swing the axe over my head, landing a powerful downward slash into an upswing, the blow caused the Deviljho to feel true pain now.

"Don't forget about me!" I heard bone cracking under the pure force of Jenny's Hurricane spin.

Deviljho was thrown off guard even further.

I could tell Jenny had also powered up in time, unlike me, the increase of strength was in her arms.

"Nice job!" I continue the pressure by triggering my phial attacks, a chain of explosions closely followed behind as I slashed its gradually weakening hind legs.

'We need to break the bones, completely immobilizing it will give us the opportunity to kill it.' Blood with a purple tint was starting to fall on my face as I slashed with all my might.

Before I could deliver a fatal round-slash with my axe, the brute pounced forward and almost pinned down Jenny, upon knowing it had missed; the brute turned around and started charging a breath attack.

I run forward and cover my ally. "Fall back!"

The mysterious foggy emission had hit my shield, fully charging my weapon to max.

– Flashbacks of the creature lunging forward in previous hunts made me go for a risky maneuver. –

I push my blade into the shield, creating friction upon morphing back into my axe mode, I could feel my hands burning as the phials entered an overheated stage.
Deviljho started running towards me with a murderous intent evident in its eyes, I held my ground and pulled the trigger that would release all phials, an attack that would break my weapon in two in exchange for an Ultra-Attack.

Right before Deviljho could kill me in one bite, I landed the fatal blow between its eyes, the charge blade exploded inside the wound and caused shards to spread inside its skull as my weapon broke from the immense power.

'Checkmate!' I grit my teeth as the force sent me flying backwards, I closed my eyes, preparing for impact against the ground.

"I gotcha!"

Upon opening my eyes, I see a blonde smiling down at me. "Thanks, Jenny."

Jenny lets me stand on my own two feet as we stare at the lifeless corpse.

"Phew, I was starting to get tired." The hammer user lets out a chuckle before heading towards her prize. "I call dibs on any gems."

I shrug with a small smile. "Whatever, I only came here to help."

On the way back to the guild, Jenny was constantly groaning.

"Ugh, my hand is killing me!" The blonde said once more as she held it in pain.

I could relate to the pain she was feeling, for my legs felt as if they were breaking every time I moved.

"Side effects from the frenzy sadly," I said weakly as I endured the pain. "I can feel it disappearing at least, but the experience is always unpleasant."

Jenny responds with a groan as she laid in the haystack.

I start to untie my armor leggings, leaving me in my black long socks, I decided to lower the one on my right leg, exposing the scar that I got when fighting my first frenzied monster.
The scar had a purple hue as if I got a bruise, but I knew it was the shard stuck inside that was glowing. The shard absorbs the frenzy virus and grants me strength in my entire lower torso area, however, the shard could backfire if I take in too much frenzy and cause harsh side-effects.

'The boost in power wore off after killing the Deviljho, now the side effects of cleansing my body is kicking in.' I wince as the pain suddenly returns for a few seconds.

As the pain disappears, I let out a sigh and decide to ask Jenny a question.

"Did the doctors tell you they can't remove these shards?" I only knew Jenny and Lucas that had these frenzy crystals stuck in their bodies, so I was curious if they were told the same thing.

Jenny sat up with more coloration to her face, most likely due to feeling better. "Yea said that the darn thing got stuck in my nerves, removing it would cause arm issues and leaving it be would allow me to have a normal life."

'They said the same thing about my leg, except they also said that the shard had stuck itself on purpose in order to remain inside its host.'

Looking back at my scar, I kept the conversation going. "At least it gives us an edge against the frenzy, the positive effects it gives are rather helpful."

"I just hate the pain that comes after using them, but at least it's disappearing." Jenny was rubbing the palm on her right hand, the area where her scar was.

"Yea," I look out of the cart and saw the approaching city of Dundorma in the distance. "I'm going to take a quick nap."

"Ah, one thing before you do," Jenny spoke before I laid down. "I wanted to say thank you, it means a lot to me that you join my quest; I'm also really happy that you decided to come back to the guild."

I smile softly at the young lady. "It was time to return anyways," I lean my head back and stare at the cloudy sky. "how can I abandon my family?"

Jenny didn't respond but had a genuine smile on her face, it was the last thing I saw before closing my eyes and resting for the remainder of the ride back home.

'Home, right... The guild is my home, ever since the day they practically forced me to join, it was always there with open arms.'

"Rise and shine, Liz!" I felt someone shaking me lightly, causing my eyes to flutter open and meet face to face with a smiling Jenny.

"Hi, there! We're finally here, welcome back, Blizzard."

I start standing up slowly and peaked out the cart.

A large building of four floors stood in front of us, I could see the courtyard on the left side with a medical center, the old and gigantic oak tree on the right side was also visibly; the oak tree was giving much-needed shade over the training grounds where hunters train day and night.
The pathway towards the entrance of the guild was made out of gravel, hedges and flowers decorated the sides of the path.

"It sure went under heavy improvements," I muttered as I stare in awe.

I hear Jenny chuckle as she hops out of the wooden cart. "It sure did, now hurry up, can't wait to show everyone you're here."

"Give me one a minute." I start equipping my leggings and made sure my side bag was with me.

"Sorry about that," I leap off the edge of the cart and stand next to Jenny. "Lead the way."

Last time I was here, the new founded medical center was the female's dorm and I assume the male's dorm was also changed, said dorm was next to the ancient oak tree.

"Hey, stop getting distracted," Jenny grabs my hand and starts leading me towards the main building at the center. "I'm sure you're starving, let us get a meal together."

She wasn't wrong, I had a lingering feeling of hunger for the entire trip.

While walking, my eyes caught a glimpse of fellow guild members reading books under the shade of trees on the courtyard, which also had a nice fountain with a statue of a maiden holding a jar.

'No wonder it got improved, I can already see new faces everywhere.'

A sudden shadow looms over me, causing my head to face forward and stare at the large building in front of me.

"There's no turning back now," Jenny said with a grin as she practically pulled me inside.

The inside of the building was even bigger than I expected, the first floor held a crazy amount of tables where countless Hunters ate and drank, my ears naturally blocked off the dozens of conversations going on at once as my eyes kept absorbing the view.

"There the new quest counter, along with a shop and kitchen, this floor is practically the headquarters of the guild," Jenny explained swiftly as she stood next to me.

"It's quite busy." I raise my voice above the crowd.

Jenny just chuckles. "It's always this way, both day and night."

I just nod as I start looking for a specific person.

'Can't seem to see Beowulf, maybe he's currently out of the guild.'

"Everyone! Guess who's back!" I flinch upon hearing Jenny yell at the top of her lungs.

The majority of the crowd went silent and stared at us both.

"J-Jenny, you know very well I hate being the center of attention," I whisper to the crazy blonde next to me.

I could already hear some Hunters whispering and a few returning to their conversations.

'Good, they don't seem to remember me.' I let out a sigh.

"The commander is back!" A voice among the mass shouted and it leads to a huge portion of the guild cheering and clapping.

Jenny gave me a push forward, causing me to stumble. "G-Greetings everyone," I said with a nervous smile as many of them kept welcoming and greeting me.

"Hey! Give your second in command some space!" A male voice cut through the crowd with ease, a voice I knew too well.

A brunette wearing simple clothing and a hoodie made out of Kushala scales made way through the crowd with a commanding aura, the man had sea green eyes and was around my height.

"Aegis..." I say my best friend's – and also Third in Command – name as he approached me.

The 19-year-old was now eyeing me with judging eyes.

I stood in silence, as I waited patiently for him to talk, it took him a few seconds before speaking.

"Look at you, it seems you got beat up by a Deviljho." Aegis smiled and extended his hand.

I accept the handshake. "I was helping Jenny hunt one, it was a success."

"Congratulations and welcome back, I can speak for everyone when I say we missed you."

Jenny steps in and gives us both a one arm hug. "How about we go get a table and spend some quality time together!"

"Wait, don't forget about me!"

Our attention was stolen by a red-haired Hunter, a person we knew and loved, who went under the name of Lucas.
The lad was the same age as Aegis but stood at a height of six feet and four inches.

"Lucas!" We said in unison as he greeted with a wave.

"The whole gang is here for the party, let's go eat already!" Jenny said happily as we started walking to a nearby table.

Lucas sits next to me. "I'm glad you're back, we should seriously hang out together and catch up, or maybe read a book at the courtyard!"

Lucas was a very nice guy, I met him on a hunt against a Shagaru Magala and soon enough he had joined our small guild.
However, Lucas tends to express himself in ways that others may misunderstand, specifically Jenny.

"Oh come on man, we just got here and you're already flirting with Blizzy." Jenny teased Lucas.

Lucas gave her a death glare as his face got a bit red. "I'm not doing such things, I just want to spend time with my friend."

"Sure, I believe you, 'Luka'."

"Can you please stop calling me that, you filthy 'Deviljho'."

'Of course, they start fighting, no matter how much this guild got modified, there are things that never change.' I ignore the pair and start conversing with Aegis.

"Have you seen our Guild-Master?" I ask the brunette.

Aegis shrugs at my question. "I have honestly not seen him today." He turns and catches the attention of a waiter, then proceeded to order today's meal for everyone.

"Now it is my turn to ask a question," His eyes signal me for permission, which I grant with a nod. "What made you come back?"

"After having some time alone to recollect my sanity, I realized how much I missed the only family I had," I responded without hesitation.

Aegis had a smile on his face upon hearing my words, I also notice that Jenny and Lucas had stop fighting, even though Jenny currently had the red hair in a headlock.

"And we missed our big sister." Aegis voiced out everyone's thought.

'Sister, huh.' The title was given to me after earning my status of second in command.

Everyone apparently thought I was protective during hunts, had great leadership, and talked with wisdom; this all lead up to being called the big sister or mother figure of the guild.

"Yea, now you're stuck with us forever!" Jenny said happily which caused everyone to laugh.

'I'm glad to be back, I was wrong when I choose to leave, but now I have grown stronger and I'm ready to protect everyone dear to me until my dying breath.'

AN: I forgot to mention last time that Blizzard's armor is a custom design, if you wish to see her physical appearance, just look at this stories cover. That same image represents what she's wearing and how she looks like! (And yes, I drew it.)

As always, I'll describe the two new members revealed in this chapter:

Aegis:
Age: 19.
Height: 5'10.
Eye color: Sea green.
Hair color: Brown.
Skin tone: Light.

Lucas:
Age: 19.
Height: 6'4.
Eye color: Grey.
Hair color: Red hair.
Skin tone: Rosy-pale.