Cold. Wet. These were the first two adjectives that came into Azen's mind as he slowly regained consciousness. As he opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed were the legs of people. Then the second was rain. He was being dragged by the arms to what he could determine as a cave. He could see torchlight coming in from inside, and he bowed his head as they kept dragging him. He could here some people commenting on his clothing, or his weapon. Some even made a comment on how he was from Pokke Village. Once the crowd heard about his origins from Pokke Village, the whole cave became silent and their stares turned into glares. He went from being the new person, to the enemy of the state, just because he came from Pokke Village.

Azen was thrown into a dark room. As the doors were closed from behind him, he would blink his eyes rapidly. Because he was more intent on determining where he was, he did not notice the occasional tremor that shook the room. It was as if there were a chain of small earthquakes happening. Of course, any hunter would know this isn't just a normal earthquake. It was steady, and continuous. It was a monster. It was sure to be heavy. It was sure to be large. But these suspicions won't be confirmed unless Azen saw the monster itself. But how would he do that? He's in this room with a table and two chairs facing the opposite sides in it.

The same lady that arrested him earlier entered the dark room. She looked stressed, there were dark rings around her eyes symbolizing lack of sleep, but her voice still pierced through Azen as she spoke.

"You're a hunter, right?"

"Yeah. From Pokke Village." Azen replied. He was surprised. Did she forget about him?

"Right." The lady said. She took a seat on one of the chairs by the table. Azen did the same.

Azen didn't know what to do as the lady just held her head and took a deep sigh. The tremors were getting stronger, but not only that. Azen noticed that the lady was a bit battered. He could notice traces of bruises on her arms, and the broken state of her armor on the left hip really told him something about this tremor. It was a monster for sure, but now Azen was not sure what it was.

"Lao-Shan Lung." The lady suddenly said, as if reading Azen's mind. "It's heading towards the capital city. There's no stopping it now."

"What? What do you mean there's no stopping it now?" Azen replied.

"The other hunter outposts have either been destroyed by the great beast, or have been overrun with other monsters. This hunter outpost was the last line of defense for the capital and all other cities within the known territory... It seems we'll have to depend on the King's army..." The lady said with a disheartened tone.

Azen slammed his fist on the table, "We can't depend on the army to save the capital or any other city! Do you see their weapons? They're meant to kill men, not monsters! Those cheap little iron sticks of theirs will break at the contact of a monster's scale!"

"Then what do you suggest we do, Boy? If it wasn't for your damned Ian summoning this beast to the heart of the kingdom, we wouldn't be having this problem!"

"I know my village, and I know the villagers. None of them would dare or even KNOW how to tame a Lao-Shun Lung! The villagers cower in their homes at the news of a Giadrome prowling the mountains!" Azen stated, defending Pokke Village and it's inhabitants.

"Well, there's no doubt that this Lao-Shun Lung came from the base of Pokke Mountain, and there's no other village or a scrap of human life near Pokke Mountain but Pokke Village. Besides, Ian the Summoner has clearly made it clear in his previous messages that all monsters are coming from him, and he's residing in Pokke Village." She said, standing from her seat. She would glare at Azen for a few moments, but then she'd put her hands on the table and lean forward a bit. She would wince slightly, then grit her teeth.

"All hope is lost... There's only a handful of my men who can fight... There's no way we can stop this monster..." The lady said.

Azen stood up and grabbed the lady's shoulders, and she looked at him with surprised eyes. Her blue eyes were pierced by Azen's yellow eyes. "Give me my hunting weapon back. I will fight."

"And what difference would YOU make?" The lady said, suddenly feeling and looking vulnerable by the way Azen held her shoulders.

"A lot. In lieu of those who can't fight to clear our village's name, I will fight."

The lady stared at Azen. A young man like him? Make a lot of difference? She couldn't fathom the idea of such a thing, but she didn't have any choice. The more men, the better.

"F-Fine..." She said, then pushed Azen away. She motioned with her hand for Azen to follow her, and they did so.

Once they exited the dark room, the daylight pierced Azen's eyes, and he cringed a little bit. He had no time to recover naturally as he felt an object being thrusted into his chest. He held it, and he immediately recognized it. The sheathe of his Bone Katana. He started wearing his weapon when he felt a tug at his chestplate. He saw the feminine fingers, then he felt a warm, wet feeling on his lips. He quickly imagined Mikan, but his eyes showed a different girl. It was the lady.

"My name's Vaela. You just received a good-luck kiss... since you're sure to die. Okay, see you, goodbye." She turned and hurriedly walked off.

Azen touched his lips, then wondered what is it with girls liking him...

A tough fight has been fought, and is still being fought. The hunters were already tired, and they could barely raise their weapons. Azen stood out of the hunters for having excellent stamina despite having fought on the rough side of the battle. The Lao-Shun Lung kept walking, even if they swing their blades, hammers and lances at it's legs. Not even the sleeping rounds worked on the monster. Azen kept swinging his Bone Katana at the Lung's belly, as it is rumored that a dragon's weak point is it's belly. His blade would slide off and leave a shallow slice, and not enough to damage the dragon.

The Lao-Shun Lung detected the hunters trying to do damage below it. It would stand on it's hind legs and emit a loud roar, incapacitating most of the hunters. Azen fell on his back side and stabbed his weapon upwards to the belly of the Lao-Shan Lung as it came back down to it's front legs, and the whole blade penetrated through it's skin. The Lao-Shan Lung would roar in pain, but it would drag on. Since Azen's blade was stuck in the Lao-Shan Lung, Azen was dragged along the ground as the Lao-Shan Lung moved forward. He was in a deadlock, as if he let go, he would be smashed into the ground by the Lao-Shan Lung's paws. If he kept holding on, he would get dragged to death.

The other hunters wanted to leave Azen for dead for the sole reason that he's from Pokke Village, and that there was really nothing they could do to save him. They started limping back to their hunter outpost.

Azen was aware of the deadlock he was in. He digged around in his pocket for a small bomb. He used his Bone Katana as a wedge to make the Lung's stab wound larger, and he thrusted the bomb into the wound. He lighted the fuse and covered his face with his arm. The explosion blew Azen and his sword out of the danger zone of the Lao-Shan Lung. He struggled to get up, and he used his Bone Katana to help him stand up. He watched as the Lao-Shan Lung would continue walking, and he had not the energy to chase it, and he collapsed to the ground.

What will happen, now that Azen has failed to stop the Lao-Shan Lung?