Heritors of Hereafter

Book 1: Hearts of Pride

By: Thomas A. Hawk

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Monster Hunter, nor do I own Capcom. If I did I would probably be doing something else with my time instead of writing fanfics. All the characters that appear in this story belong to me unless otherwise stated.

Chapter 11: Practice Makes Perfect

The next couple days for Corvus were fortunately quite straight forwards. With all the evidence he and the other surveyors had collected, a full-scale investigation into Fischer and Co. was conducted, and several arrests were made. The business' principal owner fessed up rather quickly, saying that he had masterminded the whole scheme as a means to improve the facilities for his employees while insisting it was his sole doing, and that none of his partners or employees had been in on it. Obviously this was untrue, given Jim and Saiba's involvement, but no evidence was found that could be held against anyone else in the company, so the only ones who remained behind bars for longer than a day were those three.

It didn't take a whole lot of searching around to find out where the zenni Fischer had scammed out of those hunters was—some of the large crates that held the smaller individual boxes of wax had been filled in such a way that the money was hidden in the center while surrounded by genuine product. Despite finding three crates full, one of the other surveyors who was far more learned in economics than Corvus mentioned that there should still have been almost ten-thousand zenni based on the number of hunters affected and the number of fake vouchers registered. While there was certainly margin for error in that calculation, it wasn't nearly that wide. That meant all that money had simply… vanished. Fischer hadn't said a word about it, and despite checking through every last nook and cranny in the wax company the investigators hadn't uncovered a single zenny more. Because of that Corvus couldn't help but think there was more to Fischer's scam than the business owner had let on, but the young surveyor resigned himself to letting the interrogators figure that one out.

He was overall pleased with the part he'd had in solving the case. There was a certain giddiness he felt while Viper debriefed him, Dominic, and Ricard. That had been his first big case after all, and despite some… minor setbacks, he thought things worked out quite well at the end. Viper too seemed content with their work, giving the three surveyors a small bonus and a verbal pat on the back before sending them back out to work.

"You did good, sure, but this is just another day for surveyors," the captain had explained to Corvus after the others had left Viper's office, noting the young surveyor's somewhat-underwhelmed expression. "You could expect a full raise or some time off if you did something like… I dunno, prevent the bank heist of the century like Leonard and Demitri did a few years ago, or put an end to the biggest poaching circle in the region like Ricard did two summers back. This whole voucher deal was a problem, but comparatively speaking, a small one. You've still got a ways to go before you really break some ground, little bud… but keep at it, hey? You'll get your chance one of these days. Handle that chance with a little more elegance than you did this one, and maybe you'll become the one future surveyors look to for inspiration."

There had been some initial frustration Corvus felt while heading back to his desk, but despite that he noticed some of the other surveyors gave him an approving nod or a quick compliment on a case well done. Each one lightened his mood to see or hear, up until he found himself seated at his desk with a proud smirk on his lips. Maybe it was just him, but he felt like the others were starting to see him less as the fresh recruit too young to be here and more like an equal. More like one of them. Thinking back, he'd even managed to make an impression on Ricard following Corvus' scrap with Saiba, and the older surveyor was about as stubborn as they came.

That knowledge gave him the resolve to tackle his next assignments with all the gusto he could muster… though he figured it would be best to avoid any other conflict if he could. His arm was back in its sling, and would remain so for at least a week and a half while the limb recovered from his usage of the Hyper state. Dominic seemed especially curious about that, and Corvus was more than happy to brag about the ability to his friend. All that time helping out the Guild eggheads with their Hyper research while he was in the academy was definitely paying off now, even if it'd been less than pleasant to go through most of his lessons and combat drills with one arm.

"The power develops when a newly-shifted Hybrid comes into close proximity with an individual during a certain part of their growth, usually during adolescence," Corvus had explained to Dom while they were on a coffee break the third day after resolving the voucher case. "Hybrids give off a sort of 'radiation' for a small period of time after shifting that, when exposed to creatures with a particular combination of genes, causes the Hyper mutation. For me, it was when a Qurupeco Hybrid happened upon my family when we were having a picnic in a field outside my hometown."

"A wild Hybrid just… appeared while you guys were having lunch? Sounds a little dangerous."

"Nah, as far as I remember she was just curious. Most Hybrids that don't have experience with hunters before shifting are. At least, that's what my sister always says. She'd know better than I would when it comes to them. But speaking of Hybrids… looks like our next case has to do with one getting harassed by a few local hunters. Ready to get back to the grind?"

"Can't imagine anyone willing to rough up a Hybrid will be pleasant to deal with, but we may as well."

Thus Corvus returned to his routine. But, elsewhere in Ran Fos, things were about to become far more unusual…

The city's arena was a large addition made to Ran Fos' northeastern wall many, many decades ago. Its purpose was relatively obvious—much like every other arena in Maglea, it existed to offer entertainment for spectators and challenge for hunters. While not nearly as grand as the one that had once stood in Loc Lac prior to the desert city's complete destruction from a massive Jhen Mohran attack five years ago (fortunately after the Hunter's Exam that year), the Ran Fos arena still saw plenty of traffic from the locals. It was the only place in the region the ordinary person could go to see live monster fights, even if the area's climate and the smaller overall size of the structure meant the variety of creatures that could be held there was lacking.

Mila didn't really enjoy it here. The arena was probably her least-liked place in the entire city, in fact. The building was pretty enough she supposed, and it wasn't like maintenance had been slacking, so everything was more or less in good condition. There was even a domed roof to keep the near-constant cascade of rain from affecting those seated within as well as the hunters fighting against their adversaries in the massive sand pit in the center of it all. Plus, according to Falia, the concessions stand here had the best fried Kut-ku wings for a hundred miles, even if they were technically overpriced.

All that aside, though, Mila just felt like it was all so… artificial. Back when she'd taken her exam in Loc Lac there'd been a sort of excited vertigo she felt while looking up from the sand pit at the cheering masses, but that was just a one-time sensation for her. All the wonder and awe that tugged at her wanderlusting heart while she tracked prints and traversed the many hunting grounds of Maglea, the feeling of endless mystique and adventure she'd long begun to associate with the very idea of being a hunter, was completely absent from this place. Keeping all those wyverns penned up just to be slaughtered for someone else's entertainment also grated on her. Seeing those creatures out in nature, wild and unbound as they lived their lives… that was one of the greatest parts about hunting. The world outside these walls was just something else entirely. That was why she'd sworn never to visit, let alone take part in, one of these places for the purpose of arena battles.

While she wasn't overstepping that self-imposed vow with her visit today, the nagging irritation at being here was still present at the back of her mind. She'd bear with it for Elliot's sake though. Mila was currently sitting cross-legged atop a supply crate situated to the right of the main passage hunters entered the sand pit through—seated directly to her left was Falia, while Makiyuma lounged to Mila's right, seated on the ground with his back against the box and clearly enjoying the huntress' hand patting his head. Lowell had propped himself up against the wall behind and to the right of her, arms folded while he looked out across the pit towards the middle of the area, and Klavier sat atop a small barrel to the lance user's front-right while he carefully tuned his hunting horn.

The arena manager had, in accordance with the Guild's regulations, set aside two days every week for apprentices and rookies to use the arena for practice. It was a pretty good idea, in all honesty—new bloods could safely hone their techniques against log dummies roughly shaped like small bird wyverns, fire bullets and arrows at targets pinned up onto the walls, practice climbing and rough terrain traversal on the collapsible obstacle courses arena personnel wheeled out… and for those feeling particularly bold, there was even a large automaton constructed in the rough likeness of a draconic flying wyvern. Mounted atop a particularly sturdy base that allowed it to be wheeled out from storage, the construct could turn fully around its base, its wooden 'legs' moving to and fro while the head and tail could swerve from side to side, imitating bites and tail sweeps. The mouth even had a water jet built into its mouth that it sprayed at irregular intervals, striking with enough force to knock an armored hunter flat. It could only emulate a few basic movements of creatures with that body shape, but the wood-and-metal construct was invaluable practice for those just getting comfortable with handling weapons. How exactly it worked, Mila had no idea.

As far as Mila knew these practice days were always pretty busy. Pretty much anyone was allowed in, rookies and veterans alike, and plenty of young kids who had dreams of becoming hunters themselves came to try and squeeze in whatever experience they could. The Guild regulations said the minimum age to become a hunter was eighteen, but there was no such restriction placed on when an aspiring hunter could begin their training. Usually veterans or big shots took the youngsters under their wing though, partly to make sure they were learning properly, partly to show off, and partly to keep them out of the way of the guys that might accidentally roll over them with a great sword or hammer by mistake.

Today the sand pit was particularly packed, though, and for good reason. Xander Maximoff, better known throughout the hunting community as the Master of Styles, was holding a session on hunting styles and arts. Normally he operated around the Bherna region, helping train Wycademy hunters to better adapt to the various locales their work would take them, but he always made yearly trips around the country to demonstrate the knowledge he had amassed over a long, storied career. Mila had attended quite a few of those sessions herself, picking up a lot on the Aerial and Adept schools while learning how to perform the hunting arts known as Shoryugeki and Blood Wind, the latter of which she later adapted into her personal art. Considering just how helpful Maximoff's tutoring had been to her career, she felt like the experience would be invaluable to Elliot's own progress.

Her eyes darted towards the young hunter, standing before another one of the training dummies with a practice sword at the ready. Maximoff had been drilling several short sword users on the Sword Dance art, and was slowly pacing down the line, making each one perform the technique for him to see. The Master of Styles came to his next stop a few feet behind Elliot, harrumphing an order for the hunter to proceed. Though he visibly shuddered with nervous tension, the hunter lowered his faceplate and stepped towards the target. He then let out a short shout and rushed the remaining distance to the target, a flare of orange light wrapping around his blade. He planted his foot directly in front of the target and threw himself into a stationary combo of rapid swings that carved deeply into the target without a sign of resistance. The first three struck true, the orange light unfailing up until halfway through the fourth slash—the blade suddenly halted as it was buried into the wood, and the hunter stumbled to the side with a surprised gasp as the handle was pulled from his grasp.

"Focus, Delabra!" Maximoff ordered, folding his arms and shaking his head. "You mustn't let the flow of your Soul Power escape you in the midst of the art! Be firm and resolute! Muster up your strength and try again!"

The hunter briefly hung his head, but only a moment was spent in doubt. He strode back to the target and pulled his blade free while the Master of Styles moved on to the next hunter in the line. Like Elliot and the four hunters before him, this hunter too failed to properly execute the full combo, and was likewise 'encouraged' by their instructor.

"Well Princess, looks like you owe me another hundred zenni," Falia said puckishly, holding her hand out towards the huntress. Mila pouted for a brief moment before dropping the coins into the handler's waiting palm.

"He almost had it that time."

"Minimum requirement for the first level technique is five swings. 'Almost' didn't count for the last six tries either." With an obviously-pleased smirk the handler began to divvy up the money into three piles of equal size—one for her, one for Klavier, and one for Lowell.

"Can't expect the kid to pick up on an art that fast," Klavier added, not looking up from his hunting horn. "It'd take a prodigy to learn one in a single afternoon, and Elliot's… not that."

"What, did watching him fall off the obstacle course and get smacked silly by the automaton of fun not clue you into that before, horn blower?" Maki scoffed. "It's a miracle he can even manage three swings."

"Hey, you be nice!" Mila huffed, lightly thwapping the top of the Hybrid's head. "You're losing money on this too you know! Would it kill you to be a little more supportive?"

"Lady Mila, if I am being completely honest, the only reason I put myself on this side of the bet is because you did. I have little faith in the anxious one. But, if you want me to be supportive for the boy, I suppose I can at the very least pretend."

"Real great teammate you got there," Lowell chuckled. "But, Maki's got a point. Three swings ISa lot of progress for one day. Kid's got guts under all that timidity."

"Guts isn't what gets you home at the end of the hunt," the orange-haired hunter mused, blowing a note into his horn before continuing. "Ability is. He's not completely hopeless like a few of those apprentices and greenhorns, but if he doesn't find his groove soon it'll come around to bite him."

The trainees all gave the arts another go before Maximoff barked an order for them to switch out for the next group. While many went off to find other targets to practice on or a bench to sit down for a break, Elliot made his way past the Master of Styles and towards where Mila and the others were. She gave him an encouraging grin and a thumbs up, though she couldn't see his reaction through his lowered faceplate. He plopped down a few feet away from the crate and let out a weary sigh, dropping his practice blade into the sand beside him.

"These arts are impossible to get down," he groaned, panting tiredly while rolling his shoulder. "He keeps saying 'focus, focus', but what am I supposed to be focusing on?! Myself, my weapon, or the target? And what even is this... 'Soul Power'?"

"That's just a fancy way of saying magic," Mila replied with a wave of her hand. "Lots of people think calling it 'magic' is too kiddish, and so they keep trying to find new names for it. Stuff like Soul Power, or Bioenergy, or one of my favorites; Style Points. But Hybrids recognize it as the same kind of thing they use when wielding their elemental powers, so at the end of the day that's what it actually is. Right Maki?"

"As always," the Mizutsune Hybrid answered, lifting a hand as a large, soapy bubble formed out from his palm. He slowly raised his hand up, and the bubble took to the air, floating up towards the ceiling in a long and gradual spiral before popping and showering the ground below with a light rainbow mist. "Though the way we tap into it is vastly different, the energy itself is very much the same thing all forms of life share, from the most beautiful to the most appalling."

Elliot simply huffed and folded his arms. "So it's magic now?! None of this makes any sense!"

"That's what makes the arts so difficult," the lancer shrugged. "Each one works differently, requires a different kind of attention. That's why a lot of people look at the power that fuels these abilities differently. Some interpretations just click easier than others. And that's just for the basic arts—plenty of new ones end up discovered all the time, and some of them are even unique to the hunter. Some of those arts are just woven into a person's fiber, kinda like the skills tons of people think are tied to armor. Still don't quite understand that misconception…"

"Then how am I supposed to learn them?!"

"Double down on the ones that click," Klavier answered simply, hefting his weapon to shake sand off its side. "Nobody expects you to learn all of them. It's not really practical for anyone to learn more than a handful anyways since they get stronger the more you use them and figure out how to develop them—trying to learn a whole bunch stunts the growth of the others."

"Which is the last thing your growth needs, anxious one," Maki added, letting out a low purr when Mila patted his head. Not exactly as supportive as she'd like, but that was probably the best the Mizutsune Hybrid was capable of. "Perhaps it would do you more good to study what the other hunters are doing rather than mope and complain to us, hmm?"

"Hrm... I-is all that true, Mila?"

"Yep! Kinda depends on the styles you use too. I only really learned two arts cuz I spent so much time getting Aerial and Adept down. Those would be Shoryugeki and—"

"Oi, Blade Princess!" The call from across the arena floor cut her off, and she turned her attention from Elliot to the Master of Styles. He had a decent-sized crowd of students around him, but curiously very few were still practicing on the small targets. "A few of these rabble rousers seem to think the lessons aren't worth it! Care to prove otherwise with a demonstration of your signature art, former pupil of mine?!"

"That's an awfully high bar to set for the little guys, Teach!" she replied with a laugh, uncrossing her legs and hopping down from the crate. "But if it'll help out the lesson plan, who am I to say no?!"

"Here we go again... I'm just gonna stay here, keep outside the splash zone," Falia sighed, glancing around at the others. "Same goes for all you?"

"Hardly. For a spectacle such as this I'll accept no less than a front row seat," Maki declared, pushing himself up as well. "Anxious one, perhaps you ought to accompany us. A firsthand demonstration might just rub off on you."

"Alright... I actually don't think I've ever seen her art before."

"That's because it'd be overkill on pretty much anything you can hunt at your rank," Klavier added, pushing himself up when Mila looked his way with an inquisitive smirk. "Need a beat, partner?"

"I'll dance to any tune you play, good sir," she grinned, giving the horn player a long, exaggerated bow. Her eyes then flicked towards Lowell. "And how about you, Ironsides?"

"Think I'll stick around here, stay on the lookout for Zeke and Alastor," the lancer shrugged. "I've seen it before, so I'll admire from afar this time around."

"I don't mind a bit! This way you and Falia can spend some quality alone time together," Mila winked teasingly towards her friend, earning a flustered blush from Falia. The Handler stuttered for a moment or two, fanning her hand rapidly while shaking her head, only to manage a quick chirp of a retort;

"S-shush, you!"

Lowell raised an eyebrow and glanced towards the Handler in amusement while Mila simply laughed and waved for the others to follow along. Klavier raised his horn to his lips and began to blow several notes as they walked, drumming his hand on the side increasingly fast as the tempo gradually picked up. Mila bobbed her head in time to the rhythm for a few moments, feeling a surge of energy resonate within her—one of the hunting horn's many buffs. She grinned wide as the music swelled, and her silvery-diamond eyes briefly flared when she felt that inner well of energy peak.

The huntress came to a halt a few feet from the group, purposefully taking a long and slow gaze across the many faces in the crowd while gradually turning her head towards the targets the rookies had been using. This gave the students plenty of time to whisper excitedly amongst themselves. Most of them had been staring wide-eyed at her approach. Not that she could blame them, seeing a talented, beautiful, renowned huntress like her up close was probably like meeting a celebrity to them.

Now that she actually was up close, Mila noticed just how many more guys were in the group of rookies than girls. It wasn't wholly surprising in all honesty—huntresses weren't nearly as common as hunters due to how strict the Guild's regulations are about height, weight, strength... genetics could be cruel, so lots of huntresses-to-be gave up early and pursued other professions. That also led to an annoying stigma that hunting was a 'man's job'. Mila had to deal with that quite a bit in her early career. Nobody called her skill into question nowadays, but it still annoyed her to know that it happened all over the place. At least there wasn't a pay gap.

Mila shook her head clear of those thoughts after an appropriate amount of dramatic build up and smirked, flicking her gaze towards the Master of Styles.

"You don't expect me to use these dinky little things for the demonstration, do ya Teach? They wouldn't even last one swing."

"Hrm. I suppose you do have a point," Maximoff grinned, immediately turning towards the much larger automaton farther off to the left, and the few hunters-to-be still surrounding it. "Ey! You guppies better clear outta there! Ain't every day small fry get a chance to see something like this!"

The rookies turned and, recognizing the crowd of spectators and approaching huntress, immediately booked it out of the way, leaving the space around the wyvern automaton completely open. Mila stepped forth and drew her twin Sworn Rapiers, Lavender and Lily, the sharp crystalline blades singing as she gave them both a quick twirl. A light mist of water element accompanied both edges, hanging in the air and catching the light of the massive glowstones high above to create a dazzling shimmer around her.

Mila widened her stance and drew her left arm across her chest, her grip on the thin red blade's handle tightening as she focused on the automaton. A sky-blue aura enveloped her as she drew from that inner well of energy until it felt like it would explode.

"Better keep those eyes on me!" she warned with a brazen grin, foot sifting ever so slightly in the sand behind her.

"Blink and you'll miss it!"

The following rush of energy propelled the huntress into blisteringly-fast speeds, such that in nearly same moment she'd pushed off, Mila had shot past the automaton, slashed it half a dozen times in a spiraling rotation, landed, and turned to face it once again, briefly catching a glimpse of the three after-images of herself that had branched off from her trajectory, only to launch herself at the construct again. And again. And again. Five dashes in total, each one spanning mere milliseconds as she darted to and fro, wildly slashing through the construct so fast even she lost count of how many times she'd done so. The after-images her speed generated roughly mimicked her movements, scattering about the area around the star-shaped pattern she had dashed in and making it appear as though she were in no fewer than seven places at once. Her final dash led her just past the spot she'd started from, where she came to a sudden halt on one knee, blades held out to either side of her as the after-images rapidly converged on her, making her appear as one again.

A brief, still second of silence followed the end of her hunting art, only for reality to register what had transpired all at once. The innumerable slashes of her razor sharp dual blades cleaved through the logs that made up the automaton's body, causing almost every part to split and fall off the metal base while countless flashes of water element shredded through the wooden material. The concussive force generated by her mach-speed dashes all converged on the center of the space, causing a huge pillar of sand to erupt from the floor behind her with a massive resounding thoom, reaching high into the air behind her.

"And that's Lunar Star Slash," she smirked. Mila stood up as sand and wooden debris rained down, though she noted one particularly intact log was dropping towards some of the spectators. Without missing a beat she whipped one of her swords at the falling log, which rotated fully twice before burying its tip into the log, knocking it out of its trajectory so it landed harmlessly beside Maki and Elliot, the latter of whom yelped in surprise whilst the former applauded the spectacle quite openly.

The rest of those watching had composed themselves enough to back off or defend themselves... save for the occasional few that were so stunned it took getting pelted by a sand and woodchips to knock them out of it. As the sand settled back into the arena floor and the automaton came into sight, the spectators found nearly every log that previously covered its carbalite skeleton had been sliced clean off. Though the skeleton itself was completely intact, the metal bars were scratched and gouged rather deeply from the technique's limited property of bypassing defense. The automaton let out a low groan before the lopsided weight of its still-intact head caused it to tip forward, burying a few inches into the sand.

With the demonstration over with, Mila waltzed on over to the log Lavender was buried into and pulled the purple blade free, giving both blades a quick twirl before sheathing the twin swords on her back. She lightly patted Elliot's shoulder as she strode past him, noting his faceplate was up now and that, like most of the crowd, his eyes were still glued to the automaton's remains.

"Keep on keepin' on, kiddos! Maybe we'll see each other around the hunting grounds sometime!" she said, giving the group a short two finger salute as she strode through the crowd.

Klavier and Maki accompanied her on either side, and after a couple more moments Elliot shook his head clear and scrambled along after them. As they made their way back towards Falia and Lowell, Maximoff barked an order for the rookies to get back to practicing their hunter arts, which all of them took to with much gusto. A few arena workers had also entered the sand pit to wheel out the ruined automaton, but Mila's attention was focused on the two new figures standing nearby the crates of supplies—one in Zinogre armor, the other in Rathalos gear.

"Took the two of you long enough!" she laughed, grinning wide as she neared the other hunters.

"Luckily we made it just in time to see that display of yours," Zeke replied, scratching at his beard while nodding approvingly. "Seems you haven't lost your touch since I saw you last."

"Duh, it's not like I haven't been kicking serious butt for the last two years, Ace!" the huntress smirked, bumping forearms with the hunter. She then turned her gaze towards the masked hunter on her left, eyebrows lifting coyly while her hands rested on her hips. "And hellooooooo there, Hotshot! You've definitely bulked up since I saw you last! Also, LOVE what you're doing with your hair now. Heheh, Mila likey what she sees~"

Alastor simply sighed in response, folding his arms and turning his head away with a stuffy half-frown, to which the huntress giggled flirtatiously. She liked a guy who played hard to get.

"So why did it take you both so long to get here anyways?" Lowell inquired. "You were more than a week behind me."

"I had every intention of heading straight for Ran Fos, but SOMEBODY wished to stop and waste time doing menial quests for people in every village between Cheeko Sands and here," Zeke grunted, shooting a deadpan glare at Alastor. "Apparently he'd rather spend time gathering mushrooms for old crones than preparing for the greatest hunt of his life."

"There's nothing wrong with helping others. Especially not when I need money to feed myself."

"I was the one paying for almost everything you ate! As well as the boat ride from the Southern Isles, the airship from Val Habar, AND all the inns between!"

"I am POOR," Alastor frowned, glaring Zeke's way from beneath his metal visor. "Getting my armor repaired after fighting that Zinogre took almost every last zenny I earned, even after selling all the parts I got from it. And do I really need to remind you who it was that sought me out in the first place? I never asked for you to pay. Blame yourself."

"Yeesh. It's a miracle those two didn't kill each other on the way here," Falia muttered from beside Mila, stepping forwards and planting a hand on both of their chests to push the two hunters apart. "Look, let's try to keep the squabbling to a minimum. There's a bigger fish to fry."

"So you DO know about this... Lowell, didn't I say not to—"

"She's Mila's Handler," the lancer quickly stated with a wave of his hand. "Keeping her out of the loop was impossible."

"Plus Falia can be SO convincing!" the dual blade wielder chuckled. "It's cuz she's so darn adorable."

"Lowell, yes. Mila, no. ANYWAYS," the Handler continued, folding her arms, "I'm along for the ride too. A chance like this doesn't happen very often, and let's just say I've got something to gain from it too."

"And you'll tattle on us if we don't let you," Alastor surmised with a dry tone.

"Bingo."

Zeke let out a frustrated sigh and shook his head, but otherwise didn't present an argument to Falia. He was probably just too fed up with everything at this point to try. His brow did furrow when he noticed Maki, Klavier, and Elliot approaching.

"And who have we here?"

"Just some friends of mine," Mila said, gesturing over her shoulder at each of them. "Klavier's the best hunting horn player around—"

"And I do gigs on the weekends at her dad's tavern," Klavier briefly cut in before Mila continued.

"—Maki's a Mizutsune Hybrid and one of the best fighters I've seen—"

"I also help style her hair," he added with a proud chirp to his voice, though his expression stiffened a moment later. "Speaking of, the both of you desperately need help with yours."

"—and the little guy is Elliot, an up-and-coming low ranker."

"And I—! Uh... I-I got nothing actually."

"Mm. Well, as riveting as it was to meet you all, we have business to attend to rather immediately," Zeke nonchalantly stated, turning towards the exit. "Mila, I trust you know somewhere we could speak of this matter privately?"

"Definitely! Let's get going right now!"

"Wait wait, you're just... leaving?" Elliot asked, nervously glancing about as the others looked his way. "What about us?"

"Oh, you guys can go do whatever! You should keep at it here though Elliot, these lessons will help you out big time!"

"B-But—!"

"Works for me, I have to check in on my sister-in-law," Klavier said with a sigh before beginning to stride off towards the exit. "See you next time."

"I'm quite sick of all this sand myself. I'm going to deal with it, then take my mid-afternoon nap," Maki yawned, bowing towards Mila before turning towards the exit himself. "If you need me Lady Mila, you know exactly where to find me. If anyone else needs me, too bad for them."

"Alrighty! Have a nice nap!" Mila waved after him before turning to the other Faces and Falia. "So, howzabout we get a move on too?"

"You know where we're going, so you lead the way," Alastor shrugged, only to grunt in surprise when Mila dashed over, grabbed hold of his arm, and began to yank him along after her. "Urk! What are you—?"

"Leading the way! I have LOTS I wanna show you, Hotshot!" Mila giggled, pulling the charge blade user along while Falia, Zeke, and Lowell spent a second or two watching in amusement before following as well, leaving the arena and the rookies without a second glance.

Author Notes: Please review! Sorry about the long wait for this one, but there was a reason for it. If you didn't catch this little detail at the start of the chapter, I've actually decided to do all the chapter editing by myself now. Gecko and I are still on good terms, but I wanted to try out a new writing strategy and unfortunately that meant nixing the wait between drafting and editing. So, from here on out Heritors will be 100% from my brain. Coincidentally, I'll DEFINITELY be able to put chapters out faster now! Part of that is because I actually have something of a chapter backlog now.

So the voucher arc reaches its conclusion, and the focus can now mostly shift to Mila and the Tempest arc. Corvus will definitely still be around though, so try not to miss him too much.

Something I think I sorta messed up with early on in my writing was shoehorning magic into my story universe without much explanation for it. I tried to rectify that a bit with TMC, but now I think I've really nailed down exactly how it works thanks to Generations and World. It acts as the fuel for hunting arts that aren't item- or technology-based, and as the conduit for Hybrid characters to use their elemental abilities through. There's some other uses for it too, but these are by far the most common ones I'll be implementing. Also, the Witcher event in World validated my use of magic in writing, and words cannot express how happy that makes me.

I also had some fun with the idea of the arenas being used for training quests in the main games for this chapter. Makes sense to not just throw new hunters into the wild without any training, but I also thought it wouldn't make much sense to bring the large monsters to them either. Additionally, something I've had many discussions with Gecko about is why human-shaped dummies are used for practice so much. He has his own explanations for his story, but for mine, I was mostly just being an idiot. But I'm better than that, and my story universe is somewhat more advanced than the actual game universe, so I came up with my ultimate solution: Mecha Rath! Honestly I'm just disappointed that I didn't think of it sooner.

As far as gaming goes, Smash Ultimate is still lots of fun! I'm pretty much settling on Link as my main, even if he sorta always was. His bomb is basically my holy hand grenade. I've also been playing a TON more World lately, what with the appreciation fest and the Witcher event and all. I think I'm in the minority here, but I actually REALLY enjoy the Ancient Leshen fight. Some mechanics are a little janky, but once I got a team that knew what it was doing, it turned from a chore into a real fun throwdown. If you need help with the fight and you're on Xbox One, send me a PM and I can try to give you a hand. Oh, and DMC5 is literally one week off! That's gonna eat up a lot of free time, I can already tell.

Well, that about does it from me! I'll get the next chapter out within a week or two. Leave a review or follow the story if you enjoyed the chapter! As always, I love hearing from readers about anything and everything! Till next time!