Well, I've only got a few chapters remaining in this before the prequel reaches its conclusion now! Gotta say, it's been a fun write, and I hope it's been as fun of a read. The Master Corp is still well on its way too; I've gotten a helping hand in writing as well, shall we say. Rest assured, it'll be better than ever! Now then, on with the story!
Upgrade-
About a month later…
"Bout time you got outta that bed, York!" Hugh laughed, seeing York step out of the Guild hospital with Rose. "I thought you lived there now!"
"Don't I wish; at least it was comfy. And if I remember, you were in there for a few weeks too, dumbass!" the dual blade user replied. The doctors had insisted he stay for at least three months to heal; it only took him one to fully recover.
"Hey, I couldn't help it if my sword broke on me; never using bone weapons again," the great sword user grumbled, rubbing his still sore arm.
"Did they I.D. the thing that attacked you?" Zephyr asked.
"I think they called it a Nargacuga," Rose answered, sitting beside them on a bench. "Apparently there had been a mix up at the quest counter, and they sent us off on a high-rank quest by mistake…"
"…But they ranked us up early for doing so well under the circumstances," York continued, smirking as Hugh and Zephyr stared at them disbelievingly.
"You lucky son of a bitch," Hugh remarked, shaking his head. "We've still got an urgent quest to handle before we can catch up; off to some island to fight a Lagiacrus. I'd ask you to come along, but… well, you don't exactly have any armor, do you?"
"I asked Rose to get a smith to work on it while I was recovering, but he said it'd take a lot of work to finish it up."
"Same guy who fixed up your Jaggi mail, Hugh," Rose said, not making any effort to hide her contempt for having to see another artisan.
"Ah, that old set? Bah, I don't need that; this Barroth suit is way tougher! Tell you what, York; I'll rent my old armor to ya!" the great sword user joked. "You owe me twenty gold for every hunt you go on with it!"
"Done. That's way cheaper than the prices at that shop down the street," York replied, smirking a bit.
"Wait, really? Crap, I didn't think about that… Make it a hundred!"
"Too late, deal's made."
The four returned to the inn, where Hugh reluctantly turned over his old suit to York. It was a bit big on him, but it still fit snuggly in all the important spots, so it was an adequate replacement.
"So, you said you were going to hunt a Lagiacrus, right? We can come along if you want," York said, shifting a piece of metal over to make it more comfortable.
"Eh… yeah, about that… We kinda already planned the whole quest a while ago…" Hugh reluctantly replied. "There're a few other guys who said they'd give us a hand. Sorry, guess you'll have to wait for us to rank up before we can go on your rank three quests!"
"To be fair, we thought you'd be out of commission for way longer," Zephyr said in reply to York and Rose staring accusingly at him. "Doc said it'd be three months, not three weeks."
"Ah, whatever. Maybe we'll find someone at the tavern who can join us," Rose said as the two departed.
"Guess so. Let's take a look, shall we?" the dual blade user replied. The two departed the inn soon after, heading towards the nearby tavern; the place was filled to the brim with hunters. There wouldn't be any trouble finding more allies to partner up with. "Let's grab a bite to eat before anything, eh? I'm kinda sick of hospital food."
The pair seated themselves at the one empty table in the building, ordering a quick meal and discussing what to hunt next. "I'm really not a fan of fighting underwater, so I'm just gonna say any leviathans are out of the picture already."
"Yeah, it's hard to use a bow under water… And I'm still getting used to this sword, so I think something on land would be smarter," Rose replied. The huntress had decided it would be a good idea to branch out and use melee weapons instead of focusing primarily on ranged ones, and as such picked up the sword and shield. This was also partially due to her bow still being at the smith's for repairs.
"What about a Rathalos? We could use some materials to power up that sword of yours."
"…We've already got all the materials we need, though. Remember that Harvest Tour we took on the Deserted Island last month?"
"True… I'm still wondering why that Rath was mauled to pieces, but it had plenty of good materials on it. Maybe that smith is done making those swords for me, now that I think about it. Want to go check it out? Maybe we could trade in your sword and the materials for a quick upgrade."
"York…"
"Oh, right, I forgot, you hate artisans… Fine, I'll take your equipment with me and see if I can't trade it in. Wait here for a bit, alright? I'll be about a half hour."
"Alright, I'll take a look at our options while you do that. Hurry back; don't wanna keep me waiting!"
"…That's probably true." York made his way out of the tavern and towards the armory down the street; after they had gotten more settled in, the hunters found that the street their inn was on had an equipment shop, tavern, café, and a few other stores that were useful for hunters. It was certainly more convenient than going as far out as they had before the hunter's exam. As he neared the shop, a familiar face greeted him.
"Ah, York! How is your day going?" Joshua asked, removing his strange skull mask. "I heard about the incident in the Flooded Forest. I didn't know you were to be discharged this soon."
"Hey Josh, I'm fine, yeah. Let's keep the whole thing a bit quiet though, eh? Not exactly the fondest of memories. What're you here for?"
"I'm picking up a new lance. I competed in the arena a few times and received these tickets; I can redeem them for an old gunlance prototype. Yourself?"
"About the same, gonna get a few upgrades," York replied. "Say, you wouldn't happen to be doing anything, would you? Rose and I were looking for some people to partner up with."
"Actually, I was hoping to do the same, my friend! I was about to ask that of you, as it were. My partner's waiting at the tavern for my return; I'm certain he'd be willing to help as well. Ah, and there's my weapon!" The lance user paused for a moment as the smith carried a large shield and a large gun-like weapon out of the shop. Mounted on the barrel was a sharp bayonet; it looked like a very advanced weapon, despite being a proto type.
"Now don't go loadin' shells inta that thing, ya hear? It ain't a real gunlance, an' I ain't doin' repairs if it explodes like the last guys!" The smith was a short, grumpy old wyvernian with wrinkeled, yellowish skin; he was regarded as a fine smith, if a bit tempermental.
"Of course, I'd never consider that. Thank you again. York, I will meet you back at the tavern. I bid you both good-day!" The lance user departed for the tavern as York turned his attention to the smith.
"Hey, Lemon, I'm checking up on my swords."
"Dammit kid, I told ya my name was Lumin! Do I look like a lemon to ya?!"
"Kind of. The swords are Rath dual blades; and if you have any premade Rath sword and shields, could I trade this sword and the upgrade materials in for some?"
"Yeah, yeah, just gimme a minute… Kids these days… no respect…" The grumbling smith again disappeared into the shop, exiting not long after with a pair of swords made from Rathian and Rathalos parts, and a glowing red sword accompanied by a crimson scaled shield. "You got payment? It'll cost ya about three-thousand fer the sword and shield."
York sighed before fishing his wallet out and paying the wyvernian, noting that his funds were yet again depleted. The hunter took the weapons from the artisan before saying his farewells and returning to the tavern. It didn't take him long to locate Rose and give her the equipment and the good news.
"That Joshua guy said he could help? That's great!" she replied, happily accepting the sword and shield.
"Yeah, so we should look around for them. And Rose, you owe me three-thousand for those."
"What!? You're asking me to pay for them?!"
"They're yours! I just did the exchange!"
"But York…! Please?"
"Rose, don't make that face, you know I can't keep paying for everything!"
"Pretty please?"
"…No…"
"Pretty pretty pretty please?"
"…Fine, fine, but I swear, one day you're going to have to pay me back for all these things."
"Yay! Thanks, York!" Rose happily embraced him while York sighed, very much irritated at the prospect of falling for her cute face again. Still, seeing her happy was a bit of a boon, so he let it go.
"Are we interrupting a moment?" Rose quickly let him go as Joshua and his hunting partner walked up to them; the dual blade user noted she was blushing much more than normal, but didn't think much of it.
"No, she was just thanking me for paying for her equipment. Again."
"Ah, I see. I suppose that's understandable. Have you two determined what our quarry will be on this hunt?"
"Yup! We're going after a Barioth!" Rose enthusiastically stated, showing them the quest report.
"A Barioth, huh? You really want that armor that badly?" York replied, reading over the report. He paused as he again read over the description. "Wait, this is a Gold Crown Barioth; this thing is way larger than the one we fought before. You think you're up for it?"
"Of course I am! And who knows, maybe you can use some of the extra parts to make your own suit! It's not like you're itching to pay Hugh at the end of the month, right?"
"Point taken. You two up for this?"
"I am. How about yourself, Jeremy?"
"Yeah, I haven't gone after one yet, so I'd like to see how I'd match up against one of 'em."
"Alright, then let's get going!" Rose immediately went over to the quest counter to sign the rest of them up while Joshua went to wait by the departure gate. York, meanwhile, had been staring intently at the fourth hunter since hearing his name.
"How you doin' York? It's been a while. What, like ten years?"
"…So it is you…"
Jeremy removed his Rathian helmet, revealing his face; he had short black hair and crimson eyes, with a scar running across his nose. "Gotta say, I really wasn't expecting to see you here. You been holding up alright?"
"Yeah… Jeremy, listen. Don't say a word to anyone about how you met me, got it?"
"Huh? Why not?"
"They don't need to know. Just act like you never knew me before today."
"Why? You saved my life, York. Not like I can just forget that."
"Well, you can repay me by doing this. I mean it, not a word."
"…If you say so, stranger."
"York, Jeremy! You two just gonna stand around all day talking, or are we gonna get going?" Rose called from the departure gate.
"Yeah, be right there!" Jeremy called back. "York, I'm not sure what the whole situation was, but just know I'm still grateful for it. You don't want me to say anything, I won't. But hey, the past is done; let's get going, eh?" Jeremy turned and walked up the steps towards the departure gate, followed by a somewhat troubled York.
"Something the matter?" Rose asked quietly as they boarded the ship bound for the Tundra.
"Hmm? No, nothing. Just thinking," he replied, trying to cover up the sudden memories that had surfaced again.
"You sure? You just look… Off. You feeling alright? You aren't still hurting, are you?"
"Rose, I'm fine, really."
"But York, if you aren't up to this-"
"So, once we're done with this quest, you mind giving me your measurements?"
"Wh-!? York!? What the hell-! What?!"
"So I can start working on your armor."
"Wh- Oh… Oh, right! Jeez, you could've said that sooner!"
York smirked at her flustered reaction, glad he had managed to change the topic so easily. "Well, I'll see what I can do; I nabbed Lumin's smithing book on this set, so at least I'll have something to go off of."
"Really? How did you get that from him? I thought artisans tried to keep their methods hidden."
"…Yeah, I'm not really big on asking. Let's just say he lost it and leave it at that."
"…Is it not possible for us to go somewhere where weather isn't this big of a factor…?" York remarked, shivering a bit. The others were as well; the Tundra was utterly freezing. Fortunately, the base camp's tent was warm, and there was a fairly large fire burning not far from there that kept the surrounding area fairly temperate. Outside of that, though, all the hunters had to keep warm were a few hot drinks and spicy peppers.
"Just standing here won't help; let us try and find our quarry. It would certainly do us more good than just standing around while our blood figuratively freezes." Joshua led off, striding across the icy field they stood in after chugging down a hot drink. The others did the same and followed after the lance user; surprisingly, the drinks kept their bodies rather warm despite the frigid temperatures. York felt pretty bad for Rose, though; her armor left most of her midriff and legs exposed, and he could tell she was still cold despite the drink's effects.
"Rose, you want to hold the torch? It'll keep you warmer," he offered, pulling the item out of his pouch. At first she seemed like she was going to refuse, but decided against it.
"Y-y-yeah, t-thanks." The dual blade user lit the torch before handing it to the huntress, who immediately sighed in relief as the fire warmed her body. "That's better… Thanks a lot, York."
"Don't mention it; now I won't have to carry the thing." Rose rolled her eyes at the remark, but he could tell she understood his concern; she seemed more amused than irritated.
"So, if my research is correct, Barioth usually prefer to wait in elevated areas for prey to arrive, before diving down from above and attacking," Joshua said, looking about. The area they were in was surround by high, snow covered walls; a perfect ambush spot for the creature to use on the hunters.
"Keep an eye on the sky, guys," Jeremy warned, keeping a hand on the hilt of his long sword. The group proceeded cautiously across the field, warily scanning the peaks of the cliffs around them; eventually, they crossed the icy clearing without any trouble, stopping outside a large cave entrance.
"That was pretty tense," York remarked, easing up a bit. "Still, it might be in the caves. Their eyes glow blue in the dark; watch for that." They proceeded into the cave, with only the torch Rose held providing any light for them to see. The cavern was warmer than it was outside, but that wasn't saying much; the hunters had to use more hot drinks to keep from freezing.
"Still nothing… I do wonder where this beast is hidden," Joshua stated, glancing about restlessly. "Hmm… there may be a need for us to split up at this rate. We'll just end up freezing to death walking around together."
"Like it or not, that seems to be true," Jeremy added with a sigh. "Do either of you have signal flares?"
"Got some right here," York replied, chuckling a bit as Rose searched through her pouch for the signals she no doubt forgot again. "If you see it, shoot it off, alright?"
"Uh… guys?" The three stopped and turned to face Rose, who was looking at a wall about twenty feet behind them. "We… might want to split up. Like right now." The others glanced up the wall and saw what she had seen; a pair of icy blue dots were glowering at them from a small hollowed out section in the wall.
"Get down!" York and Rose dove off to the side while Jeremy and Joshua dodged in the other direction; the creature had swooped down from its perch, slamming into the spot they had just been and sliding to a stop using the spikes on its wings. As the hunters recovered, the wyvern roared angrily, the sound echoing throughout the cave loudly and forcing them to cover their ears! Jeremy was seemingly unaffected, though, and attacked the Barioth in the same motion he drew his long sword with, cutting shallowly into its side with his bone katana. A short electrical burst followed the blow; it seemed the long sword wielder's blade was coated in a paralytic toxin.
The others recovered quickly and drew their weapons; York immediately charged at the creature while Rose circled around behind it, and Joshua slowly made his way towards its side. The Barioth attempted to bite at the dual sword user with its amber tusks, and York quickly slid beneath its head and dealt a swift cut to its neck! A short burst of flame followed, which seemed to cause the Barioth far more injury than the cut alone did. Guess it was a good idea to upgrade after all…
Meanwhile, Joshua had been stabbing at the monster's side with his bayonet-lance, also inflicting several fire element injuries on the saber cat-like beast. Rose had begun to swing at its tail, while Jeremy had been trying to break off the spikes covering its wing; the beast roared in frustration as the hunters hit it from all sides, unsure of who to focus on. It didn't stand still for long, though; suddenly, the snowy white monster jumped back, spitting a large icicle looking projectile towards the center of the group!
Before it impacted, Joshua side stepped into the way of the object and brought his shield up in a strong defensive stance, blocking the icicle before it struck the ground and breaking it into a powdery snow. "That projectile reacts with the ground to cause a blizzard if it breaks!" the lance user explained. "Try to keep away from the area if I can't block it; I believe the radius is about ten feet, but it might increase proportionally with the creature's size!"
"How do you know all this?" Rose asked, bewildered; York and Jeremy had already begun to run at the creature again.
"Studying my quarry, Miss Rose. It's rather easy to prepare for an eventuality when you look up information on a monster before you hunt it. There's a place in Loc Lac that is simply overflowing with information that you should visit sometime. It's called the Monster Hunter Wi-"
"Hey, cut the chit-chat! This thing ain't killin' itself, you know!" Jeremy shouted, recovering from being sent flying by the Barioth's tail. York was currently keeping its attention away from the others, striking its head a few times and leaping back to evade another bite. He couldn't evade its charge completely, though, and was knocked back as its arm collided with him.
"Ah, my apologies. Let's get to it, shall we?" Joshua said, tucking his lance firmly beneath his arm. He lifted his shield and charged straight at the creature, bayonet tip pointed outwards! York recovered quickly and glanced back before rolling out of the way of the lance user, who drove the tip of his weapon into the Barioth's chest! Rose had been following behind closely, and before the creature could recover from Joshua's sudden charge, the huntress slammed her shield into the side of its head! One of its tusks actually cracked from the blow; York continued by slashing its head again, leaving an X-shaped cut across the monsters face.
Jeremy by then had moved behind the Barioth, bringing his blade down on its tail again and again; after seven powerful swings, the tail was severed completely! The monster roared in pain, tripping forward in surprise and agony as its appendage was dislodged from its body. Joshua and York took their places in its path, and the two hunters drove their weapons into the Barioth's chest again as it stumbled into their blades! The pair pulled their weapons free before backpedalling away from the heavily wounded creature; Rose darted between them, slamming her shield into the Barioth's head again and breaking one of its tusks off! It growled weakly in pain as the huntress twisted around and drove her fiery Rathalos sword into its skull, bringing the White Knight of the Tundra's life to an end. The hunters breathed a collective sigh of relief seeing the beast collapse to the cave floor.
"Nice job, team," Jeremy said, sheathing his long sword. The four congratulated each other before moving to carve materials off its body; Rose immediately went to carve the tough hide off the severed tail and retrieved the tusk that had broken free of its mouth. York carved several spikes off of its wing, a sizeable portion of its pelt, and a few hard shells from its back. After carving everything they could off its carcass, the hunters built a small fire and rested.
"Gotta say, didn't expect you to be the one to kill it, Rose," York said, glad to be warming up again. "Thought Josh and I had it after Jeremy cut its tail."
"Hey, I can't let you boys have all the fun, right?" she laughed, pulling out a few rations and passing them around to the others. "This is all we got, unless one of you brought some meat with you."
"If you got a BBQ spit, I don't mind running out and hunting a Popo real quick," Jeremy replied.
"I think a proper meal would do us all some good after a fight like that," Joshua pointed out. "I have a spit, but I regret to say that I am a rather poor cook."
"That's fine, I can cook steak pretty well! Just set up the spit and get the meat, and I'll work my magic!"
"Alright, I'll get to it then." Jeremy got to his feet and made his way out of the cave while Joshua began to set up a rather complex BBQ spit.
"It can cook two steaks at once," he explained. While Rose went through her pouch for some spices, York got up and looked around the cavern for any resources to gather. Aside from a few Isisium ore veins, the cave was devoid of resources.
Why do I feel like there's more to this place? York continued to scan the cold stone surface, looking for anything to verify his suspicions. After a while, he started to give up before noticing a small abnormality on the wall. What's this, another cave? The hunter peered inside a small opening in the wall, extremely well hidden but just noticeable enough for a keen eye to see. It was a very small entrance, so York had to crouch low to squeeze through it. Fortunately, it was only a short distance until he reached an open chamber.
"What… is this…?"
The chamber was clearly man made; there were a few pillars supporting the square room, and a small staircase that led up to a strange altar with several carvings on it. He couldn't make them out very well, but a few seemed to resemble a dragon of some sort. Resting on a pedestal atop the altar was a red stone that glowed like lava. It seemed to dim and brighten irregularly, casting a faint glow across the room. "Whoa… What do we have here…?" The hunter watched it for a moment and looked around; whatever it was, it was obviously there for some reason. Still, it must've been pretty rare, and rare gems meant lots of gold. With that thought in mind, York reluctantly plucked the stone off the pedestal, half expecting there to be a trap. Fortunately, nothing happened, so the dual blade wielder pocketed the gem before going back to scanning the carvings on the walls.
"York! Where are you?!" He turned back towards the small crack in the wall where Rose's voice came through, a bit startled.
"Yeah, just a sec! Just doing a bit of exploring!" he called back. After one last quick glance, he crawled back out of the room and into the central cavern. "Didn't eat all the food already, did you?"
The other hunters were seated around the fire, hungrily watching the meat cook. "Oh, there you are! The steak's just about done. Did you find anything useful?"
"A couple things, yeah. A few ore veins, some bones, and a…" York stopped when the scent of the meat hit his nose. "Damn, that smells better than anything I've ever eaten!"
"Now you know why we've been staring at it cook for the past ten minutes," Jeremy said, not taking his eyes off the juicy meat. And he could tell why; the scent of the meat cooking was quite possibly the nicest aroma any present had smelled before.
"And… there! They should be ready!" Rose pulled the meat off the spit and handed one of the steaks to Jeremy and Joshua; the two immediately tore into the food. She handed the other hunk to York.
"Here, try it!" York didn't need any more incentive to bite into the delicious meat; one bite and he could already tell that no other meal he'd eaten before came close to matching the flavor of this one.
"Where the hell did you learn to cook!? This is friggin' amazing!"
Rose blushed a bit at the praise and smiled. "Well, my mother was always pretty busy, so I just taught myself with my free time."
"You sure you aren't the descendent of some legendary chef? Honestly, this is phenomenal!" Jeremy added, tearing a bit more meat off the bone.
"I agree completely. Miss Rose, I don't know how you did it, but you have utterly astounded me with your prowess in the culinary arts," Joshua said. "I simply must know what you used to create such a perfect steak."
"Sorry boys, but that's my own secret recipe," she laughed, sticking her tongue out at them as they groaned in irritation.
"Well, here's to a successful hunt, everyone," York said once they had all finished eating. "Let's all do our best to ensure a hundred more follow!" The others agreed and shared a bit more time together in the cave before heading back to base camp, ready to return to the capital city.
I'd like to assume that this was a better hunt than the ones that appeared before, even if it was a bit shorter than I'd wish. I'm seriously excited to start posting my new story, so rest assured this one will be reaching its conclusion before much longer. Well, keep reading, following, and reviewing, and I'll keep working hard! Until next time!