Hey there Hunters! It's been a while huh?
But Welcome back to Monster (Girl?) Hunter World! Now I'm not sure if you are aware, but I stopped doing monster hunter chapters for a while after loosing 500+ hours in the game and having to start from scratch all over again. So I was pissed, depressed and defeated when it happed. However I managed to get at least 110 hours at least back into the game but I still have a lot to grind back to where I was before.
Now I dunno if the save file was corrupted or glitched when changing over to a different XBOX but it happened. but I'll get everything back in due time. Has this happened to anyone else or what?
Anyway as in regards to someone saying Xenojiva to get the transformation treatment. I'm actually considering it. Because it doesn't specifically say that we really killed the Elder dragon in that fight. We'll see when we get there eventually. Also we are only 3 or 4 chapters away from our first encounter with Zorah Magdaros! So be ready for that!
Enjoy!
Wild fight in the Wildspire
The three of us walked through the main gate of Astera and made our way towards the Commander who was talking to Nathan and Sarah. The group looked to see us coming their way and we have gotten their full attention.
"Excellent work dealing with that Pukei-Pukei Eric". The Commander commended as he then glanced at my back to see the said monster unconscious. "In, one way or another, regardless I knew I put the task in the right hands. As I was saying to Nathan and Sarah, we're hot on the trail of Zorah Magdaros now". He stated as he began to address all of us. "But there's more to figure out. I need the Fifth to protect our scholars while they investigate. I'm putting you and Eric in charge of the Wildspire Waste Nathan, the quest will begin once all of you convened on-site". Nathan nodded in response as he and Sarah began to head out.
"Go on ahead we'll meet you there". I said to them as they nodded before walking away from the Commander, who then turned towards us.
"Eric, I'm giving you permission to have your living quarters moved to the Gathering Hub, all your things have been moved there as well to make it easier and more convenient to your needs". The commander stated to me.
"Thank you sir, it'll be a great help. Right now we'll take care of our newest addition and get her sorted out before we catch up to Nathan". I thanked.
"See to it that you do. Dismissed". With that the three of us took the Pukei-Pukei girl up towards the Gathering Hub by taking each flight of stairs to get there since the chains were out of the option and were only best used by one person at a time. So in other words, a lot of steps to scale up.
When we entered the Gathering Hub it was large enough for the growing Demi-humans that are currently with me and the ones that will come, the table in the middle of the Hub definitely had a lot of seats for the girls that will be here in the future. I walked inside the ship that served as the Hub's interior it was practically the same as the ship I arrived in on. However other rooms have been cleared out to make room for more people to sleep in here, the room I was in which once served as a canteen was now a large bedroom since the tables were taken out and replaced with two rows of bunk beds with three on each side.
"I gotta say, they work fast huh?" I stated to the girls as they agreed and took a bunk for themselves and let their weapons rest on the ground next to them. I laid the Pukei-Pukei girl on one of the other beds to let her rest. I wiped the sweat off my brow and set my sword down against one of the bunks while I sat on the bed across from the Green coloured girl. I then looked to my left to see AJ walk up and sit next to me. "You ok?" I asked her and she nodded in response.
"What about you? You've been fighting several battles today and I thought you might need to rest". She replied.
"I appreciate the concern AJ, but I'm fine just need to catch my breath to a bit and wait till our Pukei-Pukei wakes up". I said.
"Eric that could take a while, besides I doubt she'll wake up before we need to leave, the fight we put up against her was pretty intense ganging up on her. I mean look at the wounds she has on her body". Janet pointed out as I got a good look at the newest addition, specifically at her wounds. Several cuts along her arms, legs and some marks on her tail which didn't get cut off which is something I'm glad about. As well as several burn marks from AJ's Switch Axe.
"Yea you're right. I think one of you will need to stay behind and watch over her until she wakes up. I'm not taking any chances". I stated as I looked between the two and then made my decision pretty quickly. "Janet you might want to stay here, if it was AJ our friend will be even more frightened Due to her being a carnivore". I explained.
"Sure, I understand Eric no problem". She agreed as she took off her armour leaving her with just her underclothing everyone usually wears, with hers being yellow in colour. Janet then laid back on the bed and began to relax.
"Hey. Make sure you don't fall asleep before she wakes up". AJ deadpanned making Janet glare at the Anjanath.
"Hey, hey don't try and start anything you two. Ok?" I stated firmly which made them comply instantly. "But yes, she's right Janet, I need you awake until we get back ok?" I said softly in which she nodded in response. "Good. C'mon AJ let's get going. Don't want to keep Nathan and the others waiting". I said to her as I sheathed my sword and walked out with the Brute wyvern in tow.
When we arrived, the temperature had risen a lot when we entered the biome. Nathan, Sarah, Morgan and the Scholars along with AJ and I had exited the safety of HQ's gate and we began our trek outside. We looked around and there was much sand, rocks and little vegetation in the area.
-Wildspire Waste-
Sarah had begun help the scholars push the cart which held all their equipment while Nathan, Morgan, AJ and I escorted them and made sure that they stayed safe.
"We've waited THIS long to get our hands on the evidence we need. Don't get us killed now, Hunters!" The Jovial Scholar said excited that he was out looking for our objective out here. This just made AJ roll her eyes at the scholar's choice of words.
"I hardly slept a wink last night! I'm so excited to go out and see this new piece of evidence!" The Upbeat scholar added in.
"The slag was found in the desert area of the Wildspire. Guide us there safely guys!" Sarah called to the four of us.
"Don't worry we've got your back, just stay close and we'll be fine". I stated as we continued towards the desert area of the biome.
"One thing's for sure, the environment here is completely different from the Ancient Forest". Sarah pointed out.
"I agree, it's feels different from what I'm used to back home". AJ added to the Handler's statement, which the lively scholar decided to put his point in as well.
"Yes, the Wildspire Waste feature's a mixture of dry land and swamps. Which naturally supports its own unique ecosystem".
We continued to follow the cart as we see a natural bridge ahead as well as water running under it, we look to our left to see a waterfall.
"Well that's something you don't see every day huh?" I said aloud as the others looked at what I was looking at, which amazed Sarah.
"The water filters down through the sand and to the lower areas, thus creating a mire". The Lively scholar educated as the non-Hunters of the group began to push the cart towards the bridge, which was uphill.
"Oh great. We get to go uphill now…" Sarah complained as she and the scholars had slowed their pace due to them pushing cart up the hill we were scaling with the rest of us just walking either along-side, behind or beside the cart.
"C'mon put your muscles into it". I encouraged with a smile which made Sarah groan, but AJ chuckle at her misfortune. We kept walking until we made our way into a small cave area where it had plenty of shade to shield us from the sun for a bit, we kept walking up a hill until we reached a flat surface which became a relief to Sarah and the scholars.
"Dear Me…we made it…can we have a break now?" The Lively scholar asked aloud with exhaustion apparent in his voice, to his luck the group had stopped pushing the cart.
"Look, the Wildspire! That's where we'll find what we came for". Sarah said pointing to our right as we saw a large stone spire from which the region got its name from.
"But we still have a ways to go…" The Jovial scholar stated before the group began pushing the cart with the Hunters following suit. However we still had to go downhill.
"Actually…Downhill might be worse. This is so heavy!" Sarah groaned as her and the scholars struggled to hold onto the cart so it wouldn't roll out of their grasp, but AJ came to their rescue as she held the back of the cart with one hand due to the strength she had being an Anjanath and all. "Whew, thanks AJ". Sarah thanked.
"Don't mention it". She replied casually, she's still getting used to Sarah's presence so I guess she still hasn't trusted her like Nathan or myself yet. As we kept going downhill we were approaching an area with vegetation which looked like it has some shade we could move through to avoid the heat.
That was until we heard a roar that was very close by.
"…D-Did you hear that?" The Lively scholar asked with fear present in his voice. I looked at Nathan and he had the same idea as I did as he and I ran up ahead to see what it was, but the rest of the group slowly followed behind us so that they didn't fall behind.
Turned out that roar had come from a very well-known flying wyvern which held the title of "Queen of the Land".
"Oh, dear me, A Rathian!"
"Jumping Jaggis! A Rathian!" The scholars cried in surprise of the Queen's appearance in our path.
-Rathian-
"Be ready to run for it you guys". I said to the group as I picked up a stone and loaded my slinger. "I'll distract her with this get ready, and stay quiet". I then looked at the Rathian as it hasn't seen us yet and was sniffing the area. I then noticed my necklace glow which wasn't really surprising considering Rathians are females of the Rath family, I fired my slinger and the stone and it had made a sound at the other end of the area which caught the Queen's attention and began rushing over to it. I gave the cue to the group to rush over to safety. I then picked up another one and fired further away from us to buy us some more time and the Rathian fell for it.
I then rushed my way back to the group who was now in the clear and we found ourselves in an area with lots of climbable vines.
"Whew that was horrifyingly close…" Sarah breathed due to the amount of pushing and running she had to do to get away from the flying Wyvern.
"Hell hath no fury like a Rathian scor-well, like ANY Rathian actually". The upbeat scholar stated.
"But she could provide the Commission with valuable data. Hunter, I couldn't trouble you for a sample could I?" The lively of the trio offered.
"Not the best time right now I think". I said shooting down the idea for the time being as we proceeded to the desert area of the Wildspire.
"I was unaware that Zorah Magdaros was an enormous beast, but I am in shock over how gargantuan it really is…" The Jovial member of the scholars said.
"Yes, it certainly seems to exceed the measurements in all the guilds writings". Said the lively of the trio adding on to his friend's sentence.
"I wonder…how many years does it take for a beast like this to grow to such an enormous size?" Added on from the upbeat of the three. We kept walking as we passed under a land bridge and looked to our right to see…
"Oh look, Apceros!" Sarah called out.
"Is it just me or do they look spooked?" I asked aloud as the three creature huddled up into what looks like a defensive position.
"You're right on that assumption Hunter". The lively of the three answered as I looked around while keeping pace with the cart. 'We might run into trouble'. I thought to myself as I then saw Nathan scrape off some mud from the rock wall that was still fresh, confirming my worry. We kept going until we found ourselves in the desert area of the Wildspire.
"The Evidence is within sight! You've done a fine job Hunters!" The Jovial scholar congratulated.
"Let's see what kind of present Zorah Magdaros left for us". Sarah stated. I walked on ahead with AJ and Nathan and as we approached the huge slag piece the Scoutflies had come out and began to shine blue and fly towards it. As well as the eccentric trio. I then turned to AJ who had her Nose-bone out and began sniffing the air.
"What is it?" I asked her which also had caught Nathan and his Palico's attention.
"I don't think we're alone". She stated as she retracted her appendage and we all began looking around, however the ground began shaking then one of the stone spires had exploded and revealed a Brute wyvern who looked pretty pissed, meaning we were in its territory.
-Barroth-
"We got a Barroth!" I called to the non-Hunters of the group who heard my cries and began running for safety. "Hey Hard head! Over here!" I called taunting the Barroth who then turned its attention to us and charged at the three off us, however we were faster and dodged out of the way causing the Brute Wyvern ram its head into another stone spire causing it to become dazed for a few seconds, giving us an opportunity to unsheathe our weapons.
The Barroth was now even angrier with us after that, it then swung its armoured head towards me but I blocked it with my Greatsword which gave AJ an opening to swing her Axe at the right leg of the monster which didn't do much but after a few more swings she got it to stagger. Nathan then swung his Longsword at the other leg getting rid of any mud it may have had on it.
The Barroth swung its tail at Nathan which smacked him back a few feet but AJ shifted her Axe to Sword mode and began striking the monster all over its body which really hurt it due to Barroths weakness being fire when not covered in mud. I ran up a sand dune while it was buys with the others and slid down, using the momentum I built up I unsheathed my sword and swung down on the Barroth's back effectively knocking it over giving the rest of the team to really do some damage to it.
I then performed a true charged slash to really hurt it while it was down and when the blade connected the Brute Wyvern roared in pain before begging up and swatting all of us away before making a run for it.
"Don't lose it!" I called to the others as we sheathed out weapons and chased after it.
We kept running after the Barroth and we found ourselves at a river with some Apceros nearby who had taken a defensive posture when the Brute Wyvern had arrived in the area. The Said Wyvern turned around and rushed at us head first making everyone but myself move out of the way, I blocked it my sword but the Wyvern began pushing down on the blade with its head and I began pushing back with all my strength. I pushed back enough for the Barroth to reel back giving me a chance to swing my sword around, as the monster's head came back down to crush me it came in contact with my sword effectively smacking it in the head making it fall over.
I then heard a whistle to my right and saw that Nathan and AJ had placed a Pitfall trap and it was ready to be sprung. I nodded in response and began running towards the trap which caught the Barroth's attention making it get back up. I then ran after me, as soon as I was on the trap I leapt towards my fellow hunters to safety. The Barroth however wasn't as lucky as its sheer weight sprung the trap and had made it fall into the ground. Nathan was quick to respond and had started hitting the monster with Tranquilizer bombs making it rear its head up for a second or so before it fell down. Fast asleep.
We all fell on the ground catching our breath for a few moments before I spoke up.
"The big boy here will be knocked out for a long while, we'll report to HQ and tell them that they have one sleepy Barroth ready to be brought in". I said to the group who nodded in response.
"How long does that last anyway Eric?" AJ asked me.
"Long enough for us to bring it to Astera and release it back into the wild. It's what we do". I answered the Anjanath who seemed satisfied with the answer I gave her. "But right now, let's get back to Sarah and the others, shall we?" I said as I began walking back the way we came with the rest of my hunting party following close behind.
We had made it back to the Zorah slag to see Sarah already getting samples, when she turned to us she was relieved to see us all ok.
"Glad you guys are back". She said.
"It'll take more than that mud flinger to bring us down". AJ boasted with confidence in which the rest of the part agreed with her.
"Glad to hear it. I found a safe place for the scholars to hide. Guess I'll go round em up". Sarah replied as she began running down the dune. "Wait for us back at camp!" Nathan smiled at his partner as she ran off. I looked at AJ who was looking somewhere else, Nathan and I looked to see someone wearing a hood and had a First Fleet banner wrapped around an insect Glaive.
"You there. Are you part of the Fifth Fleet?" He asked us.
"Yes. We are". I answered he walked over to the slag and looked at it and spoke.
"Then that means that the Elder Crossing is upon us again…" We all continuously looked at him as he took his hood off and continued. "The years fly by faster than I can count them. I, too, am a hunter. Of the First Fleet." He then looked at AJ and took a step closer but she took a step back. "Yet you…are of both human. As well as monster". He stated but the said Anjanath just stayed quiet unsure how to respond to that sentence. "Might I trouble you two to share your tales with me?" He asked us as the three of us looked at each other for a moment before looking back.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt". I answered as Nathan and AJ nodded in response.
"Let's find a suitable place". He said as he began walking down the dune and we followed close behind him.
There we go another chapter finished! Now I apologise if the fight was short but things have been going on here in real life and I wanted to get this done before the weekend was over just to be safe. In regards to the chapter we finally encountered the Speaker for the first time and he seemed quite intrigued of AJ's appearance. Not only that Since AJ is no longer the Apex of the Ancient Forest another non-Anjanath monster has taken her place since she was away.
Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and be sure to leave me your thoughts and opinions in the review section, a bit of feedback can go a long way. So until then, I'll see ya next time!
Cronus Prime Out!