Chapter 7: Seafood Special
'What is this thing made of?' thought Cherry as she dodged another of the Shogun Ceanataur's claws. Despite its speed and agility, the monster was still no match for the dexterity of a huntsman. Cherry had been running circles around it since the battle began.
However, it was very tough. She began the battle by ambushing it and pushing it off a cliff, which stunned it but did not damage it greatly. Cherry then tossed several Ice Dust grenades, taken from the village armory, and all it managed to do was anger it, not even denting its armor.
For her trouble, as soon as she engaged it up close, one of its pincers came down at her. She blocked it with her shield, denting Crocea Mors, and she could also feel a not insignificant portion of her aura disappearing. 'Gotta do this more carefully,' she thought. 'You can't kill these things as easily as Grimm.'
Crocea Mors' blade fared better. Targeting joints and weak points, Cherry slashed again at the Shogun Ceanataur's vulnerable parts. The ancestral blade smashed into the monster's arm, cracking it immensely and making the crab monster screech.
"How do you like that, you overgrown seafood special?!" she shouted.
The monster's response was to attack with increased ferocity. She dodged them all easily, nimbly moving away from the enraged monster's strikes. She returned each one of its attacks with three of her own, hitting its body everywhere with inhuman speed.
In mere moments, the Shogun Ceanataur was bleeding and cracking in nearly every part of its body. One of its legs had been hacked off, and a pincer was in danger of doing the same, hanging only by a strip of muscle that it somehow still managed to move. Cherry stood tall, intent on intimidating the monster to flee, but it stood its ground in defiance.
She wondered if the monster sensed her own exhaustion. Her assault would have decimated an entire horde of Beowolves and Ursa, but the monster in front of her was still alive and ready to fight to the death. Only 60 percent of her aura remained, and the monster's spirit was not yet broken. She had to finish this quickly. Putting some distance between them, she readied her blade, then suddenly charged forward in a powerful thrust meant to bring down the monster in one strike.
It hit the monster's head.
And her sword bounced.
"W-what?" was all she could say before a pincer caught her in a direct hit and sent her flying across the forest.
"Guh!"
She landed a sizable distance away. Groaning, she took a glance at her blade. Crocea Mors was the pride of her family, a masterpiece of craftsmanship that had endured countless conflicts and even the relentless march of time itself.
It had gotten chipped and worn. With her Aura-enhanced strength and in her fury at attacking the Shogun Ceanataur, she never noticed.
The monster was suddenly on top of her. Cherry put on a burst of speed and jumped away. She took one more look at her blade. Pursing her lips, she placed the sword on the ground and drew Artemis' carving knife. She did not need the beeping of her scroll to let her know that her aura was low. That last hit took out a very large part of it. She would not survive another one.
The Shogun Ceanataur charged, its two pincers spread wide, a double attack that would surely finish her off if it connected. Cherry stood her ground, the carving knife gripped tightly in her hand.
The pincers went down. Cherry surged forward, and with a final push, she jumped and stabbed the monster as hard as she could between its eyes. With the Aura-boosted strength of a huntsman, the knife penetrated deep, going through the Shogun Ceanataur's tough carapace and right into its brain.
The monster was dead instantly. Cherry moved away from the flailing body, careful not to get hit by accident. A few seconds later, it stilled, and the forest quieted once more.
Steadying her breathing, she checked her scroll.
10% Aura.
That was a very close call. Her thoughts went back to her younger brother, who managed to defeat a seemingly more dangerous monster without Aura. She wondered how he did it. Did using monster parts really make that much of a difference? Did he exploit the environment? Or did he use some of the hunter tools that she had seen in the field guide?
If this Shogun Ceanataur was only a mid-tier monster back in the other world, she shuddered to think what a top predator would be. The hermit crab monster was considered in the field guide to be relatively fragile for its danger class, but even a high quality weapon like Crocea Mors was dulled and worn after only a single skirmish. How much tougher would stronger monsters be, and could she defeat them if it ever came down to it?
Idly her eyes wandered to her kill. Right, hunters in the other world used monster parts, didn't they?
She sincerely hoped Jaune would be ready for any other encounter with dangerous monsters, especially with the Grimm causing the other monsters to be more aggressive than usual.
As she pondered, she heard the voice of an older huntress call to her.
"So, you're saying that this crystal, this Aetheryte, is capable of crossing to other worlds?" asked the Commander.
"That's right, kupo!" agreed Moogle. The crystal in question was floating in the corner, various felynes examining it. "Aetheryte are crystallized fragments of aether. We use them as exit points in the Lifestream, the river of life energy that encompasses everything! In Eorzea, use the aether that runs through the Lifestream to travel to far off lands or even to other worlds!
"Interesting. Your homeland, Eorzea was it? It must be a wonderful land," said the Seeker, earning a whoop of joy from the floating not-Lynian. He then pointed to Jaune. "You know, one of our group has also come from another world, and we are curious to see if this crystal can send him back."
"Really? Which world is it, kupo?" asked Moogle.
"We call it Remnant," said Jaune. At Moogle's tilt of its head, he continued. "Uh, it's a world ruled by four kingdoms and is populated by humans, faunus, and Creatures of Grimm. We use Dust as our primary resources, and uh—oh! A large part of the moon is shattered too."
Moogle was silent, contemplating.
"Faunus?" said the Commander.
Jaune looked sheepish. "Oh yeah, I never explain to you guys what are Faunus, did I? Faunus are similar to humans; except they also have animal parts on them like ears or tails. And some of the animal's instincts too, I guess," replied Jaune.
"A humanoid, you mean," said the Commander. "Like the wyverians?"
"Almost exactly like them," agreed Jaune. "But a lot more varied, there's faunus for pretty much every animal type."
"Fascinating," remarked the Seeker. "How did these additional animal parts come to be? Aura?"
"We have no clue," admitted Jaune. "Uh, I think there are stories and fairytales that explain them sorta, something involving a God of Animals, but I can't remember them."
"Hmm!" exclaimed Moogle suddenly, turning everyone's attention to them. "Remnant doesn't look like a world that has Aetheryte in it, as far as I know. But this Dust looks like it's something similar. If we can find the right coordinates, and a big crystal, with this Dust, we can do a special teleportation that will allow us to go there, kupo!"
"You can do that?" asked Jaune, hopeful.
"Of course, kupo! But it will take time, finding coordinates is no joke, and if we get it wrong, we'll end up even more lost, kupo!"
The hope in Jaune's chest diminished slightly, but Moogle seemed to have sensed his discomfort.
"Don't worry, kupo! When I get home, I'll get some of my friends to help me find the world as thanks, kupo!"
Jaune smiled, thankful. While the storms were a direct trip from Remnant to this world, they were random. A connection that they can control will allow them to come and go between the two worlds, bringing the two closer together. Idly, he wondered about the economic, political, and ecological ramifications of such a meeting, but the Commander's voice broke him out of it.
"We'll let you work on that," said the Commander to Moogle. "However, I am to understand that you had something urgent to say as well."
"Yes, kupo!" replied Moogle. "When I was transported here by the Aetheryte, an extremely powerful creature from my world was also dragged along! A Behemoth! A dreaded monster that can call upon powerful storms and meteors! Even seasoned adventurers are scared encountering it, kupo!"
"It can do that?" exclaimed Cool Fiver. Something as powerful as what Moogle was describing could only be classified a one thing.
"Indeed! It went away when we landed here, to look for the area with the most energy, kupo!"
Moogle told them all it could about the Behemoth, the Seeker jotting it all down in the absence of a handler.
"The area with the most energy," pondered the Seeker when Moogle was finished. He looked towards the other members of the Commission. "If that is the case, then there is only one place where it will go…"
"The Elder's Recess!" said Cool Fiver. "Xeno'jiiva gathered a lot of bioenergy over the years, and the Recess is naturally full of bioenergy even before that. If it's anywhere in the New World, it has to be there."
"Oh no, the expedition!" cried Jaune.
"Then we must not dally!" said the Commander. "Moogle, thank you for bringing to us this information. You're welcome to stay here as long as you like until you can return to your world."
He turned to Cool Fiver and Jaune. "You two, take the fastest wingdrakes we have and catch up to the expedition as quickly as you can, we have no time to waste! If what the Moogle is saying is true, then this Behemoth is on the level of an Elder Dragon, and something completely unknown to us. We cannot let it escape!"
"Yes, sir!"
(A day of frantic flying later)
"Damn! We just missed them!" exclaimed Cool Fiver.
Jaune agreed to the sentiment.
Riding the fastest wingdrakes the Commission had, they had just arrived at the Research Base by wingdrake, only to find it empty of the expedition members. After explaining the situation to the Third Fleet Master, she informed them that the expedition left only a scant few hours prior.
"The expedition should move a lot slower than us. That means they still haven't reached the Recess," commented Jaune after an hour of rest. "If we go now, we can still make it."
Cool Fiver agreed. They were about to call for wingdrakes again when Third Fleet Master spoke.
"Pardon me, Hunter Jaune," interrupted Third Fleet Master.
Jaune turned to look at her.
"Could you stay behind for now, we have a few things to discuss, like the storm that sent you here. I'm sure your teammate can do your mission on your own."
Jaune's eyes widened. He looked to Cool Fiver, who nodded.
"I'll make sure the message is delivered," she said, before whistling for a wingdrake.
The Sea Feilong was an extremely dangerous type of Grimm that resembled a gigantic, winged serpent. The Grimm's massive, armored body allowed it to withstand even extremely punishing attacks, while its huge size and strength crushed everything that dared to confront it head on. Belying its huge size, it was capable of incredible feats of speed and agility. On top of it all, it can produce a stream of pure energy from its mouth, decimating everything it hit. A truly dangerous creature to be feared, power that was only spoken of in legends.
It was just unfortunate that it encountered the Sapphire Star, who quickly clutch clawed onto it as it tried to fly closer and chopped its head off.
"Man, you made that look easy," commented Easygoing Fiver. "That's gotta be more than an apex-level monster, at the very least. Leave some for the rest of us."
The Sapphire Star shrugged, pushing up his brand new Seregios sunglasses at the same time. Internally, he was disappointed in the Grimm. Not because of a lack of challenge, he always put his all into every hunt no matter the monster, but because the creature's disintegrating body meant there were no body parts to carve, and no sunglasses to be made.
He can't make a new pair of sunglasses from them! The injustice of it all! Even more than the author's stupid decision to make sunglasses a core part of his character!
Meanwhile, Cool Fiver was talking with Field Team Leader, having made it just as the first members of the expedition were about to head out of camp.
"So, you're saying that this Behemoth has made its way here, in the Elder's Recess?" asked Serious Handler.
"Yes," nodded Cool Fiver. "From what the Moogle has explained to us, we're treating this monster as an ecological disaster-level threat, comparable to an Elder Dragon. The Commander is ordering the expedition delayed until it is slain."
"What can you tell us about it?" asked Excitable A-lister.
Cool Fiver relayed to them the information that Moogle had recounted.
"So extremely powerful, extremely angry, extremely vindictive, and can cast meteors and tornadoes out of the sky," summarized A-lister. He turned to the assembled hunters and expedition members and shrugged. "Eh, sounds like a normal day for us."
"Be serious about this," scolded Serious Handler.
"Alright, enough banter," replied Field Team Leader, earning a snicker from Excitable A-lister. "If this thing is as powerful as you say, we'll need our strongest hunters to fight it. That includes you. Did you bring your gear along?"
Cool Fiver nodded. "I'll have to resupply some of my items, but yes, I did bring them."
He gave her four hours to rest and prepare while a few other members scouted potential areas where the Behemoth might appear.
Jaune clutched a cup of coffee, looking over the camp in the Coral Highlands. A coral reef that was seemingly pushed out of the ocean and put into precarious cliffs, the beautiful scenery hid a world as dangerous as any in the New World. Below him, the blue-skinned Tzitzi Ya-Ku was eating a Kelbi while the other Kelbis ran for dear life.
'This was where they saw the storm, damn it,' he thought. The letter that Serious Handler wrote for his family lightened his mood somewhat, but he hoped that it would actually get to them.
He smiled sadly. 'Cherry must have graduated by now. I wonder what they'll think of me. I may not be a hunter like in Remnant, but I'm a hunter still. I hope they're proud.'
"It must be hard, missing your way home," said Third Fleet Master.
"Yeah. At least they got a letter through, I just hope it actually reaches them."
"Your family." It was a statement, not a question.
Jaune nodded.
"It will, have faith, Hunter Jaune," she said. Jaune opened his mouth to ask but she stopped him. "Do not ask me how I know, just that I do. In our long lives, we wyverians have developed quite good intuition."
"I guess," replied Jaune. Getting up on his feet, he finished the last of his coffee. "The only thing I can do now is continue being a hunter and make them proud."
"Hmm. I looked at your psychological profile," said Third Fleet Master. "Would I be right in assuming that being the middle child in a family with seven sisters has caused you self-esteem issues?"
"I guess, a few weeks ago," replied Jaune. "The Seregios and that weird Kulu made me feel a lot better now, though."
Geez, the Handler really was right, that battle had changed him.
"Not anymore, then, that is good," she smiled. "I will offer you neither praise nor criticism, but simply a wish for you to keep moving forward. The Commission could use more hunters like you."
The young man smiled. "Thanks, I intend to."
A roar was heard below. A Paolumu was harassing the Kelbi, a strange occurrence given that Paolumu were herbivores and were quite passive until something startled them. It was puffed up with air and blowing them at the deer monsters, something it never did outside of battle. Already a number of Kelbi had died, and many more had their horns broken and were fleeing.
"Something has agitated the Paolumu," said Third Fleet Master.
"Grimm?" asked Jaune.
She smiled widely at him. He didn't like that smile. That was the smile of his mother or his eldest sister when they knew he wouldn't be able to refuse what they were requesting.
"Why don't you find out?"
Sighing, Jaune grabbed his pack and weapons and headed out of camp.
As he left, Third Fleet Master looked down on the cliff. The Paolumu had left, leaving behind several mangled Kelbi corpses. Slowly, the Kelbi began to return to the area once more. The Wigglers, worm-like creatures that burrow when they sense danger, had also started to resurface.
'Hm?' she thought, noticing something on the cliffs below. Something else had crawled to one of the dead Kelbi and started feasting on it. A tiny humanoid creature quite unlike anything she had seen before.
'A Lynian?' No. If it was, it was not a tribe she or her crew had been in contact with. Turning, she went back to the airship to call for the Tailraider felyne mercenaries. This warranted further investigation.
It was indeed a Grimm. Specifically, an Ursa Major that he found nearby the Paolumu's feeding grounds. Monsters, being more sensitive to the ecosystem, were likely more susceptible to the unnatural strangeness of the Ursa and drove the Paolumu off. As soon as he got close, the Grimm immediately attacked.
It was his first time fighting a Grimm, and Jaune came to understand why the people of Remnant needed Aura to fight them on an equal footing. The Ursa Major was strong and relentless. It easily broke a boulder behind Jaune when he dodged one of its swipes. Where a Great Jagras would occasionally step back and reassess its position, the giant bear Grimm cared little about its place and pursued him endlessly.
However, as powerful as it was, the Ursa Major was less dangerous than the Seregios or the Crystal Kulu, thought Jaune. He ducked under a vicious swing, deflecting another with his shield. Before it had a chance to recover, he charged forward and drove his sword under the Grimm's chin. Despite not having the Aura-enhanced strength of a huntsman, the intense physical training of a monster hunter and his weapon made up the difference, and the Seregios sword cut through the Ursa's hide like it was simple cloth.
'I need to practice more with that Perfect Rush combo,' thought Jaune. 'I haven't been able to pull it off in a hunt yet.'
As the Grimm disappeared, Jaune refocused himself and turned to face the agitated Paolumu.
Author's Notes:
Cherry is a strong hunter in her own right, and she'll be even stronger once she gets equipment made from monster parts. It's just that the Sapphire Star is completely broken, in-game or otherwise.
I edited the last parts of this chapter because I want to showcase Jaune fighting the balloon next time, instead of an offscreen capture.
Thanks for reading!