Pardon my grammar.
Since this reaction is from the game Monster Hunter: World Iceborne, I have to make a lot of adjustments to some of the story and personal gameplay.
Monster Hunter: World - Ebony Odogaron Hunt
"Hey, Zwei! Buddy!" Tai fondly pats the corgi dog. "How are you doing?"
"Bark!" Zwei tilts its head and looks over at Raven, "Bark! Bark!"
The bandit queen glares back, "Don't try anything, mutt."
"Don't worry about her. She's always cranky these days."
"Tai…!"
Qrow sighs, "Oh, boy. Here we go again."
"Qrow!"
"I'm really seeing some family semblances." Weiss looks at Ruby and Yang with a deadpan expression. Her face instantly brightens when Zwei comes bouncing over. "Hello, Zwei. Have you been a good boy while we're away?"
"Bark!"
She begins petting the corgi dog, "Aww. Who's a good boy?"
While the Hosts set things up for the next viewing, everyone else was off doing their own things. In Team RWBY's case and those around them, they were huddling around Zwei. Except Blake, who doesn't seem to like the corgi dog for some reason, possibly due to her cat faunus trait.
"Wait, so your dog his aura unlocked?" Oscar asks, allowing Zwei to walk onto his lap.
"Yup. You should see him and Professor Oobleck—"
"Dr. Oobleck!"
"Dr. Oobleck and Zwei take down rogue giant military machines!" Ruby begins telling him a basic summary of their mission that's now known as the Breach.
"We have finished our preparations. Let's begin the viewing."
The rooms darken and the screen flickers to life.
The scene opens up to a luxurious cozy giant room, brightly lit by chandlers and furnished with some high-quality furniture.
"That's a nice room he has." Weiss comments. It's much larger than any of the personal rooms they have back at the Schnee Manor and much more decorative.
On the stairway along the second-floor open hallway sat a casually dressed hunter in his early twenties, reading a series of scrolls and books. In the background, a music player is playing a soft tune for the hunter to listen to while he flips through a plethora of reading materials showcasing maps, research, and illustrations of monsters found in the New World.
"Interesting beasts they have there." Port rubs his chin, "I wonder what we'll be seeing in this one."
He let out a yawn and reaches towards another book on a nearby shelf before a loud knock at the door diverts his attention.
The hunter raises an eyebrow, wondering who it was this time of night. He got up from his desk and makes his way towards the door and opens it, revealing a young hunter around the age of 15 or 16.
"Do you want to hunt a monster?" The young hunter sang, hiding his ulterior motive behind his grinning face.
But the hunter easily saw through his ruse, "Which monster are you having trouble with?"
Tai chuckles, "He saw right through him. Reminds me of some of my students."
Glynda nods in agreement, "Would it kill them, to be honest about their troubles?"
"Ebony Odogaron." The young hunter said meekly, slumping over to stare at the ground. "I'd abandoned the hunt twice already."
"Third times a charm."
"That'll take too long. Besides, it's more fun to hunt with a friend. Someone who's been doing this longer than I have. A master hunter who knows what he's doing…?"
"Sounds like he's a skilled individual to be called a master hunter." Ozpin fathoms, "Possibly even the young boy's mentor."
Ruby has a slight anticipated look on her face, "I wonder what kind of weapons they use."
"… Fine. I'll meet you at the Gathering Hub."
"Yes!"
"But." He stops the young hunter. "Don't expect me to do much of the attacking. I won't be going all out. Otherwise, you'll never learn how to overcome difficult challenges."
"He's got a point. A very good point." As much as Qrow would love to help out his nieces in nearly everything, they won't be able to learn from it if he and Tai were to solve all their problems. "You can't point to a fix it all guy and not expect problems down the line."
"That almost makes sense."
"I'm being serious here, ice queen."
The young hunter groans, "Fine."
"Good. See you soon." He closes the door and walks back to his residences, vaulting over the rails to the first floor. More furniture can be seen, including more shelves, a dining table, a bed, and an equipment rack. "Mateo!"
His Palico, a cat-like combat companion who serves in a variety of roles on a hunt, leaps from his resting spot and runs to his side. The brown and gray furred feylne stands on his hind legs and looks up with anticipating eyes.
"You called, meowster?"
Blake raises an eyebrow, "Is that cat standing on its hind legs and talking?"
Yang gasps, eyes sparkling. "What is that?! It's so cute! And its accent…!"
Even Weiss shares a similar expression with her blond teammate but keeps her composure.
"That is a feylne, not feline. The spelling is different. This one's occupation is called a Palico, a combat companion for hunters. Despite their size and strength, they are very hardy creatures."
"I'm helping out on a hunt with our little friend. Wanna tag along?"
"Of course, meowster! I was purrtty bored with nothing to do."
"The accent…! I can't! It's all cat puns!" Yang giggles to herself. "It's so adorable!"
Blake sighs, "Terrific."
"Purrific."
"No. Just, no."
"Grab your weapon and gadgets then. We'll be heading to the Gathering Hub."
The hunter puts on his dark blue Brigade uniform, fastening his belt holster containing his rapier, and grabs another weapon off the rack; his insect glaive imbued with explosive power, the Lightbreak Press.
Ruby's eyes brightly shine with excitement, "Ooooh, a double-edged glaive."
"That is the insect glaive."
"Wait, insect glaive?"
A massive insect, a kinsect, scutters out from hiding and flies onto the hunter's arm, completing the insect glaive.
Jaune recoils, "That's a giant bug!"
"Yo, that is a big bug." Coco repeats with disgust, "That's part of his weapon?"
"It is. You'll see some of its abilities in action soon."
"Ew. Giant bug aside, the guy has some good fashion senses at least."
The master hunter, no… The Brigadier readjusts his slinger to balance out the weight of the kinsect on his other arm and puts on his hat.
"Ready, Mateo?"
"Ready!" The Palico raises its saber made from a Frostfang Barioth, dressed in its own miniature huntsman set of armor.
"It even has its own armor and weapon." Weiss quietly gushes at how adorable it looks.
"The sword looks like it's made out of ice! That's so cool!"
It's a pity that Zwei can't really hold any weapons the Palico. Otherwise, Ruby would have long made something for the corgi dog.
"Let's go."
/-/
Seliana Gathering Hub, the Lunar Terrace, is largely empty aside from a few hunters and staff milling about; some of them greeted the Brigadier with a wave to which he returns. He scans the hub, looking for the young hunter, enjoying the warm air owning to an abundance of hot springs, footbaths, and sauna that the Lunar Terrace is known for.
"That looks like a nice place to hang around." Jaune would enjoy some hot springs. It's been a while since he's been to one.
"Over here!" The young hunter calls him over by the canteen, finishing down his large meal. "Did you eat yet?"
"Already did. Ready to go?"
The young hunter puts on the headpiece of his Odogaron Beta armor and brandishes his new long sword, a Brachydios Scimitar II he recently has commissioned at the smithy. Created from two monsters known as Brachydios and Azure Rathalos, the Brachydios Scimitar II is also imbued with explosive properties, just like the Brigadier's Lightbreak Press.
"Coool." Ruby compliments.
"I had this made today. Explosions for the win."
"Yeah!" Nora cheers, "Explosions for the win!"
"What does he mean by explosions?" Marrow asks, not seeing anything in their weapons that could cause an explosion.
"Their weapons have explosive properties to them. Each time they hit a target; a buildup of explosive substances will accumulate resulting in their targets exploding. Though, the explosion is rarely fatal to the monsters that they hunt. At best, a minor nuisance."
Nora shoots up from her seat, "I need that on my weapon!"
Ren pulls her down immediately. "No, you don't."
The Brigadier looks slightly impressed, "You certainly have been busy. How many did you hunt to make that?"
A brief flashback of the young hunter getting punched into the ground by a Brachydios and exploding, and another getting fire blasted by a flying Azure Rathalos.
Everyone winced at the brutal beating the young hunter had to go through.
"Holy… Those things are massive." Neptune said in awe and terror.
"And he's somehow still alive, miraculously." Mercury quips.
"I don't want to talk about it." The youth shivers, remembering the constant pain and suffering he has to endure to get the necessary material for his new long sword. "The desire sensor was strong for those few hunts…"
"Luck has always been biased."
"Not as bad as yours."
"I get lucky streaks to make it up."
"Desire sensor?" Qrow and Clover quizzically said in unison.
"A belief that what you desire will be the most difficult to obtain."
They walk towards the Wingdrakes roosts that overlook a cliffside into the snow-covered forest and mountains; their Palicoes scampering to their sides.
"We're going to the Coral Highlands." The young hunter explains, "It's going to be a long flight."
"It's been a while since I've hunted there. Lead the way."
The young hunter pulls out a sturdy rope with a hook attached to the end and whistles for a wingdrake. A Mernos launch itself from its perch and flies overhead for the young hunter to latch his hook onto the wingdrake's strap. His Palico, Catarinya, hops onto his shoulder and hitch a ride with her owner to the Coral Highlands.
Trailing close by is the Brigadier and his Palico, using one of his arms to shield his eyes against the flurry of snow from hitting his face.
"They're planning on flying like that while it's snowing?" Harriet asks herself, "I'm assuming they don't have aura to protect themselves from the cold."
"They do not, but they have their own ways of resisting the harsh weather."
"That makes them much more impressive, seeing some of the monsters the boy fought against."
"It's windy and snowy today, yeah?" The young hunter shouts over the wind. "So, what have you been doing lately? You haven't been out hunting for a while now."
"I've been doing some research. How far did you progress in learning other weapons besides the long sword?" The Brigadier saw the expression on the young hunter's face and knew he didn't do what he asks of him. "You didn't even touch them, did you?"
Ruby gasps, "That is blasphemy!"
"I was busy hunting! Besides, I don't have to learn any other weapons if I'm comfortable with one of them!"
"It is if you're horrendous with any other! Have you forgotten how many times you nearly carted yourself or us during training whenever you use something that's not the long sword?"
"Reminds me of Ruby alright," Weiss takes a playful verbal jab at her team leader, "can't fight without her weapon."
"Hey!"
The scene flashback to the training area in Astera.
Great Sword
"The greatsword has a long reach and powerful attacks." The Brigadier explains to the young hunter, watching the boy struggle to hold up the heavy weapon. "Because its sheer weight limits the speed of your movement and attacks…"
"Can't… Lift…" The young hunter gasps before the weapon brought him down, causing him to flail on the dirt ground. "Help! It's crushing me!"
"Hey, they have your weapon Yatsuhashi." Velvet points to the screen.
"Theirs looks a bit heavier than mines."
"Yay! A showcase of weapons!" Ruby cheers.
Sword & Shield
The young hunter was slashing, stabbing, and shield bashing the training pillar with all his might, seemingly having some affinity with the weapon.
"Jaune's and Pyrrha's" Ren muses, "Seems like sword and shields are also useful in this world for hunting giant monsters."
"I think this weapon, ah!" His hand loosens on the sword on impact with the training pillar, sending back at the Brigadier who nonchalantly dodged it. "Whoops… My bad. It's kinda hard to keep a grip on two weapons. Especially if… One does something different than another."
Jaune leans a bit closer to Pyrrha and whispers, "I wasn't that bad with my weapon, was I?"
"You actually have a good handle of it from the beginning."
The Brigadier fixes him a nonjudgmental glance as he retrieves the sword. "Well, that might rule out Dual Blades and Charge Blade."
"I can still try, you know." The young hunter retorts, looking slightly offended.
Dual Blades
The Brigadier had the flattest expression on his face as he watched the young hunter fumble with the dual blades, awkwardly slashing at the training pillar and having to readjust his grip every second.
"Reminds me of finding a weapon that works with Ruby." Qrow reminiscent of training his youngest niece.
"I wasn't that bad!"
"Let's try something else."
Hammer
"The hammer is a powerful blunt weapon with a surprising amount of mobility, despite its weight." He moves out of the way for the young hunter to test out the weapon. "Try familiarizing yourself with the weapon."
"Hammer! Smash! Muahahaha!" Nora cackles madly.
Elm gives the girl a thumbs up, "You said it girl!"
"It is a bit easy to move around with." The young hunter notes, moving swiftly across the training area. He makes a feral grin. "Time to smash!"
"Smash it! Crush it!"
"Calm down, Nora."
He charges towards the training pillar, twisting his body to deliver a spinning attacking with the heavy hammer. The hammer struck the pillar thrice before the impact caused him to lose balance and hit the ground with his forehead making an impact with the anvil of the hammer.
The Brigadier and the Palicoes collectively wince at that.
Everyone, even Nora stops and wince at the impact. "Ouch. That's going to leave a mark."
"You okay?"
"Meowster, you alright?"
"Ugh… My head."
Hunting Horn
"The hunting horn is a blunt weapon that can bestow positive status effects on yourself and your allies. Use it to perform melodies that can boost attack power, restore health, and grant other beneficial effects."
Vine founds the brief explanation interesting, "Curious. I wonder how that works…"
"A hammer that can make music?" Elm grins, "Sounds useful. Maybe I should learn how to play some instruments music outfit it on my weapon, haha!"
The young hunter stares blankly at the music-making hammer, already lost at what to do outside of bashing giant monsters with a giant weapon.
"I'm going to assume you won't be able to memorize any of the music notes for the hunting horn."
"I… Yeah."
"Let's move onto the next one."
Lance
"No offense to any lancers, but I don't like how clunky my movement is with this." The young hunter tries moving around with some light hops, his expression growing more and more irritated by the mobility restriction. "I'm not liking this one."
"Trading mobility for defense." Robyn chalks it up, "Generally not something you'll want for most scenarios, but that's just us."
"Alright, but let's try the Gunlance just to be thorough."
Gunlance
The thundering sound of the gunlance firing shook the entire training ground and the pillar. The widespread of explosive bullets peppered the area, leaving black sizzling marks on the target.
"Whooooa! He's like a mobile armored artillery!"
Yang nods, "And you can still stab something even without ammo."
The young hunter stops the heavy barrage to reload, only to pause and fumble with the ammo.
He looks up to his friend and mentor and shakes his head. "I don't like this. The ammo thing adds more complication to it."
"Fair enough."
"Whaaat? No, they don't!"
"It kinda does if it's in the middle of a battle," Blake admits.
Switch Axe
"This is the weapon you use sometimes, right?" The young hunter asks, morphing the Switch Axe to Sword mode, then back to Axe mode. "It's a bit clunky… Especially in Axe mode. Not much variety in its attacks."
"A giant mechanical axe that can turn into a giant sword!" Ruby squeals, "I can see some components in the hilt when it's in sword mode, so that means there's more to it than just a giant weapon!"
Oscar looks at her, unsure if he should be amazed. "Wait, you can tell?"
"If it's a weapon, she'll probably discern something." Said Yang.
The Brigadier unsheathes his own switch axe, the Lightbreak Axe, to showcase some of its move set. "Yes, and don't diss the switch axe. It has its own advantages and disadvantages. Pay attention to my attacks."
He performed a series of basic attacks, following up with lengthier and stamina intensive attacks.
Velvet takes several pictures with her camera, committing his movements to her memories and weapon.
The young hunter attempts to follow along, but fail to keep up rather quickly. Notably at the wild swing demonstration.
"Can't… Keep up." He wheezes, releasing the switch axe on the third swing. "Not for me… Nope. No switch axe for me."
"Guess he's not up to carrying heavy weapons." Tai shrugs, "No fault in that."
"A pity."
The Brigadier continues with his demonstration, stabbing the training pillar with his amped switch axe in its sword mode, and begins unleashing the Zero-Sum Discharge into the sturdy target. The devastating power builds up into a fully discharged explosion with a force that threw the Brigadier a few meters back.
"It seems friend Ruby was right about its functionality." Penny chirps in before Ruby could say anything. "What else wasn't shown from the other weapons?"
"Yeeeeah… I won't be having any arms if I did that."
Charge Blade
"The charge blade is a powerful weapon that morphs between a sword and shield combo, and an axe." He points at the sword the young hunter held in one hand. "Accumulate energy with the nimble sword, and then switch to axe mode to unleash a thunderous, energy-filled attack."
He raises both the sword and shield. "So… How do I use this again? The axe thing?"
"On second thought, this weapon isn't exactly beginner-friendly." The Brigadier muses with looming anxiety. "It's complicated and takes a while to master."
"Now something bad is going to happen." Mercury can feel it in his bones. "Seeing how he did last time with a sword and shield."
"Wait, I think I got this!" The young hunter starts off with a forward slash, then charged up a double slash, filling up the charge blade phials. "It's fully charged up, what should I do with it?"
"Sheath your…"
"Got it!"
He interrupts whatever the Brigadier was about to say, sheathing the sword into the shield to morph it into its axe mode. The edge of the shield expanded outward with sharp blades, filled with energy that's buzzingly to be discharged.
"Jaune! I just have an idea on how to upgrade your weapon!"
The blond boy suddenly looks nervous and glance at his teammates for support. "Uh, Ruby. I'm… Still mastering my current one. Maybe next time?"
The Brigadier slowly backs away as the young hunter heaves the charge blade to slam it onto the ground. Midway in his overhead swing, the shield spark and disengaged from the sword, sending it flying back.
The Palicoes let out a shrill cat-like cry and leaps away.
"I knew it!"
He dives out of the flying shield's path and put his hand over his head to protect himself from the elemental discharge of the charge blade's shield.
Silence fell in the training area.
"We can still try now that we know how to avoid making the same mistakes."
"Err… Someday."
Ren pats his team leader on the shoulder, "Good call."
"Nya… That was dangerous meowster." Catarinya's fur was standing up, "Don't touch the charge blade again, purrtty please?"
Insect Glaive
"I cannot stand giant creepy crawlies." The young hunter said, backing away from the kinsect that's resting on the glaive. "There's no way I'm letting that crawling over my arm."
"I can't blame him for that." Emerald sure wouldn't like one clinging to her arm.
Zwei barks in agreement.
Yang nods, "Third."
"You'll be missing out a lot!" The Brigadier vaults into the air and twirls his glaive, slashing at the training pillar with enough strength to propel himself into the air again and again. "Being able to take to the skies is quite fun!"
It did look fun, but having a massive bug nesting on your arm send shivers down his spine.
"Huh, do you think I should upgrade my weapon as well?" Sun whispers to his partner, not wanting Ruby to hear it. She'll most likely overdesign it, according to Blake. "Because that looks cool."
"No idea, dude."
Velvet snaps several photos of the insect glaive, finding its aerial mobility wonderful. Should she be able to perform a similar feat, it'll be a huge boost to what she already has in her arsenal.
"No, thanks."
Light Bowgun and Heavy Bowgun
"I can't keep track of all these… Ammo types and modifications for any of these bowguns." The young hunter raises a Sticky Ammo, frowning when part of it sticks to his fingers. Then gesture to all the modification parts laying around the table. "And what even are these parts?"
"They're beautiful," Ruby said dreamily.
She now has an abundance of ideas to upgrade her weapon.
"You can modify your bowguns with attachments to alter its performance. The shield grants greater protection for the heavy bowgun, that part is for the light bowgun… I'm not the best person for these things."
Not to mention both hunters have some difficulties cycling through the ammo types in the middle of intense combat.
Bow
The young hunter's entire arm was trembling under the strain of pulling back the strings on the large bow all while lining up the massive arrow along the bowstring.
"Nope! I don't have the arm strength for this!"
"Archery requires skill and practice. Especially for the ones meant to be used against the sorts of creatures that inhabit their world." Cinder remarks, remembering all her training lessons with the bow.
The flashback ends, returning to the present day.
"Well, what about you? All you use is the insect glaive and switch axe."
"I also use the hammer and hunting horn." The Brigadier shots back, "Unlike you, I'm not crippled to one weapon. But if I'm being honest, there's no fault in that. Everyone has their own combat style."
"Yeah." Ruby looks proud at her overreliance on her weapon.
Her teammates flatly look at her, then at each other. When they get back, they're going to make their team leader learn how to fight without her weapon.
"Then why do you keep pestering me about it?"
Port chuckles, "Ah, yes. Like a huntsman and his student."
"It's because your teachers keep pestering me about your overreliance on the long sword."
/-/
The Coral Highlands consists of a vast landscape like that of the ocean floor, the most notable feature is the many species of coral, as its name implies. The area is comprised of steep cliffs that form a highland displaying colorful corals and ominous lower levels for travelers to explore.
It can be divided into the lower section, featuring dark paths among gigantic cliffs, and the highlands, featuring more open areas atop the cliffs.
"Wow… It's like they're almost underwater." Velvet would love to go sightseeing in the Coral Highlands. "It must be even more pretty in the day time."
Port nods, "I wonder how coral can form outside of the sea. That is if these corals are anything like the coral reefs back on Remnant."
"We're here again." They arrived at the Northeast Camp that's nested inside a cavern. "Time to track down the subspecies."
"Where's your handler?" The Brigadier asks, looking around the campsite.
"She's off assisting the Endemic Life Researcher around here." The young hunter snatches some brightmoss off the wall and loads it into his slinger. "I don't know how they can research those small critters at night."
"We're hunting giant monsters at night."
"But they're large and visible even at night."
"True, but some of the endemic life are nocturnal."
"I don't know about these guys, but it's dangerous to hunt at night." Qrow shrugs and takes a small sip from his canteen. "Then again, we hunt Grimm. Not whatever those giant living monsters are."
"You'll be hard press for a huntsman or huntress to do a search and destroy a mission at night." Said Port, "Unless it's a Grimm that only comes out at night, of course."
"Better be worth the pay."
The crawlspace out of the campsite is narrow, allowing only one hunter and their Palico through. Once both hunters manage to crawl out of the campsite, they begin their hunt by tracking the monster. Giant footprints and claw marks pocketed the pathway they traverse, catching the interest of the Brigadier who slows to inspects them.
"Which monster does that track belongs to?" The young hunter asks, watching their scoutflies memorize buzz around the tracks. "My scoutflies haven't been around enough to recognize the scents."
The Brigadier points at the large gash on the floor.
"This one belongs to a Legiana." He then points to some skid marks and footprints. "That one is from a Nargacuga. We'll have to keep those two monsters in mind during our hunt in case they decide to cut in."
"Those track marks are of impressive size." Penny comments.
"Think we'll see a turf war? Those are always fun to watch."
"Maybe."
Port looks impressed, "They use luminescent insects to track things down?"
"One of the many standard gears for hunters of the Research Commission." The Hosts explains, "Scoutflies are capable of remembering the scent of a monster and will guide hunters to nearby tracks or directly to the monster itself."
"A pity we don't have any of that sort back on Remnant. It would make my hunts easier."
They resume their hunt; jogging past a massive coral overpass into an open area. The Brigadier's Palico's nose twitches and looks around.
"I smell Gajalaka."
On cue, the sound of intimidating screaming could be heard from above as tiny masked figures leap down from the highlands and wave their weapons at them.
"Ugh, these guys again."
"Interesting! It appears to be tribal society!" Oobleck pushes up his glasses and writes down something on his notepad. "That reminds me of something a long time ago! Let me write that down…"
The young hunter and his Palico were ready to draw their weapons to defend themselves, but the Brigadier stop them with his hand and motion them to back away.
"I thought this area looks familiar." The Brigadier mutters under his breath, "The Gajalaka typically hangs out in this area. They won't attack if we stay back far enough."
The Gajalaka continues to wave their weapons at them making a variety of feral screaming but didn't charge forth to attack them. Once hunters were far enough, the Gajalaka appear to celebrate their 'victory' with a dance, shaking their heads and stomping on the ground.
"Engaging in unnecessary conflict is never of best interest." Ozpin praises the Brigadier, "Even if it appears to be the smallest of things. Literal in this case."
"Something every student should learn." Glynda shoots her students a glare, making them shrink in their seats.
"Those guys annoy me."
The abundance of status aliment the Gajalaka can inflict with their weapons and their surprisingly nimble attacks has taken down countless hunters who underestimated them.
"They're very helpful if you encounter a friendly tribe during your hunt."
Mercury snorts, "What can those tiny guys do?"
Behind him, Neo rolls her eyes. He clearly hasn't fought against her yet.
The path they back away into traverse leads to a downward walkway and a long drop to the lower levels; the ground below was obscured by clouds.
The young hunter begins using the vines hanging on the cliff to climb down. "I normally encounter my target down there. I think that's its hunting ground."
"You're probably right."
Instead of climbing down, the Brigadier leaps off the cliff to the ground below him, air rushing through his body. He fell for a few solid seconds before the coral ground makes contact with the entire weight of his body, landing with a loud heavy thud.
Marrow winces, "That has got to hurt. These guys don't even have auras."
The Brigadier slow steadies himself and stands up.
No monsters were nearby aside from a few vigorwasp carrying vitality nectars.
Mateo was next to arrive, digging himself out of the rocky cliffs to join his master with Catarinya alongside the feylne.
"These… Feylnes appears to have the ability to burrow, judging by the shape of their paws." Penny determines. Her sharp robotic eyes were able to pick out small details.
"Can cats even dig?" Blake asks, earning her a few stares. "Oh, ha. Ha."
"To my knowledge, cats are known to dig for food at times. They cannot, however, display the same burrowing ability these feylnes have."
The two Palicoes appear to be discussing about their respective masters.
"So, where has your meowster been hunting lately?"
"My meowster has been hunting in the Tundra Region in the Guiding Lands!" Mateo replies, ears twitching to shake off the bits of dust and pebbles. "It's purrtty cold and has a lot of scary pawerful meownsters!"
Yang couldn't stop giggling at the accent/puns that Palicoes were making. Even Tai can't help but grin widely at that.
Raven shakes her head, "I am surrounded by idiots."
"Oooh. We haven't been there yet. I heard all meownsters there are stronger than normal ones."
"All meownsters are strong there! Stronger and meaner!"
"That's too adorable." Coco aww's.
"Makes me wonder what sort of creatures the older hunter has fought…" Fox muses to himself.
"He must have a lot of good tales to tell," Port said cheerfully. He and his colleagues always have some interesting tales of their adventures and missions, though Port has plenty in his case. "Just like any huntsmen and huntresses."
"I'll never understand how you can jump hundreds of meters with heavy equipment and land without breaking anything." The young hunter finally makes it to the lower levels by rappelling down. "Like, I see even great sword hunters jump at a higher height. How do they not go splat?!"
The Brigadier shrugs, "They're strong enough to survive that much weight on them. I'm sure they have their own ways."
"I'm not sure that's how physics work." Said Weiss.
Yang shrugs, "Well, it is a different world with different rules. Maybe physics work a bit differently?"
"I won't rule out that possibility."
Their scoutflies begin buzzing around, picking up on the scent of an Ebony Odogaron.
"Hey, the scoutflies picked up on its trail. This way!"
"Hopefully it's close by." The Brigadier grumbles.
Tiny luminescent bugs swarm to their right, glowing bright green in the pale night. They near the edge of another cliff before the scoutflies turn bright red and retreated back to their small cages clipped on the hunters' belt.
Both hunters and their Palicoes tense up.
"Finally, some action." Vernal grumbles.
An Odogaron emerges from the coral reefs, immediately catching sight of them. Its mouth opens slightly with hostility and hunger.
The Odogaron species are a quadrupedal fanged wyvern, capable of moving at fast speeds. It's covered in red scales and bony protrusions that resemble muscle tissue and bone. The tail is particularly bony and can be used as a club. But Odogaron's most distinctive feature is its double row of claws, which it uses to inflict deep wounds on its prey.
Robyn draws back, "Augh. It looks like it's been skinned. What in the world is that?"
"That is an Odogaron. An aggressive fanged wyvern capable of moving at fast speeds."
"Sounds like a troublesome creature." Said Ozpin, putting down his mug to see how the hunters will fare against the monster.
"Well, it's an Odogaron, but not an Ebony Odogaron."
"Close, but not what we're looking for."
They brace themselves, ready to draw their weapons as the Odogaron prowls closer to them. Its hot breath emitting steam from its nostrils and mouth that becomes more prominent with each step.
Blake instinctively presses back against her seat, "It's big enough to eat a person whole…"
Odogaron sizes up the hunters and their Palicoes, preparing to strike, but the sound of an Ebony Odogaron's roar catches the attention of everyone present.
Standing on the edge of the highlands, an Ebony Odogaron announces its presence. Its pharynx glows bright red, emitting black smoke from its mouth as it roars.
Zwei whimpers lay down on Oscar's lap and whimpers.
"Shhh." He assures the corgi, "It's okay. It can't get you from there."
"There's our target..."
Much like its standard counterpart, the Ebony Odogaron sports scales and bone-like protrusions that resemble muscle tissues that cover its entire body. However, these scales and protrusions have a dark blue and jet-black coloration to them, hence its Ebony name. Its claws also have a more blood-red coloration in comparison to the standard Odogaron's claws and are serrated.
Coco hisses, "Oh, crap. There's another one and it looks scarier."
"That creature looks almost… Like a Grimm." Cinder thought out loud, eliciting some nods from the audience.
Fierce appearance, scales that blends into the night, and glowing red eyes? Ebony Odogaron invokes the image of a Grimm within the minds of everyone.
Odogaron growls and extends its double row claws to its fullest length and charge towards the hunters. The Brigadier grabs the young hunter and pulls him back just as the Odogaron leaps into the air.
Ebony Odogaron lunges at its challenger, both monsters meeting in midair; snarling, biting, and clawing at one another. They smash into the ground, sending corals and rocks flying.
The wind pressure erupted from the landing cause both hunters to slide back.
"They're fighting each other." Oscar realizes, "It's like a territorial dispute!"
"Stand clear!"
Odogaron violently scrambles up and hurdle itself at Ebony Odogaron, only for the monster to snap jaws into Odogaron's throat, slamming it into the ground. Odogaron viciously struggles against the jaw lock managing to break free and counterattack with a powerful downward slash across Ebony Odogaron's face.
The attack didn't seem to faze Ebony Odogaron, who silently glowers at Odogaron; red draconic lightning emitting from its mouth.
"It's over." Raven quietly said.
The fanged wyvern slams into Odogaron, sending it flying into the sky. It swiftly bites onto its challenger's neck, slamming Odogaron into the ground again. Ebony Odogaron bites down hard onto Odogaron's neck, the latter trying hard to break free from the death grip. Briefly, did Ebony Odogaron release its hold before angling the next bite onto the base of Odogaron's neck; the sound of a sickening crunching sound could be heard.
Odogaron let out a dying whimper as it slowly ceases struggling.
Blake and Velvet heard the sound of Odogaron's neck-breaking much more vividly than the others, making them shudder.
Jaune gulps, "Oh, god. They'll be fighting against that."
Confirming that its challenger is dead, Ebony Odogaron releases its hold and lets out a triumphant roar, red draconic lightning and black smoke spewing out of its mouth. It looks down at its slain foe and picks it up by the neck and throws it over the side, letting the corpse fall to the lower levels below.
It then turns its attention towards the hunters and let out a fierce roar, causing the air around them to shake.
The young hunter nervously grins, "This is what we're here for!"
Mercury softly whistles, "He managed to survive twice against that thing."
Ebony Odogaron charges towards them, instantly getting extremely close and within the hunters striking range.
"Damn!" Coco hisses. Surprise by how fast it closed the distance.
Both hunters draw their weapons and attack, but Ebony Odogaron turns its entire body back and leaps into the sky.
The Brigadier grunts and sweeps his insect glaives, sending the young hunter and Palicoes flying away as Ebony Odogaron spews a chunk of draconic energy at them. Black smoke and red lightning burst on impact staggering the Brigadier and inflicting him with dragonblight.
"Grr."
"He'll make a good huntsman if he were in Remnant." Port thought out loud to himself.
"Indeed."
Selfless. No hesitation to save others at his own risk. Ozpin thought to himself, liking the Brigadier's character.
"The heck did it hit him with?" Asks Yang.
He quickly regains his footing and avoids the monster's claw, rolling out of the way and sending out his kinsect to harvests extract from the Ebony Odogaron to boosts his abilities. The kinsect slams into Ebony Odogaron's face, causing it to snarl and lunge at the Brigadier.
The Brigadier narrowly avoided the attack, recalling his kinsect and thrust his glaive at the monster's hindlegs.
"Have some meowlotov cocktail!" Mateo pulls out a decorative barrel with a lighted fuse and throws it at the monster. The barrel exploding right in its face.
"Blow it to smithereens with your tiny bombs" Nora cheers.
Ebony Odogaron leers at the Palico and attacks. Its entire body blurs with red lightning, kicking up coral and pebbles everywhere, violently tearing through the entire field at blinding speed. Its powerful legs struck the young hunter in the chest, knocking him back a few meters onto his backside.
"Gugh!"
Harriet was taken aback, "Almost like my semblance…!"
"Speed and visual too." Marrow said quietly, sporting the same shocked look.
The resemblances between Harriet's speed semblance and Ebony Odogaron's blitz attack were eerily similar.
"Stand strong, meowster!" Catarinya shouts some encouragement, herding a vigorwasp over to heal her master's wounds.
"Thanks, Catarinya!"
He rushes towards Ebony Odogaron and slashes at its torso while it was distracted by the Brigadier and his Palico. The monster's scales and the hunter's blade emit a screech against one another, sending small sparks out.
Tai sucks in his breath, "Its scales are too tough."
"Pair in with its speed, and it's a very dangerous monster," Raven adds.
Elm's typically smiling expression was replaced with a professional and serious one, "No wonder he had problems fighting it."
Ebony Odogaron ignores the attack on its side and lashes out at the Brigadier who dodge slash its claws, causing the monster to flinch as the explosive buildup caused by his weapon erupted. An explosion coats its entire face, knocking its head back slightly.
Nora punches the air, "Boom! Right in its face!"
Snarling, it retaliates by opening its mouth wide and pounce towards the Brigadier, missing its target by a meter. The monster growls in annoyance and raises its tail to prepare for its next attack.
The Brigadier knew the signs of what is about to come and spots the young hunter continuing his attack.
"Get back!"
"Huh?"
Ebony Odogaron spins its entire body like a whirlwind, its tail smacking the young hunter in the head, launching him sideways.
Huntsmen, huntresses, those in training, and a few other audience members collectively wince at the blow to the young hunter's head.
Pieces of coral pepper the Brigadier's face, forcing him to shield his face and retreat further. Ebony Odogaron raises its tail again, striking faster with a violent spin and a biting lunge that snares the Brigadier by its fangs.
The Brigadier painfully grunts and rolls back up, aiming his clutch claw to grapple onto the monster's face.
"Come here you."
The clutch claw shot out and latches onto the right side of Ebony Odogaron's face. It attempts to shake off the hunter, but the Brigadier slaps it across the face with the clutch claw, causing it to yelp and jerk towards a nearby coral reef.
"How bold!" Port exclaims. A boisterous huntsman he may be, but even he could think twice about climbing onto the face of a giant monster. "But what is he doing?"
He jams the slinger onto the monster's face and expends all his slinger ammo into a slinger burst. Ebony Odogaron let out a yowl and jolt towards the coral reef, crashing hard into the coral reef. The impact shattered most of the corals and stunned the fanged wyvern who fell onto the ground, wildly flailing around.
"So cool!" Ruby's squeaks. "Did you see that?!"
Everyone agrees with her outburst. Latching right into a giant monster's face after taking a nasty hit and jolting it against a wall is an impressive venture.
"Hoho! I would love to hunt alongside with this one!" Port chortles.
If only there were more huntsmen and huntresses with the same spirit as the Brigadier.
"Nice!" The young hunter cheers, and surge forth to attack.
"How are you this bad at fighting a fanged wyvern?"
"You know I always had trouble fighting the Odogaron's species!"
"After seeing how fast and strong it is, it's not hard to see why." Clover reckons some of his teammates might have some initial trouble should they try fighting a similar monster.
The Brigadier vaults into the air and burst down onto Ebony Odogaron's head with a descending thrust; piercing it lightly on the snout. The scales of the monster were too tough, forcing the Brigadier to clutch claw the downed monster to soften the hide with a series of vicious slashes, letting loose some parts that could be used as slinger ammo.
Ebony Odogaron pulls itself up from the ground, shaking off the hunters and Palicoes, and lets out an angry roar that causes the air around them to tremble. Smoke blows out of its nostrils; its second set of claws protracts to the fullest length.
"It's enraged, careful!"
The monster jumps at them, quickly leaping back with its tail swinging back in its feint attack, hitting the Palicoes instead.
"Nya!"
"Yowch!"
"Oh, no! Kitties!" Nora cries in distress.
"They're okay," Ren assures her.
It lands on the ground and crouches low, slowly prowling before charging towards the young hunter.
The young hunter met the beast head-on, consuming the spirits gauge within his long sword, and lunges at Ebony Odogaron swiftly. His blade connects with its forehead and leaps onto the monster's head, kicking off into the air bringing down his long sword over its head. The air stills for a second before the attack registers, the countless twinkling wind blades slash across Ebony Odogaron's face.
Raven looks mildly impressed by the display. "Not bad."
Ebony Odogaron yelps and throws itself to the side, falling over. It scrambles up to its feet and pounces towards the young hunter.
The young hunter slides and undercuts the monster's stomach, hopping to one side to avoid another lunge. He has started getting the hang of its attack pattern. His eyes briefly notice red lightning flickering across Ebony Odogaron's mouth, indicating another attack, and readies his sword to perform a foresight slash.
The fanged wyvern shoots forth like red lightning, clawing and biting at the hunter. But the young hunter spins through the blinding attack, blade drawing back and counterstrike it across the shoulder. The explosive power within his long sword has accumulated enough buildup on Ebony Odogaron's body, causing an explosion that interrupted the monster follow-up attack.
Slightly stunned from the detonation, the fanged wyvern fumbles around before steadying itself, shaking its entire body to rid of anymore explosive residue.
Tai grins. "He's doing it."
"And all it took was a blow to the head." Qrow chuckles and toasts the air, "Good on you."
Glynda rolls her eyes, but ease herself a bit. There's nothing more satisfying than seeing a student learning from their mistakes and rising to the challenge.
The young hunter swings his long sword at Ebony Odogaron's neck, causing it reacts in pain, snarling and clawing back. The Palicoes join in on the attack, leaping at the monster's side with their weapons while the Brigadier stands by and watch.
"Don't get too cocky!" The Brigadier warns, observing the young hunter's every move.
"Overconfidence can get you killed." Said Cinder, smiling darkly to herself.
On her lap, she has written down some notes with hopes that some of her observations will prove useful to Salem. The monster called Ebony Odogaron would be a terrifying monster on Remnant and Cinder can't shake the morbid thought of a Grimm similar to it.
The young hunter silently acknowledges the Brigadier's warning, sheathing his weapon to perform an iai spirit slash to counter Ebony Odogaron's bone-crunching bite. The fanged wyvern ducks its head down and pulls up, dragging its jaws through the air. It was at that moment did the young hunter strikes, flitting behind the monster with a powerful slash.
His fighting style reminds me of Adam's… Blake thought to herself, shivering slightly.
On another row, Tai has a similar thought to Blake's. Reminds me of Raven's fighting style.
Ebony Odogaron snarls, leaping into the air to blast the young hunter with its dragon breath.
"Hup!" He rolls back, avoiding the attack, and press on the offenses while the Palicoes distract the monster's attention.
"I'm getting anxious watching little furballs attract its attention." Said Yang with a frown.
"They're capable of handling things themselves," Pyrrha said firmly. Appearance and sizes aside, she can easily see that the Palicoes are just like their human companions; tough monster hunters. "But I won't say it doesn't make me uneasy."
The Brigadier continues to watch the fight play out for a while before deciding to assist the young hunter, vaulting into the air with a jumping slash. He falls upon the fanged wyvern, cutting into its back multiple times, and stops sharply halfway with his glaive, mounting the fanged wyvern.
"I'm mounting the monster!"
"Take it down!" The young hunter hollers.
"Go, meowster!"
"Wooo! Monster rodeo!" Nora bounces excited from her seat.
Port twirls his mustache with delight, "We need more huntsmen and huntresses like that one."
It thrashes around violently, trying to dislodge the hunter on its backside. The Brigadier hacks at Ebony Odogaron's back with his glaive, spinning up and down its spine with each attack. The young hunter and Palicoes continue assaulting the monster at all sides, making it stumble multiple times while it gallops towards the closest wall it could find.
The Brigadier nimbly maneuver out of the way as Ebony Odogaron's body slams the wall. It stumbles again, throwing its forelegs up and slash around, dispersing the young hunter and Palicoes, but not the Brigadier who continues to blade dance across its backside.
Finally, the fanged wyvern exhausted its stamina, limping and panting on the spot; giving the hunters free rein to wail away at it. The Brigadier leaps onto the fanged wyvern's head, and scores several hard hits across its forehead, knocking it over.
"What a wild ride." Yang was impressed by how the Brigadier handles the monster rather easily. "And he's not even being serious? The guy is handling the freaky thing like it's nothing."
"Well, he did call him a master hunter or something." Ruby points out, "So, this should be easy for him. I think."
"Mateo! Do your thing!"
"You got it!" The Brigadier's Palico pulls out a massive roman candle-like device and lit the fuse. "Eat Meowcano! Myaa ha ha ha!"
"Meowcano!" Yang finds herself laughing at that for no reason.
Raven puts one hand over her face, "Damn it, Tai. This is your fault."
"How is that my fault? And you were the one who left us."
The Palico's gadget let loose sparks everywhere, scorching the downed monster. Ebony Odogaron's scales crack under the combined onslaught of the hunters, weakening its naturally tough hide.
Ebony Odogaron claws violently at the air, forcing the hunter's back as it flicks itself off the ground, shaking the debris off its body. It then raises its head and roars loudly, forcing everyone to cover their ears.
Velvet grimaces, pulling down her rabbit ears. "The sound it makes is awful."
With the hunters temporarily incapacitated, the fanged wyvern bolts towards the cliff, jumping down to the lower levels.
"You know, it's a miracle we aren't deaf with all the loud roars we have to deal with every day." The young hunter catches his breath, sitting down to sharpen his blade. "That went a lot better than I thought."
The Brigadier nods, sitting down to sharpen his weapon too.
"Shouldn't they be chasing after their target?" Pyrrha asks.
"Weapons maintenance is important," Ruby replies.
"I would imagine their weapons being dulled after hitting the hard scales on that monster, seeing how they can't reinforce their weapons with aura," Tai adds to the conversation.
"You were reckless at the start before wising up a bit."
"I know. I know. The recklessness that plagues nearly all youths since ancient times." He stands up and sheaths his long sword. "Come on! Let's hurry before it escapes for good."
"It's most likely going to look for a quick meal to recover." He glances at the Palicoes, "You two alright?"
"We're good!" They wave, putting away their tiny canteens.
"Let's go."
The hunters follow the scoutflies, scaling down the drop-off in search of their target in the lower levels of the Coral Highlands. Despite being well into the night, slowly nearly early dawn, the Coral Highlands is still beautiful underneath the pale moon floating in the sky. Flashbugs fly around the near in large numbers, brightening most of the colorful landscape.
They slow down a bit to recover their stamina, deciding to walk to the next area and enjoy the scenery a bit before spotting Ebony Odogaron, snacking on a pack of Shamos. The veins along with its dark skin glow red as it finishes consuming the last one.
"Ah yes. The laws of the jungle." Raven offhandedly remarks, "Only five times magnified."
"That's not a good sign, is it?"
"This subspecies is known to go into a frenzy upon eating…"
"Yup. That's not good." Said Yang.
Ebony Odogaron sharply turns towards the hunters, body burning brightly, its mouth crackling with red lightning.
"Here it co—"
The young hunter couldn't complete his sentence or draw his weapon in time before the fanged wyvern tramples over them.
Ruby gasps, "It's even faster than last time, maybe faster than me!"
"Wonder how many more monsters there are in their world that would give us a run for our money." Tai murmurs. A giant monster that's possibly faster than Ruby's speed semblance is an unsettling thought.
It digs its claws into the ground, putting its momentum into a sudden halt, and raises its entire body to claw at them from behind. They did their best to avoid the attack; the Brigadier vaults into the air and the young hunter tries to dodge roll, but its claws slice through the young hunter's armor causing him to bleed.
Winter blench at that inflicted wounds, "His armor is providing him enough protection."
"He needs to stop the bleeding immediately, or he'll pass out," Qrow said seriously.
The Brigadier narrows his eyes and propel himself midair with his glaive and descends with a powerful downward thrust. Ebony Odogaron's head cracks against the ground from the impact, angrily rearing up at the hunter only to eat a powerful overhead smash to the face. The attack left a pheromone mark on the monster's face, causing the kinsect to attack the beast.
Ebony Odogaron roars and shakes its head violently, finding itself repeatedly bashed by the kinsect, leaving explosive powders flying around. The Brigadier spins his glaive, slashing at the monster with powerful strokes, and detonating the explosive substances, concussing the monster who collapses onto the ground once more.
"Whoooooa...!" Nora and Ruby whispers in awe.
Ozpin softly hums, "A glimpse of his true strength."
"He became serious the moment the younger one was badly injured." Ironwood notes.
"You alright?!" He shouts in-between his swings, hacking away at the flailing claws that blindly tries to fend off its attacker.
"I'm alright!" The young hunter grunts, wiping his mouth after taking a bite out of an Astera jerky to stop the bleeding and a drink of his potion.
Emerald frowns, "How has he already recovered?"
"While they lack aura, their medical provisions are extremely effective in speeding up their recovery."
Ironwood finds that a bit surprising. "So, their medicines are much more effective than what we currently have?"
Qrow grunts, "They have to make up for something."
He rushes forth with his blade drawn, striking Ebony Odogaron's tail with a fading slash to avoid getting hit by it.
The monster swings itself back to its feet and hastily pulls back before lunging at the hunters with a feint attack, leaping back with its tail sweeping out. They evaded the attack but found it difficult to maneuver in a tight space often stumbling or bumping into walls of corals.
"Move to an open area!"
The young hunter and Palicoes obeyed the Brigadier's command, fighting and luring Ebony Odogaron back to a wider area so they could move about freely. They continue wearing down the monster's strength and hard scales, striking hard with every swing of their weapons. But even with the Brigadier's help, the young hunter finds himself occasionally battered by the fanged wyvern's hyperactive attacks.
"Urgh!" He slides against the floor, quickly picking himself up. "Every. Single. Time."
The Brigadier rolls to the side and is instantly clipped on the glaive by the monster's tail, causing him to lose his balance. "Gah!"
He braces himself, taking the full brunt of its crushing jaws, and is lifted into the air.
Getting chewed down whole isn't a pleasant way to die, at least in Roman's view. "Now he's monster kibbles..."
As for some of the others, they all hold their breath, anxious by the turn of events.
The Brigadier grits his teeth and fires a piercing pod into its mouth, causing it jerk in pain and hurled the hunter into a wall.
He grunts from the impact and pushes himself up, watching the young hunter and their Palicoes take over while Ebony Odogaron dislodges the piercing pod from its mouth.
Qrow exhales through his noses, "Quick thinking."
"Effective usage of his… Slinger and grappling claw device on his arm." Pietro rubs his chin, "It doesn't look like it has overtly complex designs like much of our technology these days. I wonder if such a device is viable in our world."
Ironwood nods in agreement, liking the idea Pietro is suggesting. "That sounds like a brilliant idea."
Behind their row, Ruby was already writing down some notes and brief and detailed sketches of similar devices. An easy carry-on utility tool like the hunter's slinger sounds fun to design. The possibilities are endless for the young girl.
A familiar sound of a Gajalaka battle cry catches the Palico's ears.
"Nya! Meowster look!" Catarinya points at a Gajalaka emerging from a coral platform, carrying a curve horn in its arm.
"A Gajalaka?"
"Are they interfering?" Pyrrha asks with a frown.
It raises the horn to its masked face and blows on it, signaling for its brethren to commence its surprise assault.
A Gajalaka reveals itself from its hiding spot, firing a miniature rocket at Ebony Odogaron's knee during its mid-charge, causing it to trip. More Gajalaka pops out from the ground and begins shelling the monster with explosives.
"The Gajalaka are shelling the meownster for us!"
"Oh! They're helping the hunters! But why did they suddenly decided to help?"
"Look at those miniature rocket launchers! It's so adorable!" Nora coos. There's something delightful about seeing a giant monster getting overwhelmed by opponents many times smaller than it.
Hail of rockets kept the fanged wyvern down as it fiercely tries to resist the barrage. After exhausting their explosives, the Gajalaka quickly retreated before the fanged wyvern could retaliate.
"Shows over, let's finally kill it!" The Brigadier hollers, charging his kinsect with one of the piercing pods, and sent it out to attack. He pauses to wave at one of the Gajalaka who returns it in kind. "Many thanks!"
Mateo waves them goodbye, "We owe you one!"
"LAKA GAJA LAKA! (Piece of cake, don't mention it!)"
"It seems like those two are on friendly terms with these Gajalakas." Oobleck correctly speculates, "And their language… Do they have their own writing systems? How curious."
"A little help here!"
Ebony Odogaron ferally pounces left and right, making it difficult for the young hunter to land a solid strike. It lashes out with its claws, slicing the air where the young hunter was standing, and strike again, this time parrying his blade.
Stronger than any hunter, the parry went in Ebony Odogaron's favor, disarming the young hunter's weapon from his grasp. With its prey defenseless, the fanged wyvern opens its mouth and lunges at him.
"Oh, shoot." Said Coco.
The Brigadier springs into action and slams his glaive hard against its head, the sharp blade digging deep into its skull. It let out a yelp and pushes itself to the side, losing its grip on the floor and slips, hitting the ground. The fanged wyvern scrambles up with a vengeful look and body dives at the Brigadier.
Unfazed, the Brigadier twirls his glaive, ducks from the monster's jaws, and smoothly slices off its tail.
The fanged wyvern screeches in pain, violently rolling over, quickly recovering with a dazed expression.
Sun winces, wrapping his tail closer to his body. "I almost felt that."
"Niiice." Mercury whistles with a grin. "Big save there, again."
"Meowster! Your weapon!" Catarinya bolts over, carrying the young hunter's weapon.
"Finish it!"
The young hunter grips his weapon tightly, "Right!"
He steadies his breathing and takes on the Ko Gasumi stance. Blade aligning perfectly, the young hunter put all his pressure on his legs and shoots toward the fanged wyvern.
"At least he got his stance right," Raven remarks.
Ebony Odogaron bares its teeth and tries to let lose a deafening roar. Interrupted by the young hunter's blade meeting its target, cutting into its scales and causing it to flinch. He uses the resistance and momentum to vault into the skies, his blade glistering in the moonlight as he drops down to land a fatal helm breaker.
Silver sparks flew everywhere as the helm breaker lands on Ebony Odogaron's head and the explosive buildup from their weapons violently set off another explosion, ending the hunt in a cinematic and explosive finale.
The fanged wyvern collapse onto the ground, weakly thrashing. It manages to stand up on all fours briefly, letting out a dying roar before going limp.
"What a fancy way to kill a monster." Vernal glances at Raven, "Reminds me of the time you similarly killed that fleeing Sphinx."
Raven crosses her arms and grunts. Normally she wouldn't bother chasing down a particular Grimm, but nobody singes her hair and gets away with it.
"Ebony Odogaron, successfully hunted." The Brigadier sighs, straightening his back and fixes his hat. "Good work. I'm tempted to pat our Palicoes and myself in the back, but you did show some progress in your training."
"Thanks." The young hunter drily replies.
Qrow smirks. The Brigadier's treatment and snark are similar to the same attitude he gives to his nieces whenever he 'compliments' them.
"Brutal honesty is the way to go sometimes."
"And credits due when it is due." Ozpin calmly replies, relaxing and enjoying his mug of hot chocolate.
"You're welcome, and hey. Don't feel down that you need help in a hunt. Every hunter, master or not can't always fight alone." He pats the young hunter on the back, "Now are you going to carve your kill or not?"
"A valid point." Glynda nods, "That's why all cadets studying at any Huntsman Academies are grouped into teams."
"Oh yeah." They take out their hunting knives and begin carving for materials out of the slain Ebony Odogaron while their Palico toasts each other with their canteen in the background. "So, do these make any good weapons or armor?"
"The armor isn't that great against elemental attacks outside of dragon, but the weapons made out of these parts are decent."
"Aw. I wish we can carve materials out of monsters and make weapons out of them." Ruby said sadly, then brightens a bit. "I wonder what kind of weapons they can make out of the monster they've just killed. Does that include organs?"
"You're really starting to disturb me, Rubes."
/-/
After bagging their kill and harvesting any usable materials, the hunters return to the gathering hub in Seliana, finding it bustling about with hunters, researchers, and engineers. The gathering hub's hot springs and sauna are fully occupied by recuperating hunters and engineers who look like they could use a few drinks.
"Get those to the supply cache!"
"More cannon ammo needed!"
"Looks like they missed something big while they were out," Robyn remarks.
Clover nods in agreement, silently guessing that the hunters were preparing for something or their settlement was attacked recently.
"Whoa, what's going on?"
"I don't know, but it looks like Seliana was just under attacked."
They disembark from their wingdrake. The Brigadier looks around for someone familiar to talk to, carefully navigating through the sea of people and feylnes, finally spotting the Huntsman leaning against the wall with his long sword resting next to him.
"It's the Huntsman!" The young hunter softly squeals.
"Sounds like that's an individual title or nickname, and not an occupational one." Ozpin notes, "One of significance."
The Huntsman is one of the many famous hunters within the Hunter's Guild and the young hunter's role model and inspiration. The old hunter is completely covered in armor that has seen better days and generally sticks to old equipment instead of the newer ones. Nonetheless, that hasn't stopped the Huntsman from being an effective hunter.
"I thought he was stationed at Astera…" The Brigadier raises his hand and calls out to get the veteran hunter's attention. "Huntsman!"
The Huntsman turns to the Brigadier and nods, "Brigadier. Picked an unlucky time to go out hunting."
"Had to help out my friend here. What happened?"
The Huntsman sighs and pushes himself off the wall.
"Velkhana was spotted flying near and around Seliana. The watch raised the alarm and the Commander contacted everyone at Astera. Not soon after, it attacked Seliana Supply Cache." He turns towards the sea of people and feylnes, "We managed to repel it for now. Everyone on hand is fortifying Seliana's defenses in case it returns."
Oscar furrows his brows slightly, "Velkhana?"
"Velkhana is an elder dragon with the power to control ice and cold wind." The Hosts explains, "Elder dragons themselves are creatures that defy typical classifications and are considered more of a phenomenon; disasters, cataclysms, living forces of nature. We will explain more when we return to this world."
"That sounds frightening."
It seems like this world has monsters much more terrifying than the Ebony Odogaron the hunters had killed. If only they knew that they've barely scratched the surface of the harrowing threats this world constantly faces.
"So, it's back… Where's the Commander?"
"Holding a council, but it's his grandson who is leading it. Seliana is under his command now."
The Brigadier looks surprised, "Really? At this time?"
"A change in leadership in the time of crisis can be precarious, but it may be worth the risk," Ozpin said wisely.
"Why not? He's proven himself. In any case, let's get you to the council meeting. They were wondering when you'll be back."
"Very well." The Brigadier glances back at the young hunter and his Palico. "You two get some rest. I'm betting everyone will be preparing an expedition to hunt down the elder dragon tomorrow."
"Right. Uh, good night." The young hunter awkwardly waves them goodbye along with his Palico.
"Night."
"He's socially awkward just like you."
Ruby sticks out her tongue, "Nuh-uh! I've gotten better."
As they navigate through the Lunar Terrance, the gruff Huntsman let out a chuckle.
"I doubt any of us will be sleeping tonight."
"No, I highly doubt that. Say for those who've completely exhausted themselves already."
"Nyaa." Mateo yawns, lazily resting on the Brigadier's shoulder. "It's a good thing we're nocturnal."
The screen darkens and the lights return to the room.
"One problem after another."
Ironwood can sympathize with the hunters. Holding two council seats, the general has a lot of things on his hand. Including the secrecy surrounding the huntsman academies.
Ozpin nods, "Quite so."
"Yeah… Sucks to be them." Qrow stretches, finally noticing that Ironwood hasn't touched his sauerbraten. "Hey, Jimmy. You haven't touched your food yet."
"Hm? Oh. I've forgotten all about it."
"That was cool," Yang admits, standing up and stretching alongside with her teammates. "It's almost like we were watching a counterpart of sorts to our world."
"Yeah… Is every monster they hunt that gigantic?" Blake asks the Hosts.
"Their world large and sustainable enough for many creatures of massive size to exist. All-natural and unnatural fauna the hunters of this world have faced has always been greater in strength and size."
Yang sets her jaw, "Yeesh. Sounds like they have it worse than us, and that's without aura and Dust if you think about it."
"Be happy with what you have." Ren chimes in, "Is the old saying."
"It's truly impressive in their own right." Weiss looks over to what her team leader was drawing. "A device with all those listed functionalities that can be made much more compact."
"Really? Does that mean I can add more?"
"… No."
"So, what's next?" Asks Mercury.
"The next world might be interesting to see for those who delve into technology."
Pietro brightens with a small smile upon hearing that. "Is that so? I can't wait to see what we'll be watching then."
NEXT: Horizon Zero Dawn - Intro
Note, I'll be doing more Monster Hunter: World reactions in later chapters. So, don't worry if you feel this isn't enough.
Pardon my grammar.
Since this reaction is from the game Monster Hunter: World Iceborne, I have to make a lot of adjustments to some of the story and personal gameplay.
