Getting it out of the way first, I don't own Monster Hunter World, that amazing right goes to Capcom. I only own Gaia, and the two other main Protagonists introduced in this chapter.
Kaien1123:
Don't worry about being late, I am late to posting reviews more often than not. And yes, this is where we start seeing some divergences from Canon, ignoring the lack of the Handler, so if you wanted to get technical, this is where the true story begins. And I was extremely confused about that in the game as well, there is no way that people weren't lost in Zorah's appearance.
Now, I will admit, this chapter is FAR too late for my liking, but it was also for my own health. My life right now mainly consists of work, my few hobbies, and eating/sleeping. I am a pretty big shut-in. I was starting to get too engrossed in my writing, so between that and my constant working, I was developing migraines. I couldn't stop working, mostly due to my stupid morals, so instead I took a decent break from writing, roughly the entire month of May. It gave me a break, letting my mind rest, and I feel so much better because of it. I've since slowed down how much I write, spreading out this chapter across most of June, whereas, my usual style would have had it done by the end of the first week. I am pretty excited for this chapter however, since we finally meet the Twin Ace Legends.
This chapter is dedicated to a, sadly, deceased friend of mine from work. He was the Grandpa of the workplace, and always had a smile and friendly words to give. He was struck by a drunk driver on his way home from work last year, and a few days ago marked one full year. DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE PEOPLE! Rest in Peace my friend.
Gaia POV
'How the hell did I, potentially, get teamed up with two possibly legendary Hunters!?' I thought to myself in a daze. I was expecting to have to join a group from a previous fleet, or worst case scenario, just stay in Astera until a new fleet comes to reinforce the crippled Fifth Fleet, just doing menial labor around the Workyard.
It only took me a few seconds for my mind to restart, letting me realize that Mercer was stifling chuckles while the Commander just wore an amused smirk. Fighting down an embarrassed blush, I shook of the last bit of shock. Looking back at the, still smirking, Commander, I asked, "You are seriously gonna ask two of the New World's best to pair up with me?!"
The Commander gave a single, confident nod. Patting Mercer on the shoulder, Astera's leader motioned at me, a clear indicator for the Field Team Leader to explain. The gruff man then walked off, most likely to continue overseeing Astera.
Mercer took over at that point, explaining, "These two really are a legendary pair, and have more than enough skills between the two of them they can pass on to you, that you will become a great Fifth Fleet Master. And yes, you are the best candidate for the position, you simply lack confidence, combat skills and experience, and some other minor things that will either be taught to you, or you'll pick up naturally with time."
Seeing as I was read like a guide book, I wisely shut up, knowing any questions I would try to ask would be answered before they could leave my lips. Mercer, seeing this, clapped his hands on my shoulder, smiling brightly.
"Now come on! We need to get you set up with some quarters, so you can be well rested to meet your tutors tomorrow!" the Field Team Leader brightly said. Pushing me along, Mercer lead me back deeper into Astera.
It didn't take long to find a place for me to sleep, though it wasn't the most comforting of places. Due to my lack of a team, I couldn't arguably bunk with a random group, and the area Aiden and Elise were bunking in, didn't have the space for me. So instead, I get to use the personal quarters that were supposed to belong to the Fifth Fleet Master. It doesn't feel right sleeping in the bed of someone that I know died recently, let alone someone as respected as a Fleet Master. I resigned myself to a fairly restless sleep. The thoughts running rampant through my head didn't help.
It still didn't feel real, having the chance to be paired up with two Ace Hunters. These Hunters were the absolute best the New World has to offer. Not to be confused with the Ace Hunters group from the Old World. While they are formidable Hunters in their own right, being Guild Knights and all, they don't even hold a candle to the Ace Hunters of the New World. To become an Old World Ace Hunter, one can either get recommended to join the group, or be scouted by one of the members, among other ways. But to become an Ace Hunter in the New World takes far more effort, as titles and other things don't carry over to the New World from the Old World, some sort of rule. To have a chance at becoming one, you have to have done something near unheard of! It's said that the first Ace Hunters were the few Hunters of the First Fleet that stayed in Astera after the Second Fleet arrived, having defended the location of Astera from droves of monsters by themselves. I assume the Commander is one of these Hunters.
Eventually, exhaustion from the day took me over and I fell asleep.
The Next Day
I, unsurprisingly, woke up feeling fairly crappy. While I knew the set up was only temporary, sleeping in a dead man's bed isn't comfortable no matter how short the stay is. Seeing as it was fairly early morning, and not the middle of the night, I was more than happy to get out of the quarters, even if I wasn't exactly "well rested". I still took the time to get ready in the privacy of the quarters, no need to go out in only my underclothes and with a bad case of bed head.
Having left the quarters, I wandered around Astera, feeling anxious at the thought of meeting my teachers. My goal was to make it to the Canteen, the only problem being, I'm still new to Astera, and between that and my morning daze, I got myself lost. I got incredibly lucky, however, to run into an old man dressed in simple leather casual gear, which is simply just leather armor minus the vest and pouches and such. The veteran hunter, based off the faded scars littering his arms, called himself "Ol' Bellial" and happily pointed me in the direction of the Canteen, sending me off with the recommendation to get myself a "coffee" to wake myself up.
Thanks to Bellial's helpful directions, I was able to make it to the Canteen pretty quickly after. Sitting down, I found myself alone in the area, besides the Meowscular chef and his minio-, I mean workers. Following Bellial's advice, I ordered a coffee, adding powdered Sweetreed and Aptonoth milk to the hot drink, having been warned of the extreme bitterness, and that this would mellow it out. And by the Sapphire Star was the old man right. Not only was the drink still slightly bitter, in a rather enjoyable way, but by the time I finished the drink, a mere fifteen minutes, I was fully awake and alert! On a good day, that would usually take over an hour. Now that I was awake though, I took notice of how hungry I currently am.
The Meowscular Chef, is one hell of a cook, let me tell you. On his recommendation, to apparently help with my gains, my breakfast consisted of one large Cheese Omelet made from a Mernos Egg, with Kestodon Bacon on the side, and another coffee to drink alongside it all. Eating slowly, I savored the delicious meal, noticing that others were starting to slowly trickle in. Chief among these people were Aiden and Elise, the latter already prim and proper and looking wide awake. She was dragging a still half asleep Aiden who looked ready to fall back asleep. Looking back at my food, more specifically my drink, it took all of five seconds to come to the decision to never let Aiden near a coffee when he was wide awake, who knows what might happen. The two never actually noticed me, instead sitting down at a separate table across the Canteen area, one of the Chef's workers coming by to check what they wanted to order.
A short while later, having finished my meal, I stood up, throwing a thanks to the Meowscular Chef for the meal, earning a pride filled grunt in return. Turning around, I spotted Mercer heading towards me. Meeting him halfway, I offered a good morning which was returned. Mercer quickly explained how he ran into my two mentors on his morning patrol and how they should be back by now. Nodding in affirmation, I followed Mercer out of the Canteen area, him warning me of the after effects that new coffee drinkers face, which is inattentiveness due to all the energy, followed by a system crash, similar to the one that follows a sweetreed rush.
Normally, the Workyard of Astera, according to Mercer, is full of hustle and bustle, sound coming from everywhere, starting at the earliest dawn, and ending late after dusk. The Workyard Mercer and I came to wasn't that Workyard, this one is near dead silent. The only sounds were the crashing of waves and creaking of wood, the occasional murmur coming from somewhere amongst the gathered crowd surrounding the Council table. It was abundantly clear something has stolen everyone's attention from their work.
Mercer pointed out what exactly had everyone ignoring their duties. Talking to the Commander from across the Council table were two Men. One stood tall, arms crossed over his chest, hidden from my view. The other casually leaned forward onto the table. What stood out the most about these two though, was their sheer presence. Even from so far away, I could feel an aura of raw power emanating from these two beasts. Something deep inside me, probably my First Wyverian heritage, was warning me that those two were Alphas, and should not ever be messed with. Mercer suddenly chimed in with something that turned my head so fast I nearly got whiplash!
"Those two talking with the Old Man might end up being your teachers." he said quietly. Despite my every instinct telling me to turn back and keep my eyes on the two Men down in the Workyard, I held my shocked stare on Mercer.
"You mean to tell me that those two... monsters are the youngest Ace Hunters in New World history?! There's no way they'd even think of teaching me!" I said in a hushed tone, shock and self depreciation mingling together in my voice. I was nothing compared to those two down there, they'd never even look at me. It's like comparing a Popfish to a Ceadeus!
Mercer just shook his head silently, beginning to head towards the Workyard. For some stupid reason, I found myself following him, when I really should be running the other direction, so I can save myself from embarrassment! We quickly, to quickly for my liking, reached the Council Table. The two Ace Hunters, having heard us approach, had turned around to face us, the Commander moving around the table to stand beside them.
Being so close to them really understand how small I truly am. The Commander stood at six feet tall, among the taller Hunters I've met, which helped add to his presence. These two Hunters dwarfed even him though! The shorter of the two stood at six foot six inches, while the taller stood at six foot eight inches, his hair adding another four inches to put him at seven feet tall!
There were several clear indicator the two were siblings, possibly twins. The same sharp jawline, flat chins, rugged nose bridge and thick eyebrows. However, the two also had clear differences, both natural and artificial.
The taller one had pitch black hair, long and wild, pulled up into a long ponytail falling to mid back, held by a length of thin rope. Enough hair was left loose to frame his face. He also had a goatee, chinstrap combo as his facial hair, also pitch black. His left eye was covered by an eyepatch, a white dragon head emblem on it, beneath the eye was an ebony black dragon tattoo. His right eye was framed by a stark white angel wing tattoo, standing in complete contrast to the dusky black color of the iris, so dark you could barely tell where pupil ended and iris started. It was clear he put far more focus on his upper body, evident by the wider and broader shoulders compared to his shorter partner. He wore a white, open front coat trimmed in pitch black fur along all edges, extra fur around the collar appearing similar to a Teostra's mane. Pale blue bone plating, looking almost like ice, covered the shoulders and biceps, while a small piece looking like an arm blade of the same material stuck out from the right forearm, the left covered by a Slinger. Crossing over the coat at his hips was a blue leather belt, studded near the front and clasped by a metal ring, a small section hung below the right side of the belt, acting like an additional belt quiver for throwing knives, the usual scoutfly cage attached between it and the main belt. Beneath the coat was a blue leather shirt and black leather pants, the same icy blue bone plating covered the chest not covered by his coat, and also covered the entirety of the upper leg, and the knees, while the same black fur covered the whole calf, near the bottom, metal boots stuck out, tipped with black claws slightly digging into the wood, probably to add better grip on slippery terrain.
The shorter of the two had long, rich brown hair falling straight like a waterfall to his neck. His eyes were heterochromatic, his left eye was a dark grey, and covered by a single jagged scar. His right eye, also framed by an angel wing tattoo, though this time pitch black, was a pale grey, almost milky white, but was clearly fully functioning, and not blind like such a color would normally indicate. His build was far more evened out, compared to his taller partner, showing equal muscle growth across the body, more akin to those competition swimmers back in the Old World, just far more buff. He wore what looked like custom leather armor, primarily black, with white reinforced leather covering most of the body. Almost the entire torso, minus only the sides was covered, a white waist cloak covering his back half. The outer half of his upper arms were covered, along with the entire right forearm, the left wore a custom slinger made mostly of bone? His outer thighs and entire calves were covered as well, the only metal on his person were his boots, steel grey in color, and covering up to his ankles. The white reinforce leather patches on the arms and legs were decorated with what looked like black bones stitched on in tribal patterns? The torso section had no patterns or anything, instead it seemed to have plenty of built in pockets and pouches, and the scoutfly cage stitched into the armor at the center of his waist. The armor, definitely custom designed now that I look closely at it, clearly favored freedom of movement while still offering surprisingly good protection against physical attacks from monsters and from the elements. Looking back at his face, I was surprised to see him chewing on a small stick of icereed, maybe four inches long. How he could do that without cringing from how sweet raw icereed is, I'll never want to know.
Another thing that separated them from normal Hunters was the fact they both wore two weapon types on themselves. The brown haired one had on his back, an ornate, blunt axe, a hammer by the looks of it! On his hips were a pair of gold-hilt, crystal blade knight swords! But while the shorter one was already ridiculously strong to hold both a hammer and dual blades, the taller one was frankly unbelievable. On his back was a longsword and a fricking greatsword! I couldn't properly see the longsword, hidden behind him in its sheathe, I could only see a rough metal handle and guard. The greatsword was bulky and blocky, with sharp corners and straight edges. At the very edge of the flat back was what looked like a thruster or something, while a glowing orange crystal sat in a mount, just above the handle, taking up half of the back edge of the sword, framed by what looked like pipes. To hold just a greatsword alone takes immense strength. For this man to casually hold both a greatsword AND a longsword, any normal hunter would probably be crushed by the weight!
A short cough from the taller one brought me back to reality, making me blush bright red as I realized my overly analytical mind had gotten distracted trying to take in as much detail as possible. What a great first impression...
The brown haired Hunter let out a chuckle as he stepped forward. Introducing himself, he happily spoke, "Hey there! You must be Gaia Treathers, the partner-less A-list Hunter we were told about. The name's Dov (D-OH-v) Sinclair. Tall and silent over there is my bro Nov (N-OH-v). Don't worry about him, when he gets into business mode, as I call it, he tends to become a bit of a buzzkill."
Dov's relaxed and jovial tone had me caught off guard, but helped to relax me a bit, and help me to gain the confidence to ask, "So I was told you are the two Ace Hunters who will be training me to become the Fifth Fleet Master?"
"Got it in one kid!" Dov confirmed happily, throwing a nod along too. Before I could continue, Nov stepped forward. Unlike his brother, Nov's tone was deep, gruff, and deadly serious, a complete contrast. Looking at Dov, Nov said "Not yet we aren't, we have not yet decided."
I barely caught Dov throwing a disapproving glare at his brother as I looked down disappointed. It was clear Dov was trying to cheer me up when he quickly said, "Hey. Hey! Don't listen to the grump completely! While he is correct when he says we haven't decided, if you allow us to explain, we can come to a proper decision, and right now, odds are in your favor!"
Looking back up, I could see Nov already making his way up the stairs that lead to the Canteen, while Dov was looking at me with a concerned smile. Seeing my slightly risen hopes, Dov adopted a full grin, leaning down to whisper in my ear, "Look, Nov ain't in that great a mood. He's addicted to coffee, but didn't bring enough for our usual fleet arrival patrol, which lasts about a week. He's also a horribly early riser, probably been awake since dawn. Those things combined are a recipe for a moody Nov, so don't blame him too much, aight?" Suddenly, Nov's mood made a bit more sense, as I can see myself getting addicted to coffee as well.
Rising back up, Dov chuckled at my dawning understanding. Throwing a large hand on my shoulder, the upbeat Ace Hunter began leading me towards the Canteen. Arriving, we spotted Nov sitting at a separate table, far enough from others to keep mostly private. The man was nursing a surprisingly large cup of, no doubt, coffee, a small smile on his face. Dov guided me over, sitting me down across from Nov before he himself sat beside his taller brother.
Taking a sip, Nov let out a contented sigh, then began speaking, his tone still deep and gruff, but far more relaxed. "First off, I apologize for earlier, I wasn't in the best mood, no doubt Dov told you why. To explain our reasoning for not making a decision, we want to test you first. Originally, we were gonna drop you off somewhere in the Ancient Forest with some basic equipment, and your chosen weapon, and see how you handled yourself while making your way back to Astera. Problem is, you did that already with less equipment and no weapon..."
Confused, I looked to Dov for an explanation, which he quickly supplied, "We... may or may not have found you back when you were first making your way towards Astera. We had planned to jump in right away to help when Nov decided he wanted to see what a Fifth Fleet Hunter was made of, we had no idea who you were by the way. We were always ready to jump in to save you should you go off track or get into danger, but you stayed straight on target. Mercer showed up before we could intervene with the Great Jagras, the big yellow lizard, and Mercer was still there when the Anjanath, the pink brute wyvern, showed up. Instead, we used it to see how you held up in a crisis. You stayed impressively calm, which is important, and the sarcasm and nicknames gave even the grumpster here a good laugh!"
While I was slightly annoyed to hear that my tutors could have saved me the struggle of finding my way to Astera, it was overridden by the pride of knowing I had impressed the two Ace Hunters.
Seeing as I now understood, Nov continued, "Since I can't do a mock trial by fire test, I'll improvise. We are gonna interview you for lack of a better term, but really I just have one question. I want a truthful answer, no bullshitting me or telling me what you think I want to hear. I can spot a liar a mile away, so take the time to think your answer through. Are you ready?"
Giving a slightly nervous, but determined nod, I was ready for whatever Nov threw my way. Or at least, I thought I was, cause Nov's question threw me for a loop.
"What is your purpose?"
And finally done. Kinda lost track of time typing this, despite my earlier saying I would slow down. Started this at 9:30 at night, didn't finish till 1 in the morning. Oh well... Don't got a lot to say here at the end, but if you want Nov and Dov's armor and weapons here you go.
Nov wears the Frostfang Barioth set, with the Dragonking Eyepatch instead of the helmet, and his weapons are the Wyvern Ignition "Silver" Greatsword, and the Bazel Prozio Rooksearer Longsword.
Dov wears a heavily customized leather set, based off the Commission set, and wields the Royal Cross Mace Hammer, and Holy Guild Knight Dual Blades.
I need to sleep so goodnight everyone, and happy hunting!
Actually had to upload this twice, first time around the font editing and such didn't save...
-Ace Hunter Nov