When the Argosy pulled into port, Astera was already in full party mode. Someone must have sent word ahead of the field team's victory. That, or the residents had just assumed victory when the city wasn't consumed in a fiery explosion that decimated the entire continent.
Tables had been set out all across the Trade Yard, each one piled high with enough food and drink for a dozen starving hunters. It seemed as though the Chef had emptied the entirety of Astera's stores for the party, and he was showing no signs of slowing down. More dishes were pouring out of the kitchen even as the Argosy docked, borne on platters that were as large as the Palicos that carried them.
The atmosphere was infectious, and Izuku felt his mood lighten considerably as he walked down the gangplank. All of a sudden, the impending discussion with the Commander didn't seem so important. Even the dull throbbing of his damaged arm, safely ensconced in a sling by his side, seemed to fade away a bit as he drank in the celebratory mood.
"Now this is a party!" Mina cheered, bouncing up and down in excitement.
Izuku had to agree. He wasn't one for parties, or crowds in general, really, but a part of him was still itching to go and explore the festivities, to see the sights, to taste all the dishes, to speak with the people enjoying themselves. Maybe a part of Mina's personality had rubbed off on him, in addition to the copious amounts of fur that he found in all of his armor and boots. Or maybe it was just relief from having survived yet another ferocious battle.
"It really is," Izuku said.
"C'mon Izu! Let's go check it out!" Mina called, grabbing his uninjured arm and tugging him forward into the crowd.
To his surprise, the crowd parted before them, though they were far from quiet as they did so. People cheered and clapped as the two of them walked past, while the more reserved simply raised a glass in acknowledgement or stuck out a hand for a high five.
Mina accepted most of those, covering for Izuku's injured arm without even having to be asked. People quickly made a game of it, seeing just how high they could stick their hand out before she was unable to make the leap to smack it. Izuku got the feeling that many were surprised by how high her limit really was.
They made it about halfway across the Trade Yard before Izuku realized that he and Mina weren't really passing through the crowd as much as they were being funneled through it. A moment after that thought struck, Izuku realized where exactly they were being funneled to.
The Command Deck was almost completely empty when compared to the rest of the yard. The leaders of the various divisions—those who hadn't come along with the Argosy—were standing there with drinks in hand. Somehow, the Commander was there as well, and the Field Team Leader. Izuku had no idea how they had managed to make it off the ship so quickly, but he didn't really get much time to ponder the mystery.
When he and Mina reached the edge of the Command Deck, he tried to step to the side but was thwarted when a pair of strong hands landed on his back and shoved him forward. He glanced back to see one of the smithy workers grinning up at him. A few others Izuku faintly recognized stood behind the man and were giving Izuku encouraging motions.
Mina, on the other hand, didn't hesitate. She bounded up onto the Command Deck, swiped a plate of fish off of the table for herself, and plopped happily into one of the stools the Tech Chief usually stood on for meetings.
Slowly Izuku stepped up onto the platform, feeling like an imposter yet again. Strange as it was to say, he would much prefer to be back in the crowd where he could fade away into the background instead of being put up on a literal stage.
His anxiety spiked even higher when the party behind him began to fall silent. It started slowly, with the people near the stage quieting down then gesturing for others to do the same. In less than a minute, the entire crowd was nearly silent, staring up at Izuku and the others expectantly.
He froze in place, unable to move or even speak. His mouth suddenly felt like he'd swallowed all the sand of the Wildspire Waste, and his hands were clammy with sweat. He could tell they were expecting something, a speech probably, but he didn't think he was capable of making more than a strangled grunt at the moment. Speech making was the Commander's area of expertise, not his!
Before Izuku could spiral any further into his anxiety he felt a small, fuzzy paw slip into his hand and squeeze his fingers. It was a small gesture of support, but it helped ground him enough that he was able to take a deep breath and clear his head a little. He still had no idea what to say, of course, but before he could make a fool of himself, the Commander stepped forward and gestured for everyone's attention.
"Thank you all for your efforts these past few days. Together, we have done something tremendous, a feat which only a select few can boast. We managed to drive off an Elder Dragon!"
The roar of the crowd was deafening. The timbers beneath their feet shook as people stamped and clapped. Distantly, Izuku could see a flurry of Blissbills rising out of the trees on the edge of Astera, startled into flight by the sudden noise.
The Commander waited for the noise to die down with a smile, gazing out over the crowd in obvious pride.
"Though I think none of us could have done it alone. From the engineers whose work gave us firm footing to stand on, to the scouts and vanguard teams who kept our backs safe, the sailors who transported our combat teams, the biologists who studied tirelessly to uncover Zorah Magdaros's path, and even the cooks who prepared the fine meal we'll all be enjoying soon. Every one of you contributed to this victory and now you all deserve to celebrate it! So let's give a cheer, to ourselves, to our comrades, and to the Commission!"
Even Izuku managed to get over his nerves and join in on the second cheer. It lasted even longer than the first, shaking not just the timbers below them but the ones above too, to the point where Izuku was slightly worried that that deck of the Gathering Hub might come tumbling down on top of them all.
"And last, but certainly not least," the Commander continued, "A cheer for our combat teams, who risked life and limb to stop Zorah Magdaros and Nergigante in their tracks, but especially to our own Emerald Star and his companion for leading the charge against Nergigante by themselves, discovering critical information that kept our field teams alive, and even dealing the critical blows that ended the battle with Zorah Magdaros once and for all!"
What followed wasn't so much a single cheer as it was a series of them all strung together, lasting until several members of the crowd were growing purple in the face. It was interspersed with cries of "That's our boy!" and "Fifth represent!"
By the time it finally faded, Izuku was thoroughly embarrassed. Yet again, people were making his actions sound way more impressive than they actually were. He'd been running around without a clue most of the time and had only come out of it alive thanks to a lot of luck and tons and tons of help.
But then again, wasn't what they were celebrating in the first place? The Commander had said as much, and Izuku agreed. They had all contributed to the battle to some degree. He still felt bad about taking so much of the spotlight, but a part of him relaxed a little, too, and enjoyed the praise he and Mina were receiving. It was… nice.
"Thank you," he said once the cheering had faded a bit, "but like the Commander said, we couldn't have done it alone. Nergigante would have crushed us, literally, if we hadn't gotten help. This wasn't my victory, or the Commission's victory; it's all of ours, and I look forward to celebrating it with each of you."
"Here here!" the Commander said, raising a mug that he had picked up while Izuku had been speaking. The action was followed by everyone in attendance, even those who could only mime the toast.
Before Izuku could say anything further, his stomach let out a loud growl. It probably only carried over the first few rows of people, but their laughter set off everyone around them, until the whole crowd was guffawing.
Izuku felt a rush of heat in his cheeks as he covered his stomach defensively. A moment later, the Commander's hand landed on his shoulder and he recovered the floor.
"I think that's enough speeches for tonight. It's time to celebrate! Eat and drink to your heart's content, everyone. Regular duties will resume once we've all slept off the hangovers!"
To Izuku's relief, most of the onlookers took that as the sign to disperse. Most headed off for some food and drinks, eager to indulge in the best the Chef and his fellow culinarily-inclined Palicos could produce. Others sought out members of the field team, hoping to get a firsthand account of the battle with Zorah Magdaros. Izuku got the feeling that he might end up dealing with more than a few of that group before the night was over. The thought filled him with some trepidation, but he'd gotten better at storytelling in recent days, if only to make sure Mina didn't embellish the tales of their exploits too much.
Before Izuku could go anywhere, though, the Commander appeared before him with a full platter of meat and vegetable skewers.
"Here. To take the edge off," the man said.
Izuku accepted the platter gratefully and began to eat as fast as he could. At this point, he was used to the massive portions and frequent meals that came with life as a hunter. Within a few moments, he was finished with the entire platter and ready for a second helping, much to the Commander's evident amusement.
"You and your partner especially should enjoy the festivities tonight. I meant it when I said that we owe a large part of this victory to you both. And don't let tomorrow's meeting concern you. I promise that no matter what comes of it, the two of you are Commission members now, and we look after our own."
It was more comforting than Izuku might have expected to hear those words. He was still anxious, of course, but the thought of having the Commander on their side did a lot to quell that anxiety. The man had made quite the impression on Izuku, and his leadership during the assaults on Zorah Magdaros had only reinforced his opinion.
"We will, Commander," Izuku said, snapping off a quick salute.
The Commander chuckled and waved him off, a clear dismissal if there ever was one. Izuku took it in stride, taking Mina with him as he did. The two of them headed off towards the canteen, intending to collect on Mina's promised Gastronome Tuna. They almost made it, too, before they were waylaid by a group of researchers who wanted Izuku's opinion on how hot Zorah Magdaros's lava had been so they could settle a debate. The scholarly conversation then turned into a telling of Izuku and Mina's perspective on the battle when some curious hunters started listening in.
Izuku felt like he did a decent job keeping things accurate, despite Mina's constant additions. To hear her tell it, they had battled Nergigante single-handedly while they clung to the side of an ever shifting mountain and fire rained from the sky. It wasn't a completely inaccurate summary, just a little larger than life. Or at least, that's what Izuku told himself. Either way, the onlookers seemed to enjoy it, especially when he had to gently persuade Mina not to over exaggerate some section of the battle
They weren't done after just one telling, though. No sooner had Izuku finished and the applause faded away then someone called for him to tell it again. They had joined partway through the telling and missed the juicy beginning.
That set the tone for the rest of the evening. Izuku and Mina were the center of attention for group after group, telling their story as best they could. The listeners were more than happy to ply the both of them with all they could eat and drink in between tellings, even fetching Mina's promised tuna at her request. And as the night wore on, Izuku found himself relaxing into the role of storyteller with greater ease than ever before. By the end, he was even enjoying himself quite a bit, although that may have been due to the larger than usual amount of ale he had consumed. Somehow, his mug was never empty, despite the fact that he'd never seen anyone filling it up and hadn't quite realized how much he'd consumed until he stood up.
That night, he collapsed into bed thoroughly exhausted and completely stuffed. It had been a trial to clamber up the steps to his and Mina's room, but in the end they had managed to help each other along.
The moment Izuku was settled, Mina crawled up onto his legs, circled around once to get comfy, and plopped down to sleep. Part of him felt like he should offer her somewhere a little bit more comfortable to rest, especially now that the two of them were more than just partners, but she seemed perfectly content with the arrangement and had been for a while now. It probably had something to do with her feline instincts, though it still seemed strange to Izuku.
Still, no matter where she chose to sleep, he was glad to have her by his side. And no matter what came from the meeting the next day, he knew that he could face it with his head held high as long as she was with him.
The next morning dawned bright and clear, much to Izuku's dismay. The nice weather was pleasant, of course, and he enjoyed the feeling of the warm sun on his back, but the brilliant sunshine only served to make his headache worse.
Mina was sympathetic, if teasing, about the whole thing. She seemed to think it was hilarious that he had gotten sloshed without realizing, though she did do her best to keep her voice down after an initial bout of uproarious laughter.
Food helped considerably, as did the strange concoction that the Chef placed before Izuku, claiming that it was a perfect hangover cure. It had looked like sewer sludge but tasted surprisingly good and had truly done wonders for Izuku's head.
Somewhat revived and vastly more comfortable, Izuku and Mina made their way down to the command deck once more, ready to face the hunters and researchers that they had come to truly care for during their relatively short time in Astera.
The Commander stood at the front of the group, and was flanked by several familiar figures, including the Field Team Leader, the Huntsman, the Smithy, the Third Fleet's Master, several of the division heads, and the woman who served as Izuku and Mina's handler. Izuku had sort of expected most of them to be present, although the Handler was a surprise appearance. He and Mina didn't interact with the woman very much outside of quests, and even then it was mostly at the beginning or the end of them. She'd wanted to come along on a few hunts, but given her self-professed lack of combat skills and the team's relative newness to hunting in general, Izuku and Mina had agreed it might be better for her to watch from afar.
The second that Izuku and Mina stepped up onto the Command Deck, all eyes were on them. A few months back, Izuku probably would have quailed under the attention. But after facing down more than his fair share of powerful and deadly monsters and entertaining half of Astera for the night, he managed to push his nerves down and stand tall under the watchful looks.
"Thank you for joining us," the Commander said with a nod to Izuku. "I apologize for doing this so soon after our celebrations, but I felt it would be better for everyone if certain truths were made apparent sooner rather than later."
"Certain truths?" the Third Fleet Master said thoughtfully, tapping her pipe against the table. "Have you uncovered something about Zorah Magdaros that we missed? Or have you been keeping secrets from us?"
Izuku cringed a little bit at the mention of secrets. He hadn't really wanted to keep his and Mina's origins hidden from everyone. But how exactly did you go about explaining that you were an imposter from another world, stuck amongst their midst with no way to know how you ended up there or if there was even a way home at all?
"Not so much a secret as a curiosity. One that grew as I looked into it, and only recently became more than simply an idle hunch," the Commander replied. "And, while not relevant to the running of the Commission, I thought it pertinent enough to us all that you be made aware."
He cleared his throat for a moment before launching into his explanation.
"As you all know, the Fifth Fleet caused something of a logistical issue when they arrived. The Guild sent far more hunters than we were anticipating, forcing us to scramble for places to put them all and supplies to support them with. Of course, the hunters of the Fifth have performed exceptionally well since their arrival, not only in aiding our research into the Elder Crossing, but preventing the destruction of the entire New World."
There was a brief pause for applause, most of it directed at the Commander and, to his dismay, Izuku. It felt even more hollow than the night before, since he knew what the Commander was building towards.
"Thank you," the Commander said, once the applause had died down. "As I was saying, the Fifth's arrival was logistically taxing, and we are only now catching up on some of the requisite paperwork. It was while reviewing this paperwork that a curious detail came to my attention. The Fifth Fleet departed with one hundred and thirty-eight passengers, but arrived with one hundred and forty. Upon further investigation I was surprised to find that there is no mention of a hunter named Midoriya, or of his partnered Palico, anywhere in the registration for the Fifth Fleet, or in the Guild's records. It seems as though the two of them appeared out of thin air mid-voyage."
Most of the others stiffened at the Commander's words, eyes flicking back and forth between the Commander and Izuku. The Huntsman leaned forward as well, his usual relaxed demeanor replaced with readiness for action. Izuku had no doubt that he could draw the longsword that was propped up next to him in a heartbeat, and felt his own body tense in response.
He wasn't the only tense one, though. The Smithy slowly cracked his massive knuckles, each pop sounding like a gunshot to Izuku. To his surprise, however, the Smithy was not glaring at Izuku while he did so, but at the Huntsman. The implication was clear, even if Izuku couldn't understand why the man was so willing to leap to his defense.
"Before anyone makes any unfortunate decisions," the Commander said, raising his hands to get everyone's attention once more, "I would like to point out that this is not an interrogation. Whatever history, or lack thereof Midoriya and his companion have, and whatever their reasons for coming here, they are hunters of the Commission. They have worked tirelessly to ensure the success of our mission, at the cost of blood, sweat, and tears on both their parts. I am proud to count them among our number, no matter what any paperwork says. Furthermore, if my suspicions are correct, this is far more than a case of a simple stowaway. As such, I would like to hear the full story from the people in question before we jump to any conclusions. Does that address everyone's concerns?"
The Huntsman grunted and relaxed his posture somewhat, though his sword stayed close by his side. Seeing this, the Smithy relaxed a little as well.
"Good. Now then, Midoriya, would you care to share your story?"
He took a moment to center himself, aided by Mina pressing herself up against his leg in a silent show of support, then began to speak.
"You're right. We're not hunters, and we never were. But we didn't stow away on the Fifth Fleet, or at least, I don't think we did. The last thing I remember before coming here was going to sleep in my own bed. Then I woke up in the Ancient Forest with no idea where I was or what had happened. I found the journal I use next to me and a note in it telling me to make my way to Astera if I woke up before help arrived. I didn't even know who wrote it until I met up with the Field Team Leader and the others outside of Astera."
"That was me," the Handler added. "I mean, I wrote the note. Felt like the least I could do after you saved both our butts. But I thought you said you remembered talking to me on the ship?"
Izuku shook his head. "No, I… may have slightly lied about that. I didn't really want to, but when you said you knew me I thought it was better to go with the flow and not sound like I was completely insane."
"Why would we think you were insane?"
"Because we're not from this world," Mina cut in.
"Well, none of you are," the Field Team Leader said with a smile. "I was born here, but almost everyone in the Commission is from the Old World. That doesn't make you very different."
"It does when I used to be a human," Mina countered.
That shocked nearly everyone into perfect silence. Only the Commander looked like he'd been expecting something to that effect, though even he looked like he was having trouble completely believing it.
"It's true," Izuku said. "Mina used to be human. We went to school and trained together, only it wasn't in the Old World, or anywhere that you know about. Our world is completely different. There were no monsters, no Elder Dragons, and no hunters. It was… is really different from here. That's why we thought no one would believe us. It sounds crazy, even when we were the ones who lived it."
"Not as strange as you may think…" the Commander said.
"What do you mean?"
"In the course of my investigation into the two of you, I found some rather interesting tales in the Guild records. Stories of impressively talented hunters appearing out of thin air to accomplish great feats. Most vanished afterwards, though some few remained to share their stories. Stories of different worlds, like our own in many ways, but strange enough to be distinct. The tales I was able to requisition are old, and many seem to have been treated more like legends than historical tales, but the thread of hunters from other worlds arriving in ours under mysterious circumstances holds true throughout."
There had been others? Izuku couldn't help the smile that blossomed on his face at the news. Sure, it was far from a sure thing, but the Commander's information made it seem like there really was some way for Mina and him to get back to their homes, to their families. As much as he considered himself a part of the Commission at this point, he still missed his mother terribly. He had no doubt she was worried sick about him, considering that he had vanished without so much as a note left behind.
"You mean there might be a way home after all? That's awesome!" Mina said. "I was starting to think we were going to be here forever! Umm, no offense."
"It's still far from a sure thing," the Commander pointed out.
"True, but it's more hope than we had before," Izuku replied. "Thank you, Commander."
"Hold on a moment," the Field Team Leader said. "Happy as I am for the two of you, can we go back to the part where you used to be human?"
Mina shrugged. "Yeah, it's weird. I was super confused when I woke up in the medical ward half my usual height and covered in hair."
"And pink hair at that," the Smithy said with a chuckle.
"Oh no, I was pink before. And I could shoot acid out of my hands."
"Lass, are ya' sure you were human and not some sort of very confused Pukei-Pukei?"
Izuku chuckled at the joke while Mina leveled an annoyed glare at the man. He took it in stride, laughing boisterously at the glare rather than being offended by it.
"Like we said, our world is really different," Izuku added.
"Evidently. And I suppose it explains a lot about your close relationship," the Commander said.
Izuku frowned, not sure what he was referring to, and the Commander shrugged.
"Romances between Palicos and humans tend to be limited to more rural, isolated areas these days. Places where hunters and their partners work alone for weeks or months at a time. As towns have consolidated and cities grown larger, it's become markedly less common. I believe you earned something of a reputation for being a yokel when you first arrived. Still, I doubt there are any who consider you less than a respected and talented hunter at this point. And the two of you have adjusted rather well to life here."
"Thank you," Izuku replied, not quite sure how to respond to all that. "But, Sir, I have to ask, is that… it? We lied to both you and the Commission this entire time. We're not even hunters really. Shouldn't we be thrown in the brig or something?"
"We hardly jail someone for a white lie to protect himself," the Commander said. "As for not being licensed hunters, that problem is easily solved. The Guild has entrusted me with the authority to appoint new hunters as I see fit. It was intended for children born here in the New World, but I see no reason it cannot be applied to the both of you as well. Consider yourselves official hunters of the Guild and the Fifth Fleet both, in name and deed."
"Agreed," the Field Team Leader said, "Although maybe try and keep the world-shattering surprises to a minimum in the future, okay?"
"We'll do our best," Izuku said with a small smile.
"I, for one, would appreciate hearing more about this other world you come from," the Third Fleet Master said. "The idea of a land without monsters is truly fascinating."
"Indeed!" the diminutive Chief Ecologist added. "Though it is not relevant to our work here, I could hardly call myself a researcher if I passed up an opportunity to learn about an entirely new and nearly undiscovered ecosystem! Come, tell us everything you can remember. I'll take notes!"
With a sinking feeling, Izuku realized that he had inadvertently signed up for another storytelling session. And this time he wasn't just telling the story of a single battle, but of his entire world. It was a daunting task, but made somewhat easier by his experiences the night before. Sure, he was tired and he knew his throat would be aching by the time he was done with the story, but he was sure that he could do it at this point. And besides, if it meant that his and Mina's position within the Commission was that much more secure, he'd do it with a smile on his face.
It went about as well as he expected. Much of his time was spent explaining the various differences in their worlds, mostly the existence of Quirks and lack of monsters. They did lose some time when he accidentally mentioned the Nomus which had led to a debate on what exactly constituted a monster, which concluded with everyone agreeing that morphology based categorizations were a nightmare when most of your ecosystem varied so widely in scale it was hard to tell what was related to what.
In the end, though, Izuku felt like he managed to satisfy everyone. The Commander seemed content to put the mystery of Izuku and Mina's origins to bed, the Chief Ecologist was happy pouring over his notes on their home world, the Field Team Leader seemed satisfied that everyone was getting along well, and Izuku was relieved that he had finally been able to tell everyone the truth.
Or almost everyone. There was still one more revelation he felt compelled to share that night, and his chance finally came after he and Mina were dismissed a while later. As they stumbled into their room, ready to hit the hay for the evening, Izuku paused at the edge of the bed.
"Uh, Mina, there's something I want to talk to you about."
"What's up?" she said, perking up a little bit at his question.
"It's… there's something I've been keeping secret, and it feels like now would be a good time to tell you. I didn't want to hide anything from you, but it wasn't really my secret to share, and then things were really confusing, and I just… I hope it doesn't change things between us."
"It won't," she said.
"But I—"
"It won't," she said, more forcefully this time. "No matter what you say, I'm still going to care about you just as much as I did before. So stop psyching yourself out and lay it on me."
He took a deep, somewhat shaky breath, then did just that. "I… I'm Quirkless."
Mina frowned at that. "Uh…. okay? I mean we kinda both are, unless I can suddenly shoot acid again and no one told me."
She flicked her paw a couple of times as though she were shaking some water off it. When nothing emerged, she looked back at Izuku with a smug expression.
"No, not like that. I mean, I was Quirkless before we came here, back in our world."
"Izuku, I saw you fight against Todoroki in the Sports Festival. Your punches literally caused air blasts. You have a Quirk. Had a Quirk," she frowned slightly. "Inter-dimensional travel is confusing."
"I did have a Quirk, but it wasn't mine. Sort of. I mean, it was given to me, but… let me start at the beginning. About a year before UA started, I was walking home when I was ambushed by a Villain…"
It turned out that becoming a fully-licensed hunter required a truly impressive amount of paperwork, especially if you didn't have parents, training records, and were from a continent that no one had ever heard of before.
After going through it all, Izuku's wrists ached from writing and his eyes felt permanently crossed. So, when he got wind of a new quest that had come in, both he and Mina jumped at the chance to go do some fieldwork.
It wasn't a particularly difficult quest; just chasing down rumors of a Pukei-Pukei that seemed to have wandered into the Wildspire Wastes for reasons unknown. Supposedly, it was being quite aggressive and had run a team of inexperienced hunters off already, which was why the Commander wanted a senior team to handle it. Still, it should be a walk in the park for a pair of Izuku and Mina's caliber.
First, they headed for the forested edge of the Wastes, where the dense foliage of the Ancient Forest began to give way to the sandy expanses of the Wastes. The reports on the Pukei-Pukei were sparse and didn't really give a specific location for the monster, but the two hunters figured that a normally forest-bound monster probably wouldn't stray too far from the trees, even if it was behaving erratically.
The cool shade of the trees was a relief from the scorching sun of the desert, at least. Thankfully, Izuku had worn some appropriate armor for the mission, so he wasn't at risk of any heatstroke, but he was still glad for a little relief.
"Nice to be out of the sun, huh?" Mina said, giving herself a vigorous shake.
A little sand shook loose as she did so, and she glared at it vehemently. Izuku had a feeling that she'd be requesting a thorough brushing once they were done, no matter how well things went when they finally caught up with the monster.
"Yeah. It's very nice here today."
He still couldn't quite believe she was treating him like normal after their discussion of One for All. She'd asked him a bunch of questions about All Might, how it felt to inherit his power, why he'd done it, and what his life had been like before he received One for All.
He'd honestly been surprised with how interested she'd been about that last one. He'd honestly skimmed over most of his early life, expecting her to find it boring. He'd given the bare minimum to understand, and she seemed fine with it up until he mentioned Bakugou's involvement in the Sludge Villain incident. From there she seemed to get angrier and angrier the more he tried to explain how things had gotten to that point. It was only her constant reassurance that she wasn't angry at him, just his situation, that had kept him going.
And then, when he was finally done, she'd hugged him out of nowhere and told him she appreciated him telling her his secret, and that it wouldn't change anything between them. That had been his limit, and he'd sobbed in relief and happiness at her acceptance.
It had been an emotional end to the evening, one that had left them both with tear-stained faces. Yet, at the same time, Izuku had come away with an immense sense of satisfaction at finally sharing a burden he'd been carrying for more than a year. He was also immensely thankful that their new universe limited the amount of tears he could produce so he didn't flood their room with the results of his emotional catharsis.
"A nice day in the Wildspire Wastes. Guess there's a first time for everything," Mina said with a chuckle, knocking Izuku out of his reminiscence.
"It could be worse. We could be in the Vale," Izuku pointed out.
Mina shuddered at that, her nose wrinkling at the very memory of the miasma. Izuku might have snickered at the adorable reaction, but he was suppressing a gag of his own. Duties in the Vale were regarded as a harsh punishment for a reason. No one wanted to spend much time among the rot and putrid smells of the area.
"No thanks!" Mina said. "I'll take a boring duty chasing down a Pukei-Pukei any day if it means I don't have to go back there! Come on, Izu! Let's get this monster!"
Izuku felt a little heat creep into his cheeks at the casual shortening of his name. He'd gotten used to Mina using his first name at this point, and using her own in turn, but it was still a little embarrassing to have her shouting the shortened version. Especially since he knew there was more than a little affection in it. His embarrassment didn't overwhelm his caution, though, and before Mina could get very far, he called out to her.
"We should probably be a bit careful. A new Rathian might have moved into this territory after we drove the last one off."
"Pffft. Rathian-schmathian, we'll kick its butt no matter what! I mean, come on Izu, how many monsters have we beaten at this point? And two of those were Rathians!"
"We didn't really beat the second one, just drove it off…"
"Same difference. Now come on! We've got a quest to complete!"
She was probably right. They really had been through plenty at this point and there wasn't much in the New World that could really give them too much trouble. Short of an Elder Dragon appearing out of nowhere, they were probably safe to continue their investigation in peace.
With that in mind, he set his shoulder and followed along behind Mina as they continued deeper into the area.
Thankfully they didn't have to go very far before discovering signs of their quarry. Between the pools of poisonous saliva, patches of brilliant feathers, and numerous footprints in the mud, it wasn't long before the scout flies had the monster's scent. They went racing off, leaving a brilliant trail for Izuku and Mina to follow.
They found the Pukei-Pukei happily munching on some scatter nuts near the edge of the forest, at the bottom of a small hollow area. It was probably a frequent feeding ground, considering how many poisoncups were growing in the area, along with an abundance of nuts for it to snack on.
The Pukei-Pukei's distraction did give them a perfect opportunity to sneak up on it, which they took full advantage of. Mina grabbed a pitfall trap kit out of Izuku's bag, then scampered off to place it while Izuku himself got in position. With any luck they'd be able to weaken the monster, drive it into the trap, and capture it for the Commission to figure out why it was behaving so oddly. The Commission may have achieved their goal of tracking Zorah Magdaros and discovering why Elder Dragons came to the New World en masse, but they were hardly going to stop there, not when there were still plenty of mysteries left to be uncovered.
Less than two minutes later, Mina was on the other side of the monster. She signaled that she was ready, and the two of them began to creep forward.
To its credit, the monster detected their approach just before they reached it and reared up to its full height in a territorial display. Izuku had seen more than his fair share of threats, though, and didn't even flinch as he swung Dear Lutemis's axe blade directly at the monster's torso.
The blow slammed into its stomach with all the force that Izuku could muster. It should have sent the Pukei-Pukei reeling, if not outright crippled it. But instead of biting into flesh, his axe skittered off scales and feathers like they were steel armor.
Izuku was left reeling, completely unprepared for his blow to have been so ineffective. He brought his weapon up as quickly as he could, shifting it back to sword and shield mode as he did, and was only barely able to stop a swing from the monster's prehensile tongue. It slammed into Izuku's weapon with terrific force, sending him skidding back almost a meter.
"Paws off him!" Mina cried, leaping onto the Pukei-Pukei's back and stabbing at it furiously.
Izuku could hear the ringing sound of metal on scales coming again and again, Mina's attacks proving just as ineffective as his own. Sure, she'd adjusted her aim to target the softer parts of its back once she knew where those were, but the majority of her attacks were doing next to no damage to the monster.
It felt less like attacking a relatively common Bird Wyvern, and more like facing off against the Rathian they had fought in the same location so very long ago. This monster was stronger, faster, and tougher than it had any right to be, and Izuku suddenly wished he had worn heavier armor, despite the risk of heatstroke.
Without warning, the Pukei-Pukei twisted its neck around to glare at Mina with its wild, boggling eyes. It tensed, preparing to knock Mina off of its back with a tongue swipe, and forcing Izuku to lunge forward to prevent the attack. His sword bit into the monster's neck, doing slightly more damage than his previous blow, but still not enough to really damage the monster. It did give Mina time to get clear, though, which was good enough for Izuku.
With her off of its back, the Pukei-Pukei turned its attention back to Izuku. Its neck bunched up for a moment before it launched a globe of poison directly at Izuku. He dived out of the way of the poison, rolling to his feet as quickly as he could, but wasn't quite fast enough to intercept the tail swing that the monster sent his way a moment later. It crashed into his midsection and sent him flying backwards and gasping for breath as he tried to recover.
It didn't make sense that a Pukei-Pukei could hit this hard and this fast. The species weren't complete pushovers, but Izuku and Mina had hunted several of them at this point, and none had given the hunters this level of trouble. Now Izuku knew why the other team had been so thoroughly beaten by the monster. Honestly, it was a testament to their tenacity that they had all walked away.
He leapt to his feet as quickly as he could, just in time to see the monster barreling towards him at full speed. A different, less experienced hunter might have balked at the sight of the monster bearing down on them, fleeing before it or resigning themselves to taking the hit. But Izuku was a seasoned combatant by this point, and he didn't wither in the face of danger. He shifted his stance slightly, then slammed his blade into the shield an instant before impact. The Pukei-Pukei crashed into him, but the shield absorbed most of the charge's force. Izuku channeled the rest of it into his weapon and swung its axe form down directly onto the monster's head a moment later.
That blow, finally, seemed to damage the monster. It reared back with a roar of pain and flapped its wings wildly at Izuku to drive him back a few steps. He complied, shuffling back a few steps so that there was a respectful distance between himself and the monster's talons. It wasn't far enough that he couldn't close it in just a moment, though.
When it finally settled down, Izuku noticed that the Pukei-Pukei's plumage had reddened significantly, particularly around its face. It was well and truly enraged now, a process that had happened much faster than Izuku was used to. Normally it would have taken several minutes or a number of hard blows to drive a monster to a fury like this.
It charged at him once more, sweeping its massive tongue back and forth as it went. He danced around it, slashing at the wiggling appendage whenever he had a moment to breathe. Sadly, the tongue was a little too quick for him to land a solid hit on, and all Izuku managed to do was irritate the monster further.
From behind its massive frame he could hear the telltale growls as Mina slashed at it's ankles from behind. Minimal damage, in the grand scheme of things, but it kept the monster from keeping solid footing, which lessened the power of its strikes against Izuku.
"Izuku!" Mina called suddenly, startling him so much that he almost missed blocking a strike, "It's going to use a poison cloud!"
Her warning came just in time. Izuku was barely able to roll to the side as the monster spun in place, a dense, poisonous fog emanating from its swollen tail. He was immensely thankful that Mina had seen the telltale swelling, since it had been hidden from Izuku fairly effectively. If she hadn't, he might have tried to block the tail swing and taken a dose of poison for his trouble.
The dense cloud hovered in the air in front of him, obscuring his vision slightly and forcing him to keep an ear out for the creature. A part of him wondered if the Pukei-Pukei had done it intentionally, but he dismissed the thought almost immediately. If it was that smart, it probably could have come up with a better plan, or a cover that wasn't blown immediately when it lurched out of the fog and took a wide swing at him.
He blocked high, stopping the blow in its tracks, but before he could move to counter it, a small shape burst out of the fog. It curved through the air for a moment before slamming into the side of the Pukei-Pukei's head and shearing off a handful of feathers and several scales. The Palarang then curved back through the air to land in Mina's outstretched paw.
"Mina Ashido, boomerang meowster!" she proudly proclaimed, doing a small dance of celebration with her looted materials.
Izuku shook his head a little at the antics before readying his weapon. No matter what, no matter how much the odds turned against them, her spirit was impossible to keep down. It made him want to do the same, to give his all so that he could stand proudly at her side no matter what.
He lashed out with his sword, landing quickly blows on the monster's face that had it reeling back. Then, when he had some breathing room, he slotted his sword into the shield and charged the phials within. There wasn't enough energy in the blade for a full charge, not after a relatively short fight so far, but there was enough to charge the phials halfway, which was enough for Izuku's purposes.
Rather than pull the blade out immediately, Izuku waited until it began to vibrate inside the shield, the blade resonating with the stored energy until it was almost too much to handle. Then, finally, he withdrew it and lunged forward with a mighty slash. Electricity arced off the blade as he brought it down on the Pukei-Pukei's wing. It shrieked in pain and scrambled away from him, glaring daggers as it did so.
Izuku backed away as well until there were several meters between him and the monster. A plan had come to him, but he needed some space to work with. More than that, though, he needed a head start on the monster. He would also need all the mobility he could get, so he reluctantly sheathed his weapon as well. It was a dangerous move to make, but he felt confident that he could make it to his destination without getting caught.
He spun on his heel and began to sprint away as fast as he could, much to both Mina and the Pukei-Pukei's confusion. The former called after him in alarm, while the latter roared in victory and charged after him. He could hear its heavy footfalls as he scrambled up a nearby slope and towards the pitfall trap that waited at the top.
He crested the small hill, eyes flicking towards the telltale leaf coverings of the trap before he stopped dead in his tracks. At the center of the clearing ahead of him, on the other side of the hidden pitfall, was a Rathian. It looked young, scales bright and shining in the dappled sunlight, no visible scars at all, and it was smaller than any Izuku had encountered before. If he had to guess, it had probably moved into the territory after Izuku and Mina had defeated the Rathian that had lived there previously.
The Rathian hadn't seen him yet, and Izuku took that opportunity to turn back the way he had come. They might be able to bait the Rathian into a turf war with the Pukei-Pukei, but it was a gamble Izuku was unwilling to take. The Rathian could easily prove as dangerous to Mina and him as to their opponent, and that was not what they needed at the moment.
Izuku's sudden change in direction did create an opportunity, though. As he dashed back down the slope, towards the oncoming Pukei-Pukei, he turned his charge into a controlled slide down the hill, tensing his legs as he did so. Then, at the last moment, he leapt into the air and drew his sword in mid-air.
The Pukei-Pukei's eyes widened to a truly astonishing size as it saw him coming, feet sliding on the ground as it tried to stop mid-charge. It was a fruitless endeavor, though, and Izuku crashed onto the monster's back a moment later. He stabbed his blade down wildly, somehow finding purchase in the monster's hide and keeping him in place. It thrashed, trying its best to knock him off its back, but Izuku held on as tightly as he could and waited for his moment.
Eventually the Pukei-Pukei stopped thrashing to catch its breath, and Izuku launched his attack. He couldn't really withdraw his weapon without risking being tossed aside the next time the Pukei-Pukei moved, so instead he pulled his carving knife from his belt and attacked with that. It was too short to be an effective weapon against anything larger than a Jagras, but it was sharp and sturdy enough to pierce the Pukei-Pukei's hide.
It bucked underneath him, jerking with every stab, but was unable to dislodge him. It seemed to realize this after a few more attempts, and suddenly lurched to the side and began to run. Izuku glanced up to see that it was hurtling itself towards a nearby tree trunk, arching its back as it did so that he would be slammed between the trunk and the monster.
Thinking fast, he yanked his sword out of the monster's back and hurled himself along its back. He nearly tumbled off, especially when the monster collided with the trunk a moment later, but barely managed to get a hold of its tail at the last second.
When his grip was steady once more, he lashed out with his knife again and scored several long gashes along the monster's tail. The blood that emerged was tinged purple from the monster's poison, and each drop that landed on Izuku's skin caused stinging pain that nearly made him let go.
To Izuku's relief, he wasn't the only one who had taken damage from the exchange. The Pukei-Pukei's attempt to shake Izuku off had done more damage to it than to the hunter, and between the impact and Izuku's own assault, the Pukei-Pukei was reeling and open to a decisive blow.
Izuku dislodged his weapon, then scrambled up the Pukei-Pukei's back until he was directly on top of it. Once there he shifted Dear Lutemis into axe mode before sending it crashing into the monster's back. Rather than strike with the bladed edge, however, Izuku turned his blow so the flat edge of the weapon struck the monster's spine. It did less damage this way, but they were trying to capture the monster, not permanently cripple it.
It took several more blunted blows to the spine, but eventually the monster's legs collapsed out from under it. Izuku was sent tumbling to the ground as well, but his recovery was far swifter and he was back on his feet in mere moments, weapon in hand. At the same time, Mina ran up to join him, brandishing her own miniature blade menacingly.
As the Pukei-Pukei flailed on the ground, trying to right itself, they laid into it with everything they had. Blow after blow landed on the monster's wings, face, and tail. Mina even darted forward at one point to stab between its toes in a move that had to be painfully annoying for the monster. It did quite a number on the Pukei-Pukei, but not quite enough to knock the poisonous wyvern out. All too soon, it regained its feet and sent the hunters scrambling backwards as it flapped its wings wildly and lashed out with its tail.
Once they were at a safe distance, they watched the monster warily as it watched them in return. It was a standoff, with neither side wanting to be the first to move, but it had to break eventually. A roar, probably the Rathian from before, echoed through the trees and startled everyone in the clearing. Mina puffed up to twice her size in alarm, Izuku glanced back towards the slope he'd seen the Rathian on to make sure they weren't being snuck up on, and the Pukei-Pukei decided it had taken enough damage for the day.
Before Izuku or Mina could do anything to stop it, the monster leapt into the air and began beating its wings furiously as it soared away towards the sandy dunes that surrounded the Wildspires that the area took its name from.
Mina hissed, her frustration evident as she watched their quarry flying away. "Come back here, you great coward!"
Izuku could only sigh. A part of him had been hoping that they could still make use of the pitfall trap, driving the monster into it and knocking it out before the Rathian spotted them. Then maybe they could have snuck the sleeping monster out, or just forced the Rathian away with some dung pods. But that had been a rather optimistic plan, and as the battle with the Pukei-Pukei had just shown, things really didn't go to plan for them very often.
Still, they weren't going to back down after a single setback. Sure, the trap was wasted at this point and they would have to destroy it before some unsuspecting creature wandered into it, but they could still capture their target later. The Commission had provided them with a spare trap, just in case.
"It looks like it's heading for the Wildspire," Izuku said, sliding his charge blade into his back. "If we hurry, we can probably swing by the central camp and grab another trap before it heads to another area."
"Perfect! I'm not letting that bird-brain get away with messing with us!"
Sliding down a sand dune as carefully as he could, Izuku risked a glance away from his feet and towards their quarry. The Pukei-Pukei had indeed made its way to the dunes and was currently poking around the base of one of the spires. As Izuku watched, it began munching on a cactus that it ripped out of the sands, seemingly unbothered by the needles that covered the plant. Its feathers had gone back to their usual green and purple coloration, the monster having calmed itself significantly after their previous encounter with it.
They were much better prepared this time, though. They had brought plenty of supplies and equipment from the camp with them, including a fresh trap to take the Pukei-Pukei down with.
They approached from the west, keeping out of the monster's sightlines whenever they could and trusting the sand to mask their footsteps better than the sticky mud of the forest had.
It took longer than Izuku had hoped, but eventually they were within striking distance of the monster and ready to pounce, literally in Mina's case. Her back was arched and her tail wiggled back and forth as she eyed the monster before them. Izuku was also ready to move, his muscles tensed like coiled springs, and his weapon ready in his hands at all times as they inched closer to the monster.
And then, finally, it was time. Izuku rushed forward, his axe raised high above his head for the opening blow. The Pukei-Pukei jerked in surprise, but it hadn't had nearly as much warning as their first encounter and was unable to get out of the way in time. Dear Lutemis crashed down with titanic force, tearing a gash in the monster's wing membrane that would keep it grounded for quite a while. It let out a warbling cry and went to attack Izuku in retaliation, but never got the chance.
Before it could even come close to him, Mina charged at the monster's head with a high pitched battle cry. Izuku wasn't the only one who had restocked at the camp, and Mina was carrying a gift from the Protectors of the Wildspire Wastes. She slammed into the Pukei-Pukei's jaw with her Shieldspire, stunning the monster with the force of the impact. It stumbled backwards, head lolling as its eyes spun crazily in their sockets.
They didn't waste any time. Izuku leapt forward and hacked at the monster's exposed chest. He didn't manage to cut through the scales there, but he hadn't really been expecting to. What he did do was knock the breath out of the creature, further disorienting it and preventing any sort of recovery it had been making after Mina's attack.
Mina herself followed up on his blow, going once again for the monster's ankles. This time, however, her attack proved supremely effective. Already unbalanced and more than a little disoriented, the Pukei-Pukei instinctively withdrew its foot from the painful stinging, leaving it balanced on one foot in the soft desert sand. For a moment it teetered on the edge of falling over without actually collapsing. Then, in an unfortunate accident for the Pukei-Pukei, a nearby Vespoid buzzed over and landed on its head.
That little bit of added weight sent the monster toppling backwards, crashing down the edge of the dune it had been standing on and rolling over and over until it finally came to rest in the large dip at the center of the dunes.
Izuku and Mina glanced at each other, a little taken aback at what had just happened. They had expected their combo to be effective, just not quite that over the top. Still, they weren't going to look a gift Jagras in the mouth.
As they slid down the dune towards the prone monster, Izuku readied the shock trap that he was carrying. Hopefully all they would need to do was slap it down, tranquilize the Pukei-Pukei, and then they would be able to bring their adventure to a close.
Before they could reach the monster, however, the sand beneath their feet began to vibrate. Izuku's head whipped around, looking for some monster charging towards them, but saw nothing.
"What is tha—'' he began, only to be cut off when Mina slammed into him and yanked him backwards, causing the two of them to topple into the sand.
The ground where Izuku had just been standing exploded upwards as something burst through it. The Pukei-Pukei shrieked in alarm as it was lifted into the air, but was cut off a moment later as whatever it was in the sand bit down on its throat and silenced the monster forever.
The new arrival was huge, its great, black hide casting a shadow over Izuku and Mina as the monster reared back and let loose a titanic roar. A pair of massive horns jutted out from its head, its beady eyes regarding the pair of hunters with a murderous intent that was felt more than seen. Behind it, a great, club-like tail whipped furiously through the air. Despite how quickly it was moving, though, Izuku could tell that the end of the monster's tail was extremely heavy and would hit with tremendous force.
It was a Diablos. That much was apparent to Izuku, but its coloration was throwing him off. Something about it seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite remember where he'd seen it before, or what it meant. He could tell the Diablos was dangerous, though, even if he couldn't quite say how he knew. Not on the level of an Elder Dragon, but far more powerful than the Pukei-Pukei had been.
Izuku opened his mouth to suggest a retreat, to regroup if nothing else, but before he could even make a sound, the Diablos began to rapidly burrow into the sand, pulling its prey down with it.
For a moment, Izuku thought that was going to be it. Then, he felt the sand beneath them shift, pulling both Mina and him forward and down. What he had previously assumed to be just a low point between sand dunes revealed itself to be closer to an antlion pit, one that they were being inexorably pulled into.
He flipped himself over and began desperately clawing at the sand in order to pull the two of them out of the trap, but it was far too late. In mere moments he and Mina were pulled over the edge of the pit and down into the cave below.
Thankfully there was plenty of loose sand to cushion their fall. It wasn't the gentlest landing in the world, and they were instantly covered up by more sand pouring down on top of them, but it did keep Izuku from breaking anything as he landed. He spent a few, terrifying moments digging himself out of the sand pile, emerging battered and gasping for air.
What greeted him was the Black Diablos in all its fearsome glory. In the dim light of the sandy cave, its hide appeared even darker than before, the edges of the monster fading into the shadows so it was hard to tell where it ended and the cave began. It stood atop the corpse of the Pukei-Pukei, growling angrily at Izuku and Mina for intruding onto both its territory and its kill. It didn't seem content to let them just walk away, either. The Diablos stepped towards them and off of the Pukei-Pukei, then began to paw at the ground in preparation for a charge.
Izuku scrambled to his feet and brought his shield up to intercept the charge. Mina helped as well, bracing herself against his leg for a bit of extra leverage as they faced down the massive Wyvern.
It slammed into them with the force of a freight train, sending the pair of hunters sprawling with the force of its charge alone. It kept going too, only stopping when it came near the edge of the cave and could go no further.
Izuku was on his feet in a moment, charging towards the monster as he shifted Dear Lutemis into its axe form. They needed a hard, fast strike against the monster if they wanted any real chance at beating it without getting seriously hurt.
It had just finished turning when he reached it, bringing the full weight of Dear Lutemis crashing down on the monster's head. The axe wasn't charged, but it still carried more than enough energy to send most monsters packing. It should have given the Diablos pause, at the very least.
Instead, it bounced off of the Wyvern's horns without leaving even a scratch. Worse than that, Izuku didn't hear the dull clunk of metal on keratin that he expected, but a sharp cracking sound as he struggled to recover from the blow. A chunk of shiny metal landed at his feet, and to his horror he realized it was a chunk of Dear Lutemis's axe blade. The weapon had nearly shattered on contact with the horns, reducing its axe mode to a glorified club with a few jagged edges.
As Izuku reeled from the sudden loss of his most powerful weapon, the Diablos reared up and swung its head at him in a powerful swipe. He managed to deflect some of the force with the haft of his weapon, but his arms screamed with the effort and the clumsy block left him wide open when the Diablos's head came back from the other side.
He was slammed into the ground, coughing violently from the impact and the sand that still filled his throat. The Diablos stood above him, poised to bring its terrifyingly sharp looking horns down onto his exposed stomach.
"Hey, paws off my partner!" Mina shouted from somewhere behind him.
The Diablos glanced her way, almost dismissively. For its trouble, it took a blast of blinding light directly to the face when Mina detonated one of the flash flies that was buzzing about the cave. A moment later Izuku heard the patter of Mina's tiny footsteps on the sand, and her paws gripped his shoulders in an attempt to haul him to his feet.
"Come on Izuku! Last one to the surface is a rotten egg!"
They made their exit from the cave as quickly as they could, leaving the Diablos flailing blindly about as it tried to crush them. Its roars shook the rock above their heads and threatened to send the entire cave tumbling down on their heads. To their relief, that didn't happen, and they emerged back into the sunlight near where they had fallen into the cave without injury.
"What the heck was that?" Mina said, dropping to the ground in an exhausted heap.
"Some kind of Diablos subspecies, I think," Izuku replied as he did the same.
"Well it sucked. This whole day has sucked!" Mina pouted. "I thought we were supposed to get easy assignments from now on. I mean, we saved the whole city! Doesn't that mean we get to take a rest for a while?"
"No rest for the wicked, I guess."
"I'm not wicked, I'm delightful!" Mina declared, somehow managing to shoot a tired grin his way.
"You are," Izuku agreed with a smile of his own. "But we should probably try and head back to Astera. The Commander and the others should know about what happened here so they can warn everyone to be careful."
He reached around to run his hand along Dear Lutemis's edge. The bulk of the shield was still intact; it was only the bladed rim that had snapped off. Still, the entire thing felt more fragile to him, as though it would shatter in a stiff wind. It was a disconcerting feeling. He'd wielded the weapon through many of the toughest battles they'd had in the New World, and seeing it broken had him feeling vulnerable.
"We should go see the Smithy as well," Izuku continued. "There's a good chance we're going to run into more strong monsters like that in the future, so we should prepare for the worst."
"But we've already got great equipment! How's the Smithy supposed to make it better?"
"I don't know. But I'm sure he'll be able to work something out. We'll just have to bring him some new materials, stuff that's even stronger than what we've brought him before."
"Got it. Ooooh, how about some of these?" Mina asked, crawling over to something nearby.
She plucked a large scale from the ground and held it up for Izuku to inspect. It looked like a Wyvern scale, reminiscent of the Rathian materials that had gone into making Dear Lutemis, but instead of a forest green coloration, this scale was bright pink. It almost matched Mina's fur perfectly as she held it against herself.
"Maybe," Izuku said, "Those look pretty sturdy. I wonder what monster they came from?"
"An awesome one!" Mina replied. "I hope we get to see it at some point. I wanna make a pink friend!"
"You know if we see it, it will probably try and eat us."
"It'll try and eat you. I will be spared because it's gonna see how pretty I am."
"Well, at least it has good taste."
They both laughed at that, the tension from the dangerous encounter bleeding out of them as they bantered their way back to the camp, and then to Astera. As rough as things had been, they were at least content in their partnership and confident that together they could take on whatever they encountered.
Author's note:
I remember the transition from Low to High Rank always being an experience. You go from the top of the world right back to the bottom of the food chain with basically no warning. Kinda sucks to have to go back to basic tier armors again, even if it's only for a short while. Makes the climb back up to the top once more pretty satisfying, though, even if you do have to do it again once Master Mode hits.
This next chapter's one I've been waiting quite a while to actually write. As in, way back when I started this fic, this was what I was planning for chapter 4. It got pushed back a little. Still, I'm glad to finally get to it, and I really hope you all like what I have planned for it. It's going to involve one of the bigger departures I've made from canon MHW so far, and I hope it hits like I want it to. The ending especially.
An extra special thank you to Raef_Darksbane, for editing for this fic. You're a blessing unto humanity, and I couldn't do it without you!
Thank you all so much for reading, I hope you have an excellent day, and I'll see you next time for Chapter 9- Pink!