Day: 22
Dear Diary.
Graceful, relentless, vicious.
The Dual blade almost empowers it's user with strange power of the Demon Mode. Along with its rapid-fire slashes and with the Hunter Arts that supports that.
I've focused on the dual blades in today's hunts. I did some reflecting this morning and well... I still don't know.. I'll have to continue to think.. Well I did hunt a bit more large monsters today. First on the hunting list was the
Blangonga. The Snow Lion... Which doesn't look anything like a lion by the way, in the Arctic Ridge. The hunt went relatively well. I have to say though, its ability to dig and pop out of the snow, and having one mean right hook.
The second hunt was the Rathian. The Queen of the earth, in the Verdant Hills. Her powerful wings, the deadly poison filled tail, and spitting high velocity fireball. twirling around the Rathian with my dual blades was almost cathartic. Third quest was something called a Hunt-a-thon.
Let me quickly explain how this quest works for you. Hunt-a-thon is basically a normal hunt, but there are a high density of monsters in the area and it's my job to control their numbers by hunting them down. The minimum number of the monster needed to take down is two. I can hunt as much as I want though. I took the rest of the day to take on two hunt-a-thon quest. One was a Yian Kut-Ku and the second was a Velocidrome.
Another day and another hunt.
Today is a little more eventful than yesterday huh Diary?
Well.. I'll do what I can to make tomorrow just as eventful!
Thank you for listening to me Diary.
-Sese.
Day: 23
Dear Diary.
It's simple, yet devastating. It knocks monsters out like it's nobody's business, and yet... I still can't fully understand this weapon..
It was another slow day.. Well, other than the some gathering quests and some small monster quests here and there I didn't do much..
Well I did, do one major hunt. The Nargacuga. The swift wyvern. The results.. It was bad.. The rapid movement, constant swipes of it's bladed wings... and its tail.. looks like an ordinary tail, but when the Nargacuga slams the ground with its tail, not only does it stretch, it also reveals that the tails are hiding spikes that protrudes out... This monster had everything it needed, It's fast, it hits hard it has an option for every situation.
Now Diary, I'm sure you're thinking that I made it out of that hunt huh... Well I'm alive since I am writing this.. but for the first time.. something happened that I never thought would happen... or wanted to even think of happening.. I failed the quest..
So here's how the guild's system work.
When a hunter faints three times in a quest the guild considers the quest failed. How do they know? Well they have dragon watch balloons flying high and Felynes that work for the Hunter's Guild working on ground. Those guys also carry you to base camp when you faint. The quest fees that I pay for quests, which are requests from people all across the lands by the way goes to the supplies at camp, the maintenance of the camp itself and a small fee for the felynes that carry me back to base camp..
Getting back to the hunt... With each cart ride back, I was getting more worried.. Am I fit to do this? I mean... both my mom and dad was a hunter in their youth.. So what did I do wrong?
I should sleep on it...
Sorry for bringing down the mood Diary...
-Sese
Day: 24
Dear Diary.
Slow, steady, ever relenting. The Gunlance.
Ever since I tried this out in the Training Arena back like three weeks ago, I was in love. There's something about this weapon that gets me excited. Is it the big shield? Is it the precise strikes that pierce the monsters? Or is it the climactic explosion that really gets me excited? Who knows? All I know is that GunLance is probably one of my most favorite weapon that I have ever used.
In fact I tried to take down the Nargacuga once again with my GunLance and guess what? I took it down without even trying much! Its swift strikes were no match for my massive shield and all the explosion the weapon can handle! Which wasn't much... Since the sharpness of the weapon got crippled with every shelling that I fired, but it was all worth it though. since it heated my lance portion of the gunlance making it go through like Hot knife through Kirin Butter!
Anyway going back to Bherna I felt that It was time to do some upgrading again. This time it was for my weapons. My armors are providing me with enough protection to take on most monsters, but losing sharpness and my weapons bouncing off of monster's hard carapaces and scales are the last thing that I want. So I talked to the smithy and he gave me the catalog for the next upgrade steps. Dragonite Ores. These were mostly found in the scorching hot volcanic region. I took the rest of the day mining for the ores that I needed and in the end I managed to upgrade most of my weapons, turning some of my petrified weapons into brand new weapons all together!
I feel a lot better today, than I did yesterday. I know that failing hunts will be more inevitable with quests but I'll do what I can to improve and move forward!
I'll see you tomorrow Diary.
-Sese.
Day: 25
Dear Diary.
Swift, natural, fluid, and never alone. The Insect Glaive, and the Kinsect companion.
Ever since I've gotten this weapon a Kinsect companion was more or less a necessity for the glaive. It's like the two were meant for each other. During a hunt I send out my companion to hit and collect monster essence to temporarily strengthen my abilities to hunt and in return the Kinsect can rest snugly on my arm. I even feed the little guy nectar and larvae too!
I spent the day hunting a couple Nargacugas in the Jurassic frontier and in the Misty Peaks to upgrade some of my weapons. I'm doing a lot better taking down the swift wyvern down. I was on a roll.. Then another bad hunt... Well, I did complete them but I probably had more trouble than the Nargacuga.. It's quests that where I need to take two monsters down.. pretty much at the same time... First was a pair of Lagombis in the Arctic ridge...
Diary, let me ask you. Have you ever hunted two slippy slidey bunny bear at the same time? It's like being pummeled from two sides at once.. It felt like I needed two pair of eyes to keep in track of both the fanged beasts.. Sure one would normally leave an area before the other, but still... When there are two Lagombies in one area.. It's a nightmare.. I brought by bow to the hunt and I have to say, gunner having a naturally lower defensive prowess than the blade master armor is a pretty unpleasant thing... Somehow though, I managed to take the two beasts down.
Next on the list was two Royal Ludroths at the same time.. Actually it wasn't that bad. Most of the time the two leviathans kept themselves separate making the hunt easy pickings. I ended my day with hunting like three Daimyo Hermitaurs with my newly made dual chainsaws.. It's surprisingly heavy, but manageable. The rotating blades helped shredding the over sized crab.
I still have some hunting to do tomorrow to get my needed parts for upgrade, but for today I think I'll stop here.
I'll see you tomorrow Diary.
-Sese.
Day: 26
Dear Diary.
It's Simple. It's proficient, and it's versatile. The Light Bow Gun.
I've woke up early today. It was still pretty dark outside with a little bit of sun light peeking out over the mountains. The palicos and were still asleep so I took my time to enjoy the cool dawn air. It's almost four weeks since I've been sent to Bherna Village to become a hunter.. Have I become a hunter? I think so. From day one til now, I've faced more triumphs compared to failures. But even with all this success, why do I still feel like I'm lacking as a hunter? Am I not being bold enough? Should I hunt bigger badder monsters? I don't know... I mean I should but at the same time, the single failed hunt with the Nargacuga sort of haunts me regardless of my victories over it later on.. The sensation of getting cut down, beaten til I was dizzy just to get pounced and bitten and beaten.. The pain and thought just.. It gets to me..
By the time the Palicos woke up I was cleaning up my weapons and armors. Maintaining all these are a bit of a chore, but if I neglect them it might affect my performance during a hunt.
I've spent a small portion of my day gathering some herbs to stock up on my potions. My first major hunt was with the Najarala, the Wing snake Wyvern in the Marshlands. A massive snake that can send its scales out and detonate with a high frequency blasts from its vocal cords or even the large rattle thing on its head. I used my Light Bow Gun for this hunt and I have to say keeping my distance with this weapon.. did NOT help me at all. You know diary, a monster with sort of stubby legs sure can move fast. There were multiple instances where the monster circled around me within seconds and coil around me. It would even take a bite at me using it's fangs just dripping with paralytic fluids. I had to make multiple retreats just to take the monster down.
The next two hunts were the same monster. One slay and one capture. The Shogun Ceanataur , the Sickle crab. This monsters almost a polar opposite of the Daimyo Hermitaur. The Daimyo focuses on its large claws as defense while its counterpart uses its slim and sharp blade like claws to go on the offensives. The hunt was a little more difficult that I thought it was going to be... The monster moved a lot faster than I thought and it even hit me to the point where I was starting to bleed out.. I barely managed to make that hunt too... My lack of knowledge of the monsters is really effecting my hunting skills..
When I got back I spent a long time bandaging myself up and slathering herbs to heal my wounds. The last thing I did was read about these monsters. The Wycademy has information on these monsters so I might as well utilize them.
Another day gone. I still feel conflicted about my skills as a Hunter.. I wonder if the Legendary Hunter that saved Moga felt the same when she was just a rookie...
I'll see you tomorrow Diary.
-Sese.
Day: 27
Dear Diary.
It's elegant in its own little way, and very organic, and it has infinite arrows. The Hunting Bow.
I woke up today with a bit of a body ache... That Shogun Ceanataur's Claws did a number of damage on my body. Thanks to the Herbs provided by the village and the herbs that I collected, the Scars were non-existent, but the pain was more or less still there. I took my armor to the smithy and got a quick and free patch job. I also got my weapons tuned and looked after too. After all, I can only do so much to keep them maintained.
I was still in pain but that wasn't going to stop me on getting better as a hunter and, you know.. Getting my daily hunts in (Hunts over body!). I took my light bow gun and went to take down a pair of Khezu in the marshlands. I have to say things were going well. Until everything fell apart.. Even with my advantage of distance and the Khezu telegraphing its attack very visibly, I still took a lot of hits. After all, there were two that was more or less in the same area at the same time.. by the time I took down one Khezu, I already got sent back to base camp.. It was now or never, The last Khezu was on its last leg and was limping away. I think I got too cocky.. I should have taken my potion to keep me going.. I was trying to reload my weapon and the enraged Khezu jumped on me and.. I failed the quest...
After I failed that quest, I went back to the village and rested for a while.. This was my second failed quest... My body was still jittery from the electrical shocks that I was hit by... I took several hours to recover from that, then I tried again with my Bow. I decided to go with the adept style and take the Triple Volley Hunter's art. Surprisingly I did very well using the bow. The two Khezu went down in no time!
Returning back to the village, the chief told me that he had another urgent quest for me. This time it was the Yian Garuga the Black Wolf bird, and it was wreaking havoc in the Jurassic Frontier. I took my trusty Long sword and decided to go with the adept style again. Hunting this monster for the first time I didn't know what to expect, and boy was I in for a surprise... This thing was like a mix of a Yian Kut-Ku and a Rathian. Fireballs that travel at break neck speed, a tail that's chock full of poison and the strangest scream that I've heard yet... If it wasn't for the adept style, I would have been Garuga food... Returning to be village again, the Chief congratulated me on a hunt well done.
Today was surprisingly eventful and very tiresome...
I'll see you tomorrow Diary.
-Sese.
Day: 28
Dear Diary.
It's been four weeks... A month since I've arrived at Bherna. I've made progress, I've failed and succeeded... I've met new and familiar faces, I've overcome many adversities.. But... I feel like I'm not moving fast enough.. I mean sure, I've took down a Yian Garuga, a monster feared by even veteran hunters, but it's no Elder Dragon.. I remember the Legendary Hunter went from a rookie hunter to a Elder Dragon slaying Legend in no time... Am I just out of her league?
Waking up today I remembered that I was granted access to the five star quests. I took a quick skim of what people around the world was requesting for help.. These line up of monsters looked quite challenging... As I was about to choose a quest, the flight cattendant, a felyne employee of the wycademy and hunters guild that ran the air ships in Bherna totted along to send me a message. The chiefs of the three village, Kotoko, Pokke, and Yukumo requested my presence. I decided to head over to each village a day to talk to the chiefs. I headed to the Kotoko Village first. The chief greeted me and asked me a request that I wasn't really expecting..
Hey Diary, remember that one monster that I couldn't even scratch in the verdant hills while I was delivering some eggs? The Astalos the Electric Wyvern. It was back and was pretty much terrorizing the Verdant Hills. Normally this wouldn't be a problem if it was any other monster, but this territorial flying wyvern was getting very close to the village. The chief asked me personally to take down the beast. At first, I was ecstatic about this opportunity, then a whole bunch of negative thought rushed into my head.. Of all the hunters in the world, why me? I mean, I'm just a rookie right? Last time I faced this monster, I wasn't really facing it at all.. I was more or less running away from it. Sure I lugging a massive Wyvern egg, but still.. I went into the house that they provided to take a breath and to think.
I spent a bit of time in the house and in the end, I decided to take on the monster. I geared up with the Gunlance and decided to go with the striker style. I decided to take simplicity and versatility of the Hunter's art as an advantage.
The Hunt itself was near exhausting.. The monster was ever relentless. Constantly charging, crashing down, sending out green bolts of lightning that jittered and scattered across the ground. I barely had time to think, I just had my shield up for the most of the hunt. It also didn't help the fact that my weapon's sharpness wasn't the best. It almost constantly bounced off the electrically charged scales of the Astalos. I was forced to use the explosive shellings of the Gunlance which ate through my weapon's integrity. It was a long and hard hunt but in the end, One well placed Dragon Blast Hunter's Art took down the monster!
Returning to the Village, I was greeted and cheered by the villager's of Kotoko. Even the chief congratulated me, with his own little jab about me still not being as good as him in his youth. I wonder if this was the same feeling that the legendary hunter of the Moga Village felt when she saved Moga. It wasn't an elder Dragon that I slayed, but it sure felt nice that my efforts saved many lives.
I'm going to to leave Kotoko village tomorrow to head over to Pokke Village.
I wonder what's in stored for me tomorrow.
-Sese