When Joseph woke up, he got the sense that a while had passed.
He wasn't sure how long, really it could be anywhere between a few hours or a few days.
What was important is where he was, a completely empty house.
He was lying a bed, covered in bandages.
He tried to remember what had happened.
Going up the mountain, finding… that beast, fighting it and then…
He suddenly snapped out of his trance and lept to his feet, but the moment he touched the ground he suddenly collapsed and found himself struggling to even get up.
He fell with a loud thump, which was heard from outside, seeing as how Ben walked in.
"Hey…" He muttered "If ya woke up ya should've said something instead of going and doing that…"
Joseph suddenly cut him off with a desperate gasp "Daimyo! Where's Daimyo!?"
There was a long silence which told everything, but to elaborate on the details outside of this everything Ben replied "When we came to, he was already gone. Not only that, but ya were there right next to him, completely out of it."
There was a long silence while Joseph took in what had happened.
Ben continued "Anyways, after that we travelled down and found the end, a lot of us ended up hospitalised, it was just me, Anthony, Alicia and Callum who were able to still move afterwards. Since we didn't know when ya were gonna wake up, we had to go ahead and bury Daimyo. I'll take ya to where we did that in a bit. Also, when the doctors took yer armour off, they found that ya were completely completely covered in burns. They had no idea how it could've happened and we silently decided that it was for the best if we didn't mention that shit we saw back there with those blue flames surrounding ya.
"Ah… got it… I should probably explain what th was, shouldn't I-"
"Don't bother with it just yet, I'm curious, yeah, but it'd be more
convenient if ya just waited for the others to get back before ya did."
"Wait, where are the-"
"Recovering mostly, ya gotta remember that I wasn't messed up as badly as most of them were, all the ones who aren't recovering are in court right now."
Joseph looked momentarily shocked until he recalled the quest paper.
They weren't allowed to attack any monsters of a 6 star threat level and above.
The Molten Tigrex… was a 6 star.
Which means that… in his own damn selfish revenge plot he not only managed to get Daimyo killed, but now everyone was going to be facing criminal charges because of him.
Joseph felt more than terrible, but he was quickly interrupted by Ben. "Anyways, worrying about shit like that at the minute'll do ya no good, so just hurry up and get back to sleep, you need to recover from that."
Joseph suddenly got up, somehow shaking off his own damage. "No point, I'm fine."
Ben was visibly confused "Seriously, what's up with all this sudden bullshit yer pulling…"
Zach looked at the courtroom scene in front of him.
The man who represented the prosecution spoke out "Your honour, these hunters went out of their way to attack the Molten Tigrex, something directly prohibited by the quest conditions."
The defense responded with "But my clients have explained that this was a simple act of self-defense, due to the fact that upon being discovered the Molten Tigrex attempted to attack them. Had they chosen not to fight, then by now they would be dead."
"Still, why is it that they discovered the Tigrex to begin with?"
"That much is simple. After having hunted a Seregios that they mistakenly assumed to be the cause of the monsters disappearing from the Ancestral Steppe, they were instructed to go and inform the other hunters who were on the mountain. By the time they got there, all of the hunters had already been murdered by the Tigrex. They witnessed this scene and were then attacked and from there the rest is already known."
There was a tense silence.
The judge banged on the gavel. "It appears that there is nothing left to discuss about this incident. The nine hunters are charged with self-defense against a monster, their sentence shall be-"
Suddenly, the door slammed open.
"Hold it!" Joseph yelled out.
"The others shouldn't be punished. They simply moved in to protect me… because… I was the one who first attacked the Tigrex!"
There was a lot commotion until the judge banged on his gavel.
"Before anything, could you please state your name and occupation."
"Joseph Gilmore, HR6 hunter. Anyways, I'm here to testify about what really happened up on that mountain."
Joseph started with his experience back at Tanith Village and how that was destroyed, before explaining his other reasons for holding grudges against monsters like that Tigrex, giving himself a motive for the attack. He then went on to testify about his aura and how that assisted in the defeat of the Tigrex. However, to match his own spin of events, all instances of the others interfering were to protect him and Daimyo was only moving based off of his person orders, as opposed to free will.
The court was in silence after all of this was over.
Of course, the concept of an aura was ridiculously outlandish, something that had not existed in the other testimonies. But the motive presented and the way in which the fight had gone was far clearer and more logical than what had been established previously, meaning that without further discussion Joseph's testimony could not be accepted or denied as the truth of the incident.
In the end, the judge suspended court for a day, due to the defense and prosecution having new information that they needed to incorporate into this case, as well as to investigate the reliability of these aura claims.
After it was over, Ben ended up showing Joseph where they had buried Daimyo.
It was a fairly small headstone.
On it was written "In memory of Daimyo. Born 1330. Died 1346. A well beloved and true companion."
There was a long silence, as Joseph sat staring at the grave.
It was like looking at it repeated a thousand times what he already knew.
Daimyo was dead. No matter how long he lived, no matter how much he did, no matter how much he wished, that fact would never change. He was never going to see Daimyo again.
There was a long silence between the three of them there.
After a while, Zach spoke, interrupting Joseph from his internal conflict.
"Hey, Joseph. Why is it that ya suddenly tried to get all the blame onto yerself back there?"
"...Guess I'm not even too sure myself. Well, here's what I think. We're all gonna be punished unless I do something, right? I can tell that you guys are covering for me by leaving out the fact that I attacked first as well as the aura stuff, which I don't think ya should be doin'. I was the one who attacked first. This was my fight. I was the one who started the fight, it's just that you guys protected me. I was… the one who caused Daimyo to die…"
Zach suddenly grabbed him "Hey! Ya can't seriously be tryna get yourself in prison just cause Daimyo, died, right!? First off, it was that thing that killed him and second, that thing's still out there, ya know!? Yer seriously just gonna let it run free!? I mean, I'm not sure if anything ya said back there was true or not, but you've been huntin' it down for years now, right!? So then, why the hell would ya just let it go now!?"
"...Well it's not that… Yer damn right, I do wanna beat the shit outta the ****er, but… I don't want ya to be punished just because I did that shit! I mean, it's fine this way. Ya won't get it that bad so… afterwards, just forget about me and go live yer lives. As soon as I get outta there, I'll be free. Remember, I left out the Tanzia thing. So they won't have any reason to kill me, I'll be out in under ten years, probably. They might experiment with the aura a little, sure, but it won't be anything that'd risk my life or somethin'."
There was another silence until Joseph got back. "Where are the others? I figure now's as good a time as any to explain all this aura shit."
They went back and after gathering up the others, Joseph finally began to explain.
"To be honest with you, I can't exactly say that I understand it much myself. Whenever an attack comes near me, that thing activates by itself and it's like by instinct I know which the best way to attack is. Like, predictin' movements and shit. Normally though, it's inactive. Only comes out whenever I end up thinking of that damned beast."
He stopped for a second.
"One of ya, try and hit me."
Ben stepped forward slightly reluctantly and threw a punch.
As it neared, the blue aura once again flared up around Joseph, causing him to drop back slightly to dodge the attack before sweeping forwards once again, throwing a punch straight for Ben's face with a bewildering speed.
Just before connection Joseph managed to stop himself, seeming to struggle somewhat.
There was an unanimous thought which ran something like "Whatever that was, it wasn't normal and it was certainly something powerful."
"Once I start on it, it gets pretty difficult to stop. Not only that, but there's something else to it, the thing that I used to beat that Tigrex back. Sometimes, when I'm in a bad spot, I feel something whispering in the back of my head. It's not really saying anything, but I feel like it's offering stronger power. If I let it, then it's like I completely lose control. Not like I'm not moving, but for some reason, the only thing that's on my mind is killing my opponent. That's all I think about. The entire world becomes just that, in that instant. Usually it doesn't stop until they're dead, but I guess that time I was lucky, and I was at least able to make sure that me like that wasn't the last thing Daimyo saw of me…"
"Wait a minute." Alexandra said "I know that that berserk mode is something dangerous, but still, why is it that you only started using it on that last fight? That power's strong, so I'm sure that if you practiced with it enough you'd have a way easier time then you normally do-"
"I was scared."
"Hey, Zach, Ben, Callum, I dunno if any of ya remember this, but I sure do. It was back 3 years ago, when we were first starting out as hunters. Back then, I was still using a long sword, seems far off, doesn't it?"
It was raining down in the flooded forest.
It was difficult to see, but a thunder flash revealed the outline of two large flying wyverns.
The hunters were in the process of hunting a Gobul, but while pursuing it had ended up accidentally treading into Rath territory. It was spring, so at this time they'd be highly territorial. While it was unusual for them to make a nest in a swamp like the Flooded Forest, it wasn't unheard of .
"Don't worry, I got this!" The one with bright blue eyes yelled out.
Seemingly not caring about the risks, he sprinted forwards, reaching the Rathian.
She took a swing at him, before being swiftly dodged around, an aura activating around the hunter.
Joseph found a good position before jumping forwards once again, stabbing into her stomach.
The Rathian attempted to attack once again, seemingly unfazed by this.
But, it was too slow, simply being countered again.
All the while, Daimyo followed from the sidelines, unable to be too involved in the fight due to the sheer speed and range of the one he was meant to be fighting alongside. But at the very least, he could use pressurised water.
The others fought against the Rathalos, but it was a slow battle.
Eventually, both battles were in their climax.
At this rate, the Rathian fight looked like it would be a close victory and the Rathalos fight looked like it would be a close loss.
Joseph didn't notice this, completely absorbed by finishing his, though not yet in a state of absolute focus on it.
The Rathalos appeared briefly stunned from a hit to the head.
Everyone rushed in to attempt to attack, but Zach felt something was off.
He looked at its eyes and found, instead of a general confusion and cloudiness, a strong intent to kill.
"Wait, pull back!" he yelled, but at that point the others were already too close.
The Rathalos, faster than before, lept up with a vertical tailswipe, hitting the hunter coming first with the strike. It then struck at the monster following up on the attack with a claw strike, hitting them onto the ground and injuring their body.
It then took off further before the remaining two could react, shooting down a powerful fireball. This hit the monster, before another two were shot out.
The dual blades user dodged one way, only to be cut off by the first. He jumped backwards, but was then in the range of the second, unable to do anything about it.
In the end, it was just Joseph, Daimyo, Zach and Zappy left.
Noticing this, Joseph regrouped with Zach.
"Okay, yer probably not doing too good, right? So, let's change our targets. I'll take the Rathalos and you take the Rathian."
Before even waiting for a response, Joseph rushed forwards.
Despite his apparent energy, he knew that he wouldn't be able to get through the fight on his own strength.
So he chose his other strength, surrendering to the aura.
He had a comfortably familiar lack of control.
The Rathalos fought back against him, the battle being completely even.
Joseph could definitely win in terms of speed, but if the Rathalos were to take off into the air there'd be nothing he could do to stop it.
If he let up on his attack, it'd take the advantage.
So he continued to stick near to the sky king, even if it meant that he wouldn't be able to do as many powerful attacks as he could. For instance, he couldn't use the full spirit combo due to the recovery time that would be required after the final hit, so he couldn't increase his attack anymore than it was already increased.
Unfortunately, this also meant that he had to work out a way of quickly ending the fight, as he would only get weaker as it dragged out, not even considering tiredness.
Zach was managing to hold off the Rathian, but obviously he was unequipped to properly be able to fight it off.
Joseph continued to press the attack, unconcerned with anything outside of this.
Slash, then back off and slash again.
Roll round the attack, strike.
Pull back then slash.
At no point was there a distance of over a metre between the two, locked in an endless cycle.
The Rathalos roared, briefly stunning Joseph, but doing nothing else.
"Hmm, so if he didn't do anything, then that probably means he's calling on his mate for help. Well bring it on, then, I'll just have to counter it!"
Joseph felt a presence enter his aura.
Instantly, he moved to attack, knowing full well that it'd near fatal.
As he moved he heard a voice.
"Hey! Get down!"
He realised the voice was right behind him, where the attack should've been.
But, he was unable to stop, the aura moving his body by itself.
He connected with the chestplate of the armour first, slicing straight through it and into the chest of the hunter underneath.
The attack finally stopped before his neck, but it had certainly dealt damage.
The hunter he had hit cried out in pain.
Blood flew through the air.
Zach crashed to the ground, barely conscious.
Joseph was briefly stunned by this, the aura completely disappearing.
It was like the world had frozen.
Joseph then realised why Zach had tried to stop him.
The Rathian had shot out a fireball.
If he'd tried to hit to hit it, it obviously would've gone wrong.
But, he didn't know that at the time.
He simply perceived the gesture of help as an attack.
Joseph was too stunned for his aura to even activate, causing him to be hit by the aura.
Zappy attempted to tackle the Rathian but was brushed aside with a tailswipe.
The Rathalos moved in to hit him with a fireball, but was blocked off by Daimyo.
It moved in to attack, taking him off guard with a tailswipe and eventually taking him down with a claw strike to the face.
Joseph snapped out of his shock and stood up.
He looked at the two Raths as he surrendered himself to the aura one last time.
When he finally snapped out of this state, he was left with the two corpses he had mutilated.
Rain fell down, washing away the blood.
"My aura… it can't tell the difference between friend and enemy. It just hits whatever the hell enters it. Back there, I was lucky, cause I wasn't at a good enough angle for the attack to kill instantly, but if I had hit him with something stronger…"
There was a silence.
"After that," Joseph continued "I got rid of my sword, sold it. I used the money I got to build a bow and gunner set, so I could change my fighting style to focus more on teaming up with Daimyo. I figured that I could stay back and Daimyo could be my shield. If Daimyo was on the front lines, then I was at no risk of hurting anyone. Though with time, I came to rely on him for pretty much everything. Maybe if… if I'd relied on him less, then he'd still be here…"
Another silence rang out.
"Well anyways, I'll be heading off now. I got to get to court tommorow so that I can be found guilty so… see ya round, I guess."
The court started up once again, with Joseph standing there.
Zach and the other two were watching, not saying anything.
The defense made an opening statement "Your honour, after much research it has been found that the defendants were indeed attacked first, contrary to the claims of Mr Gilmore, and no information could be found to support the supposed aura he speaks of."
"I see, does the prosecution have anything to say on this matter?"
"Regrettably, I also could not find any evidence to support any scenarios other than self defense, nor could I find evidence for the claims of having an aura. Mr Gilmore's background has been checked and he was telling the truth on why he could have a motive, but there is no other solid evidence pointing to his version of events."
Joseph tried to object, but was quickly cut off by the judge.
"I see. So then, with all this considered, the original version of events does appear to be the truth. So, for this, I will order a three year ban on setting foot in the city of Dundorma for all nine of these hunters, as well as a psychological evaluation of Mr Gilmore. That is all, this court is now adjourned."
Joseph tried to argue some more, even yelling that he could display the aura, but was quickly removed before anything could be done.
The ban would be enforced at the end of the month, which gave them five days after this one to leave.
Joseph didn't really have that much that he could do, so he decided to sleep and think.
The next day, he went up to the other three.
"So… I've been doing some thinking. I don't know about you guys, but I'm thinking of going on my own when we leave Dundorma. I'm not sure, I just think it's just that I wanna get stronger. If I stay with you guys, then I feel like I'll just end up relying on ya again. So, I'm gonna go off on my own and I'm gonna get strong enough so that I can control my aura, and then I won't have to rely on anyone again. Whatever you guys wanna do, I dunno, but that's just what I'm gonna do."
After some thinking, they decided to do the same. Because back then, against that Tigrex, what they experienced was something akin to true fear.
They were weak, so unless they did something to change that then, they'd be stuck like that forever.
They'd go to wherever was next and hunt for a while, until something changed and they moved on.
This cycle had to be broken somehow.
The other hunters agreed.
Alexandra agreed because she felt that same lack of strength, as did Sean.
Alicia didn't really agree, still choosing to follow Sean, but she'd still try to improve, as her own powerlessness there certainly was something she wanted to improve.
Anthony felt something similar but mostly didn't want to be left out and forgotten.
Riko decided as a result of the majority.
So it was decided that they'd leave now, go on their own ways, and come back to Dundorma in three years, where they'd try to get through the ranks with a newfound power and speed.
After that was all sorted, Joseph gathered up some materials and money and went to the smithy, where he placed an order for a new weapon and armour set.
"So, that's what happened, in the end." Alexandra finished, speaking to Zenya in a pretty much emptied tavern.
"Hmm… I see, then. So, what're you planning on doing on your last few days here?"
"Dunno, haven't really got anything planned. I'll probably just end up getting a new shield made and fix my armour.
There was an inevitable silence that they both dreaded, before Zenya finally decided to say "Y'know, it's not too late. You can still go and visit your dad if you wanted to-"
Alexandra suddenly cut her off "Sorry, but there's no way that's happening."
"You can't keep on running like this! You know that you're the only successor he has left! I understand that you want to be a hunter, but you're just being unreasonable about it-"
"At that time, on that mountain. I was way too weak. Even with Zino by my side, all it took was a few hits for me to go down. That thing… it was way too strong for me. So, I think that just shows that I'm nowhere near the strongest. I'm not running, I've already said that. I'm just going down a different path that he wants me to. I need to become the strongest, it's as simple as that. So, no matter how much you try to convince me, I won't acknowledge him."
Alexandra walked to leave before there could be any argument.
"Anyways, farewell. I don't believe I'll be coming back for a while."
Zenya was silent for a while. She thought to herself aloud "Hopefully by the time you get back you'll be able to finally face him. I understand what you're doing, but you can't just keep on fighting like this for the rest of your life. Still though, those hunters you teamed up with, they kinda remind me of them…"
Anthony thought to himself "Shit, where am I gonna go now. I can't go back home yet, so I gotta find some place where I can make money somehow." he continued to walk through the crowd, frantically trying to work something out.
Riko sat alone on a roof, looking up at the sky. "Shit, and here I thought I'd finally found a group…"
Inevitably, the day came and everyone set out.
The other five went on their separate ways, leaving the four Loc Lac hunters behind.
There was a long silence that rang out between them.
Finally it was broken by Zach going "So I guess this'll be the first time in years that any of us have been on our own, huh?"
"I think it's the first time in our hunting career." Callum noted
"Damn, that's a while, isn't it? Three years… it's been a long time but it hasn't felt like anything." Ben continued
"Still, though, I guess that's the way it is. Kinda weird that we're gonna be gone as long as we've been doing this, though I guess that gives us a lotta time to get strong." Joseph finished.
"Speaking of," Zach asked "You got the new gear you ordered yet?"
"Yeah," Joseph answered "Got it back at my house, I'll stop by and pick it up before I leave. Don't worry, when you see me again three years from now I'll definitely know how to use it properly. This time, I won't just ditch it."
"Hold it. One last thing" Zach said.
"?"
"Thinking back to that time, I always figured that it was one of the Raths that did it. Learnin' that ya did it was kind of a shock to me."
"Yeah... sorry. I just figured that if I didn't mention it then the three of ya would soon forget about the aura. Though I guess I was wrong..."
"Yeah, covering up the aura like that was damn irresponsible..."
"...I know."
"Well, how 'bout this, when we get back, we won't have any more secrets, ya hear?"
"Eh?"
"Ya heard me right. Secrets like that shit and the aura shit, all they do is cause bad shit to happen. So from now on, no more secrets!"
"Yeah, that does seem right."
"To be honest with ya... I don't think I've forgiven ya for that yet. So to let me do that, make it so that yer someone worth forgiving!"
"Got it." Joseph replied, slighly more motivated.
There wasn't much left to say, so the four set out, ready to see each other in three years.
Joseph got geared up and decided to go visit Daimyo's grave.
He sat there for another while, seemingly reflecting.
Finally he left Dundorma, headed northeast.
The sun was in the sky, it around 11.
Once again, Joseph thought to himself.
"At that time, I think I've worked out what was bugging me. The reason the rocks deflected and the Tigrex's lighter strikes did. I looked into it, and sure enough, that's something that normally happens with a Stonefist Hermitaur. Which means… Daimyo was deviating. If he had lived a little while longer, maybe only six months, then he could've gotten even stronger. That future… that future is something that I stole with my over-reliance on him. If I had just been stronger, then I'm sure that he'd still be alive, at the minute. Maybe… that's something that could've happened. Well, this is the result of my failure. I can't change what's happened, no matter what."
He finally drew his weapon.
A khanga edge, built from the parts of the Seregios that they killed.
Daimyo's last hunt.
The blade glistened, the light reflecting off of its scales.
His armour wasn't exactly the greatest, a simple Yian Kut Ku set built from what he had lying around, but it would have to do for the minute.
"The best I can do now is to get strong and make sure that I never lose anyone important again. I'll get stronger, as strong as I can, and then I'll kill that thing and anything else like it before they can kill anyone else I care about. Standing atop the corpses of all the people I cared about, I swear this."
Sheathing his sword, having brought it out for no really reason other than it fitting the moment, he set off, heading to wherever he was going to end up.
Fallon stood alone in her office in the Guild Headquarters, the highest place in Dundorma.
She looked out across the city, bustling with energy at this time of day.
She remembered how the hunters she banned would be leaving today.
"Hmm, that bow user, he truly is fortunate. Had he been unable to testify about his own aura in time, then right now he and his companions would be getting a far worse punishment."
She paused briefly
"It's a shame that I had to go and do that, but you're still counted as a normal hunter for the time being, so it's the most I could get away with. Still, I hope you too will view it that way and use it as a chance to improve upon your aura. After all, it's in your nature as an aura user. That immortal Molten Tigrex, it was quite a feat to take down. Though I guess that makes sense, having investigated your history. It's a shame those others from Loc Lac don't appear to have it, though perhaps that incident was only good enough for a power increase, not an awakening. Even so, considering your history with that Daimyo Hermitaur, this little incident should've increased the power of it even more."
She thought back to the writings she found a while back.
"All those who pursue their vengeance will be able to rise above all others in strength, but are destined to die for the sake of their vengeance."
It was incredibly vague and poorly worded, but Fallon understood well what it meant.
She smirked, thinking about her own plans
"So long as that Molten Tigrex lives you'll continue pursue it, so then, with it still being alive, I wonder how much stronger you will be able to grow before you can finish it off, monster taming grudge holder?"
END OF PART II
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART III
So yeah that was kind of a long chapter, but hey, we finally made it to the end of the first part (which is also part II, because the original DBA is part I)
Hopefully it went alright, I think it was definitely uneven in terms of quality. I also probably should've spread out the plot focused chapters some more, like the past four were plot focused when really it should've only been three.
That last scene took place entirely in Fallon's thoughts, because it'd be weird for her to talk to herself.
A lot of the explanations from both her and Joseph were probably kinda confusing, so I hope it'll make sense when I've cleared everything up over the course of the series (unless I abandon it).
Well still, I'd be interesting in what you think is the deal with the aura just from that, so if you want to then post in reviews I guess.
Speaking of reviews, it'd probably be helpful to learn what you liked and disliked about over the course of this arc, so I can try and work on that over the course of the next of the next arc.
So stuff like character writing, fights, style of humour, style of writing. What was passable and what was shitty, basically.
Finally, since I have a stats exam coming up this month, and this is a final thing, like it's GCSEs shit so I wanna focus on that, so there won't be a new chapter out on next update.
Also because end of arc, I mean it just makes sense.
Hopefully after this I won't need to take another break for a while, but who knows I guess..