20th December, 1348
10 AM
The Tundra was nearly silent, all that could be heard was the sound of the wind.
The majority of the monsters were hiding in the caves, attempting to shield themselves from the elements.
But, there was one who ventured outside, due to desperation.
A starving Gammoth.
Normally, a Gammoth is highly territorial monster, only acting in defense.
This is, of course, so long as its territory can sustain its needs.
For this Gammoth, this wasn't the case, so now it was venturing out into the Tundra, attempting to find anything it could eat.
Since it was in such a hurry, this made it dangerous, as it would undoubtedly destroy anything in its way without a second thought.
As it travelled, it found something that it would undoubtedly attempt to destroy without a second thought.
A hunter.
Next to her, stood a Zinogre.
The Gammoth struck out first, causing them both to split up by dodging.
Alexandra ran around the side of the fanged wyvern and stabbed at it with her lance.
Meanwhile, Zino attempted to strike at it.
Fearing the Zinogre due to its electricity, the Gammoth decided to prioritise her first.
The Gammoth wrapped its trunk around her, and flung her across the area.
Zino just about managed to dig her claws in to land.
The Gammoth ignored Alexandra's attacks and charged forwards.
Zino dodged the charge and responded with a ball of electricity.
Unfazed by this, the Gammoth turned and slammed down with its trunk.
Zino just barely dodged the strike, but still felt the force of it from a few metres away.
At this moment, Alexandra rushed in, once again striking at the legs of the wyvern.
In response to this, the Gammoth lifted itself off the ground using its back legs.
Its trunk started to move wildly as it inhaled, drawing everything around it in.
Alexandra sheathed her weapon and started to run in the other direction, not able to get anywhere.
The second the Gammoth stopped, she dived forwards, just dodging its legs as they slammed onto the ground.
She got up to look around again, only to notice something different with the Gammoth.
Its legs and tail were now covered by snow, as if forming armour around it.
The Gammoth roared, and once again charged towards Zino.
She just about dodged the charge, only to get on the side by a swing of the trunk.
Zino landed a few metres away, still able to fight.
Alexandra took this opportunity to rush in, but was stopped by the Gammoth swinging at her.
Not having enough time to dodge, she blocked.
The attack was powerful, but she was just about able to remain standing.
The Gammoth pulled backwards, ready to strike again, but as it did Zino rushed in and attempted to tackle it.
This wasn't very effective, the Gammoth then attempting to slam its trunk down on Zino again.
Zino lept backwards, and as the Gammoth attempted to recover from the attack she pounced forwards, charged with electricity.
She struck at the neck of the Gammoth, tearing through the flesh with her claws.
It wasn't deep enough to be fatal, but it was certainly painful.
Zino landed and not wanting to waste this chance she pounced once again, this time with the intention of landing an attack deep enough to be fatal, but was cut off by the Gammoth angrily swinging its trunk.
Zino was knocked back a fair distance, still managing to stand.
While the Gammoth was occupied Alexandra rushed in.
She stabbed at its left side, piercing it.
The Gammoth swung around and attempted to charge at her, but was blocked.
Alexandra wasn't able to block fully, being pushed backwards, but still avoided a lot of damage.
The Gammoth charged forwards.
This attack would be incredibly difficult to fully block and she didn't have enough room to dodge, so Alexandra decided the only option was to stake everything on a counter.
The Gammoth's tusks connected with Alexandra's shield.
Had she been standing normally, she'd have simply been pushed backwards.
But, she was crouched down, meaning that the tusks pushed her even further into the snow.
The Gammoth's intention was to trample her.
Due to the snow on its legs, this attack would be made even stronger.
But, it didn't realise it had an opening.
One that had been exposed before.
The neck.
Alexandra was pushed as far as she could go, just getting past tusks.
At that moment, it opened up.
She stabbed forwards with everything she had, piercing the flesh on the neck.
She continued to attack, betting everything this would work, until she felt the lance connect with something.
The Gammoth completely froze, and she used this opportunity to pull the lance out and start running away.
Blood started pouring out of the wound, signalling that this was fatal.
She had hit a vein, exactly as she'd hoped.
The Gammoth recognised that it was now going to die.
It turned to the hunter and started charging, hoping to at least be able to take out the one who was this dangerous.
But, before it could do anything, it felt something slam down on its head, finally causing it to black out.
Zino removed her claw from the Gammoth's head and moved backwards, to where Alexandra was.
Both of them waited until the bleeding had stopped, to make sure it was dead.
Alexandra sent off the signal to say that the quest was cleared, but didn't relax.
She was far too pumped up on adrenaline and regrets, mostly due to the end.
"I'm still not strong, am I?" She thought to herself "I've got to get to the point where I can fight without taking risks like that… the question is just how to get there…"
She then carved the body and saw it get taken away, before heading back to the village, thinking of nothing but how to get to the point of being strong.
Meanwhile, in a place of the exact opposite climate, a hunter climbed down some rocks.
He was in the Volcanic Hollow. Currently the volcano was active, meaning that monsters that lived in warmer environments had migrated to it.
These monsters were incredibly dangerous, so somebody had to go in to make sure that they don't pose a threat to the villages nearby.
Riko sighed, somewhat feeling down.
"Seriously, why'd everyone have to go and split up like that… it's been over two years now, but still I haven't found anyone that'll form a group with me for over a monthish…"
He reached the bottom and started to run forwards, his destination being area 8.
"Like it'd be easier if I had a monster, I guess… At least Joseph feels my pain…" He thought, not realising he was wrong.
"I should probably get a monster of my own… still though, to do that you gotta get trust with them… a situation where that'd work is like a once in a lifetime thing…" Riko still hadn't realised that he was wrong.
He descended further, eventually reaching his destination.
He saw the Glavenus on the other side of the area.
Not having anything left to think about, Riko jumped down and started running towards it.
The Glavenus noticed him and roared.
While the hunter was stopped, it started to drag its tail along the ground.
Riko suddenly felt that something was wrong and raised his sword to block.
As he did the Glavenus suddenly moved forwards, swinging its tail towards him.
It caught fire as it flew through the air, blazing brilliantly.
This connected with Riko's sword, pushing him backwards and taking the wind out of him.
It could've been much worse, but it certainly wasn't ideal.
The Glavenus suddenly stopped and turned to face Riko, shooting off fire from its mouth.
Riko sheathed his sword and ran around them, finally reaching the brute wyvern.
The Glavenus attempted to bite at him, and as it did Riko noticed how the mouth was filled with fire, illuminating it. It was pretty clear that if he was hit with that he'd be badly injured.
Luckily enough, the Glavenus had left itself open after the strike, which Riko took advantage of to swing down with his sword, damaging the head.
The Glavenus roared as a response and pulled back slightly, before starting to move its tail again.
Riko jumped backwards as the Glavenus slammed its tail onto the ground, right where he was a few seconds ago.
Riko then ducked under another swipe at his head, it just grazing his hair.
He took a swing at the Glavenus' leg, connecting with the side of his sword, before having to jump back due to another bite attempt. After dodging this, he swung around to mirror his motion from earlier.
The Glavenus once again pulled back in pain, but this time it jumped backwards.
Riko got himself ready to counter, as the Glavenus jumped forwards and swung around, connecting its tail with the ground. Riko just jumped past this, but at that moment the Glavenus swung once again, connecting with him this time.
Riko was knocked backwards and landed a few metres away with a crash. Luckily, the attack hadn't sliced through his armour, but he wasn't sure how many more hits he'd be able to stand.
He noticed the Glavenus start to move again.
It lifted its tail up towards its mouth and started to grind its tail against its teeth, as if sharpening it.
The Glavenus did this for a few moment, giving Riko the time to get back up and prepare himself.
It then tensed up, before bursting forth in a spinning attack.
Riko, figuring that he had no shot at blocking this, dived away from the Glavenus' attack.
It just went over him, allowing him the chance to feel the heat that the tail was giving off.
Riko then rose to his feet again, only to hear thumping.
He looked over to see a brute wyvern slightly larger than the Glavenus walk in.
The Deviljho roared, having identified its prey.
The Glavenus was the first to move, attempting to go for the Deviljho's head with its tail.
The Deviljho interrupted it by stomping on the ground, causing a tremor.
This caused the Glavenus to lose its footing and slip, only grazing the Deviljho's side.
At that moment, the Deviljho kicked the ground, launching rocks at the Glavenus and causing some minor damage to the head.
It then moved in for the bite, connecting with the Glavenus' side.
As Riko watched this fight, he thought to himself "So… looks like the Glavenus is gonna lose, huh… Actually, this could work, couldn't it? If I step in to help out, I could turn the tables on the Deviljho, meaning that the Glavenus will be grateful to me for the assist, so it could become some form of a hunting partner while I'm down here! Can't guarantee it'd be anything permanent, but it'd sure as hell be a start!"
Riko then rushed forwards, more motivated then the usual nothingness he felt.
The Glavenus attempted to recover from the Deviljho's bite by swinging around with its tail, but this missed once again.
The Deviljho then raised its left leg off the ground, before slamming down, causing a tremor.
This time instead of going for a bite, the Deviljho charged at the Glavenus.
It pushed the Glavenus backwards, sending it briefly into the air before it came crashing into the ground.
The Deviljho finally moved in to finish this, when it was hit from the side by an attack from a great sword.
The Deviljho stepped backwards slightly to see a hunter standing there, facing it down.
Out of anger it slammed its foot down, causing a tremor, but this was to no effect.
"Good thing this set has tremor res…" Riko thought to himself, relieved.
The Glavenus stood back up and roared, which ended up throwing Riko off more than anything.
Riko just about recovered in time to dodge out of the way of another one of the Glavenus' attacks.
The Glavenus decided to ram straight into the Deviljho, but failed to do any significant damage to it.
The Deviljho started to move its head around, prepared for a bite, when suddenly it found itself being hit with a great sword again.
The Deviljho attempted to attack Riko, but found itself being attacked by the Glavenus, biting into its neck.
The Deviljho roared, stopping Riko and then slammed its foot down, stopping the Glavenus.
It fell back by a few metres before roaring once again. Its muscles began to swell up and certain areas of its body turned blood red.
The Deviljho roared one final time, its cries being heeded all throughout the volcano.
It then abruptly lowered its head, attempting to work out who to target first.
It chose Riko.
The Deviljho launched some rocks at him, which he leapt out of the way of.
Not giving him a chance to think, the Deviljho quickly started charging at him.
Riko ended up getting caught by this attack and was flung a considerable distance, taking heavy damage.
He just about landed on his feet, albeit unsteadily.
He saw the Deviljho lift its head back slightly, before swinging it around to let out dragon breath.
Not having enough time or energy to dodge, the only thing Riko could do was attempt to block with his sword.
The sword managed to block the majority of the attack, but Riko still found himself slightly burnt.
The breath himself was difficult to resist, pushing him with such force that he felt that he could fall at any minute.
The Deviljho had no intention of letting up, recognising that this fight would be easy as soon as it eliminated the hunter.
But, as it was so focused on this goal, it didn't notice the Glavenus as it moved in for the attack right until the last second.
The Deviljho attempted to twist around to focus the breath on the Glavenus, but this was to no effect, its stomach being sliced by the flaming tail.
The Glavenus wasn't yet finished, slicing once again, this time aiming for the back.
The Glavenus went for another slice, only to be cut off by the foot stomp once more.
At this moment, Riko switched in, delivering a strike straight to the Deviljho's face.
The Deviljho stepped backwards and attempted to launch rocks at him, but these were blocked with some difficulty.
Riko dropped his guard and tried to push forwards again, but the Glavenus stepped in front of him, shooting a fireball straight for the Deviljho's head.
This attack connected to a decent effect, but wasn't nearly enough to end the fight.
Riko pushed forwards again, this time striking upwards, connecting with the Deviljho's chin and pushing it back somehow.
The Glavenus moved forwards once again, striking across the Deviljho's face with a tail swing, blinding it in one eye.
The Deviljho roared in pain and attempted to use dragon breath on both of them, but they both dodged around it, Riko going to the left and the Glavenus to the right.
The Deviljho tried to focus on the Glavenus, but this left it open to the left.
Riko striked at its neck, failing to leave much of an impact, but distracting it for long enough for the Glavenus to swing around with scorching tail strike, cutting off the Deviljho's train of thought instantly and completely.
The larger brute wyvern collapsed to the ground, dead.
Riko looked at its corpse for a moment, recovering, before he was abruptly cut off the by the Glavenus' attack.
Riko jumped backwards and attempted to work out what was going on.
"So it's still attacking me, then… must still recognise me as a threat… well for now I just gotta avoid killing it and pull back, come back when it's less aggressive."
As Riko thought this, the Glavenus swung its tail around.
Without thinking he swung towards it.
He figured that this would simply deflect it, but he ended up cutting the tail off.
It flew through the air and landed a short distance away.
Both of them stared in disbelief, before the Glavenus roared out of anger and charged straight at Riko.
Riko didn't notice this until the exact last moment, so he panicked and swung his sword, connecting with the Glavenus' head.
The Glavenus collapsed onto the ground suddenly.
Riko was still stunned by this turn of events and stood for there for a few minutes, before taking in what had happened.
He looked over at the Glavenus, which hadn't moved.
It wasn't breathing.
"SHIT!" He thought.
Riko lamented over this for a few more seconds, before resigning himself back to not particularly caring.
TO BE CONTINUED
Originally, this was just gonna be Alexandra's chapter, but that was short, so I added Riko's which was also short.
So this is basically two midgets that are stacked on top of each other wearing a trench coat to pass themselves off as a tall person.
Yeah, not much happened.
Next chapter will develop the plot, honest.
Also despite being half set in the New World, this is the first (and possibly only) chapter to not have a character speaking in New World dialect. That exists for some reason, it's your typical countryside thing with "you" being swapped out with "ya" and other stuff that I inconsistently use.
People from the New World use it because I wanted to give the original four something distinctive. Also the Yukumo trio got it tacked onto them because they're also from the New World, so they have something distinctive too I guess.
So that's definitely something.
See you next time.