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Ch2. Protected.
They dropped at the southern camp in the forest. He recalled the area being too narrow a place for an Anjanath to move freely so he doubted his target would have any better luck. He had one thing going for him already, the aptonoth were out in force, and if the Deviljho was hungry 'which they usually are' it wouldn't pass up a whole herd.
"Alright. Keep the fort, hear anything nasty heading this way fire a flare. I'd rather not have a repeat incident of last time." He sauntered off toward the intended ambush however something felt off. His time as a hunter was short he knew but it afforded him enough know how to tell when something was wrong. It's a Deviljho sure, any hunter worth their salt knew to be apprehensive, but that odd sixth sense of danger prodded him harder than that. A clear warning of imminent demise yet he tarried forward. He was familiar with danger by this point. Since Zorah Magdaros had flattened his hometown he knew better than to rush headlong into disaster but that seemed to be an unavoidable circumstance now.
The clearing was quiet. Almost like it'd been his first day here in the new world. Aptonoth grazing, vigorwasps going about their labor of collecting nectar. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at a glance, but this anxiety that flooded him knew something was terribly amiss. Made more prominent by the visage of a man standing among the herd.
He was well armored. Strange plates of hardened material he couldn't quite place. Was it old world armor or something else entirely? The odd colored silver tinted mail that draped over him seemed like something more woven from ore than scales. Simple in design he imagined this to be more the attire of guild knights than any hunter. It looked expensive, or at very least hard to acquire materials. The strangest looking helm he'd ever laid eyes on adorning this monochromatic weirdo. A beak like protrusion as a face guard that covered the mans nose yet no lower guard, and some sort of plates that hung down the back of his neck, giving him an odd looking hawk like appearance were it not fort the horns coming from its top. They were ornamental sure but it cast a visage of intimidation none the less. Short but thick shafts that jutted backwards from the visor on this strangers helm.
Even more strange however was his weapon of choice. A large arrow head shaped shield in one hand and at first what he assumed a lance until further inspection. The strange silver colored material aside the offhand weapon was one, too short to be any lance he knew of, and two, far too narrow. It was almost a toothpick by comparison to most lances, more similar to a glaive. Then what was his shield for? Hunter equipment was varieties different here sure but he distinctly remembered that the guilds usage of weaponry was very strict. So just what kind of weapon was this thing.
"Another researcher..." the voice that left the stranger sent a chill up his spine. Cold and indifferent. No given distinction from his intended target if he were to be honest. Deep thunderous rumbles both irritated and exasperated were what comprised his vocals. He almost didn't sound human. Though his appearance didn't seem wyverian. "Return to your camp. This place is more dangerous than you realize."
"Hey buddy first off I'm a hunter not a researcher. I can handle myself, second just who the heck are you? You realize there's a deviljho stomping around out here yeah?" He'd thought to try and reason with this one but he was either ignoring the threat really well or was extremely confident one.
"He's the least of your concern. Trust me." Off into the distance he starred and almost seemed to be waiting for something. "You can feel it yes?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?" He scratched his head as he noticed the man wandering off, "Hey we're not done here."
"Return to camp hunter, you don't want to be caught in the middle of this." The arrogant gall of this guy! Not that he had any intention of listening, that was until the man went airborne.
He'd seen glaive users sure, something he'd never gotten the hang of was the vault but that kind of hight was unheard of. It didn't even register with him why until something large hit the ground. Very large, and very green. "What the hell!" He barely had time to dodge as his quarry was throw at him now. Skittering to a halt he looked up to see the stranger perched on his once intended target.
"I thought I told you to leave..." he intended to let this fool get eaten now but that sixth sense kicked in again and he rolled to the side barely managing to avoid the sting of the newcomers lance like weapon as he gave it a toss. "That was a warning" it was attached to some kind of chain, that was obviously how he'd retrieved it but how he'd thrown it with such precision was left to question as he still faced away from him. "Interfere again and you chance death." Not that he hadn't received his fair share of threats over the years but this guy obviously meant business. Leaping from his now capsized quarry as the oversized monstrosity returned to the realm of consciousness.
"Oh boy." The ambush was a bust obviously so he'd have to improvise. "Here we go." He'd studied the sword and shield in ways few had sure, but this was a large target, and getting close proved to be at best difficult as he was first send sprawling by the beasts tail. "Damn..." a roll for recovery, the rising strike and now he managed to trip it. A few bought seconds at best as he caught sight of the creature that had tossed a deviljho in the first place.
It didn't look like a wyvern at all. It almost looked human even. If it weren't for its stone like skin, and freakishly large arms. Like a faceless person almost, entirely made of rock. It moved slowly but with purpose, it's enormous hands being dragged behind it as though it were just too much trouble to lift them for the speed. It's eyes were its most discernible feature. Hollowed out spaces where eyes should be that glowed with some strange light that seemed oddly gentle given the obvious death glare he was receiving. Surely something this size wasn't what had tossed his quarry right? That's what he'd thought anyway. As the minuscule monster lifted one of its overly large hands he felt the ground move, and that sixth sense forced him into a sprint to dive from the swipe.
It'd missed, barely. The deviljho however wasn't so lucky as the usually much dominant predator was sent sprawling from the stone oddities slap. He was no stranger to slow moving powerhouses true but this thing seemed almost exasperated more than angry. Like it was swatting away an annoying fly as it laid into the great green Goliath. Obviously it wasn't constructed of normal stones as bites and such from the larger creature seemed useless to even so much as scratch it. It also seemed rathe well balanced for something with seemingly a poor center of gravity. If it had legs he couldn't tell, as the rock like carapace over it seemed to form some conical shape over its body from the neck down. Though it did seem to waddle somewhat, hinting that it's weight was either poorly supported or very extreme one. Perhaps he could use this to his advantage?
Seeing this odd looking thing smacking around the world eater was almost amusing, till it turned on him. Tossing a good sized rock in his direction he assumed at this point the fight was on. A dodge to the left to miss the rock then the lunge. He took a wild swing to gauge the target, only to bounce off its hardened hide. "Damn... that's some thick armor." He didn't even move it, it was like hitting some kind of metal more than any rock, regardless it's appearance. So impressed was he by the creatures defensive capability he forgot to mind his current oversized prey. The deviljho seemed to be agitated now, firing a blast of its pent up dragon energy which immediately caught him off guard. The shield saved him this time, but it wouldn't hold up to much of this kind of treatment. So he took to the offensive. The rock monster had to have a weak point right? There had to be somewhere to hit it that would cause damage. But it seemed to tank everything thrown at it.
"Enough..." the strangers voice once again invaded his ears as a flash of light startled both the rock based beast and his oversized pickle in the process. It wasn't as though it'd blinded him no but he didn't have time to recover to see what happened. By the time he'd recovered he noticed the once hungry predator now toppled again, and this time eerily still. The stranger now landed beside him and just as quickly as he'd hit the ground the blade of his weapon met the hunters neck. "This is your last warning... go back to your camp."
"Hey just hold on a moment. Just what the hell is that thing and who the hell are you." He growled though held his hands up in surrender.
"It is protected that's all you need to know." With that he sheathed his strange looking spear and sauntered off, leaving the other to question one what, had just taken place, and two, where'd the rock monster go? It'd simply vanished
"Hey... damnit..." he shook his head in frustration before looking back to his prior prey. "Just who the hell is this guy? And just what the hell kinda weapon is that? Better tell the commander." He felt cheated by the stranger but, hey a kills a kill right? So he took the carve and headed back to camp with more questions now than when he'd left.