Let's Start With the Basics

Fire was all around Takuya as the burning town lay waste around him. Everywhere he turned, he seen his friends and allies littering the ground with their corpses. Before he could see to them a distant rumbling could be felt and Takuya met his ill-fate to the hands of a truly evil Elder Dragon...

Takuya awoke with a loud yelp, and took a few seconds to realise it was a dream, a rather horrible nightmare, but a dream nonetheless. When Takuya came to his senses, he could smell something coming from the kitchen and spotted his house guest wasn't sleeping on the floor anymore. So, to investigate, he ventured into the kitchen to see Nikiri cooking some Dragonmeat, wearing a long apron and a chef's toque.

"Good morning!" She said happily. "I made you some breakfast." Takuya smiled to this, took a seat and was presented a dish of Dragonmeat and Crimson Sea Brim. "These were all I could find." But when Takuya ate, he felt his strength regain.

"This is very good, Nikiri!" Takuya complimented. The young white haired girl giggled.

"Stop with the flattery." She said bashfully. Takuya finished and put on some light armour. "Why are you not wearing your big armour, Takuya?"

"I only wear that when going to fight powerful monsters. Today, I'm gonna teach you the basics."

"Basics?"

"Yeah. There's theory to Monster Hunting. First, we need to get you armour."

"Do you not have any for me?" Nikiri asked, looking around Takuya's armour box, but was stopped by Takuya.

"Not if you're a man." He said and led her out of his house.

"Where are we going?" Asked Nikiri.

"Chikko's father, the blacksmith." The two went into town and found a small old shop with the sign saying "Monster-Slaying Blacksmith" and inside they could hear the pounding of metal on metal. The two headed in to see Chikko herself, wearing a set of safety glasses a worn apron and gloves as she was making a small sword.

"Ahh, it is the girl from before." Said Nikiri. Chikko noticed the two.

"Hey, Takuya!" She beamed coming to the counter to greet them. . "Sorry, my dad's making me work at the blacksmith's today, so no quests for me."

"It's okay." Replied Takuya. "Is your dad around?"

"He's out getting supplies, while I tend to the customers. Is there anything you need?" Takuya pointed to Nikiri.

"We need to get this girl suited up." Chikko smiled.

"Great! You're teaching her Monster Hunting?"

"Yeah. We need to get her some armour."

"Well good first step. Not many of us can go Monster Hunting naked, unless you're the kind to do it with a challenge." Chikko led the two to the blacksmith's smithing room where a collection of armours and weapons were scattered across the walls with a small work table carrying many tools, such as hammers, files and gloves. In the direct centre of this room was a smithing anvil.

"You've redecorated." Laughed Takuya.

"Well, it was a few years since you came here looking for a good replacement for your trashed Basarios armour." Giggled Chikko. Nikiri, however, helped herself inside and was looking at the individual elements that made up the room.

"It is so big!" She gasped in wonder.

"Well, my dad may have the biggest shop in town, this place doesn't come close to the towns and city's blacksmiths." Chikko explained. "Now, onto business. Do you have any materials for me to work with, or do you wanna start off with a simple leather armour, good for warding off most low-rank monster attacks?" Nikiri thought for a moment.

"She just got here." Said Takuya. "Unless you carved something from the Kirin last night?" Nikiri had an apithiny and raced to the exit.

"I will be back soon. I found some Kirin parts this morning!" She headed off back to Takuya's place.

"Where did you find her?" Asked Chikko.

"Like I keep saying, she found me." Laughed Takuya. "I'd love to know where she came from, though. She speaks funny, and her look really isn't common."

"That's for sure." Chikko replied. "But she's likeable, nonetheless." Shortly, Nikiri returned with a sack over her shoulder.

"Is this enough?" She asked spilling out the contents making Takuya's eyes grow big: a mountain of Kirin hide, manes, horn pieces and thunder tails were scattered across the floor.

"Consider it done!" Chikko smiled.

With the help of Takuya, Chikko set off to putting together Nikiri's new armour made of Kirin parts. Chikko forged the metal with her father's teachings, while Takuya did as Chikko instructed, helping her with tasks that require more than one set of hands. The parts were mainly used as decorations, but the mane and hide were very sturdy and was very useful in creating a solid defence. Almost an hour and a half later, Nikiri was suited up with the perfect Kirin armour that fitted her well and made her look prettier than ever.

"It is perfect!" She cheered. "Let us go hunt monsters, Takuya!"

"But you're not ready yet." Said Takuya.

"Yup, still need a weapon." Chikko added.

"Weapon?" Pondered Nikiri.

"With your small stature, I recommend small blades. Dual swords are ideal for a great offence. But it's up to you." Nikiri looked around the shop. She eyed the extremely large hammers that would most likely flatten her than her foe. Most weapons looked like they were too heavy until she came to a particular weapon variety that made her smile.

"I choose this!" Nikiri announced lifting a light bow crafted from iron.

"Good choice." Said Takuya with a smile.

"Though it was lucky Kirin armour is good with swords and guns." Laughed Chikko.

In the end, once Nikiri was finished, Takuya paid Chikko a handsome 65000 zeni to conclude their business.

"So what now, Takuya?" Asked Nikiri.

"I guess it's time to go on a quest." This made Nikiri happy.

"Yay~!" She cheered. Both entered the guild that raised everyone's attention.

"It's that girl..." They whispered amongst each other.

"Hi!" She said, trying to ignore the obvious eyes on her. The two approached Eiko's desk.

"Hi, Eiko, Nikiri here wants to register to this guild." Takuya told her.

"Great!" She said happily. She handed Nikiri a small piece of paper. "Just fill this in, dear, and we'll get you on quests!" Nikiri filled out the forms, pondering on each question asked, from date of birth, to level of hunting experience. While she did this, Takuya was trying to find a good enough quest for him and her to embark upon. Eventually he found one that suited them. He ripped the note from the board and brought it to Eiko.

"Special Mushroom picking, eh?" She said. "I guess it's hard to get any more basic than that." Nikiri finished up and handed Eiko the slip. "So you're Nikiri, huh? Okay, just one more thing before you go." She took out a small stamp and placed it on Nikiri's forearm, stamping the crest of the quest guild on it, the symbol being an eagle in a curved pose.

"Oooh, pretty." She said admiring it.

"You're now an official guild member." Eiko announced, making the other guild members cheer happily. Just then, the familiar sound of the guild master approaching rung throughout the guild hall as Master Kyoryo'oni appeared behind Eiko.

"A new member, eh?" He growled through his gruff voice, approaching the scared Nikiri.

"Y-Yes I am..." She squeaked, raising a smile from the master as he bear-hugged the poor girl.

"Haha! Welcome to our guild, then!" He cried, both scaring and crushing Nikiri.

"Cannot...breathe..." She coughed, as the master released.

"Hope you get on well, little one." He smiled, patting her soft head and making off back to his room.

"Looks as though you have the master's blessing." Smiled Eiko.

"Well, lets head off." Smiled Takuya leading Nikiri to the docks as the guild members cheered at her departure, wishing her luck on her maiden quest. The two got on a boat and headed off to the jungle area, a great place to find the mushrooms needed.

"You have a guild mark, too, right Takuya?" Asked Nikiri. The young expert hunter took off his gauntlet and showed her the guild crest on his arm.

"Got it right." He smiled. This made Nikiri glad, knowing him and her were more alike now.

Soon they arrived at the beach of an extremely dense jungle, with lots of trees and was home to hundreds of monster species.

"Well, we're here..." Smiled Takuya, tying up the boat.

"Wow! It is huge!" Exclaimed Nikiri. "So, where do we find these mushrooms?" Takuya led Nikiri into the jungle to look for the requested mushrooms. Soon, the two found some in the dark undergrowth of a nearby tree.

"Ahh! Here we go!" Takuya said and picked five of them.

"Yay! We did it!" Cheered Nikiri.

"Not really. The requester asked for ten. We only have half."

"Rats!" Nikiri pouted and came up with an idea. "Can I look for the other five by myself?!" This made Takuya nervous.

"I dunno, the jungle's a pretty dangerous place."

"I will be fine! I have a bow, so I can defend myself!" Takuya thought for a moment.

"Alright, but look for the mushrooms in the tree'd areas and don't wander into any caves, you don't want any Khezu making meals of you." Nikiri cheered, hugged Takuya and ran off in a random direction. "What a girl...Well, better go deliver my five to the red box."

Nikiri searched for a good ten minutes for the mushrooms but to no avail.

"Oh~! Curses! How can I find mushrooms when i do not know where to look?!" Until she tripped on a loose tree root and landed her face directly in front of the mushrooms. "Hey! The Mushrooms!" She picked away until she had five and began running in another random direction back to Takuya. However, she was stunned to see a Velociprey in front of her; the creature didn't notice her, but Nikiri remained quiet. "M-Maybe if I sneak past it, it will take no heed for me?" But her own words made her shudder. "No! I am a Monster Hunter, and I will never back down from a challenge!" She unloaded her bow and fired an arrow at it, piercing the Velociprey's hide and killing it. "Wow, that was easier than I thought."

Meanwhile with Takuya, he managed to deliver his end of the mushrooms and decided to do some fishing. It was already fifteen minutes into the quest, which took most intermediate hunters five to complete.

"Maybe it wasn't a good idea to leave her alone like that..." But just then, he heard footsteps coming and jerked up immediately. "Nikiri?!" To his dismay and surprise, it wasn't Nikiri, but Tenji and Hyobe. They were geared up in their armour and just as stunned to find Takuya.

"Takuya?!" They both called.

"Hyobe, Tenji! What are you guys doing here?" He asked coming over to them.

"We can say the same fer you!" Said Hyobe.

"I'm training the new girl, Nikiri. She's out gathering mushrooms."

"Not a wise idea." Said Tenji. "Leaving a new hunter alone here is asking for trouble."

"It's fine, it's just a mushroom quest, she'll be lucky to find a stray Conga in this quest." Takuya replied.

"Not cool, man!" Said Hyobe. "We were on a quest to take down two Velocidrome in this area!" This made Takuya gasp. "And unless you aren't aware, Velocidromes do NOT like hunters, especially new ones."

"Then that means...Nikiri's in trouble!"

His words rung true as, without realising, Nikiri stepped into the Velocidrome's territory, singing a tune as she strolled through the jungle, killing Velociprey unlucky to spot Nikiri first, without a care in the world.

"I got the mushrooms! Now Taki will like me! I got the mushrooms! Now Taki will like me!" But as she sung her cute tune, in the bushes crept the two Velocidrome, enraged that Nikiri has trespassed.