Chapter II
The sun rose on the day of the Hunter exam. The sun's rays entered the makeshift hotel room. Yppah grunted slightly, rolling over to avoid the sunlight. Inevitably, she dragged herself out of bed, knowing that she wouldn't win a battle against the sun. Arms outstretched, she noticed that a certain rude girl wasn't in the room. She smirked, which then turned into a hefty yawn. Her stomach began to protest, as it hadn't been fed for over a day.
Walking outside the door, Yppah looked down both ways of the hallway, a befuddled look on her face. Remembering things wasn't on her list of strengths. Shrugging her shoulders slightly, she just picked a direction and went with it. As it turns out, she chose correctly. Rydon and the demon were sitting at the bar, where each of them had a plate of food in front of them. Her stomach gave a friendly reminder in the form of an intense growl. Rolling her eyes slightly, Yppah walked towards the two and sat down next to Rydon.
"So, where can I get some food?" Yppah asked, hoping that Setsuna wouldn't chime in with a sarcastic remark. Rydon doesn't verbally answer, but tilts his head forward. Yppah leaned forward, looking behind the bar and sees a little felyne laying down curled into a ball. Yppah looked at the sleeping cat, but wasn't sure what she wanted to do. She was hungry, but she also didn't want to wake it. Rydon could see her hesitation.
"Hey, Hinata, you have another guest." Rydon called, startling the cat awake. Hinata looked around frantically before seeing Yppah. Her eyes widened before she bowed slightly.
"So sorry nyah, I must have dozed off." Hinata paused, clearly shy and embarrassed about the whole situation. "What would you like for me to prepare nyah?" Yppah's stomach growled at the sound of food, impatiently waiting to be fed. "Whatever is done the fastest, I'm starving." Yppah said, holding her hand over her stomach to try and quell its rage. Hinata sprang to life, "Alright. It'll be ready in a bit Nyah." Pans rattled as she began making the meal.
"How'd you sleep?" Rydon asked in between bites.
"Good I guess, it's been a long time since I've been in a bed." Yppah said, feeling more rested than she had felt in a long time.
"Travel a lot?" Yppah paused briefly before answering.
"I guess you could say that." Yppah looked down slightly. Rydon saw that he hit a soft spot, so he dropped the subject.
"So, are you nervous about the exam today?" Rydon asked. Yppah nodded her head in response. "Well, glad I'm not the only one. Wonder what it'll be like?" Rydon asked, not expecting an answer. Yppah shrugged her shoulder.
"Your exam will probably end with you two getting kicked out for being too meek." Setsuna spat out. And it begins. Yppah thought to herself.
"And what makes you so much better than the rest of us, huh?" Rydon spat back.
"Oh, just about everything to be perfectly honest." Setsuna said, hoisting her weapon on her shoulder. Yppah bit her tongue as she watched the wretched woman walk outside the guild hall.
"Another one of those." Mewed Hinata out of the blue.
"What do you mean by that?" Rydon asked.
"Every year we get rookies like her, conceited or full of themselves. But her kind are usually all hiss and no bite nyah." Yppah smiled at the thought of Setsuna failing. Yppah is overtaken by the smell of her meal. Hinata, seemingly knowing this, places a plate in front of rice, eggs, and sausage in front of Yppah. She begins eating without so much as another word. "Wow nyah, you have a hearty appetite you do." Yppah nods in response, stuffing more food in her mouth.
"I understand, it's hard to get a good meal when you are traveling a lot." Rydon added in, finishing his last bite. Rydon stood up, but paused. He looked towards Hinata. "So, do you know where the weapon's dojo is? This place is just so big that I'm sure I would get lost."
"Weapon dojo?" Yppah chimed in in between bites.
"Oh yeah, you weren't awake yet. Morum said that we would want to visit the dojo before the test begins. They're we'll get our sync gems, whatever that entails."
"Sync gems?" Yppah asked, slowing down as her food was already half-way eaten.
"I'm as clueless as you are, I heard about these gems in my travels, but I'm not sure exactly what they are. They apparently boost different aspects, like speed and strength, among other more obscure things." Rydon answered, shrugging his shoulders.
"You'll understand soon enough." Hinata responded. "To find the place, just take a right after you leave the guild hall, you can't miss it nyah." Hinata mewed, a large smile plastered over her face. Yppah scarfed the rest of her food down, her curiosity getting the better of her. All the while Rydon waited patiently, staring blankly as his mind was preoccupied with other things. Yppah slammed the silverware onto the table. Rydon flinched, startled back to reality.
"You done eating?" Rydon asked, before looking down at the empty plate. Yppah lurches up, using her arm as a napkin. "I'll take that as a yes." Rydon remarked, standing up as well. The two darted towards the door. Yppah grabbed the door handle, then hesitates. She turns back towards the cat cook.
"Almost forgot, thanks for the food Hinata. It was delicious." Hinata mewed in appreciation.
"You're very welcome nyah. Come back anytime and I'll cook another tasty meal for you."
"I think we'll have to take you up on that offer." Rydon said walking outside, Yppah following close behind. They both follow Hinata's directions, taking a hard right. After a few moments of walking, Yppah fidgets with her hands a bit, uncomfortable with the silence. She quickened her pace so she was walking next to Rydon.
"So, did you see Perlonis this morning?" She asked. Rydon shook his head slightly.
"I saw Perlonis for a moment, but he just finished eating when I entered the room." He then sighed, placing his hands behind his head while walking. "So, I wonder where we need to go."
"Don't know." Yppah replied. "Hinata did say we couldn't miss it, so I'm sure we didn't pass it." It only took the two a few more steps before a faint clanging sound could be heard. It only grew louder as they walked down the street.
"Look." Yppah motioned upward. Rydon followed her hand. A column of smoke billowed into the air. "Think it's a fire?"
"No." Rydon answered outright. "It's too thin, too controlled. Looks more like an iron forge to me. If I had to guess, that's where we need to go." Yppah nodded in agreement. The two became silent, each lost in their thoughts. A nearby customer gossiped with a store clerk. The clerk pauses, looking at Yppah and Rydon. The customer turned his head as well.
"You think they're the new blood?" The customer asked, barely loud enough to reach Rydon.
"I would reken. They don't look like they're from around here." The clerk responded. "We always get the weird ones around this time of year." Rydon's eyebrows scrunched together at the clerk's remark. A thought crossed his mind to confront the two, but he ignored it, figuring it wasn't worth the trouble.
"Think they're gonna make it?" The clerk looked at the two once more.
"The tall guy might, but I wouldn't bet on the girl."
"Yeah, she's gonna get destroyed out there." The customer chuckled. The laughter doubles as the clerk joins in.
"Heaven forbid she fights one of them monsters." Their laughter enveloped the area. Rydon's gaze shifted towards Yppah, expecting retaliation of some sort. To his surprise, nothing happened. Yppah kept staring at the skyline. A sense of confusion filled his mind, as he knew she heard them, everyone in a half mile radius must have.
"Funny, ain't it." Yppah said once out of earshot. Her shoulders shrugged slightly. "Funny how people determine your worth with one glance. It's much too familiar" A chill ran down Rydon's spine, her words were cold and precise. Rydon paused for a moment, trying to fetch the right words. "How does the saying go?" Yppah asked rhetorically. "Never judge a book by its cover. What a load of bullshit." Rydon frowned slightly.
"It's true you know." Rydon said, trying to reassure her.
"The saying? As if." Yppah spat out. "Denying that is like denying the fact you breathe." Rydon paused slightly, then sighed.
"You're right, I suppose. The hard part is setting aside that judgement and reading the damn book anyway." Rydon looked down at Yppah out of the corner of his eye. A smirk managed to find its way on her face.
With their goal in sight, it didn't take long for the two to walk upon the forge. It was much larger than either of them expected. The heat of the molten metal could be felt from yards away. At the base of the forge stood what could best be described as mix between a lizard and a goblin. The creature swung a hammer that was much bigger than himself. The clangs resonated through Yppah, shaking her body with each hit. After a few more good hits he noticed the two walking up.
"Welcome, welcome." The creature gestured his hand towards the two teens. "The name's Xoc. You here to buy a weapon or to grab a set of armor?" Yppah didn't answer, too awestruck at the creature in front of her to speak. Rydon spoke in her place.
"We were actually told to come here by Morum."
"Ah, I've been expecting you two. Go talk to Heidi in the back, She'll set you two up right quick." Xoc struck at the metal again, continuing as if they never walked in. They walked into the back, hearing a young voice.
"Rydon and Yppah, am I correct?" A tall blonde appeared from behind a wall. "Morum told me all about you guys. I'm Xoc's assistant." Rydon was now the speechless one. Yppah rolled her eyes slightly.
"Nice to meet you." Yppah held out her hand. Heidi graciously took her hand. Heidi's grip was very strong, to the point where Yppah fought the urge to whimper in pain. Heidi then turned to Rydon, who repeated the greeting. Yppah could see a tinge of pain in his eyes as well, becoming a victim of her iron grip. Heidi reeled back as she realized what she did.
"I'm so sorry, I forgot you guys aren't hunters yet. We don't get many civilians here, I hope I didn't hurt you." Rydon was quick to answer.
"Not at all." Yppah rubbed her hand a bit, trying to quell the ache.
"Oh that's good." Heidi began walking towards the back wall. "If you two would follow me." Yppah followed close behind, wondering how a girl of her stature was so strong. Heidi was barely taller than she was, and yet she seemed stronger than Rydon. The new recruits followed Heidi through a door, once inside she motioned towards a set of crystals. They were ordered by size, ranging from a grape sized gem to a kettle sized one. "We are going to be using these crystals to determine which strength of sync gem we should use." Yppah raised her hand, but put it down, realizing how silly she looked.
"I know this may be a stupid question, but what is a sync gem?" Heidi smiled as she answered.
"Oh no, it's not a bad question. It's something that isn't widely known outside of the hunter community." Heidi hovered her right hand over her left. A small light radiated from her palm. The light disappeared, leaving behind a small stone. "This is a sync gem. It imbues itself within your body; heightening your strength, endurance, senses, and the like." Yppah looked at the gem in awe, having a hard time getting over the miraculous appearance. "This is a stage-four gem, which is fairly average strength. The standard gems range from one to ten, though it is possible to create gems at stage-eleven and above." Heidi then cupped her hands. The light returns as it shined out the cracks. After another second, the stone is gone again.
"Give me the strongest one you have. I need to be as strong as I can get." Rydon said with a serious face. Yppah looked at Rydon, wondering where the flip in personality came from.
"Oh no no no. I couldn't do that, it'd be too dangerous. The sync gems doesn't give you strength, it amplifies your natural strength. Giving you a gem too strong would wreak havoc on your body, slowly tearing you apart from the inside. That's why we use these weight crystals." Heidi once again motioned at the line of crystals. "Rydon, why don't you grab the stage-six weight. Yppah, how about you start with stage-four." Both Rydon and Yppah reached forward, grabbing their recommended crystal. Lifting the gem, Yppah was surprised at just how light it was. It was the size of an orange, and yet it felt lighter than a feather. Heidi noticed the surprised looks.
"Pretty light, aren't they. These gems are enchanted to resonate with the strength of your muscles. The stone has the ability to gauge whether or not your body can handle a certain strength crystal. If you can handle it, it's lighter than air, but if you cannot, it will be heavier than a sand sailer." Rydon wasted no time, placing the stage-six down and lifting the stage-eight. He lifted the melon sized crystal with ease, Heidi muttering something under her breath. He then tried the stage-nine. He grabbed it for a second before letting go.
"Looks like I'm a stage-eight." Rydon said, a slight arrogance infused into his comment. Yppah, annoyed with this, skipped the others and tried the stage-eight. She struggled for a second before giving up. Yppah didn't look at Rydon because she knew he had some smug look on his face. Yppah decided to work her way down, grabbing the stage-seven next. Yppah lifted the crystal with ease. She peered at the stone amazed, not expecting to be able to pick the crystal up. The same amazed look were plastered on Heidi and Rydon as well.
"Well I'll be damned." Heidi said, giving Yppah a look down. "I never expected a girl of your stature to be that strong." Yppah couldn't help but smile, this is the first time she was praised for anything.
"Guess I'm just a tough little girl." Yppah said, putting the crystal down. Heidi stepped around Yppah, examining her all over. Yppah blushed slightly, becoming timid under her scrutinous gaze.
"It doesn't add up." She muttered, continuing her full body scan. "Did the rock lose the enchantment?" Heidi reached for the stage-six weight, but couldn't budge it. "How the hell." She muttered again, restarting her examination. She paused at Yppah's chest area, causing Yppah to become even more uncomfortable than before. Heidi swiftly reached towards Yppah's chest where she then plucked a necklace she was wearing. Heidi held it up, showcasing a claw of some sort. "Could this be it?" She muttered to herself again. "Yppah dear, where did you get this necklace?" She asked, examining the claw closely.
"I...I got it from my father. He said it was the tip of a Rathalos's Claw." Heidi perked up at her words.
"That's it." Heidi said, releasing the necklace. "The essence of a Rathalos can give strength to a user, adding strength without straining the body. Maybe the essence of that claw would allow you to bypass the enchantment on the weighted crystals." Heidi looked up, seeing a look of confusion on Yppah's face. "I'm sorry if I babbled a bit there. Yppah, if I could ask for you to take off that necklace and try picking the stone up again." Yppah agreed, slipping the necklace over her head. She attempted to lift the crystal again, and to everyone's surprise, lifted it with no effort at all.
Yppah placed the crystal down, looking at Heidi again. Though, Heidi didn't say a word. The room stayed silent as everyone didn't have words to say. After a few long moments, Heidi finally broke the silence. "I don't understand. I figured you would be stage-five, maybe stage-six at greatest. Hell, another girl came earlier who was older than you, and yet only received a stage-six." Heidi then became quiet, thinking intently on the mystery. After a few more moments, Yppah spoke up.
"So, what should we do Heidi?" Heidi didn't answer, still thinking. She then turned around and rummaged through a chest. In each hand lay a gem.
"I'm going to give you the stage-seven sync gem regardless of my expectations."
"Isn't that dangerous. You said so yourself that it would tear me apart." Yppah worried as she remembered her warning.
"That shouldn't be a problem." Heidi said, confidence returning to her voice. "Those side effects only occur after long time use of the sync gem. If, by chance, the weights stones are off, it will take over a month before any real damage is done. Just promise me this." Heidi paused, looking at Yppah. "Make sure you are conscious of your body. The sync gem works with your body, so it should feel natural. If something feels off or you seem to have less control of your movements, you MUST come back to me immediately."
Yppah gulped slightly, a bit jarred from Heidi's warning. Heidi assured Yppah that she doesn't have to worry too much. "The weight crystals are exceptionally accurate, so it should be fine. I'm just warning you on the off chance." Yppah nodded, heeding her advice.
"Alright, sorry for all the drama there." Heidi apologized. "Let's get started, shall we?" Rydon and Yppah glanced at each other before holding out their palms. Heidi placed a stone in each of their hands. She faced Yppah, cupping their hands together. The light appeared briefly, a bizarre warmth emanating from the stone. Yppah then felt the warmth quickly course through her entire body, followed swiftly by an excessive chill. Though the sensation quickly disappeared.
"That was weird." Yppah said, shaking her hand vigorously. Heidi then turned to Rydon, repeating the process.
"Alright, you two should be done." Heidi brushed her hands together. "You two should head for the docks. If I'm not mistaken, the wagons will be leaving soon for the Hunter's test. I say you got about an hour." Yppah and Rydon nodded, thanking Heidi for everything. Before they could make it out of the door, Heidi grabbed Yppah's shoulder. "Yppah, one last thing. I want to examine this anomaly further. If you could come back after a month or so, I would appreciate it." Smiling, Yppah gave Heidi her word, quickly running out the door to catch up to Rydon.
