"Royal Ludroth: Large amphibious reptile. Size - Large, between 45 to 60 feet long by 10 to 20 feet tall. Royal Ludroth are the alpha males of a Ludroth pack. With a large spongey maine, it can travel on land for long periods of time. Approach with caution." Kyruri had already ran far enough away so the creature didnt care about her. "Ah well, no point in running anyway" I said to myself, drawing my sword. Kyuri turned to see me standing alone. "Run you idiot!" She yelled over her shoulder, "Just stay alive for a minute, I'll be right back!" I looked back to say something cocky, but she had already ran back to the skyboat. Thanks for the help I guess. No really, you run off I'll be fine. The Ludroth was close now, he was a big one, roughly 50 feet long. Im not sure why it had come so far from water, Its maine was full of water and sloshing around as it charged towards me. Standing perfectly still with sword in hand, I bent my knees to prepare for whatever it was going to do. Then, just before it ran into me, it reared back standing on its back legs. "Jeepers you're big" I muttered with a grin, "maybe ill actually get a little respect too." Just as it reached its peek height, it tipped toward me, gaining speed and trying to bodyslam me with its maine, I had waited untill the last second and rolled aside. It crashed to the ground, throwing water and mud everywhere. Now was my chance, I had already grabbed onto its face at began swinging madly. Something was wrong.. It didnt seem to hurt it. Its scales were strong. I dont think my sword is sharp enough for this. With one hand on its crest and the other on my sword swinging like a crazy person, the creature recovered to notice me standing on its head. Letting out a roar, it threw me straight up in the air. I wasnt prepared for that, my sword aside leaving me flipping in the air with nothing to fall onto. Trying to stop spinning in the air, I noticed Kyuri running back. I only got a glimpse though, i was still spinning much to fast. "Curl up into a ball!" she yelled "Im sorry if I hit you in advance!" Hit me? with what? i did as she asked and curled up. It only made me spin faster though.. Then landing on something soft, i saw her. Kyuri has a hammer. Of course she does. She had already come down mid swing on the creatures head just a few inches away from me. She had broken of a piece of the Ludroths crest and causing it to become dizzy and flop over on its side, making all sorts of grunts and groans as it tried to get back to its feet. "Almost got ya there! That sure woulda sucked huh?" she said jokingly as she ran off to the front of the beast again. "Woulda sucked? That would have killed me!" I shouted, "How can you even carry that? its like 2 times your size?" Her hammer was enormous and carved out of a large bone. It looked like it weighed around 200 pounds, but she threw it around with ease bashing the monster in the face and on its maine, making water squirt out. "Doesnt matter! Get your sword and start chopping its maine! your sword isnt sharp enough for the scales!" Thats right. The maine was what gave the Ludroth its energy to be on land. If i could break that down, perhaps it would get tired out. With no time to waste, I staggered over to my sword sticking out of the ground, I grabbed its handle and ran off to help the strange woman. Winding up for a jumping strike one its side, it had began to get back on its feet. Coming down with a chop, i could see a large gash on its sponge. "Yes! like that keep going!" Kyuri yelled at me and placing her hammer on her back to start running away again. Chopping again and again, i began to cut off large sections of its maine, causing water to gush out and making the creature stumble back. "Grab on!" She shouted, she was behind me now with her hammer lowered close to the ground. "To what?" I asked, puzzled. The ludroth had turned to face us, now in a rage. "The hammer you nerd, Ive only even done this once!" "Ah jeez fine!" I yelled, the Ludroth had began to charge us again. Running behind her, i grabbed the edge of the hammer and braced myself. "Here we GO!" With a swing, she sent me flying in the air again. Boy. Ive been in the air a lot today. She had thrown me in an arch to land on the top of the Ludroth to attack a new area. I thought to myself how i was supposed to make the most impact on the thing.. and i remembered my hunting knife. I know it was only for carving, but lets try something new here. *Click* out of its case, i now had a blade in each hand and positioned my body to land with both blades right in the middle of its sponge. Kyuri had already charged towards the creature underneath me. Coming down on its back was easy, both blades immediately sunk into the soft hide and with one quick motion i had hacked off a large section off the top. Rearing back in pain, the Ludroth began to whine and try to shake me off. I had already sunk in the blades again. I wasnt going anywhere ya big lizzard. Shaking this way and that, the creature tried everything in its power to get me off, but luckily for me had forgotten about her. Kyrui was waiting for the right time to come down with a mighty swing. And here it was, shaking down toward the ground right in front of her, she swung down with all her might, directly on its forehead, smashing its head into the ground. Her hit was more force than the Ludroth used to try to shake me off and because of that, I flipped off forwards to land at her feet. "What would you do without me?" she asked now bending over me mockingly. The Ludroth was finished, it was laying behind my feet. "Now c'mere. Lets get some goodies." she said walking toward the huge body. "That was fancy thinking with your knife, I haven't seen anything like that before. We should get you some new swords i think when we get back." Rolling over on my back, I felt a feeling of accomplishment. I hadnt done anything like this before. Looking up at the sky, I felt something smack onto my face and everything went dark. "Gwah! whats this?!" I screamed, I wasnt prepared for that, so i freaked out a little bit and popped upright to a sitting position. "Ludroth hide ya goon," she said from somewhere behind the fallen creature. "Might wanna get a move on before i get all the good carves for myseeeelf~" sticking her arm straight up to give away her location, she waved and slunk her arm down again to skin it. "Alright fine, im coming" i said collecting the hide and getting to my feet. "And what do you mean 'get some new swords for me?" "Oh ya know, for our next hunt. we're partners now." she said with a wink.
This skyboat ride was much more peaceful than my last. I had gotten more used to being in the air now. The guild sent its clean up crew of Felynes to collect the rest of the creature for its meat and valuables. Kyrui got yelled at by the over enthusiastic guild girl at the counter for taking so long and making everybody think she had died. Rolling her eyes and looking back, she spotted me. I had been standing near the entrance to the guilds blacksmith for a while now trying to get her attention. I had motion that i was going down the stairs and she waved me off, only to turn and get yelled at some more.
Boy its hot down here, i thought to myself. Large smelters and redhot steel was everywhere. The area had this strange smell.. I couldnt quite put my finger on what it was. "That smell youre smelling is the scent of many different parts to make weapons. Some of which were taken from creatures." It must have been obvious that i was smelling the air. Even the small man at the counter with glasses noticed. "Oh sorry, I didnt notice you there." I said. The people here at the guild sure are sneaky.. This is the second time I didnt notice a worker. "What do you want." Asked the small man. He was very short, roughly the size of a feylne. His long white beard went down almost to his feet. "Um. Is this the blacksmith?" I said supprised, he was grumpy for no reason." I need to get a pair of swords made up." "Dual swords. Right. What kind do you need." He said. The way he spoke was fast and to the point, like he was irritated about something. "Im not sure" I said leaning on the counter, "I just need a pair sharp enough to do damage." "get off my counter." he said sweeping my elbows off. "I got some for sale, or you can give me the materials to make some." "Well.. I did just kill a royal ludroth, I think the guild sai-" "Yes we have those parts." he said cutting me off. "Let me make you something. You dont know what you want." Without waiting for me to respond he hopped off his stool and back to the large ovens and strange machines. A few minutes later, he returned with something wrapped in a piece of cloth. "Here. Dont cut yourself" he said shoving the package at me. I rolled back the material to notice two bone scythes, carved from a large bone. Must have come from the Ludroth. The were heavy and very very sharp. Just running my finger along the blade caused me to bleed. "Great! What did I JUST say?" barked the small man. "Sorry.." i mumbled..
Getting things made from your own materials, the blacksmith told me, made things cheaper. All i needed were the correct components and he could make me anything. I wanted to keep looking around, but I broke his 'No Touching' rule one too many times and he kicked me out for the day. With my new swords on my back, i walked out into the tabled area in front of the guild quest board with my head held high. Kyrui was sitting at a nearby table and waving at me. Her helmet was off now to reveal her face. She was beautiful. Her long black hair went in a sweep along her face and down to her chin. She also had crimson red eyes, just like my mother. You see, at different locations of the world, the people looked different and had different specialties. Coming from the Desert, the people there all had red eyes, and were very tan due to the harsh sunlight. The people there specialized in Hammers and made great strides in the medical world. People of the islands were specialists of swords of all types. From the dual swords to long swords, we were tough to beat. Islanders also had blue or green eyes. People of the tundra had very dark eyes, almost black. Because of all the gear they would need to survive in the snow, their movements were restricted. They were all very accomplished gunners. Last but not least, the people of the swamp or 'Flooded Forests.' With green or brown eyes, there were unmatched with Greatswords and bows. They didnt leave home very often and never liked associating with strangers. Because of my mother being from the desert, and father being from the Islands, my eyes were a bright purple and a rarity for most people.
"Here, lookie what I did" exclaimed Kyrui. Reaching under the table, she grabbed her hammer and set it on the table with a loud crash, causing everybody nearby to look at us. "I used some of the resources to fix my hammer!" before her weapon seemed to be solid bone, but now it had the spongey maine of the ludroth wraping around the edges to make for additional water damage to an unsuspecting creature. "Its called a SplashHammer! Isnt it CUTEE~?!" "Adorable" I said with a laugh. "I need a place to leave my things, where can I go?" "Oh yeah, sleep. C'mere" reaching over the table she grabbed my arm and lifted me right over the table. How in the world is she so strong? Leading me around the corner I saw a large structure. "Lookie. This is where the hunters can stay between quests" Said Kyuri leading me into the door.
After telling the woman at the entrance i was a hunter, she gave me a key and led me to an empty room. All that was in there was a bed, a large blue chest, and a table. Kyuri had left to leave some things in her room, saying she would help me unpack. She was only a few doors down. Dropping my things into the chest, I fell onto the bed. There was another letter from the guild waiting for me at the table. Hearing Kyuri singing a song and skipping down the hall, I let out a small chuckle.
"Looks like things are just getting interesting."