Moga Troubles
Welp, it's time again. I'm still a lazy-ass so do not expect too many updates too quickly. How many times have I said that? Can't remember. Oh well. As always, enjoy the chapter and tell me what I can do to get better. See ya at the bottom.
Rika
Morning of departure
Rika looked in the mirror, observing her choice of clothing. She wore her set of Barrioth armor and had her bone blade slung over her shoulder. It was 5:00 am, and she was still packing her things. 'I'm going to Loc Lac,' she thought nervously. What was the class going to do there? Obviously they were going to hunt something if they needed to bring their armor and weapons.
She sighed; thinking about why they needed to go to the city in the first place when there was a sudden knock on the door. "Coming!" she shouted, glancing one more time at the mirror. She approached the door and placed her hand on the knob when she felt something. Every one of her senses were screaming 'Fanboy.' She let out a long breath. 'Let them down gently.'
Sure enough, when she opened the door, there were about five guys outside, bickering about who'd go first. When they realized that Rika was standing in the door, they all froze for half a second. Then as if a dam had burst, they all started talking at once.
"Hey Rika, wanna go out sometime in the city?"
"Don't forget about me! Would you Rika?"
"Don't listen to these losers, Rika. I'm much better than them."
Rika let out a nervous chuckle, leaning back ever so slightly. "Uh, guys, I kinda need to get ready for the trip, and we only have another hour so if you could please give me some time? Guys?"
But they weren't listening. By now they had already started arguing again, her words not even reaching them. Rika sighed. "Macie, where are you?"
Meanwhile
Macie
"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!" Macie sang as she bounced around her house. "I'm going to Loc Lac! Is this a dream? Someone pinch me!" She then proceeded to pinch her unarmored arm hard. "OW!" she shouted in pain. "So it's not a dream! YAY!" she shouted.
A pillow suddenly nailed her in the back with such force that she was knocked off her feet, face-planting on the wooden floor. "Will you shut up already? Some people are trying to sleep," her sister mumbled from the couch. A collective grumble of agreement sounded from her parents' room.
Macie chuckled and stuck out her tongue at Cecile. "At least I get to go, little sister." Cecile rolled her eyes and rolled over so her back was facing away from Macie. It had been announced that 1st years were not allowed to go for the trip, so they had to stay behind.
Macie turned around and resumed putting her armor on. Everything was packed and all that was left was to get herself ready and prepared. She was almost finished with that too. As she put on her jaggi cap and grabbed her Ludroth swords, a sudden disturbance rippled through the house.
Macie froze on the spot, her head mechanically turning 180 degrees towards Rika's house. "Target acquired," she said in a monotone voice, and jumped out the window, sprinting to her friend's aid.
Cecile just stared after her sister with a 'what the hell?' look on her face, and then promptly slammed her head back down on the pillow, snoring lightly.
An hour later
Rika and Macie walked towards the academy, where they could already see a sizable chunk of students had already gathered. 4th and 3rd years had already set off, leaving just the 2nd years to crowd outside the academy.
Macie scanned the crowd, looking for her friends. They had to be as excited as she was. Rika nudged her in the arm and pointed towards the doors of the academy. Macie looked where she pointed and saw their friends chatting in a small circle. The purple haired huntress glanced at her shorter white haired friend, "Time to run the gauntlet. I hope you're ready girl."
Rika nodded, steely determination in her eyes as they approached the crowd. Instantly, three boys appeared from the crowd. Before any of them could say something, Macie lowered her shoulder and ran at the crowd, clearing a small path. She glanced behind her to see Rika run towards her as the students closed the opening.
Macie looked for her target group again and glanced down, looking for her friend, but she wasn't there. 'What?!' she thought desperately, 'She was just here! Where did she go?' Darn Rika for being only 5'2 in a crowd of 5'4 people. Rika was only two inches shorter than the class average, but two inches was still enough to conceal her in this crowd.
She continued to look around for Rika, but not spotting her anywhere she started to slip her way through the crowd looking for her. She spotted her eventually. She had managed to make to their group in one piece. Macie let out a relived sigh as she walked over to Rika and their other friends.
"Good to see you in one piece," Macie said as she walked up to Rika. "Didn't expect you to get through that."
Rika crossed her arms and pouted. "I'm not that helpless. I'm #6 in class ranking, you know." Macie just laughed. She talked among their group for a few more minutes until a convoy of aptonoth-drawn carts pulled up, with a few 4th years and Ms. Kiera up at the front. It looked like "Washington crossing the Delaware", but instead of patriots with paddles, it was a few of the academies own heavily armed hunters, and in the place of the General was a sadistic twenty-something year old school teacher.
Ms. Kiera jumped off of the cart in front of the group of hunters. "All right kiddies, I'll be your teacher escort to Loc Lac." One of the kids raised their hands. "What is it Becker?" the teacher sighed.
The crowd parted to reveal Simon standing in a set of hunter's armor with a Golem Blade on his back. He cleared his throat and spoke. "Ms. Kiera, I've noticed that two students are missing from this group."
The indigo eyed teacher nodded and looked down at the clipboard in her hand. "Yes, Mr. Kodah Otonashi and Marcus Evergreen showed up early and went with the 3rd years. We'll meet the rest of the students at Moga, where we will be picking up students who studied there with individual teachers."
Simon nodded, satisfied with the answer, but his green eyes still gleamed with curiosity. "Now," Ms. Kiera continued, "Ground rules. Don't touch anyone else's shit, and for the love of all that is holy, if you want to keep your hand, don't touch me or my shit." The students just stared at her in fear. They had no doubt she'd do it.
"2: No committing murder and/or torture against someone if you get stuck with an annoying classmate in your cart and they won't shut up.
3: Bombs are fun and therefore allowed
4: Keep your hands to yourselves boys, if you want to keep your family jewels.
5: Same for you girls. No touchy-feely.
6: Fire. That is all.
7: Remind me to cut down on the rule list."
"And that's it. Now, roll call." The hunters let out a consecutive groan. This was going to take a while.
Meanwhile at Moga
The 3rd and 4th years stood on the shore of Moga's main island, watching as the impeding white storm came closer and closer from the top of a recently constructed wall. "I didn't think they would come this far out of the ruins," one 4th year muttered. "Yeah, I thought they stuck to that area only."
"What are we going to do?"
"It's getting closer."
"Anyone got bow coatings?"
One 4th year looked at his teacher. "What are we gonna do, sir?"
The teacher stood there thoughtfully, stroking his chin as he thought. What was he going to do? Sure, Moga had beefed its defenses since the village's hunter took down the very first beast, but were a few ballistae and stone towers enough? Hardly any of these students had faced something of this caliber.
After a few minutes passed as they watched the Ceadeus come ever closer. But two hunters weren't waiting anymore. Both 2nd years that had traveled with the 3rd years broke off from the group. "Hey," one of the native hunters called out, "what're you two doing?"
The one with the Lagiacrus switch axe looked back towards the assembled academy hunters. "I'm not letting that thing catch us with our pants down." He kept walking, going up the stairs to the upper part of the wall, grabbing an armful of ballista shot as he passed the large spears. "I need someone to help me with this."
Several 4th years broke out of their stupor and jogged to catch up with the two younger hunters, grabbing their own cluster of spears as they passed. The rest of the students turned to their teacher. "So what are we going to do Mr. Gibson?" The teacher looked at the group who had split off, seeing four of them stack ballista shot next to the guns, while a bow hunter had gotten on top of one of the towers and was coating his arrows in different elements.
Mr. Gibson turned around to look back at the rest of the students. "I say we follow their lead," he said as he pointed to the preparing hunters. Then he pointed at the two double-tiered towers on each side of the small fort. "I need bowguners on the lower tier, with one blademaster operating the cannon." He pointed at the only cannon on the wall. "Then, I want bowmen on the top tier, use thunder or dragon coatings."
The other teachers sprang into action. "I need five hunters to mix potions and bullets at the foot of the wall!"
"You, you, and you! Set up an area father back from the wall and pitch a tent! We're going to need an infirmary!"
The group immediately sprang into action when the orders were given. "Mr. Gibson," One fourth year called, "what about the rest of the blademasters?"
One of the other teachers answered him. "The rest of you could go gather items for the combiners and medics. We're going to need a lot of stuff." The hunter nodded, satisfied with the answer. He gathered several groups and sent one of them towards the village while the rest spread out over the island.
In a few minutes they were finished setting up. MR. Gibson looked up at the 2nd year manning the ballista. 'Whoever you are kid; thanks.' Several hunting parties returned with many materials they needed for potions and bullets, setting them by the foot of the wall. The medics grabbed what they needed and started to churn out potions as fast as they could, and not a moment too soon.
With a whine like a whale, the Ceadeus reared up out of the water, unleashing a high powered water blast, knocking several hunters off of the wall. "FIRE!" one of the 4th years shouted. At once, every bowguner and archer fired at the creature.
Back on the mainland
A few hours later
"What do you mean the island is under attack?" Ms. Kiera shouted at the harbormaster. "What's attacking it?"
The man shook his head. "I already told you; a Ceadeus approached the shore and engaged with a group of hunters early this morning." He looked over the crowd of second year students. "I'm betting they're your friends, aren't they?" he added with a frown.
The angered red head started to pace. Two of her students were with that group. Her anger slowly melted to worry. She hoped they were alright. It wasn't everyday a Ceadeus left the ruins under Moga, let alone seek out a fight with a hundred heavily armed hunters.
She faced the harbormaster again. "Are you saying it's still attacking?" The man nodded. "When did it attack them?"
The man cupped his chin, looking down in thought. "I'd say about 6 o'clock." He looked back up at her. "It's been at it for about three hours now."
To say she was shocked was an understatement. Never in the entire career of Ronan Kiera, had a monster lasted even ten minutes against such a large hunting force. One hunter managed to kill a Ceadeus in half an hour on their own, and now one hundred of the academies best hunters were taking hours to kill the thing. This wasn't good.
Kiera turned back to the hunters sighing. "All righty kids take a load off. We're going to be here for a while." At her words, the students all sat down with a relived sigh. They had been standing the whole hour their teacher had been arguing. And with armor and a weapon, plus their chests full of stuff, that was not the most pleasant experience.
But hearing the news, they were still worried about their classmates. Things did not sound good on their end. Everyone was caught up in the news that no one noticed Ms. Kiera knock out the harbormaster and hide his unconscious form in a fish barrel.
Back on Moga
Kodah
Kodah fired another blast from the ballista into the Ceadeus' head, but it seemed to have no effect. Nothing penetrated its hide, but how was that possible? These things were normally easy to cut through, but this one just seemed to be bullet-proof.
They were running low on everything. The bow hunters were out of arrows and the bowgunners were not faring well either. Kodah loaded the last spears into the double ballista, taking careful aim at the ceadeus' over-sized horn.
'Kid,' Shi spoke up in Kodah's head.
Kodah jumped. He had forgotten about his tenant as the fight progressed. In all honesty, a second voice in his head was of little importance to Kodah than getting home alive. 'What is it, Shi?'
'That Ceadeus is being controlled by a human,' the narga speculated.
'And how would you know that?' Kodah responded.
'Some monsters that link with human souls get a power boost, and vice versa.'
Kodah fired one last blast from the ballista. That was the last of the spears. He jumped back from the turret and not a moment too soon, as it was obliterated by a high powered water blast. He pulled his switch axe out and held it in front of him. 'So what do you propose we do?'
'You may not be able to create openings, so look for pre-made ones.'
Kodah knew immediately what shi meant. He needed to hit it in the mouth. "Hey," Kodah called out the other hunters, "aim for the eyes and mouth. It might hurt it." One of the bowgunners took his advice and aimed for the eye. The huntress aimed for its one beady black eye, firing a pierce shot into it, the Ceadeus letting out a low wail in response. It worked!
The huntress shouted in triumph. "Guys, do what he said and aim for the eyes!" She was silenced as the large whale like monster rammed the wall with its head, dislodging many hunters, and knocking them 30 feet below to the foot of the wall. Kodah almost went with them, but found a hand hold just in time, though the resulting jolt to his arm dislocated his shoulder. Now holding on with one hand, his feet scrabbled for purchase on the smooth wall, some feet above the ground. Kodah grunted in pain as he pulled himself back up over the lip of the wall
Only he and 10 others were left on the wall. He pulled himself up, wincing in pain as shi's power helped relocate his shoulder. Kodah was done with this monster. 'I got a crazy idea,' Kodah muttered in his head.
'And what would that be?' The monster questioned.
Kodah smirked. He reached down and pulled a large barrel out of his pouch. Shi sweat dropped as Kodah pulled a barrel that came up to his waist out of a pouch the size of a chiwawa. What? Its monster hunter for crying out loud, you can pull a full sized barbeque spit, fire included, out of a pouch that size.
Shi figured out what his container was planning. 'Gotta love high explosives,' the bat/cat-like monster smiled.
Kodah hefted the barrel bomb in his arms, 'Amen to that.'
With his new strength, this throw would be no problem. He just needed an opening. He waited for the monster to open its mouth, and one throw was all he needed to hit it.
He eyed the creature decisively, dodging its thrusts with its horn as it smashed against the wall blindly. There! It started to open its mouth to blast at the wall again. Kodah hefted the barrel again, getting a better grip on it, and with one heft throw, he lodged the barrel in its mouth just as it fire the water blast.
With a resounding boom, the ceadeus reared back with a wail. It crashed to the waves loudly, turning tail and swimming as fast as it could. Kodah stood to watch it swim when he heard someone shout behind him.
"Damn Kodah. That was on helluva throw!" Said boy whipped around to see Macie standing there, smiling up at him with the rest of the second years behind her.
Where the hell did they come from?!
This did not turn out the way I planned it -_-. But I'm not spending another 5 hours writing it again so I hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter they get to Loc Lac, so those looking forward to that do not fret. See ya people later.