Monster Hunter: The Telepathic Hunter; Ch48: Daimyo of Sengoku Fame
Hunter Stats (Updated)
1. Alex Kasai (HR7)
Weapon: Guardian Sword Long Sword
Armor: Kut-ku 'S' Blade Master + Expert Gem Decoration
Skills: HG Telepathy, Kasai Potential, Vitality Up, Strength Up, Fire Resist, Water Damage Increase, Reckless Abandon +1
2. Ismarelda (Guest Hunter)
Weapon: Crystal Nova Hammer
Armor: Battle 'S' Blade Master
Skills: Strength Up, Speed Sharpener, Detect, Hunger Increase.
March 28th, 2099. Terosu Jungle Area 6. 10:01 AM.
Alex screamed in pain as steam issued from the acidic yellow fluid that was sprayed into his advance. "Aaahh! W-what i-is t-this!?" Alex dropped his sword and collapsed, and his Super Khezu Cloak dissipated.
"Alex!" Ismarelda went forward with a swing, striking the Queen Vespoid which was moving in to capitalize on Alex's predicament.
"OW! You dare hit me!?"
"Alex, you need to get up right now! You're a sitting duck! You have been afflicted with a temporary status of reduced defense. Any attack you take right now will be really bad!"
"What!" Alex struggled through the pain to get up, picking up his longsword as he did so. Now that you mention it, my internal Chikara feels… kind of messed up right now! But I won't give up! Alex's resolve was strong. He joined Ismarelda on the offense. "Don't you look down on me, you overgrown insect!"
"THE NERVE!" The giant Neopteron brandished her stinger as she flew straight at Alex.
Alex attempted to dodge to the right but only ended up getting a scratch to his left side. However, this was no mere scratch. The attack had torn through his armor and drawn blood. "AAAHH!"
"What did I just tell you!" exclaimed Ismarelda. "You have to be more cautious!"
Darn it… Why is this happening? I don't care if it's G-Rank level… It's just a giant bug! Alex sheathed his sword and went off to the side. He took out a Potion from his pack and drank it. The bleeding then stopped. "Ok… time to get serious." He watched for an opportunity to jump in as Ismarelda kept the Queen busy. Wait, I've got an idea. Ismarelda, can you hear me? I've got a plan.
Alex!?, replied her thoughts. Oh, telepathy. Okay, lay it on me. Alex shared his idea. She dodged some spray of the yellow, defense-sapping fluid. That could work. She does seem like the stuck-up type. Let'er rip!
Alex switched back to full channel. "Here goes something. Hey, ugly, did you forget about someone?"
"What!? Why, you little… AAAHH!" In the moment that the Queen Vespoid was distracted, Ismarelda landed a clean bash against her with the hammer. "Grr! That was dirty!"
"Worked like a charm. Now, I don't have the required stamina for the Super Khezu cloak. Trying to force it out might temporarily cost me my Thunder Element affinity again. The regular version will have to work. Alex's blue lightning cloak flared on as he unsheathed his long sword. "Forgive us for just trying to get out of this alive, but it is what it is. The final phase of this fight starts now." Alex's Dragonite pendant was glowing. He got into stance, with the point aimed at the Neopteron monster. "Come at me!"
"With pleasure and prejudice!" The Queen flew straight towards Alex, brandishing her deadly stinger.
Alex smiled as he charged forward, doing his favorite vault move at the last second to get behind. "HAAAA!" He then threw his weight to spin bodily with a heavy horizontal slash aimed to cut the bug across the middle.
However… "Where are you aiming?"
"Huh? No!" was all Alex could say as the Queen back-flipped upwards to avoid the slash and to bring her stinger around from above. Because he could stop his momentum this far into his attack due to the Khezu Cloak boost, Alex kicked a leg in order to twist himself so that at least a non-vital spot would be stabbed. Still, the stinger was coming down dead center on his chest. Time seemed to slow down as this all unfolded.
"ALEX!" exclaimed Ismarelda. She was too far, and would not make it in time.
Alex closed his eyes. He felt a blunt force on his chest, heard a shattering sound and his back slammed into the ground. "OWWW!"
"What!? NO! AAAHH!"
"Huh?" Alex opened his eyes. The Queen was thrashing above him in pain with a broken stinger. There was no agonizing, profusely bleeding hole where his heart should have been, just a small breach into his chest piece showing the broken remains of the Dragonite pendant. Alex stared at it in shock for a few seconds before a rage overtook him. "No… NO!" Alex grasped his sword and kicked into standing in one move. "THAT WAS MY PRIZED GIFT FROM THE PRINCESS OF REKUSARA! YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT! SINGLE SPIRIT SLASH!"
"HUH? Wait, sto–" The Queen Vespoid tried to move out of the way, but Alex proved too fast as his rage activated Super Khezu Cloak. Everything went dark. A diagonal red line sliced through the darkness. "AAAAAAHHHHHH!" the Queen screeched her last.
The darkness cleared away to reveal a breathless Alex on his hands and feet. The Queen Vespoid lay before him in twain on the ground, bisected between the abdomen and the thorax. Two of the six clear wings were snipped off. "Huff, huff… I did it… But at what cost?" Alex started crying softly.
Despite her shock, Ismarelda approached Alex. "Hey, um… What's the matter? You came out of all of that alive, and won, right? Shouldn't you be happy?"
In a flash, Alex was up and had the point of his sword aimed at the Maid Huntress. "You don't understand anything, so you should just shut up before I lose any more of my reason." Ismarelda gasped. The uncharacteristic hostile aura lacing his words was palpable. "Because of your selfish, narcissistic imbecile of a boss, I was thrown into this mess involuntarily. I lost two pieces of myself just to survive. My secondary Thunder Element Affinity, albeit temporarily, and my Dragonite Pendant. It was given to me by Princess Viridia Greene for saving her life. It saw me through thick and thin, hell and high water, life and death. And now it's gone, mere shards of its former verdant luster. It may not have looked like much to someone like you who has spent a lot of time around fancy things in that "castle"… But it was important to me." Alex sheathed his sword and looked down at the ground. "I don't care for the 'mats' from that thing. Take them if you want, and then let's head to the basecamp. I've had just about enough of here as I can stand."
"She wanted the stinger, but it's broken," said Ismarelda quietly. "We can leave now."
Alex just nodded and the two left. In Area 5, outside the cave, Ismarelda shot a flare into the sky to signal the rescuers. The boat was already ashore by the time the two climbed down a vine into the camp. They were taken through the river canyon.
Jumbo Village. 1:05 PM.
Here, Alex was brought to three people. He also noticed his airship parked.
One of the three was a man, which Alex recognized from a painting. "Ahem. I am Florence Wandoreo, eighteenth Chief Leader of Jio Wandoreo City, also the Head Hunter. Sir Alex Kasai, I beseech your forgiveness over the incivilities committed against you by my daughter." He used a hand to bring Kimara down with him as he bowed to Alex.
In the back of Alex's mind, an angry thought went something like, Begging for forgiveness even though you're practically royalty doesn't even begin to answer for her crimes. In the eyes of all, Alex just sighed wearily. He was too mentally and emotionally drained to be spending another minute of his time with these people. "Sir, if you've heard of me, then you know I don't care too much for formality. It's five years too early before I can forgive your daughter, Sir; one year for each bad thing that happened to me as a result of her actions. It will be too soon if I ever set foot in your home again. Right now, I just want to get to MY home, unload and take a rest. Is that really so hard? I don't want any compensation. Just release me."
Florence sighed as he straightened. "So be it. As you wish."
"Alex, I…" Kimara started, but a glare from the addressed stopped her.
"Save your apology. I've learned my lesson, now. You're probably only sorry that you're not sorry." With that, Alex turned and began walking towards his ship. "Goodbye."
Ismarelda ran up to meet him. "Alex, wait! There's something you need to see."
Alex turned to her. "What is it?"
She showed him her hand. "I noticed this while we were leaving. I think this was inside of the pendant." The thing in her hand was a pink gemstone, a Decoration. Alex could just make out the words "Spirit's Whim" engraved on it. "I think that pendant was actually something called a Talisman. They're produced by a wyverian artisan in the country called Shiki. They can be used to add at least two extra Skill powers to your abilities, one from the Talisman itself and another from any Decoration attached to it."
A smile broke out as Alex took the Decoration gem. "Thank you. Um, sorry about aiming my sword at you, before. I was at a low point."
"Water under the bridge. Looking back at it objectively, I don't blame you. Now, go on."
"If anything, I would love to hunt alongside you again. Your Hammer skills reminded me of my Aunt. Bye, now."
"Bye."
Pokke Village, 3:51 PM.
At Anna and Matthew's house after unwinding, Alex was being comforted in the embrace and modest bosom of his girlfriend, recounting to her the horrible events that had transpired. She loved him all the more after being touched by the idea that she was worth more to him than riches and fame, as demonstrated by his overcoming the temptations thrown his way. If anything had come out of all this, their relationship was tested and made stronger.
After that, Alex visited Vance. He wanted to see if he could repair the pendant.
"As much as it pains me to say it, this "Talisman" technology is out of my expertise. From what I know, the secrets are tightly kept and only Hunters from Shiki country are even allowed to use them."
"Wow… And to think I just never gave this thing a deeper consideration. There was always this mystical aura about it, but I was too focused on everything else to really pay attention. Guess I'll have to go to Rekusara to find out more. But I seriously dread what Viridia will say of me for breaking it…"
"Unfortunately, you will have to face this to get answers," replied Vance solemnly.
"Well, thanks as usual. Say, how is that project coming along?"
"Just great. Uh, I actually need you to obtain some more Carbalite Ore, though. Do you think you can find it in your schedule to mine some in the Volcanic Belt?"
"Okay. I'll try."
March 29th. Rekusara City Gathering hall.
"I can't say I'm not disappointed that it broke, but I'm glad that it at least aided in your survival," said Viridia.
"You know, it was like your very will has been protecting me. At the times when I seemed to get "lucky," it was simply the power of the Skills Divine Protection and Spirit's Whim. So, I thank you."
Viridia blushed. "You're welcome, I guess… Hopefully, you can stop being reckless now."
"I make no promises," Alex replied quickly and flatly.
"If you're done, can we go hunt the giant purple Carapaceon now?" asked Corra.
Alex waved at her. "See you when we return, Viridia. I've never seen my Aunt so into a quest before, so I'd better go before she becomes annoyed."
"Good luck, Alex. I'll sell you another pendant for half off when you return. Those things are really expensive, so I can't just give it to you this time."
"Noted…" said Alex with a grimace as he turned away.
Hunter Stats
1. Alex Kasai (HR7)
Weapon: Devil Slicer Long Sword (Thunder Element)
Armor: Daimyo 'S' Blade Master
Skills: HG Telepathy, Kasai Potential, Water Resist, Throwing Skill Up, Guard Up, Thunder Damage Increase
2. Corra Kasai (HR7)
Weapon: Khezu Horn Hunting Horn (Thunder Element) {W, NB, Y}
Armor: Khezu 'S' Blade Master
Skills: HG Telepathy, Kasai Potential, Recover Speed Up, Wide Area, Thunder Resist, Fire Damage Increase
3. Anna Frost (HR7)
Weapon: Double Kirin Bolts Dual Blades (Thunder Element)
Armor: Armor: Cephalos 'S' Blade Master
Skills: Heat Negate, Hunger Halved, Water Resist, Cold Increase, Ice Damage Increase
4. Ismarelda Ryuko (HR6)
Weapon: Crystal Nova Hammer
Armor: Cephalos 'S' Blade Master
Skills: Heat Negate, Hunger Halved, Water Resist, Cold Increase, Ice Damage Increase
Dede Desert Area 2. 2:30 PM.
The target of today's hunt was a variant of Daimyo called the Plum Daimyo Hermitaur. It was purple in color, and super territorial. Alex heard from Patricia that in her country, they were called "Senshi no Bakuhatsu Sengoku," loosely meaning "Warriors of an Explosive Civil War." This was because they would fight each other off on sight. Such was the ferocity of their territorialism.
Ismarelda had quit working for the Wandoreo Family, and returned to being a full time Hunter. But the spur-of-the-moment decision had left her with no nowhere to go home to. She had spent years living at the Royal House. She was hoping to make some good cash on this hunt so that she could procure new living arrangements. Alex had suggested that she could get a house relatively cheap up in Pokke. He would personally put in a good word for her to the Chief. She would only have to get used to the difference in climate.
Alex was leading the way towards Area 7, another hot, expansive area of sand. HG Telepathy had picked out a rather large Chikara signature. North of the hunting grounds, one could see two huge mountains, but surrounding the few minor elevations of the entire zone was inhospitable blazing, sandy flatlands, similar to the Goldora plains in that no one dared to live there, or could survive there for that matter.
Once there in Area 7, the Quartet was actually spotted by their target first! "Watch out!" Alex rushed towards Ismarelda using Khezu Cloak, narrowly knocking her down and out of the path of a purple claw.
"That's some greeting, big guy!" relayed Corra as she went forward to attack, keeping the Daimyo from following up on the first two.
"If you four did anything wrong, it is the fact that you showed up here," was the reply. Corra dodged a claw swipe before swinging her weapon, a blue flash of static occuring on hit. "I didn't even feel that!"
Anna went around and started a combo on the back legs. But her attacks, even with the elemental advantage, were barely causing any damage. "This armor is very tough!"
"Everyone, let's just pressure him!" exclaimed Alex as he went in for an overhead slash to the front. After attacking, both him and Corra were forced to move out of the way as the Daimyo crossed both claws in front of him.
"This is for trying to ambush me!" Ismarelda went forth and landed a bash on both claws, actually causing them to crack slightly.
"What!?" The Daimyo pushed out his claws, sending Ismarelda flying.
"Whoa!"
"Don't think I forgot you back there!" The Daimyo spun a 180 to attack Anna. But thanks to the warning he stupidly gave her, she was able to jump back in time to avoid the claws.
"I got sick of being batted away like a ball. Dual Blades Power Up!" Anna went for it. "Thunder Element: Dual Blades Kirin Dance!" Anna began a series of attacks as majestic as a Kirin prancing about, ending with a dual power slash. This left a claw and two legs very damaged.
"AAAAHHH! Why… WHY YOU! Monoblos Rampage!" The Daimyo began digging to the sand and disappeared. Everyone sheathed/put away their weapons and prepared to dodge at a moment's notice.
"Corra, synchronize your HG Telepathy with mine. I want to see if we can share our Danger Sense with everyone."
"Good idea! I'm ready. HMPH!"
The first to be targeted was Ismarelda. She hopped back as the deadly horn shot up through her previous position, before ominously sinking back down. Next was Anna, who also avoided the one-shot capable attack. Then Corra, and finally Alex, who went a step further by precisely chopping off the horn with a diagonal slash!
"You think you're so crafty," said the Daimyo as it rose up. "But let's see how you handle my Foamy Spray!"
"Enough of this!" Alex charged. He vaulted in order to dodge the water attack, and Grace began to glow white. "Say night-night! Thunder Element: Lightning Spirit Sword Attack!"
"NOOO–AAAAHH!" A storm of lightning fast slashes landed on the Daimyo, a strong flash of blue static occuring on every hit.
"Everyone, he's not done yet! Finish him with your combined effort!" Alex dashed backwards as the Daimyo collapsed.
"You heard him!" exclaimed Corra as she just finished playing White-White-White.
The three Huntresses yelled a battle cry as they converged on the fallen Carapaceon. "NOOO!"
Author Note: Confession
"It appears that I have revealed an in-universe explanation for lots of the plot armor that Alex has experienced from since Chapter 9. Divine Protection occasionally randomly reduces damage from any attack, and Spirit's Whim increases one's 'luck' in this story, similar to the Fate Skill which increases your rewards in the games. In M.H. Freedom 2/Unite, Spirit's Whim makes it less likely for pickaxes and bugnets to break.
I'm not sure if I will be able to even make it look like Alex's plot armor is reduced by at least half in upcoming chapters, at least until he buys the new pendant. Even then, I'll still try to reduce it. It's just that the issue of plot armor in some level is a bit of a necessary evil in writing fiction.
Oh, and for those who don't know, Talismans were introduced in Monster Hunter Tri for the Wii, and the Japanese exclusive PSP game Portable 3rd.