Bit of a lore chapter here, you'll be especially interested by how I imagine hunters wield the Switch Axe, and other tidbits. Next chapter is a big timeskip and then… That's a surprise!
The guild knights arrived two days later, in an airship. Valen couldn't have missed their arrival, the airship made the talk of the town, and from what he heard, it has been years since an airship came to dock. This made Valen worry because if they felt they needed an airship to come, as those aren't cheap to rent, even for higher-ranked hunters, that meant that the guild itself was worried about Valen.
He was right to be apprehensive, because the moment the knights found him, they requested him to follow them for 'guild matters'. Knowing how foolish it was to refuse orders from a guild knight, he obeyed them and they led him to a room in the guild hall, however, instead of going in the room behind the counter, they went into a room that was behind a heavy door, that they unlocked. Valen now had reasons to be worried, this kind of room was used only for the most serious matters, and he had only seen it used a couple of times in his career. And those that were brought in both were demoted in rank a few days later.
Taking a deep breath, he took the seat offered by the guild knights and one stayed in front of the door while the other lit up a lamp and pulled out a notebook.
Then the interrogation began, however, Valen didn't remember much of what happened, because of the memories he had to recall here. The interrogation ended up being just a formality, and clarification on why he fled the hunt, abandoning his last teammate. When Valen described, not without difficulty, what happened in his youth, and how the deaths made him recall this part of the past, they had been understanding.
That didn't stop them from asking a lot of questions with the goal of determining if that would happen again. To which Valen ensured that it wouldn't… Because he would no longer hunt with a team. The proclamation and certainty in his voice surprised momentarily the knights, however they understood, and it wasn't the first time something of the sort happened. Solo hunters were rare, but they nonetheless still happened, and a few of them were legendary hunters who saved whole regions from a calamity.
Then Valen said that unless he was faced with the same species again, he was certain he would not panic. He owed it to his fallen companions at least.
They asked him several more questions, this time more related to his period of recovery. They were satisfied at the end. One asked to see his hunting notebook. To which Valen said that he hadn't found it among his items when he woke up so it was either lost or stolen by his rescuers, as was other content of his bag. They didn't press on.
Once the interrogation was over, the Guild Knights gave him a permit to receive a new weapon from the local blacksmith and informed him that he would be able to undergo a hunt for new gear in two dark moon's time. Valen remembered that the full moon was just the day before, so that meant he had more than a month to train. He intended to make full use of his time.
"Am I allowed to train in the wilderness? No hunting of anything but game, but I usually prefer the wild environment to diversify my training." Valen eventually asked once they were preparing to go back to the city.
"You are, just be careful, since anything larger than a Yian Kut-Ku will be a match for you."
"Do not worry," Valen reassured. "I found a spot when coming back, it has a place I can take shelter at if I need to."
The Knight just nodded in response, then he embarked on the airship. Then he eventually said. "Come to the city once you are geared up, there are matters that need to be completed there…" He seemed to hesitate. "And your new assignment."
Valen raised an eyebrow at that last part, it wasn't something that bode well. He still nodded. "I will come then."
The knight didn't say anything more before the airship undocked and started to rise into the air… Then it floated away from the town. Valen observed it for a few minutes before heading to the blacksmith to receive his new gear.
His workshop was the only building in the town made entirely of stone and bone, the gigantic ribs being the support for the roof's tiles. Valen could already hear the clang of hammer against an anvil ringing from the inside. He waited for a lapse in the strikes, before entering the open-air workshop.
The heat that should have been infusing the whole room was only prevalent near the gigantic stone furnace, that a pair of Felyne kept hot by working its bellows. The smith, a man with the reddest hair Valen had ever seen, which was accompanied by a thick mustache of the same color, raised his eyes from the Longsword he was working on to Valen. He nodded and said in a deep voice:
"I have been warned by the knights that I should be provided with a new weapon, along with a set of armor. You are in luck, I almost finished a new set of all the weapons, unless you wield a Longsword, in which case you would need to wait a couple of days."
"Which I don't, I favor the Switch Axe." Valen replied.
"Oh? Then it's your lucky day, I just finished it yesterday, so it will be as new as you could get! Give me a minute, I'll go get it, then give you your armor." Then he left the workshop to go to the backroom, and returned carrying a weapon as tall as he was, almost effortlessly, and placed it down on a table, making room for it by brushing aside several tools with the scraping of steel against stone. "Here it is! What do you think of it?"
Valen approached the table and made to pick up the weapon but stopped before grabbing it, wordlessly asking for permission. And when the blacksmith nodded his consent, he picked up the bulky weapon.
He looked at the edges, testing them and finding them sharp to his liking. Then he looked at the inside machinery along the central line, finding no obvious faults in it. Nodding in satisfaction, he then removed the safety and squeezed the morphing lever halfway through, engaging the Axe mode. The weapon seamlessly shifted its parts, the axe head moving to the top.
He looked again at the machinery and confirmed no stuck parts. Then, backing away a bit from anything valuable, he did a couple of practice swings in the air and was satisfied with the balance. It was where he used to be, about halfway through, but just above the shaft. He nodded to himself, then squeezed the lever fully through, and with a grinding of gears, the weapon shifted in Sword mode, the axe head lowering towards the handle while the sword head pivoted at the top to rest above it. After a third check of the machinery, he looked at the place where the phial was usually slotted, and finding it empty, just decided on a couple of swings. Using the Sword mode required both hands usually, but allowed for deeper cuts on the monster. Releasing explosions while it was cutting allowed to make damage to the internal parts.
Once again the balance was satisfying for him, and Valen was satisfied to train with this weapon. Pushing the lever all the way back to the top, the weapon shifted back into carrying mode and he engaged the safety back on. Then he answered to the smith:
"I am satisfied, this will be a good base to upgrade to a better weapon once I'm done with the target the guild will assign me."
"Oh oh?" He replied, now interested "I would be happy to be the one that reforges this magnificent weapon!"
"You probably will, I don't really have a personal smith, and this is quality work." He paused and then said. "Could I have the armor as well, so I have time to prepare my gear before I leave for training tomorrow?"
"All right lad! I would usually give you the whole talk about taking care of your weapon, sharpening it regularly, and even making sure you know how to disassemble and reassemble it so you can clean the internals, but I know I don't need to, given the way you examined it!" Then he went back to the back room, and this time he returned with a whole set of armor, grunting not because of the weight, but because he was trying to not let anything fall off from his arms. Then he placed the pieces of armor on the table. "I trust you know how to put each piece on as well?"
Valen nodded. "I do." He eyed the pile of armor. "Could you help me carry them to my room? If it's not asking for too much?"
A booming laugh answered him. "Don't worry lad, that Longsword can wait for a bit more, I'm not at a critical phase of smiting for it. Here, take the legs and arms, I'll take care of the rest."
"Oh wait, do you have a harness for the Axe first? I almost forgot."
The smith paused. "You're right, good idea you reminded me, lad, I forgot to pick it up when grabbing the weapon." He once again went to the backroom, returning with a harness made of leather which was made to carry a heavy weapon on the back. Not all weapons required one, most Longswords were paired with a sheathe to carry it which was also used while fighting. But others like the Sword and Shield or the Dual Blades also carried ones for convenience.
But for weapons too big or heavy for a sheathe, they used a harness that allowed the user to carry it on his back while traveling. Then the Greatsword was a special case, using a giant electromagnet on the back to fix it, using cheap parts of a thunder element monster, allowing the user to turn it off at will.
Thus Valen put on the harness made for a Switch Axe and slid the weapon into it. He did small jumps and jostled it after to make sure it was secured, then he picked up the armor parts the smith designated to him and they both went to his room.
Once this was done, and with a final goodbye, the smith left and Valen was left alone in his room. He removed the harness still carrying the weapon and put it on the corner of the room. Then he exited the room, locking the door behind him, and headed to the storeroom of the guild, intending to buy a couple of items he needed.
He left it with several whetstones, a flask of oils, and spare leather bands to repair his armor if needed. He also bought a tool kit that allowed him to dismantle and repair his Switch Axe more easily, along with a couple of new notebooks. Then once he was satisfied that he had everything he needed, he finally went to prepare his bag for the journey tomorrow, double or even triple-checking everything, packing it all nicely into his bag. He would also usually at this point take care of his weapon, sharpening and oiling it, but given it was brand new, he didn't see the need.
Then once everything was ready for him to leave the following morning, he ate dinner, spent the evening reading a book on the local plants, and went to bed.
Valen left early the following morning, so early the guard told him he had just started his shift and was allowed to leave people out. Dawn hadn't even started yet, but the guard just shook his head and opened the door for him. Once out, he walked at a steady pace, not as worried about being caught in the night as before, and also less concerned about keeping the correct heading too, since he had a way to signal his presence to Nikki once she went looking for him.
He planned to take two days of travel this time, for several reasons, the first being that he wasn't on such a time crunch of trying to arrive before night, the second being that he also was carrying a much heavier load, so he needed to save himself. Carrying the heavy load was comforting for Valen though, as it was as it should be: trekking through the wilderness to reach his goal, by foot.
Looking around, he paid attention to the plants that were growing around him, collecting the ones that had a use for him, such as a couple of parashrooms, ivy, or even a godbug that he saw crawling through a thick trunk. Hunting was more than just tracking a monster and exhausting it until it made a mistake, you also had to collect the means to make sure you covered your own mistakes as well.
Most plants were rare, and hunters were always encouraged to never fully collect a plant, so as to allow it to regrow. Uprooting plants were almost completely forbidden unless it was one of the plants that could be cultivated in specialized farms. Mushrooms could be collected fully however, as most of their mass was underground anyway, it was considered a good habit to disperse their spores when able though.
Once the sun started dipping below the horizon, Valen decided it was a good point to stop, being still in the forest. So he looked for a tree with a thick trunk and started climbing it. He had been drilled so much about how to find a safe spot for the night while traveling solo, as well as the means of keeping monsters away. Thus he unrolled his bag, deployed the alarm system that would wake him up if a large monster went near, and, after a quick meal out of his rations, managed to find sleep, alone in the wilderness.
Valen woke up early the next morning, cracking open an eye and listening while keeping his breathing as low as possible. Once he was certain no creature was stalking near, he had a good look around, paying attention to footprints in the mossy ground. After he was satisfied no monster had passed nearby in the night, he packed everything up and carefully went down the tree. Then, he went back on the road, confident in the fact he would arrive at his destination that day.
It was until the middle of the afternoon, but finally, Valen was certain he found the clearing he was dropped in. Taking a deep breath, he dropped his bag on the ground and put his weapon against a tree. Once he rested from his journey, he walked for a while in the forest, looking for deadwood, which was a quick affair. Then he built a campfire, which was the signal both of them agreed on. And he waited.
A while later, while he was snoozing in front of the fire, he was broken out of his reverie by a rumbling noise. Properly woken up, he searched the skies, and it didn't take long for him to break into a grin.
Nikki was coming in towards the clearing, definitely slower than a Valstrax usually was, but he expected it. She didn't want to risk injuring him with a heavy landing or a shockwave.
Valen waited for her to cut off her wings and drop the last few feet separating her from the ground before walking towards her. Once he reached her head, he stopped… And opened his arms wide, like he expected a hug. And Nikki responded in kind, butting her head in his chest. Valen then embraced her, scratching the underside of her beak, to which she rumbled in pleasure. Both of them just pursued the embrace, enjoying the reunion after being separated for several days for the first time.
Our hunter might have found it strange how close their bond became in a scant few days, but he just embraced it. He had a suspicion that Nikki never knew this kind of comfort and thus she embraced it wholly.
It took several long minutes before the two of them finally broke away, looking at each other, and then nodding.
Finally, Valen walked towards the tree upon which he put his Switch Axe and recovered it, however keeping the safety locked. Then he walked towards Nikki and signed. 'Tomorrow, m fight you… No blood.' He hadn't got a sign for training yet, but it would be his objective soon, she seemed to get the meaning still, nodding once, then walked towards him, inspecting the weapon.
However, before Valen could react, she ran her paw on the side of the blade, testing its edge. The move was so fast he couldn't react… But to his surprise, she showed him that she was completely unharmed, without a scratch on her scales. She then mimed.
'No… Element. Weapon weak.'
Element was a weird term they agreed on, prompted by Nikki, which was rare enough. However, he wasn't sure he got the meaning right, as Nikki brought him a large number of items to describe this word, which were plants with elemental power infused… But also scales of monsters, and several other things that he wasn't sure of. The only thing in common he could think of was the elemental powers monsters could wield, which were concentrated in these plants… Yet this meaning felt lacking still.
Clearing his errant thoughts, Valen returned to the matter at hand. So Nikki thought this weapon, being a basic iron weapon, wasn't sharp and sturdy enough to hurt her? That… Worried Valen, because if he had to do a hunt to upgrade it… He probably wouldn't even be able to hurt the monster. Then he remembered that even monsters like Rathalos had tales of being felled by simple iron weapons.
This meant that the Elders were definitely out of his league though. Still, he knew he had not at all the skill to face one anyway. So he looked at Nikki and, staring at her eye, nodded. Starting tomorrow… He would do what he was pretty sure no Hunter had done before. Train with an Elder itself, and not in a dance to the death. A dance both of them agreed on.