Here we are folks! Small timeskip here, but I'm sure you'll be looking forwards to the next chapter after this. Have a nice read!
He rolled to the left, making sure his weapon was parallel to the ground during the motion, the whistling motion of the air to his right telling him he had dodged correctly. Then he immediately rolled to the right, avoiding the follow-up. Once his feet were back on the ground, he pushed with all of his might, converting his momentum into a forward motion, and started running, his weapon held behind him.
Facing him was Nikki, who was in the motion of retracting her right wing, however, he immediately noticed she was starting to crouch, which meant she was about to rear up for a bite. Judging the distance between them, and the time she would need to pounce, he ran for a couple more steps and then immediately pushed his right foot to the side, meaning he converted partially his momentum to the left.
Even though Nikki was holding herself back on her attacks, she completed the motions when she was sure he would not get hit, which still meant that Valen could feel all the energy that was put into the bite she did when her beak snapped closed with an audible clack.
The instant he started sidestepping, his arm was in motion, swiping the axe head low to the grass and then upwards, and he was rewarded with a meaty thwack when it collided with Nikki's forearm. He did not stop here however, pulling the axe towards him, he squeezed the outside trigger of the weapon and rotated it, the weapon shifting in motion, into a unified blade that simply slid over the scales without damaging them.
Using the momentum of the strike, Valen then backstepped, avoiding the retaliatory swipe from Nikki. He paused a split second to observe her body, and when he saw that she overcommitted and was off-balance, pushed up the trigger he was holding, and struck again with his axe, using the extra reach he now had.
It was only when his weapon connected with her forearm again that he saw Nikki was ready to swipe with her wing. She didn't commit to the motion but he dropped his weapon immediately.
They both stared at each other for a while, neither moving, gauging each other, and then Valen nodded. He knew he had lost this bout. 'I yield' he signed.
Nikki nodded and backed away, Valen then picked up his weapon and switched it back into carrying mode.
They had started doing this training the day after he met her back at the clearing. They first had to agree on how they would make it safe though. That went by using two words that were used a lot while they were adapting: 'Faster' and 'Slower' the first being a horizontal swipe of the hand/claw that started slowly then sharply picked up speed. Slower was the opposite.
Then training started slowly, Nikki showing him some attack patterns she could do, just aiming at the air, the most common one being just stabbing with her wings, which was the true proof of how versatile the membrane between them was. She started doing them at regular speed, Valen asking her to do it more slowly until they found a speed he was comfortable with. A speed where he could dodge them, but still had to put his focus on it. It also allowed Nikki to stop the attack if he couldn't dodge them in time, thus reducing the risk of accidentally injuring him.
They didn't stop on just wing stabs though, and quickly added attack patterns. Claw swipes, bites, and sweeps with the wing. The range of attacks Nikki was able to demonstrate was staggering. They did agree on something though, that Nikki would never go through with charges that necessitated her propelling herself with her wings. Instead, Nikki would go through the charging motions but aborted every time, and if Valen couldn't get from the expected path in time, he was considered as being 'hit'.
What they were able to do though, was the wide array of projectile attacks the Valstrax was capable of. She could tone down the power of it while still keeping the speed. So if Valen got hit by one, it was considered a loss for him.
The end result was that it looked like Nikki was trying to hit Valen but with exaggeratedly slowed attacks while Valen sidestepped, rolled, or moved away from the attacks.
In counterpart, Valen could do his swipes as usual, since no matter the force he put into his strikes, he couldn't even dent Nikki's scales. It did dull his weapon though, so he had to spend time sharpening it at the end of every session. He however avoided slashes at the head, because while her body was tougher than a human's there was still a weak point, and he didn't want to accidentally blind her, given how reliant a Valstrax was on their vision.
Their training was also an occasion to considerably expand their vocabulary, assigning words to items, plants, or animals they could find around.
Valen remembered though when Nikki came back one day with not a dead catch… But very much an alive one. He didn't understand the reason until when she was sure he was watching, she slashed out the throat of the struggling Jaggi with her claws, killing it on the spot. Then she mimed slashing her throat with her claw.
Valen looked at the bleeding monster, the long tail laying completely flat on the ground, still, the frills that were adorning his face partially covering its muzzle and its pink scales that were starting to get stained by the rapidly spreading blood. He nodded and looked at Nikki, then repeated her motion with his thumb. There was no mistaking what word she just demonstrated. It was 'Kill'.
Nikki and Valen were both lying on the grass, the human on his back while the Valstrax was sitting on her haunches. The pair were looking at the stars, night having fallen several hours ago. Only the campfire that Valen tended to occasionally gave them light. Neither were moving and they were simply enjoying each other's presence.
The wind was rustling the leaves of the trees surrounding them, and had their training not laid bare most of it or shortened considerably, the grass would be swaying around the campfire. Only the sound of Nikki's powerful, regular breathing could be heard over the ambient sound.
The stars in the sky were all burning bright, only the full moon shining pure enough to dim the stars around it. They were all of various intensity, some were barely visible next to their sisters. Others were simply indiscernible from their neighbors.
One, however, stood out from all of them. One was the only one not overtaken when the moon passed near. This one shined of a pure blue, a blue so intense none of any other stars could hope to be as grand as her. She shined so bright she had no neighbors, sitting alone in her corner of the sky.
The star was called the Sapphire Star, a symbol of hope in the darkest times. A silent vigil that guided sailors and hunters in the wilderness. Hunters sent their prayers to her when they needed comfort and when they needed to be brave. Legends were told about her, about her birth, and what she meant, now part of the folklore of the world.
And this was the star the gaze of both Valen and Nikki was fixated on, simply sharing the moment together. Valen was motionless, while only the tip of Nikki's tail occasionally twitched.
It had been almost a month since Valen came back to the clearing, training daily with his companion. When he compared his result to the first day… The difference was staggering.
He may have had a slight limp while he was walking long distances, leisurely, but it was gone the moment he was in a fight. All of his muscles responded as they should be, as he wanted them. He was faster than he was before for sure, but not that much faster, there was a limit to his body after all, and he was pretty sure he was reaching it. However… What he improved on by leaps and bounds was his awareness.
He now knew how to pay attention to every part of a monster, or at least Nikki's body, but he expected to be able to adapt to other monsters without much trouble. He had quickly realized that what mattered in hunting was not how hard he could strike, or how fast he could be. Striking hard didn't matter if you never laid a hit on your quarry. Moving fast didn't matter if you jumped into the next attack of your opponent. One rule was simply needed above anything else, at least for his weapon.
Do not get hit.
Not getting hit… Meant that his opponent expended much more energy to try to hit him than he did. The stamina he spent moving out of the area of an attack was more than the stamina a monster spent trying to hit him. A tired monster couldn't attack as often, had slower attacks… Couldn't react as fast. A tired monster would die quickly.
This was a golden rule of hunting. The rule of why hunts were often done in teams so that they could all divert the attention of a target monster and tire it faster. And, outside great-shield users, who were protected by a wall of steel, went through not getting hit.
However. He quickly realized something crucial about Nikki during his training.
Elders didn't tire.
No matter how much he trained in a day, and how hard the training was… Nikki never showed a sign of tiring, even long past what he knew regular wyverns would be panting. This, more than anything, showed why Elders were so dangerous, they could fight for hours and not suffer exhaustion. Even if you could dodge their attacks for these hours, you'd eventually make a single mistake and it'd be over…
But then another variable in the equation was missing, and it was the only way some hunters were able to successfully hunt elders themselves. The equipment you made out of monsters… Allowed you to take more hits.
He knew that his now destroyed Royal Ludroth gear was leagues above the simple steel gear he currently wielded. Even such a lower-rank monster gear allowed him to tank a couple of claw swipes from wyverns that he knew would have pierced through his current armor and torn him apart. He also knew that his old weapon would have bit through Nikki's scales at least a bit… He didn't know why. He only knew there was a reason that hunters were encouraged to upgrade their equipment with materials carved from monsters instead of all wielding the sharpest weapons made of the purest steel.
Why? Because they simply allowed to survive better and kill faster. How? That was what eluded Valen. He knew something was missing in all of this. But he simply didn't know why.
So he sighed, he had started the subject with Nikki a couple of times but every time it fell flat because they missed words to convey the meaning… She often tried to use the word 'Element', but he had his suspicions that the sense she meant when they decided on it, and the sense he could understand was not the same… They tried to discuss the word itself more but he was still as confused as before, so they abandoned the subject.
Nikki looked at him, breaking out of the trance that she was under while watching the stars, and rumbled inquisitively. Valen looked at her and just shrugged, and he tapped his index finger on his head, which meant 'Thinking'. She just hummed for an instant and rubbed him on his cheek. Valen chuckled then rubbed the side of her head in response. Then he sighed.
Pushing Nikki away, he then waved to get her attention. Then said: 'Tomorrow, me back. Needs… Hunt.' He didn't want to leave Nikki at all, having never felt such at peace since… Ever. His time training with her was simply amazing, full of companionship and kinship. Even though he knew he had no way he could ever hurt her, and several ways she could kill him accidentally, they managed to find a way to safely train. He trusted her to be careful, more than anybody else he ever was with, the scant memories he had of his parents (and he didn't want to think about it, lest he thought of the reason he lost them), his training instructor, or even his late hunting group.
So he just stayed with Nikki, enjoying this last night with her. But then she did a low growl, which made him look at her. And what she said made him smile.
'You… Get stronger. Need hunt. Come back.'
And he answered her, pointing at himself, then clasped his hands together, like in a handshake. 'I promise.'
They agreed to go to sleep after, and Valen fell asleep with a smile on his face.
Two days later, Valen arrived back at the village, and went directly to the guild, once the guard allowed him past the gate. The receptionist looked up from a book she was writing in, and smiled once she recognized him. "Hunter Valen! How have your training been?"
"It went very well, I'm back to top form and even beyond!"
"This is good, I received several quests you were cleared to do to get new gear. Pick one and I'll be able to send it back." She then started to spread them out, a half-dozen pages in total. She read out the first one. "Rathian, she has been noted to have lost her mate and is brooding, hasn't shown signs of aggressiveness but the guild is worried about the possibility of her lashing out."
Valen didn't even need to think. "Pass, I want to hunt only monsters that are genuine threats."
The receptionist nodded, it wasn't something that was rare, to have hunters with a strict moral code. She thus removed three other leaves, only leaving a couple. "A Yian Kut-Ku has been attacking convoys and seems to be in a frenzy, the guild is sure there is no way to calm this one down."
"What about the other? I'd prefer something bigger profile if I could."
She seemed to hesitate for a moment before sighing. "If you pick this one, you will NOT be alone, another has already signed up for it, he is just waiting for a partner to start. Do not worry, he isn't interested in the materials and you'll have full share regardless."
"That doesn't bother me, what is the target?"
"A Plesioth." Valen groaned the Piscine Wyvern had an infamous reputation, and for a reason, and the receptionist chuckled. "It has sunk a fishing ship already, eating all of the sailors in it. The guild has even listed it as an urgent quest and the monetary reward is bigger in addition. However it has been noted to be a strong specimen, so I'd suggest you get extra careful, due to having basic gear."
Valen took a bit of time to think it over. There would be no shame in him choosing to hunt the Yian Kut-Ku, especially as a solo hunt… However Plesioth had a reputation for a reason, but at least he would not be alone. He was confident after the training with Nikki though, so he nodded. "I'll take it, do you know where the other one who signed up is?"
She pointed towards one corner of the room where Valen could see a gruff man sitting at a table. "He is there, his name is Austin, I'd suggest you introduce each other. I will send the confirmation of the hunt you took to the guild in the meantime."
Valen nodded and walked towards the hunter. As he approached he could quickly see that the gruff aspect was not only from afar, he was the most burly hunter he had ever met, with thick muscles covering his arms and broad shoulders. Valen was more of a slender build, but he was favoring a more agile style. If anything that told him that the other hunter favored a style around brute force.
He noted the armor he was wearing, which was Tetsucabra armor, was distinctive by its bulky shoulders and the orange-blue colors of the plates making it, the golden coil with a purple rope was also another distinctive part of the armor. He didn't see a weapon holstered in his back though, so he supposed that he put it back in his room.
Valen sat opposite him at the table, to which the burly hunter raised an eyebrow and studied Valen for a moment before snorting. "What do you want pipsqueak? If you want help for your Velociprey hunt, scamper, I already booked one."
Frowning, Valen replied. "I'm not a newbie despite what my chain-mail armor might tell you, my armor got thrashed on my last hunt, and I signed up for the Plesioth bounty to replace my gear."
"Sure… You'll just let me do all the work and use the opportunity to get the gear you totally don't deserve. And all of that only to die to an Arzuros once you go on a real solo hunt. Or you'll just keep hijacking hunts of other, real hunters."
Valen tried, he really tried, he took a deep breath to try to calm down, but when it didn't calm him down, he gave up and slammed his hands on the table, the sound attracting the attention of everybody in the room.
"Shut. The. Fuck. UP!" Punctuating every word, shouting the last one, the other hunter was clearly surprised by the turn of events. "I did not survive several weeks alone in the deep wilderness after losing my entire party to an invader only to be berated for something out of my control. I have trained intensively for an entire month just to make sure it won't happen, and this is what I get in response? Jeers and taunts? Apologize now!"
Austin stared back at him unflinchingly, returning it without shifting. Murmurs broke out all around them, but none of the two hunters reacted. It lasted long enough that the receptionist was starting to head towards them to break the argument when the burly hunter finally spoke.
"You have guts I will admit. Meet me tomorrow, we leave at first light and do not be late, the airship will leave even if you're missing."
"I didn't intend to be," Valen replied, with steel in his voice.
Austin nodded, picked up his bag, and started heading towards the stairs, however on the bottom of them he paused and said. "Just to be clear, I'll not foul you out of the hunt, but don't go in my way once it properly starts." Then he walked up the stairs, ending the discussion.
Valen waited for a while longer to allow him to go in his room, then he went up the stairs and hurriedly entered his room, once he locked up the bolt, he released the breath that he had been holding and murmured.
"I never had my temper rise up like that… Usually, I am not bothered by personal insults. I hope it's nothing major." Taking deep breaths for a couple of minutes, he then went to order his belongings, having to prepare for the hunt that would come… Against the Plesioth.