Monster Hunter: The Telepathic Hunter; Ch15: Danger Desert Duo
February 3rd. 2098. Pokke Village. 6:40 AM.
Alex yawned and stretched like a lazy Felyne as he stood before the front door of Maxwell's hut… Well, it was his hut now basically. He wasn't wearing any armor, just his favorite zig-zag home undergarments. "Brr. Why is it so cold this morning?" Alex opened the front door and stepped into a completely different world. The village was practically layered with snow! "What the!? What is going on!?"
"Good morning, Alex!" called Jonathan's voice. Alex waved as Jonathan came into view from the steps leading down to the farm, carrying firewood. He was dressed in his yellow Mafumofu Civilian armor. "You are still green about the way of life in Pokke, so you most likely don't know. About four times a year, or every four months, the Furahiya Mountains receive a particularly awful amount of bad weather and snow. From later on today into the next five days, you won't even be able to leave your house, even with Mafumofu armor! It will be too cold for humans!"
"Yikes! So this is the special climatic feature I read about. You call it the Pseudo-Winter, right?"
"That's correct! You should head down to the farm for your share of the firewood. The Pseudo-Winter will start to wane on the sixth day and will finally clear out by the morning of the seventh."
"Thank you for the information."
"No problem. Be safe!" Jonathan resumed his way home.
"I'd better get some food for Emperor as well. But I might as well get the firewood first." Alex breathed out a white fog. "The temperature is dropping. I need to do all of my business quickly!" Alex went back in and suited up in his own Mafumofu armor. Once he was ready, he set out for the farm.
Hunter Stats
Alex Kasai (HR2)
Weapon: Iron Katana Grace Long Sword
Armor: Cephalos Blade Master
Skills: Telepathy, Heat Negate, Cold Increase, Hunger Halved, Water Resist, Ice Damage Increase
February 11th. White Night Dunes Base Camp, Sekumeaya Desert.
One day after the Pseudo-Winder was over, Alex was ready and raring for a challenge. Being cooped up in the house while battling the fierce cold had him bored out of his skull. However, against the wise counsel of his sisters-in-arms, he selected the rather foolhardy task of a quest against two, not one, but TWO, boss monsters. And to make matters worse, it was not something as simple as taking on two Gendromes at once. No, his targets were a giant crab and a huge walking fish-like monstrosity. What could go wrong?
"Okay, My first target is the Daimyo Hermitaur, a giant carapaceon with the skull of a Monoblos on its back. This should be fun… I hope. I just can't believe Anna and Corra were too scared to come with me. Corra I can excuse, because the cold did her no favors in allowing her to get some much needed rest to recover her Chikara. But I expected better from Anna. I will show her what I'm made of. Here I go!" Alex returned his helmet to his head, put away the map, and began his way out of the base camp.
He passed through Area 2 warily, making sure to keep as far away from any Cephalos he saw as he could. Many hunters had failed quests before because of wasting time and resources on targets they were not contracted to slay or gather items from.
Area 1.
Upon entering the area, Alex immediately spotted his first quarry. The giant red lug was near the shoreline of the oasis, his meaty armored claws digging into the sand for scraps. His 'skull shell' was facing Alex, who for a moment just stood there taking in its majesty. It was the subject of research as for whether the carapaceon attacked and killed Monoblos for their skulls, or simply robbed them from the wyvern's already dead corpse, old age or defeated by something else.
Finally, Alex remembered what he was supposed to be doing and decided to try to sneak up on the monster crab. He kept his right hand on the hilt of his sword just in case he needed to draw it at a moment's notice as he carefully approached. "Don't try it. I know you're back there, human."
Alex halted. "Huh!?" He drew out grace as the Daimyo stopped eating and turned to face him. It held up its claws in the air for a moment as if taunting him. "How did you know?"
"My sensitive antennae picked up your scent. My name is Cancer, and I will have my revenge upon you for what you did to Hammerhead. Him and I had this place owned while the others were away on business."
"Ummm… Monsters can have partnerships!?"
"You won't be so dismissive of me when I crush your neck in my pincers!" Cancer the Daimyo began walking to meet Alex, who got himself into his signature stance.
"Fine, I accept your challenge! I am Alex Kasai, of Kokoto and Pokke, and I will not lose!" Alex rolled to the left as Cancer took a swipe at him. Alex wasted no time to unleash an overhead slash. However, his attack bounced off, causing him to reel back. "Whoa!" He jumped back the minute he found some control, narrowly avoiding the second claw swipe. "His exoskeleton is very tough! I need to carefully build up energy in Grace before I will be able to do any substantial damage!"
"Take this! Water Element!" Cancer's mouth began to foam. "Foamy Spray!"
"AAAAHHH!" screamed Alex as he was washed away by a near instant blast of frothy, bubbly water! But, with the water element resistance granted by his Cephalos Armor, he was able to quickly get back on his feet. "You thought I needed a bath, huh? Well, you're gonna pay for that."
"Bring it on, human!" Cancer turned around and began rushing at Alex, intending to slam him with its sturdy shell. Alex sheathed Grace and devoted himself to getting out of the crab's path. Once he was clear, he quickly went in for a few hits to add some energy to his sword. He jumped back as Cancer recovered. "Hmph. Let's see how you handle this one! Monoblos Rampage!" Cancer began to quickly dig into the sand, alarming Alex.
"Huh!? What's he going to do?" Alex kept a firm grip as the Daimyo disappeared into the ground. "I… need to focus." The ground began to rumble. "Below!" Alex jumped back just in the nick of time to avoid being impaled from below by the horn of the Monoblos' skull! It ominously sunk back into the ground again. "I can't afford to stay in one place!" Alex went on the move, not making himself an easy target as the Daimyo repeatedly tried to attack him this way. A direct hit of this move from below could one-shot any hunter, however stellar their armor!
After a while, Cancer resurfaced.
"You're a slippery one, I'll give you that. But how about we finish this? I still haven't gotten much to eat yet! You distrubed me at a horrible time!" Cancer began moving towards Alex.
"I still don't have enough energy charged up for a Spirit Attack… Well, I do have enough such that I could supplement the rest using my internal energy, but that would drain me a lot… But I may not have a choice unless I can get some hits in. I'll have to try. Here I come, you!" Alex began to glow as he ran forward. His Dragonite pendant glowed as well.
"Cross Claw!" Cancer brought both claws together like a pair of scissors, attempting to capture and crush Alex.
"Hup!" Alex used his momentum to jump high. Grace glowed white as he prepared to attack in mid air. "Take this! Willpower: Spirit Sword Attack!"
"What the… AAAAAAAHHHHH!" screamed Cancer as Alex unleashed a combo of vicious slashes at inhuman speed. His final downwards power slash as he landed cleanly cut Cancer's face in two. "GAAAAHHH!"
Alex jumped back, and collapsed to a breathless heap. "How… do you… like that!?"
Cancer the Daimyo collapsed as well, too weak to support his body weight anymore. He was dying. "Fine… I lost… Hammerhead, I'm… coming to… meet you….." The life left his eyes.
Alex got up and went over to the corpse. "Man, I need to get stronger. He was not as strong as most Daimyo Hermitaurs really are. He probably wasn't too old or seasoned in battle. Or maybe he was just weak from hunger. Anyway, I'd better carve him up fast. I still have a freaking Plesioth to take on after this…" Alex shuddered. He had seen Master Koto and his other students fight one when he was younger; the Piscine wyvern was huge! Alex took out his carving knife. But when he tried to use it, he found that the exoskeleton was too tough. "Well, this a first... Oh, I know. I'll use Grace to cut out the pieces of shell."
3:03 PM. After a long, well deserved rest, Alex was fully recovered and ready for action. By short cutting through the cave from the well in base camp, he easily entered Area 7. Within a rocky enclosure, also accessible from the north west of the sandy plain of Area 2, was a bit of sandy flat with a lake. A herd of Apceros could be seen munching on plant life.
"Alright, this should be the place." Alex turned towards the water's edge. He stopped as the normally aggressive Apceros' began running away. He soon discovered the reason why as a dorsal fin came into view. "Oh, right on!" He crouched and took out a fishing rod and a frog to be used as bait. Once he was all set, he made his cast and began to wait. C'mon, take the bait… Alex thought.
"Ooh! A frog! Must EAT IT!" went the tohughts of a feminine voice. Alex was facing a female. This was not good, as females were usually more aggressive than males.
Alex felt a strong jerk on the line and stood up. "Fish on!" He pulled and reeled in as hard as he could. "Come on out! HAAAA!" He gave a powerful pull, even to the point of falling over to his back. The small lake's surface broke as the giant fish-like wyvern flew into the air and down onto dry land.
"AAAHH! I've been snagged!" The Plesioth flipped and flopped just like a fish, before regaining her bearings. She and Alex got up together, the latter of which took in her impressive height of 9 feet and her length from head to tail-fin of 21 feet. "You've got some nerve, hunter!" shouted the Plesioth. The reason why it was mad was because the prank had caused damage to her. While superficially fish-like, the wyvern could walk on land for a certain period of time. They could could not lie down on land because there was no water to support the weight of their vital organs, hurting them in the same way as beached whales and dolphins. Even walking caused a slight amount of discomfort to them.
"Sorry about that," apologized Alex while trying to hold in his laughter. "This was just something I've always wanted to do, at least once." Alex got into his stance, becoming at the ready. "But that's enough fun and games. I am Alex Kasai, and I challenge you!" Alex charged head on at the water wyvern.
"Hmph!" The Plesioth spun 180 and slapped Alex away just as he got in range.
"Whoa!" Alex found himself on his back. "Ow…" Alex kicked to his feet and stared into the eyes of what could be his toughest opponent yet.
"Water Element: Jet Shot Needle!" A quick jet of pressurized water was fired at Alex, who rolled out of the way. As soon as he got up, the Plesioth was already jumping back into the water. He ran forward to the lake to see it swimming up and down before diving deep.
"What's she doing?" Alex was soon answered as the piscine wyvern popped its head above water suddenly. "HUH?!"
"Water Element: Jet Shot Sweeper!" As the water 'laser' was fired, the Plesioth swiftly turned its head from right to left, sweeping up Alex!
"YOOWWW! THAT STINGS!" shouted Alex in pain as he flipped and landed on his stomach, Grace clattering a few feet from his outstretched arms.
"Gotcha now. Water Element: Jet Shot Straight Line!" The Plesioth pointed its head downwards before firing and slowly lifted its head, causing the lethal line of water to quickly creep towards its downed target. "Now I'll saw you in half!"
Reading his opponent's mind, Alex's eyes snapped open before rolling out of harm's way like an alligator before stumbling to his feet. 'Huff, huff, huff.' "Not... gonna... happen... Fish-Face!" While the wyvern stayed shocked in place, Alex took out a sonic bomb and tossed it with all his might. "Take this!" 'PING!'
'HAAAAARRRRRSSSSSHHHHH!' The water wyvern splashed up seven feet before splashing back into the lake. While this was happening Alex ran to pick up Grace. The Plesioth popped her head up, "D-D-DARN You, you, you!" She dived again before leaping out of the water towards Alex. "BODY SLAM!"
Alex jumped at the incoming fish monster and... "Take this! Spirit Sword: Aerial Decapitation!" Everything went dark. 'Swing, swish, clash! Whoosshh! SLASH!" A dying cry of pain followed the sounds of a sword, 'KYYYYRRRGGGHHH!'
'Thud! Stomp!' The darkness cleared away, revealing a breathless Alex in a crouch and the water wyvern with its head several feet from its body, no doubt more dead than dead. 'Huff... huff... huff...' "That... wasn't so... bad... I did it! I've bested me a Plesioth! Two upper level bosses in one quest! Just wait till they hear about this at Pokke!" Alex got up and went to carve off materials from his quarry. Once he was done, he made his way back to the Base Camp.
6:45 PM.
"Darn! I didn't mean to fall asleep until dark! I must have been more tired than I thought." Alex was making his preparations to return to Pokke. The air was already very cold, and he would prefer not to spend the night here. He climbed into the basket, turned on the heat, and began lifting off. He turned the forward direction to the Snowy Mountains and began the journey home.
After some time, Alex found himself in a sudden change of weather. Black clouds blocked visibility and turbulent winds rocked the blimp violently.
"What is going on!? Where did this storm come from!?" Alex struggled against the controls in a vain effort to keep the blimp steady. A flash of orange light. Alex saw several bolts of lightning that were dark brown instead of regular colors like blue or white. "What the!? What is this feeling…? No, pressure! Is there some…" Alex did not get to finish his thought as a strong shock occurred on the basket. "AAAHH!" he screamed as he was thrown from the controls and slammed his head against a wall, knocking him unconscious.