Monster Hunter: The Telepathic Hunter; Ch18: Steel in the Blizzard
Hunter Stats (Reminder)
1. Alex Kasai (HR2/Official HR3 Promotion pending)
Weapon: Iron Katana Gospel Longsword + Fire Gem Decoration (Limited Fire Element)
Armor: 3/5 Blango Blade Master and 2/5 Mafumofu
Skills: Telepathy, Kasai Potential, Cold Negate, Snow Defense
2. Anna Frost (HR1/Official HR2 Promotion pending)
Weapon: Twin Kut-ku Dual Blades (Fire Element)
Armor: Battle Blade Master + Psychic Gem Decoration
Skills: Auto-Tracker, Strength Up, Sword Sharpener
Snowy Mountains Area 6. 4:45 PM.
Alex and Anna were making their way back to Pokke. The air was strangely calm. It wasn't even snowing. "Anna, I have a bad feeling."
"So do I. I feel like we are being watched. I've been up here a few times, and I have never seen this area this calm before. There is supposed to be an ever flowing wind current that blows up this side of the mountain."
Suddenly, an intense pressure came upon the duo, like a physical weight on them. "What is this!? I've never felt anything like this before!"
"This pressure… this malice!" replied Anna in a strained voice.
"Huh!?" A blizzard suddenly arose, out of the blue. Literally seconds ago, there was not even a cloud in the sky; now there were fierce snowy winds of skin biting cold. "C-c-cold!" Even Cold Negate could barely protect Alex from the full brunt of this.
"I c-can't m-move a m-muscle!" Poor Anna was shivering as even the Hot Drink she took moments ago was doing hardly anything for her.
A powerful Chikara signature caught Alex's attention. He turned to see a large dragon approaching. He panicked as it was about the same size as a Tigrex, but then he noticed that he did not recognize the creature at all. Metallic warping sounds could be heard as the dragon came in for the landing. Upon its feet making contact with the ground, the blizzard ceased abruptly. "What the..!? Was the blizzard caused by this monstrosity?"
"Monster Hunter Alex! It is a pleasure to finally meet you… again," said a raspy voice.
"HUH!? W-what do you mean aga… Oh! OH! Don't tell me!"
"That's right. I am the one who afflicted your transport. You have done well to survive, and make it this far, even to prevail over Blanco!"
Alex did not know whether to be afraid or angry. He was face to face with the reason he was randomly stranded in the Still Swamp. "Who or what are you? Why are you here now, to fight me while I'm still weak?"
"My name is Metal, and I am what you humans call the Kushala Daora, the Tempest Dragon! I am an Elder Dragon, the first and last you will ever meet!" Metal charged at Alex, who quickly ran out of the way.
Alex drew Grace. "I don't think so! I will defeat you!" Alex charged at Metal's back.
"Alex, no! Don't DO IT!" warned Anna.
"Take this!" Alex let loose a few slashes at Metal's tail. Ping, pang, ping, pang, snap! "Huh!?" Alex jumped back as Metal turned to him. He watched in unadulterated horror as the blade of Grace, his trusty weapon that had seen him through thick and thin, broke into five pieces, leaving only the hilt in his hands. "What!? NOOO!"
"Ha, ha, ha! You fool; I am literally armored in a skin of hardened dragonite alloy! Your pansy, third-rate weapon was of no caliber to damage me! Come and face me tomorrow night if you dare!" Metal the Kushala spread out his mighty wings and took off.
Anna rushed towards Alex now that all was clear. He appeared to still be processing what had just occurred. "Alex, are you okay?"
"I… I… I am… But Grace…" Alex turned to Anna, holding the bladeless hilt in cupped hands. "I… won't take this sitting down." They both crouched and picked up the pieces of Grace. "Thank you. Let's get out of here."
"Yeah. Don't worry, Alex. I'm sure Vance will be able to repair it."
"Right. Thanks again." With that, the Pokke Hunter Duo resumed their homeward bound.
Pokke Village, 6:30 PM.
It was well after sunset when the duo arrived, entering the gathering hall. The first to greet them was the Chief and her brother Treshi. "Welcome back, you two!"
"Excellent work!" praised Treshi. "Thank you for saving our humble village."
"It was nothing," said Alex. "I'll have to admit that Anna took the win here. I was at least able to weaken Blanco somewhat, then she swooped in and cleaned house!"
"Alex, you're embarrassing me!"
"Sorry."
"Congratulations!" exclaimed September. "Please come over here for a second." Alex and Anna obeyed. "On behalf of the Monster Hunter's Guild, I present to you your respective Rank Stars!" September held out a single star in each hand. To Alex, she gave an orange star, the Three Rank Star, and to Anna was given a red star, the Two Rank Star. Both hunters took out their Hunter Booklets and attached the stars to the second page. Alex put his star next to his black One Rank Star and his red Two Rank Star that he got for the Khezu mission. Anna simply placed her new star next to her own One Rank Star.
"Thank you, September," said Alex and Anna in unison, though there was a lot more energy in Anna's voice.
"Alex, I thought you would be more thrilled, like last time. Did something happen?" September had a better idea of Alex now compared to when they first met, so just like Apple she could tell when something was bothering him.
"Anna and I… were attacked by an Elder Dragon… I tried to attack it, but Grace…" Everyone in the room gasped, except for Anna of course. Alex removed the hilt of Grace from his Hunter Pack. "Grace is ruined… We've done so much together, and just look at the state she's in…"
"Alex, let's go see Vance right away," Anna spoke up.
"Wait! Can you describe what kind of Elder Dragon it was?" asked Patricia.
Alex turned to her. "Using my Telepathy, I learned that it is called the Kushala Daora."
"Whoa! Well, I'm glad you two were able to make it here in one piece. If you want to hear more about Kushala, I would recommend speaking to Mr. Dota. He is the village's resident Elder Dragon Scholar. He used to work with the Elder Dragon Observation Branch of the Guild."
"Thanks for the information, Patricia." Alex beamed an appreciative smile at her.
"That's the smile I love to see!" exclaimed September with a giggle.
Vance's Smithy.
"Dear me! I've never seen one of my weapons in such a state before!" exclaimed Vance as he stared incredibly at the hilt and the five blade pieces of Grace laid out on the counter. "This will take some time to repair, almost like making one from scratch…"
"Well, I am welcome to use another weapon in the meantime. But listen to this. The Kushala called our weapon 'pansy' and 'third-rate.' Can you believe it?"
"PANSY!? THIRD-RATE!?" growled Vance. "It takes a lot to work me up, but this is unforgivable… I'm not just going to repair this sword, I'll evolve it into the next tier! There are three paths you can take, although two of them are out of the question right now. You would need materials from two other Elder Dragons, namely Teostra or Chameleos."
"Whoa." Alex gulped. The Fierce Sun of Fangs and The Invisible Forest Spirit, terribly powerful beasts who could cause ruin and devastation wherever they appeared. Alex knew the legends. Koto had told him a tidbit of all the Elder Dragons, including the most dangerous of all, known as Fatalis.
"You already have Thunder Sacs from that Khezu you defeated. All you need to gather are some more ores and some Thunder Bug Juice. I will then be able to turn Grace into a powerful Eagle Cleaver!"
"The name alone has me hooked! Well, for now, take these materials Anna and I got. I'm going to need complete Blango Armor sets."
"No problem," replied Vance.
"By the way, is that weapon I requested ready?"
"It is."
"Great. Then, I would like to order the Gunner version of the Battle Armor Set."
"Wait, are you planning what I think you're planning?"
"Well… yes…"
"If you trust in your skills, then I say go for it. I'll always give you the best work of my ability, one hundred percent of it or your money back. I refuse to take such insults as "pansy" and "third-rate" lying down. Show that Elder Dragon who is really pansy!"
"I will! I promise."
Alex's Hut. 9:00 PM.
Alex and Anna were having tea in Apple's kitchen. "So, ready to tell me about what you did?"
Alex placed down his cup. "Yes. Well for starters, I didn't know much before. But after doing a little digging through Maxwell's books just before you came here, I discovered something. So it turns out I have unlocked the main power of the Kasai Clan, or some of it anyway, a limited Skill called Kasai Potential. The Khezu Cloak, or Thunder Cloak, is one of several abilities out of the Kasai's bag of tricks. The Kasai had amazing abilities than very few other clans have displayed. That is how they could take on really difficult missions. They could even copy some of the abilities of various monsters!"
"This is amazing…" Anna was just baffled.
"I'm hoping to learn and master more of these abilities, so I'm going to work harder than ever."
"Well, I'll be right beside you all the way. So, are you really going to take on Metal's challenge?"
"I am. But first, I'll talk to this Dota person tomorrow, and get any info I can. Say, maybe the Guild will publish this as an official quest!"
"Well, this is an Elder Dragon sighting we are talking about," bounced Anna. "I'm sure Miss September had already notified the Guild." Alex nodded at that.
February 14th.
Early that morning, Alex went to the Village Training School. This was where Anna first learned the art of hunting life, from a heartfelt man known simply as The Instructor. "You must be the Head Hunter for Pokke, Alex. It's about time you gave me a visit!" said the man with a pout.
Alex chuckled sheepishly. "Actually. I'm here to see Mr. Dota. Is he around?"
"Oh, you wound me, boyo! Alas, I guess I'm not important anymore. Fine, he is… oh, here he comes now."
Alex turned to see a short wyverian approaching him and The Instructor. "Good morning. Alex Kasai, I presume?"
"That's me. It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Dota," replied Alex.
"The pleasure's mine as well. So, to what do I owe this consultation?"
"You don't beat around the bush, do you? Works for me. Well, I had a run in with a Kushala Daora. I was hoping to learn more about it from you. Patricia sent me."
"She did, eh? Well, while it is a bit early in your career to be worrying about Elder Dragons, knowledge is power. So, I'll tell you about the Elder Dragon of Wind. It is curiously armored in hardened metal, requiring stellar items to crack. It's able to control the weather using its powerful Dragon Element Chikara and wings, and generate a current of air that makes attacking it extremely difficult. Its three weaknesses are Fire, Thunder and Poison. If you manage to poison it, its wind manipulation weakens considerably. That is all."
"Wow! Thank you so much. I'll be sure to put most of this info to good use tonight."
"You are going to the mountains tonight to face one?"
"I… It is a challenge. One, that I have chosen not to run from."
"Well… I wish you good luck. Come back alive."
"I will."
Hunter Stats
Alex Kasai (HR3)
Weapon: Kut-Ku Stave Bow (Attack Type: Scatter; Fire Element)
Armor: Battle Gunner
Skills: Telepathy, Kasai Potential, Strength Up, Reload Speed Up, Precision Up
Snowy Mountains Hunting Area 8, The Summit. 7:30 PM.
Even at this altitude, the sky was overcast. Not a star could be seen. The air was very chilly, but Alex was prepared. He had drank a Hot Drink. He was waiting patiently for Metal to arrive. And, he would not have to wait for much longer.
"So, you came back for more after all. I'm impressed. You are either brave or stupid. I guess we will find out which." Alex took out his red bow from his back as Metal the Kushala Daora descended before him. "What? A longsword didn't work, so you come before me with a bow and arrow set!? How ridiculous. Are you mocking me?"
"Make no mistake, Metal! I know what I am doing. I'm not here to kill you; in fact, I'm aware that I am nowhere near strong enough to slay an Elder Dragon. I am here to make a point. You've hurt the feelings of me, and my blacksmith, and for that you will pay. I will knock you off of your high-Kirin!"
"I'd like to see you try!"
Alex took out an arrow from his quiver and drew his bow. "Take this! Scatter Level One!" The one arrow multiplied into three upon being loosed. Metal just stood there unmoving, believing the attack to be pointless. He soon recoiled slightly as explosions of Fire Element went off upon being struck.
"What the!? What was that!?"
"The pain of your own arrogance backfiring on you!" Alex drew the bow again and fired. Once more, three arrows flew instead of one. This was because of the Chikara enhanced attack type of Alex's special bow, Scatter Shot.
"Argh!" Metal narrowly dodged the arrows by taking flight. "Air Flow Control: Gale Slipstream." An air current formed around him, picking up snow. "I will not be humiliated by such utter rubbish! Ice Element: Freezing Wind!" Metal roared and fired a spiraling shape towards Alex, who simply ran out of the way. The spot he was just now exploded into ice.
"Whoa! Gotta keep on my toes!" So this was the battle for a while. Alex kept on the move, keeping out of the way of Metal's attacks, while letting forth his own at the chanciest of opportunities. Slowly, Alex whittled health from Metal, though all of his attacks did not quite connect due to Metal's wind aura diverenting the arrows. "I need to stop that wind aura…"
Alex suddenly charged at Metal. While he was doing so, he dipped an arrow in a vial of poison. "Don't get cocky! Ice Element: Freezing Stream!" Metal blew out a continuous blast of icy cold air. Alex just kept going, even as ice latched onto his body.
"Take this!" Paving through the attack, Alex was able to shoot his poisoned arrow into Metal's mouth! "Got ya!"
"What!? What… have you done!?" Purple bubbles came out of Metal's jaw as he dropped onto all fours from the air. His air current vanished as he coughed hard.
Alex held out a hand at Metal. "You're not going to enjoy this next part. Fire Element: Remote Detonation!"
"Raaaarrrggghhh!" screamed Metal as fire blazed out from his jaw briefly. "That's it! I've had enough of this!" Upon recovery, Metal took to the air. "I concede this time. But mark my words; when next we meet, I will crush you, you degenerate Kasai scum!"
"Yeah, you better run!" replied Alex with a victorious smile as the Elder Dragon fled the scene. "Wow, I didn't think that would work. I'll have to give Maxwell's books more of my attention. Anyway, my work here is done. I won't see him for a while. I'm outta here."