Monster Hunter: The Telepathic Hunter; Ch22: Roar of the Wolf
March 1st, 2098. Jumbo Village. 5:30 PM.
It was a waiting game. Alex and Anna had booked a room in one of Jumbo's inns. There was no way that they would leave for Pokke without learning of Kotaru's fate. He was unconscious when they had finally arrived at 3:57 PM. Alex was beside himself with worry.
"This is all my fault. If I wasn't injured, I could have been there earlier," Alex was blaming himself. "The three of us together could have probably convinced the Shogun to leave us alone by dealing enough damage to make it flee. Oh, I've really done it this time… OW!"
"Alex, stop that talk right now!" Anna scolded, having slapped him out of his pity trip. There was nothing like the care of a woman to set a man straight. "You don't have to blame yourself every single time something bad happens under your watch. You have to remember, we cannot control everything that happens in our life."
"Yeah… You're right." Alex felt his left cheek, which stinged to the touch. "Ow. Was it absolutely necessary to hit me that hard?"
"Don't be such a baby… I mean, I'm sorry."
"I suppose it goes without saying that we Hunters are trouble magnets."
"I don't like that notion, but I cannot disagree with it considering what we've been through so far." Anna went to Alex's right side, and sat on the bed with him. The room had two separate beds. She placed a hand on Alex's shoulder. "Alex, I hate bringing this up, but do you remember that… morning at the Gathering Hall?"
Alex winced, knowing exactly which event she was referring to. He sighed. "Go on."
Anna put on a somber expression as Alex regarded her. "Seeing you in so much pain, on top of my own grief, I told myself that I had to be strong. To be strong for myself, as well as for you." Alex gasped. "I was happy when you regained yourself. I was proud when you defeated the Giadrome. I enjoyed myself as we went on hunts together. We worked our butts off to help restore Pokke to some semblance of its former glory." Alex chuckled at that, and Anna giggled a little. "I've told you before, and I'll remind you now. No matter what happens, I will always follow and support you. Even if one day when we don't see eye to eye or even have a fight about something, I'll come around. Because we're not just comrades, or siblings-in-arms, but also friends."
Alex put on a big smile. He couldn't keep to himself, and suddenly pulled Anna into a big hug. "Thanks for that, Anna. I really needed that. I feel way better now." Anna gasped, but then settled into returning the embrace. This confirms that she does not think of me romantically, so I don't have to worry about that, Alex thought to himself. I can live with that. Little did Alex know at this time that assuming a woman's feelings from whatever she may say at face value was a dangerous thing to do.
Soon, the duo released. "Let's try to get some rest. We'll get some answers tomorrow morning."
"Okay. Sounds good to me," Alex replied. Anna got up and went to her own bed. As she passed by the small table between the two beds, she turned off the only lamp in the room. Hanging above from the ceiling rafters were dim firefly lights, to keep the room from being pitch black. "Good night, Anna…" Alex quickly drifted to sleep. Now that his worried state had been alleviated, his body no longer denied itself the much needed rest it desired.
"Good night, Alex." Anna heard snoring. "He's already fast asleep…" Anna chuckled silently. "I don't blame him at all. After using the Khezu Cloak and carrying the both of us, I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did. Now, it's my turn." Anna gave out a yawn capable of swallowing a Kelbi whole.
March 2nd.
The next morning, our heroes awoke feeling well rested. After having breakfast and freshening up, they went to the Health Center. They were joined by Chief Ryuu. "Aren't you here early?" he remarked. "You sure are great and dedicated friends of your comrade."
"Well, Kotaru is my best friend," replied Alex with pride.
"And for me, it's more along the lines of "the friend of my friend is my friend,'" said Anna. "However, we did fight through thick and thin together yesterday. I worked tirelessly to keep up the pressure on his wound while we were at sea."
Ryuu nodded in understanding. "Nothing like a crisis to really bring people together. Just keep having faith, and I'm sure everything will be alright. Well, don't let me keep you."
"Alright."
The three went inside. They were quickly greeted by the Head Doctor. "Hello, you two. Come to hear about your comrade?"
"Yes. How is he, Doc?" Alex didn't bother to hide his childish side. "Give it to us straight, man."
The doctor only laughed. "No need to worry. Mr. Kotaru's life is not in any danger. He took the Shogun's attack in a way that minimized the damage. His heart was unscathed, but his left lung was rendered unusable, so we performed surgery to remove it. We were also able to drain the blood from the internal bleeding. He is now resting comfortably and is on supplements. He will not wake up for a while, but he is expected to make a full recovery."
"Oh, thank goodness!" Anna let out a sigh of relief. She and Alex shared a high five.
"Say, we should send word to Ai, his sister," said Alex.
"We have already notified her," said a nurse on the side. "We got her contact information from the Guild Maiden, Patty. She should arrive sometime today."
"That's great."
"Um, Alex. Can I have a word with you?" asked Chief Ryuu.
"Huh? Uh, okay." Alex glanced at Anna.
"Go on. It must be important."
"Okay." With that, Alex and the Chief of Jumbo went outside. "So, what did you want to talk about?"
"Look, I know this is a bad time, so I kind of hate having to do this…" Ryuu started saying, and just paused for a long while.
"Huh? Do you need my help or something? C'mon, you can tell me. I'm all ears."
"Thank you. Well, it's just that Jumbo has a new problem. This time, the Terosu Jungle has been visited by a Yian Garuga, and needless to say, it has given us problems with collecting Special Mushrooms. It's been such an evil ruffian, and I've been trying to get help for two days now. This is probably a tall ask, but I was wondering if you would like to take on this quest?"
Alex fell silent. He thought long and hard. The thought of leaving and going on another mission while Kotaru was out of the game was weighing on him. "Now that I know Kotaru is out of the woods, I suppose this wouldn't be too much trouble." Ryuu smiled at that. "However, there is the problem of my current gear. I can't trust myself to take on such a dangerous wyvern as a Garuga with just my Bow and Gunner Armor set. I would need to return to Pokke for a change of more suitable gear."
"In that case, I have no choice. First, I'll ask you this question. Are you willing to help?"
"Of course I am! I'd never turn an eye to my friends!" replied Alex with passion.
Ryuu smiled. "Great. So, how would you feel about temporarily borrowing some gear?"
To say Alex was shocked was an understatement. "You mean you would go that far? Wow, I'm honored!"
"That's good, because I'm sure I've got the perfect things for this mission. Let's go back inside and speak with Miss Anna first, then we'll go from there."
"Okay. Sounds good to me."
The discussion with Anna led to the following terms. Anna decided to stay out of this one, and stay with Kotaru. Chief Ryuu was going to pay a fair sum, and Alex decided to use half of the money to help pay for Kotaru's health bill. Ryuu arranged for that half to be paid to the Health Center right away. With that out of the way, Ryuu took Alex to his home to get him outfitted for the task ahead.
"Wow. I wasn't expecting you to have such a… simple home." Alex tried to be respectful.
Ryuu laughed. "It's not much, but Patty likes it and that's all that matters to me. I was never one for extravagance once I ended my travels and settled here."
"She said before that you are her step father. How did you two meet?" Alex inquired.
Ryuu looked somber as he pondered the memory. "She was an orphan who was going to be sold into slavery."
"Oh, that's awful! She seems so happy that I never would have guessed she had a rough past."
"With the help of the Hero of Jumbo, I was able to take her away from her captors. I then adopted her, and we've been family ever since."
"I'm really happy for both of you."
"Yeah, we're quite close. It's only too bad that our hero died a long time ago. He was like a brother to her. She was sad for a long while, but eventually we both moved on."
"Oh no… I know exactly how it feels to lose someone dear to you." Alex allowed the feeling to subside. "I'm sorry for bring up bad memories."
"No, it's alright. I'm fine. You know, you remind me a lot of him. Perhaps that is why my spirit took to you from the moment we met." Ryuu went over to a large, rectangular silver chest. "That's why I have no problem offering you…" Ryuu opened the chest, and pulled out a helmet. But not just any helmet. "...This."
"That's…!" To say Alex was thoroughly shocked would have been an understatement.
Ryuu smiled. "That's not all." Ryuu took out a Sword and Shield. "The version of this sword stuck in the ground outside is just a replica. No sane person would just leave such a valuable piece in such easy access to thieves. This is the real one." The pure, white blade. The purple wings on the hilt. The blue sash tied around the hilt. There was even a light Chikara signature coming from the set.
Surely, Alex's socks were knocked clean off. "AWESOME!"
Hunter Stats
Alex Kasai (HR3)
Weapon: True Master-Sword Sword and Shield
Armor: Kushala Blade Master + HG Ear Protection Gem Decoration
Skills: Telepathy, Kasai Potential, Short Charge, Terrain Damage Negate, Ice Resist, Poison Damage Increase, Thunder Damage Boost, HG Earplug
Base Camp, Terosu Jungle. 9:31 AM.
To say Alex was not feeling confident would have been a blatant lie. However, he was aware of the one crucial weakness of his borrowed armor. It had the negative Skill "Poison Damage Increase." Probably a leftover trait from the Kushala, who were weak to poison. Yian Garuga were known for their poisonous tails, so Alex would need to be cautious in the extreme. One hit could probably have him carted away or worse. But enough preamble.
Alex finished his pre-hunt checklist, and then downed some nasty tasting Psychoserum. "Ugh, I will never get used to this thing… Oh, I've already got a lock. Here I go." Alex went to a vine that went up to a high cliff. He climbed the vine, and took a moment to appreciate the view. He could see further out into the lagoon. "This is an awesome view. Now, let's not keep our target waiting." Alex went into Area 5.
"We meet again!" said a Velocidrome. Alex immediately recognized it. Its claws had grown back, but its prominent red crest was still broken.
"You don't seem to be very smart," Alex taunted. "You didn't learn your lesson last time. I think I'll have to drive the point home today!"
"In your dreams! I'm not scared of you!" Red charged at Alex.
Alex waited, timed, and then proceeded to essentially destroy the bird wyvern. "Class dismissed," he said as he sheathed the blade, with Red dying on the ground. Alex continued towards the cave. Three Kelbi ran past him as he walked into Area 6.
Some sounds of eating drew Alex's gaze to a black and purple wyvern one point five times the size of a Kut-Ku. The ears were a different shape, rounded with points at the top. There was also a wolf-like mane. "Om, nom, nom! I should have killed the others before settling to eat. Now I have to hunt down more, 'cause this isn't nearly enough to satisfy me."
"Ugh, what a guy. So, this is the Black Wolf Raven."
"Huh!?" The Garuga looked up, and turned to Alex. "Oh, great! A meddlesome hunter. I can't catch a break today."
There goes the element of surprise. Alex could hit himself. He often forgot that his Telepathy would work automatically in the presence of monsters, unless he focused and kept his thoughts to himself. "I am Alex Kasai, and the people of Jumbo Village have had enough of your harassment. Prepare to be evicted!"
"Oh great, a Kasai! Today is just not my day! Whatever, let us just get this over with. My name is Roga; remember it in the afterlife!" Roga charged at Alex. Alex unsheathed the Master Sword and raised the shield to block Roga's beak. Roga jumped and hovered backwards while letting out a high pitched cry in hopes of stunning Alex.
Alex experienced no such debilitation and executed a jump slice, damaging Roga's beak! "That won't work on me!"
"Ow! You'll pay for that!" Roga did a backflip, aiming to hit Alex with his tail.
"No!" Alex side stepped and did a spin slash. Because the Master Sword was a high caliber and very sharp weapon, it effortlessly cut off part of Roga's tail, disarming it of the poisonous stinger at the end. "One less problem for me."
"Curse you!" Roga flew away to gain some distance before landing. Flames could be seen billowing from his mouth, meaning he was now enraged. "I will end you!"
"You're right. Let's not drag this out." Alex held his sword resolutely and ran towards Roga.
"Fire Element: Fireball!" Roga let out a big ball of fire at Alex. Alex stopped and dodged accordingly. It exploded behind him.
"Try harder, next time!" Alex resumed his charge.
"Try to avoid this next one, then! Fire Element: Varied Fire!" Roga fired three fireballs at varying trajectories.
"Thunder Element: Lightning Step!" Alex boosted his reaction speed and was safely able to zig-zag his way around the fireballs. "My turn! Hiyaa!" Alex plunged the blade through Roga's neck, a one-hit-kill.
"GRAAAHHH!" Roga screamed as he collapsed. "Darn… it! How… could I… lose!?"
Alex caught his breath. While less taxing than the Khezu Cloak, Lightning Step still used a considerable amount of Chikara. "You lost because you didn't want to share. The land's gifts are for everyone, human and monster alike. Now…" Alex took back the Master Sword, and finished Roga off.