There's perhaps no greater relief in this world than running away from everything. To take all that's troubling you and cast it aside.
Who cares whether it's right? It feels good.
That's why Luke was doing it at that moment. After having his spirit so thoroughly crushed, after having his entire reason for coming this far vanish, after being faced with the overwhelming power gap between him and his goal, what was left but to run?
He wasn't sure where he was going, just what he was getting away from. He wondered if the others would hate him for this.
At that moment, a memory came back to Luke's mind. A memory of the four of them running somewhere he couldn't remember. He wasn't focused on anything other than catching up to the one directly in front of him.
Looking back, Luke was sure that his past self would hate the current him. As he continued running, he stumbled over a branch.
The ground was comforting for the few seconds he spent on it, but he knew he couldn't stay. He feared what the others would say, so he had to give them no chance to find him. That was why he couldn't stop, even for a moment.
Luke kept on running towards nowhere.
Fera Gladius arc part 3: Gravity of the Ashes.
"Just where did he go?" Asked Mary, her voice going more frantic.
"Even if you keep asking that, we're not suddenly going to be able to tell you." Zara answered back.
"Lay off for a bit, would you?" Fen answered back. "No one asks stuff like that expecting an answer."
"I'm just getting a bit tired of all this pointless yelling, okay?"
"We haven't been yelling until now." Laura told her. "This is a yell."
Realising what she was about to do, but unable to stop her, Zara could only preemptively cover her ears.
"LUKE! GET OUT HERE ALREADY!" Laura's expression returned to a neutral expression as she turned to Zara, whose ears were ringing despite her best attempts to save herself. "See? That's a yell."
"Armageddon had better be here in order to justify you making this much of a racket this early in the day." Lotus walked up to the group with a more irritable expression than normal. Bal walked a few steps behind him.
"Hey, what do we do here?" Zara whispered to Judah.
"...We need all the help we can get."
Judah stepped towards.
"I'm sorry about her, but well… it's not too far off I guess?"
"The world's really ending?"
"No, maybe that was a bad way of putting it. But it is an emergency."
"But it has nothing to do with the world ending, does it?"
"No. Luke's… gone missing."
"Oh. That's all?"
Bal sighed and pushed Lotus to the side.
"That does sound serious. Would you mind telling us a bit more?"
Judah briefly went over everything he knew about what had happened in the last twenty four hours, from Luke's encounter with Davi in the forest, to the arrival at Seion, and then finally the deadline set.
Lotus nodded his head as though he understood everything perfectly.
"So it's all that Gunbert guy's fault in the end."
"No, I don't think that's entirely it."
"Don't mind him, he just really dislikes Gunbert." Bal paused in response to the stares aimed at him. "Only those of us in the Diamonds are allowed to make jokes about them being too similar. Back to what's important. So when did you notice he was missing?"
"He and I share a room. I noticed he was gone just after I woke up so… less than an hour ago."
"And you're sure he was there when you went to sleep?"
"Yes."
Bal put his right hand to his chin and started to mumble to himself.
"Well, considering how long he's had, the area, his average speed…"
Bal's mumbling continued to lower in volume until the point where none of the others could hear him, before his head finally snapped back up.
"He couldn't have run any further than a dozen or so miles from here by now."
"You think that he's running away?" Mary asked, her voice slightly shaky.
"What else?"
"He could've been kidnapped by Fera Gladius, or uh…. Something else. I don't know."
"That's not completely impossible, but I think with how small this place is someone would've noticed. From how the story was told, it sounds like he just got overwhelmed by everything and ran. He is just a kid, after all. Though you know him better than I do, so feel free to correct me."
Mary took a few seconds to respond, before his expression.
"No, you're probably completely right. I'd forgotten, but he is only eighteen. Of course this is normal."
"I guess there's no choice." Lotus abruptly blurted out while tilting his head back "If you're that desperate for help then I'll help you look for this missing Luke of yours."
Lotus tilted his head back further, before coming to a sudden realisation.
"Wait a second." Lotus thought while trying not to show any panic on his face. "He didn't ask for help yet! Ahhh, what have I done? Now he's totally going to think I'm a sucker. Should I just say that I won't help after all and act like that was to get his hopes up? No, no, you idiot. If I act like I'm getting his hopes up then that's totally sounding like I'm expecting him to like me because I'm helping him. Umm. Maybe I'll just find Luke and then kill him to make it so I don't seem that eager to help. No, that has the same problem as before. Ahh, okay what about-"
"Oh, he's offering to help." Judah thought. Between this and him paying for our stay at that inn, I wonder why he's been so nice lately? No point looking a gift horse in the mouth, let's just move on."
"Thanks." Judah smiled. "I'm really grateful."
Lotus' head went blank in response to this. Without any thoughts left over to power it, his body slumped to the ground like a doll with its strings cut.
"Um, are you okay?"
"Better than he'll ever be, probably." Bal answered, looking around. "By the way, before we start searching, I do have to ask. Why exactly is Spencer over there chained to a rock?"
"Oh, that." Zara answered. "It's for his own good."
"How?"
"Well, back in the encounter with Fera Gladius he got a pretty bad wound to the stomach. The type that really should kill you, but he survived because he's too stupid to die from something like that. The problem is that even after I went through the effort of stitching him back together he kept opening his wounds back up by moving around too much."
"Staying still's just boring." Spence complained while struggling to break free of his restraints.
"Yeah, he's like that. So to get him to stay still for long enough to stop putting his life in danger, the only reasonable choice was to get the others to chain him to a large rock until he's healed. Wipe that doubtful look off your face, this is a doctor approved method."
"Approved by which doctors?"
"I'm the doctor and I approve of it."
"Well, I'm not a doctor, so who am I to argue? I thought that it was some ritual sacrifice or new form of BDSM."
"What? That's weird." Zara replied. "You made it weird."
Spence stopped trying to get free for a moment. "Yeah, that's a really odd thing to say, man."
"Says the ones chaining someone to a rock."
"You shouldn't say things that make others uncomfortable, Bal." Lotus ordered him.
"I thought you were busy being dead. Can we just get on? Since we don't know which way he went we're gonna have to split up. I'll go get everyone else."
A few minutes later, the other seven members of their group were gathered and briefed on the situation. Lotus placed a map on a table.
"Since we have no idea where he went, the best we can do is each take different directions. But due to the possibility of running into Fera Gladius or any other threats, we'll have to compromise with sticking to groups of two or three. Make sure not to travel too far. If you do find him, then send out a signal for the others to know to return."
"And what if we don't find him?" Michael asked.
"Just find him. We're hunters, finding a missing person can't be that hard."
"Have you noticed how big this place is?" Milla countered his logic. "It's like looking for a needle in a haystack."
"Huh? You're scared of haystacks? We fight wyverns every day and you're scared of some hay?"
"I'm not scared, I'm saying this is going to be a pain! Fine! I'll show you!"
Milla turned and stormed away.
"Sol, you go after her. We'll just work out the directions for the rest of us depending on which way she ends up heading. Judah, have you picked your groups yet?"
"Ah, yes. Laura, you're going with me. Isabel, you're with Mary. Fenris and Jean are with Zara. I shouldn't need to specify that your monsters are going with each of you. Spencer is staying behind with Storm and Panzer."
"How'd you decide on that anyway?" Asked Isa.
"I had to put at least one responsible member in each group."
"So you think I'm responsible?" Jean asked. "What an honour. Maybe more than I deserve."
"I hate to be the one to say this, but I don't think right now's the time for this routine." Fen told her. "More we wait around the less likely we are to succeed, something like that."
The group quickly decided on their respective directions and parted.
That left just Spence with two monsters around him, still strapped to a large rock. After a few seconds passed, he looked over to Panzer.
"You're worried about him, right?"
Panzer looked back silently.
"Hmm. I'm worried too and more importantly I'm getting pretty bored here. So why don't we go get him together, Papanzer?"
At that time, in the nearby city, Davi lay atop a roof idly.
He pulled out another cigarette from the packet in his pocket, labelled "I fought the law" and held it up.
"Hey, light?"
Goliath's wing lazily drifted over and ignited for a single moment, lighting the end of the cigarette. Davi placed it in his mouth, briefly inhaled and then removed it while letting out a ring of smoke.
"It's damn boring around here. I don't know what I'm gonna do when I run out of these. Maybe sneak out?"
Rondo was walking forward with determination. Someone dropped in front of him, blocking his path.
"Where are you going? I need not remind you of this, but his Majesty ordered all of us to stay in anticipation of a raid from the guild."
"Do you think I've lost my mind? I know exactly what's going on. My request to launch an attack to retrieve my legion was already turned down. I've lost any influence I once had."
"So what are you-"
"Training. I'm going to train. If those hunters are coming to us, then all I have to do is crush them and show everyone how strong I am."
Nebulo stared at Rondo as he continued rambling with empty eyes.
"You really thought I was going to do something stupid like launch my own attack? If even you're underestimating me then I must've really fallen. I'm not needing any concern, Nebulo. Do you remember the saying you taught me about it being unwise to chase two hares at once? I've already caught the first. All I have to do is wait for my chance to burn the forest down to get the second."
Before Nebulo could think of a response, they felt the ground shake. In the distance they heard the sounds of carnage.
"Ah, they're at it again. That's what's going to happen when they're stuck in the same place for so long." Rondo dropped what he was saying to focus on the fight, even though it didn't need any explaining to Nebulo. At this point, talking was more of a reflex for him. "I guess saints and devils can't help but be at each other's throats."
North of Seion, moving towards the fourth zone. Kasa flapped her wings as she glided between the towering trees. From the ground, Isa stared up at Mary and her monster partner.
Kasa landed.
"Well, I still can't see him. Have you had any luck?"
"Nope."
They'd repeated this exchange a half a dozen or so times since they'd set out. There was simply nothing to say between them.
To summarise who she was, Isabel Page was someone that could only be truthful. She liked the honest and despised the dishonest. Trying to work out which of those rules created the other would be as pointless as speculating on whether the chicken preceded the egg.
In an even more concise way of putting it, Isabel Page was probably the type whose heart would stop beating if she told a lie.
To summarise the other, Mary Gilmore was someone that could only be kind. She had to be caring. She had to be the type that can be looked up to, the kind that can be relied on. No matter what situation she was in and what it may cost, she had to be perfect.
In an even more concise way of putting it, Mary Gilmore was a living ideal.
For the first part of their journey, they had been on fine terms with each other. Nothing special, but nothing terrible. But their relationship had slowly declined over time.
They were people completely at odds with one another. One reserved and kind, the other straightforward and brash. As they observed the other, they only drifted further apart.
She couldn't trust someone so reckless, while she couldn't trust someone that always seemed to be hiding something deeper. But not liking something and disliking something are entirely separate feelings, so they were simply in the same orbit as each other at the same time, with nothing more to it.
But this stagnation came to an abrupt end several months ago, during their fight against a Bazelgeuse.
To repeat once more, Isabel Page could not lie. The closest she could possibly get would be to simply say nothing, which still proved difficult.
In the midst of battle, her brain was flooded with her own thoughts, so holding any back had been impossible. So her exact feelings towards Mary had been revealed. That she thought she was a liar.
Things probably would've turned out worse if Irontusk hadn't intervened at that moment. Since then, they'd been stuck in a worse limbo than before.
Neither of them had said anything about that day since.
Judah was a good leader, but he wasn't good with people's subtleties. He had no way of knowing that the relationship between the two had become like this, especially when he wasn't there for the key incident. In their rush to find Luke, neither spared the time to argue with the team selection, though once they had been out for a few minutes they were already coming to regret it.
Perhaps things would've continued to be fine if they kept repeating that exchange infinitely. It wasn't like they detested each other, they were just incompatible as human beings.
But, Isa asked regardless.
"Hey, are you actually worried about Luke?"
Mary didn't answer for a moment. She just turned. The drawn out silence was perhaps stronger than any answer she could've given, but she felt the need to reply regardless.
"What do you mean by that?"
It wasn't an answer, but another question. With the ball back on her side of the net, perhaps Isa could've simply let it go and replied that it meant nothing, that she was just letting thoughts spill out of her head. It would've been so easy.
But, she couldn't.
Because something was eating away at her. When they were talking at Seion, something had stuck out to her. In this situation, perhaps it made the most sense to just push it down and ignore it, to pretend that it was merely imagination.
But if she could make that choice, then she wouldn't have been Isabel Page.
"Are you really worried about him?"
"How could I not be? He's like a little brother to me. I've always been looking after him since we were kids, it's not like I'm suddenly going to stop worrying now."
"Then tell me."
"Tell you what?"
"How you're feeling, right at this moment."
"...People feel a lot of things."
"Pick out the top one and tell me."
"We don't have time for all these questions, do we? We've got someone to look for, in case you've forgotten."
"Then hurry up. All you have to do is answer this one question."
"...Fine, if it helps us move on that much quicker. I… I feel worried, more than anything."
Isa closed her eyes
The average time for someone to blink is about a third of a second, apparently. But the time it took for her eyes to open once more seemed to drag out to an eternity for them both.
As her eyelids lifted, Mary felt a piercing gaze on her. A radiant blue that tore directly through her soul.
"Why are you lying about that?"
Luke heard the sound of footsteps getting closer. It sounded like two monsters. Already out of stamina from all the running and not wanting to risk being attacked, he decided that hiding was the best option.
"Two sets of footsteps. They're pretty different, but they have to be monsters. Heading straight towards here. I'm already tired from running. A fight would be bad, running away from then is possible. Got to hide."
The footsteps slowed as they got closer to him.
"Just my luck." Thought Luke.
"Hey, what are you slowing down for?" A familiar voice asked.
"Really, that's just my luck." Thought Luke, while starting to panic.
"Is he around here or something? I can't see him. You don't think that he learnt to fly or something?"
"Of course, now I get how they found me. I'm such an idiot. Just hiding isn't going to work. How do I get out of this situation? I could try-"
As Luke's thoughts were just beginning to trail off, someone else exclaimed "Oh, there he is!"
The surprise caused Luke to stumble and fall over. As he looked back up, the first thing he noticed was Panzer. Then a bit off to the side stood Spencer and Storm. He noticed the chains around Spence's arms a few seconds later.
"Alright, now that's all sorted, about time we headed back. Ah… forgot the signal thing, though. What a pain. Well, the others should be back eventually. Now that I'm on that, what way did we end up going to get here? Storm, do you remember? Don't give me that look. Fine, don't bite my head off about it. Well Papanzer probably remembers anyway."
Luke stared up at him in confusion.
"Hey, you just gonna sit there? I said we're going. Can you not stand? Don't worry if you can't, that's what Papanzer is for. You could also ride on Storm with me if that's more comfortable, I don't mind in this case. Hey, you lost your voice too? …Oh, you can try writing stuff! That's the alternative to speaking, after all."
Luke still didn't answer.
"Have you not lost your voice after all? I'm starting to get that vibe. It seems like you're just not answering on purpose. At least give a sign you're listening, dude. That's the least you could do when Papanzer came running all this way for you."
"How many times are you going to call him that?!"
"Huh?"
"Papanzer! Why do you keep calling him that!?"
"...Cause it's his name."
"No it isn't!"
"You were just getting on my case a few days ago for not remembering anything about when we first met, but I remember that one detail perfectly. You told us his name is Papanzer."
"I was obviously stuttering!"
"For real?"
"Of course it's for real! Why didn't you catch on when I called him Panzer every time after that?"
"I thought Panzer was short for Papanzer."
Luke opened his mouth and a brief noise emitted as he tried to form a response but stopped himself, placing his right palm on his forehead. Trying to escape from this excessive stupidity, he changed the subject.
"Why are you treating me like always anyway? I'm a pathetic failure who's running away out of fear, I'm so helpless that even masked heroes are laughing at me now, why am I the one doing the shouting here?"
"Oh, so Bal was right about the running thing."
"He's a part of this too? Godamnit, I didn't want anyone to notice. Wait, you didn't know I was running away?"
"Well it could've been anything."
"Define anything."
"Well, it's like… anything."
"Okay, what did you think it could've been other than running away?"
"Could've been kidnapped."
"By what? Everyone would've noticed."
"Could've been kidnapped by ghosts."
Luke buried his face further into his hands.
"This is too stupid, I seriously can't take it. I must be even stupider, I didn't even think that you could use Panzer's sense of smell to track me down."
"Oh, he can do that?"
Luke removed his face from his hands to stare at Spence with an excessively drawn out silence, the effectiveness of which was completely lost on his target.
"Okay, fine. We're done with this comedy routine, right? I'm just going to keep going."
"Where, exactly?"
"I'm going home."
"What?"
"I- do I really have to explain this? This was all a mistake. Thinking I could be a hunter, coming all this way, trying to get him back, all of it. You've got your reasons for being here but I… don't anymore."
Luke meant to turn around, but as he did he caught a glance of Spence's face. The reaction was about what he'd expected from the start, but he still felt too afraid to look directly at him.
"You're gonna give up that easily?"
"It's not giving up easily. If it was giving up easily I wouldn't even be here. If anything, this is a case of giving up far too late. I can't fight like all of you, so why did I think I ever had a chance? So I'm just going to head back home. You can continue on without me, right?"
"Hey, look at me."
Hesitantly, Luke shifted his gaze upwards. As he did, something flew towards his eyes. Far too swift for his eyes to follow, he only realised that it was a punch as it connected with his face.
Stumbling backwards, Luke crouched over.
"What the hell!? Are you trying to make a point or something? You should at least tell me to grit my teeth first or something!"
He looked upwards again, awaiting Spence's justification for his answers. This proved to be a mistake. Instead of words, he received another punch to the face.
"Why twice? At least stop punching my face, go for my stomach or something less painful. Like this!"
As he yelled he swung his arm, landing a punch to Spence's stomach to demonstrate his point. The recipient's face contorted in an almost comical fashion, before he gritted his teeth and tried to stop himself from doubling over.
"So… you can fight after all."
Luke stared back for a few seconds in silence, before growing more visibly annoyed.
"Did you think I meant that literally? You're being way stupider than normal today. You're doing this purpose, aren't you?"
"I don't know, blame the blood loss."
"That makes no sense. What would that have to do with it?"
"Just blame the blood loss!"
As Spence yelled this out, he punched Luke back in the stomach. At the moment of impact, his eyes widened. Luke stumbled backwards a few steps while doubled over before managing to get out a response.
"I thought we were done with that. Why are we punching each other anyway?"
"That one was just to get equal."
Luke sighed.
"At least count them properly!" Another punch.
"Why the hell are you giving up! I don't get it!"
"Cause I can't beat Davi no matter how hard I try!"
"You haven't even tried yet!"
"I have! Nine hundred and ninety nine times I've fought him, and I've lost nine hundred ninety nine times too!"
"Then try for the-"
Spence stopped speaking, his fist already embedded in Luke's side.
"What number comes after that?"
"A THOUSAND!" Was Luke's valiant cry as he struck back with a headbutt.
Spence stumbled backwards before regaining his footing and striking once more.
"We said that we'd go find my dad and your brother as a group. You can't just give up when we're not done yet!"
Luke's pain gave Spence enough time for two sentences before he could attack again.
"We never said that. Our goals just happened to overlap. You'll be fine without me."
"No way we will! You're so good at thinking, we'd have lost plenty of times without you."
"Thinking is all I'm good for. I'm not cut out to be a hunter."
"There's more to this than just being strong, take it from a confirmed idiot."
"Don't use being stupid as a point."
Both of them were growing increasingly tired. Recognising that the other man was at his limit, they both knew they had to choose their next move carefully.
Spence took the initiative, talking before he threw a punch.
"You've at least gotta come back and talk things over. Everyone's worried sick. Hell-"
He started to move partway through his sentence. Luke watched the oncoming attack, predicting both the motion and his next words. Feeling confident in his guess, he started to move both his arms and his lips in preparation.
"Panzer was so worried he came all this way for you!"
"Panzer isn't even my partner anyway!"
A slightly shoddy cross-counter. A second passed with both of them hitting the other, before they fell backwards. The only thing that resounded through the forest was them trying to catch their breath.
"What do you mean by that?" Spence asked.
"I'm not continuing this fight anymore." Luke answered back without looking away from the sky.
"Yeah, I honestly don't have the energy left either."
"Why did you even start punching me to begin with?"
"I dunno. I thought it'd help. Like, if you started punching you'd get all your feelings out and then feel better."
"Oh."
"Well, did it work? How do you feel now?"
"I feel like I'm in pain."
"Anything else?"
"No, just pain. A lot of it."
"Damn. You still didn't say what you meant by Panzer not being your partner. Do you mean that in the sense that no one owns him? Cause I get that. He's no one's monster. But he is your partner."
"No, I meant that he shouldn't be fighting alongside me."
"Alright, I'm back to being completely confused."
"...Explaining it requires telling a whole story."
"You think I can move right now? There's time, just start talking."
"David Ben Gilmore. That's my brother. We've always called him Davi, though."
"Doesn't that name usually get shortened to something else?"
"I don't know, that's just how it's always been. He was named after our grandpa and our uncle, so I guess it's to differentiate him. I think that's why we always call Mary that instead of Maria, too."
"Her name's Maria?"
"...I was about to say you're being on stupid on purpose again, but I guess you wouldn't know that. While on this subject, my middle name's Shoot because of my maternal grandfather."
"Shoot?"
"Yes, Shoot."
"What the hell kind of name is Shoot?"
"I don't know, I never met him. I'm just glad that it's not my first name."
Spence started laughing out of nowhere.
"They should've made it that! You'd be Shoot with a gun! A guy called Shoot using a gun! Oh, this is starting to hurt. No seriously, I'm in pain."
"I'm glad to hear it."
"This still doesn't explain what you were saying about Panzer."
"I was just going to get to that, this was a detour."
Luke sighed.
"I wish we could go back to how things were before. Back then, everything was fine."
Luke started to reminisce slightly, gathering his thoughts up before speaking.
"Panzer was a monster that we found when we were younger, when he was still a pup. Well, I'm not sure of all the details since it was seventeen years ago. When we were growing up, all of us were inseparable. Davi got along with Panzer the best out of all of us."
He paused for a few seconds, going through things in his mind before continuing.
"When was old enough to be a hunter, it wasn't a surprise that he started going on hunts with Panzer. Everything was fine, then. The next year, Mary became a hunter. Things seemed to be fine… but now that I think about it, he was slowly changing."
"Like how?"
"It started with just him seeming more aggressive than normal. He'd get angry far too easily. Then… well, I don't have all the details here, okay? It's not like I was there. He was out on a hunt with Panzer and Mary, they got attacked by a Diablos. At that point, it was far above either of their hunter ranks. I don't know how or why, but Davi ended up defeating it on his own. He almost died, but he won."
"That's kinda hardcore."
"I guess you could call it that. I think it's more stupid than anything. After he recovered from that, he didn't go back to how he was before. At pretty much every opportunity, he kept fighting strong things. It didn't matter that they were above his current level, or maybe it was because they were. When he wasn't fighting with monsters he was getting into brawls. It seemed like he was going to become a poacher at any moment, so we knew that someone had to do something before that. Dad tried to have an intervention, but well…"
Luke stopped talking completely once more, the memories playing back in his mind. He put his hand to his mouth for a few seconds, before shakily removing it.
"It didn't go that well. They got into a big fight, then Davi left on his own. That was a little less than a year ago. Yesterday was the first time I'd seen him since then and you know how that went."
"Ah, yeah. Sorta."
"I… hate fighting. I wasn't planning on becoming a hunter, y'know? I always wanted to be a wycademy researcher. But becoming a hunter was the quickest way of chasing after him. Even though I didn't have any training beforehand."
"What, absolutely none?"
"Yeah. I just told you that I never planned on it. The others were training for at least a few years before they became hunters but I never had anything like that."
"Wow… that explains a lot."
"I was hoping that you'd be nice enough to say that's surprising to hear, but that's about what I was expecting. You get it now, right? I was never meant to fight. Panzer was never meant to be my partner. This was just a temporary alliance until we could find him and make him join back up with Panzer. I'd hoped that all we'd have to do is talk and he'd go back to normal but… all of that vanished when I saw that Valstrax."
He looked around some more.
"Hey, you've been everywhere in the world, right? I've heard that there's some merchants that take one zeni off their prices. Did you see that?"
"I think so."
"From what I've heard, it always sells that much better with the single zeni taken off. Like… if you had something priced at 100 zeni and something at 999, the cheaper one would sell a lot better. You wouldn't get such an improvement with the difference between 999 and 998. The number furthest to the left is what matters most. I'm in the same situation. Every time we competed before, he always won. When he left, the record was at 0-999. Even if I fought him to try changing his mind and he beat me, that should just be one more loss. But it doesn't feel that way. The difference between 999 and 1000 feels like it's so much more than the difference between 1 and 2, like it'll change everything if it reaches that many."
"Then all you gotta do is beat him."
The irritation returned to Luke's voice.
"If it was that easy then I wouldn't be in this situation, would I? Have you been listening at all?"
"To be honest I started drifting off when you started talking about the differences between numbers. I thought that the difference between 999 and 1000 was 1."
"...Well, it is, but I'm talking figuratively here. Just forget about that. Point is that I'm scared of fighting him again."
"Sure. I still think the solution to your problems is to just fight him again, though."
"And I'm telling you-"
"You've been asking questions non-stop, so I've got one in response. A Nergigante's stronger than a Diablos, isn't it?"
"Well, yeah."
"Then you, who fought a Nergigante, fighting a guy who beat a Diablos, is no big deal."
"Power scaling isn't going to make me win. Besides, he beat that guild knight that beat a Fatalis."
"Is a Fatalis stronger than a Nergigante?"
"I dunno, maybe."
"Then you've still got a pretty good chance."
"But I fought the Nergigante in a group."
"I wasn't there, I wouldn't know."
"Don't use it as an example if you don't know, then."
"I just wanted to sound smart."
"But you're not."
Spence took this in for a second, his mouth silently opening as he realised a new angle of attack.
"But you are."
"Yeah, and? That doesn't mean much in a fight."
"It does, though. Don't you remember when we were fighting the Starward Diamonds. Or even that Flameking-whatever Rathalos? We'd have lost without your plans."
"You already used this argument before."
"It's still true, though. That time with the Diamonds… I really loved that plan. It's a waste to see you give up without even trying anything."
"Yeah, it's a waste. I already know that. It's a shame but what can I do about it?"
As Luke brushed off the comments, he turned away and started to get back up. Realising that he probably wouldn't be able to get back up to chase him, Spence had no choice but to make a wild shot.
"You wouldn't be satisfied with it ending like this, would you?"
Luke stopped, but didn't answer.
"That's what you told us back then. That you wanted to know. That not knowing frustrated you. You've already come this far, are you really okay with leaving without knowing? Are you okay with going your whole life without knowing!?"
Luke still remained unmoving. His words spilled out of his mouth slowly, tinged with hesitation.
"You really are stupider than usual today. You really think-"
As he spoke, he turned around, allowing the immobile Spencer to finally see his face. Tears welled up in Luke's eyes, blurring his vision.
"-that I wasn't thinking that already?"
Any hint of irritation had vanished. The onslaught of arguments had finally broken through the dam in Luke's soul. For the first time that day, what he had repressed was pouring out. That was his sorrow.
"What am I meant to do about it? I'm still so weak! It's like the difference between the sky and the ground. Not only that, but there's seven others on the same level as him? How am I meant to keep up? And there's so little time for anything, there's no way I can make it in time! What am I supposed to do about any of that? Just being frustrated isn't enough to change anything! So I'm still stuck here not knowing a single thing, unable to catch up with him!"
He paused, looking down.
"And the worst part of it all is that I'm still so frustrated, even though I already know it's impossible. It's so irritational. You keep saying I'm smart, but I'm not smart enough to let go even when I know there's no point in holding on anymore!"
Spence sat there silently, listening to the screams from Luke's heart.
"Okay, first thing. It's not that we only have a week."
"But we do."
"Nah. We've got an entire week."
"It doesn't matter whether you say the glass is half full or half empty, it's still only 50%."
"Then we've just gotta fill it up."
"...I'm not strong like you, or Isa, or Mary, or Judah, or…"
"Do you think that I was born strong?"
"...Yeah."
"I wasn't. I was weak even when we first met. I only got strong after I fought the Thunderbearer. That's when me and Storm decided we wouldn't lose anymore. I don't think power is about anything physical like that. It's about how much you want to do something. So you're already barking up the right tree."
"Ok, but I still can't-"
"Yeah, you can't believe in yourself. That's pretty apparent. But can you believe in me?"
Luke sniffled.
"I guess."
"Then believe in the me that believes in you. I know those poacher guys are strong, but I'm gonna use this entire week to get strong enough to beat up every one of them. If I can do it, then I don't believe there's any reason you can't do the same."
Luke stopped offering words of protest.
"Let's get strong enough to take that idiot down a few pegs. Besides, I haven't really gotten a chance to throw this in anywhere, but I'm pretty sure that him being your brother means that he's my cousin too. So I've got a good enough reason to care about stopping him from being any more of a dumbass."
After hearing all of that, Luke looked up for a few moments.
Abruptly, he then slammed face-first into the ground. A muffled scream emitted, lasting for several dozen seconds.
After his voice died down, Luke raised his head once more. His face was dirty, his eyes were red, but they seemed clearer than before.
Somehow still having part of his voice left after that
"Fine! I lose. You got me. How the hell can I keep running after all of that, huh? Being an optimist is goddamn stupid, but I'm stupid. And weak. And pathetic and whiny and fragile and insignificant and-"
"Hey, I thought this was meant to be a positive ending?"
"Right, I was getting carried away again. The point is, I get it. The fear shouldn't outweigh the fact that I know I'll hate myself forever if I run, so there's no helping it. Let's… get stronger together."
Spence took a few seconds to process this, silently grinning.
He intended to spew out a hot-blooded affirmation to Luke's offer, but accidentally ended up coughing up blood instead.
Luke's eyes widened.
"What's wrong!?"
"Ah, that's weird. I figured that if blood was going to come out of anywhere it'd be my stomach, not my mouth."
"Why would blood be coming out of your stomach anyway?"
"Cause I got stabbed yesterday."
"That still hasn't closed?"
"It almost did, probably. But fighting like that opened it back up. Ah, now that I think about it, that's probably why everyone was saying that if I moved too much then I'd die."
"...I've been thinking this in the back of my mind since I saw those cuffs around your arms, but did they possibly try tying you to a rock to stop you from moving?"
"Bingo."
"If they're going through all that effort then don't break out of it."
"Well, it was for you. And also because I was bored, but don't worry about that. If I do die, then I leave everything to you."
As Spence finished his sentence, he closed his eyes peacefully.
"Everything? What's everything in this case?"
"My inherited dream of being undefeated. And all of my money."
"How much is that?"
"...About fifty zeni."
"Don't die and leave me something so worthless!"
Spence's eyes snapped back open.
"Don't call my dream worthless!"
"I'm talking more about your possessions. Die and leave me everything when you've got some money, not now."
"Fine then! Maybe I will!" After yelling that, Spence threw his head back up at the sky again. A slight chuckle emitted from him.
Without really understanding why, Luke made a similar noise.
A few seconds passed before the two of them lay there, laughing away at nothing while facing the sky.
After several hours, every other search had proven unfruitful. With the sun setting,
"So what do we do now?" Laura asked.
"What can we do?" Zara answered with another question.
"We'll… just have to keep looking tomorrow." Said Mary.
"Won't he just keep getting further away, though?" Fen asked.
"It'll be fine. It'll be perfectly fine, so don't worry about it. He'll probably come back on his own once he gets tired, so let's just wait for him."
As Mary kept on trying to reassure the others, Isa stared at her, fragments of the previous conversation playing back in her mind.
"Don't treat me like I'm strange for being a little happy that he's finally acting normal again. He's been acting so weird since we got here."
She looked down.
"Isn't it perfectly normal to feel relief that you're not going to have to helplessly watch things repeat themselves again? I'm just a bit relieved that he's not the kind of person that'll throw himself into fights against impossible odds. If I had to watch that again, then I don't know if I could last. Is it really that much of a crime to not want to see him become the type to see an outstretched hand and respond by tearing it off?"
The purest words Isa had ever heard from her.
"Is that so much of a sin to you!?"
She didn't say anything, she just silently watched the girl's expression.
"Oh, this isn't as much of a concern, but Spence, Storm and Panzer have gone missing too." Zara reported.
"It's just one thing after another." Judah sighed.
"Is the rock still there?" Isa asked.
"Yeah. Part of the chain's still there too."
"At least we didn't lose the rock."
"Ah! I've got it now!" Jean exclaimed. "I know exactly what's happening here!"
Zara looked at her for a few seconds.
"I really doubt that, but go on."
"Isn't this totally one of those scenarios where we get picked off one by one by an unseen threat? A horrifying, unknowable monster. Our numbers will just keep dwindling down until the captain boldly gives his life to reveal its true form, then being the last one remaining I'll use my IQ of 43 to devise a plan to defeat it. Please look forward to Jean Demonlord versus the invisible ghost demon, coming out on the 7th of July 1377!"
"Hold on. So is it a ghost or a demon?"
"Both. That's why I called it a ghost demon."
"But why?"
"Well the only reasonable explanation for how we'd be unable to see it is if it was a ghost. And it's a demon so that I have an advantage against it."
"How?"
"You don't think my surname's Demonlord for no reason, now do you?"
"I do. I do think that. That is exactly what I think."
"We've got more pressing matters at hand right now, if you'd like to focus." Lotus reminded them. "That plot is riddled with cliches anyway, if you're going to be bold enough to pitch it in a situation like this then come up with something more exciting."
"Follow your own advice some more." Zara interjected.
Jean looked excited, completely ignoring the comment.
"Ah, finally some advice. Is it okay if I call you my mentor?"
"Of course not."
Jean smiled and bowed.
"Then I'll be looking forward to your guidance from now on, great mentor."
"Adding a great doesn't make it okay."
Zara looked extra annoyed by this point.
"Seriously, follow your own advice."
They heard the sound of footsteps approaching from nearby. Loud ones. The group went slightly on guard, Jean's previous promise of a horror story raising the tension slightly.
Most of that dissipated when Panzer became visible, the loud footsteps clearly coming from him. Three quieter sets followed behind him, though they were mostly drowned out.
Spence and Luke appeared before the others, both barely holding the other up.
"Yo. Found him."
The Starward Diamonds ended up parting ways with the group shortly after everyone got over their surprise, having no more business with them.
Spence got yelled at for opening his wounds back up, though Zara didn't bother with having him chained up again this time. With the only other person involved busy being yelled at, explaining everything was Luke's responsibility.
He covered the key events, but didn't go into any more detail than he felt was necessary. The despair, the confrontation, the fight. All just enough information.
By the time he'd finished, Spence was also done getting yelled at. Zara quietly asked Isa for an explanation of what she'd missed.
While she was being filled in on what everyone had just been filled in on seconds ago, Luke felt Mary staring at him.
"So you've decided to take part in the operation, after all?"
"...It's kinda embarrassing that I was ever considering otherwise, I guess. We came all this way just to bring him back, didn't we? Don't worry, I won't lose sight of things like that anymore. I can't let myself run away again. This is meant to be reassuring, but I'm not sure if it sounds like it."
"Hmm…" Mary paused for a few seconds, her eyes wandering. She eventually shifted into a smile. "Don't worry about it. It's definitely reassuring. There's no way that we'll let him get away this time."
Luke glanced over at the others.
"Ah, wait. I should just say first. This is our problem. So I won't really think any less of you if you don't participate. It's not like this is my place to decide that or judge you anyway, but I just felt like I had to say it. He's my brother… everything relating to him is our problem, there's no need for all of you to put yourselves in danger because of our dispute."
The group paused for a few seconds, staring at each other. Spontaneously, they each shoved themselves into Luke's face to pull his statement apart.
Spence, of course, got his words in first.
"You're even stupider than I am! Why would I not want to take part after saying all that!? Besides, I've still gotta slug him at least twice for hurting you and Fen like that."
"I don't need you avenging me, I'll be doing that myself." Fen followed up on Spence's words. "Even without that, the way that guy treats his family is driving me mad, I can't let him get away without teaching him some things first."
"He hurt me too, you know?" Isa asked.
"Oh, right. Gotta thank him at least once, too." Spence thought aloud.
"As soon as I'm done beating that guy into the ground, you're definitely next. Maybe both at once if we're lucky. Count me in."
"I don't really have much personal attachment here." Zara spoke in her usual deadpan. "But just this guy sounds like the exact type that pisses me off, so I'm more than willing to join if I get the chance to hurt him."
"I can't be left out when everyone's getting a moment like this!" Jean threw her own shouts into the mix. "Your perpetual little brother aura is too overpowering, even I'm powerless against it! I wanna go help fight your brother too! The spirit of camaraderie is never stronger than when everyone wants to beat up the same guy really badly!"
"I'm definitely not missing out on any chances to fight strong things, thank you very much." Laura threw in at the end.
Luke was taken aback by all of the arguments he received, requiring a few seconds to take it all in. Once he finally did, he couldn't stop himself from smiling.
"I don't think that… thank you is quite enough here."
"Why though?" Laura was genuinely confused. "We haven't even done anything yet."
"Don't ruin the moment, idiot." Spence told her.
"Huh? A moment's like a second, you can't ruin time."
Judah and Mary looked on from the side.
"I'm glad that you're all getting along like this, but someone's going to have to bring this up at this point. I don't want to say that it can't be done, but how are we planning to close the gap between us and that group in a week?"
"I don't know. But since Spence was saying all that stuff about how we'll get stronger together, I'm sure he's got to have some vague idea of a plan, right?"
The group turned to the insect-glaive wielding lightning man. He smiled uneasily.
"...We've just gotta train really really hard."
"That's about what was expected." Zara sighed. "Don't get your hopes too high about a guy who'd rather bleed out than stay in place for a little while."
"Well, we've already decided on it." Jean also sighed despite not seeming all that distraught. "So working hard's all that we have, I guess."
The group suddenly noticed the sound of footsteps and a sheath rhythmically tapping against the ground nearby.
"Ah. Finally found you."
Akem Okino, the man called the sword saint, stood there.
"You're that…" Spence struggled to remember his name, giving up a few seconds in. "Old guy."
"Can't deny that."
"Don't be rude." Judah reprimanded Spence. "Did you want something from us?"
"Yeah. Well, it's a bit of a convoluted thing. See, I wanted to go over there and start fighting those poachers right now, but I've got to wait around for a week for the sake of the raid. Which leaves me with about a week of time to kill. You're interested in getting stronger, aren't you? I couldn't help but overhear some of the conversation when you're so loud."
"Wait, but you-" Judah tried to object, but he got cut off by Spence.
"Yup, that's exactly what we're planning on. What does that have to do with you, though?"
"You have to be the only person who couldn't make the connection here." Zara commented from the side.
"I've still got to repay my debt to you for showing me the way, I've time to spare, and you all seem interested in training. Don't you think these things have happened to line up perfectly?"
Even though most of them successfully guessed what was about to be said, there was still a pause as the confirmation took them aback. The first to react was the one who didn't care.
"But I don't need training." Objected Laura. "I'm already strong."
The rest took his words under more serious consideration. Surprisingly. It was Luke who spoke next.
"If… if it'll make me any stronger, then I'll do anything. I've got to have at least that much resolve to get anywhere, don't I?"
"That's a good answer. I wasn't offering it to you, though. Just the three that led me here."
"H-huh? But I was that- I mean, I'm sorry. I totally misunderstood-"
"That was a joke. Even if that was the case, I couldn't refuse after you put that much passion into just saying yes."
"Guess I'll go along too." Spence added.
"You're not getting any training done until you're healed." Zara reminded Spence, after which she shifted her eyes around to look at Akem. "Speaking of, I'm kinda curious what your plan is here. What exactly would the illustrious sword saint have in mind to get this herd of Aptonoth ready to take on a group of elder dragons in just a week?"
"Hmm, so that's how you think of yourselves." He put his hand to his chin for a few moments and closed his eyes. "I guess I'll start with a question. Do kids these days still name their special attacks?"
In a blink of an eye, a week passed by. Dawn rose on the kingdom occupied by Fera Gladius.
"Urgh. What am I doing here exactly?"
One of the poachers, a thug who went by Cutthroat, nearly sighed but stopped himself to preserve his image.
"What's even the point anyway? Not like I've got to worry about maintaining appearances around these weirdos."
He was one of the Rook of Slaughter's pawns. Standing guard at this same point was one of his division's other pawns. A man in armour stood on all fours, looking out into the horizon blindly.
"Freak. Well, isn't all that bad."
Cutthroat glanced back at the monster behind him. An Odogaron awaited his orders.
"At least I was given this."
To give a brief summary of his past, he had been working as the muscle for a small-time criminal operation until it was brought down by an up-and-coming guild knight, the Salamander. He barely managed to evade capture and swore revenge on the one who had defeated him. Following some months of wandering, he ended up being recruited into this group.
After swearing loyalty to the king, he was forced to pick one of the generals to serve under. The only ones interested in taking him were the eloquently dressed maniac, the religious fanatic and the spiked weirdo. Due to the lack of better choices, he went with the first.
"I can't just be down here forever, though. Just wait. As soon as I get my chance…" He turned back, looking at the palace. "I'll show him that giving me a monster to use was a big mistake."
"Intruders." His comrade on all-fours next to him completely threw off his fantasising, then sprinted forward without a single other word. The Arzuros that he had been assigned followed after him.
"Hey, explain. What do you mean? Who the hell would be dumb enough to-"
Before Cutthroat could even finish that sentence, there was a flash of light before him. From his perspective, it could only be called ridiculous. One second, nothing was there. The next, his vision was filled with the vise of a green-tinted warrior of lightning.
Not even giving him time to process this, the attack swung his glaive around. Cutthroat just barely managed to draw his weapons to guard as he was knocked back.
The wind was knocked out from his lungs, but the assault didn't end there. As he lay on the ground, the attacker leapt forward and stabbed down. They were a few milliseconds short of ending the fight there, Cutthroat just managed to escape.
He brandished his two blades as he stood up, both jagged.
"I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you should run while you still have the chance. We have a whole army here."
"Ah. This is good, exactly what I was hoping for. That's usually the kind of thing a guy who's about to lose says, isn't it?"
"Oh, so you're just an idiot."
Cutthroat removed the mask covering the lower part of his face, revealing some burn scars that had been inflicted on him during his fight with the Salamander.
This was a pretty basic intimidation tactic that he had used plenty of times before in the last few months. In a similar fashion to a feline arching its back to appear more intimidating or [some monster example here], he wore his history on his face as a way to put fear into his opponents. The idea that he already survived something so dangerous that what they did to him wouldn't matter. Even aside from that, the sight of the burns was enough to get some to hesitate.
Cutthroat would typically save this tactic for later on in a fight, but his enemy's comment had really dug deep for some reason that he couldn't describe, so he wanted to beat him as quickly as possible.
Not wasting any potential time, Cutthroat started to sprint. His speed wasn't as absurd as his opponent's had seemingly been, but it would be enough to close the gap in just a few seconds.
"Slice him up!"
As though he had been waiting for that line to spring back into action, the man in the wolf-like armour spoke again.
In the end, intimidation tactics relied on the opponent. Their effectiveness could perhaps be best described using a bell curve. Against the majority of opponents, it would probably have at least some effect. Against those on the higher end, those more experienced or simply more intelligent, it wouldn't fly. Simply knowing that their opponent had been hurt before didn't mean much to them.
That left the final, third group. Those not smart enough for such intimidation to be effective against in the slightest. This masked man was one such case.
"That's a pretty cool scar. Mine's cooler, though."
He swung again. The glaive was much larger than Cutthroat's blade, therefore logically it should have taken longer, but it seemed far too fast. The two clashed, pushing each other back, but this left the man open to an attack from the Odogaron's claws.
A white flash dropped from above, crushing the Odogaron into the dirt.
"You finally made it, Storm. Got anything to say after keeping me waiting for a whole twenty seconds?"
Storm growled back at Spence.
"You're the same as us?"
"Huh? Guess so. I just let him do his own thing most of the time, though. Not like whatever you've got going."
At least this strange attacker was kind enough to remind him that his Odogaron couldn't do anything without orders.
"Get yourself free already, we're gonna crush them both."
At his command, the Odogaron stopped focusing on Spence and turned its attention to Storm, trying to claw at him. Storm jumped back, joining Spence.
The next few clashes were brief. Storm and Spence stuck together while attacking, landing quick attacks on both of the targets and then dashed away.
Cutthroat and his Odogaron managed to get in a few hits, but the difference was too vast. But, he did not despair. Instead, he tried once more to intimidate them.
"You'll have to slow down eventually. There's no way that you can maintain that ridiculous speed forever. Don't think I'm so weak that bee stings like yours can take me down. Once you're down to my level, you're as good as dead!"
"Hm. Guess you're right. You two are pretty durable."
Spence and Storm suddenly came to a halt before them.
"So let's try this one."
Cutthroat heard some crackling.
"What the hell are-"
It was like lightning. Lightning was all that he could call it. Anything less would have been an insult.
Cutthroat and his Odogaron were standing fairly near to one another. The force first hit the Odogaron, then switched to him. To say that he had time to see it coming would've been a gross overstatement.
It was true that it appeared before his eyes, but he could only register it after the impact. Even more so than before, it was absurdly blistering speed.
Like a spring pushed to its absolute limit and then released, the Spence and Storm had suddenly burst forwards. The static electricity that the Tobi-Kadachi had built up while dashing around as the two struck through, creating something that resembled a small explosion. The absurd amount of momentum elevated their attack to the next level.
A hunter art was a dramatic move that pushed the abilities of a hunter, their weapon, or even both at once, to their very limits. With both hunter and monster combining their strength for this attack, they could only think of one term suitable.
Monster art: Thunderbolt.
Cutthroat and his Odogaron crashed onto the ground, completely unconscious.
"If you've got a whole army, then we've got no time to waste on the small fry. After all, we're aiming right for the top!"
As Spence finished his line, he remembered what he had to do. He produced a piece of equipment from his pouch.
Since the battlefield was too dangerous for any non-combatants to enter, hunters that didn't wish to kill their opponents were provided something similar to a trap, but intended for the capture of poachers.
It also handily had a tag to identify which hunter captured which criminal, for the purposes of rewards.
As Spence finished tying Cutthroat up, Laura and Judah finally caught up.
"Increase my score by one, captain."
"Yes, I got it. With Laura taking down the other guard back there, you're at one each."
"I beat him so good that it should count for two." Laura argued.
"That's not how this competition works." Judah explained to her once more.
"I should get three for style." Spence argued back.
The ruins that the poachers were occupying had three main entrances. With the intent of surrounding the poachers and crushing them, the hunters were split into three.
Luke, Panzer, Zara, Arachne, Isa and Irontusk approached from the south-west.
Luke stared up at the castle at the highest point, while reminiscing. It was something from years, something pointless, but irreverent of that the memories continued to play in the back of his mind.
When they were younger, Davi would always keep repeating the same phrase. That it was the oldest's responsibility to lead. That's what he'd always say before charging off wherever took his interest, forcing Mary and Luke to follow along.
After meeting Judah for the first time, he was forced to change the words, with Davi having no interest in following Judah and Judah having no interest in being followed at the time.
But even so, he still proclaimed that because he was the older brother, he must be followed after.
It had been so long that everyone other than him had probably forgotten about it.
"If it's the responsibility of the oldest to lead… then it must be the responsibility of the younger ones to follow after. Isn't that right? That's what you were always telling us."
While thinking that, he cast his gaze skyward.
From the top of the castle, Davi overlooked it all.
"What, so that king wasn't full of shit after all? They really came straight to us."
He took one last puff of his cigarette. As he flicked what remained of it away, he dropped backwards from the roof.
A height that would've meant certain death. Of course, splattering across the ground wasn't his intent.
He calmly equipped his helmet as his face, covering his face up. A blur swooped in to grab him.
Davi and Goliath now looked down upon the battlefield, blazing through the sky.
"Now then… time to tear them down."
Guild side:
GUNS, 4 members.
Gunbert, the gunner. HR 300.
Unweathered, the shirtless. HR 254.
Niceman, the undead. HR 202.
Shriek, the maniac. HR 242.
DBA, 9 members.
Team A:
Judah Harrison & Titan. HR 47.
Laura Ford. HR 40.
Spencer Page & Storm. HR 18.
Team B:
Mary Gilmore & Kasa. HR 28.
Fenris Eis & Fang. HR 50.
Jean Demonlord & Tama. HR 45.
Team C:
Luke Gilmore & Panzer. HR 16.
Zara Lowe & Arachne. HR 37.
Isabel Page & Irontusk. HR 18.
Starward Diamonds, 9 members.
Team A:
Lotus. HR 86.
Bal. HR 90.
Doctor Professor Scientific Genius. HR 36.
Team B:
Kalo. HR 84.
Mila. HR 47.
Sol. HR 52.
Team C:
Stanley. HR 77.
Vicke. HR 67.
Michael. HR 66.
Unaffiliated:
Akem Okino. The Sword Saint. HR 999.
19 other hunters.
Poacher side:
Wild. King of Monsters. Estimated HR 999.
Minerva, War Goddess / Queen of Everything. Estimated HR 999. 3 pawns.
Ripper, Bloody Devil / Rook of Slaughter. Estimated HR 450. 21 pawns (two eliminated).
Sacred, Preacher of the Inferno / Bishop of Flame. Estimated HR 431. 12 pawns.
David Gilmore, Limit Breaker / Knight of Heaven. Estimated HR 333. 0 pawns.
Craftwork, Pincushion / Bishop of Pain. Estimated HR 294. 7 pawns.
Nebulo, Demon Mist / Knight of Illusion. Estimated HR 272. 1 pawn.
Rondo, Molten Conqueror / Rook of Storms. Estimated HR 100. 0 pawns (formerly 24).
December 21st, 1376.
9:27 AM.
The raid on Fera Gladius begins.
42 hunters, 8 monsters.
50 poachers, 50 monsters.
TO BE CONTINUED
Didn't take me 3 months this time so I'm pretty happy with this one.
There's quite a few things that I want to talk about this time, so after so many authors comments of just apologising for taking too long it's time for a long one.
Okay, the first thing. This may be a statement by an idiot who's only skimmed the surface of all things in life at best, but don't you feel like characters run away from their problems a lot less these days?
The reason that I started thinking about this was because I was playing through Xenogears (almost eight months ago at the time of writing, time goes by too fast). I still need to go back and finish it at some point, I only got past the tournament section, but it got me thinking about it.
I think it's probably something to do with mecha series these days having less time to work with. They don't have multiple episodes free to spend on the protagonist running away like the original Mobile Suit Gundam for instance.
The point that I want to get to is that protagonists running away can lead to good things. The Bright slap scene could honestly be the most iconic exchange from any Gundam series. But things these days don't feel like they have as much time to allocate to sections like that, which is a shame.
But then again, I only got really invested in Mobile Suit Gundam after that arc was over, so maybe philistines like me are the real reason that human weakness in protagonists doesn't get as much time to be shown off.
But if I'm writing this, I might as well be the change I want to see in the world. So with that in mind, I extended this stop-over between the build up and the fighting to have a whole chapter dedicated to Luke and his fears.
You might be wondering why it was only one chapter after how I just complained about not getting multiple episodes dedicated to it anymore, the answer is because my impatience is a serious problem that I need to work on resolving. I've planned out all the fights ahead because I find them cool and in the hope that other people with similar tastes can enjoy it, I need to get to them already.
Speaking of, it's worth saying here that the DBA is going to be here in this zone of the Frontier Grounds (while fighting Fera Gladius) for quite a while. Like, it'll probably end up several times longer than any arc I've written so far either in this or in the original story, this might end up the longest story I've ever written by the time this arc wraps up, that kind of a while.
I already hit the average (~50k words) from the build-up alone, which I guess is a sign of things to come.
Or I might suddenly lose the ability to get to 10k per chapter after this one, I don't know how things will go. I just hope that they don't start getting any longer, I start to feel really bad when I go more than a month without updating.
While I'm here, the one last thing is that if you've got any predictions on who might end up fighting who in this arc I'd be interested in hearing them.
I can check the views, I know there's more than a few of you who've read the entire thing without saying anything.
I'm not asking this to beg for reviews, if I cared too much about getting those then I wouldn't have kept going this long, but I always enjoy predicting the fights in stories like this. So I'm interested to see how people other than me think things might go.
That's about it, I don't know if I'll ever write such a rambling author's comment ever again.