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"Peculiar one aren't you?" You mutter as you look the Tobi-Kadachi over. She looked back, watching you curiously.

You thought you could relay it well enough to her, commands that is. Maybe if you were able to teach her how to respond to specific words... You have an idea, you'll try something.

"Sit." You say out load. Tabitabi's head twists over to the side a little.

You fall to your buttocks and sit down on the wood of the giant tree. The Tobi-Kadachi just looked for a second before doing the same, sitting on it's two back hind legs rather than on all fours.

"Alright, alright..... now. Stand." You say before standing up again. Tabitabi followed this direction too, coming back to it's own feet.

"Okay, now you. Sit." You say, pointing to her. She just stared blankly at you with her big red eyes. You guessed it would be a bit important to repeat the process to get the message through.

In quick succession, you sat and stood multiple times while clarifying which action is which with 'Sit.' and 'Stand.'. You went to sit again and Tabitabi nearly did too until you raised your hand and snapped your fingers, making her stop in mid-motion as you stood again.

"Sit." You say, poking her shoulder. That finally seemed to get the message through, and as you ordered, the monster sat down again, not trying to continually mimic your own sitting and standing.

"Okay. Stand." You say. Tabitabi obeys and rises back to full height.

Excellent, you've gotten something basic down, but there's still more you could try teaching her yet. You swear that by the time you're done with her, she'll be as docile as a Popo casually and as fearsome as a charging herd of Bullfango on command. There's still time left yet before you should try heading back.

>Lets see if we can teach her how to attack something on command now.
>Lets try and see how well she does being a mount for me to ride.
>Lets teach her to play dead.
>Lets teach her to retrieve something for me.
>That's good enough now. Let's head back to Astera and rest until tomorrow.
>Write in.

>>4027462
>>Lets try and see how well she does being a mount for me to ride.

>>4027462
>Lets try and see how well she does being a mount for me to ride.

>>4027462
>Reward tabitabi
>Check for any parasites or injuries after that deviljho rampaged through.

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>>4027462
>Lets try and see how well she does being a mount for me to ride.

>>4027462
Supporting >>4027515.

>>4027462
>Lets teach her to retrieve something for me

>voting to mount the zappy lizard
Please no, we don't have any Thunder resistance.

>>4027462
This >>4027515

Let´s go slower, monsters are never fully tamed.

>>4027462
>Lets see if we can teach her how to attack something on command now.

Need I point out her kind is a serious climber and is very zappy? Trying to ride her without special armor or saddle would be most...unpleasant.

You approached Tabitabi then and brushed your hands through her fur. You did know that Deviljho was first prowling the Ancient Forest, and you were a bit worried that she might have gotten attacked. Looking over her body, you closely inspected her torso and flaps closely, but you found no marks or injury. Her legs and tail, back and all seemed to be fine.

Well, there was a pair of marks you could see on her chest and underbelly, but they were smaller than the size of a Deviljho's thorn, so you quickly deduced it was from the Anjanath you killed, you did recall her being thrown by it at you that one time. The marks weren't substantial however, so you didn't think they were a problem. She didn't mind you prodding and poking at them, very relaxed around you.

You took it that now might be a good time to see how aggressive she can be. You had only your carving knife with you and stood in front of her. Your next action as daring as you knew that monsters over the generations have come to know Hunters and their weapons. Carefully, you drew it in front of her sight and watched her gaze. She looked at you blankly again, not having much interest in the knife. You guessed that she only reacted to things that reacted with violence first towards her, in which case would be territorial creatures such as the Anjanath and Jagras that lived around these parts. Perhaps nobody has bothered to hunt her in specific yet.

You walk over to the bark of the tree and glance back to make sure she's looking before you strike at the tree, leaving a visible gnash on it with your knife.

"Uhh.... Attack!" You say aloud, pointing to the tree before slicing it once more. "Attack, see?"

You walk over and pat her on the shoulder before pointing at the tree, her view following your finger and then looking dead ahead at the tree.

"Attack." You say to her, running back over and demonstrating again with another slice before coming back over to her side.

"...Now you try.... Attack!" You say and point at the tree again. Just like with teaching her how to sit and stand, she leaps over and bears her claw at the tree, leaving behind three bigger gnashes over yours. She looks back and tilts her head.

"....Yeah, now you're getting the hang of it. Good girl." You say, coming over to pet her head again. Tabitabi purrs under your touch and yawns then. All on her own she begins to walk away, but stops to look back at you again.

Will you try to teach her more? Or is that good enough for today in your eyes?

>>4027847
Let's head home, give her time to find a good spot.

>>4027847
Let the girl rest.

>>4027847
Go back to town.

>>4027847
Thats enough for the day

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You decided enough was enough, she was probably going to settle into her night for the night anyway so you'll do the same. You turn and leave back to Astera without another word.

Back at Astera, you watched the moon rise, sitting on the ledge of a walkway. You had a journal with you, gifted by your mother before you left the Old World, you were writing down every bit of your adventure you had currently here in the New World as you had not really touched the book much before. You think the guilt for neglecting it has caught up. You did promise that one day you'd go back to the Old World to visit relatives again.

Climbing into your bed, you fell soundly asleep, anticipating the next day. When the sun rose, you were woken by the yawning of Vivi and the sounds of the other Hunters in the barracks moving about.

You took care of what needs you had, such as brushing your teeth to maintain your near perfect and suited up. Your Hornetaur set order at the Smithy should be complete soon so you'll stick with your trusty Alloy set just for a day longer before parting with it. You almost didn't want to, as you've practically had this set all your life until now.

You felt Vivi tug on your belt and looked down.

"Today's the big day for mew Meowster. The Commander wanted to see you didn't he? Whatever he has, I'm sure meow'll make a big paw-off on it!"

"Yeah, always." You said smiling lightly, raising your fist for a fistbump with her.

You headed outside and saw Brigg already at the Commander's table with the Scoutress. Hulk was the last one to show. The Commander was looking over his map of the New World quietly. A researcher in what appeared to be a mask with breathing tubes was standing there at the side of the table, his wet gear showing him to be a diver, accompanied by a beginner Hunter with dual blades wearing chainmail.

Then the Commander spoke up and broke the silence. "You're sure it was no Guild ship at all? Positive?"

"One hundred and ninety nine percent, sir. There's no mistaking it, they were all illegals." The Diver Researcher said.

"I can vouch for that sir, I was on my first mission escorting the Aquatic Ecologist here and I saw them too. I hid behind some trees while he was hiding in the water as they came into the bay." The Hunter with dual blades said.

"I see. Well, that will be all I need from you two. Dismissed." The Commander says, the two others nod and leave.

"I'm glad you're all here now." The Commander addressed you and your friends. "We've got ourselves a crooked little problem on hand and I'd like for you all to be the ones to investigate it."

"Commander sir, if I may interject, why us in specific?" Brigg asked, placing his hands on his fat armor piece.

"We've got too many other resources diverted towards our bigger investigation into the Yama Tsukami that appeared as of late. Right now all I have are a handful of Hunters with experience for this kind of thing, such as the four of you, and a bunch of others more suited for rank and file duties and they may be needed elsewhere. You're all perfect candidates right now." The Commander says.

"What what would you have us do, sir?" You ask, speaking up.

"Well first of all, let me start by saying this might shock you as much as it did me. I got word yesterday from those two you saw just now that a ship unaligned with the Guild has appeared somewhere here, far away from the Ancient Forest." The Commander says, pointing out a place on the map unmarked and uncharted.

"When ships like that show in places dense with Monster life, it can only mean one thing; Poachers." The Commander says.

All at the same time you and each of your companions were instantly surprised.

"Normally, this sort of thing is taken care of by the Guild Knights whose job it is to punish and arrest Poachers for breaking the law, or even kill them should the need arise, but those with such a rank present are too busy. Instead, I want you four to deal with it." The Commander says.

"How exactly?" You ask, unsure about taking a weapon to a fellow Human or Wyverian...

"Simple. You don't have to directly confront the Poachers, if they are Poachers, which is something I expect you all to confirm. You only need to find a way to sabotage their means of poaching. This would include finding traps they may have laid out and disabling them before they can capture any Monsters, or destroying their supplies to force them away. Keep in mind that most Poachers arrested back in the Old World are never as armed as a Hunter of the Guild is, they rely more closely on tactics than brawn, so I wouldn't expect anything more or less from these we're dealing with. Though, I am curious as to how they found their way here... our fleets have always had to use specific routes." The Commander says.

"So, can you get the job done for me? Are you up for it?" The Commander asks.

All at once, your companions nodded and gave a salute. Slowly, you followed suit. You were not too bright on the idea of this mission, but it's being asked by the Commander and you can't work up the guts to ask for abstaining from it.

"Good. But there's another thing too. The four of you have only traveled as a team like this out on an expedition once, and while you showed some promise in being able to cooperate, one thing remains unclear. Which of you is the leader of this little team of yours?" The Commander asks.

>Why it's us, Gunlance Vance. Our volition drives this team on to victory. We can't be stopped.

>Without a doubt Brigg, he is the brains here and can conceptualize on a higher level if allowed to.

>Atricia, she is the most experienced of us four, having slayed the Elder Dragon Kirin before.

>Senzo, he knows that problems are always easily solved with a lot of strength and big weapons.

>>4028076
Briggs would be alright if he could think faster.

Hulk might paradoxically be okay if the pressure of being a leader straightened him out.

>Atricia, she is the most experienced of us four, having slayed the Elder Dragon Kirin before.
For now.

>>4028076
>Atricia, she is the most experienced of us four, having slayed the Elder Dragon Kirin before.

>>4028076
>Atricia, she is the most experienced of us four, having slayed the Elder Dragon Kirin before.

There was a moment of silence then as the Commander just eyed your group.

You were the first to say something, pointing to Atricia. "Scoutress here is obviously the most experienced, so I say she should be our team leader."

"I find myself in agreement." Brigg said.

"Sure." Hulk follows.

"Hmm, yes, I can see why. She has made a name for herself around here managing to be a great scout on the side of using an encumbering weapon not so fitting of that role. Very well, I suppose that's decided then." The Commander says.

The Commander's fingers comes down to the part of the board where the objective lied.

"There is plenty of places in the New World we still have yet to discover. This bay neighboring the Ancient Forest is one of them. For now, we've been calling it the Lambent Bay. As you should know, the place is very watery, so few researchers actually tread there. We don't have much knowledge, but hopefully you all can gain some on the way. If that is all, you may be dismissed now and onto the goal at hand. May the Sapphire Star light your ways." The Commander finished.

With that, your group all saluted and made off. On the way, you had a meal at the canteen with your friends while chatting with one another about the bay and the possibility of Poachers. Keeping supplies in check, your group readied themselves and mounted the wingdrakes, flying off to the destination.

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The flight was a lot shorter than you anticipated actually. The wingdrakes carried your party the whole way of the Ancient Forest, passing over miles of woodland before lowering your group downwards into the forest's end.

From there, it was only a short walk until you looked down and saw sand traces. The greenery ahead was becoming progressively brighter and more tropical, with apparent and more colorful fruits and coconuts as you looked all around.

Shortly after that, you were the first to step ahead and open a path between a collection of large leafs blocking something blinding ahead. You were stunned momentarily by the radiant sunshine blaring through and covered your face as you walked a few steps ahead and then opened your eyes.

Before you was laid out a tropical paradise, with water bluer than the scales of Zinogre. You could see the sun shining down into that heavenly stream, there was clearly visible schools of fish swimming along and the rocks protruded out high against the shapely land of the Lambent Bay. Flying monsters were seen overhead in droves, prospering far better here than in the Forest. It was spectacular as a sight, and you almost forgot your mission with how much you absorbed the sight.

"Wow..... incredible..." Atricia said as she stepped past you and looked over the bay.

"What kind of Monster life do you think we'll find here? Hermitaurs? Gobul?" Brigg voiced his thoughts.

"I don't know but I can't wait to break them like conch shells!" Hulk said.

"Well, we're here now. I'm flattered you all chose me as leader, but to be honest, I've always been more of a lone wolf type myself. That's not going to stop me from trying my best though!" The Scoutress says as she looks over the land again.

"I can see two big sectors down there, ripe for a ship to stop at. There also seems to be a beach to my northeast that way, and there's dense jungle to the right. I think we should spread out to cover more land" Atricia suggests before turning back to the group.

"First thing's first, you're all going to need some of these, just in case." She says, throwing some metal items to each member of the group. You caught three of your own and saw that they were cuffs meant for binding other humans. They were as toughly made as a buster sword.

"Our mission here is pretty straight forward just like the Commander said. First, I believe our first move should be to confirm the presence of the Poachers, which we'll do by splitting up. After that, we should all meet up back here and discuss what to do then. Any objections?" The Scoutress asks.

>Interject an idea of your own.
>Go along with the plan and then pick an area to search yourself.

>There are several different sectors of the Lambent Bay to search. You will choose one, or two to search all by yourself.
>(Jungle, Beach, Bay openings, Tropical Great Tree, Watering Holes, Rock Rises.)

>>4028368
Watering holes, bay opening

>>4028368
Search the Bay Openings and Jungle

>>4028368
>Go along with the plan and then pick an area to search yourself.
Beach and Bay openings

>>4028368
Watering holes and Jungle

>>4028368
>>Go along with the plan and then pick an area to search yourself.
> Beach, Bay openings

"None here. I'll take the bay openings, and the beach." You say.

"I'll search the rises and the watering holes." Hulk says.

"I'll go through the great tree over yonder." Brigg says.

"Okay, then that settles that. I'll cover the jungle then. Remember this spot. Let's go." Atricia said.

Your team all affirmed their choices and did this gesture where each of you all clashed your fists together before wishing each other good luck and disembarking towards the chosen destinations

You saw them quickly run off and disappear to their own areas while you hiked over rocks and past tall grass on your way to the Beach sector. From the looks of things, the openings to the bay must have been past that expansive beach ahead. The shining, pearly blue sea all over reminded you dearly of your home in the Old World where you were raised at, Moga Village. Though you spent most of your life there, you had little interest for the mainstay of the village, which was fishing.

You spent more time working on your physique in your childhood years, adoring the lifestyles of the Hunters you saw. You always aspired to want to be one too, one of the best even. When your teenage years hit, realization dawned on you that so long as you continued to stay in Moga, you would never achieve that dream. Making enough to travel by working the farm for years beforehand, you departed the village and your family too, promising to visit again, promising that you would make a life out there for yourself.

That was what lead you to travel the continent and attend training to be a Hunter in Dundorma. Now look at you, you're a full fledged rank seven, and you're here in the New World. You couldn't help but admire what success you've already had.

Ahh, but your reflecting is brought to end by seeing another reflection as you look down into the puddle of water you had just stepped in. Sand was now all around you and the tall grass atop the sandy dunes behind you were already far out of reach. Here you were standing now at the Beach sector of the Lambent Bay.

In the distance, you could faintly see a pack of Hermitaur grazing along the sands ahead past some huge rocks laying on the beachhead. You knew that some Old World monsters never before seen have been appearing in the New World, but you wondered how many more would if Hermitaurs were here?

That prompted you to investigate, looking all around the beach. You saw numerous shells, conch shells, some ore veins and Nulberry sprouts. Perhaps the most interesting part was a stream of water flowing down into a cave by a carved out way through the sand of the beach reaching back to the ocean. You came around that way and looked over the entrance until something caught your eye.

You looked it over, picking it up. It was a red scale. In fact, that wasn't the only one, there were plenty more lying around. But what left them?

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You had not much more time to think it over then as you heard a cry coming from the air. Your head shot over and saw a figure blocking most of the sun descending towards you rapidly, it's claws drawn and extended to grab you.

Quickly thinking, you shot out, leaping out of the way and rolling back onto your feet it landed on the cave entrance and ran over it, jumping off and landing in front of you.

You got a good look at this monster now and you couldn't believe your eyes initially. It was a Seregios, a flying wyvern from the Old World. It showed it's fangs off and it's scales rattled across it's neck and shoulders as it stood at full height and then lowered to bellow it's roar at you.

You took a few cautious steps back as it outspread it's wings and waved it's tail around to appear intimidating. You had to roll again as it went forward and it's tail slapped the earth where you previously were like a giant flail. It kicked and clawed at you until you could back away enough to get a good distance away from the monster.

It roared again and faced you, walking around with you in a circle as you drew your Gunlance and held your shield tight.

>Anticipate the Seregios' next attack and counter it.
>Wait to block out anything else it throws so you get an opening.
>Shell at it passively as it goes to attack next to throw it off.
>Rush forward and take a swipe of your own at it.
>Fire the Wyrmstake Cannon at it.
>Charge up your Wyvernfire.
>Write in.

>>4029176
>Shell at it passively as it goes to attack next to throw it off.
Hoo boy, we still have the Alloy Armor on, don't we.

>>4029176
>>4029185
Actually.
>Anticipate the Seregios' next attack and counter it.
Calling a lunge.

>>4029176
>Anticipate the Seregios' next attack and counter it.

>>4029176
>Anticipate the Seregios' next attack and counter it.
Like every Big monster battle

>>4029176
>>Shell at it passively as it goes to attack next to throw it off.

>>4029176
>Anticipate the Seregios' next attack and counter it.
Watch the claw swipes.

You stopped circling then and just peered over at the Seregios. It raised it's head and then came at you like a lightning bolt, gliding through the air at you using it's wings.

You saw it coming and took measures to evade. Your left foot went up and your right pushed you aside, allowed you to fall out of the way. Your Gunlance went over your shoulder as the claws trying to grab hold of you missed. You had a little trick in mind and put it into motion the best way you could.

Your Gunlance's blade went forward to strike, licking across the softer scales and skin of the Seregios' armpit. You drew out a long wound in the Seregios' flesh there, causing it to wind itself up to protect the area. It's heart wasn't far away from being touched by something that could breach far enough into the soft places there.

You fell down as you intended and rolled in the sand around it's back legs and under it's tail. Coming over to it's right, you got on your left foot and pushed yourself up with your shield, taking the Gunlance to bare down on the Seregios' right wing in one strong swipe downwards. The monster rumbled back and yelped at that, some small scales falling off, the attack having softened it's wing.

You could not bring your shield to block however as the Seregios spun around, it's tail impacted your torso and missing your chin, blowing you backwards into the sand. You used the motion of the hit to roll yourself back to your feet and raise your shield. That one hurt, and you could tell the Seregios was still ready to go.

It's neck scales fluttered and you saw what was coming next as you hid behind your shield to block a volley of scales being launched your way by the Seregios. The thing lifted itself to the air with it's flapping again and came forward, but you rolled and poked it's toes with your Gunlance before sidestepped as the Seregios stood on one foot and tried to slash at you with the other claw.

It turned it's head to face you, only to get punctured by it's lip from your Blazing Gunlance. The wyvern raised it's head and you sliced at the bottom of it's jaw before shelled it near the eye as it went to bite at you. The Seregios blurted a sound as it gyrated from that, stunned for the second.

>Use a nearby rock to jump up onto it's back and mount it.
>Attack the legs to overturn it and make it vulnerable.
>Use a really strong attack on it's head now while you can.
>Lead it in a circle and then chuck sand in it's face before fleeing.
>Write in.

>>4029325
>Use a really strong attack on it's head now while you can.

>>4029325
>>Use a really strong attack on it's head now while you can.

>>4029325
gunlances are pretty loud. Are there any piles of dung around?

>>4029325
>Use a nearby rock to jump up onto it's back and mount it.
I'll show you who's the boss of this beach.

>>4029325
>Use a really strong attack on it's head now while you can.
Get the fuck away from me

You didn't hesitate to build up energy in your arm. You nudged closer with the Gunlance scraping the sand as you held it back.

The Seregios roared as it shook it head and you tensed, coming to a halt as it raised it's head and then brought it down. Still a bit shaken, his snout bites the sand in front of you before shaking and bringing it's head level with yours. It's green eyes drilled back at yours.

It opened it's maw to prepare and bite you, but you raised a leg and unleashed the ultra powerful strike you were saving until this very moment. Both hands of yours were glued to the handle and you let it rip through the wind. You could not help by exhaust a solid bellow of your own as you did.

"YaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHHHHHH!"

You brought the blade of your Gunlance down so fast onto the Seregios' head, you made an afterimage with it and the air whistled piercingly as the blade displaced it and hit it's mark. The blow caused a puff of sand to blow up into your face as it hit the Seregios in the head and carried it downwards hard into the sand, making a small crater around it.

Razor sharp scales around it's face and chin peeled and were taken off by the force, the Seregios' blade-like curved horn being split in two completely from the substantial move you made. The wyvern's head was buried half way into the sand and it pulled it out, falling a bit backwards as it's neck waved around.

The thing stumbled, dazed and disoriented by it. It whimpered as some scales still fell from it's face. You took in a deep breath, a bit numb in your arms from how hard you hit it yourself and looked up at the thing. It shook it's head violently and looked back your way.

You flinched as the Seregios roared and then turned tail to flee, but as it did, IT happened suddenly.

There was a clicking as the Seregios' foot touched a spot in the sand, and without warning a set of iron jaws lined with rows of teeth fashioned from Monster bones and iron clamped down on it's leg. The flying wyvern screeched a blood curdling roar of pain and tried it's best to free itself, but could not. The trap was so heavy that the Seregios could barely lift it into the air, uncovering more to reveal it's weights and mechanisms.

It struggled, flapping about wildly for as long as it could until it exhausted itself, you watched the whole time without a word. This was it, this confirmed the presence of illegal Poachers. Such a trap would not normally be used by the Guild, especially not for something like a Seregios.

The wyvern settled down, whimpering as it tried to move towards the nearby cave, making shallow progress so long as the trap had it caught. You could finish the thing off easily now like this....

What will you do?

>>4029548
Now that's not fair. Let's work to get the trap loose, it's what we came for.

>>4029548
Search the sands carefully for other traps. If it can bite into a wyvern leg, it can most certainly cleave a hunter's foot.

>>4029567
This too.

>>4029548
Try to break the trap first, then finish the Seregios. The fucker tried to kill us and the trap mechanism should enough evidence. Search the area for more traps then regroup. I´m preeety sure someone, or something, heard the little scuffle.

>>4029571
Why /qst/ always eats my words fucking fuck

>the trap mechanism should be enough evidence

>>4029548
Kill it.

You didn't feel right killing the Seregios with the cage still trapped around it's leg, so you waited until it was being still enough to sheath your weapons and walk over. You slowly examined the mechanisms of the trap, seeing how crudely it was made in comparison to something the smithy could forge, or any of the Commission engineers for that matter.

The thing was operated by a heavy pressure plate, needing a bit more weight on it to trigger. Something in the weight class of a Rathian, or a Seregios like this one was clearly in mind for whoever designed and forged this trap. A human may be able to trigger it by jumping up while carrying two greatswords and wearing an Uragaan set though, but that's still just theory, as even with all of that you still wouldn't weigh as much as a Rathian.

You saw a lever hanging up on the thing and exerted a little force pulling it up, allowing the mechanisms to relax. There was a release handle too, which you pulled free, making the trap reset and jut open, releasing the Seregios into the dirt.

The thing panted and looked back at you, growling still and trying it's best to back away. It might not have been able to fight back so well now, but after trying to snatch you up for a meal like that earlier, you didn't feel bad or dishonorable for killing it like this. Who would project a sense of honor onto monsters in their right mind?

You took out your Gunlance and stepped forward, smacking the wyvern across the face with your shield, dazing it. It's scales fluttered up and you blocked the incoming volley it sent slowly, shaking your shield to rake of scales stuck to it before you stabbed at it's neck and swiped a wound across it's chest.

The Seregios fell down and experienced a sudden rush of adrenaline and energy as it flailed on the ground when you shelled it's head twice. You walked up and lowered your Gunlance's barrel to it's neck and cocked it's primer.

"Tell them it was Gunlance Vance who sent you to the hereafter." You nonchalantly said before pulling the trigger and shooting your Wyrmstake rod into it's neck. The Seregios tried it's best to throw itself to the cave, but stopped and reached up one last time before falling flat as the Wyrmstake rod exploded in between the scales of it's neck, embedded into the flesh. It's throat must have been struck, and with that vital veins in it's physiology.

You carved the thing for materials to store in your satchel before drinking a mega potion and sharpening your weapons. With that, you wandered your way out of the beach sector after searching for anymore traps. You found another placed a bit farther off from where the first trap was, near some fruit trees, but that was it. This much evidence would suffice, you thought, and so you left the Beach to return to the meeting point...

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>>4029548
>Go for the kill
We can get its sick golden armor afterwards, better defense than what we have on us currently. We can be an absolute tank.

>>4029790
>Seregios, who killed you?
>My ears were blasted, so I couldn't hear properly, but I think his name was.....
>Lance Ants

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The meeting point wasn't too far from a little section of the Bay hidden behind some trees and rocks you found that you thought might be suitable for the camp. You spent your time waiting sketching a little outlay of what you've traveled in the Bay so far onto a blank piece of paper included with your set of maps. You marked the area you saw in specific as a good spot for a possible camp. Then, you sat and cooked a fish you caught over your BBQ split and waited some more....

Eventually, you saw Brigg and Hulk come over in the distance and Atricia showed up right after. The three came up and all looked equally tense as you did.

"I'll fight a lot of monster... and I ain't afraid of anything.... but.... that thing.... maybe I should steer clear of.... for now." Hulk said.

"I think I might just have had the easiest time in my little exploration. What did you encounter, Vance?" Brigg asked.

"A Seregios at the beach. Thing tried to fly down and catch me, but I managed to get it." You said.

"A Seregios? Interesting. I encountered an Arzuros in the Great Tree." Brigg said.

"Hey man, you're freaking lucky. I almost got trampled to death in the rock rises by a Duramboros. And then I got harassed by a pack of Jaggi in the watering holes." Hulk said while pinching the temple of his helmet.

"Yeah, I saw Jaggi in the jungle too, and a Qurupeco." Atricia says as she walks in front of everyone. "Well, we're all here now. Let's pile our findings on now. Who wants to start?"

"I will." You say as you stand and show your sketch of the beach, pointing to where you most accurately placed the entrance to the cave. "I found two big traps meant for wyverns here. The Seregios I encountered got caught in one and it's leg was broken, couldn't get out because the trap was too heavy and bulky. The trap wasn't good quality but it got it's job done, almost looked visceral with how many teeth were slapped on."

"I saw a small lifeboat out around the watering holes somewhere, nobody was there but it had a lantern that looked fresh enough, and harpoons." Hulk reported.

"I did not find anything especial in the Great Tree such as traps, but I did find some human footprints of at least two people, so there was definitely someone there." Brigg reports.

"I found a cage trap in the jungle. It had a pair of Conga trapped inside. I let them out quietly and continued my searches, and eventually I ran across a pitfall covered up, there were some carved stakes down inside laced with what I can only guess is paralyzing liquids." Atricia says.

"I suppose that confirms it then. This is all the work of Poachers, no doubts now. I'm guessing their ship must be docked around the bay openings. Vance, did you check that way?" The Scoutress asks, turning to you.

"I didn't get the chance too, I thought the traps would be enough evidence. If their ship is still here though, it's definitely within the openings." You say.

"Then we need to decide on what we'll do to drive them away. Any ideas?" Atricia asks.

"We could attract a big monster to tear their ship apart! We could poison their food supply under the dark of night! We could set their ship on fire an-" Hulk suddenly went on before being stopped by Atricia raising her hand.

"Ehem... we're supposed to drive them off. Remember the Commander said we didn't need to directly confront them? We need a non-lethal idea that will work." She stated.

Everyone just stood there then, rubbing their chins and thinking hard... Brigg looked as though he was cooking up something good in his head, but was taking too long to actually say it...

Do YOU have any ideas you'd like to share with the team?

>>4029855
We should back up Hulk's first idea of attracting something the poachers couldn't catch towards them to drive them off. They're poachers, who cares if a few die?

>>4029855
Let’s start with the basic, steal their food

>>4029855
Plant a lot of dung on their boats. Traps can be smelled, not much work can be done.

If we sabotage the boat, they won't have something to return home with and be forced to come to us.

Planting wyvern eggs on the boat should attract some nasty beasts.

If we steal all their traps, eventually they'll need to set up a smithy to make more. That would be much easier to surround and arrest.

You think for yourself there while you could. You sort of wanted to support Hulk's idea of attracting a monster the Poachers can't deal with to them and forcing their leave from the Bay, but the Commander's words did still stand, so you shot that down in your head fast.

When you next spoke, you had different ideas to share and the group listened eagerly. These ideas included plans on shortening their food supply rapidly, capturing their own traps and forcing them to run out of options, or sabotaging their ship. They all mostly agreed with you.

"If I may contribute my own, I believe we could flush them out with fire." Brigg says, making everyone give him a look. "See, I've noticed the chef keeps around a few barrels of a specific brand of alcohol he doesn't usually break out but for very special occasions. It is also apparently highly flammable. I'm thinking if I could convince him to lend them, we could pour the alcohol down into their bay, and set the whole thing on fire to drive them out." Brigg says.

"Well.... we maybe could do that, but it would have to be on you to convince the chef, Brigg." Atricia says.

"Oh, I'm sure I could given enough time. Until then, I think we should follow Vance's ideas." Brigg said, making you smirk lightly. Senzo nodded at that as well.

"Very well. Then let's get on it fast." The Scoutress says.

The following day was spent simply. Your party ventured out into the Lambent Bay and begun a long work.

Dung was gathered (by glove of course!) to be spread all over the positions of the traps laid out in the beach sector. They were too heavy to confiscate on their own, so for now the dung piles you made over them would definitely help to deter anything from walking over them or coming near, the smell was too potent and it took you hours to do it. In the jungle, the cages were found and taken back to the spot you told them was suitable for a camp. The pitfall trap found was filled with larger rocks and tree limbs after the stakes were carefully removed by Atricia.

Your party came across no Poachers out in the field, and Hulk soon confirmed that the lifeboat he saw was gone. More digging eventually turned up more cages and this time rope traps which were also dismantled and collected. The next step was depriving nearby and convenient food sources from the jungle while also working to help hide others for the local wildlife. Berries and fruit trees were picked clean and brought back to the setup, while berries not suitable for consumption due to their poisonous nature were left untouched. Though, there was some doubt in whether or not they'd actually be eaten. Any Poacher worth their salt would carry some basic knowledge of what to eat and what not to eat out in the wilderness.

By the time that was all said and done, your party regrouped again and decided on fortifying the camp setup spot more. Using the rope collected from the newest traps, a ghillie tarp was made using plenty of foliage collected from bushes and draped over the general sight of the camp from behind the rocks and tropical trees. It made for some decent shade against that blaring sun still blinding even as sunset neared.

It was about that time that Brigg decided to make a return to Astera. He said he would return by tomorrow with the barrels of flammable alcohol so that the bigger plan can come to fruition. You trusted him to return personally, but you doubted he would be able to convince Meowscular Chef to part with something he is said to rarely break out.

With most of the work done by now, it was just you, Senzo and Atricia. She put her own hands to work over the three BBQ splits available and worked up kebabs using fish and fruit, you had to admit they were quite delicious to boot. When you asked her how she knew to cook this well, rather than with minor ability that most Hunters have, she explains that before becoming a Hunter, she was a Handler once in the Old World. That part did surprise you, most persons who become Handlers usually stay Handlers.

The conversation about the Yama Tsukami the three of you had was shortlived as the night finally set in. The Scoutress explained that now was a better time than never for reconnaissance and slowly vanished into the dark of the jungle, saying that she would find a spot to watch from and sit there for the night, and then that everyone should regroup at the camp again in the morning. Senzo shrugged and followed right after. You did too, but this time you headed out the way of the bay openings, intending to see the extent of the Poacher's operation...

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You had wandered past the sands of the beach and back into woodwork. Very few trees were around and that sort of alarmed you, as there wouldn't be much to use as cover. You waded past grassy patches littered with stones and found yourself entering through the fold of Jungle, but only near it's sharpest edges.

As you did, you lost your footing then, falling off of a ledge as you tripped over it and face first down into some mud. You groaned and wiped the sticky wet dirt clumps off your leggings and gauntlets and pressed further in.

As you did, you come out to a place between the trees that seemed about as open as the barracks, but you stopped discreetly as you heard this strange sound from above.

You looked up and saw some sort of... creature there. It was short, covered in a cloak of something that looked like tree bark. It's face was hidden behind this veil it wore with many holes, and it's dark hand grasped a staff.

The thing tilted it's head downwards at you and you just looked back, trying to discern what it was. It made another noise, almost like a vibration then as it spoke. It's voice was coarse and gravelly.

"....Hunter?"

You took a wild guess that by the scales you saw on it's dress, it was a Wyverian of some kind.

"...Tell the Star that Elders gather again. It will help his foresight."

"What? The Star? You mean the Sapphire Star?" You replied.

"....I will answer only three questions.... My first answer is yes." The being said back. "....Elders will gather again, but not for the crossing. The comet, the blackened end, the sky... They come for blood, few riled by hatreds of the far before, few more for deceptive instinct. Energy draws."

You opened your mouth to speak again but shut it before you wasted another question. This being seemed to be willing to answer another two, but you wanted to see how you could get the most answers of it and just waited.

"....More are on the way... They will bring cataclysm in their blind rampages, not all will see reason. They few seek his blood."

>"Why are more Elders coming?"
>"Blood? Whose blood are they after?"
>"Hatreds of the past?"
>"What do you mean by see reason?"
>"Energy draws?
>"The comet? Blackened End? Sky?"
>Write in.

>>4030211
>"The comet? Blackened End? Sky?"
>"What do you mean by see reason?"

>>4030211
>"What do you mean by see reason?"
>"Blood? Whose blood are they after?"

*chuckles* we're in danger.meme

Not sure whose blood. Doesn't sound like fatalis, might be the blood needed to kill fatalis.

>>4030211
>"Blood? Whose blood are they after?"
>"What do you mean by see reason?"

We shouldn't waste a question on learning about what elders are coming when we can ask the researchers back home and see what they can tell us.

>>4030211
>"Blood? Whose blood are they after?"
>"What do you mean by see reason?"

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>>4030211
>"What do you mean by see reason?"
>"The comet? Blackened End? Sky?"

>>4030211
>>"The comet? Blackened End? Sky?"

"Blood? Whose blood are they are? The Sapphire Star's....?" You gravely asked.

".....No. They come for the Primeval Man. The sin of the past still lingers yet in a cyclopean tower..... It's foundation was laid with Dragons, it's form was hidden from sight by the people who spanned the world. The tower funnels, it is unlike any other... It will rise from the ground again." The being said.

You could not place what he meant. His words were difficult to grasp in that, but you would keep it in mind. This being didn't seem very credible to you, at least he didn't until he showed of knowledge of the Sapphire Star, but you still doubted he was predicting anything for real. You would have to bring this information back to camp and alert the officers. Maybe they might know something more, but right now you'll use your last question up.

"What do you mean by see reason? Are you trying to imply some of these Elder Dragons... can be negotiated with?" You asked while crossing your arms.

".....It was thought dead. It lies in the Recess of the Elders. It will reincarnate. It needs to be found. It must be raised again." The being stated.

"...And what is 'it'?" You ask.

The being on the branch didn't say anything. It instead turned away and began to walk along the branch behind the jungle's greens and left your sight entirely.

You were left flabbergasted. The pseudo-prophetic air that thing gave off irked you a bit. You didn't really believe in myths and legends, but you were agnostic enough that you knew they had to be based off of something. Nobody ever came up with anything all on their own without inspiration. You held the firm position that even if fabled things did exist, they would be highly exaggerated in word compared to the reality.

Like that legend of the so-called Fatalis. Could there really be a Black Dragon out there? Maybe. But could we kill it today with technology far advanced now more than ever? Definitely. Humans didn't have anything to fear, and that thought gave you reassurance in the face of hearing about 'catastrophic' Elder Dragons.

Well, that was about enough dallying now. You had to get a move on. The night was still ripe and you had some spotting to do.

You continued along your way into the jungle...

Moving through more of the slog became quickly tiresome, but eventually you were able to escape the density of the jungle, chopping away at limbs from bushes and trees blocking your way with your carving knife. Then ahead you saw a source of light burning in the distance.

You emerged from two trees and got on your knees behind a large stone another patch of tall grass. You took your binoculars out and zoomed in for a closer look. It was the second of the bay openings and the bigger of the two. There, you saw a corvette, smaller than the Argosy but from the looks of it still big enough to transport a monster like Rathian easily enough within it's hull, after being heavily restrained. Lanterns were lit across it's deck and it's revolture nest where you saw someone looking out over the bay, keeping watch with a spotlight that used Flashflies. The ship was anchored down and not going anywhere.

You scanned over the sand near the bay and saw a few big tents set up in a circle. There was some bonfires burning around and about and you saw some more cages and traps set up to the far left. A bunch of barrels and crates were over to the far right as well. Some of them appeared to be kegs. You took a while to find them, but you did see some people walking along the beach there. The Poachers, and they looked about as poor as you expected.

These dogs wore shirts striped with red and blue, baggy tattered pants and bandanas. Leather vests and a few wore a cuirass of rusty plate with leather helmets. They all carried on in their carefree lives. It seemed that at the moment the majority of them were all drunk. Some were dancing around their fire drinking their rum, some wandering a bit far off of their camp setup and then collapsing drunkenly.

You saw who must have been their leader, a taller man with a pegleg draped in a big crimson jacket, wearing a bicorne with a big plume of feathers. He was waving around a basic iron switch axe while carrying on with his fellow Poacher men

You guessed you would just be monitoring their activity for the night..... but, there wasn't anything that could stop you from... doing a few steps of your own.

>We could torch their crates and barrels when their asleep so they have nothing to continue surviving off of.
>Let's sabotage their traps and cages, so even if they set them up, they won't catch any monsters at all.
>Let's just sit and wait until morning for Brigg's big plan to drive them out. No need to do anything rash.
>Write in.

>>4031254
>Let's sabotage their traps and cages, so even if they set them up, they won't catch any monsters at all.
Since they're mostly drunk, it's safe to do

>>4031189
>Humans didn't have anything to fear,
Haha....

>>4031254
>Let's sabotage their traps and cages, so even if they set them up, they won't catch any monsters at all.

>>4031254
>Let's sabotage their traps and cages, so even if they set them up, they won't catch any monsters at all.

>>4031254
>Let's just sit and wait until morning for Brigg's big plan to drive them out. No need to do anything rash.
You're still separated from the party without a complete idea of how to get back.

>>4031254
>Let's just sit and wait until morning for Brigg's big plan to drive them out. No need to do anything rash.
There's a fine line between bravery and stupidity.

You thought that now was a good time to try and get in some more secretive blows against the Poachers, all to make sure this mission gets over faster. You wanted to go back to hunting Monsters, not doing a Guild Knight's job against a band of petty scoundrels.

You sat and just watched for the time being. The Poachers fooled around in their own way, singing a sea shanty and even cheering on two of their bigger members having a slapping match to see who would fall down first.

It took a while for them to settle down more. One by one, each of the Poachers started to come to, falling fast asleep in their drunken stupor. Some so drunk they piled on top of each other. There must have been at least twnety or so of them in total. Most Poacher bands usually exceeded such a size, numbering thirty according to the Guild. These were amateurs at best. Though, how they reached the New World is a mystery....

You got up slowly and began to trek down towards their camp along the bay's rising terrain. The tall grass helped to shroud your crouched form as you slid down below to the sand and crept quietly closer.

The camp was loosely organized and these Poachers didn't seem to know where to put what. It would have made the Provisions Manager have a fit. You saw them using a small chest to store their rum bottles, while leaving valuable things such as their cutlasses out lying and about, and they wore no shoes. You were surprised you didn't see a streak of blood yet from one of the fools stepping on one here.

You were close to their camp, so much that you carefully stepped over their sleeping bodies and made your way around to the traps. The cages were easily dismantled enough, all you had to do with break the locks with a quiet and controlled snap and loosen it's nuts and bolts to destabilize it. You used your carving knife to cut some portions of their ropes away, weakening it enough that a few Conga could snap it and escape. You found another of the menacing jaw traps like the one that Seregios was caught by and found out by now that they had a way to adjust the pressure plate. You worked on it for a bit until the pressure required to break it would have to be ultra heavy, more than any flying wyvern in the weight class of Rathian could pull off.

That seemed to about do it. You went to sneak away and leave. Suddenly, you stopped as you heard some footsteps in the sand. You moved over to get behind the largest tent there and you peaked out from behind a crate. There was a Poacher still a bit drunk walking your way, drowsy and without much balance. He was whispering some kind of shanty about taking a leak.

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You would be spotted inevitably, so you did the only thing you thought reasonable and pulled up the cloth of the tent behind you to crawl in an hide. You were underneath a table now, and looked all around. The inside of the tent was lit only by a single candle and that captain figure you saw was over laid out on the floor, flat on his face and snoring.

Feeling a bit braver now, you came out and stood to full height and looked around. That captain's swtich axe was over against a chair... and there was a chest open next to it.

Curiosity got the better of you and you peeked inside. There was a bag of Zenny inside so big that it looked to have.... fifty thousand within. It is within the Guild's best interest to confiscate things from Poacher... riiiiight? Well... maybe there wouldn't be any shame in it if you were to 'confiscate' this Zenny from these crooks, riiight? Besides, it would be a shame if it was lost in Brigg's plan to burn the bay and run these half-bites out.

Now wait, there was something else. A small little box next to the table. It was filled with... Max Potions! It looked easy enough to carry and.... OH GOG! NO WAY! That there on the table... it couldn't be... its... its.... A RATHALOS PLATE?! Those were so rare that veteran Hunters in the Old World have spent months of slaying Rathalos just to get one!

Oh man, decisions... decisions. Each looked heavy enough that you could carry only one if you really chose to. The Zenny might make a bit more rattling... the potions could droop and splash about within the box... and the plate would definitely make you go much, much slower if you carried it.

Was greed getting the better of your mind here? Maybe....

>Take the Zenny and get out.
>The potions are more useful.
>Ra.... Rathalos Plate......
>No, I'm losing my focus to greed here. Let's just leave without taking anything.

>>4031491
>No, I'm losing my focus to greed here. Let's just leave without taking anything.
Hah, no. If there's anything that would be trapped, it would be those.

>>4031491
>No, I'm losing my focus to greed here. Let's just leave without taking anything.

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>>4031491
>No, I'm losing my focus to greed here. Let's just leave without taking anything.
I want the plate, but we´re profesionals. Maybe a Ruby will be worth alerting the poachers, maybe.

>>4031491
>No, I'm losing my focus to greed here. Let's just leave without taking anything.
We're to deep in enemy territory, let's keep it safe

You slowly reached your hand out to take the Rathalos Plate... but you pulled it back and pinched your temple hard. It was difficult, but you had to deny greed's sway over you this time and get out of there, no other way to put it. Maybe... maybe after Brigg burns the whole place out, maybe some of it might still be left behind to loot, right?

Sure, you'll look forward to that instead to get them, possibly, for now you just had to leave and wait until the big day tomorrow. You stooped back down under the table and made your way back through the tent.... after taking two Max Potions for good measure. You couldn't completely resist the urge, but you could feed it little by little.

The Poacher you saw walking your way earlier was now face down in the sand with his trousers to his knees. You didn't waste any chance and skipped through the sand with care, getting the hell out of there. You climbed back up the rocks and returned to your previous spot on the higher ground. You gathered bus parts and covered yourself with them, getting some caught in your armor's gaps to keep them on. You rolled the big rock you hid behind closer to the base of a tree and took up post there.

You sat for a few hours, watching the bay and activity of the Poacher camp. Nothing happened for hours save for a few Poachers sleep walking as they appeared to be, and relocating themselves in their tents. With nothing interesting happening for so long, you laid back against the tree and eventually drifted off to a nap yourself...

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Your cheek twitched and you slapped away something like a fly moving on your face until you felt a hard poke on the side of your head and nearly jumped up awake in response. A soft hand clamps over your mouth and your eyes move to the side to see Atricia there with a finger over her lips gesturing you to be quiet.

"Shh. Look" She whispered and pointed over. You rose a bit upwards and looked down with your binoculars over the bay. The Poacher ship was now closer to the shore and the Poachers were all riled and fuming around their camp. You heard their distant curses over broken traps and cages and blames being shifted on their incompetents members, monsters, and the Commission.

"Come with me. We're almost ready. We'll be done here soon enough." She says. You crawl some feet away with her and disappear into the Jungle again, going farther away from the bay. It was only a very short period of walking after that you were taken out with her to a little spot between some trees where you saw Brigg and Senzo handling a massive wooden barrel with car. It was propped up and moving on some rather small and fragile wheels that threatened to give away under the weight. A strong smell came from it and the sounds of liquid sloshing back and forth came from within the wood and metal of the barrel.

"Well, I did it. It was a testing task, but I managed to convince the Chef to spare me one of his barrels of intoxicatingly flammable alcohol." Brigg says as he sees you.

"What did you have to do to get... that?!" You questioned, standing in awe at the size of the barrel.

"I had to labor around the canteen, cleaning every inch of every surface there, as well as manning the stations while the staff went out to relax all night. Every station that is. I have not slept in a while." Brigg says.

"Man the lengths you're willing to go to do something Brigg... it's almost mechanical." Hulk said.

"Quite. Now, we need to discuss our last problem here. We cannot safely pour this into the bay with the Poachers roused like they are, they would see it coming and be able to evacuate. I think we could simply roll the barrel down into the bay, but lighting it might be a bit more difficult and they would still have time to react. I don't want them to notice so easily before the flames explode in their faces to make them swim back to their ship like cowards." Brigg says.

"So we need to distract them in some way." Atricia said, looking over everyone else. "But who will do it?"

"Senzo and I have to handle this barrel, it comes down to either you or Vance." Brigg says.

Atricia looks to you expectantly.

>Hesitantly volunteer yourself for this last part.
>Hastily volunteer yourself for this last part.
>Challenge Atricia to Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who will do it.

>>4031702
>We cannot safely pour this into the bay with the Poachers roused like they are
Fuck.

>Hesitantly volunteer yourself for this last part.
It was our fault.

>>4031702
>Hastily volunteer yourself for this last part.
Welp

>>4031702
>Challenge Atricia to Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who will do it.
We've already done enough. She's the veteran here so she'd be able to do it easier than us.

You just stared back blankly. You were a bit hesitant to raise your hand and volunteer to do it yourself, but then you thought a bit about the consequences here. Even if you didn't mess their traps and cages up last night, they would still be prowling about in a way that would require this distraction to the outcome was the same regardless.

You became hasty then as you thumbed your chest.

"I'll do it." You say. Atricia smiles at your readiness and Brigg and Senzo both nod.

"But wait, how are you going to distract them?" Hulk pointed out.

Oh poop. He was right, how were you going to distract those rapscallions exactly?

"Hey, Senzo, you sure that lifeboat you saw is gone?" You asked.

"I checked again last night and it's back, unoccupied." Hulk said.

Hmmm...

Well, uh, there were plenty of things you could try. Maybe you could strip your armor and weapons and cover in leafs and run around like a crazy to draw their attention. Maybe you could steal the lifeboat and distract them out on the waters. You could probably go diving and see if you could draw an underwater monster to their shore to keep them company... or you could try thinking something else up.

What will you do?

>>4031842
>go diving and see if you could draw an underwater monster to their shore to keep them company
So stupid it might work.

>>4031879
+1

You can't afford to be indecisive anymore. You want to head back home already and get well on your way to hunting down more Monsters. You make up your mind and let down your gunlance and begin to take your armor off.

"What are you planning exactly?" Atricia asks.

"I'm a good swimmer, and I know how to dive well. I was raised in Moga see. I'm going to dive and find something to distract them all with. You're going to have to trust me on this one." You say, letting the last plates of armor fall to the ground.

"Well, if you insist. Just be careful, these type of conditions give way for myriad species of aquatic monsters to thrive." Brigg says.

"Psshhh. A Moganer like me couldn't be better fitted." You bragged as you went off away from the group in only your standard wear.

You walked along the very breach of the bay wall, holding onto tall grass for support as you eased around and came to a spot where the ship of the Poachers was clearly more visible. You looked down to the water and took a deep breath before letting go.

Using a rock, you dashed forward into the air with the momentum and sent yourself downwards into the water with your hands in front and stretched out.

The water offered almost no stop to you as you went down under. You could last a very long time under the water from training your lungs for years. You only need one deep gasp of oxygen to be able to sit under the waves for an hour. Moganers like you used up what oxygen you took in at a slower rate than normal while not wasting any.

You also didn't waste any time shooting through the current, swimming along the blue water with strokes from your arms. The part you were in was a bit shallow, so you had to swim farther out to get at a good enough distance that the Poachers wouldn't be able to spot you. The water was still nearly clear from how pure it was.

You swam deeper and deeper out inside the bay's waters until you were just far enough away and deep enough that you wouldn't be seen easily. You looked around, prodding through the stalks of kelp and looking past plenty of seaweed floating about.

You had the perfect monster in mind for you little plan, and if it was around here, it wouldn't take long to find....

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And it didn't either. Your eyes zoomed over and you saw a few fish get taken out in one gulp by the thing you sought. You saw it's eyes and glowing fleshy protrusion waving about in the waters.

You swam over and came up close enough that it could see you. It opened it's mouth and showed off it's fearsome teeth and bubbled noises your way as a warning. It was the abyssal assassin, Gobul.

You weren't heeding the warning though, you needing this this back at the shore, so you swam forward and did the only reasonable thing you could do. You punched it's nose and it sounded with angered blurts and snapped it's jaws at you. You didn't waste any time in swimming the other way, leading it to swim after you and give chase.

You flowed back to the beach fast with the terrifying monster in tow biting your way. You kept a clear watch at what was ahead and the monster behind. It tried to push ahead and bite your leg, but you maneuvered around the monster's move and kicked at it's lantern, making it throw around in a hissyfit before swimming after you even faster and doubling it's efforts to catch you.

You've outwitted two Gobul before back home before you became a Hunter, what's a third? The Gobul came charging again, you did a spin and went right over it's surface. It's spikes shot out from it's back and it thrashed about but you swam backwards and taunted the thing with a gesture to follow. The Gobul nearly got you this time as it lunged again, scraping against your torso with it's teeth. Your feet came up onto it's snout and used it to propel you back closer to the shore. You were gaining on the bay opening now and gave it all your energy.

Your arms and legs moved in unison to carry you. You swam so fast that the Gobul was practically left behind and so you went underneath the galleon of the Poacher ship and pulled yourself up out of the water along it's stern. You hid on it's rudder, latched on and watching the shore to see the result.

The Gobul was visible under the waters looking around for you and some Poachers got a bit curious, walking over closer to the shallow waters to investigate. The poor bastards wouldn't know what was going to hit them.

They had barely any time to react as the Gobul emerged from the waters suddenly and snapped it's jaws down shut on one of the Poachers, swinging him around and throwing him aside before facing the rest. The Poachers got up in arms and shouted, grabbing their harpoons and cutlasses to surround the beast with. The Captain of the Poachers yelled and ran towards the Gobul with his switch axe, and a bottle of rum still in his other hand he refused to let go.

The Gobul didn't retreat, most of their poorer weapons rebounded off of it's hide and only left behind smaller scratches and insignificant wounds. The harpoons jabbed at it and only gained it's attention.

With the Poachers all distracted, you saw Brigg and Senzo come up the base of the bay opening and let the alcohol pour downwards in...

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You smiled to yourself over your success as the wave of the alcoholic liquid flew down within the bay, coming in a rush and reaching the waters pretty quickly. There was so much coming down that you saw small things from the Poacher camp being picked up and taken along with it. The Poachers didn't seem to notice, one of them even alerted everyone else to it being a 'high tide' and nothing more as they struggled with the Gobul, losing two men to it's jaws, only their captain who fought it while simultaneously drinking doing anything meaningful to hurt it.

You saw Atricia emerge from behind the barrel and motion you over. You dived back down into the water and made your way around the terrain, climbing back onto the land and through the tall grasses until you were over there with them again.

"Now... wait for it....." Brigg said.

The alcohol still poured in excess.

"Wait for it...." He stalled.

The Gobul seemed to be tired now of fighting the Poachers and dragged back two of the bodies of the those it claimed from them back into the water. Despite their losses, the Poachers stood yelling at the water as if victorious.

"Now!" Brigg ordered. Senzo aiming towards the stream with his Slinger and backing off. Brigg got in front of you and tackled you into the sand while Atricia took cover behind a rock.

Hulk shot a torch pod down at the stream and then ducked. Within seconds of firing it, the stream ignited and flames traced their way back into the barrel and down into the bay. The barrel, halfway full, exploded violently and you felt intense heat from it as though you were walking through the lava domain of the Elder's Recess. Brigg's massive armor shielded your unprotected body enough thankfully.

The Poachers glanced back in fear to see a wave of fires washing down towards them rapidly and all lost their composure. They screamed bloody murder in horror and abandoned their weapon to jump out into the waters and flee. They swam as fast as they could to escape back towards the ship as the fires swallowed their encampment whole and even enveloped the surface of the actual sea waters that the alcohol had spilled into.

Some of the Poachers were caught with flames on their back and jumped aboard to roll around. Their captain was losing his breath yelling in anger and disbelief at the flames beginning to spread along the bow of his ship. His men working hard to dump buckets of water brought up and down on them to out the flames.

The wind picked up and you rose with everyone else to run over to a spot and watch as the Poacher ship fled the bay in a hurry as the whole place went up in dangerous flames. Thankfully, most of the fires were regulated only to the sand, sparing all of the surrounding greenery and posing no threat to the nearby Jungle and by extension it's monster life.

".....We did it!" Brigg exclaimed.

>>4032161
we murdered some humans, yaaaaay!

Admittedly, you scorned the fact that some human lives were lost today. They were Poachers and conducted illegal activities, but they were still people. But, they were people who made a conscious decision to try and poach monsters from the environment freely as they please rather than handle them orderly as the Guild does. These kind of things happened to them, happened all over the world. You couldn't feel bad for long, these guys were asking for it coming to the New World like this.

You collected your things and regrouped with everyone else, celebrating a little at the success. Senzo joked about how those Poachers might have soiled their underwear, and Atricia just silently nodded. Brigg seemed to stay a bit longer to ensure the flames didn't get out of hand, but most importantly to admire them. You couldn't help but suspect that deep down somewhere in that big fat suit of armor, Brigg was a pyromaniac at his core. Why else would he have chosen the Heavy Bow Gun?

You dried off and headed back to Astera with your friends in tow...

Arrived back at home base felt refreshing. You could finally get back to the work you came for now that the mission was done, but first you had to report the success and claim the reward.

There was a pause as you saw another gathering around the Commander's table. You passed the time welcoming a drink from Senzo, who payed for the whole party. When the gathering was over and dispersing, your team made it's way back down to the Commander's table. There was that strange tall muscled guy with the big hairdo there again, he made some jest and earned a chuckle from the Commander and the rather tranquil Huntsman who spent most of his time sitting with his arms crossed near the table.

You stood up front and center with your friends as the Scoutress reported success and told how it was achieved. The Commander furrowed his brows at that but just shook his head, saying that it was bound to happen anyway, and that you can't really spare tears for criminals. What really caught his interest is everything your party explained about the bay then, such as the Jungle and terrain there, the presence of monsters like Duramboros and Jaggi and Seregios.

He nods.

"I want to thank you all for your hard work on this assignment. I don't think anyone else would have been able to do it so well with all our other veterans and Hunters preparing for the big one coming up. You can expect a reward in your respective trunks and take a breather now after all of that." The Commander commended your party.

"Now, another thing. I would like for you all to be aware that you're going to be apart of our next big stride too coming up here soon. We're planning a siege to take down that Yama Tsukami and we're going to need nearly every available Hunter for it. Our minds in the Second Fleet are working hard to set up the proper fortifications and we expect that we'll be ready by next week or so. You have plenty of time until then to do anything else you want or prepare." The Commander says.

You gave a salute alongside the rest of your friends.

"Now, you all go find somewhere to take a breather, you've earned it. Dismissed." He says.

One by one, Brigg, Atricia and Senzo began to walk off, talking among themselves and you followed a few steps too before stopping and glancing back at the Commander who was debating something over the table with the Field Team Commander. You remembered that encounter with the strange being in the Jungle and what it said to you...

You could inform the Commander now... or wait a little while longer. There didn't seem to be any rush, and you wanted to get back to doing what you loved anyway.

You held onto one thing that being told you though. About something that lies in the Elder's Recess and will "reincarnate".

...Oh, and your Hornetaur set. How could you forget?

What will you do now?

>>4032203
Go to the smithy and get the hornetaur set and then ask what he can do with our Seregios parts. Then after that let's go on an expedition to the elders recess and see if we can the thing there

>>4032298
Seconded but first inform the others we're going there

>>4032298
+1

>>4032203
>>4032298
+1, but speaking of seregios bits, the part of me that uses game knowledge wonders if their parts are really best-suited for us in particular. Gunlance eats through its sharpness like candy so the mini-sharpens won't do a lot, and the armor from what I recall focuses on bleed resist, Constitution and Mind's Eye, which are things Senzo and Atricia would very much appreciate.

While they can obviously get things for themselves, and Atricia can probably just down another Steve solo, it might also be a nice way to connect further with them.

>>4032381
You have a point. We should probably do some research on that.

>>4032381
Yeah, unless the World crew can twist sharpness roll into reload roll(and even then we're still bleeding sharpness), Seregios bits are not a high priority.

Thunder rips through seregios, and we've got yama, big water thunder dragon, kirin, and zinogre on the list.

>>4032203
>Tell the Commander that a wyverian left you a message for the sapphire star
>Ask smithy about armor and trading in seregios bits

>>4032203
Tell the Commander about the being in the jungle and then go to the smithy.

"Uhh... mmm... Commander sir." You say, stepping up again.

"Yes? Is there something else?"

"Back there in the jungle, I encountered some kind of strange being. He was about yay high, had a staff and I couldn't see his face." You explained.

"Sounds like you found a First Wyverian. They only appear every so often, but they offer advice to Hunters sometimes." The Field Team Leader informed you.

"It guess. He told me something.... unsettling." You said.

"What did he tell you?" The Commander asks, giving you his full attention.

"He gave me a message to pass onto the Sapphire Star himself, sir. He told me to tell that there's more Elder Dragons coming to the New World." You spilled the beans.

The Commander and the Field Team Leader gave you a look of surprise.

"More Elder Dragons? But I thought we solved the case of the Elder Crossing." The Field Team Leader says.

"Did the First Wyverian mention why more Elder Dragons are crossing the sea?" The Commander questioned you, inquisitively over this breaking news.

"He said that they weren't coming for the crossing. He said that they were coming for someones blood and that 'energy draws'. He mentioned a 'primeval man' and some tower rising from the ground, as well a comet, the sky and a 'black end'." You said the rest of your part.

The Commander was visibly perturbed by hearing that, and confused at the riddles among your news. "Primeval man....? Tower rising from the ground...?"

"Hunter, if what you're telling me is true then we may have a bigger investigation on our hands than previously thought. Is that all the First Wyverian said?" The Commander asked.

"He said that there's something in the Elder's Recess that will 'reincarnate' and that it needs be found. I was planning on going on an expedition to see what I could find myself." You say.

"Very well. If you do find anything, don't hesitate to recover it and return to base with what you know. You may be dismissed now, I'm going to have to have some talks with the other officers about this, see if we can reach out to the First Wyverians again to confirm this news." The Commander says.

"Watch your head out there, keep up the good work." The Field Team Leader says.

You excuse yourself and get back to business.

You made off to the Smithy immediately and came in to see a rack with pieces of armor adorning it, the ones you ordered all complete and ready.

"Oui, lad! Glad to see your mission was a success. I heard your team drove those sea dogs away with the Chef's rotgut! Oh he's gonna be sour about that for a while, hah hah hah!" Came the Second Fleet Master as he turned away from his sharpening stone. "Your set is finished as asked and is in top condition. Still, I wouldn't underestimate monsters out in the field just because you have better protection now, it is still made of just Neopteron parts. Either way, I'm sure you'll find my handiwork top notch."

You collect the armor parts and get a feel for them before you show off some red and golden scales you had to the Second Fleet Master that caught his attention.

"Why hold a sec'.... those scales, I know those. That came from a Seregios. Don't tell me they're here in the New World too now?"

"Yeah, got assaulted by one on a beach, I managed to fight it off and then finish it after a poacher trap broke it's leg. I got some good carves from it. Anything you could do with this?" You ask.

"Well.... indeed. However, I might need a little more than this, Freelancer. With creating things from the parts of bigger monsters comes a bigger demand for those parts in quantity. You'd have to go find another Seregios to slay and get what you can from that too. With all these materials you have on hand now, I could make a weapon. I'll need more for a set of armor." The Second Fleet Master says.

"Oui! Master, speaking of Seregios, catch!" One of the engineers in the back said, throwing something forward, a rolled up scroll. The Second Fleet Master caught it and unfurled the scrolls to look over it's contents and prints.

"Hmmmm.... Cheda Blade... Matraca Hammer.... Jaya Gunlance... Aslat Charger... Mmm, yes. These are leftover designs from the Old World, I hoard some in a little archive'o'mine. Just in case we encounter something from the Old World and needs it's popularized designs. So, those are intact should you wish to craft anything from these materials. Is there something here that catches your fancy? I'll set the standard here at four thousand Zenny." The Second Fleet Master asks, laying out some of the designs for you to see.

Will you craft a weapon from the Seregios parts or conserve them for now?

>>4033303
Craft a gunlance

>>4033303
We'll hold onto them for now.

>>4033303
old world designs? Pass. Keep the parts.

You know what I'd prefer? A MANTLE made of seregios bits.

>>4033303
Keep the parts for now

>>4033303
>Jaya Gunlance

Anyone know if this is better than our current gunlance? I never played the game.

>>4033483
Dunno how to translate the atack power from the games to the quest, bur, beteen games the Blazing Gunlance is beter (the one we have now).

Mind you, the Jaya Gunlance is from Generations, the Blazing is from World. (Theres no Seregios in MHW or IB)

>>4033483
see >>4032381

Seregios is a raw weapon that doesn't stand out in raw, with a gimmick that works well with most weapons that are not gunlance.

>>4033512
>>4033513
No point making it then. I don't think there's anything good we can make with Seregios scales then. I would vote to try to sell it if possible.

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"Tempting, but I'll hold onto them for now." You say, taking your Seregios parts back as the Second Fleet Master collected his scrolls.

"Very well. Bit of advice however, you shouldn't hoard your materials, spend 'em and I can craft you something great with them. Well, off you go then." The Second Fleet Master bids you farewell.

You stored the parts back at your dorm and went off for another bath before returning to the dorm and maintaining your current equipment. You pulled your curtain shut and asked Vivianne to step out for a second while you changed. Her ears followed the rasping of the carapaces as you donned your Hornetaur Set and then emerged from behind the curtain, striking a pose.

Vivi's eyes lit up and she clapped at this. "You look paw-sitively pawesome, Meowster!"

You sheathed your weapons and stretched your arms and legs out, getting accustomed to the feel of the Hornetaur set. Despite it's extra parts and bulk over the plain old Alloy set, it was just as flexible and easy to move around with in. The hard carapaces provided more protection than the bog-standard plates of iron and steel that most Hunters started out with. This set would last you until it was high time to upgrade again.

Vivi sharpened her water elemental Jyuratodes sword and came to your side. "Where are we meowff to this time, Meowster?"

"The Elder's Recess. We have some looking to do." You say, exiting the barracks.

You took a quick moment to stop by the canteen and have a bite to keep you going before strolling around Astera looking around for your friends. Brigg was at the Canteen as well and said that he would be busy as he still owed the Chef work for the alchohol. Senzo was already off to the special arena from what Brigg told and Atricia was out on another mission. You guessed it would just be you this time, but you didn't worry.

The Sapphire Star's words of having powerful courage were attached to your neurons and you wouldn't forget them. The thoughts and ideas of bravery and courage empowered you even further.

Having no more to do now and being ready, you called for a Wingdrake and left off to the Elder's Recess with your Palico in tow...

This time you arrived at the Recess at a different camp hidden behind a wall of the crystalline material, accessible by a crawl space. You took a few rations and first aid meds from the camp trunk for good measure and packed them away in your satchel.

You came out and collected some honey near the camp entrance with which you made two Mega Potions from using some herbs left behind in the trunk. You climbed upwards a bit and took a good look around, being on the lookout for any big monsters that might be about. So far, you've only seen an Uragaan rolling away out of sight to the left. Over to your right was a ways leading up to a summit.

There seemed to be a difference in the air, and you couldn't quite place what it was until you noticed that one of the massive crystalline columns that used to jut upwards into the air in the distance was now gone entirely, and the big blue structure over near the rest was missing a few of it's own smaller columns. Something big and strong had to be responsible...

Hmm.... You did remember a quest posted called 'Monitoring 101'. Perhaps that Scanner Scholar who posted it is out here somewhere up high watching the Recess. Perhaps you could seek them out and see what they know.

You had plenty of places to go here, but trying to go further into the depths of the Recess and towards it's massive crystal structures seemed to be a hint towards your goal. You were after something that would 'reincarnate' here, and you were keen on finding out what it was.

You could either try going down and deeper into the place to see if you can find a way leading to the other side from there, or you could try going over in a few other ways. Both seemed risky.

>Let's seek out the Scanner Scholar and find out what he knows so far.
>Let's just get into it and delve into the depths of this place. We'll find a way underground to reach our goal.
>We should attempt to scale the crystalline complex and get a straight shot towards the collapsed column.

>>4033568
>Let's seek out the Scanner Scholar and find out what he knows so far.

>>4033568
>Let's seek out the Scanner Scholar and find out what he knows so far.
That set is probably gonna be a pain to consistently draw.
Imagine drawing the Regios set(s).

>>4033568
>Let's seek out the Scanner Scholar and find out what he knows so far.
May as well try to do Monitoring 101.

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You decided it would be best to first attain some knowledge already gathered by the Scanner Scholar, if he were here. His profession was pretty easy to guess as per his title. People around the whole world didn't usually give their names out when on a job so easy, you always wondered why that was.

You began to climb up vine reaches upwards the rock and crystal work of the terrain. Ascending up, you felt the air begin to flow faster and the wind picked up. At the top though, you were granted a nice enough sight of much of the Recess in it's fullness. The spires of crystal in the distance almost seemed like natural castles and towers. There was still yet a ways to go even further up.

The wind was harsh that way and eventually after climbing high enough, you saw a wide open space that you could only assume was a nest for a big monster that flew. Thankfully, there wasn't any near, so you hadn't much to worry over. You knew that Elder Dragons had been seen here before, a quest you read once pointed to one being the steel hurricane itself, Kushala Daora. These winds seemed to allude to that as well so you concluded that Kushala Daora must roost here.

You couldn't really see any other viable way to get up from here, but there was still some tall ledges of rock and crystal leading up to the very peak of this high summit. You scanned the area with your binoculars for the Scanner Scholar and a glint high above caught your attention. You could see the tip of a long scope sticking out from between some crystals and so went the way of it.

Your slinger hook allowed you to latch onto rocks and gain some more presses into the air, ascending further up towards it until you found a piece to stand on. You looked up and saw the Scanner Scholar there, a small Wyverian man in a crimson coat with goggles that extended out further for increased sight, and he was for some reason using it on top of looking through his comically large telescope, which had multiple glasses to look out of.

"Yes Hunter, is there a reason you bother me in the middle of my work?" He says, scratching down some coordinates onto a slip of paper with a pencil.

"Are you the Scanner Scholar? You posted a quest called 'Monitoring 101'." You said.

"Yes, and it's off now, I cancelled and had the papers removed and shredded. Nobody would receive of it or see me about it in the Gathering Hub, so I grew impatient and decided to come alone. If you've come for it now I'm afraid you're out of luck, I won't be giving out any rewards." The Scanner Scholar says in between writing.

"Thankfully, it looks like I won't need protection after all, I saw that Kushala Daora flee the locale when the next tremor happened around here. I've been watching like a sharp bird, recording coordinates and trying my best to see what caused the two tremors that happened lately." He says before getting a good look at you. "Now what is it you want, Hunter?"

"I wanted to know what you've discovered so far. I came here to find something a First Wyverian said I would. Something that will 'reincarnate'." You told him.

"Reincarnate? As in to live again? That's preposterous! Death is impossible to return from, any so-called citing of it as a case too usually invokes folk tales and myths, like that of the Schrade Black Dragon and possessions. All just figments of imagination spread around, so says I!" The Scanner Scholar goes on. "I've marked down specific coordinates for specific spots here. My work involves sight and visual proof. A few days ago I was here doing my same work when suddenly I felt and witnessed a great tremor shaking the whole Recess. One of the great spires cracked and was heavily damaged by it. Sometime around midnight, I was here again watching since yesterday when I witnessed it happened again. This time, the whole damaged spire went down and collapsed into the Earth. If you were standing where I was, you could see the giant borehole it made over thataways."

"If what you're looking for is also what I'm looking for, then it must be massive to have caused this. There may be two ways to reach it, one would involve tunneling there underground, but I don't know how long that would take to navigate the tunnels in the crystal work and foundation. The other way could be to simply cross over the ridges, but the danger of being impaled on a giant crystal is present there." The Scanner Scholar explained, motioning off towards the spires.

"You could try to fly a wingdrake over the borehole, but I saw a dangerous Bazelgeuse patrolling the skies that way earlier, approaching with a Mernos would be life-threatening. Not to mention the other hostile wyverns about such as the Azure Rathalos, or that dastardly brute Nergigante, he usually hangs out around somewhere here in the Recess. Really, it's one way or the other."

"I see." You replied.

"Keep that in mind then. I will most likely return to Astera today. My next plan was to survey the Hoarfrost Reach, perhaps I will post a quest in Seliana then, if you're still interested in a quest from me. My work only needs patience, in the field at least. You might carry a book to occupy yourself tagging along on a job like mine, you seem the type to become easily bored, typical of you young Hunters." The Scanner Scholar says before turning back to his scope.

Which way will you traverse the Recess by?

>>4033568
>>Let's seek out the Scanner Scholar and find out what he knows so far.

>>4033851
cross the ridges.

>>4033851
Let's go by the ridges, our armor probably doesn't take well to fire.

>>4033851
Crystal Ridges, no more sneaking around splosions and fire.

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Momentarily you considered the underground routes but you had no Hot Drinks on your person, so safely getting through that way would be more dangerous to speak of. You were fairly experienced as a climber so getting around some spikes and scaling rough rock formations wouldn't be too big of a deal for you.

You left the Scanner Scholar to his work and descended the jagged terrain downwards, going just low enough that you would be able to gain high ground while not being too stray of the lower grounds. Your feet carried you across many lengths of shapely stone and minerals, careful around the sharp and prevalent crystals, of which you were too mindful of the pointy bits. Vivi struggled a bit more to you and simply hopped onto your back instead, which you didn't mind given how light she was to carry.

You didn't let anything stop or deter you from turning back. You were adamant to heed the words of the First Wyverian for some reason. With the prospect of the Yama Tsukami's arrival and the word that more Elders would soon dawn, you felt it was necessary to see what was lying here in this place to find and as fast as possible too. It could be anything, another Elder Dragon, something helpful for future use... something, anything.

You leaped and jogged across the great boundaries of the Elder's Recess, missing plenty of crystal bits that could have gored you. Your shield helped to break and crack away many of the bits and soften them around you as you used your carving knife to stab into the crystals and pull yourself up with. Touching it even with your gauntlet covered hands might end with you getting pricked or cut, and while you could take some you just didn't feel like it right now.

The crystals were beginning to overtake the rock and stone and you thought it might just soon turn to climbing over nigh-impassible terrain given how much crystal work there was, and how dense the protrusions and rough ends are. You could see the gargantuan spires of crystalline material gleaming blue so much closer now. It was like staring up the way of a tall tower.

That meant you weren't much farther away from your apparent destination.

You could clearly see more stonework ahead and jumped from one crystal beam to another, looking down to realize you were now standing not too far away from the spot where the collapsed spire once stood. In it's place was an impossibly large sink hole with beams of light shining down inside. You could barely make out a ground down there past plethora of broken crystal bits.

Then you realized the spire itself was overturned just next to the abyssal aperture, not down within it.

The drop was about as high as the Gathering Hub in Astera was off the ground.... this looked to be your destination. But how will you get down there...?

>Well, here goes nothing. Let's jump for it.
>There has to be another way!

>>4034156
>There has to be another way!

>>4034156
>Binoculars
>Start writing stuff down
>There has to be another way!

>>4034156
>There has to be another way.
See if there's something we can push into the hole to stack up so we can get down.

>>4034179
>>4034186
+1

You definitely aren't jumping down there. That fall might hurt a bit and you haven't trained for falls yet. A veteran Hunter might be able to step off and receive little to no damage from a fall like that, and land on their feet, but not you. Not yet. You didn't want to break a leg today so you looked down with your binoculars.

You saw the outlines of fallen rocks and something very large down there but you couldn't make it out all the way. A putrid smell hit your nostrils then, coming from the hole and you shook away.

"Mreeowww! That smeowlls as bad as mew do when you don't wash after sweating!" Vivi says, pinching her nose.

"Yeah, no kiddi- Wait, hey!" You begin, shooting your head to Vivi who only shrugged innocently.

You pulled your journal out and scribbled down with a pen everything you've heard and seen and did up to this point, concerning the First Wyverian and what it said, and why you're here at the Recess now. It wasn't particularly lengthy in how you wrote but it contained all the vital bits of the story to know so far. You put your journal away and got to thinking as you looked back down into the hole.

Well, if you knew one way to get down there, it was by making a way. It was a simple method too, as easy as Rajang See Rajang Destroy... or was it Conga See Conga Do? Yeah it was Conga See Conga Do.

You got the smart little idea to make a makeshift stepping ladder with large boulders. There were plenty around too, so you could simply roll one in after the other to make something to climb up and down on.

You got to work pushing the first large boulder you saw around over to the hole. It was as large as you and quite heavy but your innate Human strength allowed you to move it with relative ease.

The boulder's oblate spheroid form came close to the mouth of the hole and you heaved it in, watching it fall down inside as the first one of many.

.......

.......

.......

The boulder shatters immediately upon hitting the ground down within the hole.

Monster dung this was going to be one of those wasn't it?

"Well Vivi... looks like we'll have to head ba-"

"BOO!"

"HARGH!" You yelled in shock as a big hand suddenly slapped down and grabbed your shoulder, making you shrink back defensively in surprise.

"Hah hah hah hah hah! Oh man, I can't believe you fell for that one, cheapest trick in the book too." The man standing behind you says, snickering. You just stare at him deadly, recognizing him from back in Astera.

"...Who are you...?" You say.

The man plants his feet and stands tall and large over you, tapping his thumb to his chest.

File: Grand Poobah.png (28 KB, 512x351)

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"Why I'm the grand poobah of this continent. Formal head of the Research Commission here in the New World. They call me the Admiral." He introduces himself and offers you a handshake. You waste no time in accepting it and you feel like your arm's about to be snapped off by his burly features.

"So, am I right to assume by this Hornetaur scrap you're wearing that you're a lower raked Hunter?" The Admiral says, looking you over.

"Yes sir. I'm rank seven." You reply.

"Doh ho ho, no need for the honorifics, pal. Just call me Admiral like everyone else. Anyway, what's a working joe like you doing out here in the Elder's Recess? You know this place is a little out of your league, right?"

"I felt the need to come here and find something, Admiral. I was spoken to by a First Wyverian." You tell him.

"Ehhh, I see. I think you just might be after the same thing I am then in that case. I also came to take a look around where this big thing fell over at." The Admiral says, stepping near the hole and looking down. You noticed he had a long rope curled around his right arm.

"Seems you were having some trouble finding a way down, luckily for us I have the solution." He says, going over to one of the crystal structures close by and dropping the rope down. "Here, tie this up so you can get down and we can get out. I'm gonna go take a little sneak peak."

The Admiral walks over to the hole and lowers himself, dropping down inside. You went over to the rope immediately and tied it tight around the crystal work so it wouldn't budge before throwing it down in the whole and lowering yourself in with Vivi hanging onto your back...

"Kind of wish I had a clothes pin right about now..." The Admiral muttered as you came down next to him in the pit. The light was a bit scarce down here, but luckily the Admiral had a faint source of light in the form of Scoutflies, something you had neglected to obtain yet.

The interior of the sink hole was uneven, the inside looked as though it had been dug out by massive claws the likes of which a monster such as Zorah Magdaros could only possess. The gravel, clay and rock inside was shifted all around on the circular shaping walls, forming delicate wrinkles and traces along the walls that almost seemed like they were touched up that way by something intentionally. It sort of resembled the handiwork of a person with a brush, or a Yukumo villager tending to their rock garden.

"Looks like something straight out of a museum. Had to be something smart, with special abilities to do this." The Admiral chimed in as he walked ever closer to the large dark outline ahead.

"This smell.... you know what that is?" The Admiral asks.

"A corpse?" You answered, still looking around, stepping over bigger shards of crystal work.

"Not just any. What we have here is the corpse of an Elder Dragon." The Admiral says.

"No way?" You are astounding, coming over faster to see it is indeed what he said it was.

A gigantic arm ending a broken claw laid out before you both. It's scales were turned over black and bleak, drying up with the skin and flesh and scales beginning to dust over and flake off into the air.

"Now this sort of reminds me of something..." The Admiral says, scratching his chin. He walked out around the claw and stopped dead in his tracks.

"No way! It can't be! It's Old Uglyface!"

"Old.... Uglyface...?" You ask, walking around to see what he saw. There was indeed the face of some kind of Elder Dragon there. It's bottom jaw was unhinged and held on only by a few strands of rotten sinew. It's eyes appeared to be eaten out by something and it's face was covered in bleached white splotches. It's neck was missing large chunks, as though bitten through by something.

"I don't get how it's this decayed... you can tell this big opening was freshly carved. Look over there." The Admiral points.

You looked over to see a segment on the wall covered by some large cracked rocks. There were a few little openings where you could see darkness through, a tunnel maybe? Gravel and dirt was pouring the cracks lower down.

"This thing had only been here... a few days at best, it must have tunneled in like it does. I'm surprised it made it this far, I thought this thing was dead a few weeks ago." The Admiral spoke, crossing his arms.

"Could this be what the First Wyverian said would reincarnate?" You throw out.

"I certainly hope not, if you knew what this thing was capable of." The Admiral responded.

"M-Meowster! Come quick! Look!" Vivi suddenly shouted from behind the arm. You saw a source of light radiating off the body of it and came over with the Admiral fast.

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The chest of the Elder Dragon corpse was decaying before your eyes, falling apart quickly. The bones of it's ribcage soon became visible as the flesh flaked off and peeled away. The light was coming from something within, pulsing and moving inside.

It sounded like liquid being gurgled as the light source became a bit brighter. The Admiral, having a cool demeanor earlier, gawked at it in disgust. "What in the world is all of this then...?"

There was a slashing of the flesh splitting apart like a stroke from a longsword and the bones of the ribcage jutted out and more open as the source of the light was completely visible now. It was a.... pod or a cocoon. It was radiating majestic energy and light as it squirmed within, detaching from fleshy tubes and decayed organs.

An almost purple liquid seeped out from the body and you stepped back along with the admiral as it formed a puddle on the ground and froze to a solid state after being exposed to oxygen for too long, turning red in the process. The glowing pod within seemed to move on it's own, sliding out of the torso with wet noises and schlicks of moisture from more of the substance quickly drying on it.

The pod was just sitting there on the ground now in it's puddle of solid substance. It was... like it was gestating, waiting for the right moment to burst open.

"Well... that was gnarly." The Admiral says, kneeling over and poking the pod. There was a hardening and the thing stopped it's movement completely, still shining brightly.

"Huh? It suddenly went from fleshy and soft to hard as rock. Guess if Old Uglyface is reincarnating, it's next incarnation must be inside this thing then." The Admiral said.

"Wait, Admiral... I never mentioned reincarnation to you until after I told you why I was here. You acted as though you knew anyway." You pointed out after thinking for a second.

"Yeah, news reaches me fast when it's about important matters. I was in the area when I got a message from my carrier." The Admiral says, standing up.

"Your carrier?"

"A Mernos that's been trained to seek me out by the resonating of this." The Admiral said as held up a pendant containing a decoration around his neck, hidden in his vest. "The Mernos wears a rig with a similar one, it beeps to it when I'm close by so it can find me easily. It brings me messages from the Commander and then takes off back to Astera. I received one earlier about that thing the First Wyverian said, told me to expect seeing you here since you seemed bent on it."

"Convenient." You say.

"It is, especially since I spend most of my time out in the wilds anyway." The Admiral said proudly.

You just sort of stared at that strange cocoon then. The light coming from it was blinking shorter now, reducing to a dimmer level around it.

>Gather the pod and take it back to Astera. The researchers are going to have a field day with this...
>The Admiral seems to think this thing is bad, maybe we should kill it before it has the chance to live again...

>>4034425
>Gather the pod and take it back to Astera. The researchers are going to have a field day with this...
I've got a good feeling about this.

>>4034425
>Gather the pod and take it back somewhere where we can place 200 large barrel bomb plusses
I mean, don't do it(YET), it could be the thing with the blood the elders are seeking, but let's at least bring it somewhere easy to fight in.

>>4034434
This
We're gonna raise a fucking elder dragon from birth

>>4034425
>>Gather the pod and take it back to Astera. The researchers are going to have a field day with this...
What Could Possibly Go Wrong™

Wait, what elder dragon is it though?

>>4034513
Could be magala, but no shame in oc donut steel dragin

>>4034425
>Gather the pod and take it back to Astera. The researchers are going to have a field day with this...
what could possibly go wrong ?

>>4034425
>>The Admiral seems to think this thing is bad, maybe we should kill it before it has the chance to live again...

>>4034425
>Take the pod back to Astera.
But also directly ask The Admiral what he thinks we should do with it.

>>4035471
This; we probably shouldn't give the egg to the researchers.

"So.... we should recover this, right?" You ask.

"Well, you were the one told about it by that First Wyverian, weren't you? It's up to you." The Admiral says. You pause and glance back between him and the pod then.

"Vivi, catch the rope." You tell your Palico, who jumps to it to drag the rope over.

"I guess since you were gonna come here first anyways, this should be your responsibility. If you wanna hand it over to the researchers, kill it, or whatever, your call. Just make sure it stays under control, or doesn't get too out of hand. You'll know what this is... and what it's capable of soon enough." The Admiral says, offering to help tie the rope around the big pod with Vivi.

You allow him to climb the rope first before ascending with Vivi and pulling it up, hoisting the pod out of the sink hole with the rope.

You untied the pod and put your hands around it, the dried blood-like substance on it breaking off like bark from a tree. You found that it wasn't exactly heavy, only weighing about as much as an average human. You were able to carry it like a Wyvern egg, only difference being it's relatively bigger size in comparison.

"Well, I think we should just cut to the chase and head back home to Astera. I gotta see this when it hatches." The Admiral says.

"How long do you think it will be?" You ask.

There was a shifting inside the pod then that made you stop, and a cracking like glass being splintered from within.

"Probably not much longer. Let's get a move on." The Admiral says.

Carrying the pod along, you and him backtrack your way across the crystal work of the Elder's Recess' unique landscape. The trip back being a bit more difficult to manage with the pod, but the Admiral's presence and assistance remedied that as you made your way back to camp and called for multiple wingdrakes to help carry everyone back...

Astera.
Midday.
Home after the Elder's Recess expedition and retrieval of the Elder Dragon cocoon...

The air was quieter now. You felt a bit uncomfortable watching that pod. It was laid out on a papery rug in the middle of the housing chamber where captured monsters were usually kept.

The top researchers, the Chief of Ecology, the Smart Biologist, and a few others were all gathered around it. They were scribbling away at their clipboards and taking notes, studying it intently.

There was a small gathering around it. Off to the side and behind a little fence you found yourself standing along over top figures in Astera. The Commander, the Admiral, that hushed Huntsman, the Sapphire Star himself and his handler. There were myriad other researchers and Hunters all gathered, watching and waiting too.

You had gotten some congratulation from the other Hunters, they were calling you the man who brought back an Elder Dragon 'egg'. The researchers marveled by it even offered to pay some meals for you too for bringing this back giving them such great opportunities to study the life of an Elder Dragon from birth. They even made plans to throw a little celebratory feast tonight and invited you.

"Interesting..."
"Indeed."
"Look at how it shaped itself along."
"Take some samples too."

The pod made another cracking sound and everyone watched harder now, focusing in on it completely. The researchers were overflowing with excitement.

"So, this is what the First Wyverian pointed you at.... But why exactly...?" The Commander asks, never taking his eyes off of it.

"He told me that it needs to be raised, that we thought it was dead before." You say.

"Perhaps he was pointing to something of use." The Sapphire Star chimes in. "Elder Dragons have heightened senses of intelligence... imagine how useful a loyal one raised from birth could be to us."

"Certainly sounds nice, but I wouldn't get my hopes up. A Dragon is still a Dragon, gotta be careful around it all the time. Never know when it might decide it's above us and that we're worthless to it." The Admiral said.

There was more cracking then, and the glow inside the pod began to brighten.

"Everyone!" The Chief Ecologist shouted out. "It's hatching!"

There was chatter among the crowd and then a moment of silence as the thing began to crackle and shift, the researchers backing away slightly in utmost caution. You could see it beginning to flex itself open and so stayed your vision on it.

It began to peel open like a pecan shell, revealing it's contents...

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Out from the pod emerged the juvenile form of an Elder Dragon you did not recognize. The light from within was bioenergy swirling around it's form, flowing back into it's body and culminating within it.

The youthful, now reincarnated Elder Dragon slumped to it's back and laid there in the middle of it's split open cocoon, it's chest barely rising and falling as it breathed before it began to move.

There was awes and whispers among the crowd, all of which were amazed at the sight, you were pretty sure some of the researchers were messing their pants over the scientific implications this presented.

The juvenile Elder Dragon stirred, not bothering to open it's eyes and it found the floor and sat up on it's two hind legs.

"It's a boy." The Admiral cracked another joke.

The juvenile Elder Dragon there began to rear it's head back. The Chief Ecologist standing in front of it backed away slowly as the thing opened it's mouth and began snorting.

"What is it....?"

"KCHAEPHLOUW!"

The Chief Ecologist braced at the Elder Dragon sneezed, blowing yellowed mucus onto him.

"Oh my goodness! My robe is ruined! ....But, quick, collect samples from me!" He said, the other researchers barreling over to do so in the name of science.

You got a good look at the juvenile Elder Dragon then, noting it's features.

"Is this one known by any name?" You ask.

"Yes. The Commission designated it as Shara Ishvalda." The Commander says.

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Moments went by of the gathering just sitting there and observing. The juvenile Shara Ishvalda didn't seem to make any moves. Creepily, it's eyes remained closed even as it looked around it's surroundings and smelled the air.

A few present, such as the Huntsman, had an air of discomfort seeing it, but didn't make it known vocally.

The Researchers eventually opened the way in and some of the crowd began to disperse, few left remaining to see it. You saw the Admiral and Commander both walk down inside the pen with the Star and followed too, seeing as you found the thing to begin with.

Upon stepping down closer to it, the thing suddenly opened it's eyes and showed them off. It looked around curiously at those present, as if recognizing a few of them. It made only one croak, an attempt at an early roar.

"MHREAP!"

"He's kind of... cute, in his own way." The Star's Handler said, reaching down and patting the Elder Dragon's nose.

It didn't seem to mind the physical contact so much and focused more on getting itself up on all fours, which it did quickly.

"Commander, you must simply allow us to keep it for study! The possibilities this offers would be of much use to our research efforts! We could learn not only about the Everwyrm's species itself, but of Elder Dragons at large!" The Smart Biologist says.

The Commander remained silent as he looked down at the thing trying to scratch the floor. His head then turned to you and you looked back. He seemed to want your opinion too.

You looked down at the young Everwyrm and it's head craned upwards, staring back at you while it voiced some squeaks.

You glanced up and practically saw the Smart Biologist rubbing his hands together while looking at the young Elder Dragon. You knew these guys would do anything in the name of science. Anything...

>'I don't want that ugly thing anywhere near me, let the researchers handle it!'
>'It's my responsibility like the Admiral said. I'll raise the thing to be a Hunter like me.'
>Leave without another word, you don't want to be apart of this anymore.
>Write in.

>>4035617
>This funny boy is my son now. Elder dragons are super smart right? What if we taught him to speak?

Anybody else feel like we shouldn't have told the others about this?

>>4035617
>'It's my responsibility like the Admiral said. I'll raise the thing to be a Hunter like me.'
Not too sure about the "Hunter" part but we'll certainly raise it.

>>4035617
>>'I don't want that ugly thing anywhere near me, let the researchers handle it!'

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>>4035617
>It's my responsibility like the Admiral said. I'll raise the thing to be a Hunter like me.'
Oh FUCK YEAH!

>>4035617
>Raise it, but also let the researches have some time with it for study

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1.59 MB GIF

>>4035617
>'It's my responsibility like the Admiral said. I'll raise the thing to be a Hunter like me.'
FUCK YEAH BUDDHA DRAGON!

>>4035646
That's how you get a Mewtwo situation, anon.

Hey I just thought of something, if we're raising an Elder Dragon, will we have to protect him from Nergigante too?

>>4035657
What's that, anon, "We're gonna have to grind our asses off"?

You looked back to the Commander and nodded as though to affirm something with him.

"Don't be mistaken, there will be plenty of chances for you to study the Old.... Young Everwyrm, but for now I think it should be left to the care of the one who found." The Commander says as he turns to you. "Are you up to this task? The Admiral told me he considered it your responsibility."

"Aye sir. I can do that." You say.

You took a step forward and outstretched your arms to the juvenile Elder Dragon. Shara Ishvalda seemed a bit confused at first, but then surprised everyone as it went and leapt right into your arms. The juvenile Elder Dragon clung onto you with it's dull claws and wings, resting it's head on your shoulder. He was quite as heavy as he was in the pod, about half your size as well.

Already, a few around you seemed to adore his small frame and squeaks, especially that Handler of the Star's. Though a few stayed wary, like the Huntsman and the Admiral, who didn't seem so convinced of it's innocence. You guessed word might have spread to the officers about what you reported of it's reincarnation and coming Elder Dragons.

"O-Oh, very well. I trust we can get plenty of chances to observe and work with it up close?" The Smart Biologist asks, looking along the lotus scales of Shara's neck and back.

"...Sure....!" You say, holding onto the draconic child tightly.

With that, the gathering began to disperse and the Admiral had a few words with the Commander before smirking and heading out again into the wilds. The Sapphire Star returned to his own work in his private suite and the Commander had asked you to follow him with Shara Ishvalda still refusing to let go of you as you carried him around.

The Commander led you over to the structure set that stood in the distance behind his command post and gestured you to a new door.

"Listen, Freelancer, you've done some pretty out there things in your time here already and I got the feeling you're the kind of Hunter that can be relied on. People don't usually catch the attention of the Admiral so fast around here, it took a while even for the Star to do it. So with that being said, I have to ask you, would you be willing to be on the big case?" Comes the Commander.

"On the case, sir?"

"With the Yama Tsukami about, and the warning that more Elders are on the way, along with this in your hands here, the Commission is going to need a lot of supplies, and more importantly, manpower. I've already sent the Argosy for two voyages for supplies from the Guild. I want you to be formally apart of our next investigation here on these Elder Dragons, and finding out why they're coming, and what that First Wyverian's warnings meant. You'll be considered A-List if you do, and there will be a lot of work in store. What do you think?"

>Of course sir, I'll do the Commission proud.
>I don't know just yet sir, I need to think it over.
>Write in.

>>4035846
>Of course sir, I'll do the Commission proud.

>>4035846
>>Of course sir, I'll do the Commission proud.

>>4035846
>Of course sir, I'll do the Commission proud.
We just got a baby Elder Dragon to raise, though.

>>4035846
Hit me with that a list shit.

Free tine? Whats that?

>>4035846
>Sir, i think i need to spend pretty much all my time raising this baby now. What does it even eat?
>Might head off to ancient forest to have it meet my other friend too, I'm sure the researchers will want to see that.

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"Of course sir, I'll my best to do the Commission proud." You say gallantly.

"Hmm, hmm. That's what I like to hear. From this moment onward, you're officially an A-Lister now. I'm giving you a promotion to rank ten." The Commander says before he opens the door and shows a quaint, comfy room waiting within, already furnished and livable in. Two Felyne housekeepers came in past the Commander from behind and lit the candles and lights within, doing a little dusting here and there and straightening everything out before they exited the room, saluted and went elsewhere.

"This room in particular has been vacant for a while, and since I don't expect anyone will be using it anytime soon, I'm assigning it to you. It'll be the ideal place to keep him in until he's too big to fit." The Commander says, eying Shara on your shoulder.

You stepped in and looked around. It was much bigger than the space you used in the barracks. There was a king-sized bed all for you, a bigger trunk and books, maps and some work stations, as well as a powered fan. It was cozy in here too, even having a furnace and cushioned chairs, contrast to the hard wooden ones everywhere else. It was your own private room.

"The Housekeepers will bring your things and your Palico will move here too. If you should need something, you can bother one of them for it by the station down at the end. You'll be closer to the Smithy too." The Commander says.

"Now, I'll expect to have an assignment for you soon enough, so you check in with me or the Field Team Leader. For now, you just tend to the Dragon and do what work you usually do. If that's everything, I'll leave you to it. And remember, the siege is due for next week and I expect you to be there too, everyone will." The Commander says before excusing himself.

You saw the Housekeepers return with some boxes containing your valuables and wealth. They arranged them neatly inside your new trunk and bowed slightly before leaving, shutting the door behind them. Vivianne soon entered the room after that carrying a few of her own belongings and made herself at home at her own spot near the corner. She was overjoyed to be here instead of the barracks now.

You looked Shara Ishvalda in the eyes and then set the juvenile Elder Dragon down to the floor. He sniffed and looked around curiously before coming over to the furnace and falling down to the floor in front of it. You thought he might have collapsed, but it was really just his way of laying down.

You looked around, becomingly increasingly accustomed to the sight, and then it hit you.

You've done it. You made a living here in the New World. You're an A-Lister now, rank ten. You've already killed some larger monsters than what you did in the Old World, and you now have a room of your own. Plus, the Commander wants you to be apart of the big investigations too.

You stood up triumphantly and smirked to yourself.

"Well Vivi, we're getting there, just like I said we would back in Moga."

"I'm glad you were right Meowster, living here sure beats sweeping the floors in Dundorma!"

"Hey, we might even be in for some real notoriety too." You said, thinking over the upcoming siege.

You went over and tried out that nice looking chair in front of your furnace. It was as relaxing as it looked too, you leaned back in it and just reveled in it.

"Ahhh...... this is the life." You say aloud as Vivi passes over one of the two bottled tonics she had. You take a few gulps and sigh happily.

Now, the day wasn't done yet. You rested your chin on your knuckle and got to a little bit of thinking, putting your noggin' to real work here.

Well, this was a pretty big room, by your standards at least. It was even bigger than your home back in Moga. Anywhere else you've ever stayed at before would feel cramped in comparison. Hey, Commander did say bother the Housekeepers. You wondered if you could see if they'd allow you to move in one of your friends from those barracks too.

But maybe for later, you wanted to enjoy this place all to yourself first.

You looked down at Shara Ishvalda. The little Elder Dragon seemed to be relaxing too in that heat. He was just born, so he might get hungry soon. What does an Elder Dragon eat? Well, one like him at least. Most eat meat like every Monster, that you knew. Some were special cases though, like the ones who only kill so they can feed off another being's Bioenergy.

What was Bioenergy anyway? Was it really different from... "normal" energy? Could it be the same? Eh that's a question to consult the eggheads and books for but it's not your main focus right now.

Raising this little guy can't be that hard. You just have to feed him, play with him mayhaps, wash him? That sounded simple enough. But, what about when he starts to grow bigger? He might have to be relocated then, that'll be handled later though.

You could go on a quest or an expedition today, you might let Vivi watch after Shara. She seemed to be responsible enough to handle him.

Sooner or later, he's probably going to start moping for food. Babies always did soon after they were born in clinics.

What will you do right now?

>>4036007
Get lotsa meat for our baby boo

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>>4036007
Give the little one a moment to rest then ask a researcher and Brigg for help, someone need to take notes.
First thing first, hygiene, search or ask for several basin´s. Fill a basin with warm or hot water, loose sand or wathever the Everwyrm's might need (the Shara Ishvalda is weak to water and ice)
Then feeed the Ishvalda, bring some meat, berries, vegetables, fruit some milk. We need to know what the little one can eat, what cannot and how much.
I need sleep

>>4036007
Try to figure out what Shara Ishvalda eats. We can leave Vivi with him after we've fed it.

>>4036043
>try to bathe the baby in water
>it dies

>>4036007
Shara is pretty smart and its senses should be hard wired to avoid things harmful to it.

To say nothing of the fact that it is a fucking elder dragon. It could probably eat poison sacks all day and not get sick.

I agree though with >>4036043 though

You took a moment to finish off that tonic and then stood up, looking at the youth resting peacefully there on the floor. You did wonder, if it really was reincarnating from a past life, what was that previous one like? You recall the Commander mentioning his name once before giving a speech, placing it along... catastrophe.

You told Vivi to stay put and headed out of the abode, going down to the tradeyard. There was a pretty big selection of things like foods available here at all times. You forked out at least three hundred Zenny and bought a variety of edibles to try out with Shara. You bought some Might Seeds, some berries, a vegetable or two and a fruit bowl and got a vase filled with water to take too.

You heard gossiping from all over. Some pointed you out as 'the Hunter that's gonna raise an actual Elder Dragon'. They spoke about it with awe, some sounding like they wished they filled your shoes instead. A few didn't speak so lightly about it. You heard two veterans make a bet over how long it would take until Shara Ishvalda 'goes crazy and has to be put down'.

You shrugged it aside as you left the market place. On the way back to your room, you saw Brigg and Atricia approach.

"Vance my good man! You've surely made a load of work for yourself. I must say I am impressed having heard of what you've done." Brigg said, following you.

"Will you show us? I've never seen the Old Everwyrm before, I'd really like too." The Scoutress requested.

You told them both to come along and welcomed them into your room. The young Shara Ishvalda raised it's head and squeaked, getting up and walking over fast to see what you had. You walked to the middle of the room and sat on your knees, setting the groceries aside. Shara came over and just stood in front of you, looking to you expectantly.

"My... his scales are so colorful. I have heard that Shara Ishvalda could encase itself in the earth around it for protection. I wonder just how long it's been since it was last exposed like this." Brigg pondered.

"He's really... cute." Atricia says, kneeling over to pet the Elder Dragon. Shara responded with coos to the soft touches. You got in on it too, rubbing his chin.

You first took out the meat and held it to the Shara. The Everwyrm's eyelids flutter as it looks it at it, but does nothing more. He didn't seem to be so interested in it...

You grabbed a couple of the berries and held it out for him instead. Nearly instantly his snout shot forward and claimed the berries from your palm. You didn't even need to try offering him anything else, he just decided to get it himself, rummaging through the pile next to you on the floor. He gobbled down the fruits and vegetables and seeds, nibbling half of the meat slither away right after when he saw nothing left.

You got a bowl to fill for him, but to your surprise, you turned and saw Shara simply pick up the vase filled with water using his two claws and pour it into his mouth on his own until none was left. You guess you were underestimating how intelligent Elder Dragons were.

The little Everwyrm yawned and went back over to his place in front of your fire and you were left there along with Brigg and Atricia, all simply confounded by his independence.

"So.... uh, when you guys are around, you wouldn't mind helping me with him when I'm busy somewhere, right?" You ask.

"You don't have to ask me twice! I'd love to help out with that!" Atricia says, showing some girlish fascination with the tiny dragon.

"We're a team for a reason. I could stick around and take notes about it when I can." Brigg said, showing another book he had hanging around his shoulders.

"That's a relief. I'll ask the Housekeeper to send some key copies then." You say, going over and sitting in your now newly favored chair.

"What are your plans for the future of it though? You weren't around when our investigation into Velkhana was ongoing, but I know from what I've heard that the Everwyrm absolutely colossal when it's fully grown." Brigg suddenly says, making you turn your head.

"How big are we talking exactly?"

"The best estimates from the researchers indicated that the Old Everwyrm was about two thousand and hundred centimeters long, or ninety five feet. He could probably wear this room like a hat in his adult state." Brigg tells you.

Okay, that was kind of worrying.

"He could stay in the Arena, it should be big enough to house him easily." Atricia suggests.

"True. Another thing to cover for is how it was said Shara's behavior was by the Sapphire Star, who fought one... or fought this one as an adult on the Origin Isle." Brigg says. "When covered in rocks, the Star said that it acted defensively, and when exposed from it's armor, it wouldn't cease to try and destroy him with all it's power even when near death."

Okay, that was really worrying....

"Well... uhh.... maybe raising him will... condition him to not be so... unfriendly?" You say a bit nervously.

"....Well it's the best case scenario to hope for." Brigg says grimly.

>>4036043
>Fill a basin with warm or hot water, loose sand or wathever the Everwyrm's might need

1 with hot water, another with loose sand, another with dirt and the like. I am of no more coherent tought

>>4036222
The Arenas good, but only if we can actually. Uh. Not have people use it? If that makes sense?

We should also probably take him out on hunts sometimes. When hes big enough?

You peered over at Vivi, who smiled big to keep your hopes up even after having heard that. She had the right idea and you took a deep breath to reassure yourself that everything would work out just fine.

You stood and brought your hand down to pat Shara. The Everwyrm purred at that you walked near the door with Brigg and Atricia.

You called Vivi over and decided you should get out for just a short bit and do something to get your head back in the game and off of thinking of disaster.

"So, I would like to go out and do something for a bit myself right about now. Could I bother one of you to help me out in this instance and watch over Shara?"

"Well, I'd like to, but I had to be over at the Smithy in a few minutes. Senzo requested my help with slaying a Barroth and I gave him my word that I would." Brigg tells you.

"I'll do it!" Atricia readily offered with her fist on her chest.

"Oh, then keep this and write down anything interesting you see with it." Brigg said, passing her his other smaller book.

"Okay, good, that'll do it then. The key should be on the desk." You tell her while Vivi climbs onto your back.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure Shara stays good and content." The Scoutress promised.

"Thanks." You say before making off away from home. Atricia waved you off and stayed at your personal room.

>Let's grab a minor quest to do, we have enough time.
>Let's go see if we can help at the resource station and make a delivery.
>Let's go on an expedition somewhere in the New World.
>Let's go pay Tabitabi a visit, it's been a while.
>Write in.

>>4036251
>Let's go see if we can help at the resource station and make a delivery.

>>4036222
Well shara seems to understand stuff pretty well.

Make a note that it ate the meat last. Also what are its teeth like?

....

Sharp teeth in the front gradually moving to grinding flat molars? Human style trash compactor/omnivore. Nice.

Put some more wood on the fire, but make sure it can see you do it and let the boy sleep for the night.

In the morning lets see how intelligent it is, show em the fridge, storage box, bathroom and how they work.

Then maybe take him down to the cantina for breakfast. "Cooking for an elder dragon could be a once in a lifetime experience..."

>>4036251
>>Let's go pay Tabitabi a visit, it's been a while.

>>4036251
>Let's go see if we can help at the resource station and make a delivery.

>>4036251
As far as vote goes.

Tabi Tabi Tabi Tabi.

Also bring some snacks for her.

Maybe we should post a meat delivery quest. Were going through rather a lot.

>>4036251
Let's go see the tabi girl, we should try seeing about mounting her as a steed now.

Also, we have scoutflies right? If not we should get some already.

Your first stop was the Smithy. You knew one essential you were missing up to this point were Scoutflies. Every Hunter in the New World practically had them by now and you weren't going to miss out any longer. The Second Fleet Master was surprised you didn't have a lantern and issued you one, along with a Ghillie Mantle, which was standard issue by now. You already saw your newly issued lantern brimming with Scoutfly activity as you thanked him and left.

You went over to the resource station and had a word with the Provisions Manager. You filled out a form and handed it over to her before she calculated a price which you paid then before going on your way back through the tradeyard to buy some raw steaks.

You had posted a delivery request for some things like fruits and meat and specified they be delivered to your house once collected from the field. You wrapped your steaks and took off the way of the Ancient Forest as you usually do. Your new Scoutflies flew about, identifying things you hadn't noticed before, such as stones and ammo for the slinger, nuts for Bowgun ammo, fruits and plants, dung, and ore veins.

You headed out to the same familiar spot you've been at before twice and got to work, sizzling those Aptonoth steaks over the BBQ split and waiting.

As you suspected, it didn't take long until a familiar face popped down from a tree she was climbing. Tabitabi sniffed to identify your smell and yipped happily upon recognizing it, coming over to nuzzle you and accept the cooked steaks. You patted her snout and handed them over while you contemplated what you'd teach her this time.

She already learned how to respond to being told to sit, stand, and attack. Now it was time to take it a step further.

Once the Tobi-Kadachi was done with the meal, you rubbed her face and never took your hand off of her, tracing it along her fur and scales as you walked to her side. She looked back at you as you placed both of your hands onto her back. She was a bit bewildered until you pushed yourself up and got your leg over to sit on her back.

She didn't move, or react wildly, but made a few noises to show confusion. You patted her to reassure her everything was fine.

Now, you just had to teach her how to get going at your direction with yourself seated on her back still enough. You pointed forward and her gaze fell that way, trying to search for what you saw.

"Forward." You say. She of course doesn't do anything, but you aren't teaching her to go just yet. You tapped her neck to get her attention again and then pointed to your right.

"Right."

Then to the left.

"Left.

Then behind.

"Back.

And repeated it several times until you could simply say the word and she would look in that direction with you needing to point. Good motor functions, she was cunning. Now, you had to find a way to get her moving.

"Forward."

She looks that way.

"Forward." You repeat. She doesn't seem to know what to do.

Well then you'll just get off and show her visuALLYY! Woah! You held on to her fur suddenly as she took off in the forward direction, jumping down a height and moving very fast along the forest path. Then, she was going to start climbing a tree!

With no saddle or anything else to hold onto her by but your legs and arms, you would surely fall off and squander this lesson! You wrapped around her torso and held on tightly...

>1d100 to keep your grip and prevent yourself from falling.

Rolled 83 (1d100)

>>4036371

Rolled 17 (1d100)

>>4036371

Rolled 74 (1d100)

>>4036371

>>4036373
>>4036385
Man, this quest has had a lot of really good rolls
How can this be possibru?

Swiftly, Tabitabi scaled the bark of one of the great trees and then jumped over to another, and another. She leaped and glided through the air and latched onto a tree sideways. It felt bumpy, extremely bumpy and exhausting to keep your grip, but you managed. It reminded you of the thrash testing in the early training days. Where veterans in charge of training newbie Hunters would tie ropes to their limbs and drop them over a big tall opening with one veteran having hold of his own rope. They would swing and pull and do everything they could to rag doll the tied up newbie, and it was the part of training you found the least pleasant, but you overcame it in the end. This was no different.

You found it better to simply close your eyes and give your hold all you had as the Tobi-Kadachi went from one tree to the other until she was down on the ground level again sprinting. You found it safe enough to finally look up and you saw Tabitabi trampling some poor Jagras as she traveled through the woods fast, fearless with the Anjanath and Deviljho gone from her general area.

You sat back up and just took in your ride until Tabitabi came to a stop and looked back up at you. You looked at a nice flat path ahead leading deeper into the forest and raised your finger that way.

"Go." You say. She doesn't initially understand until you repeatedly thrust your finger in that direction and say it again.

She moves that way much slower this time to your relief. It was like a jogging speed for her. You felt a bounce as you rode on her back, but it was barely noticed. You were taken where you told her to go deeper into a lush and darker green part of the Forest.

Here, things started to smell strangely pleasing. It must have been the aromas from the all the various kinds of flowers there were growing in these parts.

You saw a little alcove containing a small stream of water and a vitality plant and tapped Tabitabi to get her attention. You pointed that way and she got your order easily, turning and heading off to that part. She was really starting to come around better now. You were certainly getting the hang of this, and there was still some stuff to teach her, but it would be easier done now thanks to this experience you got.

You didn't think you were gonna stop until you've perfected her as a mount. You swore on the inside that by the time you were done with her, she'd be worthy to ride into a fight even as cavalry.

You continued to travel along in the woods with Tabitabi for the time being, guiding her along with your words and motions gently, things going swimmingly....

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It wasn't until you found yourself wandering a little spot with Poisoncups growing that your day began to get a bit less peaceful.

First, you saw a strange wyvern up ahead drinking from one of the cups, it's tail was very colorful and it had feathers. It stared your way with it's big, beady eyes and raised it's wings as a warning sign but your Tobi-Kadachi hissed back and stalked forward.

You were about to grab your Gunlance and prepare to jump off for a fight when there was a loud clicking noise that made everything stop.

The wyvern ahead with drops of poison leaking from it's mouth looked around as the click came again... and again...

And then there was a blinding flash! You covered your eyes and jumped off as Tabitabi scowled at it and staggered. It was just as bright as a flash pod going off. The wyvvern ahead of you squawked scarily and then you heard it flapped off to flee, running right into a tree and rushing through the foliage.

There was the sound of something landing coming from up ahead and when your eyes cleared you saw another taller wyvern there drinking the remaining poison cups. Tabitabi lowered herself closer to the ground behind you and hissed. You just watched and kept yourself ready for a fight.

The thing turned it's ugly head around your way and made something akin to a snicker in it's monstrous tone. It narrowed it's eyes at you and outstretched it's wings, but not raising them higher to appear bigger. Something on top of it's head clicked against it's beak again.

You concluded that this was Gypceros, a bird wyvern known for it's poison and ability to produce a blinding flash. It seemed it was challenging you too, you could sort of tell that from it's cocky demeanor and body language.

Without warning, it's head went down and suddenly uprooted the Poisoncup plant it was suckling from and went around, slinging it your way. You ducked and got out of the way, but some of the poison from it spilled over Tabitabi and she hissed as it began to affect her. She shook her head and main a bit of a whimper while looking at you and then hissing again at the Gypceros.

It was shifting back and forth using it's legs and flapping it's wings once every few seconds, still arrogant and on it's high Kirin.

>It just hurt your girl. You're gonna kick it's ass and teach it a lesson it won't forget soon for that!
>Typical bird wyverns. It isn't making any further move, just taunting. Let's leave and not fall for that.
>Write in.

>>4036476
>It just hurt your girl. You're gonna kick it's ass and teach it a lesson it won't forget soon for that!
He violated the NAP.

>>4036476
>It just hurt your girl. You're gonna kick it's ass and teach it a lesson it won't forget soon for that!

>>4036476
>>It just hurt your girl. You're gonna kick it's ass and teach it a lesson it won't forget soon for that!

>>4036476
>It just hurt your girl. You're gonna kick it's ass and teach it a lesson it won't forget soon for that!
PURGE

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>>4036476
>>It just hurt your girl. You're gonna kick it's ass and teach it a lesson it won't forget soon for that!

>>4036476
>It just hurt your girl. You're gonna kick it's ass and teach it a lesson it won't forget soon for that!
Fuck yeah we're kicking this thing's ass, plus half its hide is rubbery and resistant to lightning, exactly what we're going to need for the big investigation!

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>>4036476
>It just hurt your girl. You're gonna kick it's ass and teach it a lesson it won't forget soon for that!

>>4036476
>>Typical bird wyverns. It isn't making any further move, just taunting. Let's leave and not fall for that.

>>4036476
Also, give tabi an antidote herb

>>4036562
Yeah, he's talking mad shit for somebody soon to be in gunlance range.

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>>4036476
>>It just hurt your girl. You're gonna kick it's ass and teach it a lesson it won't forget soon for that!
YOU ACTUALLY FUCKING DARE? Lads I think it's time we show Tabitabi how the Gunlance Vance clan takes care of its own by slapping this cheeky cunt's shit.

So what do you guys think we can reasonably get within the next 6 days, random events notwithstanding?

>>4037222
Another weapon or an upgrade. Probably more mats for a good armor.

What armor should we aim for? I don´t know shit about gunlances.

>>4037239
>What armor should we aim for?
Anything with Thunder and/or Fire Resistance.

>>4037239
Frankly, we already have a gunlance charm, which will do us plenty of good. Ideally we want to get things resistant to thunder, which usually means things that use thunder, but Gypceros is a good start on that too. Weapon-wise, we could honestly try to upgrade our current or get something with poison or some other status since we don't have the resources for multiple elements.

Oh it really did it now. Bird Wyverns were usually like a pest in this world. You had a particular dislike of them, and you were going to let it all rip against this Gypceros.

You didn't waste any time in drawing your Gunlance and charging forward with the bayonet extended towards the chest of the monster. It saw you come and lost it's cockiness, instead getting into the fighting mood as a click came from it's head once.

You closed the distance and thrust your blade into it's hide as the second click came. The thing emitted a little cry of pain as the blade pierced it's scales. You raised your just as the final click came and closed your eyes to block out that blinding flash. You heard Tabitabi wail again from being blinded and that only fueled your hatred for the Bird Wyvern.

You pulled back and put your arm to work, giving the Gypceros three deep lashes against it's belly to which it crowed in anger, responding by pecking at you fiercely with it's large beak. You were hit and fell to your back from the first blow, blocking the other two with some hurt behind it with your shield.

The Gypceros raised it's feet and came to stomp and trample all over you, but you thought faster and raised your Blazing Gunlance, causing the Gypceros to impale it's right foot straight through the blade. It cried and struggled, flapping upwards and dislodging it's foot.

The thing tried to make a retreat then, but it was halted in place and kept in this area as Tabitabi suddenly came over like the wind, lunging at the wyvern from a tree while brimming electricity. The electricity admittedly did little to the wyvern though, most of the pain she inflicted upon the Gypceros came from her fangs pressing into it's shoulder while her claws scratched at it's wings.

The Gypceros freaked out, spitting balls of poison down below and all around as it spun, trying to shake Tabitabi off. You had to roll and move to dodge the noxious globs coming down.

Tabitabi made the Gypceros land, forcing it down with her weight on top of it's own. The Gypceros wailed and ran forward, shoulder blocking a vine wall to throw her off, but she held on, tearing some scales off of his shoulder with another bite before she made an attempt at his long neck. You came and used this chance to swipe at the legs of the Wyvern, managing to sever it's tail and cut a wing as it rapidly shook itself in the confusion.

There was the click again, and you tried to order Tabitabi to get off, but she couldn't hear you over the screeching of the wyvern, and you just didn't think she was so trained yet to know how to respond to that.

You were blinded too as the Gypceros' flash came, you had neglected to raise your shield. There was a whimper as your vision returned and you saw the Gypceros manage to reach it's head around. The angry Bird Wyvern grabbed Tabitabi by the tuft of her neck and tore her off, throwing her to ground harshly while she was still blinded. Poison spewed from the beak of the monster as it went to peck at her, but you wouldn't allow it.

You charged again while giving a shout of fury!

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The Gypceros' head etched your way as you fired a shell from your Gunlance. The thing yelped at the shells tearing through it's wings, the power behind each shot only increased by the Artillery Charm you wore.

You used the energy behind your charge to get a swing already going and came like a rocket, spinning around and building more strength in your left arm. The Gypceros attempted to flap away, but it's wings had been too damaged to give.

Your spinning attack went right into it's pelvis, the force behind it straightly blowing the Bird Wyvern over. It screeched another cry at the blade tearing through it's pelvis flesh and scraping away at the bone from how deep it went.

The thing toiled on the ground as you reloaded and came down upon it with fury. You thrust your blade into it with out stop, chopping and hacking away at the shattering scales that popped through the air past your helmet. The Gypceros' cries of distress softened into cries of terror in mere minutes.

The thing kicked at you, dragging itself along the ground pathetically. You pulled yourself up the nearby vines and jumped down at it, driving your Gunlance into it's left shoulder and pinning it to the ground.

You used your shield as a blunt, smacking and beating at it's head viciously. The Gypceros squawking horrifically in between each blow. You hit so hard the last time that you lost your grip on your shield, but that didn't stop you.

You grabbed it's neck with your left arm and held it down as you raised your right fist to the air.

The Gypceros got a good look at your helmeted face and you could see the fear in it's eyes, it was scarred, scarred of your prowess. You knew that deep down it regretted issuing you a challenge.

And so with all your strength and anger for it built up in your clenched, iron fist.... you punched it with the might of a hammer!

The beak of the thing splintered and cracked on it's surfaces, chips thrown away from the blow. The Gypceros' head shivered as the force flowed through it's skull and all the way down it's neck. The physical trauma gave it an intense migraine instantly.

You let got it and pulled your Gunlance out, stepped back as you looked at your fist and shook it around. You couldn't really feel it now, the punch hurt you too, but at least not as much as it did the Gypceros.

The Gypceros made only small peeps now as it shivered on the ground. It rolled onto it's belly and clenched at it's cracked beak before trying to crawl away using it's wings and feet.

You were about to finish it off yourself when Tabitabi jumped over past you and pounced onto the bird wyvern, latching onto it's neck with her fangs, but not sinking them in yet. It was more like she was restraining the panicked wyvern in place for you.

She gave this curious look to you.

>Finish the Gypceros off yourself.
>Sheath your weapons and let her have the honor.
>Get her to let go. Just leave the wyvern there for nature to take it's own course with.
>Write in.

>>4037497
>>Sheath your weapons and let her have the honor.

>>4037478
alright! your back.

>Get her to let go. Just leave the wyvern there for nature to take it's own course with.

I was tempted to let her have the decision, but... well she needs to learn to bite and let go on command. Its a good training experience for her.

This is the things only chance though.

>>4037497
>Sheath your weapons and let her have the honor.
Gotta instill that pack hunting mentality. The next kill we claim ourselves. We got any more rations on us by the way? If possible we may want to get into the habit of offering her food in exchange for being able to carve kind of like how falconers offer their raptors food to prevent kill guarding.

>>4037497
>Sheath your weapons and let her have the honor.

>>4037497
>Sheath your weapons and let her have the honor.
Not sure what carves will be left but it's arguably more humane than leaving it crippled.

>>4037518
That one chance may be all it needs to go deviant you know. For all we know it could remember us like Jho and come back to fuck us over when Jho is after us again.

>>4037497
>>Sheath your weapons and let her have the honor.

Putting your weapons aside onto your back, you placed your finger at the slithering Gypceros and gave an order.

"Attack."

Tabitabi obeyed, biting down with more pressure and sinking her fangs into the neck of the Gypceros who squirmed in place a few times more until it's eyes came closed and it went limp on the ground, finished off by Tabitabi's bite.

The Tobi-Kadachi let go and hopped over to you, her head went all over your form, searching for any injuries that you might have incurred from the fight. You took her face into your hands and gave a rub through her fur to calm her down. Her mood seemed to brighten at that and she whimpered, showing you the purple strains of poison she still had affecting her.

You had the solution and used your thumb to pry her mouth open a little, to which she seemed a bit unsure of your exploring as you raised an antidote from your satchel to her lips, pouring inside every last drop. Her tongue flickered at the liquid, showing a mixed reaction to the funny taste as you made her close her mouth and swallow it with your hands carefully.

She snorted, shaking her body to rid her hide of the poison strains and then seemed to change in attitude to something a bit happier, she yipped at you, no longer drowsy and dizzied by the poison.

You took your carving knife out and got to work on the Gypceros, salvaging a majority of it's parts and tail, picking up any materials you might have broken off as well before taking out your BBQ split and cutting some meat from the gut of the wyvern out. Tabitabi recognized the instrument instantly and became excited as you cooked what you cut over it. You couldn't help but chuckle at her behavior. It was like a child receiving a present. You of course had to make her stay, she would attempt to nab it still over the fire.

You fed her up with the remains and brushed her fur before mounting yourself back onto her and directing her to take you elsewhere in the forest.

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The next stroll you had on her was a bit different this time. She was yawning and going in directions of her own will, and you were just along for the ride.

You did admit though, you were enjoying it. Seeing many different things within the forest you hadn't seen before yet as she went along on her own path. You were subject to spot out the vicinity of a waterfall deeper within the woods, closer to the edge of the sea.

You were carried through more complex paths in between the numerous trees, seeing large patches of flowers the size of gardens, smaller areas where plenty of endemic forest life was thriving, and up through the trees again, being able to look down at the hunting grounds of the Jagras and the other wyverns that lived within these woods.

You could have sword through as Tabitabi was traveling that you might have seen the familiar figure of another First Wyverian somewhere down below, but you weren't completely sure. If you were right, you definitely wanted to catch that little guy and see if he would tell you more like the last did, if he was even a different one.

You saw Tabitabi speed up then and held on tighter as she leaped from one tree to the other before climbing up on a big branch and running down along it to jump.

You landed hard on a solid ground and looked around to see she had taken you to what appeared to be her nest. It was sizable, flat in most spots and had other trees around for her to climb and glide off of. She turned back and looked at you, prompting you to dismount her and step off.

It was getting dark now. You could see some stars in the blackened blue of the sky above. You guessed she wasn't listening because she was ready for sleep now. If that was so then you would go on your own to that place you saw just moments ago. Let her have her rest.

You patted her head and turned to leave, but you felt her grab at your hand and tug on you. Thinking she wanted more attention, you reached to pet her again, but didn't expect it when her claw came up suddenly to your abdomen.

She pushed you down onto the floor of her nest and circled around you twice before laying down with your back against her stomach. She laid her head down into your lap and curled her tail over your legs and you were left under her weight.

She was already snoring!

Well poop, you wanted to let her rest and not to wake her, but you also wanted to get away to do something yourself, and you couldn't like this....

>Attempt to very carefully worm your way out and escape. Then get on your way.
>You can play the waiting game. You'll just take a nap and wait until morning to leave.
>Write in.

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>>4037804
>Write in.
Wake up Tabi, with care, and let her know we´re leaving. Imagine the poor thing not seeing us when it awakens and searching in panic. Tabitabi can take care of herself way better than the baby elder dragon.

>>4037804
Also, I LOOOOOVE the drawings.

>>4037830
This works for me

>>4037478
>that bitch smack
Glorious
>>4037830
Supporting this

While you had decided it would have most likely been best to simply sneak away out of her grasp, you couldn't bear to think of how distressed she would be to awaken and find you gone. She might get carried away searching for you in vain or worse... attempt to track you back to Astera, where she might come under attack by the other wary Hunters posted on watch duty.

You knew she was a big girl, she could handle herself, so you only had to let her know. You started with some light pats on her head. At first, she only purred at the touch, knowing it by instinct, but as you went a little faster, her one eye flicks open and comes up towards you.

You tried to move and she brought her head up to yours, as if trying to understand what you were doing. With her head off of your lap, you slid one foot back onto the ground and eased up a little.

"Hey, listen girl, I can't stay here, the great outdoors were meant for you."

She went down on her shoulder and tried to push you back again, but you moved her paw away slowly and patted it. Her vision fell between your hand and your own eyes and you could see now she felt a bit saddened, as though believing you were abandoning her. She's become attached really fast it seemed.

You only knew to pet her again in some attempt to comfort her and allowed her to rub her nose against your helmet. Then, an idea came to mind and you stood, backing away a step or two. You grabbed your BBQ split out and wiggled it at her. As expected, her mood lightened and she gave a yip happily.

Believing she got the gist of it, you knelt down to hug her neck one more time as she yawned and laid back again to sleep. Her one red eye didn't cease to watch you as you began to leave the nest, climbing down and saying goodbye next to her name. She fell asleep peacefully then and there and you were finally free to leave.

You wandered back out into the woods alone now, immediately heading for where you thought you saw the First Wyverian...

With it so dark now out at night, and a helmet with eye covering visors on, you had to get used to the way it felt to travel like this.

You had some failings, only minor here and there. You tripped a few time on large roots sticking out from the Earth that you didn't spot the first time around, and accidentally you roused a Paratoad by stepping on it and were immobilized for minutes on end in the middle of a bush you fell into.

You groaned and pushed your way through the bushes until you felt and heard the crunching of dew covered dirt under foot and saw you were getting closer. Wait, actually, you were here.

You looked around, trying your hardest to find that First Wyverian hiding in plain sight. You saw only old wood and flora fauna dotting everywhere around you. It was a bit claustrophobic traveling through here at times really.

".....Hunter...?" You heard a voice say from behind. You turned and saw the First Wyverian standing there on a branch. You already passed a look that way several times but it took you a minute of staring at it to realize the shape of the First Wyverian standing right there.

"....The Star knows?"

"....Yes, I passed along the memo." You said back.

The First Wyverian did not say anything else. Instead, his hatted head nodded your way before you saw him look up towards the sky. There was an opening in the trees up above that showed off that gleaming star filled sky perfectly.

You were still lingering on what you had been told the last time you saw this strange dwarflike being. You wanted to see if it would answer another question, or tell you something else.

You reviewed all you knew up to this point and exhaled as you prepared to speak.

"....I will not claim omniscience. But I know you would seek my knowledge.... Hunter..." The First Wyverian suddenly came.

".....What is it you would ask me....? ....Remember the rule I made..."

What will you ask the First Wyverian?

Choose only three questions.

>"Who is the 'Primeval Man'?"
>"How many Elders will come?"
>"What should I look out for in the future?"
>"What is your purpose, First Wyverian? What is your goal?"
>"Will I ever be as great as the Sapphire Star?"
>"I found the reincarnation. What danger does it pose, if any?"
>"You seem a possessor of knowledge. Are the legends true? Is there a Black Dragon?"
>"Why does the Tobi-Kadachi have such an affinity for me? What makes it friendly?"
>"Where in this New World might I find all the wealth to last me?"
>Write in.

>>4038003
>"I found the reincarnation. What danger does it pose, if any?"
>"What should I look out for in the future?"

>>4038003
>>"How many Elders will come?"
>>"What should I look out for in the future?"
>>"I found the reincarnation. What danger does it pose, if any?"

>>4038003
>"I found the reincarnation. What danger does it pose, if any?"
>"Who is the 'Primeval Man'?"
>"What should I look out for in the future?"

>>4038003
>"Who is the 'Primeval Man'?"
>"I found the reincarnation. What danger does it pose, if any?"
>"Why does the Tobi-Kadachi have such an affinity for me? What makes it friendly?"

Wait.
>>4038003
>>4038033
Switching the my last question with
>Why does the Tobi-Kadachi have such an affinity for me? What makes it friendly?"
I can only assume it's from constant non-hostile human contact but she couldn't have been around the researchers for that long.

>>4038003
These
>"I found the reincarnation. What danger does it pose, if any?"
>"Who is the 'Primeval Man'?"
>"Why does the Tobi-Kadachi have such an affinity for me? What makes it friendly?"

We should focus on getting as much of this vital stuff out above all else. And maybe find out a little on Tabi. It shouldn't matter how many Elders come because it shouldn't be anynore than already is in World.

"Well, for starters, I found that thing you pointed me to."

".....The Old Everwyrm? Good..."

"I've already been told worrying things about it. How much of a threat it could pose once it's an adult. So my first question is, will it pose a danger?" You asked nervously, holding your breath.

"....The Old Evewyrm makes an enemy out of those who come to destroy it.... He knows the arms of the man and the mixed fondly.... and has forgotten their hands..... Bad memories linger in the eternal one of a closer past. It's favor is discovered by those who would align with it's own intentions..." The First Wyverian responded after pausing.

"You mean... it might understand me? But... align with it's own intentions? Are you telling me I should help it do what it wants to do?"

".....In a way....."

"Okay okay.... wait, those don't count as questions that I just wasted, do they?" You asked with prudence.

The First Wyverian didn't answer.

"Damn it...." You whispered to yourself.

"......It is merely an act...." He says. You look at him funny.

"Huh...?"

".......Let's not get technical on it..... you still have two more questions, of that sort." The First Wyverian says. Good to see he at least had a sense of humor. You nodded.

"Ahh, I see. You must have seen me earlier, I was riding on a Tobi-Kadachi I think I've tamed. You seem to know a lot. Can you tell me? Why is it so friendly to Humans?" You asked, wanting to know what Tabitabi's deal was.

The First Wyverian hummed and tapped his staff to the branch, raising two fingers to his face, then waving them around in a circle.

".....Trauma on the brain." The First Wyverian tells you.

"...What?!"

"....The monster was.... walking..." The First Wyverian says, tapping his staff another three times. "....a great devourer appeared and attacked.... she fled. The great devourer chased her relentlessly.... cornered her..... she nearly perishes. A second monster enters this fray... a beast with terrible power that rends the earth where it goes.... the devourer and this demon battle. She was caught in their whirlwind... a stray blow hits it's mark, rendering her blank..... when she next awoke, she did not remember much of her prey and starved.... she found creatures that provided food and then lived."

"...So this whole time, that Tobi-Kadachi has just been an amnesiac...?" You say, unsure of how to handle knowing this. You also wondered by what method it was that the First Wyverian was able to tell you, you couldn't know if he was speaking the truth or making this shite up as he went. Still, you would listen.

".....Only one more question...."

"Very well." You say, thinking over what to ask. You find something and look up at the First Wyverian.

"Who, or what is the 'Primeval Man'? You've spoken of?"

Everything goes silent, the breeze, the ambience of the woods, everything. Only your armor's rasping is heard as you look around. It was unsettling...

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The First Wyverian raised his two fingers to over where his mouth was and he did spake quietly only a simple whisper.

".....Shh....."

You only stood and watched, feeling unsafe and startled by the sudden change in the air.

Then, without warning, the sounds picked up again. The wind was heard and the trees creaked. You oddly.... felt no danger then.

"....He..... I will refer to him only as He...." The First Wyverian says.

"....He is a relic of the long gone. The bringer of renewal... He is out of time itself, and worse yet, He is already here.... The plans of a dead empire are what He conceived.... the nightmares of Man's hand were brought to life by the effort of only Him.... He fights a war already lost, He would make the ultimate sacrifices to claim a pyrrhic victory, he refuses to let go of the glory that is dead...."

"....He can weave illusion, He can hear your thoughts.... He has mastered things that defy nature, He is ruthless.... He lacks compassion... He knows only pride... The Elders come to stop Him.... but I fear even I don't know if they can...."

"He cannot be brought to reason... He can only be served destruction.... or else the Tower will rise, and the Throne will work...."

".....I don't..... I don't understand a thing you're saying, can't you just tell me this guy's name...?" You say, finding it difficult to get around this First Wyverian's riddles.

".....No.... He can hear his name..... He knows arts that should not exist.... He defies logic.... to define logic.... a trait only an Ancient could claim, an Ancient of a forlorn history.... the very same who could transcend what it means to be mortal.... those who predate the modern man...."

"How can that be? Most of everything they say about Ancient Civilization is just an exaggerated farce, they're myths for a reason." You bite back, beginning to grow tired of the First Wyverian's prophetic spiel.

The First Wyverian shuddered and held onto his staff with both hands.

".....I have answered your three questions.... you may only seek me another time..... I will say no more...." The First Wyverian says.

You sigh and thank him for what he could share on Tabitabi before leaving.

>There is no way I'm going to believe that little guy's load of bologna, it just doesn't make sense.
>I'm full of doubt right now, but I should at least keep an open mind. I just don't know yet.
>It's as they always say, you gotta give citations and back things with proof. Maybe we'll see soon.
>I should probably tell the Commander about this next run in. He might want to know.
>Let's just head home and keep it to myself for now. I got work to do, gotta keep my head clear.

>>4038142
>Tabitabi is amnesiac
I fear for when she gets her memory back.

>I'm full of doubt right now, but I should at least keep an open mind. I just don't know yet.
We're gonna need some time to mull this over.

>>4038142
>>I should probably tell the Commander about this next run in. He might want to know.

>>4038145
Yeah so much for being a breakthrough for monster taming and riding. Damn. I was looking forward to that.

>>4038142
>Let's just head home and keep it to myself for now. I got work to do, gotta keep my head clear.

>>4038145
>>4038150
Well we just make sure she doesn't get her memory back, at least I don't think she will. A bop made her like that, so if things go bad surely we can just reverse it with another bop ourselves, r-right?

>>4038142
Evil wizard. Lovely.

>>4038142
>>I should probably tell the Commander about this next run in. He might want to know.

>>4038204
Nah, I think the best we can hope for is that when she regains her memories, she still remembers us as well. Amnesia doesn't erase what you learn from after you get it. It'll probably be more savage, but if nothing else it'll definitely not kill us specifically.