Monster Hunter

Chapter 1 "The Formidable Velocidrome!"

A town located in the Old World was being burned to the ground by a horde of monsters. In one of the houses, a family stood still, thinking they were safe.

Suddenly, a lightning bolt struck the house. The roof was completely decimated and most of the family was killed by the lightning strike, all but one baby.

A Leviathan class monster could be seen from the giant opening the lightning strike. It roared and electricity crackled as it did so. The Leviathan looked at the baby as it was crying, it slightly opened its maw before being shot by a cannon blast.

The Leviathan was repelled, and other monsters, such as Rathalos and Diablos, could be seen retreating.

Hunters were looking for survivors in the rubble. When the hunters found the baby, it was going unconscious. The baby then went unconscious as one of the hunters tried to reach its hand for it.

Yamato woke from the same nightmare that has been plaguing him for the past seventeen years. He held his head as if he had a migraine.

It has been seventeen years since he saw his entire village be decimated by monsters, and he had spent those years living in Kokoto Village.

Yamato then got up from his bed and picked up his sword and shield. He then exited his house to go to the town hall.

As he walked towards the town hall, which doubled as the Chief's house, he saw dozens of merchants selling their goods.

He walked past the tavern and training school, with the training school being where he spent most of his teenage years in.

He then reached the town hall. On the roof of the building, the skull of a Monoblos sat there as a trophy. The building was large, as it held the Chief's more impressive trophies.

He entered the town hall and saw two skulls that belonged to the Elder Dragon known as Lao-Shan Lung. He walked to the front of a stage in the hall.

He saw the chief standing on stage, in front of dozens of former students that attended the training school.

The chief looked at the students and took a deep sigh. "Haven't done a speech in a very long time, but here goes nothing." The chief murmured to himself. "I congratulate you, former students of the Kokoto training school for passing all of the trials and becoming official Kokoto Guild hunters!"

All of the students clapped and cheered before the chief continued with his speech. "However, you must complete these simple quests to become full hunters. I am looking forward to this new generation of hunters, so don't disappoint! Alright, you are all dismissed."

The students exited the town hall and went back home, however Yamato went straight to the Guild Hall, where they would all meet up to go on these last few quests.

In the Guild Hall, he met the Quest Maiden whose name is Kaiya. Kaiya looked at him in a confused manner before signaling to him. Yamato then looked back at her.

"Are you one of the new hunters?" She asked.

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"I thought that new hunters were supposed to arrive in two hours."

"They are."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Waiting for them."

"Are you seriously going to wait two hours for them?"

"Yes."

Yamato and Kaiya looked at each other for a few seconds before Kaiya just sighed and looked back at the piles of quest papers she has. She looked back a Yamato before signaling to a bench.

"Wait there."

Yamato nodded and made his way to the bench, then sat on it.

Two hours passed and the other hunters arrived at the Guild Hall. Kaiya greeted them and the other hunters saw Yamato sat on the benches.

One of the hunters, named Ahmya, went to Kaiya. "How long has he been here?"

"About two hours." Kaiya responded.

"You're joking." Ahmya said.

"Go ask him yourself, he's the craziest hunter I've ever met."

The chief then walked up to Kaiya. "No, that's a hunter that likes to take his time to prepare!" The chief looked and saw that Yamato already had this sword and shield ready. "He even has his weapons ready to go! I respect that."

Yamato stood up and walked towards the chief. "That's just common hunter courtesy, sir."

"Alright then. Well, why wait around? We're moving to our area now." The chief said.

The hunters were taken to an area called Forest and Hills. The chief stood in front of them. "Hunters, your attention!" All of the hunters looked at the chief. "First, a little trial. Hunt down an Aptonoth and harvest the meat. Deliver two pieces of raw meat and you'll complete your first quest!"

"Yes, sir!" The hunters said before moving to find the Aptonoth.

Yamato find one very quickly, as they were very common in Forest and Hills. He found a herd of them alongside some Kelbi. He ran towards and unsheathed his sword. He slashed at the Aptonoth's neck, which made it fall. He then punctured the herbivore's neck, which killed it. It made the other Aptonoth and the Kelbi run away in terror as they saw one of their kind being slashed to death.

Yamato then carved out two large pieces of meat from the Aptonoth's torso and wrapped them in a blanket. He them brought them back to base and put them on a fallen tree trunk. Some of the hunters were already there.

The chief was surprised by how big these chunks were. "Those are some hefty pieces! What Diablos-sized Aptonoth did you get them from?" The chief joked.

Yamato ignored the chief's joke and sat down on the log, watching the fire. "I guess we'll just keep waiting for the others." The chief said.

It took a few minutes, but all of the hunters manage to get back to the base.

The chief stood up and looked at all of them, again. "Alright, we all know you can't eat raw meat! You've got to cook it first! I want you to barbecue some meat and bring a piece back to the camp!"

The hunters were given a BBQ Spit and got as far from the camp as it deemed necessary as to not burn down the small tents they had.

Yamato cooked his two chunks and one came out rare, but the other one well-done. "Need some more practice." He brought the well-done steak back to the base.

"Well done!" The chief said.

The other hunters soon followed.

"Alright, you can find all sorts of useful items during a hunt. Search around and bring me two herbs and one spider web!" The chief said.

The hunters went into the wild to find the items. Yamato looked around Forest and Hills and found various animals alongside the Kelbi and Aptonoth, such as Mosswine, Bullfango, and Vespoid.

While looking around, he found a pack of Velociprey hunting a Kelbi. He later ran into a few Felynes and Melynxes. He asked them where he could find these materials, and the Lynians told Yamato where they are.

He soon found a few bushes. He crouched and started to pluck out items from the bushes, and eventually found two herbs.

He wandered around and found himself in front of a cliff side. Looking around the rocks, he found sufficient spider webs to complete the quest. He put them in a jar.

Yamato then went back to base.

"Quest complete." Yamato said.

The other hunters soon followed, with the required items.

The chief stood up, again, to talk with the hunters. "They may have taught you this in the training school, but you can combine items to make new ones! Start with the basics: a potion! You'll need a blue mushroom, and... Oh, what was the other... Right, a herb! Must be my age getting to me, can't remember things well."

"The so-called great hero of Kokoto, can't even remember how to make a potion." Ahmya murmured.

The hunters had to go find some blue mushrooms to actually make the potions, so they set off. Yamato went to where he found the herbs and, with some searching, found the blue mushrooms.

Yamato then pulled out a small cup from his bag and put the blue mushrooms and herbs into it. He grabbed a rock and started to mash them together until a green liquid was formed. It was enough to make two potions.

He brought them back to camp, as so did the other hunters.

"You can use the fish you catch in all sorts of ways! For your fifth and final quest, catch a health-restoring Sushifish and bring it back to camp!"

The hunters were given a fishing rob and they sent off to find the Sushifish. Yamato found a small stream deep into the forest and started fishing there.

After a few unsuccessful attempts, he managed to get the Sushifish and bring it to camp, like the others.

The chief clapped at the hunter's success. "You passed all of the trials and are now full hunters, congratulations! Your hunter rank has been increased to HR01. Now, go off and hunt some monsters!"

"Yes, sir!" The hunters said.

Ahmya, who was accompanied by three other hunters, approached Yamato. "Yamato, we know that you passed your tests in both here and the training school with flying colors. We hoped that you would consider joining our squad of hunters." Ahmya said.

Instead of immediately answering the question, Yamato looked at the rest of the squad. "I remember you, Ahmya, but who are these three?" Yamato asked.

"These three hunters are Hisano, Joben, and Daichi. These three are good friends of mine, and they also passed everything with flying colors. We're some of the best from the training school."

Yamato looked at their equipment and saw that Hisano used the lance, Joben used the hammer, Daichi used the light bowgun, and that Ahmya used the dual blades.

"Nice weapons." Yamato said.

"Thanks? That doesn't really answer my question."

"I won't be joining your hunter squad." Yamato said as he stood up and grabbed his bag. He started to walk away before looking back. "I hunt alone."

Yamato walked back from Forest and Hills to Kokoto Village. He could hear children screaming, but he just thought that they were playing with something.

He entered the Guild Hall and went up to into quest counter. Kaiya noticed him and sighed.

"I guess you'll be spending most of your time here, right?"

"Yes."

Yamato was given 250 zenny, the currency of both the New and Old World, for completing the previous five quests.

Suddenly, a village guard burst through the door. He ran towards Yamato, before stopping dead in his tracks. "Help! The children are being attacked by small, blue monsters called Velociprey! Three of the beasts are outside! Do something!"

Yamato and Kaiya looked at each other. "Whenever you're ready, I guess." Kaiya said.

"Always ready." Yamato said as he walked out of the Guild Hall.

He heard the children's screams, once again, and followed them. He found them being attacked by the Velociprey.

He ran towards them and hit one of the Velociprey with his shield. The others hissed at him as they saw the other one fall down. The children ran away after Yamato engaged the Velociprey.

The one that fell down quickly stood up and pounced on Yamato. Yamato hit the Velociprey with his shield and then kicked it. Once it tried to pounce again, Yamato slashed it. He continued to slash the Velociprey until he slashed the neck, killing it.

One of the remaining Velociprey attempted to pounce on Yamato, but Yamato used his shield to throw the Velociprey onto the ground. The other Velociprey jumped towards Yamato, but Yamato slashed its neck and the raptor fell to the ground, dead. Yamato stabbed the remaining Velociprey in the neck, also killing it.

Yamato then started carving the three Velociprey.

Yamato went back to the Guild Hall and went up to the village guard. "The Velociprey have been slain." Yamato said.

"Thank you, let me pay you for your services." The guard said. The guard gave Yamato 200 zenny and then left the guild hall.

Yamato looked at Kaiya and just shrugged.

"Well, now that you've killed those Velociprey, you can now access quests designated at a two star difficulty." Kaiya said.

"For what reason?" Yamato asked.

"Velociprey have a designated threat level of two stars. You killed them, which means you proved yourself to be able to handle two star quests. Also, your hunter rank has been increased to HR02." Kaiya explained.

"I haven't even been HR01 for two hours and I'm already HR02?"

"I wouldn't complain." Kaiya then looked at some quest papers. "I have some two star quests that haven't been completed yet..." Kaiya said as she laid them out on the table. "...which one do you want?"

Yamato grabbed one of the quest papers. It was from a person only identified as a loving sibling. The message read: 'I want to send some special mushrooms to my brother in town. But there are too many monsters. Please bring seven Special Mushrooms to me.'

"Sounds simple enough." Yamato said before setting off to Forest and Hills to find the mushrooms.

Yamato went to a grassy plain in the area, where the special mushrooms are said to be located.

It took him awhile to find them, as they were rare and other mushrooms got in the way, but he managed to get all of the special mushrooms.

He put them in his bag and went back to Kokoto. He entered the Guild Hall and put them in a delivery box. He went to the counter and was given 180z by Kaiya for completing the quest.

"Any other quest?" Yamato asked Kaiya.

Kaiya gave him the remaining papers. Yamato chose the one that was requested by a person identified as a veteran armorer. The message on the paper read: 'The decorations on bowguns have always been made from the horns of Kelbi. But we're running out! Can you bring five Kelbi horns to me?'

"Well, I'm off." Yamato said before leaving the hall.

He found some Kelbi in Forest and Hills. He managed to kill one and get its horns, but the others ran in fear.

He chased them down one by one, until he got the necessary amount of horns to complete the quest.

He put them in his bag and went back to the village. He put them in the delivery box and was paid 200z for completing the quest.

He looked at the two remaining quests and picked the one from the town chef. The message read: 'I'm cooking for a big festival in the town. But i'm running low on well-done steaks. Can you bring me five?'

Yamato just bought some raw meat from the market and cooked them in his backyard. He walked to the guild hall and put them in the delivery box, then got paid 180z for it.

"Well, one last quest." Kaiya said.

"What is it?" Yamato asked.

Kaiya gave him the paper. It was from the local doctor. The message read: 'One of the village people has fallen ill. I need a wyvern egg to cure them. Please sneak into a nest and get an egg for me!'

Yamato shrugged and then looked at Kaiya. "How hard can this possibly be?"

"Well, a Rathian could show up." Kaiya commented.

"The Rathian's a problem if I get spotted." Yamato said before leaving the hall.

Kaiya then sighed. "How dumb can hunters be?" She asked to herself.

Yamato reached the area where the wyvern egg was located. He reached the nest and found an egg in perfect condition.

He grabbed it and got out of the nest. As soon as he went into the open field, he heard a loud roar. He looked up and saw a Rathalos flying above him. The Rathalos followed the egg's scent to Yamato's location.

"Rathian my ass." Yamato said as soon as he saw the Rathalos dive towards him. The Rathalos breathed fire onto Yamato from above as Yamato ran.

As he continued running, he grabbed a Flashbug and formed a Flashbomb from it. Yamato threw it on the ground and it stunned the Rathalos.

Yamato then ran out of Forest and Hills and reached Kokoto guild hall. He put the egg in the delivery box and went to get his payment from Kaiya

She gave him 350z for completing the quest.

"I think I'm going to need to charge extra." Yamato said.

A young guardsman suddenly bust through the hall doors and went to Yamato. "After you killed those Velociprey, their leader showed up! It's bigger, and it has an orange crest. Find it and kill it!" The guardsman said.

Yamato quickly packed whatever he needed to slay the leader of the Velociprey, known as the Velocidrome. He found it in Forest and Hills. He unsheathed his sword and jumped on the Velocidrome. He made it slam against the rocks near them.

The Velocidrome slashed at Yamato, with it getting some hits in. Yamato managed to block a few, but the bird wyvern had wounded him. He drank a potion and continued the battle.

Yamato parried the Velocidrome's next attack, this time hitting the beast with his shield. The Velocidrome was stunned and Yamato took this opportunity to get some hits in. The beast kicked him and got up. The beast ran towards Yamato, before Yamato slashed the beast's torso, and then breaking off its crest with a hit from his shield. It was already getting tired and was wounded.

The beast jumped on Yamato once more, this time trying to pry the shield from Yamato's arm after recognizing it as a major threat. Yamato took this opportunity to slice the beast neck, and then stabbing it repeatedly. That ended the beast and it fell down, dead.

Yamato carved whatever he could from the remains of the Velocidrome. He went back to the village and was given 400z by the guardsman for dealing with the Velocidrome.

"Well, now that you killed a three star level threat monster, you can now access three star level quests and your rank has been increased to HR03. So, there are no more quests at the moment, what are you going to do now?" Kaiya told him.

"Wait." Yamato responded.

To be continued...