FanFic:MHAdvance Chapter 1: Worn Sword

A small, black spore fell from the sky over the Autumn Hills. It had traveled a great distance for a long time, and it had finally arrived at a place bustling with life. As it fell it took note of all of the organisms in its vicinity. Small, blue raptors... soaring crimson wyverns... all useful in their own way. A gust of wind blew it into a small opening in a cliff, and the spore drifted down into the caves, along the beam of light that shined through the crevice. Resting in this sunlight was a white wyvern with flabby skin and visible veins. It wasn't ideal, but it was all the spore had left. The spore landed on the pallid wyvern's skin and began to split into more, and the Khezu was none the wiser. As weeks turned into months, the spores absorbed parts of the Khezu, turning it into an abomination of unknown origin. The Khezu had become mystery meat.

Jack's hammer slammed down on the hot metal blade of his latest client's weapon. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at his father, who was assembling a piece of armor. He glanced back at his glowing hot handiwork. "Okay, now I just have too cool it and it'll be ready." he thought aloud. His father glanced back at him and the blade, then went back to work. "Good job, kid. That's a thousand more zenny in the bank." He said, intently sewing the softer armor. Jack placed the Great Sword into a large wooden trough of water, watching as steam rose from the cooling station.

As the blade began to cool, Jack had a thought. Yes, the Armory made good money… over time. But if he was to become a hunter, he could make a lot of money quickly. It was a relatively stable job if you were agile enough to dodge. This wasn’t the first time he had considered becoming a hunter. He had told his father twice before, and both times his father didn’t object. Instead, he pointed out that Jack would give it up because he was afraid. And he was right; Jack had applied to the Guild both times, but withdrew his application days later, out of fear…

“Jack! You’re supposed to cool the blade, not bathe it!” His father cut in, snapping him back to reality. Jack apologized and took the blade out of the trough, still thinking about applying to the Guild… again. Jack’s father looked at the plan for the armor piece he was working on, examining the materials the piece required. “Hmm… Jack?” he asked. “It looks like we need more iron and Thunderbugs.” Jack sighed. “You want to send me gathering? But I went two days ago…” he complained. This was true, but the Armory had had a recent spike in the demand of metallic armors.

Jack shook his head and started to gather his supplies. “Dad… I’ve been thinking about-“ His father cut him off. “You want to apply to the Guild again. I know. You mumble about it under your breath.” Jack seemed surprised that his father had caught all of the times he had talked about the matter with himself. “Look, I’m not going to stop you from applying. But this time, there is something I will stop you from doing.” His father said. Jack looked at him attentively and asked what he couldn’t do. “Withdraw your application. If you really want to become a hunter, you need to be brave and accept the danger of the job.” His father said. Jack pondered this for a moment.

If he applied, he wouldn’t be able to go back to normal until he retired. As he picked up his item pouch and strapped his pickax and bug net to his back, he looked at his father, at the armory, and his home. They weren’t very poor, but they worked far too much. Days and nights working on weapons and armor... He smiled and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from the Armory’s front desk as he headed off into the Verdant Hills.

As he walked, he wrote out his application. He may not have a lot going for him right now, but it’s rare to have a hunter go into the Guild with prior experience with monster hunting. He put the same details he had written previously onto the application, then put the paper in his bag.

After about an hour of walking, he finally reached the base camp, where he stopped to rest for a few minutes before continuing. Near the cliffs to the south, he could hear a crackling sound, like static electricity. He didn’t think much of it. There were plenty of monsters that use the power of lighting to fight, and most of them tend to keep to themselves. He got up and walked into the open field that led to the cliffs.

The field1 was large, with part of the area surrounded by a rocky ledge, and the other bordered by a river that led into the ‘Wild Zone’ of the Verdant Hills. Aptonoth grazed on the taller grasses growing in the field, while a herd of Kelbi drank from the river. Then there was a rock. The rock was surrounded by insects of different shapes and sizes. Jack approached the rock and checked for Thunderbugs. As he found some, he plucked them from the rock and out them in his bag. He continued to the cliffs.

The electric sounds were closer now, and they were clearly coming from the Wild Zone. Jack looked out over the dense woods below him, checking for whatever monster could be making such strange noises. After five minutes of inactivity, he gave up and went to the next insect gathering spot; a sap hole in a tree. As he approached, the insects eating the sap attempted to flee. But some of them got stuck in the goop. As Jack looked through the sap for Thunderbugs, the mysterious electric monster began to silently climb up the cliff. It had dispersed its electric charge to become silent, and it stealthily climbed with its spiky forelimbs and feet.

Jack had just finished collecting when the mystery beast reached the top of the cliff. It hung on the edge, watching Jack for a few moments before deciding he was easy prey. Its charge gathered back up quickly, surging through its comb, wings, and tail. As Jack stood up, he noticed a Vespoid approaching him, stinger ready. He prepared a poison smoke bomb, but was surprised when an arc of green lighting hit the bug and caused it to explode. Jack stood, confused. “Did that Vespoid just… explode? On its own?” he pondered aloud. He closed his eyes and turned around, scratching his head. The thunderous monster saw that its prey had let its guard down, and it launched itself up the ledge and cruised towards Jack.

At the last second, Jack looked back, and saw the charging monster. He instinctively rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding the monster’s jaws and spiny wings. Both he and monster were crumpled against a ledge that had the entrance to the Wyvern Cliffs at the top. As Jack and the monster recovered, Jack got a good look at this aggressive wyvern. As soon as he identified it, fear shot through his body. It was an Astalos, the Electric Rebel.

Sensing that his life was in danger, Jack began to climb the ledge while the Astalos was still trying to stand up. All he had to do was lose the Astalos, then he could run back to the village and they could call in an actual hunter. He hoisted himself up and dashed towards the Wyvern Cliffs, tossing his pickax and bug net. They only slowed him down, but now all he had was a tiny bag with no supplies.

As he ran into the small, open area at the base of the Wyvern Cliffs, he could hear the Astalos behind him. But the monster was much faster than he anticipated. It flew over his head and crashed into the cliff, making it unstable in a single hit. It stood up, stunned, while Jack started making the climb up the cliff. As he climbed, some of the ledges began to break off and fall. Somehow, the Astalos evaded the falling debris and continued the pursuit.

Jack vaulted himself over the ledge of the Wyvern Nest, and slid across the ground, cutting himself on rocks and broken bones. Eventually he stops next to a hunter’s skeleton. As Jack looked at the skeleton in horror, the Astalos entered the nest. Jack had been cornered.

The wyvern gazed at Jack menacingly. It believed it had him right where it wanted him. It began to slowly approach, opening its jaws wider and wider while Jack searched frantically for something, anything to defend himself with. He looked at the hunter’s skeleton again, and he noticed something. On one arm, the skeleton had an incredibly rusty shield, and in the other hand, a rusted sword. Together, they looked like the standard Hunter’s Knife. Jack quickly picked up the weapons and guarded, but this didn’t deter the Astalos. Rather, it made it angry that this puny mammal would dare defy it.

The Astalos roared and charged Jack, while surrounding itself in electric energy. Jack also charged, shield forwards, sword ready to slash. He was afraid, but he had to protect himself. As they clashed, Jack’s weapon bounced of the Astalos’ head with a dull thunk, while the Astalos’ attack was deflected by the shield. They slid past each other, ending up on opposite sides of the area. Jack’s shield arm was injured in the clash, but it wasn’t broken. Jack quickly turned around and prepared for a quick attack from the Astalos, but the Astalos was standing still, looking away from him. When it turned around, it looked dazed. Suddenly, a crimson thunderbolt zipped across the Astalos’ face, like a sword’s slash. The bolt seemingly cut the carapace that Jack’s weapon had hit clean in half.

Jack smiled a little bit, and charged again. This time, he hit the Astalos while it was stunned, slashing at the spines of its wing. Of course, the actual sword was deflected, but the little bolt sliced the spines clean off. The Astalos attempted to bite Jack, but Jack countered with a shield bash, then a subsequent slash to the eye area with his sword. Once again, the bolt cut across the wyvern’s face, destroying its eye and the area around it. The Astalos wailed terribly, and its cry could be heard all the way in Kokoto. In the village, people gathered and watched the peak where the fight was taking place. The Astalos grabbed Jack in its tail and began to crush him. But the shield provided enough room for Jack to wiggle from the wyvern’s grip. He dropped to the ground, but the Astalos attacked quickly again, slamming Jack with its crest. Jack struggled to stand up, and when he did, the Astalos hopped up on one leg and kicked at Jack, ripping two gashes across his chest. Blood seeped into Jack’s clothing, but he stayed alive. With one final slash, he attacked the elbow joint of the Astalos’ already de-spined wing. The Astalos let out a terrible roar and dropped a single tear. The wyvern slammed Jack into a wall with its broken wing and limped away. As it flew out of the nest, it released a bright teal electric blast, signaling the end of the fight. The village was in awe, especially Jack’s father.

Jack stood up, crippled. With the weapon in hand, he began limping back to the village. But as he stumbled, he had to wonder. “What is with this sword?” It was so dull, but still so powerful... Once he reached the village, it was nearly the middle of the night, and still his father was working the Armory. Jack stood at the village’s exit to the Verdant Hills and collapsed from exhaustion.

Chapter Notes
The Wyvern Cliffs is the area where you can gather spiderwebs in the Verdant Hills. Sometimes there are Mosswine or Velociprey here.

Also, a note on Jack's Worn Sword, it is more powerful than the usual Worn Sword in the games. I made it this way to show the sword's latent power, since he will eventually get the Divine Insodus.