Western Danger Zone, New World
A child covered in some sort of leather armor could be seen trudging through the snow with a sword-like weapon strapped to his back. Following what seemed to be some sort of trail, he arrived at the mouth of a cave. Consuming a Hot Drink to keep himself warm, he entered the cave.
Following the tracks deeper into it, inside he found a large, Iguana-like creature with white skin, a grey underside, dread-lock-like hair, and a fat, bulging stomach that it dragged around on the ice ground.
´An albino Great Jagras, and they said I'd gone insane!´ looking further, i spot a ditch in the open area, with seemingly 4 eggs inside. ´Jackpot, il be set till the next year with these´ I thought to myself, though a part of me did lament killing a parent and selling its children, I had to survive myself as well. ´as Dad always says, never hesitate, never show merci and never yield. Hunt and kill, till you are hunted and killed, that's our cycle.´
Grabbing some green glowing moss, I clumped it into a small egg shape and loaded my slinger, aiming for the beast's eyes. Firing it and hitting my mark, I deashed in whilst drawing my weapon, and went for its neck. ´tsk, too shallow! dam that old coot, I told him we need proper sharpening stones, not just some random rocks!´ repositioning myself as I dodged the creature's attempt to squash me with its stomach, I started hacking away at its sides. `if you can't kill it in one strike, bleed it dry.´ by the time it got the moss of its eyes, I had dealt a few dozen shallow cuts across its skin and tail.
Waiting for the beast to telegraph its next move, it rolled away from me and did something I'd never seen a Jagras do. it regurgitated its food and shot it at me as a hail of projectiles! rolling away, I still got hit in the shoulder, leaving it numb. not to mention the bile and spit it covered me in.
"alright you cunt, you owe me a new armor, brrr fucking frost blight!?." ´shit it's trying to freeze me with its vomit, best make sure not to get hit by that again.´ I think as I quickly consume a null beery.
Taking a step back, I pulled my weapon back over my shoulder and aimed for its head. Whilst slashing down I pulled the trigger on the handle, which was then followed by the sound of several clinks from my creation.
The Pride, Joy, and Symbol of the Dark Hunters: the Hunting Whip. As the blade separated into segments and the tip was about to hit the Monster, I cracked the whip at the beast's head, stunning and defining the creature.
As it lay there prone, I started whip-lashing at its stomach, only to realize that contrary to its green counterpart, its underside was extremely hardened and tough. ´shit, this explains how it can drag its stomach across the ice and sharp rocks.`
As the creature got back to its senses, it roared at me, after which it once again tried to spit at me with whatever poor creature it had as eaten. Wielding the hunting whip to block its last supper, I realized that its stomach has returned to normal, and it looked pissed. The next second it charged at me with incredible speed. ´it's gotten faster.´ I think before dodging to the right taking a bite of some rations to regain my stamina, and loading a flash bomb.
The Albino Great Jagras, probably a Subspecies, turns around and tries to bite me again, which it then follows up with a flurry of claw strikes which graze me. realizing that the space between us is too short, I release the trigger on the whip, which causes its iron segments to click back into a blade. trying to slash its head again, I get in a few more cuts, as does the beast, before the thing decides to headbutt me, knocking me away. I barely manage to roll away before it tries to squash me. Realizing that I need to sharpen and heal up, I launch my flash bomb at its head and close my eyes right before the big flash. Taking the moment of it being blinded I dash behind a rock and drink the hunter's best friend, a Mega Potion. then I take out the poor excuse of a sharpening stone and try my best to sharpen the edge of my weapon.
Rolling out from behind the rock, I realized the Jagras had recovered its eyesight and was searching for me. Locking on to his wounded tail, I unsnap my hunter whip and start lashing at it. every time it tries to turn towards me, I strafe back to its side, the range of my extended whip far surpassing the beasts. once I saw the beast tire and try to catch its breath, I went in for the sever. I let my whip snare around its tail, before releasing the trigger and yanking it back toward me. The sound of flesh being severed, and sawed, and the Monsters shrieks of pain were then followed by both the snapping of the whip segments, and the thud of its tail falling to the ground.
´Heh, that should prove that old coot Barley wrong´ Smirking to myself for a second I focused back on the monster in pain and went in to put it out of its misery. circling its desperate strike and striking at its head with stabs and slashes, I found myself close to the back end of the cave and had an idea to end this fight. disengaging from it I ran up the wall and jumped onto its back. with a final surge of fury and pain, it tried to shake me off whilst I stabbed at it with my serrated knife. Once it got too tired to shake me off, I stood before its head and unlinked my whip again, letting it curl around its neck. With one final pull, I both damaged its spine a cut its throat. Jumping off I looked at its falling form as the sound of it collapsing echoed with its dying scream.
´well, all things considered, that went well.´ taking a look at the monster's form, I could only imagine the kind of pain it must have felt in its last moments. "sigh, no lamenting for the dead, better carve it quickly before too much of it deteriorates, than nab the eggs and head back to th-" that's when I felt it, the shiver at my back. no, it was more than just a shiver, it was a breath down my spine
spinning whilst stepping back to draw my weapon, I found myself back at the outpost, in flame. "how, I was jus-" That's when my instincts went haywire, telling me to dodge. I leaped onto the ground just in time to feel something bearly missing me. I scrambled back to my feet only to realize I was all of a sudden in a pool of blood. everyone from the outlook was there, mauled to death in some sort of corpse mount. "finally, a worthy Hunt!" I heard an all too familiar voice shouting as I turned around where I saw the figure of my old man, and the next second his entire torso was missing.
" This, this can't be real. what the hel-" I couldn't finish the sentence, my voice refused to come out. looking at my hand, I realized that I was shaking, that I was afraid. the fire, the corpses and the outpost were all gone, and I was back in the cave, alone. ´no, I'm not alone´ Then I felt it again, the breath down my spine, slowly turning, I saw it. Yellow dead eyes staring back into mine. what followed was the sound of flesh tearing, I saw its wing arm split open into a mouth with rows of teeth. the last thing I remember are those dead yellow eyes and the black crown atop the demon's head before everything went black.
------
"ARGH! huf huf huf, shit. every time." I woke up, finding myself somewhere unknown and gasping for air. I couldn't think too long before I heard the unknown voice of a young girl.
"You're finally awake, you looked like you had a bad dream." the black-haired girl said looking at me strangely through the bars.
´why is she behind bar- oh, I'm the one behind bars, shit.´ "not a dream, just a bad memory. you wouldn't happen to be kind enough to tell me where I am, and mayhaps let me out of this cage?"
"You're in Astera, and no, I'm not that kind." she said before sticking out her tongue and skipping outside to call for someone.
´sigh, figures. Astera huh? So I'm caught.´ once again I wasn't given much time to think before three hunters stepped into the hall outside of my cage.
"so the rat is finally awake huh? you've got a lot of talking to do, Poacher." one of them said with clear venom in their tone whilst looking at the mark on the right of my face.