//------------------------------// // Tempest and Flame // Story: Monster Hunter World: Monsters and Magic // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// In the end Grogar decided that the first Elder Dragon he would deal with would be the Kushala Daora, a beast that held the power to command the wind itself, though before he headed out he made sure he knew what he was getting into, since his next couple of foes would be some of the strongest foes he would ever face. The wyvern in question was said to have a metallic skin, meaning it had a high level of defense that might be on the level of Zorah Magdaros' hard shell, which told him he would have to channel Nergigante's power to even have a chance. He also had his magic to fall back on, though out of all the elements he could pick from he knew fire wouldn't be the best, as fire and wind being used against each other didn't work that well, even though together they would pack quite the punch. The tomes also said that it had large wings that were connected to its body at the base of its tail, it had two horns in addition to the spikes that ran down the spine, and some of the Hunters claimed it had visible wind streaming around the body, making it an incredibly hard creature to beat. As he finished his quick refresher on his chosen target, and closed the tomes on Kushala Daora, he found Ava and Sherry walking towards him, which meant they had to know what he was doing and might be coming to talk with him, so he stayed in his seat since he suspected they would be talking for a little while. "You're going to try talking to it, aren't you?" Sherry asked, as she knew more about Grogar after talking to the rest of Astera, since she needed to know what Ava had done during her time impersonating her, so she understood his base power, the ability to talk to and understand monsters. "While I have become stronger through fighting, I'd rather see if I can convince the Elder Dragons not to wreck the regions of the New World," Grogar replied, due to the fact that being beaten by Nergigante, and tanking Zorah Magdaros' attack, had awakened his inner fighting spirit, though he still wanted to see if he could convince the other Elder Dragons not to do whatever it was that was on their minds at this moment, before a small spark danced over his fingers, "however, consider the fact that almost all of the other Elder Dragons have been aggressive and don't listen to me... well, I'm sure that we're going to clash at some point, starting with Kushala Daora." "Still, it will be a tough fight, considering who your opponents will be." Ava said, because they knew what two of the three Elder Dragons were capable of, since Vaal Hazak seemed to be fairly new for the Commission, though at the same time there was one other piece of information that they hadn't considered just yet, "Especially when you consider that two of the three Elder Dragons are supposedly back in the Elder's Recess... you'll have to be careful, as there's a chance that you might invade the territory of the one you don't initially pick." "Start with Kushala Daora and end up enraging Teostra, or start with Teostra and tick off Kushala Daora," Grogar said, as he hadn't considered that option when he decided to start with the wyvern who controlled the wind, where he sighed for a moment as he considered what might happen in the Elder's Recess, the potential disaster that might be waiting for him if he made a misstep, "either way, you're right, this is going to be hard." Ava and Sherry glanced at each other for a moment, as it was rare for Grogar to admit that someone was right about one of the topics they were talking about, though he regained himself before getting up, as he knew that none of the other Hunters in Astera were interested in facing off against an Elder Dragon. With that in mind Grogar opened his wings for a moment and took to the air once more, where he angled himself accordingly and headed for the Elder's Recess again, all while his companions followed after him so they could make sure the camp was ready for him, in case he needed it after finding his targets. One thing he thought about was the fact that Nergigante hadn't returned yet, meaning she had likely found something and wasn't able to return or maybe she ditched them, it was hard to tell with her sometimes, hence why he focused on what he would find in the region he was heading towards. While he knew that his fight with Nergigante, and all of the power that was displayed in that instance, might have caused the Elder Dragons to flee from the area, there was also the fact that there might be something else, related to the crystals, so once the others had been calmed down he had figure out what else might have caused this event to happen. He paused for a moment when he reached his destination, just to be sure Ava and Sherry were fine, before heading out as he sought out his targets, finding a track that headed down into the fiery section and one that headed up into the higher section, both Elder Dragon tracks, and he sensed no other monsters in the area. Grogar knew what this was, the return of the Elder Dragons had caused the others to hide, so they didn't ensure the wrath of the mightiest beasts in this world, though he made his decision and headed upward, where he found his way to what looked like a field of small crystals and landed on the edge of it. Sure enough things happened after he touched down, as the wind reacted and started to spin, a number of smaller fragments being lifted up and being used to smash some of the larger ones into fragments, to which he summoned a magical barrier around him. It was a good move since something sent the pieces at him from above, so the barrier tanked the attack and protected him, meaning he didn't have to be even slightly worried about being turned into swiss cheese, while also allowing him to see that he was trapped inside a tempest, meaning Kushala Daora was approaching. As soon as he thought about that Grogar noticed something was coming and he tossed himself out of the way, meaning his foe had missed taking him out, before a few wind blasts slammed down into the center of the tempest and knocked him away. With that done a pair of wings spread out and the tempest disappeared, revealing a large dragon creature, since the wings weren't linked to the beast's arms, Grogar could see the metallic sheen of the beast's body, and even what could be a bit of rust on the nose, confirming that Kushala Daora had found him. "Kushala Daora! I don't want to fight you, I merely want to tal..." Grogar started to say, though before he could finish his statement the Elder Dragon gathered some of its power and blasted the area he was standing in with his wind power, a fact that explained what it had done previously, and he had to dodge it before turning towards his foe, "OKay, if that's how you want it, than so be it." In that moment he gathered both his magic and his monster abilities, as he suspected he would need the powers he had gathered since awakening his power to stay alive, while at the same time preparing a wind spell, because he wanted to be sure of something before he got serious. Kushala Daora controlled the wind, the Scholars and Researchers agreed on that fact, but his magic already allowed him to do things that surprised everyone else and made him wonder if he could use a few wind spells to even the odds against this Elder Dragon. If it worked he might have the key to bringing down his foe, in a quicker fashion than he had been expecting, though if it failed he would have to fall back on the information he found in the tomes he had been researching, that this beast was weak to lightning and dragon attacks. Grogar also found out one other thing, this Kushala Daora, from the roar that sounded, was male and definitely didn't like someone intruding on his territory, even though he was studying him right now, deciding what his next move was while Grogar did the same thing, once more displaying the intelligence of an Elder Dragon. With that in mind Grogar focused on enhancing his legs with the power of an Odogaron while changing his wings for those from a Rathalos, allowing him to burst through the air as he reached his foe's backside, where he gathered his magic and loosed a crescent of wind energy that rushed at his foe, even though it didn't make it thanks to the wind barrier that his foe created, confirming that he couldn't use that element here. That told him that wind was useless and he knew that fire was already out of the question, given his research on the topic, so he would have to fall back on lightning to damage his foe, though if he wanted to take the easy way out he could use the power of Nergigante to cancel Kushala Daora's abilities for a time. As he thought about that his foe loosed a blast right at the ground and created another powerful tempest, or maybe it was a whirlwind, which knocked Grogar backwards for a moment and forced him to regain himself as his foe closed the distance and swung his claws down at him, forcing him to raise his arms and block it. Since he was fighting an Elder Dragon it only made sense to channel the defensive power of Zorah Magdaros, which made his body far tougher than it normally was and prevented foes from cutting him down with ease, which caused his foe to pause for a moment as he realized that his attack had been stalled. That was all the time he needed as he gathered some of his magic and blasted his foe right in the chest with a Lightning Bolt, which was mostly to knock him backwards and confirm that Kushala Daora was weak to lightning, which allowed him to confirm that his plan might work out well. His plans, however, were immediately dashed as his foe gathered the power of wind around him and swung his wings in his direction, releasing a torrent of wind that slammed into him and knocked him through the air, sending him down into the depths of the lava section of the Elder's Recess. Fortunately he was using Zorah Magdaros' power and that meant he was able to stave off the heat for a time, though as he landed, and started to pick himself up, he heard a growl and turned his head for a moment, as right behind him was none other than the fiery red furred leonine monster, who had a grand mane, large fangs, a pair of horns that curved backwards, and a set of red wings that were covered in fur. Kushala Daora had, either intentionally or by accident, sent him right into the fiery lair of the Teostra, who glared at him for a moment as he flared his wings, showing that he was aggressive and that he wouldn't stand for Grogar being here, even if it was purely by accident. He attempted to raise his hands for a moment, to show that he didn't mean to be here and that he meant no offense by being knocked into this area, though he didn't have a chance to complete his motion as the Elder Dragon stood there and roared, calling upon the power of fire to set what were essentially landmines around his molten area, which was Grogar's cue to leave as he flared his wings and departed. What he intended was to flee from the Teostra, so he could focus on the Kushala Daora, though as he emerged from the molten area he found that he was wrong about something else, as his second foe tore through the passage that lead to his lair and seemed to be following Grogar, meaning when he found the wind wyvern the fiery lion caught up with him and it because a three way battle between the three of them. Ava and Sherry observed as a violent blast shook part of the upper reaches of the Elder's Recess, as they had moved close to the battle area to see what was going on and Ava had moved them higher than where Kushala Daora rested, though as they said earlier there was a chance that Grogar would run into the Teostra as well. Sure enough he was knocked into that area and emerged with another Elder Dragon on his tail, so the series of blasts they were seeing, as there were more than just one, were caused by Teostra's flames clashing with Kushala Daora's wind. Grogar, as they expected, was caught right in the middle of the two Elder Dragons and was clearly using their weaknesses against them, throwing bolts of lighting at Kushala Daora and freezing the area as he reached for Teostra, both clashing with his spells without much of a care in the world. The sheer power of them fighting was tearing the area around them apart, as if three Elder Dragons were fighting at the moment, and Ava found that she didn't want to get involved in this, not with everything that was going on as Grogar fought to calm down the two powerful beasts. In the end, however, she and Sherry watched as Grogar, despite the power his foes were throwing at him, encased both of the Elder Dragons in ice and left their heads bare, forcing them to submit to his might, even though he had expanded a fair bit of his power to calm them down, and with that done he left them to thaw as he returned to the camp, so he could rest and ready himself for whatever the last Elder Dragon had to offer him.