Monster Hunter World: Monsters and Magic

by Blackdrag-rose

Into the Coral Highlands

After taking some time to make absolutely sure that no one was harmed from the siege, and made a note of how much of their supplies had been used to try and slow down Zorah Magdaros, Grogar and the others returned to Astera, where he, Sherry, and the leaders of the Commission gathered around the council table as all of the Hunters and Researchers went back to their respective stations.

"All right everyone, gather around. Let's get this council session underway." Shepard said, where he raised his voice to make sure everyone that was important for one of these discussions gathered around the table for a short period of time, while he could see that Grogar was thinking about something, making him wonder what happened when Nergigante showed up to stop them from capturing Zorah Magdaros, "First, I want to hear your reports before we move forward. Where do we stand now that the operation is over?"

"As much as I don't like it admit it, we lost track of the Elder Dragon after it breached the Great Ravine's wall," Callus replied, something that caused Grogar to raise his eyebrow for a moment as he thought about it, though he trusted what the Analytics Director was saying, especially since he and the others had more experience than he did in this field, before he let out a sigh, "however, there's a chance that we can pick up it's trail on the other side of the wall, so we might be able to salvage the situation we're currently in."

"I've actually got a bit of good news from the field team, as they reported tectonic movement in the area," Johnson added, which made sense due to the fact that Zorah Magdaros was capable of traveling underground, so the breach it made must have due to it traveling under the earth that had been blocking it's way, where he let a light smile appear on his face, "and there's a fissure between us and the Coral Highlands, an area that Alexia told us about in her travels, which we haven't been able to get to since it was discovered."

"Honestly, there's no point in trying to follow the Elder Dragon's trail," Betty remarked, as she had taken stock of what was in their provisions and materials after the operation had been completed, where Grogar could tell that Shepard's plan to capture Zorah Magdaros had cost Astera greatly, all while she focused on the Commander, "because we exhausted most of our supplies during the operation, and to try again is folly... even if we caught up with it, well, we wouldn't be able to pull off anything of that scale again."

"I knew I was asking for a lot, when I proposed the idea to all of you, but this is more than I expected," Shepard admitted, where he stared at all of them for a time, knowing that he would get to Grogar and his odd silence, because something must have happened when Nergigante showed up, before he considered what they were going to do about supplies, an idea that he usually didn't come up with, "We'll have to send a ship to the guild... I know, I know, the seas are rough and the skies are harsh, but we'll have to send one out eventually. We cannot move forward without notifying the Guild as to what is going on in the New World. Captain, can we count on you?"

The Captain was someone Grogar had only seen while he was traveling with the rest of the Fifth Fleet, who preferred to wear no shirt, a pair of pants with a few pouches containing his tools, and a bandana with some goggles on his forehead, though based on what he had seen the man was one of the best captains they had.

"Never you worry, sir." the Captain replied, his tone revealing that he was confident in his abilities, where Grogar was sure that he wasn't lying and that he would be able to do anything he set his mind to, before he glanced at the sea that Astera was build near and let a smile appear on his face, "I've been watching the sea churn for awhile now and waiting for my chance to tame her again, so once an opening reveals itself I'll head out and report to the Guild."

"Good, then while you do that we'll focus on tracking down our missing Elder Dragon," Shepard said, where he turned his attention to Grogar, who had been silent since he called for the council meeting to be held, and he was interested in what their comrade had to say on the matter, especially since his powers were important to their current investigation, "Grogar, what happened when Nergigante showed up during our operation?"

"How do I put this... Nergigante, she, well, told me to get out of her way... I believe she was after Zorah Magdaros, who just ignored us as he smashed the barriers apart." Grogar replied, though as he said that he found a number of people staring at him like he had said something that offended everything they knew, causing him to worry for a few moments as Sherry looked at them as well, "Um, did I say something wrong?"

"Nergigante... you said it was female?" Wingert asked, as the little Wyverian had been silent as he listened to what all of them had to say, creating his own thoughts on the matter as he waited for the conversation to be over, but this point was something that made him talk, when he wanted to be silent, and Grogar nodded his head, "That's not good... that might mean that the Nergigante that's been bothering the Commission for years is another one and, more importantly, there might be two of them out there."

"We'll worry about that in due time, since she's bound to show up if we find Zorah Magdaros," Shepard said, though while he knew that they called Nergigante either 'it' or 'he', as the latter seemed appropriate at the time, he was rather accepting of the fact that Grogar was able to hear the voices of the monsters and determined what gender they were, as his power was unlike anything else, "Anyway, in the morning you, Sherry, and Patches will head into the fissure that Zorah Magdaros created and see if you can't pick up the trail, while we coordinate the other Hunters to make sure the Ancient Forest and the Wildspire Waste weren't thrown out of balance due to him moving underground. You three will give us an idea of the monsters and obstacles that are on the other side of the fissure, possibly even locate the remains of the Third Fleet, and help us figure out which direction we need to move in next."

As Grogar and Sherry acknowledged their orders, that they were being given some time to rest before doing anything else, Shepard said the usual saying as he ended their council meaning, which was 'May the Sapphire Star light your way', and all of them were free to do whatever they wanted. Sherry, as he discovered, didn't want to say anything to him, not about the statement that he cut off due to the council call yesterday, but she was overly eager to see what was on the other side of the fissure, something he shared since they had no idea what was contained in the Coral Highlands, as Alexia apparently didn't believe in sharing information. He assumed that it had to be due to the fact that no one else would have been able to join her on the other side, as there were no camps or anything, or maybe she just wanted to keep the information all to herself, but he decided not to worry about the Advanced Wyvarian's decision, as he'd figure everything out in no time, of that he was sure. Other than that nothing seemed to change for him and his partner, other than the fact that many were surprised that he had been able to hold off Nergigante until the Huntsman arrived to chase him off, or rather her when he told them the truth, but it seemed to be information lost on the others as they cheered for his victory.

In the end they simply humored everyone else, enjoying some food and rest while they were at it, before retiring to their quarters, as heading into an unknown area and seeing what the dangers of the area were meant they had to be rested, especially since he had a feeling that they were going to be attacked by someone in the very near future.

---

When morning arrived Grogar, Sherry, and Patches rose to meet it, where they had breakfast like normal and made sure all of their gear was ready for whatever might be waiting for them in the Coral Highlands, as Alexia didn't like to talk about what she knew, and soon enough they traveled out to the Great Ravine with their Barnos. What they discovered was that there was a massive hole in the ground where Zorah Magdaros punched a hole through the mountain wall, one that went deep based on what they could see from the air, though they landed near a path that lined one of the earthen walls, which lead right to the fissure. Once the three of them landed Grogar kept his magic at the ready, as while there were no foes in the Great Ravine he had no idea what Sherry would do, as she was prone to being attacked and accidents might happen near her, but most of his attention was on the sheer power of the Elder Dragon they had tried to capture, a foolish plan as he had said previously, and it only made him wonder what else the massive beast could do. The sheer destruction made him think about the power that Nergigante wielded, as she was a brute who smashed anything and anyone that got in her way, while Zorah Magdaros was able of messing with the tectonic plates and smashing through mountains, which made him wonder what else the other Elder Dragons were capable of.

It took some time, but they eventually reached the fissure and passed through it, making their way to the Coral Highlands with ease, causing the trio to stop as they stared out at the massive area that was in front of them, as it looked like they were staring at a place that looked like it belonged at the bottom of the ocean. He understood why Alexia called this place the 'Coral' Highlands, as there hundreds of coral creations all over this new region, as everything from the platforms right in front of them to the highest point, from the trees to the very ground of this amazing place, was made out of coral, how he had no idea and it made him more interested in learning about this place. There were steep cliffs all over the place, as he was expecting to find when he thought about the 'highland' portion of the name, while he found something interesting that caused him to pause a little, there was a lower section that seemed to be far darker than what they were seeing, like there was a fourth region to the New World. There was some sort of twisted green substance on the lowest sections of all the coral they were looking at, which had to come from the fourth section, and as he glanced down there he could have sworn that he saw something red flash through the area, moving at a fast speed, meaning there was a monster that both he and Patches would have to face at some point.

As he glanced at the area Sherry mentioned something about 'racing' him and started to jump across the platforms, which caused Grogar and Patches to follow after her, especially when something flew through the air and he found that it was a flying monster, a large one that was nearly the size of a Rathian, with leaf-like wingtips and stripped patterns, while the head had antenna shaped fins on it's head. Grogar could see that the monster was flying around at an alarming speed and was focused on his partner, though as they dropped down near Sherry the newcomer opened it's wings and loosed a lot of icy wind in their direction for a few seconds, like it was trying to blow them away. What actually happened was that the coral ground they were standing on cracked and shattered below his hooves, causing them to fall through the air, down into the depths of the area, to which Grogar sent his magic out and latched onto his companions, bringing them close to where he was located. In the following seconds he summoned a sphere of energy around them as fast as he could, which protected them as they smashed into the ground and pierced it, breaking through the coral ground as they passed into an area that looked like it was rotting, as he was sure that they passed by some bones as they fell through the air.

A few moments later they smashed into the ground and he was fortunate that he had reinforced the bottom of the barrier before that happened, as it came to a stop in a rotting area that looked far more dangerous than what they had been in a few moments ago, and right now he kept the barrier up as he surveyed the surrounding area. Something was out there, watching them with some interest, that much he could tell by listening to everything that was around them, and he could confirm that as he found a pair of piercing blue eyes staring at them from the odd substance that was in the air, before he spotted a second set close to the first set. He couldn't see what form the monsters took, as the substance was preventing such a thing from happening, though they were smart enough to see that he was protecting himself and his companions with his barrier, though there was no telling how long he would last in this dangerous situation. Grogar also noticed that Sherry was knocked out, as she had hit her head against the hastily created barrier he had first set up, and Patches was getting back up as he glanced at the monsters that were waiting for him to make a mistake and lower the barrier, so that meant they were between a rock and a hard place.

As he considered his limited options, as it was either lower the barrier and charge at the pair of monsters or continue to use his magic until the monsters departed from the area, a feminine figure appeared moved off to his left, who looked like she was a Hunter with some modified clothing, given a mask in front of her face and goggles in front of her eyes, and she seemed to move towards his barrier, causing him to carefully open part so she could get in.

"Well, I wasn't expecting to find other people in the Rotten Vale," the lady said, her comment showing that she didn't care about the fact that Grogar was able to use magic, meaning she was either someone who visited Astera a lot and he hadn't seen her before or Alexia had told her all about him and his magical abilities, "but it seems like you've got some unwanted attention... I know a path out of here, as it's off to our right. Think you can make a way for us to use it, without drawing the monsters to us?"

"Yeah, as long as you carry Sherry for me... oh, and don't look my way for a few moments," Grogar replied, where Patches understood what he had planned and the lady, despite having no idea, nodded her head as she picked Sherry up, though once he was sure they were ready, and both of his conscious companions were facing the other way, he launched a spell into the space in front of him, opening the barrier enough as he closed his eyes.

It was the Solar Flare spell he had used against the Barroth earlier, where the sounds of two figures growling in pain was his cue to leave, something that was followed by him, Patches, and their new friend rushing over to the opening and used it to head back up to the Coral Highlands, where Grogar followed her to wherever her base happened to be located, all while curious as to what the future held for them.