Monster Hunter World: Monsters and Magic

by Blackdrag-rose

A Colossal Task

Grogar found that Shepard and the others gave him the rest of the afternoon, and the night, to rest and recover for what they had planned, allowing him to regain all of his mana reserves, which he was thankful for since there was no telling what was going to happen in the near future. Once he was up he walked out and joined the others in doing whatever needed to be done to ensure that they were ready for Zorah Magdaros, though the first thing Shepard asked him to do was eat, as he needed his strength for this operation. He found that Patches and Sherry, or at least the imposter when he recalled the truth of the matter, were busy moving crates onto the ship that was going to and from the Everstream entrance, allowing everyone else to get things set up ahead of time. At the same time he noticed that the true Sherry was working near their Commander at all times, saying nothing as she aided them in getting everything ready, even though he knew she was staring at the pretender and was silently cursing her for stealing her identity like this.

That was something he would need to figure out at some point, who the other Sherry was and why she had impersonated one of the Commission's members, though as he finished his meal he discovered something weird, Nergigante was in the area, hauling large amounts of wooden beams to the area as well.

"So, did she lend a claw by herself, or did you convince her to help somehow?" Grogar asked, speaking to Shepard as he watched that happen for a few seconds, witnessing the powerful beast lift all of the material into the air before taking off, no doubt making the job somewhat easier for the Commission to do.

"I think she's scouting ahead, looking for Zorah Magdaros... either she wants another fight with you, or she wanted some of the Meowscular Chef's cooking." Shepard replied, where he chuckled for a moment as he noticed the look Grogar gave him, to which he beckoned to the area that he had called the black beast to earlier, allowing him to see that there was a bit of food set out, "He figured that she had to be hungry, as he caught her staring at some of the food earlier and cooked up a storm for her as well, so we might have won over an Elder Dragon with cooking alone... oh, and we decided to categorize Nergigante, both of them, as an Elder Dragon, based on what we've seen so far."

"I see. Well then, is the plan the same as last time?" Grogar inquired, though he was grateful for the information, since he agreed with Nergigante being labeled as an Elder Dragon, but even as he considered that he was curious as to whether or not they would be repeating what happened during the first siege, or if Shepard had come up with another plan to repel the massive beast.

"Yes, we're going to send a team of Hunters onto Zorah Madgaros' back and weak him like we did the last time," Shepard said, though this time they joined the rest of the heads of Astera, save for those who were in the Everstream, setting up for the arrival of Zorah Magdaros, allowing the others to listen to his plan as they waited for one of their scouts to say that the target was in route, "while the rest of our forces are going to fight from the wall we're constructing, not to mention on the boat that the Captain brought with him. Nergigante, well, she can do whatever she wants as long as we keep Zorah Magdaros away from his destination, though you can move however you like, as we need every spell and bit of magic you have to stop him from blasting this island to hell... I'd ask if you could get us more Elder Dragons to help out, but we have no idea where the others are and I'm not sure they'll help us anyway."

"Then this is all we can do." Grogar stated, though he wasn't sure what his magic could do at this point, as while he was strong on his own, and had grown stronger thanks to being sent to a new world, his current level meant nothing when he thought about an Elder Dragon, but, at the same time, he knew that facing a stronger foe was the key to awakening even more of his latent power, like what happened with Nergigante.

It was a gamble, he knew that much, but there was a chance that fighting Zorah Magdaros would awaken another level of power, he just needed to be beaten to within an inch of his life or something, forced to the limit he guessed, which was why it was such a terrible gamble, as Nergigante had nearly killed him during their fight. Given that Zorah Magdaros was in the dying stage of his life, well, there was no guarantee that his power would be weaker than it was when they tried the first siege, so he might not have anything to worry about and the fight itself would bring his power bursting to the surface so he could help save this land. The other option was being wiped out and leaving the fight to Aiden and the others, who he was sure would be able to do it, with enough time and persistence, though he preferred to be alive to see what in the world was going on with his Handler and the imposter. He could see that Shepard understood his thoughts, or maybe he had a better understanding of his abilities after spending some time with him, listening to the stories that were told about what he could do and what he had done, but, in the end, he decided not to worry as he focused on whatever they might face when their target finally showed up.

Unfortunately he didn't have a lot of time to rest as Nergigante burst out of the air and landed in Astera, surprising most of the people that were working right now, though upon seeing her Grogar rushed over to her to see what in the world had happened, even though most of them had an idea of what had happened.

"Nergigante, is it him? Are we out of time?" Grogar asked, because if Zorah Magdaros was approaching the Everstream, a fact he was almost sure of, then they had to leave now and make sure the rest of the defenses were in place, otherwise this was all for nothing and the beast would blast them all to hell.

"Not yet, but he's close to the opening." Nergigante growled, her tone revealing that she either didn't like him or she was only keeping him around so she could kill him later, but, at the same time, she didn't want the land to be blown up by the Elder Dragon they were gathering to defeat, hence why she was beating her wings a little, "Come, we should ready ourselves for battle!"

In that moment Grogar called out to the other Hunters and Commander Shepard, informing them that the time had come at last, before making his way to the new boat, as he knew Nergigante would buck him off and run him into the ground if he tried to ride on her back. After everyone else was aboard the ship, and they were sure nothing was being left behind, Shepard ordered them to depart and they did so without delay, where he and the others watched as Nergigante took off and flew ahead of their ship, heading for the opening. Grogar could hardly believe that this was happening, that he was in agreement with Shepard's crazy plans, maybe because most of the people in this world seemed to be that way, though all of them said nothing as they sailed around the New World, following the directions they were being given so they could reach their destination. As they moved he could see that Sherry and the Imposter were on different parts of the ship, all to make sure neither one of them came into contact with each other until their mission was over, allowing them to focus on facing Zorah Magdaros and, hopefully, stopping it.

It wasn't long before they reached the entrance that lead to where they had been setting up the new barricade, though as they entered the area Grogar found something interesting, the Captain rammed the ship into an opening that happened to be near the barricade, before Shepard turned to face everyone on the vessel.

"All right, let's go over the operation one last time, while we still can. The subterranean tunnels Zorah is using continue deep underground, and this is the only point he'll be above, so we have to push him back here... so I'm breaking out the big guns." Shepard stated, where they had a chance to glance at the molten section of the area they were in, as in just a few seconds at most, before Grogar felt the ship shift, something that caused him to glance over the edge and watch as the front of the ship shifted, turning so the front was facing where Zorah Magdaros was coming from, before it opened up and revealed a massive spike of some kind, "This is the Dragonator, which we'll use in an effort to drive our target out into the open sea, combined with whatever spells Grogar can use, the Hunters that will be sent onto the beast's back, and the power of Nergigante, as odd as that sounds. We have one chance at this, and if we fail the New World will be blasted to hell with the power that rests inside Zorah's body, along with us and everything that calls this place home... so fight with all your might!"

As soon as he finished saying that Nergigante, who had been resting on a stone wall nearby, let out a roar and Grogar took a second to glance down the tunnel, which was breaking up as Zorah Magdaros pushed himself into the section that they were now guarding, causing Shepard to declare that the operation was now underway, causing everyone to move as soon as they noticed the Elder Dragon. Grogar, on the other hand, readied his magic as he leapt down onto the water that was in front of the left side of the ship, using a bit of Levitation to float for a moment before he froze the area around him, all to give him a place to work as he readied the spells he wanted to use. He was going to use the same spell he used back in the Wildspire Waste, Heavenly Ice Fangs, but in addition to that he was planning on preparing and using the final spell that was in that school of magic, one that should be able to do some serious damage to the Elder Dragon, or at least that was his guess at the moment. He knew that the beast's shell was strong, given that nothing they had used before had left any dents on Zorah Magdaros, while figuring that Nergigante had to have the power to tear through the material, but with all of the cards they had stacked in their favor he had to hope that they could smash through the molten defenses and also direct him out into the sea.

Of course he knew that Zorah Magdaros was a molten monster and that there was very little chance of ice spells working on him, but he wanted to be absolutely sure of that before he made his move and switched to some of the water spells he knew, which should work just fine given what they were up against.

While he prepared himself Grogar found that Aiden and the other Hunters were landing on Zorah Magdaros and that they split up to find their targets quickly, instead of one at a time, which was an improvement over what happened during the last siege, now that they had experience in fighting this monster. Of course Nergigante got in on the fun, where she flew all over the place and swung her front claws into her target's face or body, where it looked like she was doing some sort of damage to him, but not nearly enough to slow the molten monster down and turn the tide in their favor. Another thing he noticed was that there were all sorts of stalactites on the ceiling, many of which had what looked like bombs strapped to them, meaning some of the Hunters would be dropping them on Zorah Magdaros, when he was in range of them, so all he did was nod his head a little as he focused on his spells. Other than that everyone else seemed to be gathering on the tall barricade and the ship, getting the cannons and ballistae ready for when their target came within striking range, especially since the Dragonator seemed to be a short range weapon that could only be used when the target was right in front of the area it had been placed in.

Once the first spell was ready Grogar moved his arm, freezing more of the water that was around him, before swinging it towards the massive Elder Dragon, sending out massive spikes of ice at his target, surprising everyone when they saw his spell in action, and sure enough it smashed into his target's chest, but it really didn't do anything but poke the beast since the molten mass melted the ice.

"Of course he'd melt it... I was hoping for some damage, but at least it slowed him down a little." Grogar commented, as he had figured that pure ice would have been useless against a monster like Zorah Magdaros, even though he had a slight vain hope that he might be wrong, before he exhaled for a moment and readied the other spell he had prepared, where it was easy for anyone to see that the water around him was freezing a lot faster than before, "Punishment of the Icy Haze."

The name of this spell, when one watched it in action, was misleading, as there was no haze involved, rather it was using one's skill with magic to bring the area around them to near freezing and then lash out like they had a blade, which could do some serious damage to anything that was struck by it, and sure enough he found a faint gash on Zorah Magdaros' chest, in the pattern he had used. For a moment it looked like he had done something to the monster, the instant attack maybe freezing part of his body and forcing him to go still, though as the seconds ticked by he found that he must have struck the outer shell of the Elder Dragon's tough exterior, as he resumed moving not a few moments later. If it wasn't for the fact that he had to thaw out the area, to avoid damaging himself in the process, he would have chuckled after seeing just how ineffective his spells were, making him wonder if water spells would even have a chance, given the heat that this monster was producing as he walked towards them. As he thought about that, however, he noticed something building in the Elder Dragon's massive body, like he was preparing some sort of attack, and right now he had three targets to pick, as in the barricade, the Dragonator ship, or the icy patch he was currently standing on.

In the following seconds, however, Grogar understood what was going on, Zorah Magdaros was going to release a burst of energy that might level the barricade and the ship, wipe out everyone that was trying to stop him, to which he focused on his magic and a shimmer washed over the area they were defending, before he realized who the main target was, just in time to watch the monster loose his attack. Sure, the barricade and the ship were important targets, in fact they might be able to stop him this time around, now that the Commission knew how to tackle him in a fight, but Zorah Magdaros knew what the real threat was, as his target was him, as the beast deemed him more of a threat than everything else. It showed that this Elder Dragon was far smarter than most of the people he knew gave him credit for, as many assumed he was just a walking volcano and had no idea what he was doing, but this tactic of seemingly focusing on the other targets and then playing his hand was a smart move. All he could do, as his magic thawed the area he was in, was summon up a spell that he had gleamed from his brief encounters with the centaur called Tirek, a dark spell that mimicked the absorption power that he was known for, which he poured his magic into so he could deal with the incoming blast from the monster that wanted him dead.

The searing heat from the attack was enough to burn away most of the area he had created, with his magic keeping his body safe from being harmed, all while his spell latched onto the attack and stalled it, forcing Grogar to do what Tirek did when he drained the magic of his victims, causing an explosion to rock the area he was in as he was knocked backwards, into the side of the large ship. His body was in pain, just like what happened when he faced Nergigante the first time, and he was sure that if he hadn't cast that spell he would have been killed for real, though all he could do right now was float in the water as he heard some explosions, finding that the stalactites had been dropped on the Elder Dragon, likely Aiden and everyone else trying to stop Zorah Magdaros. Grogar was sure that he could hear Sherry calling out to him from the deck of the ship, though which one wasn't important, given that the real one was keeping herself hidden as she waited for this mission to be over. Nergigante, from what he could tell, didn't care about him right now and was more interested in fighting Zorah Magdaros, again like she was trying to smash through his shell and get at his bioenergy, either to defuse the walking bomb they were facing or devour it for her own gain.

In the following moment a surge of power pulsed through his body, the energy of the attack he had absorbed, where he pulled himself up and stared at his target as the primal energy empowered him, though that was when he encountered a new problem, it did nothing to the pain his body was in. Rather it looked like the pain was causing the energy to go crazy, or maybe it was just due to the fact that it was made for something else, not his altered body, to the point where a faint light blue sheen appeared over his right hand and part of his arm, before morphing into a perfect replica of Nergigante's arm and claws. That brought about a headache that seemed to rock his entire body, though through the pain he quickly discovered what was going on, he had forced open the limits of his power and had unlocked something new, the ability to take on aspects of the monsters and Elder Dragons he had faced. To prove that point he had to duplicate it and that was what he did, he thought about the powerful wings of the Legiana and his back shuddered before the wings appeared in all their glory, though part of his magic seemed to be adjusting his clothing so they weren't ruined by all of the additions he was adding right now, and then braced himself as a Kirin horn appeared in the middle of his forehead, lightning arching between it and his altered fist.

Grogar, without wasting anymore time, forced himself to move as he burst into the air, rushing right for Zorah Magdaros, and punched him right in the forehead with his new power, where he, Nergigante, and everyone else watched as he left a dent in the molten material, before a surge of lightning tore into the crack and blasted his foe backwards.

Such a thing told him everything he needed to know about this power, as it seemed like he was capable of drawing on the forms and powers of the monsters he had faced, even pieces if he wanted to work that way, and it wasn't reserved to only the ones he had faced in battle, rather it seemed like he was capable of using the powers he had observed. To confirm the thought Grogar landed on a flat area of stone and shifted his stance, his legs and feet changing into that of the Odogaron, which was all he needed, before he added a bit of magic and summoned up Nergigante's main horns and some of Zorah Magdaros' tough outer shell for his entire head. It felt weird and unusual, channeling the powers of multiple monsters like this, but given what was going to happen if they failed to push Zorah Magdaros away he didn't have a choice in the matter, he had to use this power to help them save the island. The moment his target continued his advance, choosing to ignore the awakening of a new foe, Grogar burst into the air with the combined speed of Legiana's wings and Odogaron's legs, an interesting and potentially deadly combination since he wasn't used to this speed, before swinging his right claws at the beast, creating a few gashes that lightnings surged through before blasting him backwards a little.

Sure, it wasn't enough to actually force Zorah Magdaros to change course, but his new power, with Nergigante following his attacks and they dodged all the incoming fire from the Hunters at the barricade, were enough to distract him, long enough for Shepard to ask if the main weapon was ready. As Grogar and Nergigante danced through the air, using their powers to distract and possibly wound the beast in front of them, Johnson confirmed that the Dragonator was ready, a fact that caused the Commander to raise his hand and swing it down. In the following moment they watched as the large weapon surged upwards and drilled into the side of Zorah Magdaros' chest, at an angle no less, which had enough force to push the massive Elder Dragon backward, to the point where it looked like he was forcing himself out to sea, all to get away from everything that was attacking him right now. Nergigante let out a roar as she and everyone else discovered that they were victorious, though enough enough Grogar found that she headed out to keep an eye on Zorah Magdaros, or to feast on him when no one was looking, though he landed on the ship and fell to a knee as he released his power, his body returning to normal within seconds.

As he huffed the rest of the Commission cheered for their success, in saving the New World and solving the mystery of why the Elder Dragons journeyed to this island, though he smiled for a moment as he looked forward to seeing what the future held for him, his friends, and his companions.

Comments

[badninja]

Good job Grogar! He is fitting into the job of a hero very well. It harkens back to Chrysalis story back in Universe 13/19. I think he is changing for the better.