Monster Hunter World: Monsters and Magic

by Blackdrag-rose

High Rank Discovery

Upon their return to Astera Grogar found that many of the Researchers were interested in his discovery, as while they could see that the Pukei-Pukei didn't look that different from those who usually resided in the Ancient Forest, in fact it was nearly identical, there were a few keys that allowed someone to see that it was stronger than a normal Pukei-Pukei. Many of the Researchers were surprised by his discovery, even though they believed the wounded one who told them about it, in fact the lady in question confirmed that this was the monster that attacked her, but they got to work immediately, studying it so they could learn what was going on. At the same time Grogar passed the sketch of the tracks to the head of the team, who looked at it for a few moments and agreed with him, this had to be a subspecies, the first one seen in the New World, and that they had to locate whatever monster it was, even though he also agreed that it was a Rathian. Other than that there wasn't much for them to talk about, where he found that Sherry watched over the Pukei-Pukei as they waited for something to happen, as they were waiting for Shepard to call a council meeting to discuss this turn of events.

Fortunately it didn't take too long for the council meeting to be called, where they gathered at the table with everyone else, finding that Shepard was looking over all of the information he had been given and didn't know what to think, especially after everything they had been through with Zorah Magdaros.

"Thank you for attending this emergency council session." Shepard said, as he knew that many of the others were eager to study the new Pukei-Pukei, the 'High Rank' as Grogar called it, and this made it hard for them to study it, but they had to talk about what was going on and what they had to do next, given the other part of the report, "We've received a number of reports that are identical to the one you investigated... powerful monsters, High Ranks as Grogar calls them, invading the territories of other monsters and, at times, even the other regions, and some of our people have been hurt over the course of this day. In addition to that Grogar and his companions found some tracks that they're certain is a Rathian subspecies... Grogar, do you or your companions have anything to add?"

"Not really. We know it's a Rathian, but it's hard to tell where it might have gone," Grogar replied, as while he had an idea of how to find it, with the power of the Scoutflies to be exact, he knew that a Hunter needed to search the regions and find evidence, and given what he discovered earlier, with the High Rank Pukei-Pukei, he would need to be careful, "so for now I'm planning on going on an expedition to the other regions of the New World, to find more tracks and see if I can confirm that more High Ranks are emerging... or if it's a one time thing and the others are getting ambushed by, well, 'Low Ranks' I guess."

"Then it's settled. I'll be sending teams into each region, to track down the monsters that are endangering our people and report their location to you or Sherry," Shepard stated, once more showing that he had total control over the situation all of them were in, meaning that whoever elected him to take this role knew what they were doing, before he glanced at the others and found that they were nodding their heads in agreement, "while at the same time I want you to track down the monster that you found the tracks of, as we might be able to learn more about this island if we capture it... or where it might have come from, at the very least."

"You can count on us." Ava and Sherry said, causing the pair to look at each other as some of the others chuckled a little, as while one might not like the other, for stealing her life for a time, they did talk and act similar to each other, which they were sure was either due to the former pretending to be the latter for quite a while or it was just her nature to sound like that.

"Oh, and I discovered that there might be some perks to the power of the Scoutflies, as I was able to harness their power and saw the aura of the Pukei-Pukei, a bronze aura to be exact," Grogar added, figuring that he might as well tell them all about that fact as well, something that caused many of them to pause for a moment as they considered it, before he took a moment to consider it as well, "If I figure out whether that was a fluke or not, and whatever coloration the Low Ranks might have, I might be able to teach the Scoutflies how to determine which tracks belong to which monster... such a thing would allow the others to know if they're tracking a Low Rank monster, a High Rank, or an Elder Dragon."

"Well, if you want to test the theory, I know there's an Anjanath hanging out somewhere near the gate," Johnson said, as he and the other higher ups had known about it since Grogar left for the Wildspire Waste, though with how everyone was focused on the sudden arrival of supposedly stronger monsters, due to the fact that some of their people had been out while Grogar was practicing his new powers, he had forgotten about the Anjanath.

Instead of replying to the statement Shepard, seeing the look in Grogar's eye, informed them that they would be seeing if the theory was true or not, to which they headed over to where the monster in question was last seen and discovered that it was definitely waiting near the main gate, like it was waiting for someone to come out. Grogar paused for a few seconds as he focused his mind and activated the power once more, finding the same outlook was available to him once more, but after that he turned his attention on the monster, where he waited to see what color it's aura would take. He was waiting to see a bronze aura, the power of a High Rank beast, before finding that it took on an icy blue color, which meant it had to be a Low Rank and he informed the others of what he was seeing right now. After that he focused on the Scoutflies on Shepard's belt for a moment and relayed the information to them, where they moved out in a green trail before turning an icy blue, showing him that he could pass on what he knew to the rest of the Scoutflies, before he stepped forward and unfurled his Rathian wings.

Shepard, expecting something to happen, stepped back with the others as Johnson opened the gate, where Grogar used the wings and a bit of an Odogaron's legs to burst through the air, though as he neared the Anjanath his right fist shifted into Nergigante's, allowing him to punch the Anjanath in the side of the head... causing it to topple to the ground in a few seconds, much to their complete surprise.

"We'll find a way to pass on this information to the rest of the Scoutflies, that Low Ranks are icy blue and High Rank are bronze colored," Shepard stated, though he wondered what else would change with Grogar's new power, as everyone was learning more about their world as he worked to solve the Elder Crossing, unlocking new abilities that would aid them in accurately categorizing the monsters based on their power, which he knew they would discover in time, "Though I can tell you that there's a strong Tobi-Kadachi somewhere in the Ancient Forest... should be a good way to start your quest, while we shuffle through the reports."

Grogar nodded as he took off, Ava collecting Patches as Sherry found a ride to the Ancient Forest camp they had set up not that long ago, because he wanted to get started on figuring out where the subspecies had gone and what it meant for the New World, not to mention the Commission. Once they had a chance to stop inside the camp, allowing Sherry to rest near the tent as she went over everything that Shepard had given her so far, Grogar departed and activated his power as he started to hunt down the Tobi-Kadachi he had been told about. Sure enough he found that there were a number of tracks for him to follow, most of them being Low Rank based on the icy blue coloration, before he found two things, one being more of the Rathian tracks while the other was another High Rank track, making him wonder if the two monsters, as their tracks were near each other, were in the middle of a fight. As such he followed the High Rank track and found that he was right to some degree, the two monsters were heading in the same direction, even at different times since a Rathian could fly from place to place, but that didn't stop him from jotting down his notes as he moved through the forest, eager to find either of his targets.

He eventually found his target in the same place he first found the Tobi-Kadachi in, though it was hissing at a Rathalos, a Low Rank anyway, who was loosing fireballs at it, no doubt because it invaded his territory, causing him to shift his stance for a moment before he leapt into battle. As he discovered facing a High Rank version of the Tobi-Kadachi was nothing like the Low Rank, as it was stronger and faster than he thought it would be, but that was good for him since his power grew as he fought, especially against those that were stronger than him, so in his mind if he fought a High Rank version of one of the monsters he had fought or observed so far his power would also grow. He suspected that if he had fought Zorah Magdaros in his prime, instead of when the Elder Dragon was on death's door, he would have gained a tremendous power and would have made the High Ranks a joke, and as he thought about it he knew that using Nergigante's powers all the time would be like cheating as well, so he decided to use the other monsters and save her skills for later. With that idea in mind he channeled the power of his own foe, changing his backside to match the Tobi-Kadachi's and came complete with the fluffy charged tail as well, thus allowing him to cancel out most of the thunder damage he would have taken, though he did confirm that his foe's power was stronger than his own, for his Tobi-Kadachi power anyway.

The Rathalos flapped his wings for a moment before taking off, seeing that two powerful monsters were fighting right now and didn't want to get caught in it, allowing Grogar to focus on knocking his opponent out, which he did so after a couple of minutes of fighting, causing him to huff for a few moments as he took a seat and looked at his unconscious opponent, as he preferred to capture them and not kill them.

Once he was done resting he carefully moved the Tobi-Kadachi to Astera, so it could be studied for any differences that might exist between the Low Rank and the High Rank, before returning to the Ancient Forest and resumed his search for the subspecies that was out there. While he could fight ever monster that was out there, and waste time doing so, Grogar opted to study the regions of the New World and only engage a monster when he had no other options, so when it came time to move onto the Wildspire Waste, to continue his search, he left the beasts of the Ancient Forest to their daily lives and stopped in the desert. From there it was a matter of repeating his actions, using his new power to find the tracks he was looking for while either fighting or ignoring the other monsters that were around the region, until he spotted a brand new beast that stopped him in his tracks. It was another wyvern, with the wings merged with the front limbs, though what was different about it was the fact that this monster was bulkier than most of the other monsters, it's back scales looked like good protection, and it had these odd black pods hanging from the lower part of it's body, the belly area and even part of the tail.

From what he could determine this was a 'Bazelgeuse', a rumored monster that some of the Hunters had claimed to have seen during their travels in the New World, though instead of engaging it he watched it for a time, finding that it had an interesting power, it was capable of dropping those pods and they, upon landing, acted like landmines, igniting when the monster's foe stepped on it, or when it struck them itself. It was, as far as he could tell, a bomber monster that dropped death on whoever it happened to be fighting or hunting at the time, so it could defeat it's foes without having to do much in the way of fighting, though it could land and that made things dangerous for whatever it was fighting, given it could drop and ignite the pods in a matter of seconds. As Grogar watched he determined the only safe way to fight the beast in front of him might be to use Nergigante's power, as Zorah Magdaros' powers produced some heat and that could ignite the pods without the Bazelgeuse having to lift a finger, while the other powers might not be entirely useful, save for the speed of an Odogaron. Fortunately the monster didn't seem interested in him and took off without engaging him, allowing Grogar to explore the Wildspire Waste in peace, where he found multiple tracks of the subspecies and noticed one went in the direction of the Coral Highlands, possibly even the Rotten Vale.

What he discovered was that there were tracks in both regions, confirming that the subspecies had been to both at some point recently, though in the Coral Highlands he sensed that it might be lurking somewhere in that region, causing him and his companions to return to Astera without delay, finding Shepard and the others working at the main table, which he felt was a common occurrence for all of them.

"I've figured it out: the Rathian subspecies is in the Coral Highlands," Grogar said, where he knew that Ava and the others landed near the Researchers, where he would visit to hand over the information he had jotted down over the course of his studies over each region.

"Good, then you can track it down in the morning." Shepard replied, as he knew that Grogar had been out for a long time and hadn't bothered to return since he was tracking down High Ranks and depositing some of them for the Researchers to study, where he could see that Grogar seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding, "While you do that, we can focus on the other regions and the monsters that are causing some trouble for the other inhabitants."

Grogar really didn't have much to say to that as he and the others got some rest, allowing the day to turn to evening while enjoying the company of their companions from the fleets, though as they did that he suspected that once he captured the subspecies things would get more interesting for all of them.

When morning arrived Grogar and Ava flew to the Coral Highlands while Sherry headed for one of the camps, as she felt that it might be best to do things like this, which seemed to be a good thing at first because the wind kicked up while they flew over the region that their target was resting in. It turned into a battle real quick as something loosed fireballs up at him and Ava, where he shielded himself with his magic and Ava avoided the attack, and not a few moments later the pair found out what had attacked them, it was the subspecies, a Rathian with pinkish colored scales. Since he was her target, and Ava was able to slip behind her without being noticed, Grogar decided to try focusing on a single monster power as he switched to Rathalos wings, talons, claws, and tail, surprising Pinky, as he was going to call her, allowing Ava to blast her in the back with a burst of flames. While it might not have done a lot of damage, given that the Rathian and Rathalos were resistant to that element, it did hurt her and opened the way for Grogar to slip in behind her and grab onto her with his claws, using his augmented might to spin her around before tossing her towards the ground.

As he landed he noticed that Pinky wanted to blast him with her flames and he did the same, gathering them for a short period of time before they loosed their flames at each other, heating the area between them as their attacks collided with each other, and after a few moments he switched it downward, blasting the ground and kicking some smoke into the air in front of his foe. That was what he needed as he burst into the air and flew around the smoke, swinging his claws and hit Pinky in the side of her head, scratching her scales as he knocked her away from him, but he knew that she wouldn't do down that easily and readied himself as she got up and charged at him. In the following moments he raised his arm and let the scales take the damage this time around, instead of using his magic like he usually did, so she scraped against his defenses and he pushed her away from him, all while he noticed that Ava was resting on the overlook, watching in case he needed assistance. After that Pinky tried to hit him with her tail, which meant leaping into the air and spinning so she could lash out with it, but that was an opening he could use against her, as he dodged and grabbed onto her tail, allowing him to spin and pull her with him, smashing her face right into the ground and knocked her out.

With that done, and he was sure she was knocked out, he made sure she was sedated with his powers before they took her back to Astera and called for Sherry to join them, and upon their arrival everyone, and he meant everyone, came over to see what they had found as Grogar set Pinky down in the storage area that the captured monsters were put in before they were sent back out into the wild.

"I know you said she was lurking in the Coral Highlands, but I wasn't expecting to see her so soon." Shepard said, speaking as he and the others stared at the subspecies that was resting in front of them, while the Researchers studied the beast as Grogar and Ava, in their humanoid forms, landed nearby and Sherry joined them.

"According to the Researchers it takes a small combination of miracles for a subspecies to emerge, and one is resting here, in front of our eyes." Johnson commented, though it was clear that he was surprised by this information, which they were now confirming, meaning something must have happened recently to cause this beauty to become a reality.

"Indeed, and Grogar made sure she arrived in near pristine condition." Shepard added, because while there no obvious signs of battle, save for a few scratch marks here and there, he knew that Grogar had adapted to the art of fighting all the monsters of the New World, like a true Hunter, "She must have grown somewhere that's rich in nutrients, a region none of us have seen yet..."

"I might know where that is." a new voice said, where Grogar turned for a moment and found someone who looked like a high ranking member of the First Fleet, a buff person who carried no weapons and likely fought with his fists, walking up to where they were standing, though he was taller than most people, had a mane of unkempt blond hair, almost golden in some spots, and carried a sack over his right shoulder.

"Admiral Keiji Maeda, at last you return to Astera." Shepard said, naming the top dog of the Commission's forces in the New World, even though he had a feeling that Grogar might take that at some point, with his unique powers, though part of him was interested in what might be inside the sack, "What took you so long?"

"I was enjoying watching your exploits... including that of Grogar, who are friend told me about." Keiji replied, where he glanced at Grogar for a moment, his tone showing everyone that he approved of him and his powers, something that they were glad to see, before he dropped the sack with a smile on his face, revealing a number of crystals inside it, where they picked up a few of them, "Besides, you didn't need my help, not with this guy and all of his powers... fine work, by the way, in forcing big ugly back to sea like that. Anyway, there's a spot in that area that's just loaded with these things, past where you fought that Elder Dragon..."

"Incredible... there's bioenergy inside them, pulsing like a faint heart would." Grogar commented, as he had picked up one of the dull white crystals and found that the energy reminded him of what happened when he fought Zorah Magdaros, a fact that made him wonder what would happen if he took in more bioenergy.

"Good, I wasn't the only one who noticed that... and I'd wager that they tie into what we're studying, somehow." Keiji said, his tone commanding that everyone listen to him for a time, even though he wasn't ordering them to stand down, it was more like they respected him and preferred to listen to what he had to say, "I intend to find out how... so, who wants to join me? Raise your hand or paw if you're in!"

Grogar, Ava, and Sherry volunteered almost immediately, as they knew that he must have found another region and that he had only returned to share this information with them before returning with some Hunters, so they would be the first to see what was inside the region and figure out what was going on in the New World.