The Slayer 6

Chapters

The Arrival
Ramsgate
The Lesser Gnasher
Trophy Hunt
Go Forth and Slay
City on the Verge
Making Slayers
Get Punked
Behemoth Studies
Heralds of the Storm
Looking Radiant.

The Arrival

The sounds of trees' leaves swayed in the wind as a lone figure steadily jogged through the area. It was easy to tell that he was a male; he had a fairly large and broad build, but he wore what looked like robes, with exposed arms, but wore boots, and on his back was a pair of blades, each no bigger than his arms. He stopped as he looked over a cliff, looking over the vast land. All around him, other islands floated in the air, each with their own landscapes. Though the sight was breathtaking, he's too used to the sight, only turning as he had heard an all too familiar roar. In the corner of his eye, he spotted a large, pale, wolf-like monster with some quills sticking out from it's darker patches, and a large horn protruding from it's snout.

There was no hesitation as he pulled the blades from his back, wielding in both of his hands, and jumped down, charging at the beast. The beast turned to see a lone human charging at it, promoting it to turn back and charge as well, running rapidly towards him. It swung it's horn at the robe wearing man, knocking him to the floor, dazed, but unphased, as it ran back, letting out another roar, and getting ready for another charge. However, as soon as he got up, getting ready, his sight was caught off guard as he saw what looked like a portal opening from the sky, and dropping six more creatures, all… screaming, right by the side of the human and the beast.

'More behemoths?' He thought to himself. 'I've never heard any behemoth scream before.'

"Ocellus, what did you do!?" One of the creatures yelled, a blue, bird-looking creature.

"Me!?" Another replied, a very pale blue, insectoid looking equine. "I didn't do anything! Yona did something!"

"Yona did nothing wrong." The largest, and probably heaviest, of the bunch, spoke back. "Yona was as still as Yaks can be."

"Uh, guys," the green-yellow Equine with a much darker mane spoke up. "Just, where are we?"

'... Talking behemoths?' The human only thought. 'Dr. Priyani’s gonna have a field day with this.'

The behemoth he was battling turned to the six new creatures.

"What is that!?" The other, pink, bird looking creature asked in a panicked tone,

"And who is that!?" The orange dragon of the group asked, pointing at the hunter. With their sights away, the Behemoth charged at them. The hunter quickly threw his blades at the behemoth, latching it to the behemoth's side, pulling himself forward.

"Get out of the way!" He yelled. There was a sense of panic as all the other Creatures panicked. The two bird-looking creatures quickly grabbed the large 'yak', flying upwards, as the dragon grabbed the equine, following them. The insect, though looking like it had wings, stood in terror, and in a burst of green fire, was gone, and in it's place, was a huge boulder. The behemoth didn't have time to stop as it, and the human, crashed into the boulder, causing the human to fly off and his blades to swing wildly in the air, slicing off the beast's horn.

"Ocellus!? You ok!?" The equine asked. The boulder bursted into flames, turning back into the insect-like creature, who had a dizzy look.

"I'm good." She answered. "Though, I wish the world stopped spinning so much."

The human got up, taking a red potion out from his belt and drank it before getting back up as the beast did.

'Wait, did that… thing, turn into a boulder?' He thought to himself. The best jumped backwards, releasing a loud roar, and fired multiple fireballs at the two. Adrenaline took over as he tackled the insect to the floor.

"Should we help?" The blue bird asked.

"Strange creature saved Yona's friend!" the large one spoke. "Yona ready to fight!"

"But we don't even know what to do!" The dragon spoke.

"Maybe not," the pink bird added "but shouldn't we try?" There was a brief pause before the creatures nodded. Both birds dropped their huge friend onto the monster below, though she screamed loudly and flailed her legs in the air.

"YONA NOT LIKE THIIIIS!!!" She screamed. There was a quick yelp from the behemoth as the human only saw the large yak land on the back of the behemoth, knocking it to the floor, pinning it down. The other creatures landed around it, and using a mix of claws (and hooves) began to hit the monster… with no success.

"What the-!?" The dragon yelled. "Why isn't this working!?" The human got up, pulling his twin blades out.

"Stand back!" He yelled as he charged ahead. The creatures all backed away, the large one jumping off, and watched as he began to spin his blades around rapidly, cutting off the monster's tail, then giving it lots of cuts across it's body. In a few moments, the beast fell, succumbing to it's wounds. He pulled out a pole from his back and proceeded to slam it on the ground, where a banner rolled out at the top, which looked like a mix between mountains, and a face. The Creatures quickly ran to their insect friend, who stood up, shaking itself off.

"What happened?" She asked.

"That dude just saved your life, Ocellus!" The dragon replied.

"He was so cool!" The pink bird added. "He was like 'woosh-woosh-woosh!' and that monster was like 'Rargh!' and-"

"That’s an Embermane." The human interrupted.

"... A what?" The blue bird asked.

"An Embermane. More specifically, a Lesser Embermane. But more importantly, who, and, what are you all, and how did you get here?" There was a brief silence.

"Uh… well…" the insect began speaking. "I'm Ocellus. I'm a Changeling. That's Sandbar, our pony."

"Hi." The equine waved

"Gallus, the Griffin."

"Hey." The blue bird added, trying to look cool.

"Smolder, our dragon."

"Hmph." The dragon crossed her arms and looked away.

"Silverstream, our Hippogriff."

"And Seapony!" The pink bird added, transforming into an equine mermaid.

"And Yona, the yak."

"Yona could've taken on that monster!" The yak replied. The human looked at them all, a bit confused.

"Well… I can't say you're lying." He said. "But how did you get here?"

"As much as we'd like to explain," Gallus replied, his wings flapping and lifting himself up a bit. "It's rather long, and we better find the portal we came in before-"

"It's gone!" Silverstream yelled, pointing into the sky. The portal that dropped them onto the floating island shrunk and vanished as if nothing was there.

"... That… happens."

"Wait, we're stuck here!?" Smolder asked before turning to the Changeling. "Ocellus! Make a new one!"

"Me!?" She asked. "I don't know how to! And we don't have the ingredients!!!"

"So we're trapped here forever!?" Yona asked. "Should Yona panic?"

"... Yes." Sandbar answered. All the Creatures screamed and ran around wildly. Only the human stood in place, letting out a deep sigh.

'Why me?' He only thought. "Ahem, kids?" They ignored him, still screaming. "Kids." Still ignoring him. He took a bullhorn and blasted it into the sky, making a loud wail, causing them to stop and turn to him. With a deep breath, he began to talk. "Ok, look, I have no idea how you got here, nor do I know how to get you back, but… I can take you all back to Ramsgate. There, we might help you get the stuff needed to get back home."

"... We?" Gallus asked. As if on cue, a large Zeppelin flew overhead and hovered over them all. The bottom opened, dropping a ladder down to them.

"Slayer, good to see you’re still in one piece-” The human heard the voice of the ship’s Bosun, Markus Boehr, speak before noticing the other creatures, "Um… what are those?"

"...Recruits." The human replied, grabbing the ladder and climbing upwards. "If they don't leave immediately, of course."

"Should we follow him?" Sandbar asked.

"I know we're not supposed to follow strangers," Smolder added. "But I highly doubt Headmare Twilight and the other professors will save us like last time." Without another word, the creatures boarded the zeppelin, unprepared for their journey.

Ramsgate

The lone Slayer, as he was called, stood by Marcus Boehr, a much bigger man with a long brown beard, shorter hair, and in a leather jacket with a scarf around his neck. As the new Creatures looked around the zeppelin, seeing some of the interior and all the isles they pass by, the Slayer had told Marcus what had happened.

"So, these… kids," Marcus spoke. "You think we do have what we need to help them get back home?"

"I'm not so sure." The Slayer answered. "But if not, at least we have some new potential Slayers a bit."

"Wait… you think they can be Slayers? Aren't they... well… too young?"

"We have a lot of young faces, Marcus. Each one of us has what it takes to save our home. Though I haven't seen much, they have a lot of potential."

"I just hope Kat will be ok with this, slayer."

"Who's Kat?" Silverstream asked, standing between the two. Both humans jumped back, with Marcus causing the zeppelin to veer off a bit, but was saved before it could crash onto any flying debris.

"Don't do that! I'm the best Bosun in Ramsgate, and I'd like to stay that way until someone else can surpass me. But to answer your question, Miss, Kat was THE Slayer, the best of the best, and trains new Slayers practically every day."

"She sounds tough." Smolder commented.

"Indeed, she is, but don't let that intimidate you; she's more laid back than you'd expect. And not just because she's sending everyone out to slay behemoths."

"Slay behemoths?" Ocellus asked. "I'm sorry, but what's going on here? We're new here, and I think we should know what's happening."

"Ah, well, if you are that curious, to make a long story short, the Shattered Isles came to be as it was now when the behemoths arrived, which devour our source of energy, Aether. For every behemoth we defeat, we colonize over there, a way to keep some space in Ramsgate."

"Ramsgate?" Gallus asked.

"We like rams; sturdy, make our homes in tough environments, and will knock down any who trespass our home. And speaking of Ramsgate, you'll see it about… now!" The clouds cleared away, and in the distance was the largest floating island. In the front, connected to some smaller islands, were various docks with other zeppelins, some leaving and others returning, with said docks connecting to a large town. Though small, there were other people below, some with green & white hoodies, but the rest in different and unique armor with equally diverse weapons on either their back or that were holstered on their sides. Both humans walked out, with the other creatures hesitantly following. "Before we enter, care to tell me how you landed here?"

"Oh, that?" Ocellus asked "Um… to make it short for you, we were doing a project, and one thing led to another, and we winded up with… uh… what's your name, sir?"

"My name?" The Slayer asked. "It's-"

"What the hell is this!?" A woman's voice yelled. Marching rapidly towards them on the dock was a dark skinned woman with short, darker hair, and in some armor that covered her shoulders and torso. "Slayer, did you just bring behemoths over!? Did Dr. Priyana set you up for this!?"

"No ma'am!" The Slayer saluted.

"Relax, Kat," Marcus replied reassuringly. "These aren't behemoths."

"Not behemoths?" She asked. "Have you lost your mind!? Give me one reason why I shouldn't skin them here."

"Um, miss?" Sandbar began, "We didn't mean to frighten you. We just landed here and-" The woman's eyes widened as if she saw a ghost.

"... Marcus… catch me." She fainted on the spot, with Marcus quickly catching her before she hit the ground. He looked at the group and gave a sheepish smile.

"Give her a few hours." He only replied, "Slayer, care to lead our guests around Ramsgate a bit? Perhaps Arkan Drew might know what to do."

"Yes, sir." The Slayer answered, letting Marcus walk ahead with the fainted woman in his arms. "Come on, stick with me and-" he looked back to see the creatures were all gone. "... Oh crap."

The various other Slayers that were in town just stayed in place and watched as weird creatures entered their city and started to interact with their important figures. Under a very flamboyant stand, Ocellus stood with an equally flamboyantly dressed, dark skinned man, who took a very close look at her.

"I must say, I am IN LOVE with your unique looks, Miss Ocellus!" He spoke. Ocellus blushed.

"Oh you! But I've been born like this. What do you do around here, if I can ask?"

"Why, my dear, I allow every Slayer here to look FABULOUS!!! Protection is one thing, but everyone needs to look their best while out there."

"Oh? And the mirror?"

"That's mostly for Slayers who wish to change their appearance… usually a different type or color, but I've yet to figure out how they change their faces and… well… sex."

"Ooh! They're Changelings like me!?"

"... Changelings, dear?" In a flash of blue flame, Ocellus turned into the man, complete with his purple suit.

"I too can change myself into anyone and anything."

"... Oh...my… goodness… I'M SO FABULOUS LOOKING!!!"

"Ocellus! What are you doing!?" The Slayer yelled, running to and grabbing the changed Changeling. "I'm so sorry, Gregio! I'll give you some platinum to make up for this-"

"Sorry!? Oh no! I insist! She should stay for a while longer."

"Um… yeah,sorry, but we've gotta go." Ocellus turned back into her original self as the slayer took her away.

"Come back soon!"

Right down the pathway, across the town center, Gallus flew over the head of a man in, what appeared to be, very high tech looking armor, with a helmet that didn't expose his face.

"So… why are you called "The middleman", as the rest of these Slayers call you?"

"It is just a title." The masked figure answered, not showing much emotion in his voice.

"Right, and what do you do?"

"I upgrade amps."

"... And?"

"That's it."

"... And how do you upgrade amps?"

"Take two lesser amps and merge them together to make one stronger amp. Takes me a while, but for the right price, I can make them immediately."

"... Right… and what's with the armor? Does that serve any purpose, or is that just meant to make you look cool?"

"Gallus!" The Slayer yelled, approaching the griffon with the Changeling in his arms. "Please, Mr. Middleman, I apologise if Gallus made you angry."

“No need. If anything, he was curious about my services.” The masked man replied.

"Come on you, we gotta get the others. Where are they?"

"The others went into the market."

In the near front of the market, on the right side, Yona sat by as a fairly large, white bearded man wearing an apron showed off a hammer.

"Ooh! Yona LOVE the hammer!" Yona spoke, her eyes beaming.

"Haha! Wils loves your enthusiasm, fair Yona. Of course, this is a recruiting hammer,so it's not so strong."

"There other stronger hammers!? Yona wanna see them!!!"

"Wils wants to, but alas, you need the ingredients, and rams, for me to make them." The Slayer walked by the stand, quickly grabbing Yona by her horn and dragging her along.

"No! Yona want to chat with friend!"

"Later." The slayer scowled.

"Farewell, Yona!" Wils waved back."May we meet each other again soon!"

Right in a stand on the right side, a man in uniform stood still with a tired look as Silverstream poked the side of his head with one of her claws.

"Please, stop." He quietly begged, trying to keep his composure.

"Hehe! You remind me of my uncle!" Silverstream commented, still poking the side of his head.

"I’ve spent years at the academy, and yet, they never taught me how to handle children."

"Ooh! What's this?" Silverstream quickly jumped into the back of the store and showed him a weird device.

'"Those are Ostian repeaters, my creation."

"And this?" She pulled out a small box. He immediately jumped back with a yelp.

"Drop that!!! That's a grenade!"

"A what?" She dropped the grenade after pulling a pin out. Everyone nearby screamed loudly and ran away in a panic. The Slayer that found her and her friends quickly ran in and threw the grenade into the sky. It exploded into the air. He quickly picked up the man Silverstream was terrorizing.

"Mr. Janek, sir," He spoke. "I'm so sorry for that, and-"

"Keep her away from me!" Janek interrupted. "Of all the things, why didn't I get the dragon!?"

"Dragon?" The group looked back, seeing Smolder standing right by a built redhead woman.

"Well, it's like what I've said before," the redhead spoke. "Nothing can protect you from stupid."

"Tell me about it." Smolder replied. The Slayer walked over to them.

"She wasn't giving you a hard time, Morya?" He asked.

"No. Far from it, actually. Smolder helped add fire to my stand… and she likes my tortoise." Smolder simply shrugged.

"Hey, it reminds me of Professor Dash's Tortoise."

"... I'll ask later." The Slayer spoke before looking at the group. "Let's see here… wait, where's Sandbar?"

"Right here." Sandbar's voice was heard. He trotted over to the group, having a huge blush and smile across his face.

"Where did you go?"

"Oh, I met this pirate woman who calls herself "Lady Luck", and she took me in to the back, giving me a huge hug, and-"

"Ahem!" The voice of an uppity sounding man spoke. Standing nearby was an elderly looking man wearing a pair of glasses, and was dressed up rather nicely. The Slayer walked to him, taking a deep breath.

"Arkan Drew," he began. "Look, I know it's weird, but I can explain everything."

"Let me guess; during one of your hunts, a portal opened, all of these creatures dropped in, and though they're new, they're trying to find a way back home?"

"... You can say that." Gallus replied.

"Right…” Arkan sighed as he adjusted his glasses, “Well, as much as I would like to help, I have no idea where they came from, or even what to do first."

"Please, sir," Ocelus began. "We came from Equestria, and we REALLY need to get home! I don't want King Thorax and the hive to worry about where I've been!"

"Ahem!" The others cleared their throats.

"... I mean, where we've been."

"Well, I'm sorry, but this is a huge ordeal that I'm not sure I can help immediately with." Arkan sighed, “Though... there is the theory that the incident that brought you here is connected to the Aether, somehow.”

"What do we need to do!?" Gallus asked. "We're ready to do anything!"

“You may have the attitude, but you lack the equipment,” Arkan remarked, before looking to the Slayer, “Slayer, would it be right to assume that they already met Moyra and Wils?”

".. Pretty much." The Slayer answered. "At least the yak and dragon did."

“Then the only suggestion I can really give is to make sure they have the proper equipment before going out into the field,” the aethersmith replied, “Doing so should give me enough time to construct a set of lanterns for all of them.”

"Wait, field? Lanterns?" Smolder asked. "What choo talkin' 'bout?" The Slayer rolled his eyes.

"Well, I kinda figured this would happen." He spoke. "Seems you're all going to become Slayers before you can get home." The Creatures all looked surprised at the fact… until Yona's tail started wagging.

"Yona going to smash monsters!?” the yak asked. "Can Yona use hammer!?"

"I… don't see why not." Yona immediately ran to Wils.

"YONA WANT HAMMER!!! YONA WANT HAMMER!!!"

"... I suggest the rest of you follow suit. Until Kat wakes up… if she does, that is. Wils should teach you how each weapon is used."

“Come on, it can’t be that hard to use a weapon now,” Gallus said… before looking back at the Slayer and raising an eyebrow, “Can it?”

"Can I use this?" Silverstream asked, holding an Ostian repeater.

"Yes," the Slayer answered. "But you need a second one as well."

"Oh, then I'm good." She pulled out a second Ostian repeater. Sandbar looked at his hooves.

"Um… I don't think I can carry anything with these." He spoke. "Perhaps I should-"

"Then perhaps I can help." A very calm, almost translucent sounding, female voice spoke. Sitting, and levitating in the air, was a woman whose left arm was all but gone, and in it's place was metal pieces that vaguely resembled a large arm.

"Uh… were you there the whole time?"

"For once, I wasn't. Had to do some other form of business. But where are my manners; I am called the Scarred master, and I may have a way to aid you, young colt." Sandbar looked at the others, a bit nervous looking. "Oh please, don't be so nervous. Afterall, I already know that you were with Lady Luck and she allowed you to-"

"I'm coming over!" Sandbar quickly trotted over to the floating woman. Though her face was covered by a scarf, she inspected his front hooves.

"Hmm… yes, I'm certain my Aether Strikers will aid you on your journey, young one."

"Um… Aether Strikers?" A pair of gauntlets appeared right in front of the Colt's face.

"Yes, the weapon of choice for any Slayer who wishes to be close and personal to any behemoth."

"That… doesn't exactly sound helpful."

"Perhaps to you, but my tools allow you to unleash your inner strength and aid your allies in rapid strikes with equal force behind them. And unless you can carry weapons with your hooves, this is your best bet and not become live bait."

“Well, if all else fails, punch it?” Gallus shrugged, only to get stared down by Sandbar as the gauntlets fit on his hooves, “Okay, I’ll stop.”

Yona ran back wearing a simple green outfit that looked pretty tight on her, but with a huge hammer on her back.

"Yona prepared for smashing!" She spoke. "Friends should go to Yona's new friend and get ready themselves!"

"Eh, might as well." Smolder shrugged. Her, Gallus, and Ocellus approached Wills' stand.

"Ahoy!" He wholeheartedly spoke. " Your friend was excited to get the last hammer I had available for today."

"Eh, it's a giant hammer, no real thought to it besides smashing things."

"You may think that, and she may not listen, but her hammer has four concussive blasts that can propel any Slayer further and interrupt any behemoth attacking."

"Wait, she can fire stuff from her hammer?" Ocellus asked.

“So, like if Professor Pinkie’s Party Cannon was put into a hammer?” Gallus then asked, before looking to Smolder and Ocellus, “Should we be concerned?”

"Uh… what weapons do you got?" Smolder asked, trying to ignore the thought of Yona propelling herself into someone on accident.

"Just three last weapons, but all unique from each other." Wills answered, pulling out an equally huge axe. "First available is an axe. A heavy weapon, similar to the hammer, but instead of knocking behemoths off their feet, the axe does a lot of damage to those behemoths. And if you wish to remain at a distant, then toss this at those behemoths for a chance to deal more damage to, and hopefully, cut off a piece from those Behemoths."

"... Any takers?" Gallus asked. There was a brief pause before Smolder sighed, picking up the huge weapon.

"While I'm sure I'll be a bit slow with this thing, I think doing more damage to those beats will help."

"And help you cut off the pieces needed to help make new weapons and armor."

"Uh… what other stuff do you have?" Gallus asked. In response, Wils pulled out a sword.

"A sword; The perfect well-rounded weapon in speed, damage, and mobility. Get enough charge into it, and you'll be doing extra damage to those behemoths, be faster, and unleash aether waves with each swing."

“Works for me.” Gallus picked up the blade. Ocellus stood on the bottom.

"Guess that means I'm going to have what's leftover. But please, I'd like to know what I'll be getting." Wills nodded and pulled out what appeared to be a spear.

"Finally, the Warpike, a great weapon to wound behemoths with rapid succession. Stabbing and slicing are it's bread and butter, and just like bread and butter, it's best to mix the two together. And just like the hammer, the more you hit a behemoth and not get hit, you'll fire a powerful aether mortar."

"Ooh! That sounds great." Ocellus picked up the Warpike. "Thank you very much!"

"No problem. I am very happy to help any Slayer, new and old, be prepared for their next hunt. Without my weapons, no Slayer will have a successful hunt."

"And without my armor, no slayer will be alive!" Moyra shouted from the other side, giving Gallus his matching armor set with the others.

"Yes, your craft is also important!"

All the young creatures had on matching clothes, with the only main difference being what the size of their clothes, and the weapons they had equipped.

"Anyone else feel funny wearing these?" Sandbar asked.

"Why? Because you're naked all the time?" Smolder remarked.

"Yona like new clothes!" The yak spoke.

"Yeah, well don't get used to them." Their Slayer replied. "That's just armor for beginners. Soon, you'll have much better armor that not only serves a function, but makes you look cooler."

"Sweet. Now I can look even more awesome than I am already." Gallus said.

"So… where do we start?" Silverstream asked.

"Normally, it's with the Embermane, but for now, you'll be hunting a lesser gnasher."

"Um… a gnasher sir?" Ocellus asked.

"Well, I hope you can teach us well, sir." Sandbar added. "Because we-"

"You'll be on your own." The Slayer walked away.

"Wait, what!?" Smolder yelled.

"The best way for you all to learn is to jump into the deep end… and I've gotta do some heroic patrols myself. I just needed the tail of that Embermane to upgrade my chainblade." He sprinted away, leaving the six alone.

"... How do we find this… lesser gnasher?" Yona asked.

"Leave that to me." Marcus spoke from behind them, making them jump. "Sorry about that, had to put Kat in her room. She may be awake by the time you return from your first hunt."

"Oi! I need more tonics here!" A random Slayer yelled near the center.

"... Uh, give me a few minutes, and we'll be in the air in no time."

The Lesser Gnasher

After Marcus had dealt with that one Slayer that needed to buy some tonics, the group of creatures were boarded on a zeppelin, heading to their first hunt. Yona looked excited as she held onto her hammer, Gallus inspected his sword, Smolder taking a few practice swings, Silverstream twirling her repeaters, Ocellus quivered a bit with her Warpike, and Sandbar looking unsure with his strikers. Marcus manned the zeppelin they were in.

"You all ready for your first hunt?" He asked.

"Yona ready!" The yak replied. "Yona ready to smash behemoth!"

"I like your enthusiasm, but it won't do you well without knowing about your enemy."

"We gotta learn about these behemoths?" Smolder asked.

"I think we should listen." Ocellus replied before turning to Marcus. "What do we need to know?"

"Thank you, miss." Their Buson spoke. "Though a lesser Gnasher is the first behemoth every Slayer takes on, it's nothing to be taken lightly. Many Slayers have met their end after being crushed by it's tail, or their leg bitten off by it's razor sharp incisors."

"... You're joking, right?" Gallus asked. "And this is the first Behemoth we're going against!?"

"A lot of potential Slayers think they're easy prey, until actually hunting them. But like every Slayer, you'll all be jumping out when we get over there."

"What!?" Sandbar asked. The bottom of the wooden floor opened, showing the island below.

"Relax, you'll get used to it. On 3, jump! 1… 2…"

"YAK SMASH!!!" Yona jumped down without a thought.

"Yona, wait!!!" Sandbar followed, screaming on the way down.

"Geronimo!!!" Silverstream added, flying down. The rest jumped down, heading into danger.

Yona fell down on the floor below, crashing into the ground, getting her bottom half stuck. Sandbar landed by her, but tripped and fell face first. Silverstream and Smolder landed with a "Superhero" pose. Gallus and Ocellus landed, pulling their weapons out.

"... Yona stuck." Yona simply said as she tried to pull herself out. Gallus and Smolder sighed, with Smolder pulling Yona with her arms, and Gallus pushing her out. The yak came out, though it was followed by Yona shaking the dirt off.

"Testing, testing…" Marcus' voice spoke through a radio. "The behemoth is somewhere nearby. Get ready, you're gonna need it."

"Finding that behemoth shouldn't be too hard," Smolder spoke. The sound of trees falling over made the group jump. Everyone pulled out their weapons.

"Alright, let's do this." Gallus spoke, leading the way. The rest followed the griffon into open grassland, decorated with a few trees and flowers. Besides the sounds of the leaves blowing in the wind, the loud snarling of a large creature was heard in the distance. After a few moments, peeking over a cliff, below was the large creature making all the noise; it could only be described as it had the head of a squirrel that's stuck in an angry face, the tail of beaver, and the body a raptor from the dinosaurs, with a spine of hair sticking up and scales on it's side.

"Huh… it doesn't look that scary." Silverstream commented.

"Remember what Marcus said?" Ocellus replied. "It may not look dangerous, but-"

"YAK SMASH!!!" Yona yelled, jumping from the cliff with the hammer in her hooves, ready to slam the behemoth. The Gnasher looked up at the yak and jumped backwards, avoiding the slam attack, snarling loudly, got onto it's belly and swam towards her.

"Wait! Hold on!" Sandbar yelled, jumping off the cliff and tackling Yona out of harm's way. The Gnasher jumped out of it's swimming position, and raised it's tail up, ready to slam it on the two. Yona quickly grabbed her hammer, and on accident, blasted the tail, making the Gnasher stagger back a bit and snarled at the two.

"What are we waiting for!?" Smolder asked. "Let's get em!" She jumped off the cliff, landing on the floor by the two, and charged at the behemoth, giving it a good cut across it's left cheek. Gallus, Ocellus, and Silverstream followed, the griffon going by it's tail and slicing at it as the changeling stood by it's left leg, stabbing at it. All while the Hippogriff shooting at the other leg.

"Yona's hammer saved us?" Yona asked.

"Um… yeah, I guess it did." Sandbar replied.

"Ooh! Perhaps Yona should have listened to new friend?"

"... Again, yeah."

"Yona probably needs to think straight before-"

"Hello!?" Gallus interupted "We're fighting a monster here!"

"This is easier than I thought!" Silverstream spoke. " Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The Gnasher began to Glow red, and released a small burst that pushed the four creatures around it back. Sandbar and Yona got up, the former's strikers going over his hooves as if they had a mind of their own.

"Ok, what's happening?" Sandbar asked.

"Yona think Gnasher angry." Yona thought aloud

"It already looks angry!"

The Gnasher snarled at them, stomping a bit before charging at them. Sandbar closed his eyes and reacted quickly, throwing a right hook across it's face. Their monster rolled in place, almost as if it tripped and fell to the side, trying to get back up.

"YAK SMASH!!!" Yona began to bash her hammer on the downed Gnasher, slowly, but each hit had a loud "CRUNCH" behind them all. Though Sandbar was taken back at how he knocked a monster down, he joined Yona, delivering, though not as powerful, still strong punches in rapid succession, almost looking like a blur. The other creatures, with dizzy heads, saw Yona and Sandbar working together in beating the downed behemoth, both glowing themselves. Yona jumped into the air, slamming her hammer down to the floor, causing a shockwave of energy to flow, as Sandbar leapt into the air, delivering a huge blast at the Gnasher! The behemoth let out one final snarl before silence… and it's body glowing, with the Gnasher fading away.

“Well done,” they heard Marcus over the radio, “I’m impressed that you were able to handle yourselves out there. I’m on my way to pick you up right now.”

"... We did it." Sandbar gasped, falling to the ground. "We actually did it."

"Yona know." Yona replied. "Yona and Sandbar were EXCELLENT!!! Yona can't wait for the next hunt!!!"

"Um… yeah…" Sandbar's cheeks swelled, making him get up and run into a bush, hurling loudly.

The group landed back in Ramsgate, Yona jumping happily, making the ground shake a bit, Sandbar still looking sick, and the rest being indifferent. They all stopped upon seeing Kat standing up, fully awake, arms crossed, and looking a bit impatient.

"Ok… so it wasn't a dream." She began. "We really do have creatures in Ramsgate."

“Kat, if I may-” Marcus now spoke up as he walked out from under the outstretched wing of his airship.

"Zip it! First thing's first, just how the hell did you all get here?"

"Yona not remember!" Yona spoke. "Yona just want to go to the next hunt and slay more behemoths!"

"... What?"

“As I was trying to say,” Marcus spoke up, “While you were out, our friends here had the chance to talk to some of the locals. Since they don’t have a means to go back to where they’re from, it was suggested that they help us fight against the behemoths. We just returned from hunting a lesser gnasher.”

"... Marcus… did you seriously let all six on this hunt!?"

“Well, it was more ideal to have them stay together. That, and the slayer that found them had to go out on patrol,” the bosun explained, “Besides, it was a lesser gnasher. They’re not as tough as the real thing.”

"You know the rules, Marcus! Only four Slayers per hunt. I'm going to let you off with a warning this time, but don't let it happen again. We may be together, but I don't want to risk more lives than necessary,” Just as she finished her sentence, Kat turned back towards Sandbar and the others, “As for the rest of you; I've got my eyes on you all. The second you start acting up, your heads will serve well as trophies over my fireplace." There was a sense of Dread upon her saying that… with Ocellus turning into a rock again.

As she walked away, Marcus just sighed, “Don’t mind Kat. She’s… got a lot on her shoulders. She’s seen too many slayers that weren’t trained properly die on hunts, so she takes the role of training new slayers very seriously.”

"Someone should really help lighten her up." Gallus commented. "Anyone up for it?"

“It’s not exactly something that you can solve immediately, my dear friend,” the bosun told the griffon, “But perhaps, if you can demonstrate to her how effective you are in the field against the behemoths, that could change. Though… she is right about one thing.”

"What's that?" Silverstream asked.

“There are rules that we need to follow,” he told her, “Given the threat we face, we’re only allowed to send four slayers to face a behemoth at a time. That way we don’t have a shortage of slayers on hand-”

"Well, Yona ready for next hunt!" Yona spoke

“I… don’t think you understand correctly, Yona,” Marcus explained as they all walked into Ramsgate, “It means that all six of you can’t be together at the same time. We’ll… have to find a way to work with this, but don’t expect other hunts to be like the one you just finished.”

"Well that's great." Smolder sarcastically replied. "Seems we're going to be here for just a bit longer guys."

"Wait, are we still going to use these weapons?" Ocellus asked. "I uh… think my weapon broke."

“Hmm…” Marcus replied, “Weapons don’t usually break, but Wils can help you improve upon the weapons you have and forge new ones from the trophies of behemoths. The same goes for armor too,” Ironically, as he said that, another slayer in town passed behind them that wore a fur coat made of Gnasher parts, “Take some time to see what gear you can improve upon, then come see me when you’re ready.”

"We're going to use parts of behemoths to slay other behemoths with?" Ocellus asked.

"That… sounds… AWESOME!!! I'm gonna blast more Behemoths with everything!" Silverstream quickly ran to the market, but was stopped by Gallus, who held her tail.

"Easy there," he spoke. "I don't think we should jump ahead and make everything we can."

"Aww, but why not?" the hippogriff complained.

"Maybe we should ask to see what it'll cost before we jump ahead." Sandbar suggested.

"My thoughts exactly." Gallus replied. "Besides, we may want to specialize in something."

"Aren't we already doing that?" Smolder asked.

"We don't know all the behemoths we'll be facing, so it's best to plan ahead and think what we'll do next.”

“We could also talk to that Moyra lady? See if she has any advice for us?” Ocellus asked.

"Hmph! Yona will follow through." Yona spoke with some annoyance. "As long as Yona still uses hammers."

The group arrived to Moyra, having just finished making what appeared to be a crystal helmet to another Slayer.

"Oh hey, you're all back!" She greeted them happily, "How was that hunt?"

"It went well,” Sandbar explained, “Though, Marcus suggested for us to improve our equipment first before we get ready for the next hunt.”

"Ah, yes, that is good. Though, most Slayers handle the lesser embermane first before getting their armor."

"We're not like others." Smolder replied. "And what's an Embermane?"

"A fast blaze behemoth."

"See?" Gallus spoke. "We're trying to make a plan on how to tackle these behemoths. Can you give us a general idea of what we're going up against?"

"Sure,” Moyra told them, “No two behemoths are the same after all. There's seven different types of behemoths in what they are; Blaze, Frost, Terra, Shock, Radiant, Umbral, and Neutral. To make it easy, if you go against a blaze behemoth, wear blaze armor, but if you want to do damage, see Wils in making a frost weapon. Besides neutral, all armor and weapon types are best against each other like this.” She pulled out a chart, showing a drawing of fire and ice hurting each other, with lightning and Terra following, and under those two is what appeared to be light and darkness.

"... This seems simple." Sandbar commented.

"Yeah, and here I thought that earth was weak to fire, and fire weak to ice, in a circle." Ocellus added.

"Well, thanks," Gallus spoke. "And what does that Gnasher fall under?"

"Neutral." Morya answered. "One of the three neutral behemoths."

"Only three neutral Behemoths?" Yona asked. "... Yona disappointed."

"You'll be surprised to see how tougher they get."

"Well, thank you, Miss." Ocellus replied before having everyone get together in a group. "Ok, seems we all have an idea what we'll be going against. Any takers?"

"I'll take the Ice armor and blaze weapons." Smolder answered. "Dragon, remember? Not a fan of the cold, but I can sure melt them."

"Eh, no complaints here." Gallus replied. "Guess I'll be taking the flame armor and frost weapons."

"Why?" Sandbar asked.

"Griffinstone, remember? I'm used to the cold, not so much with heat."

"Oh… my bad."

"Yona want earth armor and electric weapons!" Yona spoke up. "Yaks great at smashing rocks!"

"Um… then perhaps I can use shock armor and rock weapons?"

"Because you're an earth pony?" Ocellus asked.

"... Yes." He bushed.

"Well then, that leaves you and me, Ocellus." Silverstream spoke, pulling out a bit. "Flip a bit? Heads, I get radiant, tails, you get it?"

"I… don't know." Ocellus answered. Silverstream flipped the bit into the air, and it landed on tails.

"Well, there's that!"

"What about the neutrals?" Sandbar asked.

"... Well, since you both did so well, why don't you get the stuff" Gallus suggested.

"Really!?" Yona asked.

"Eh, it's only fair." Smolder added. "And there's other neutrals. And I personally don't want a huge coat." Silverstream and Ocellus no, dded.

"It looks too heavy." Silverstream added.

"And I don't want to accidentally shed in mine." Ocellus added as well.

"Come on, Sandbar! Let's get our stuff!" Yona shouted, dragging Sandbar with her.

In a few minutes, Yona and Sandbar approached their friends wearing matching coats. They had just enough extra to make new weapons, as on Yona's back, she had what was called "Raging Crash" and Sandbar's new strikers, looking more like blunt claws, called "Raging Fists".

"Hey, not too shabby you two." Silverstream complimented.

"Yona like new hat." Yona replied. "And Wils said new hammer is stronger than the old one! Now Yona can smash harder!"

"And I feel a bit more protected now." Sandbar spoke. "I'm just not sure if I want to go on this next hunt."

"No sweat." Gallus replied. "Smolder and I need to do this. Yona can join us, and either Ocellus or Silverstream can be our 4th." Ocellus and Silverstream looked at each other.

"... Flip a bit?" Silverstream asked.

Author's Note

For context, this is the Gnasher and the gear it makes.

Gnasher armor set:
+2-6 Tough (Increases max health)
+1-3 Bloodless (Protects against Wounded and Crippling Wounds statuses.)
+1-3 Ragehunter (Increases damage against enraged Behemoths.
Both weapons have a +1-3 Ragehunter.

Trophy Hunt

Gallus, Smolder, and Yona sat together in the ship, ready to tackle the next behemoth. Yona still looked giddy, wearing her new armor and wielding her new hammer, though Gallus and Smolder prepared themselves. Their next hunt was a lesser Embermane, aka, the behemoth they first encountered upon entering the Shattered Aisles. Though they weren't with their savior, now equipped with weapons and armor, they were prepared to take it on. Like the last hunt, they jumped out of the ship as it zoomed over the island, with Yona not getting herself stuck, but still landing roughly.

"Yona need to work on landing." The yak muttered.

"Baby steps, Yona." Gallus reassured. The familiar roar made the three pull their weapons out.

"I'll lead the way." Smolder spoke. "I can easily take whatever fire it dishes out." A silent nod came from the other two, and they began to head into the woods.

Back in Ramsgate, Ocellus, Silverstream, and Sandbar read some books about their tools.

"Hmm… that's very interesting." Ocellus spoke aloud.

"What is?" Sandbar asked.

"According to my Warpike, the more damage I do to behemoths and not get hit, the more powerful my missiles become."

"You can shoot missiles!?" Silverstream asked. "That's so cool!"

"I mean, I can only make one at a time, and I have to restart upon making a new missile, but I guess it is. What about you, Sandbar?"

"Me?" The colt asked. "Well, according to this book, Aether Strikers were a weapon originally only used by the Adamant Fists, which was a group that lived in the Adamant Temple. The weapons were originally not used to kill behemoths but to defeat human foes that wanted to do harm to the Adamant Temple. It was not until Kat returned from the Temple to Ramsgate that she gave the Aethersmith the Gauntlets she was allowed to take with her, that the Aether Strikers became a weapon to hunt Behemoths."

"Ooh! Neat!" Silverstream complimented. "According to me, Ostian repeaters are the most customizable weapons. With the choice of different parts, cells, and barrels, I have a near limitless way to fight behemoths."

"Oh look at that, we have some newbies." A voice spoke over them.

"Who said that?" Sandbar asked. Landing besides them was a trio of other Slayers, all in golden armor, and having some exotic sounding music behind them. The only difference was their weapons, with the middle having his own aether strikers at looked more like razor sharp claws, the left one having a sword, and the right one with the an axe.

"Aww, look at them reading their books." The left Slayer taunted. "Especially the bug. You're best left pollinating than slaying behemoths."

"We took down a Slayer!" Silverstream retorted. "We… just decided to share."

"Sharing?" The right Sayer asked. "They're even more precious than we thought. And by the looks of it, the pony took down a gnasher."

"Let them be, brothers," the middle spoke. "it's obvious they're tired. A single behemoth is too much for children."

"We're not kids!" Sandbar spoke up.

"Oh, it is not to taunt you, it's simply us telling the truth on what you are."

"And what makes you not kids?" Ocellus asked.

"We've hunted all the behemoths!" The left answered.

"And the ones in the escalations." The right added.

"And we're on the leaderboard for Lady Luck's trials." The middle finished. "We're leagues ahead of you, and unless you can reach to our status, then you are still children."

"Oh yeah!? We'll show you!" Silverstream spoke up. The three Slayers let out a hearty chuckle.

"You have spirit, we will give you that, but in those armor, you won't last for a single hunt."

"Ok, break it up, guys." A familiar voice spoke. Walking and standing between both groups was the Slayer that found the other creatures.

"Well, if isn't our little puppy." The left spoke.

"Cane back from another unsuccessful hunt?" The right added.

"On the contrary," the good Slayer replied. "I WAS successful, and I can finally upgrade my weapons to be better."

"Oh you poor thing," the middle Slayer teased. "Perhaps in a year or two, you can finally face the Malkarion… if it doesn't starve to death first, that is!" The golden Slayers let out another hearty chuckled before walking away, leaving the 4 alone.

"Ignore them. Everyone starts off as a newbie before they become a pro. And I see you successfully took down a gnasher."

"Oh, this?" Sandbar asked, gesturing to his armor set. "Well, I wasn't alone, but thanks."

"... Where's the rest of your friends?"

"They went on to hunt a lesser Embermane." Silverstream answered.

"And when you were gone, we decided we should all try specializing in one element." Ocellus added.

"Huh… well I guess that's good… but you know Radiant and Umbral beasts don't come until later, right?"

"All the more to train and get used to our weapons."

Smolder held a clenched fist in the air, with Yona and Gallus stopping. Through the thick grass they hid under, they spotted the Embermane, walking in circles, snarling wildly. Silence fell as the Embermane sniffed the air, finding something off in it's area. Smolder took a step forward, unaware there was a twig under her feet.

SNAP!!!

The Embermane turned it's head towards the dragon and charged at her, crashing through some trees easily. Smolder didn't react as the Embermane used the horn on it's snout to throw her back, running back and around her. Gallus and Yona got up and took their weapons out.

"Come on, puppy!" Gallus teased. "Come here!" The behemoth turned to Gallus and charged at him. Gallus quickly jumped out of the way and sliced at it's side, giving it a slice. Though it stung, the behemoth twirled around, smacking Gallus to the side. Smolder got up and lifted her axe as the Embermane prepared to charge at her. Yona quickly blasted at the behemoth, just moments from hitting the dragon, making it trip, flip over Smolder, and crashed to the floor.

Gallus quickly got up, seeing the behemoth was down, picking his sword up and began to slice at it. Yona began to whack at the behemoth's head as Smolder began to chop down at it's tail. With one clean chop, Smolder took off the behemoth's tail, making it stand up and snarl at them loudly. It quickly ran away from the group, before turning back, and charging at it. Gallus readied his blade, and with a clean swing, sliced off the horn of the Embermane! The Embermane made a quick whimper, but growled loudly, glowing red, and released a small pulse before running around rapidly at the team.

"Behemoth too fast for Yona!" Yona spoke loudly.

"Then we just gotta think faster!" Smolder replied, quickly throwing her axe ahead, where it spun in place, cutting the Embermane a big before coming back to Smolder. "Ok, that didn't work as I thought."

"Let me try." Gallus announced as his sword glowed blue, converting energy into the blade. He began to swing ahead of the behemoth's location, releasing a wave of energy ahead, hitting the behemoth and making it trip again. All three Creatures worked together, slicing at the downed behemoth with everything they have, until it was down!

"Another behemoth down!" Yona cheered "Yona still ready for next hunt?"

"And I'm ready for the new stuff." Smolder replied.

The rest of the party had arrived, with Smolder and Gallus quick to get their new gear. Smolder quickly received her new axe, the Ember Scythe as it was called, with the sharp edge made from the Embermane's horn, and had feather-like plumes at the back of the blade. Gallus, about as quickly, received his Embermane armor set, a ln asymmetrical armor with a right shoulder pad that had a bit of the Embermane horn on it, some plumes under it and under a pouch on his left waist side with metallic claws and boots. Topping it all off was a helmet with narrow eye holes, and more plumes on the back of it.

"Ok, that looks cool." Silverstream spoke, looking at Gallus in his new armor. Gallus took off the helmet, shaking his own feathers free.

"I mean, it's tight, but if it's great against blaze behemoths, then I'll get used to it."

"That is true, but you must switch it out whenever you're about to go against a frost behemoth." Their Slayer friend told them.

"Not me!" Smolder retorted. "I'm gonna slice those frost behemoths like butter on toast!"

"Well, you do need protection from the cold."

"Ok, enough talk from all of you." Kat interupted the group. "We've got 2 more for you all to take on; A lesser Drask and Boreus. One lightning, and the other frost."

"Is the Drask lightning and the Boreus Frost?" Ocellus asked.

"Yes."

"Seems we're going again." Smolder spoke to Gallus, the two giving each other a fist bump.

"And I'll be joining you." Ocellus replied, flying over and landing besides the griffon and dragon.

"Yes! Yona about to get new weapon!!!" Yona cheered.

"And we'll be together doing so!" Silverstream added, quickly twirling her Ostian repeaters around.

"Uh, right." Sandbar replied, taking a deep breath. "Hopefully, I won't faint."

"Say, won't you come with us?" Gallus asked their Slayer companion.

"Perhaps later." He answered "These hunts are generally easy… and I don't want to make the hunts too easy for all of you."

"Yeah, yeah, we can handle whatever is ahead of us." Smolder reassured.

"Be careful what you say there, young one." Their Slayer friend walked away, heading to Wils' shop, leaving them alone for their hunts.

Author's Note

The Lesser Embermane, Armor, and Smolder's axe.

Embermane Armor set:
+2-6 Evasive Fury (Temporarily increases attack speed when dodging through a Behemoth's attack.)
+1-3 Evasion (Increases the time you are invincible when dodging.)
+1-3 Fireproof (Protects against being set on fire.)

Ember Scythe has a +1-3 Evasive Fury

Go Forth and Slay

Smolder, Gallus, and Ocellus landed on a new island; unlike the other islands, this was mostly a frozen tundra, with a few lakes and trees on cliffs. The immediate coldness had Smolder and Ocellus shaking in their knees.

"D-d-did w-we ha-ave to l-land h-h-here?" Smolder asked through chattering teeth.

"It's not that cold." Gallus remarked. "And at least you have your Ember Scythe. If it's true, then wearing that armor will hurt more than it would protect me." Ocellus bursted into flames and turned into a penguin.

"Until we engage this Boreus," she replied. "I'm staying as this." The penguin began to waddle ahead. Gallus and Smolder walked ahead, much faster, with the dragon picking up their penguin and giving her a tight hug.

"So warm~..." Smolder purred.

"I bet the others are doing better already."

Sandbar, Yona, and Silverstream landed on a more field like island. Some patches of trees stood, but most of it was small cliffs and slopes. It was a bit warmer, but not scorching hot, making Yona take off her hat and try to fan herself off.

"Yona not sure if Yona should have worn thick coat." The yak muttered to herself.

"Hey, I think it's not so bad." Sandbar reassured. "And I think it'll be worth it when we find this behemoth."

"Ooh! I think I saw something!" Silverstream spoke, running ahead.

"Hey! Wait for us!" Sandbar and Yona chased after the excited Hippogriff.

In the winter island, the trio looked around a corner and saw the lesser Boreus; a blue, T-Rex standing behemoth with tufts of fur on it's head, knees, and tail. On top of it's head was a pair of horns, and on its back looked like batwings. All around it looked like large (though small to the Behemoth) bat-like creatures flying around it in a counter clockwise circle.

"Ok… I'm guessing that's what a Boreus looks like." Gallus spoke.

"What's with those bat things?" Smolder asked.

"Perhaps it's to alert it of outsiders?" Ocellus suggested.

"Big behemoth needs bodyguards?" Gallus thought aloud. "That's pretty pathetic. Ok, Smolder, get your axe ready and-"

"Go! Fly!" Smolder yelled, throwing the penguin at the Behemoth.

"No! Waaait!!!" Ocellus screamed. The behemoth turned to the source of the noise, only to get a penguin thrown at it's face. The smaller bat Creatures turned to Smolder, pulling her axe out as she charged at the Behemoth, and flew towards her. Gallus groaned as he pulled his sword out and charged besides Smolder. Ocellus, out of shock, turned back into her regular form, with the Behemoth getting a good look at her, and proceeded to shake her off by swinging it's own head around.

Ocellus rolled across the floor, dazed, but unharmed, with Gallus and Smolder passing by her, attacking the Boreus' legs. The Boreus swept it's tail knocking the two creatures back, letting out a bellow, as more of the bat creatures flew down to protect it. Said bat creatures swarmed the three young slayers, biting and scratching at them all.

"You just HAD to throw Ocellus!?" Gallus yelled.

"It seemed like a great idea at the time!" Smolder replied.

"I hope the others are doing better than us." Ocellus spoke.

Silverstream, Sandbar, and Yona peaked over a cliff to see the Drask. It was a large, lizard-like behemoth that was purple with blue fins alongside it's back & tail, and a yellow underbelly. Said behemoth just strolled across the floor making a sort of hiss sound when it looked around, sniffing the air as something was off.

"Well, what should we do?" Sandbar asked.

"Smash it!" Yona yelled.

"Besides that, Yona."

"Ooh! Maybe we should try pushing it off the isle?" Silverstream suggested.

"I'm… not sure if we can do that."

"Yona not going to stand!" Yona yelled. "Yak smash!" She lifted her hammer up and fired herself ahead of the group, falling to the Behemoth below.

"No! Yona! Wait!" Sandbar looked down to see Yona rolling on the floor and charging at the lesser Drask, letting out her own warcry. Silverstream pulled out her Ostian repeaters, giving them a quick reload.

"Guess we're going in blindly." She said before jumping down as well, blasting at the behemoth. Sandbar took a deep breath as his aether strikers went over his hooves.

"Hopefully, this won't be bad." Sandbar spoke to himself as he jumped down.

The Drask turned as it felt Silverstream's blasts, seeing Yona charging at it. Most likely because she was too excited to think straight, Yona didn't see it's mouth crackling with Electricity as it fired a beam of lightning at her, hitting the yak, giving quite the nasty shock. Yona flew back a bit, nearly hitting Silverstream and Sandbar running behind her. Sandbar jumped out of the way as Silverstream flew over her, with the former helping Yona stand back up.

"Yona need to pay attention." She said.

"And make a plan." Sandbar retorted before turning to the Drask, who's attention was now on Silverstream, blasting at it's tail with her repeaters. "You go for it's head, and I'll go for it's legs. Hopefully, we can knock it to it's side before it gets angry like that Gnasher." Yona nodded and both ran into the battle.

The Drask let out a hiss as it quickly spun in a circle, knocking Silverstream to the side with it's tail, followed by it's mouth glowing, ready to blast at the Hippogriff. It's attack was interupted as Yona's hammer slammed it's right side, pushing it's head and blast away violently. It turned to Yona, letting out another hiss, charging at her. Yona jumped out of the way quickly, as Sandbar reached to the left side of it's torso, quickly delivering punches. The Drask jumped into the air and rolled into Sandbar, crushing the colt under it's weight.

"SANDBAR!!!" Yona screamed as the Behemoth got up, letting out another hiss, as it charged at Yona. The Yak readied her hammer, and with a heavy swing, knocked the Drask onto it's side. As it fell to the ground, Yona began to hit it as it was down. Silverstream quickly got up and helped Sandbar stand up.

"You ok, Sandbar?" The Hippogriff asked.

"... Not really." Sandbar wheezed.

"Drink the health tonic!" Markus' voice spoke through their suits. "Every slayer gets 5 per hunt. It won't heal you fully, but it's better than nothing."

"Huh… thanks, Markus." Sandbar quickly opened the pouch and pulled out a small bottle of red liquid. With some hesitation,he opened the bottle and drank it's contents. It didn't really have a flavor, being more like water, but he felt himself already better. "Ok, that's pretty neat."

"TAKE THAT, MONSTER!!!" Yona yelled, hitting the downed Drask again.

"We should get back to that." Silverstream suggested.

"No arguments here." Sandbar replied, both returning to battle the behemoth.

"That's it!" Smolder yelled, cracking her knuckles and rolling her neck, cracking it's bones. "Time to let it all out!" She took a deep breath and let out a jet of flame out of her mouth, throwing all the bat creatures out of the way, and making the Boreus stand back in fear, rolling it's head in the snow to extinguish the flames. All the bat creatures turned into blue orbs and went into Smolder's body, taking back the dragon.

"What just happened?"

"I don't know… but I feel… stronger!"

"Wait… it's minions are it's greatest strength and weakness!" Ocellus thought aloud. "When we see those creatures, let's not hesitate to beat them before taking on the Boreus!" As she said that, more of the bat creatures descended, ready to protect it's master. Smolder cracked her knuckles as she picked up her axe.

"You can handle those bats." Smolder spoke with some sass in her tone. "I've got a behemoth to slay." Gallus rolled his eyes as he and Ocellus readied their weapons. The dragon charged ahead, rolling past the bats and under the Boreus's belly, slicing at it's feet. Both Griffin and Changeling began to slice at the bat creatures, feeling stronger with each one destroyed. The Boreus didn't hesitate to try to stomp on Smolder, missing as the dragon dodged it's steps.

Smolder stood ready by tge ankle of the behemoth, holding a strong swipe, feeling a surge of power through her. Gallus and Ocellus were taken back as Smolder's axe glew with energy before she let out a clean swipe, breaking some scales ofc the Boreus, making it fall. It didn't take long before the dragon just began to do overhead chops at the Boreus's head, getting a good 5 hits to it before it's horns were quickly cut right off. The last struck made the Boreus get up quickly and glow with red energy, letting out a similar energy like the last one. But instead of attacking, some ice was built under it's feet, followed by a pillar of ice quickly launching the Boreus over the team, landing away from them, as it released another roar, and more of the bats arrived. However, the team saw that ice began to form around it's body.

"What the heck is it doing!?" Gallus asked.

"I think… the ice is acting like a shield." Ocellus theorized.

"Pathetic!" Smolder taunted. "It's gonna go down!" She charged at the behemoth again.

"No! Wait!" Ocellus's cry went I to deaf ear as Smolder threw her axe at the Boreus… only for a small chunk of ice to come off, and the behemoth unaffected by it. The dragon and behemoth looked at the axe.

"... Uh… can you just act a little like you're in pain?" Her answer came in the form of the Boreus using it's head to bash her away, followed by the bats attacking her.

"Take the Boreus!" Gallus spoke. "I've got Smolder." Ocellus nodded, charging at the behemoth and quickly using her Warpike to stab at it rapidly. Though her attacks were weaker than Smolder's, more pieces of ice fell off as the changeling was faster. The Griffin sliced at the bats, making the energy go into him, but he stopped and helped Smolder back up.

"Ugh… that was stupid." She said.

"Tell me about it. But let's finish this." Gallus' sword glowed with the same aura as before, with him smirking. Smolder couldn't help but smile with him, both charging at the Boreus, with the dragon picking up her axe. Gallus began to swipe at the behemoth, more ice chunks falling off of it's body, alongside Ocellus's rapid stabbing that went by fast. In a few seconds, the ice fell off, leaving the Boreus exposed. All three Slayers combined all their efforts, and eventually, the behemoth fell to the floor, slayed.

Gallus sheathed his sword, Smolder stood tall and readied her axe like a baseball bat, and Ocellus relaxed her Warpike on the back of her head. All three looked, and felt, like champions. But it was short lived as a guest of wind caused the dragon and changeling to shiver.

"L-let's g-g-get out-t-ta here…" Ocellus shivered. Smolder and Ocellus quickly waddled away, freezing their hides off. Gallus rolled his eyes with a light chuckle.

"Amateurs." He said to himself.

Sandbar, Yona, and Silverstream were in the middle of bruising the downed Drask. With a single blast from Silverstream, the behemoth's tail came right off. That blast made the Drask get up, and entered it's raged state, pushing all three away. It's mouth glowed again, and in a row, fired three blasts of lighting at them all. Silverstream and Sandbar quickly dodged it, but like before, Yona was struck, knocking her back away.

"YONA!!!" Sandbar yelled. He turned to the behemoth, surging with aether himself. "Alright, try this!!!" His front hooves went back, preparing for a strike, followed by him propelling to the behemoth, delivering a hard punch right into it's face that was so hard, some of it's teeth came out. What followed was Sandbar delivering fatal strikes across the Drask's face and limbs. Silverstream helped Yona up, who saw Sandbar delivering blow after blow across the Behemoth.

"Whoah… Yona never saw Sandbar that angry." The yak commented.

"Neither have I." Silverstream added. "But that's so adorable!"

"How so?"

"He really cares for you!"

Soon, the Drask laid slain, but Sandbar was still punching it's body. Yona walked over and held the colt back.

"Yona think behemoth defeated."

"I'm not!" Sandbar yelled back. "I'll teach it to not mess with my friends and get away with it!"

"Yona think it's time to go." Asshe said that, some electricity came from the Drask's body, giving Yona another shock that didn't hurt her, but rather, made all her fur stick out, making her look like a ball now. "Um… little help?"

"I gotcha." Silverstream replied, rolling Yona away. "Come on, Sandbar! Let's see what you both made!" Sandbar looked at the Drask's body as it quickly withered away and turned into Aether.

"Yeah, I'm coming." He followed the two back.

In Ramsgate, Smolder and Sandbar wore the new armor they forged with Moyra. Smolder wore a somewhat asemytrical looking armor where there was thick fur alongside her knees, waist, back & shoulders, and atop her head, with ice looking horns on her head (which held her real horns inside). The real asemytrical part was that her right arm had more fur around the hand instead of the shoulder, as on her right shoulder was a pair of hooks. For Sandbar, despite fighting what was clearly blue, wore green, scale armor that, like Smolder's, had an asymmetrical look to it, though in this case, it was red fins on his left shoulder, and a bit of a scarf. The helmet he wore also had fins on the side, though it also had fangs on the edges around it's mouth area.

For Gallus and Yona, they forged their new weapons with Wils. Gallus received what was called "Onus of Boreus", and Yona called "Thundering Maul". Gallus put on his Embermane armor, and judged for himself how he looked with his gear, as did Smolder and Sandbar.

"Eh, I kinda look dorky with this Hemet on." Smolder replied. "But at least I'm no longer cold. … But I do feel a little angry for some reason."

"I'm more confused why my armor is green when the behemoth we fought was blue." Sandbar replied. "And I feel like I've got energy I need to pass into something."

"You kidding me?" Gallus asked. "I feel fast! Like, almost invincible fast!"

"Well, you should know that every armor is unique and can change how you perform." Morya informed them. "But you can alter them a bit more in different ways with cells."

"Cells?" The three asked.

"The Middleman deals with them."

"... Wait, I thought he called them amps?" Gallus asked.

"I'm afraid he was messing with you." Arkan informed them. "Or he forgot that day. Dealing with cells all day can take a lot out of someone of his… stature."

"So… cells can affect our armor in different ways?" Smolder asked.

"And your weapons too." Morya replied.

"Huh, this is starting to sound a bit more complicated." Sandbar commented.

"We'll figure it out sooner." Gallus said. Silverstream landed right by the group.

"Guys, I've got some good news and some bad news." She began.

"Well, let's start with the good." Smolder replied.

"Good news is, Markus has opened his stand and is making tonics we can use on our hunts!"

"... And what does that do?" Gallus asked.

"Tonics give us a temporary boosts in our hunts! And they taste delicious!" As she said that, a random slayer drank from a green vile, and promptly vomited all over on another slayer, causing the latter to puke on the other. "Uh… maybe not to all."

"And the bad news?" Sandbar asked.

"Oh, well, we got two more Behemoths to take down, but we still don't have armor for us all."

"Well, what are they?" Smolder asked.

"First is called a Skarn, a terrain behemoth."

"I think Yona and I can do that." Sandbar replied.

"And I'm joining with you!" Smolder replied. "I wanna test my new armor out."

"And that leaves you, me, and Ocellus with?" Gallus asked.

"A neutral Behemoth called a Shrike." Silverstream answered.

"Hmm… sounds like a new armor and weapon."

"Say, where's Yona and Ocellus?" Smolder asked.

"Oh… right… about that…" Silverstream said. "It's best to see it for yourself." She motioned for them to follow her. They all followed the Hippogriff into what looked like an open tavern. Inside, Yona was hooked up to a makeshift heater that was blowing at Ocellus's face.

"Ahh… this is much better." The changeling cooed.

"Yona not like sitting still." Yona muttered.

"But you can't move, and this benefits us both." Smolder and Gallus held back their laughs.

"This might take us a while." Sandbar spoke.

Author's Note

The Lesser Boreus, it's Armor, and Sword.

The Drask, it's Armor, and hammer. (And yes, the Lesser Drask is blue, and I couldn't find a picture of it)

And for everyone that hasn't played the game yet, the armors and weapons not only give you an edge against a certain element type (excluding Neutrals), but they affect your stats. Here's the armor stuff in a nutshell.

Note, each number isn't random, but each equipment has a different ranking you can upgrade with the right materials and equipment (up to 15). Armor has 2 of the same cells. Ranks 1-5 is the first cell rank, 6-9 is the dire ranking, and 10-15 is Heroic ranking. And I added the stats in the last chapters if you're curious.

Boreus Armor set:
+2-6 Rage (Increases your damage when your health is low.)
+1-3 Conditioning (Increases Stamina Regen)
+1-3 Iceborne. (Increases Defence when at low health, and at later ranks, grants life steal)
Onus of Boreus has a +1-3 Conditioning

Drask Armor set:
+2-6 Aetheric Attunement (Percent increase to Lantern Charge gained from attacks.)
+1-3 Fleet Footed (Temporarily increases Movement Speed after a dodge.)
+1-3 Sharpened (Percent increase to Part damage)
Thundering Maul has +1-3 Aetheric Attunement

City on the Verge

The night had passed before Ocellus and Yona were ready to go. It was enough for everyone to head to bed, ready for the next day of slaying. But before they departed into their teams, Arkan told them that in their hunts, they need to head to him to make two new lanterns that can be used as many times as they want in their future hunts. That, and they had breakfast at what was the tavern; a nice bowl of apples, since the only thing available was barrels of alcohol… something Yona wanted, but everyone had to pull her back on.

Smolder, Yona, and Sandbar landed on a desert isle, the temperature at scorching heats, almost hot enough to cook anything. Both Sandbar and Yona began to sweat hard in their Gnasher clothes.

"Yona need to cut fur down when we get back." The yak said with heavy pants.

"I don't blame you," Sandbar replied. "We should probably drink a lot of water when we get back."

"Eh, it's not that hot." Smolder commented.

"Says dragon wearing ice armor." Yona spoke with a deadpan tone.

"And didn't Gallus say the same thing when you looked for your behemoth?" Sandbar asked back. Smolder had a blank face.

"Shutting up." She spoke.

"As soon as this ends, we're going to find a nice place to drink up, Yona."

"Yona find behemoth first!" The yak announced before charging ahead. Sandbar and Smolder quickly followed the yak.

Gallus, Silverstream, and Ocellus landed on their next isle, which seemed to be like a mountain. It was a bit cool, but not freezing, something Ocellus was happy to feel. There was the sounds of a loud screech in the distant, with the distinct sound of feathers flapping.

"So… this thing can fly?" Gallus asked.

"By the sounds of it, yes." Ocellus answered.

"And we know what to do." Silverstream added, pulling out her repeaters.

"Hopefully, it won't stay in the air too long." Ocellus lead the way, with the two others following the Changeling.

Running through the desert did not help Yona cool down. In fact, maybe it was worse, as her entire armor was drenched with her own sweat. She fell to the floor, tired, wheezing. Sandbar ran to her side and tried to push the yak forward with no success.

"Yona… exhausted…" She wheezed.

"Come on, Yona!" Sandbar yelled. "We gotta find that behemoth!"

"Uh, guys?" Smolder spoke up. "I know we've seen what I'm guessing aether comes from, but is it possible for two to be around?"

"Aether!? A behemoth is near!" Sandbar's Gnasher strikers went over his hooves. "And two? It's gotta be a big one!"

"Yeah, but one is green like grass, and the other is blue like water."

"Water!!!" Yona yelled, rushing to the aether and drinking the blue vents, her hammer landing on the green vents with a loud thud. The impact made the ground shake, and emerging from the ground was a large, green behemoth with stones all over it's body (though not over it's underbelly). It made a gurgling noise as it saw the group, with Yona wide eyes.

"... Guess we found it."

"Let's go!" Sandbar yelled, charging at the Behemoth.

Even though the travel up the mountain would be tough, and their armor was pretty heavy to fly ahead, they used some strange vents to propel themselves higher. The vents made the way up faster, and it was kinda fun to be propelled quickly in the air. But after at least four vents, they landed on what appeared to be the top area, which was open, and they can see what was most likely their target. It looked to be a mix between an owl, having the head and wings, but also a bear,with how it crawled on 4s, and it's large size. Said behemoth noticed the group and got into a defensive position.

"Seems we found the Shrike." Gallus spoke, pulling out his frost sword. Ocellus readied his warpike as Silverstream pulled out her repeaters. The shrike tilted it's head before standing up, flaring it's wings, and let out a loud screech. With one strong flap from it's wings, it soared into the air before coming down at the group.

"Gang way!!!" Silverstream yelled, jumping out of the way. Ocellus and Gallus followed, though both fell down after it landed. It turned to Silverstream and threw two bits of aether at her. The Hippogriff was able to dodge out of the way before starting to blast at it. Gallus and Ocellus got up, and saw they were close, both picking up their weapons and fighting back. Their target turned to the two and began to swing it's feathers at them, pushing Ocellus out of the way, though Gallus was able to dodge out of the way of it's attacks. Though she was knocked down, Ocellus got up and aimed her Warpike at the Shrike.

"Over here, birdbrain!" She taunted.

"Hey!" Gallus and Silverstream yelled back in unison. Ocellus blasted at the Shrike, knocking it back a bit. It ran away from the group on all fours, turning back, and let out another screech before twirling in the air and throwing a tornado at them! Admittedly, it was small and slow, letting all three roll out of the way, but Silverstream was taken back as the Shrike flew at her using it's bottom claws to attack her. She quickly acted and blasted a powerful shot at it, knocking it out of the sky, making it hit the floor violently. Gallus and Ocellus quickly turned to the fallen behemoth and started to attack. It only lasted for a few seconds before the behemoth got up, flapped it's wings, and took off into the sky.

"So… did we win?" Silverstream asked.

"Not yet." Markus' voice answered. "You made it run,but as long as it's still moving, it still poses a threat."

"So we have to chase it down and take it down for real?" Ocellus asked.

"Affermative."

"... Well, we made it to the top," Gallus spoke. "Only way to go is down." He jumped off a cliff and landed on the floor below.

"You think the others are doing better?" Ocellus asked Silverstream.

"YONA NOT LIKE THIS!!!" Yona yelled as she tried to run away from the rapidly spinning Skarn. Both Sandbar and Smolder also tried to escape from the swirling tornado that was the Skarn and it's rocky armor. Though the pull was powerful, the trio avoided being pulled in as it stopped spinning, though all were out of breath.

"Need… a minute… to breath." Solder panted.

"It's stopped moving!" Sandbar yelled. "C'mon! We can take it!" He charged ahead and threw the first punch at the behemoth's rocky head. Even though the Gnasher teeth proved to be unbendable, Sandbar felt an immense pain in his hooves. Yona lifted her new hammer up, heading to the Skarn.

"Yona smash!!!" She yelled, swinging her hammer at the Skarn's head. Unlike Sandbar, her hammer released a small electric shock that cracked the rock easily, exposing the behemoth's head.

"Hey! Try moving to the other sides!" Smolder suggested, lifting her axe up. "I doubt something as sharp as this can break rocks."

"Dragon have good point." Yona went to the Behemoth's right side, hitting it's feet. The Skarn quickly moved the rocks from it's left side to the other and fell onto Yona, knocking the yak down. Though Yona was hurt, Smolder took her chance, swinging her axe at the Skarn's exposed side, Sandbar, after drinking a health vial, followed through, punching the Skarn's exposed head. The Skarn then started to stomp on the floor, causing the floor to shake, and the behemoth to burrow into the floor, with the sand easily covering it.

"Did… it just escape?" Sandbar asked. They heard the faint sound of rocks moving at the distant.

"Well, seems we gotta look for it again." Smolder commented.

"NO!!!" Yona screamed at the top of her lungs.

It didn't take long for Gallus, Silverstream, and Ocellus to reach the Shrike below, though it didn't look well.

"Um… should we just let it go?" Ocellus asked, seeing it hobble a bit.

"Yeah, I'm kinda feeling bad about-" Silverstream added before seeing the Shrike enter it's enraged state, shrieking loudly before taking to the air, launching a tornado at them. Ocellus reacted quickly, firing at the tornado, but it was unsure if the tornado really vanished from her piercing shot or not. The Shrike, however, remained in the air before coming down at the group. Silverstream reacted herself, placing her repeaters together and releasing one combined shot that threw the Shrike off course, crashing to the floor.

"... Nice work." Gallus commented. "Let's just end this." He pulled his blade out, releasing a stronger slash, which broke off various feathers from the Shrike, and make the Shrike have an icy look. The Shrike stood up, but now slower. In it's slowed state, Ocellus was able to blast at it's face, making the tips of it's beak fall off, and Silverstream blasting at it. It didn't take long before the Shrike fell to the ground, defeated, and turning into aether. Silverstream quickly pulled out the Equestrian flag and placed it on the floor, seemingly declaring victory for Equestria.

"Um… Silver?" Ocellus asked.

"Yes?" The Hippogriff replied.

"Why do you have the Equestrian flag on you?"

"I… don't know, actually." There was an awkward silence between the three.

Sandbar, Yona, and Smolder refound the Skarn, though under the heat, Yona was panting.

"Yona… you probably drink your health vial."

"Yona… need… nap…" Yona whimpered.

"Ugh! Fine! Let me do this!" Smolder groaned. She took her health vials out and poured them all over Yona's body. Yona stood right up, shivering.

"Ahh!!! Cold!!!"

"Good. Now you're no longer burning. Let's go!!!" They turned to the Skarn, seeing it had entered it's eraged state, curling up into a ball.

"Huh… that's unex-" Sandbar commented before the floor erupted with a spike coming out from the floor, making the colt jump out of the way.

"Ok, get to it, Yona!" Smolder shouted.

"Yona t-too c-c-cold to h-help." Smolder face palmed herself.

"Ugh… are you even a yak? Because you sound pretty weak to be one." The sound of something breaking could be heard.

"Yona… not… WEAK!!!" Yona charged at the Skarn and gave it a huge swing, not only breaking the restored rock armor, but also giving the Behemoth a massive shock that it fell to the floor, showing it's exposed underbelly. Sandbar and Smolder charged ahead and started to attack the exposed underbelly, with Yona breaking all the rock armor with her hammer. Like the others,it didn't take long until the Skarn was defeated, the body turning into Aether as it went into the sky. Yona panted really hard before falling to the floor, passing out.

"Uh oh." Sandbar spoke."I think your reverse psychology backfired, Smolder."

"What reverse psychology?" The dragon asked. Smolder went to Yona's left side and Sandbar the right. "Alright, we lift on three. One, two, three!!!" Both strained as they picked up the unconcious yak.

"As… much as I... like Yona… she needs… to lose… weight."

Everyone had returned to returned to Ramsgate safely. Gallus and Silverstream received their new Shrike armor, which had a helmet with wings on the side of the face, feathers making up most of the back, and talons on the hands and feet. Gallus even had a new sword forged, Cry of the Shrike, which appeared to be really sleek and sharp looking. Sadly, Silverstream couldn't find any way to use the Shrike parts to upgrade her repeaters, but was told that though she needed other parts to upgrade and make new parts, they didn't affect what type of bullets she shot.

Sandbar crafted a new set of Strikers, Skarn's Smashers, which looked really heavy with the Skarn's underscales being covered by the rocks at the tip. Yona also made her new armor set from the Skarn, which had rocks making the helmet, shoulder & knee pads, gauntlets, and boots. Everything else had the softer scales under it all, but also what appeared to be a scarf that turned into a cape at the end. However, Yona was missing before she got her armor.

The group of creatures gathered around, looking for Yona. They all stood on a far area, made out of wood, overlooking the entirety of Ramsgate and everyone in it.

"Yona! Where are you!?" Sandbar asked.

"Sheesh, was it really that hot?" Gallus asked.

"I guess it was." Smolder replied.

"Anyone think we should give her a shave?" Silverstream asked. Everyone looked at her with mixed reactions. "What? I'm only suggesting."

"Hey guys! I think I found her!" Ocellus shouted. Everyone turned to Ocellus, looking at the waterfall, and just under them was Yona, chugging the water that fell down.

"Yona! Now's not the time to mess around." Smolder spoke. Yona stopped drinking temporarily.

"Yona thirsty!" She spoke.

"You can't be that thirsty." Gallus added. She ignored them, still drinking.

"Well, maybe she needs it badly." Sandbar suggested.

"Hold on, lemme see if I can do this." Ocellus spoke up. In a flash of green flames, she turned herself into the huge insect when she and her friends accidentally crashed the party at Twilight's school of friendship. She flew down and behind Yona, ready to snag her up. Yona, unknowingly, ducked underneath the charging bug monster, who flew through the waterfall. The yak stood up, letting out a satisfying sigh.

"There! Yona good!" She looked up to the group above. "Wait… where Ocellus?"

"Hey guys! Check this out!" Ocellus spoke from behind the waterfall. There was a bit of confusion between them all, but they jumped down to the waterfall and walked through it. They were wet, but discovered that they entered what appeared to be a sort of cavern, lit by bioluminescent fungi, and proceeded to walk into it. It was short, but they entered a pretty large cave, with the water below as the light source. However, all around the walls was various bookshelfs, stacked with books, but there was a podium with one book in the middle of it all.

"Wait… is this somebody's house?" Gallus asked.

"If it is, then they've been gone for a REALLY long time." Silverstream replied, taking a claw to wipe the shelves off to reveal a huge amount of dust.

"Does anyone else know about this?" Smolder asked.

"I don't think so." Sandbar answered.

"That's not all about this." Ocellus spoke up, flying over to the podium. "Look! This book has to be very ancient! Probably even older than the princesses back home."

"And how would you know that?" Gallus asked sarcastically. Yona walked over to the book and looked at the cover.

"Hmm… To anyone who finds this… carefully read this… and save this world…" Yona read aloud.

"Wait, you can read what it says!?" Ocellus asked.

"This book written in Old Ponish. RochHoof taught Yona how to speak and read it before we winded up here."

"Ok, I didn't think you were that smart." Smolder commented before getting a slap to the back of the head by Sandbar. "Ow! Ok, I deserved that."

"Keep reading!" Silverstream yelled. "What does it say!?"

Yona cleared her throat and read aloud.

To anyone who finds my journal, I do not know how long it will be, and I may have passed away by the time it's found, but I'm sorry for dooming your world, and potentially mine. I pray that it was never to be found, and only wished the Behemoths would eventually die off from natural causes and their inability to reproduce. Evidently, by calculations, they are actually growing in numbers, and thus, my journal is found by you. If you're curious who I am, in my world, I am Gusty the Great, and all of these behemoths are the work of Grogar, the father of monsters and the first Tyrant of Equestria. This is the only chance you can have to save not only your world, but mines and others.

There was a pause in the cave. Everyone looked at each other in total shock.

"The… Behemoths are from Equestria?" Ocellus asked.

"Grogar is coming back!?* Silverstream added.

"And Gusty is responsible for all of this!?" Gallus finished.

"... Um… who's Gusty?" Smolder asked. The group turned to the dragon. "What? I have a hard time in history class."

"I'll explain soon." Ocellus said with an annoyed sigh.

"This just got even bigger than we thought." Sandbar commented. "If Grogar is coming back, then going home shall have to wait."

Author's Note

The Shrike, Armor, and Sword.

The Skarn, Armor, and Strikers

Shrike Armor set:
+2-6 Evasion (Increases the time you are invincible when dodging.)
+1-3 Bloodless (Protects against Wounded and Crippling Wounds statuses)
+1-3 Weighted Strikes. (Adds a flat amount of Stagger damage on hit. At later ranks, allows more weapon attacks to interrupt.)
Cry of the Shrike has +1-3 Conditioning (Increases Stamina Regen.)

Skarn Armor set:
+2-6 Guardian (Grants a portion of any shield applied to your nearest ally.)
+1-3 Fortress (Grants a small shield after avoiding damage for a short time.)
+1-3 Tough (Increases Max Health.)
Skarn's Smashers has +1-3 Knockout King (Percent increase to Stagger damage.)

If you noticed, I changed the chapter titles to be the main quests in the actual game. And yes, it's not just "oh, kill monsters and head home" plot, since that'd be boring. Next chapter is going to be a bit different, since the new season just began, with new additions being made. Namely, a training area, which will be used, and a new Escalation that will be used later.

Making Slayers

"Hey! Rookies!" The voice of Kat was heard. "Every Slayer, report to me this instant! Including you, non humans."

"Should we tell Kat about this?" Sandbar asked.

"Oh no! We can't!" Silverstream replied. "If we tell her about this, then she may have everyone try to kill us!"

"I hate to agree," Ocellus added, "but we have to keep this a secret!"

"But we can't keep it a secret forever." Smolder spoke. "We gotta tell them before it's too late."

"But we don't even know when it will be too late." Gallus retorted. "Let's just keep the journal on us and not show anyone." He picked the journal up and stuffed it down Yona's pack.

"Wait, why Yona carry journal!?" Yona asked.

"You can read old Ponish." Ocellus answered. "And I don't think any of the other slayers will want to take your stuff."

"Hey! I said get over here!" Kat's voice was heard, slightly louder. "I'll hang your heads over my fireplace if you don't come over here in the next few seconds!"

"We better go now." Ocellus said, quickly running out. All the others followed, following the water that lead to the left hand side of Ramsgate's entrance. Kat stood in the middle, surrounded by other slayers, some new, some in their armor, plenty in armor they've yet to see (and earn), and some unique looking ones that don't look like they came from Behemoth parts. The leader of the Slayers turned to the group.

"Ah, glad you're here, freaks." She spoke to them before turning to everyone else. "Alright, everyone, listen up! Today, we're all taking a break from Behemoth slaying." There was a collective gathering of confused murmurs. "It's just for today, but we'll be continuing tomorrow as if nothing happened. Everyone hop onboard a bosun. We're going on a field trip."

"Ooh! I love field trips!" Silverstream spoke aloud.

Practically every Slayer stood together on a clear, open field. There was a few dummies around, looking like different Behemoths, some tents set up, a few poles and a few weapons around, but besides that, it was pretty barren. Kat marched down, alongside Janek to her left and the Ancient one to her right.

"Attention!" Janek ordered, causing all the Slayers to stand straight up. He turned to Kat. "They're all yours." Kat took a few steps forward and paced steadily.

"It's come to my attention that not a lot of you are prepared to take on Behemoths." She began. "Of course, some of you have taken on a few, but barely survived, and others thought it was easy. Well guess what!? It gets harder from here, and I don't want to lose any more lives than we've already had! That is why you're all here; you'll be trained by me, Janek, and the Ancient one, the rules of the hunt and how to survive. We're going to turn you losers into champions."

"So says the middle aged woman." Smolder whispered to Sandbar. Kat turned to the dragon. All the Slayers took a step away from the dragon, with Sandbar following.

"Ms. Smolder!" Smolder looked a bit nervous. Kat only snapped a finger. The ancient one presented her with a bow and an arrow. Some cold sweats began to pour as Kat took the bow and arrow, pulling the bow back with the arrow and aimed it at the dragon. Her heart nearly stopped, but rejoiced when Kat aimed at the sky, where the lone arrow hit the near tip of one of the wooden poles.

"Care to be our first guest?" Kat asked with a smug grin. "Just receive that arrow for me."

"... That's it?" Smolder asked. "Heh, this'll be easy." Her wings began to flap.

"Ah! Two things." Kat pulled Smolder down, then pulling out some rope.

"Hey! What are you-!?" The old Slayer wrapped Smolder's wings up with the rope, preventing her from flying.

"Out there, your wings may not work anymore, whether because they've gone numb, or are ripped off by a Behemoth. Consider this as a taste if that happens. But one more thing." Janek presented Kat with a box that he had a hard time holding, but was relieved when Kat pulled out two large wheels made of pure diamond, wrapped around some cloth.

"This represents strength." Kat explained to the small army, dropping the diamond wheel to the floor in Smolder's right claw, which pulled the dragon down with it. She picked up Smolder's other arm. "And this represents discipline." She dropped Smolder again, causing some laughter. "You need both to get the arrow."

Smolder stood up with both diamond wheels on cloth to her claws, and looked high, seeing just how tall the pole was. With a huff of fire, Smolder ran up and used her claws to climb the pole. She only got up a few feet before gravity took control. Without much thought, she used her teeth to keep herself up, only to go down and cause a some wood to come off, and splinters in her teeth.

The rest didn't fair much better, especially to the other winged students. Gallus couldn't even climb his way up, no matter how hard he tried. Silverstream fell right onto her head before falling down like a stiff board. Sandbar was stuck on the floor. Yona fell to the floor, causing everyone and everything, the pole included, to jump in the air a bit. Ocellus… she was straight up booed for cheating, turning into a gorilla to climb up, something no one was having.

A few of the experienced slayers, near masters, began to play some drums as Kat sighed to herself.

"We've got a long way to go." She muttered to herself. Janek blew a whistle, with everyone picking up the weapon of their choice, as Kat unsheathed her sword, showing off her skills.

♫Let's get down to business, to slay monsters

Did they send me children, and not some jesters?

You're the saddest bunch I ever met

But you can bet before we're through

Ladies, I'll make slayers out of you!♫

Everyone stood together, battling their Behemoth dummies, with mixed results. It didn't take long for Janek to pull a switch, in which the dummies started to either spew fire or ice, start growing vines or shoot lightning, or almost invisible shield or puddles of black liquids. It didn't look pretty, with chaos everywhere.

♫Tranquil as a forest but on fire within

Once you find your center, you are sure to win

You're a spineless, pale, pathetic lot

And you haven't got a clue

Somehow I'll make Slayers out of you♫

Silverstream focused shooting at the dummies with the black pools, only to be slowed down and hit with other black balls of liquid. Gallus tried running away from his dummy, only to have his tail catch on fire. Sandbar tried to punch his electrified dummy, only to get a nasty shock with his name and tail becoming poofy. Smolder was frozen in a block of ice. Ocellus hid under a rock from all the chaos. And Yona was pushed into a lake from her rock dummy, with her thrashing in the water

I'm never gonna catch my breath

Say goodbye to those who knew me

Boy, was I a fool in school for cutting gym

This guy's got 'em scared to death

Hope they don't really want to kill me

Yona really wish that she knew how to swim

Various experienced slayers helped patched up all the injured slayers that night, though a few stink eyes were given to Ocellus. In the morning, however, everyone began to exercise hard, and doing various techniques with the ancient one as the demonstration. However, Ocellus kept failing.

♫We're Slayers

We must be swift as the coursing river

We're Slayers

With all the force of a great typhoon

We're Slayers

With all the strength of a raging fire

Mysterious as the dark side of the moon♫

Ocellus cowered as Kat approached her, having the massive look of disapproval. It didn't take much for Ocellus to see her friends trying their hardest and make some progress. Kat tossed the changeling's Warpike to her before storming off.

♫Time is racing toward us till behemoths arrive

Heed my every teaching, and you might survive

You're unsuited for the thrill of the hunt

So pack up, go home, you're through

How could I make a Slayer out of you?♫

Ocellus was about to leave that nigh, but stopped at the pole with the arrow. She picked up the diamond disks, wrapped her legs on the pole, and failed. The changeling looked at her tools and realized what she had to do! Wrapping them around the pole and hugging it, she began to steadily scale the pole as the sun began to rise. Slayers walked out of their tents, seeing Ocellus scale the pole, quickly saving herself from falling. Kat walked out to see an arrow land in front of her feet, and looking up, Ocellus sitting on the pole, and the crowd cheering her on for not changing and doing something they thought was impossible.

♫We're Slayers

We must be swift as the coursing river

We're Slayers

With all the force of a great typhoon

We're Slayers

With all the strength of a raging fire

Mysterious as the dark side of the moon♫

Everyone was starting to excel. Silverstream began to rapidly shoot at the dummy, dodging it's attacks quickly while throwing out extras for everyone to use. Gallus also began to dodge better as well as strike his blades more, chopping some bits off his dummy. Sandbar now got less of a shock, delivering a hard blow against his dummy's face, knocking the head clean off. Smolder's axe glowed more and hit with more force, eventually cutting her dummy in half. Ocellus began to fire her Warpike at far away targets easily, and stab other dummies easily at speeds that no one could see. And for Yona, she skipped across the lake now, almost weightless, before smacking her dummy off of the isle with her hammer. Every Slayer gathered together, and as one, placed their unique banners down

♫We're Slayers

We must be swift as the coursing river

We're Slayers

With all the force of a great typhoon

We're Slayers

With all the strength of a raging fire

Mysterious as the dark side of the moon♫

"Thanks, fellas." Kat spoke to some random people with instruments.

"Eh, any time, Kat." The leader of the group spoke. Kat turned to the other slayers.

"And all of you did a great job. You deserve a break." As if on cue, all slayers collapsed to the floor, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness!" Smolder groaned. "I'm ACHING everywhere."

"I can't feel my claws." Gallus said.

"I can't feel my toes." Silverstream added.

"You don't have any toes." Sandbar replied.

"Yona need to sleep." The yak yawned loudly.

"But we can't sleep yet." Ocellus spoke up. "We've got other things to do."

"Like what other things?" Janek asked, making the changeling gasp. She turned to see him and the ancient one behind them.

"Yes, what must be more important than slaying Behemoths?" The ancient one asked.

"Uh… we uh… need…" Ocellus stammered

"Our own neutral armor!" Smolder spoke up.

"Wait, what-?" Smolder put a claw over the changeling's mouth.

"Yeah. My friends have their own neutral armor set as a backup for an emergency. Ocellus and I don't."

"Um… yeah, she's right!" Silverstream added. "Gallus and I just got our Shrike armor not too long ago."

"And my new sword." The griffon added.

"Hm… they are generally sticking to opposite elements and a single weapon type." The ancient one concurred.

"I'm not gonna judge them harshly for that." Janek added before turning to Kat. "Kat!? What's next on your list of Behemoths for them to battle?"

"Oh, that's up to Dr. Shaed Priyani." Kat answered. "But I don't see why not. And if it's just two of them, I think I found another pair that'll join them."

"... Another pair?" Ocellus asked.

Author's Note

I wanted to do something fun, and perhaps more chapters like this may come along in the future if you want it. But next chapter is going to be a bit more experimental as well, but not as insane as this is.

On a side note, I was kinda dissapointed with the training grounds, but I'm more than happy with the new escalation.

Get Punked

Aboard Markus' ship, Smolder and Ocellus sat in an awkward pause with the two strangers in front of them. The strangers were a bit older than them, but still young looking, but what they were made them stick out. Both wore black clothes with neon purple and green colors, with the purple forming the outline of an X on their chests. The difference is that the man or the team had a purple mohawk with goggles that looked thick with light blue Xs over his eye holes. Meanwhile, the woman had hair over her left eye, and appeared to have cybernetic limbs over right arm and left leg.

"... What?" The man began to ask, noticing how the two creatures were quiet. "Riftstalker got your tongue?"

"Uh… no…" smolder answered. "It's just… uh…"

"You don't look like the ANY of the other slayers we've seen." Ocellus finished.

"Hmph, well, you should keep an eye open." The woman replied. "There's a lot more of us around."

"More what?"

"You seriously don't know who we are!?" The guy asked, sounding offended. "We may not be the biggest clan, but we're certainly the loudest."

"We're still fairly new," Smolder replied. "And what do you mean by 'clans'? Just what are you both even?"

"... Markus!"

"Yes?" Their ship captain answered.

"How long till we slay that piggy?"

"Give or take a few minutes."

"Aight, guess we can tell em who we are, love." The woman got up and cracked her neck.

"Well, name's Jessie," she began. "And he's James. We're both part of one of the many clans in Ramsgate. Just call us the-"

"Aetherpunks?" Sandbar asked. "That's what they're called?" He, and his friends followed Kat as the landed back in Ramsgate.

"Yeah, they're the ultimate partying punks I've ever met."

"And there's more of them?" Silverstream asked.

"Yep. Both Aetherpunks, and other clans."

"And what are those other clans?" Gallus asked.

"Eh, there's too many to count from, since new ones are made almost a month and a half thanks to Flynt."

"It's called fashion!" Flynt yelled from across the area. "And it's my passion."

"Yona curious what other clans are." Yona spoke.

"Eh, I've been getting rumors that all those clans will be arriving each day to recruit newbies into their areas." Kat replied, getting back to her position. "I'm sure they'll be able to hunt." The faint sound of some loud, upbeat music could be heard. "And speak of the devil. Here they come!"

From both sides, and jumping over their heads, were a group of fifty people, all wearing black clothes with neon lights sticking out. The entire center became what appeared to be a race, with every other slayer looking in confusion, but a few of the newbies joining the rave. Meanwhile, the creatures stood aside, with somewhat mixed opinions about it. Silverman looked pretty giddy upon seeing how much fun it looked.

"Ooh! Let's have some fun!" She grabbed Gallus and dragged him into the rave.

"No! Wait!" Gallus yelled before being muted by the loud music and cheers of the rave.

"... Is this normal?" Sandbar asked.

"Not really." Kat answered. "But I wouldn't be surprised if the other clans arrive at a time and do something like this to get people to join them."

"Yona hope Smolder and Ocellus are doing ok."

"Alright, we're near the Quillshot's location." Markus spoke over the radio. "You all ready?"

"Ready as we'll be!" Jessie replied. She turned to the two creatures to her left. "Last one to slay the Quillshot's buying drinks!"

"Oh you're on!" Smolder replied. The bottom opened, and the group fell down to the island. Though Ocellus and Smolder landed normally, Jessie landed and kicked a trashcan that was on the island (for some reason that may never be answered). However, James came down on what looked to be a hovering skateboard, doing a quick kick flip off of it and landing smoothly, stomping the skateboard into his hands.

"Radical." He spoke aloud.

"... I think you're trying too hard." Ocellus commented.There was the sounds of a behemoth nearby, making squealing noises like that of a pig.

"Here, piggy, piggy, piggy…" Jessie spoke up, pulling out her Ostian Repeaters, which had the same aesthetic as her outfit.

"Uh, we don't know what a Quillstrike is." Smolder spoke, following the woman. "Is it basically a giant pig?"

"A pig mixed a porcupine." James replied, pulling out a purple baseball bat with green stripes and spikes on it.

"Is that even durable!?" Ocellus asked in complete shock.

"Course it does, love. Gotta love crackin behemoth skulls."

"... I think we stumbled with the wrong duo." Smolder whispered to Ocellus.

"You're one to talk." The changeling replied.

"I meant that as a joke back home."

"Shut your traps!" Their female ally yelled. "It's close. Let's have some fun."

"SOOEY PIGGY PIGGY PIGGY!!!" The other added, charging ahead. All charged through the forest to see the quillshot. True to what they said, it's face was very pig like with a large snout, but it's mouth had sharp looking tusks protruding from both sides of its mouth, and sticking from its cheeks like mandibles. Also unlike a pig, it was pretty low to the ground, with multiple, small spikes, on its back, head, tail, and joints.

"Uh… I can see the pig," Smolder spoke. "But the porcupine? It looks more like a hedgehog than-" The Quillshot turned to the group, and the small quills jutted out, becoming longer, more sharper looking needles.

"Ooh! It's like a pukwudgy back home!" Ocellus said in fascination. The quillshot charged at them.

"Too much like them!" Smolder tackled Ocellus out of the way. Both Aetherpunks charged ahead, Jessie blasting at it's sides as James bashed its head with his spiked baseball bat. The swing knocked the behemoth back a few feet.

"WHOO!!! IS THAT ALL YOU GOT, PIGGY!?!?!?" He swung his baseball bat again, only for the Quillshot to swipe its claw at him, knocking him to a tree. Smolder and Ocellus hot up, the dragon taking out her ember scythe.

"Come on, Ocellus!" She began. "Let's get in there." Ocellus pulled her warpike out, charging alongside her friend. Both stood by Jessie's side, as the woman reloaded, her weapons flew a bit, becoming empowered a bit more. Their target jumped down at them, though all three rolled out of the way, with Jessie planting a mine nearby.

"That was close." Ocellus commented. The spikes on the behemoth's back fired at them. Jessie's mine exploded, taking out the majority of the quills fired at them, leaving only the far sides to fire away from them. Smolder cleared her throat.

"Think before you speak." The dragon groaned.

"I didn't think it would do that!"

"EAT AETHER!!!" Jessie yelled, making a blast so strong, she was pushed back a bit. The blast broke some quills from it's back. James got up and charged back at the behemoth. Smolder pulled her axe out, concentrated, charging her next swing, and swung at the quillshot, slicing it's left tusk off, knocking it back. Ocellus followed, using her warpike on its tail. James ran to the other side of the Quillshot's head, smacking his baseball bat at it again, knocking off the other tusk. Both the Aetherpunk and Dragon repeatedly smacking the Behemoth's head, knocking it down a bit. As it was down, the two turned to it's right side's limbs.

Jessie followed with Ocellus, attacking the tail of the quillshot, with the changeling making enough missiles in her warpike to shoot off the Quillshot's tail. Following like before, Jessie became empowered, throwing another mine just away from the behemoth's feet. It got up, as Smolder and james gave its right side plenty of scars. The Quillshot kicked at Smolder and Jessie, knocking the two back a bit, before it turned to them and charged. Jessie's mine detonated, knocking the quillshot down, and for good, as it tried to get back up, but failed.

"WHOO!!! NOW THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT!!!" James yelled loudly as he pulled a boombox out and blasted some loud techno remix. Jessie rolled her eyes, pulling out a spray can and sprayed the floor, making a sort of smiley face with Xs for eyes.

"Another victory for Ramsgate and the Aetherpunks." She said aloud. "But I wish it was a real quillshot and not a lesser one."

"Uh… we're still new here." Smolder said. "But thanks."

"Anytime. Feel free to call anytime." She extended her arm out. Smolder accepted it, both shaking hands.

"Maybe next time, we will." Ocellus replied. "But we should head back to Ramsgate."

"Totally." James agreed. "And perhaps you can join our clan?"

"Uh… maybe." Smolder replied. "We've got other stuff to do before joining any clan."

"Pfft! Lame, but you do you, I guess."

The rave had ended with trashcan knocked down everywhere, tags of the "Smiley Pete" all over the walls, and silence returning to Ramsgate. Gallus' feathers and Silversteam's mane were now dyed, the former's pink and the latter's green. Sandbar and Yona tried to hold in their laughter as Gallus sat down with the most disappointed look on his face and Silversteam admiring her look in a reflection. Ocellus and Smolder arrived next to them, both wearing their new armor from the Quillshot; the armor made them look very much like bikers, with ripped pants, shoulder, knee, and a single elbow pad with spikes sticking out, chains around the other unprotected arm, and a strap on mask that resembled the Quillshot's tusks, minus the snout.

"Whoah! What happened to.you two?" Smolder asked.

"Us? You both look so cool!" Silversteam responded

"Yeah, I guess I look pretty cool in this." Ocellus replied. "Especially with our new weapons." She pulled out her new warpike, which had a quillshot spike at the tip, followed by two rows of two spikes facing downward. "It's called Quillshot's Javelin!"

"Yeah, and I got my new weapon as well," Smolder added, taking out her new axe, which looked like a hook with three small spikes sticking away from the end. "Quillshot's fury! And by the looks of it, we all have our own neutral stuff we'll use when going against behemoths."

"But will we keep using them all the time?" Sandbar asked. They all thought about it.

"... Nah!" Everyone came to the same agreement.

"Unless we're going up against a new behemoth, I doubt we'll be using these for long." Gallus spoke.

"Yona agree!" Yona added. "Unless otherwise, Yona smash behemoths with Yona's shock hammers!"

As they chatted, they were approached by a woman with dark skin with braided hair tied to the back of her head, wearing a white dress with gold outlines and purple undertones.

"Ah, the Slayer recruits Kat told me about." She began. "I'm Doctor Shaed Priyani. I study how Behemoths evolve and thrive, so we can end their threat. And I think we can help each other."

"Oh, hello there." Sandbar began. "What do you need help with?"

"The Skyquake scattered Behemoths to the winds, but the Charrogg's physiology makes it useful for tracking population distribution. Slay a Charrogg for me and let's get learning."

"... uh… what's a Skyquake?" Silversteam asked.

"And what's a Charrogg?" Smolder added.

"A skyquake is like an earthquake, but it affects all the shattered isles in that area." Shaed answered. "And a Charrogg is a blaze behemoth. It's hide will help in my studies."

"Hmm… a Blaze Behemoth, eh?" Gallus asked, putting on his Embermane helmet. "You ready for this, Smolder?"

"I don't have this axe and armor for nothing." Smolder answered.

"Excellent!" Shaed spoke with glee. "And I found some other people that might be joining you both." There was a slight panicked look in Gallus' face.

"Don't tell me it's Aetherpunks."

"Oh no! Not at all." Gallus let out a sigh of relief.

"Ok, that's good."

"They're barbarians." A silent pause fell over the group.

"... as in literal, or metaphorical?" Smolder asked. Following that came what appeared to be a loud warcry, followed by a swarm of overwhelming testosterone as men and women arrived, barely wearing clothes, charging into the center, and utterly beating each other up with fire bursting everywhere.

"... I think you can answer that yourself."

"Hey! Now this feels homey!"

Gallus fainted.

Author's Note

The Quillshot, Armor, and the Quillshot Javelin and Fury.

Normal then Quilled

Armor has +2-6 Savagery (Increases damage against Wounded parts.)
+1-3 Barbed (Adds a flat amount of Wound damage on hit.)
+1-3 Shellshock Resistance (Protects against the explosion damage and status effect of Shellshock.)
Both weapons have a +1-3 Acidic (Increases Wound damage at the cost of Part damage.)

Now, to help spice things up and not be boring, I've decided to add the various past seasons of Dauntless and make them clans. There's technically 13 seasons, but the first 2 seasons were basically Christmas and Valentine's Day, so there's 11 different clans in Dauntless right now, and I'll be sure to add any new ones if I take too long to upload new chapters. The Aetherpunks are from Season 11, which is also when I first started playing Dauntless. Here's what they look like.

Next chapter is the Barbarians, from Season 4... the clan selection won't necessarily be in order, just what I think fits in that scenario at the time

Behemoth Studies

Grogar's monsters are quite interesting. All are a mix of various creatures and one of the six main elements, with an additional seventh that's more of a safeguard. I was but a filly when Grogar started his takeover of Equestria and the monster forces following his every order. Equestria's first tyrant, the father of all monsters, was nigh unstoppable, and there was barely anything we could do. Taking down a monster would make you a local legend, but to Grogar, you were nothing more but an annoying thorn to his side and would be eliminated immediately. What I have below is a guide to the monsters, and how you may be able to-

"HEADBUTT!!! HEADBUTT!!! HEADBUTT!!!" The loud cheering and roar of the barbicans interrupted Yona, reading Gusty the Great's journal, sitting in the nearby tavern.

"What barbarians cheering about now!?" Yona asked with an annoyed sigh, followed by Ocellus, whom was taking notes.

"They're headbutting the rams around here." Sandbar answered.

"And it looks painful." Silversteam added. Yona placed the journal to the side, walked out, and looked around the corner. A few meters away, the barbarians all crowded together as various recruits anxiously waited in line with a ram standing. The next recruit meekly stepped forward to the ram, with the barbarians cheering them on. In a flash, both the recruit and ram headbutted each other, the ram unphased by it, but the recruit staggering back a bit, but still standing. All the barbarians cheered loudly as some gave the recruit what appeared to be a kinda wooly hat with horns on it, and taking his shirt off with a necklace placed around his neck.

"Wow, and I thought the Aetherpunks were loud." Sandbar commented.

"I just hope Gallus and Smolder are doing well." Silversteam added.

Aboard Markus' ship, Gallus awkwardly sat between two of the barbicans. To his left was a man, with ripped muscles, a bald head but a large black beard and warpaint around his eyes. On the other side was a woman, luckily wearing a bra, but was still close to being naked, and had braided red hair. Smolder practiced swinging her new axe, looking quite giddy under that mask of hers.

"Bird is rather quiet." The man spoke. "Toggaf not sure why bird quiet."

"Um… I'm a griffon." Gallus shyly answered.

"Is Griffon scared of Charrogg?" The woman asked. "Gaece keep cute griffon safe."

"Cute!?"

"Hey, what about me?" Smolder asked. "I'm a literal dragon here." Both barbarians gave a stern look at Smolder.

"Toggaf slayed several dragons." He replied. "You much smaller than other dragons."

"Wait, there's dragons here?"

"We're near the Charrogg!" Markus announced. Both Barbarians got up, Toggaf pulling out a hammer that looked like one giant block of iron, and Gaece pulling out some very sharp looking chain blades.

"Answer later." Gaece replied. "Hunt now." Her entire body vanished in fire, catching the two creatures off guard. Toggaf jumped out of the ship, with both creatures following through. Unfortunately, he tripped fell into his face, as Gaece appeared in flames, her left shoulder still on fire, but flicked away by her right hand. The sounds of a sort of gurgle was heard in the distance. Gallus picked up a stick and poked Toggaf.

"You ok?" He asked. His answer came in the form of a low groan.

"Eh, he'll be alright." Smolder replied. "We've got ourselves a monster to take care of."

The gathering of Barbarians died down as only about a tenth of new slayers joined the clan. All the others who failed were unconscious, laid flat on the floor. Though beyond the groans of some of the various recruits in pain, everything became silent once again… well, as silent as a city could be. Yona kept reading to herself, with the others around her, waiting for something interesting to come up.

"... Found anything yet?" Ocellus asked.

"Hmm… so far, Yona see interesting part about Grogar's monsters."

"Really!?" Silversteam asked "Like what?" Yona cleared her throat as she began to read.

Grogar's monsters fall under one of 7 main different types; Neutral, Fire, Ice, Earth, Lightning, Radiant, and Umbral. Though these monsters are unique, a fair amount do share the same body type. If I have to hypothesize, Grogar is planning to make monsters that share the same body type so he can save resources while also having an army that works mostly the same, but is unique enough to cover other areas. Of course, it seems the most he can do is have two monsters together at a time. Any more and not only will there not be any survivors to bow to him, but also the monsters will fight each other to the death.

"Well, that seems to be quite the relief a bit." Ocellus commented. "I don't think any of us would be able to fight as many behemoths at a time."

"But it did say that they work best in pairs." Sandbar replied. "This can mean that we'll be battling a different pair of behemoths in the near future."

"I just hope we can take them on." Silversteam added.

"Yona not scared!" Yona shouted. "Yona will headbutt that ram if needed!"

"Did someone say headbutt!?" A random barbarian yelled, followed by at least a dozen of the near naked men and women picking up the Yak and taking her away.

"No! Wait! Yona not mean thaaaat!!!"

"... I just hope Gallus and Smolder are doing better." Sandbar spoke.

The group, with Togaff behind, looked over the landscape on top of a mountain and found the Charrogg. Said Behemoth was like a mix between a salamander and a turtle. It's entire body is kind of long, with a sort of flat shell on it's back. Gray scales covered it's body, with red highlights on it's underbelly. However, the face looked like it had a permanent grin, with very sharp looking fangs exposed.

"Huh… looks kinda… dopey." Smolder commented.

"Gaece know Behemoth more dangerous than look." Their female Barbarian replied. "Gaece hope creatures ready."

"TOGGAF SMASH!!!" Their male barbarian yelled, firing himself with his hammer and delivering a heavy blow to the otherwise unaware Charrogg. The other followed through, Smolder delivering a heavy swing at the behemoth's left legs. While before, leaving a scar on the behemoths was practically normal, now the scars were glowing. Gallus slashed at the part Smolder made with his sword, making some of the scales come right off, leaving a deeper wound.

"Whoah! Did we just do that!?" Smolder asked.

"Spikey armor good at wounding behemoths!" Gaece answered as she ducked from the Charrogg swinging it's tail at them, though hitting Toggaf to the side of the wall.

"What?" Gallus asked.

"Spikey armor make wounds. Wounds great at breaking parts."

"... I don't follow."

"Gang way!" Smolder yelled, tackling the Griffon out of the way as the Charrogg reeled back and spat out a large ball of magma that rolled across the floor at a steady pace. Said ball rolled towards the two creatures.

"Is that ball seriously following us!?" Gallus asked.

"More importantly, is that behemoth shooting fire from it's side!?" Smolder asked, their attention going to the Charrogg. The Charrogg hopped in the air as jets of fire shot from it's shoulders and nearby it's tail. It began to walk around in a circle, setting Gaece on fire. Instead of running away in fear, perhaps screaming, she still fought, not taking any damage.

"She's fireproof?"

"Aren't you also fireproof?"

"Aren't you?" Smolder let out an annoyed huff, getting up and cracking her knuckles, picking up her axe.

"Let's find out!" She charged at the behemoth, only to get hit with the rolling ball of lava, which exploded upon impact, making a puddle of lava. Though she is a dragon, Smolder felt the lava burning past her armor, not melting it, luckily, but it was really hot, as she rolled across the floor,trying to get herself off fire. "Ok, esther blaze is DANGEROUS!!!"

"Duely noted." Gallus readied his sword and charged, slicing at the tail. The Charrogg charged ahead and turned around, flicking it's tail in the air, making more puddles of lava around. One of the puddles got on Gallu's feet, which, similar to Smolder, set him on fire. Difference is that he was able to roll the flames faster, and didn't hurt a lot… though not to say it wasn't painful. Toggaf quickly ran to the Charrogg and hit the behemoth in the face, knocking it out. Everyone began to circle and beat the behemoth down, followed with Smolder slicing the tail off, the final blow to the Charrogg.

"I AM TOGGAF!!! THE STRONGEST BARBARIAN EVER!!!"

"... It's just a normal Charrogg." Gaece said with an annoyed tone.

"Say, I know your barbarians and all," Smokder spoke, talking a deep breath. "But any reason why you have those names?" Both barbarians thought for a bit.

"Gaece named Gaece because it's nearly Grace." Their female barbarian answered.

"Toggaf's father gave Toggaf's name because father thought it funny if Toggaf learned how to spell." A silent pause fell to the two creatures after the quick realization.

"... And I thought Grandpa Gruff back home was cruel." Gallus muttered to himself.

Yona sat on a makeshift throne that appeared to be forged with various sharp metals and flames around. All the barbarians chanted wildly as they danced to their new champion, though Yona didn't enjoy it. Silversteam, Ocellus, and Sandbar watched as Gallus and Smolder came back with their new gear. Smolder's new axe lookee rather bulky, with the Charrogg's scales making the middle. Gallus, meanwhile, wore a more exposed looking armor, being really asymmetrical with a look that felt very barbarian-like.

"Uh… what did we miss?" Gallus asked past his new helmet.

"Yona became the champion of the barbarians after headbutting every ram." Silversteam answered.

"Ah… that explains all those passed out rams." Smolder added, as every ram was on the floor, unconscious.

"Luckily, we took this time to make lanterns." Ocellus added.

"Lanterns?" Gallus asked.

"Yeah, we sorta forgot to make them and were just lucky." Sandbar added. "But we made Yona a lantern called "Drasks' eye", myself called "Skarn's defiance", Silversteam "Shrike's Zeal", and Ocellus "Embermane's Rapture.""

"... but none of us fought an Umbral or Radiant Behemoth yet." Smolder replied.

"They don't have any lanterns on those yet." Ocellus replied. "I don't think they can."

"Well… that stinks." Gallus commented. "And how many lanterns are there?"

"6 total." Silversteam answered. "Well… 7… the first is given to everyone, apparently, but the last is held by Lady Luck."

"So… only 5 real unique lanterns?" Smolder asked.

"Um… yes." The sounds of sirens blared, causing all the behemoths to scatter.

"Yes! Finally!" Yona cheered. "Yona hate being praised for something easy." Landing on opposing sides, were various soldiers that looked pretty similar, wearing pretty advanced armor, but with kinda dorky looking helmets. On one side, the soldiers had green neon lights, but on the other, was purple.

"I didn't think you'd return, you deviants!" One of green soldiers yelled.

"Says the people who can't endure like their own team name!" One of the purple soldiers replied.

"Oh great, Zephyr Strike has returned." Kat groaned.

"Zephyr Strike?" Sandbar asked.

"It's essentially a clan that's divided in.half for competition."

"That… doesn't sound too bad." Smolder replied.

"It isn't. But when they get competitive, they get COMPETITIVE! And it seems you've gotta work with them to take down some more behemoths. A Drask, but also a Pangar and Hellion."

"... So… three behemoths now?" Yona asked.

"... Think we can trade a bit?" Gallus asked Smolder.

"Oh you better." Smolder replied before giving a playful jab at the griffon's shoulder

Author's Note

Charrogg, armor, and axe.

Armor has a +2-6 Rage (Increases your damage when your health is low.)
+1-3 Artherhunter (Increases damage against aether charged Behemoths)
+1-3 Fireproof (Protects against being set on fire.)

Weapons also have +1-3 Artherhunter.

Sorry it took a while to make this chapter. Got distracted with a lot of stuff.

Heralds of the Storm

Silversteam and Ocellus watched in curiosity as various slayers lowered in what appeared to be a purple orb surrounded by golden patterns. Arkan Drew had a very high interest in it, taking a deep inspection into it. Both creatures arrived to Arkan and looked at the large device.

"Whatcha looking at?" Silversteam asked.

"... something from the Umbral caves." Arkan answered, not looking at them.

"... what is it?" Ocellus asked.

"... if my research is correct, this is a portal driver, left behind by the Void Runners."

"Void runners!?"

"Portal driver?" Silversteam added.

"The void runners were a group of intelligent people who ventured into the void," Arkan explained. "but they dissapeared. If this proves true, then this device can open a portal, leading to a new area, possibly across different dimensions."

"Wait… we have a way home!?" Both creatures eyes twinkled with excitement.

"It's a possibility, but I need to know how this works. And it's best for your friends to return before-" he stopped as he looked up, seeing the sky darken with purple clouds. Silversteam quickly cowered behind Akarn, hugging him tightly.

"Is… that normal?" Ocellus asked.

"Only when the Demon's Bane is here, but this is too early."

"W-w-what does th-that mean?" Silversteam shivered. The bell on top of the middle rung, with horns blaring. Every slayer looked up, seeing the skies darken, a huge sense of dread taking over them. Silhouettes of winged, bird-like creatures were seen in the clouds, followed by them flying down, knocking the main tower over, and chaos erupting. Kat ran into the middle of the chaos.

"BATTLESTATIONS, EVERYONE!!!" She ordered. "PROTECT YOURSELF!!! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!!! REPEAT, WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!!!"

Admiral Zai ran out of his stand, as did the Scarred one from her temple, the former pulling out Repeaters, and the latter going into a combat stance. One of creatures swooped down at the two. Zai quickly fired a combined blast that knocked it down, as the scarred one delivered a series of punches in specific areas, causing it to fall down and not move.

"Didn't take you as a fighter." Zai quipped.

"And I didn't think you were a soldier." She replied.

Agario Flynt ran away from his stand as some debris fell onto it, destroying his fashionable wares.

"NO!!!" He screamed. "My latest fashions!!! Where will I get my inspiration now!?" One of the creatures landed behind him. He turned to see the creature and it's very bat-like face. "Ugh! You need a serious makeover." The creature screeched at him, ready to attack, before getting stabbed in the back, with a sword right through it's stomach. It fell down, revealing that the Middleman saved him. Flynt looked rather surprised.

"Come, now's not the time to cry." He stated, picking Flynt up.

Wils and Moyra both ducked and hid from the attacks, as other slayers fought back. The former lugged around her tortoise.

"What are you doing!?" She asked. "Help them!"

"Me!?" Wils replied. "I make weapons! I don't use them. Why don't you help them out?"

"I have to keep this little guy safe!"

"Little!? He's not little! He's-"

"Are you both done bickering? The very familiar pirate-esque voice of a woman spoke. They both looked above to see Lady Luck hiding with them.

"Lady Luck? How did you get here?"

"I ran. They destroyed my stand."

"Are you going to help them fight?" Moyra asked.

"Oh, don't be silly. I would, but my weapons were destroyed as well… and I doubt Zai would like it if I helped."

"So… we all agree to stay hidden?"

"Agreed." The other two answered.

Arkan looked over the contraption carefully.

"What are you doing!?" Ocellus asked in shock, pulling her warpike out and using it to ward off the creatures. "We're under attack!"

"If my calculations are correct, I can quickly get everyone out of here, perhaps into your world!" He answered.

"But how long will it last!?" Silversteam asked, firing at the creatures. "We can't leave our friends behind!"

"I don't know! All I know is that they need to hurry up with their hunts, or else they'll be lost here forever!" He began to tinker with the machine. "Keep me safe! I'll do everything I can to get it working, and try to keep it open for everyone to enter!"

"Oh, this is almost as bad as the storm king!"

"C'mon, guys," Ocellus muttered to herself. "Please let your hunts be fast."

I'm not sure if Grogar actually knew about it or not, but it seems that his monsters have a sort of pride in them. Depending on the number of oppositions against them, they'll either raise or lower the defense. In every case, the more opposition, the more defense they'll have. In many cases, a small team will have an easier time taking down Grogar's monsters than an entire platoon. Only the most boldest would dare battle a monster on their own, but doing so has to be the most rewarding feeling to any individual, especially if it's a particularly powerful monster. But I recommend not doing that unless-

"It's my monster! Not yours!" One of the two other slayers yelled.

"Nuh-uh! It's mine!" The other yelled back.

Yona grumbled as she saw the two opposing slayers. A man that's part of the green enduring team, and a woman with the purple defiant team. Sandbar stood between them, looking pretty uneasy as the two slayers heads were practically touching each other.

"Guys, you know we're together on this?" Sandbar spoke.

"Together until he falls." The woman replied.

"Or she runs away, screaming for her mommy." The man mocked.

Yona grumbled as she tried to catch up on her reading.

Gallus landed on his island with the Endurance team. Said island was a desert, with very little plant life, only sand and rocks. All men had green hair thatlooksed pretty similar in style to Gallus' feathers, but wore green visors over their eyes. One had themselves a warpike, another some chain blades, and another with repeaters.

"Alright lads," the repeater one spoke with a bit of a British accent. "Let's help our bloke here get this here Hellion and prove those Defiants why we're the best!"

"Yeah! Screw those Defiants!" The warpike one added. "They think they're so good, but can't go longer than a few minutes."

"But one of them is my sister." The chainblade one spoke. His 2 teammates stared at him with a blank expression. "What? I'm just saying."

"Uh… any tips on hunting a hellion?" Gallus asked.

"Certainly." The repeater leader answered. "Avoid it's tail, and hit the legs."

"That can also be said with the hangar though." Their chainblade ally added.

"Wait, the pangar and Hellion are the same?" Gallus asked.

"You'll see for yourself." The warpike slayer replied. "Let's get ourselves a Hellion."

Somewhere in the complete opposite, a frozen tundra, Smolder landed alongside 3 other deviants, all women with purple hair. One had a hammer, another a sword, and the last with an axe, similar to Smolder's.

"Ok, Gals," their hammer leader spoke in a very western accent that just reminded Smolder of professor Applejack. "Our sugarcube here needs help takin' out a Pangar. Surely, we can take out one faster than those Endurance fellows."

"That is if they can ENDURE the pain." The sword member replied before giggling to herself.

"Hey! One of them's my brother!" The axe member retorted.

"Ladies," Smolder spoke up. "can we just take out this Pangar and head back?"

"Impatient now, are we?" Their hammer asked. "That's the deviant way!" She lifted her hammer and cocked it. "This is certainly going to be fun!"

Yona and Sandbar walked through their field island, both looking quite annoyed as the two rivals kept bickering to each other."

"Out of breath already?" The deviant asked.

"Depends. Out of brains already?" The Endurance asked.

"I've got more brains than you have breath!"

"Well that means nothing if I've got Infinite breath!"

"That's not even possible!"

"Says the Deviant!"

The sounds of the Drask made the two stay quiet. Yona and Sandbar quickly followed the noises through the trees nearby, and saw the beast. Like before, it was very lizard-like, but now it was green with a red dorsal fin on it's back. Sandbar quickly equipped his new Terrain strikers, which felt as bulky as they looked, as Yona pulled out her Gnasher hammer.

"Ok, on three, we charge." Sandbar whispered. "One… two…"

"He's mine! All mine!" Their endurance member yelled.

"No! He's mine! You pushed me!" Their deviant yelled. Both ran past the two, pulling their weapons out, both with swords. The Drask turned to them, and fired a blast of lightning from its mouth, knocking them down to the floor.

"... or we can do that." Sandbar commented. He and Yona charged at the Drask, catching it off guard as Sandbar delivered a hard punch to its face. The punch was enough to knock the Drask back, with some teeth coming right out. It roared at him, only to be met by Yona smacking the other side of it's head, knocking it back farther, with all it's teeth coming out. It didn't take long for Sandbar to charge right in and delivered a series of punches before letting out a powerful blast of Terrain Aether at the Drask, slaying it instantly.

"... That was easy." Yona spoke.

"A little too easy." Sandbar replied. Their two other allies got up and charged.

"Where is it!?" Their endurance member yelled.

"Yeah! Where is-?" The deviant asked, only to see the Drask was slayed.

"We took care of it." Sandbar replied nonchalantly.

"... wow, we both sucked." The man spoke.

"Big time." The woman added.

Gallus and the Endurance team found the Hellion. The Hellion was bipedal, similar to a T-Rex, if that dinosaur was as dark as coal and had red, sharp scales across the back of its head to the tip of its tail. Gallus readied his blade, with the others following suit.

"Alright lads," the team leader spoke. "FIRE!!!" The Endurance team charged forward and threw what appeared to be metal balls at the behemoth. The Hellion turned to be pelted by these metal balls, which exploded upon impact, releasing shards of ice that flew for a few seconds, before exploding again, making the behemoth froze a bit, making it slow.

"What was that!?" Gallus asked.

"Grenades." The Warpike member answers. "Admiral Zai can help you craft or buy them. Never knew that?"

"Uh… no, I didn't."

"It's not down!" The chainblade user yelled. "Bring the rain!" He threw down what appeared to be a beacon at the Hellion's feet, which was followed by missiles raining down, hitting and exploding the behemoth. Gallus only watched as the Behemoth was slain without anyone having to lift their weapons.

"Easy peasy, lemon squeezy." Their leader spoke.

"That was… interesting." Gallus spoke. "Wonder if the same thing happened to Smolder?"

The same thing happened with Smolder. The Pangar looked very similar to the Hellion, but had more purple and blue colors, and the scales were a tab bit smoother looking. Smolder had her arms folded in Impatient.

"What's wrong?" The hammer deviant asked.

"I wanted to have fun." Smolder grumbled.

"This is fun!" The hammer deviant replied. "Taking down behemoths easily is better than struggling against them."

"... that's the total opposite."

Everyone had returned to Ramsgate, but not in the smoothest way possible. The entire city ablaze, and slayers everywhere fought off the creatures attacking them. All three bosons were hit by falling debris, causing them to crash. Yona and Sandbar came out of their ship, coughing hard, and were taken back from all the chaos.

"W-what's going on?" Sandbar asked. "What happened?"

"Yona unsure!" Yona replied, pulling out the journal. "Maybe journal can help?" As she pulled the journal out, the creatures stopped attacking the other slayers and turned their attention to the Yak. With a combined shriek, they all flew towards the Yak.

"Yona! Look out!" Sandbar got into a combat stance and readied his strikers. The swarm attacked the two, Yona quickly hiding the journal as Sandbar blindly swung his strikers around, hitting some of the creatures, but not enough to knock any down.

"Grenade!" Their Endurance team member yelled, followed by a grenade hitting the swarm, causing them to disperse. They turn to see their savior on the floor, covered in rubble, only his upper body exposed, on his chest. Blood appeared to be dripping from his mouth as his glasses were cracked. The Deviant that was with them was also covered in debris, but only her legs were exposed, and she wasn't moving. The two ran to their Endurance member, who coughed loudly.

"Are you ok!?" Sandbar asked. "Yona! Help me get him out-!"

"No, leave me…" their ally spoke, coughing harder. "I'm a dead man. I'd be… just dead weight to you all."

"Yona not say so!" Yona replied. "Endurance member saved Yona and Sandbar, and Yona say-!"

"Listen to me!" He interpreted, before hacking out blood. "You… you're both stronger than me… and my deviant friend… we just had a petty rivalry...but now… now, we should've been working together." He turned to Yona. "I don't know what's up with your journal, but those bastards are interested in it. Get outta here, I'll give them a distraction. It's the most I've ever done in my pathetic life."

"No! We can't! We won't leave you, or your friend." Sandbar retorted.

"She's dead!" He pulled out a grenade. "And so am I." He weakly pressed the button on the pin. "And you too, if you don't get out…" The grenade took the two back, and they got out, as the swarm returned. Even though his vision became blurry, he saw the swarm reach for the two. "Hey… I've got your journal here!" He pulled a manual out and waved it. The swarm ignored the two and flew for him. With one last breath, he released the trigger.

Smolder woke up as she heard a loud explosion. She was upside down, bruised, and with a few cuts, but was otherwise unharmed. As for the deviants… only one was breathing. The axe member, who's axe was in her leg. The dragon got herself loose, and stumbled to her.

"Oh thank god!" She spoke. "You're alive!"

"Yeah… I guess so… " Smolder replied. "I'm… not gonna ask what happened."

"It hurts! A lot! Please, can you-?" Smolder handed her a rag. She took the rag and put it in her mouth, biting it hard. With a deep breath, Smolder pulled the axe out of her leg. Even though it was muffled, the deviant still screamed loudly. The cut was deep, and she was crying hard. Smolder picked her up and flew outside, seeing a huge gathering around Akern.

"I don't know if it's safe, but we're not going to risk with whatever just hit us." Her partner nodded, still biting onto the rag and trying not to scream. Smolder flapped her wings and made it to the crowd, all making way for her and her heavily injured partner. Following her, Yona and Gallus followed, having a hard sense of guilt over them, even though their Endurance member sacrificed himself. In the far end, Akern tinkered with the portal driver, sweating hard as Kat was standing over him.

"Come on! We're losing a lot of people here!" Kat barked.

"Almost there." Akern replied.

" People are dying! Either get this working, or we're all dead!"

"Almost there…" the portal driver glowed, followed by a blue portal opening up, revealing a clear, sunny, open field. "I DID IT!!!"

"Everyone! Hurry! Get to the other side!!!" Everyone began making their way through the portal, most shoving each other out of the way. Smolder entered with her partner still in her hands, but was excited to see Ocellus and Silversteam safe.

"Girls!" She yelled, running to them. "What happened!? Why is Ramsgate on fire!?"

"We don't know." Ocellus replied. "As soon as that portal driver arrived, everything changed drastically."

"It was awful!" Silversteam added. "So many other slayers! Lost!" Her eyes began to tear up. "It was like the storm king, but worst!"

Sandbar and Yona entered, both breathing hard, seeing the other three. Though they were tired, they ran to them, giving Silversteam a hug.

"Oh sweet Celestia!" Sandbar yelled. "You're both alright!"

"Sandbar! Yona! You're both safe as well!" Ocellus spoke gleefully.

"Wait… where's Gallus!?" Yona asked.

They looked outside to see that nearly all the slayers were through the portal… all except two. A lone Endurance team member, ran to the portal that began to dwindle, with Sandbar in his arms.

"No! Wait for us!" He begged.

"GALLUS!!!" the group yelled. Everyone but Smolder ran back outside, and Smolder's partner reached out, spitting the rag out of her mouth.

"Nick…" she murmured.

"Brook…" the lone slayer spoke. "I'm coming!" Yona ran ahead and stopped at the other Slayer's feet.

"Hop on!" She ordered. Without a word, the Slayer hopped onto her back, but not without Silversteam and Ocellus picking up the limp body that was Gallus. The swarm erupted from the exploded wreckage and turned to the portal. It was a mad dash, as the swarm quickly flew to the slayers. Sandbar watched in terror as, past the swarm, walking to them, was the silhouette of a lone ram, with glowing yellow eyes. Sandbar was frozen in fear, but was quickly pulled in by Kat, as the portal closed, and the swarm hit the wall behind it.

Yona placed Gallus onto the floor gently, tears in her eyes.

"Gallus?" Yona asked. "You… dead?"

Smolder gently placed Brook on the floor as Nick ran to her, giving her a deep and affectionate hug. All the creatures gathered around Gallus, sharing the same fear.

"Gallus! Don't go into the light!" Silversteam begged. "We need you!" A few moments passed, followed by the griffin slowly opening his eyes.

"G-guy?" He muttered, looking around. "Are we… home?"

"GALLUS!!!" Smolder screamed, giving him a deep hug. "You're alive!" Famous looked a bit shocked.

"Yes… I'm Alive… where are we?"

"Not Ramsgate." Akarn answered. "We've made it… at least… most of us did…" A collective silence fell throughout the area, as Slayers quietly took off their helmets and placed their weapons down, in honor of those that have fallen. Kat made her way into the middle.

"If I may have your attention," she began. "We lost a lot of good people today. Young and old, but they will not have died in vain. Ramsgate has fallen… but not all is lost. It won't be easy, but we must not wallow in defeat. We shall tend to our wounds today, but tomorrow, we will rebuild! A new Ramsgate will be made, better than the last one! The behemoths may have won this battle, but we will win this war!" A collective roar made from the crowd. All the slayers walked off, exploring their new world, helping wounded slayers and civilians alike.

"Guys," Sandbar spoke. "I… think I saw Grogar."

"You saw who?" Ocellus asked.

"Grogar. I think he attacked Ramsgate."

"But why?" Silversteam asked.

"Maybe because of journal." Yona answered, pulling out the journal. "Perhaps journal holds secret to Grogar's end?"

"I… wouldn't deny it." Smolder added.

"That's great and all," Gallus replied. "But we just got our flanks whipped by him! What are we gonna do when he strikes this place!?"

"I… don't know." Ocellus replied. "Only that we get stronger."

"And how will we know we're strong enough to handle him?" Silversteam asked.

"Only time can tell."

The collective whistling and humming of Ramsgate's civilians was heard as the sun began to rise. Gallus and Smolder, with every other Slayer with a sword or axe, began to chop down the trees, making timber that were hauled away by other people. Nearby, Yona and other hammer slayers began to mine away at a mountain, getting mineral that were taken to a makeshift forge, making new metals and structures.

♬Cold: the air and water flowing.

Hard: the land we call our home.

Push to keep the dark from coming,

Feel the weight of what we owe.♬

Sandbar and Ocellus delivered medicine to the wounded people, many of which are starting to stand right up and walk, with some falling over and getting up. Those that were fully healed picked up a hoe and started to plant seeds, ensuring a farm was ready to feed everyone.

♬This: the song of sons and daughters,

Hide the heart of who we are.

Making peace to build our future,

Strong, united, working 'till we fall.♬

People began to lay the tiles that is their new foundation, and construction began with the infrastructure being made, as well as bridges connecting to each other.

♬Cold: the air and water flowing.

Hard: the land we call our home.

Push to keep the dark from coming,

Feel the weight of what we owe.♬

Silversteam and others began to paint the completed buildings, adding life to this new Ramsgate, with a statue of a slayer on a slayed behemoth being set near the center, and Smolder flexing her muscles.

♬This: the song of sons and daughters,

Hide the heart of who we are.

Making peace to build our future,

Strong, united, working 'till we fall.♬

The entirety of Ramsgate was finished. Wils and Morya stood by each other's side in front of a new forge shaped like a behemoth's skull. On the left side, Gregario Flynt had a new, extravagant looking area. Behind the center, the scarred one, Arkan Drew, Zai, and the Middleman had their own stalls set up. Behind them was a tavern, and to the back right was Lady Luck's new building. On the far left was Kat's personal headquarters, and Dr. Shaed Pryiana's lab, with the farm just over them in the far back left area.

♬And we all lift, and we're all adrift together, together.

Through the cold mist, 'till we're lifeless together, together, ♬

Everyone stood together, pride over them all.

"Well, this is quite the surprise." A very old sounding woman spoke. Everyone was taken back as behind them stood an elderly woman. She was very small, using a small wooden cane as support. Her clothes looked just as old as she was, with weird symbols on them, with a hat that was pointed at the end, but crooked. On her hat was a frog, moving around, but not jumping off from it. Kat approached the old woman.

"Who are you?" She asked with some suspicion.

"Oh my, I do apologize. Folks 'round here call me Granny Strega." There was a collective murmur from the crowd. "Course, that's what the folks that used to live here called me. Forgot when they packed their stuff and left. But it's been a long time, and I ain't opposed to seeing new faces, especially those out there slaying them monsters."

"She doesn't seem that bad." Silversteam whispered to her group of friends.

"Hey, Kat," Markus spoke, walking to her, not noticing the old woman. "I've been running stock, and we're running really low on tonics. I'd suggest we go back and pick them, but-"

"Oh? Tonics, eh?" The old woman spoke up. "I've got plenty of experience making them."

"... you do?"

"Of course, sweetie, let me just get my place set up." She hobbled over to an open area, nearby a stage, and rolled a ball out. The ball bursted into smoke, and a hit appeared out of thin air, with boxes of tonics around the place, complete with a cauldron boiling some concoction. She opened a crate and gave it a bottle to Markus. "Try it. Tell me what you think." Markus looked at the bottle with curiosity, then a sniff, and took a drink.

"Hmm… this is delicious! Better than my tonics!"

"Ooh! I wanna try some!" Ocellus gleamed.

"Maybe later," Gallus suggested. "I've got a feeling everyone's gonna want it." As he said it, a crowd gathered around the hut, with slayers asking for a drink.

"Whoa! Settle down!" Granny Strega spoke. "I don't have a lot. But if you can get me ingredients, or pay the right price, then you wipper snappers can try my tonics."

"Sounds a lot like Markus." Kat commented. "How'd you feel to be Ramsgate's new resident, Strega?"

"... I ain't in a rush at all, and I see lots of young faces that need a good tonic, so sure, I'll stay." A collective cheer came from the slayers.

"I think everything's starting to look up." Sandbar spoke.

"Yona hope so." Yona replied, pulling out the journal. "Yona also hope to find out how we beat Grogar."

Author's Note

Sorry if this felt rushed. I didn't expect the developers to drastically change Ramsgate. But yes, this is the new Ramsgate, and though I still miss the old Ramsgate, I also must accept that change is inevitable.

Looking Radiant.

The new Ramsgate began to thrive. Though the scars were still fresh, everyone continued their best to slay behemoths and keep everyone inside safe. A new training area was made, as well as Lady Luck's trials island, the latter having her specialists capture behemoths to bring them into their cage. With Granny Strega, a few of the slayers, old and new, began to take lessons from her, making tonics themselves. As for the non humans, Gallus and Smolder got their new armor and weapons. Gallus's Hellion armor had a very sleek design, given him an almost royal look, especially with the helmet looking almost like a crown. Smolder's Pangar armor had a similar thick coat look as her Boreus armor, but the Pangar scales made everything look both smoother and sharper, and the helmet had a large, angry looking brow over the eyes. The entire group stood around the portal driver, with Arkan looking at it.

"So… there's no way you can make a portal and let us go home?" Ocellus asked

"I'm sorry, children," Arkan replied "but we need to keep it charged up just in case there's another full on scale attack like before. We all got lucky, and I'm not sure if we will again."

Smolder looked at the portal driver, snarling a bit before giving it a kick. As she did it, the portal driver glew, preparing itself again.

"Smolder! What did you do!?" Gallus asked.

"I just kicked it!" The dragon replied.

"You can't just kick something that makes portals!" Silversteam added.

"How was I supposed to know something like this would happen!?"

The portal driver let out a huge shockwave, and a dozen, human sized portals appeared. Walking out of the portals were other people, all wearing what appeared to be robes. Some had the hoodies covering their eyes, others wearing some weird crown on their head, but one stood out as he appeared to be a cosmic being, with galaxies in his face and arms. All the other slayers stopped to look at the weird people, who looked around themselves curiously.

"... Who are they?" Yona asked.

"I think… those are the Void runners." Arkan replied, carefully approaching them. "Um, hello there. Are you perhaps the Void runners?" They stood and stared at him. "Oh, uh, my name is Arkan Drew. I've been studying one of your works. We used it to get everyone here into a new Ramsgate." More silence. "... can you speak English?"

"... Yes…" The galaxy looking one spoke, with a voice that sounded very calm, yet booming with a slight echo behind them. "Now we can." He walked to the portal driver, the others following him. The galaxy man looked at the machine. "This machine is high in Umbral energy, and not enough Radiant energy." He turned to the group of creatures, all looking a bit suspicious. "And the Changeling and Hippogriff need to hunt a Radiant behemoth."

"Wait… how do you know what we are?" Ocellus asked.

"And what we need?" Silversteam added.

"The void lets us see in all dimensions. We know you want to go home, but you must defeat-"

"Ok, that's just creepy." Smolder spoke up.

"Oh please, you must tell us everything you know!" Arkan begged.

"... Issac, Albert, go aid the others in their first Radiant hunt with a Valomyr. " Two of the hooded figures bowed, one pulling out a sword and the other an axe, both looking very impractical and almost clock-like. "The rest… we shall inform them what we know in an understandable fashion."

"... What's a Valomyr?" Silversteam asked.

Ocellus and Silversteam had on their neutral gear respectively, as the two void runners sat together and tinkered with their weapons. It was pretty silent between the two parties. Ocellus cleared her throat, grabbing the attention of the two humans.

"So… this Valomyr…" Ocellus began.

"Sorry," the axe void runner apologized. "Being trapped in the void makes you forget that not a lot of people know everything you know."

"A Valomyr is one of the two Radiant behemoths." The sword member added. "Probably the largest of all the behemoths, meaning while it won't move fast, it has a lot of defenses."

"Like what?" Silversteam asked.

"It can summon a shield around it, summon small turrets that shoot beams of radiant energy, and teleport."

"... Hope we can do this." Ocellus said nervously.

A good number of slayers joined as the Void Runners were preparing for their presentation. Arkan looked almost as giddy as a child as they pulled up what appeared to be a map of the entire galaxy, adding a few stars and planets nonchalantly. The galaxy man was nowhere to be seen, but taking the stage was two other void runners, both wearing the weird head bands and exposing their faces, with one having a beard, and the other pretty young looking.

"Thank you all for taking the time to join our conference." The young looking void runner spoke with a fitting voice.

"We hope you at least learn a thing or two about what we know." The other spoke with a deeper voice.

"And now, our presentation: a brief overview about our universe so far." As he said that, a very hip hop sounding beat came from almost nowhere.

"Please tell me they're not-" Smolder spoke, but was interrupted when they began to rap.

All life started with the Big Bang
An explosion so great from which we all sprang
The universe dispersed mass
Traversing space as time passed
Space expanding mad fast
Stars made of light and gas
The cosmos with billions of stars, gleaming
These are the events that brought us all into being

Runners! Runners!

Now you know our name
And you know we trained
To wax poetic refrain
With our superior brains
Evolution's changed
Our instincts remain
To wax poetic refrain
With our superior brains
For years we ask how
But we should ask why?
Below a canopy of nebulas in the sky
Orbiting matter inspiring thoughts
And in this perfect vacuum our pale blue dot!

Runners!
Runners!
Runners!
Runners!

Void runners explain
The knowledge we gained
To wax poetic refrain
With our superior brains
Evolution's changed
Our instincts remain
To wax poetic refrain
With our superior brains

Protons
Neutrons
Folding together like a futon
Colliding in poem like a perfect storm
Creating galaxies and planets
Like the one that we're on!

We're talking 'bout Earth, ya'll

Alright, now it's time to break it down
With every kind of star that's ever been classified!
We talking giants
Subgiants
Red giants
Blue giants
Luminous giants
Very luminous supergiants
And less luminous supergiants
Pulsar, neutron star
When they rotate together that's a binary star
Class W, Class O, Class L, Class F
Do we have any other stars?
Oh, most def'

Runners! Runners!

Red dwarf
White dwarf
Brown dwarfs are fun
If you want to see a Yellow dwarf, look to our sun

But don't look at the sun!
Oh, no. Don't do that
That's everything we learned about the known universe
THE END!

An awkward silence fell upon them all.

"... You know, I apologize for calling Ocellus a total dork." Gallus whispered to his group.

"That… was hard to listen to." Smolder grumbled.

"It was catchy though." Sandbar replied.

"Bet Ocellus and Silversteam are having fun." Yona muttered.

Though it was night time, the group found the Valomyr; a colossal, purple rhino beetle with what appeared to be sapphire gems on it's limbs, tail, and behind it's horns. It walked around, unaware of the group.

"You didn't tell us it was a beetle." Silversteam whispered.

"Why does it matter?" The axe Void runner asked. Ocellus gave him a glare. "... point taken."

"Hold on," the other void runner spoke up "Can't you turn into any creature?"

"... I can, but-" Ocellus replied before being interrupted.

"This is only a theory, but perhaps you can communicate with the behemoth and see what it knows?"

"... I mean… it might work… but what if it doesn't?"

"We've got your back." Silversteam replied. Ocellus took a deep breath, calming herself down.

"Ok, I'll try."

[Translated from Valomyr sounds]

The Valomyr stood around, wandering almost aimlessly, before a large green light errupted from behind. It turned around to see another Valomyr standing.

"Becky? Is that you?" The Valomyr asked.

"Um… yeah, it's me… Ron." The other Valomyr stood, kinda shaking and looking nervous. It didn't affect the other Valomyr.

"Yay! You remember me, Becky! I knew my stick would work!"

"Uh… yeah! I love sticks."

"Did Ben die?"

"... Yes. Slayed by those slayers."

"Good. Ben is a hoe."

"Oh… so…"

"Lemme smash."

"What?"

"Please, lemme smash."

"Um… we can smash… I just want to ask a few questions first."

"Anything for you, Becky."

"What's our master's plan again?"

"Oh? Simple; we gather all the Aether we can, bring it back to our master, and he uses it to make Keystone behemoths that will get more aether so he can make a portal for all of us to leave this destroyed world."

"Huh. Alright… and what are the Keystone behemoths, if I can ask?"

"Well, there's the Malkarion, Torgadoro, and Thrax, electric, blaze, and Umbral respectfully, but he just made a new Terrain Keystone behemoth called the Agarus. Those Farslayers don't know what hit them."

"Oh. Well, thanks for that. I guess we can meet up sometime and-"

"Lemme smash!" Ron began to walk towards the other Valomyr.

"Uh… Ron?" The other Valomyr backed up. "Can I have some personal space?"

"Becky, you promised we'd Smash, and we are going to smash. Now turn around and stick your tail up."

The group watched as their disguised Ocellus was backed up into the side of a mountain, before letting out a loud scream, turning back into her normal self and running to them. Ron the Valomyr made a confused sound before seeing the other slayers charge right at him. Both void runners began to battle the Valomyr, but Ocellus hugged Silversteam tightly, shivering.

"Uh, Ocellus?" Silversteam spoke. "What happened?"

"... you don't want to know…" Ocellus replied.

The Valomyr let out a large gathering of small Radiant orbs that circled around it, but also two crystals, one green and the other red. The sword Void runner rolled through the orbs to the green, before taking the orbs that made a small explosion upon touching him. His partner picked up the red one, throwing his axe at the legs, which exploded with a huge burst of Radiant energy. Their target's leg charged up before stomping, causing a force that pushed both slayers away.

"Ocellus!" We've gotta help them!" Silversteam remarked.

"But the Valomyr…" Ocellus shivered. "It… it wanted to smash me!"

"I think it wants to smash everyone now."

"A different version of smashing."

"Different version?" Ocellus whispered into the Hippogriff's ear. "... oh… that was gonna happen?" Ocellus nodded. "Huh… I thought they couldn't reproduce."

"Little help here!" One of the Void runners yelled before getting blasted by the Valomyr's horn.

"Well, let's teach this behemoth a thing or two about respect!" She pulled out her Ostian repeaters. "And this will help us when battling our first Umbral Behemoth." Silversteam charged and began to fire at the behemoth. Unfortunately, the Valomyr teleported away, landing right behind Ocellus. She screamed and tried to run away, only for a near invisible dome to trap her inside, and more of the Radiant orbs began to turn around inside said dome. Outside, small floating turrets appeared around the dome and began to fire beams of Radiant energy in different directions. Both Void Runners and Silversteam rolled under the beams, quickly destroying the turrets, and began to bash at the dome. In the meantime, Ocellus was hit from the orbs inside, even if she tried to hit the Valomyr, giving it only a few scars.

The dome cracked, allowing the axe member to throw his axe, knocking the Valomyr down. Everyone got to business, with Ocellus drinking a health tonic, shaking off the damage given to her. She aimed her warpike at the Valomyr, blasting off the horn of the giant beetle, slaying it.

"This better get us something good." Ocellus muttered.

Ocellus walked out in her new armor set. She now looked like a knight with her new armor, the helmet covering her face. As for Silversteam, her repeaters now had the same sort of gems the Valomyr had on its body.

"Not too shabby looking, Ocellus." Silversteam complimented.

"Thanks, I feel so protective now!"

"Too bad we're gonna have to hunt an Umbral behemoth next." Ocellus sighed, taking her helmet off.

"Yeah, you're right… I just hope it's not as terrifying as that Valomyr."

In the distance, by Granny Strega, three of the new Alchemists stirred a stew in a cauldron.

"You sure this is going to summon them?" One of more younger members asked.

"If the void runners are back, then this should bring the Night hunters." A much older one replied.

"Even though it's still daytime?" A middle aged member asked.

"... Let's just see if this works." All pushed the cauldron, dumping the contents into the floor below. A few seconds passed, with a few slayers giving them a dirty look for dumping some random contents into the street. Then the floor shook, followed by various hands reaching out from the ground. Soon, people dressed up in dark Victorian-style clothes climbed up from the ground.

"AHH!!! ZOMBIES!!!" Some random slayer yelled, followed by chaos erupting. The strange people looked around with curiosity.

"Oi, this isn't Ramsgate." One of them spoke in a heavy British accent. "It's way too pretty to be that old slum."

"Not just that," another spoke "but it's not Halloween time! It's still daytime, blokes!"

"Watashi wa sorera no koto o ki ni shimasen, watashitachi ga haka kara de rarete futatabi arukimawaru koto ga dekite ureshī dakedesu!" Said one of the females wearing strikers that looked like cat paws.

"Uh… what just happened?" Gallus asked, seeing the group in the distance. "Did they just rise from the ground?"

"Cool! Zombie slayers!" Smolder spoke up.

"It seems the Nightslayers have returned as we have." The void runner leader spoke in his echoing voice. "And knowing them, hunting Umbral behemoths will give humanity an edge."

"... looks like we found people who will help us in our next hunt." Ocellus spoke up.

Author's Note

Hellion Armor and Axe.

Pangar armor and sword.

Valomyr Behemoth, Armor and Dawnstar Barrel.