The first couple of days of travel were the hardest.

  It was when they had to follow the coast and keep in sight of the land, albeit at a great distance, and it likely could be the last they saw from the Old World for the unluckiest of them. But for Valen? It was then that he realized that he was truly leaving everything behind. But on the other hand… What reasons did he have to stay? Nikki was coming with him and would go wherever he went. He was an orphan, his family all but gone since a very young age. The only hunting team he was a part of was reduced to a crippled member that could only do paperwork… Aki was the only one left that Valen truly cared for. He also had some modicum of respect for His Immenseness but it wasn’t enough to make him try to come back. No, he was right, going to the New World was the best decision and one that he would have taken himself even if it hadn’t been forced on him.

  It was why the first couple days Valen simply stayed at the railing, the sailors busy around him, in his civilian clothing, and simply stared at the faraway land. He ignored any attempts the other hunters made to chat with him, however rude it may have seemed… Valen didn’t care at the moment, and eventually, after a few hours on the first day, they finally understood that they simply needed to leave him alone and did so. He only exchanged a couple of words with Adem when the Felyne asked if he could mingle with his kind, which Valen had no objections with.

  However, Valen was also not only staring at the distant land… He occasionally glanced at the sky above, hoping to see a red trail, a sign that a friend was above and that he would not be left to continue alone. But as he also suspected, no signs were visible on these first couple of days.

  So it continued… At least until the morning of the third day, when one of the sailors announced that they finally were leaving the coast for good and going into open seas. At that announcement, there was a large rush as seemingly the whole contingent of hunters onboard accumulated on the railing, and all of them looked at the disappearing land… Some had tears in their eyes, others smiles at the last sight of their homeland, and a multitude of other emotions. But one expression prevailed, visible on almost every face: hope. The hope for a better future and the excitement of the lands to come.

  Everybody stayed until the land finally disappeared in the waves, and a resounding cheer erupted throughout the ship. Valen closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This was it, now there would be nothing but an open ocean around them… And it was the true start to a journey that would last weeks. The captain couldn’t give them an estimated date, as they might have to hold station on the ocean until the one Elder they were following showed itself. The Elder was the reason the Guild decided to send five ships full of hunters to the New World: Zorah Magdaros.

  This Elder looked like a gigantic mountainous turtle, carrying a large shell of rock on its back, with lava occasionally flowing from openings on its back called magma cores. The Guild was keeping an eye on it since it was known to be non-hostile and didn’t attack ships or hunters unless provoked. However, its wandering patterns shifted recently and it was soon confirmed that this Elder would make the Elder’s Crossing.

  So the goal of the Fifth Fleet was to follow Zorah Magdaros to the New World, recording all unusual behavior, and trying to understand the reason it was going through with it. The phenomenon was still shrouded in mystery even after centuries of it occurring, so the Research Commission wanted to solve it once and for all, and they knew that this occurrence might be it, as the means granted for it were nothing short of staggering. Never has there been so many hunters sent all in one place before, and a large part of them were hunters that had proven themselves on the fields, having hunted monsters such as Rathalos, Lagiacrus, and other kinds of Apex-tier wyverns…

  The only caveat that was asked from all of them? That they left their armor and weapons back in the old world… The stated reason was that it was to better understand the differences between an Old World monster and the New World version of that same monster, as some differences had been reported, that went through different feelings in the armors. However, Valen was granted an exception… The simplest reason given was that there was nothing that he could craft there that would match his current armor and weapon, and that he had a different role, he would still help in the investigation certainly… But he was mostly here as a safeguard against any threat to the whole colony that may arise.

  It was while reminiscing about this that Valen noticed that the number of people that were remaining on the upper deck had dwindled to almost nothing. Somebody coughed to his side, and Valen saw Aiden leaning on the railing near him.

  “Having lingering doubts? Thinking about what you’re leaving behind?”

  “… Yes at first, but now? No, I’m simply enjoying the moment… As much as I mingled with them, I don’t enjoy crowds. I prefer to be in the wilderness, accompanied by only Adem.”

  Aiden hummed then replied. “Yeah, I can understand… The Frenzy Vanquisher was kind of the same. You may know that the Ace Hunters traveled with him for a while on that fateful Caravan. He tended to keep to himself, though when we truly needed him to debrief or to solve the traveling patterns of the Magala, he did not hesitate to help us. I kind of miss him though, he was a Gnarlycuga hunter.”

  “I’ve heard his feats while I was still learning things… He truly rose to the occasion when we needed him. His rise was meteoric.”

  “Like yours Valen. Believe it or not, you came out of nowhere and managed a feat few hunters ever did. And I knew one of them. People love you too, you’re a down-to-earth guy and do not lord over us the rest of us.”

  Valen scratched the left side of his face, the flesh still itching him from time to time. “I’m glad then. I’ve been trying so hard to not be like some of what I met at Dundorma that I guess I knew what not to do.”

  “I can understand, I’ve met the type a couple of times while I was with Julius. I could see they were trying to bother me but didn’t dare with my master nearby. In a sense I was lucky Julius found me, he made sure that I was not trampled by the ugly part of the Guild… It was also why I insisted over him that I leave the Ace Hunters to go with this ship. I want to make sure the Research Commission does not become like the current-day Guild. I want to make sure we are keeping it to our objective. Julius supported me in that endeavor.”

  “And I will support you in that. I feel like things have become… bad… in the Guild recently, and I needed to leave it all behind. Though I sometimes wonder if that’s also admitting they have won..”

  “That might be true. But also remind yourself that they will all fade into obscurity one day in the future. You are already immortalized among the great Legends of the Guild. So in essence you have already won, they simply were throwing tantrums and raging at your success.”

  Valen looked at Aiden for a moment, then he nodded. “You are right. Thank you Aiden, I needed to hear that.”

  “You’re welcome, Valen! Should we get to the amazing party down below?”

  “I… Am not sure, I don’t like crowds. Always avoided these kinds of parties.”

  “Wait. Are you telling me you have never participated in a Hunter party?”

  The silence from Valen following this question was enough of an answer.

  “Okay, that won't do, now you’re coming with me!” Aiden immediately said and started dragging Valen by his sleeve.

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  “Aiden, what are you doing?”

  “Making sure you’re going to have a good time!” He said with a huge grin.

  Valen tried to resist, before giving up, Aiden’s grip was strong and he wasn’t wearing his armor to overpower him with sheer mass. Besides, what was the worst that could happen?

  A splitting headache was what greeted Valen the following morning, and he tried to open his eyes, only to close them immediately later with a groan. This light was coming from the window almost feeling like it would blind him. And even when he had his eyes closed, the light that he could perceive through his eyelids felt like it was too much already.

  So he suffered in silence, still with the headache pounding on his head, until he felt good enough to have his eyes open without everything hurting.

  Adem was looking at him from the bottom of his bed, looking smug. “There you are Meowster! You sure made yourself meown yesterday!”

  His mind still working like it was coated in honey, Valen did not understand the Felyne’s remark, as the memories of what happened the previous evening seemed like a blur going too fast for him to process it. It was getting clearer by the second though, and he dreaded what he would realize once his mind was good enough to remember.

  “Ugh, remind me to never drink that much at Hunter parties again… not an enjoyable experience.” The spots that were dancing around the bedroom finally disappeared and he was able to get up from the bed, not without groans though.

  “A bath is ready for you to clean yourself, and the Captain requested your presence.”

  His mind was good enough to process subconsciously, and Valen nodded automatically to the cat, his body leading him to the bathroom to clean himself.

  Half an hour later, Valen no longer felt like he was wading through Honey, and with a fresh set of clothes, he went to the upper deck. He still didn’t know what happened the previous night, and only one thing: he drank way too much beer… And it felt like a dare? He wasn’t certain what happened and that scared him. He had never been drunk before and he feared that he had already revealed something about Nikki. Though since Adem didn’t seem panicked he hoped that it was simply that he embarrassed himself. The Felyne felt way too smug for nothing to have happened.

  So he joined the Captain at the ship’s stern, who was looking ahead with binoculars. The sails were furled on all the ships, as they were now waiting for a sign of the Elder they would follow.

  Once Valen approached the Captain enough, he turned around, clipping his binoculars on his belt. “Hunter Valen.”

  “Captain. You called for me?”

  “Yes. I’ve heard of your… Escapade the previous night, and wanted to ask if that will be a regular occurrence?”

  Valen stared at the captain in surprise, which was noticed, and he simply shook his head. “I’d first need to know what in the name of the Sapphire Star I did, my memory of the night is… nonexistent.”

  The Captain smiled, which scared Valen. “I guess you already paid the price of your foolishness then? For your information, you challenged our resident toughest sailor to a drinking contest, after already having way too many beers in your system.”

  Valen blanched. “… Tell me I lost.”

  A booming laugh erupted from the Captain, which still grated on his ears. “No! That’s the thing! You won! You outdrank the one we thought could never lose a drinking contest, you passed out right after he did, but you still won! The crew is in awe at your tenacity and respect for you. They collectively asked me to demand you reveal your secret.”

  “You want the truth? I never went to a party like this. And never was drunk in my life before… I don’t plan to ever do it again, to be frank… Anything else I said that will follow me to the end of my days?”

  “Nah, the tale of your Valstrax hunt that people know you for attracted the whole ship's attention though. I believe nobody here heard it before, so they were glued to your lips throughout, for having heard part of it, you are a great storyteller. Ya kept me on my toes the whole time, though I could feel some parts were exaggerated, I mean, who would be crazy enough to cling to a Valstrax while it tried to fly in the sky? But that’s how all Hunter stories go, they never tell it twice the same, and some details change, heck I’ve often heard them retell a hunt with them using the wrong weapon, in the wrong place, or even that they ended up knocked out or failing it while they overcame their opponent.” He shook his head. “You Hunters are all crazy, but the rest of us folk simply need to get used to your antics… And do you think you’ll repeat your show?”

  “I definitely won’t, and I’ll make sure somebody gets this message,” Valen said while sending a very pointed look at the Felyne who was smirking on his shoulder. “Was there anything else?”

  “How good is your sight? Because we need somebody that can help at the vulture nest, and given your experience, I’m sure you are used to scanning your surroundings, skies included.”

  “Pretty good I’d say, my old companions were always surprised that I was able to spot something from far away… I wouldn’t mind that actually, that’d give me something to do in my days.”

  The Captain nodded. “Good, I’ll send your schedule once we determine it with the others in the rotation. Also, Aiden wants to talk with you, and that’s not about your antics he assured me.”

  Valen tilted his head “Oh? I’ll go see him then, not often do people want to talk with me, with how intimidating I am.” He lightly tapped on the scarred side of his face. “But I guess Aiden also is hard to impress with what he is known for. Thank you, captain, I’ll see what Aiden wants.” The Captain nodded in response.

  Valen went to one of the rooms below deck, where Aiden was supposedly waiting. He found the red-haired hunter perusing his hunting book when he entered and immediately put a bookmark on it before closing it and placing it on the table. “Valen! Have you recovered from yesterday?”

  “Could be better but I’ll be fine. You wanted to see me for something?”

  He nodded. “Yes. As we all know, we may as well be the most experienced hunters in this whole fleet. Even though everyone else was deemed an ‘A-Lister’, that only means that they all faced most apex-tier monsters… None of them faced Elders besides the two of us. However, that doesn’t mean I want to be the leader of the whole fleet.”

  Valen raised an eyebrow “And you want to know if I do?”

  “More like I would suggest we let them prove themselves. One of them will surely rise above the rest and prove the natural skill they possess. After all, we shouldn’t make it too easy for them!”

  A chuckle was the answer for Valen. “Don’t worry, I’m not planning on stealing their thunder. I mostly would have taken the place of a teacher or guide most of the time… But above all, my goal is to explore the wilderness myself with Adem. Due to the low number of hunters that reside in Astera and the priority given to building a permanent outpost in it, the territories were explored only by a scant few hunters. So I’ll take that role and find everything of interest I can.”

  “That sounds like a good idea! I planned to mostly teach my tricks, as you may know, that I can wield all of the weapons! I’m Gnarlycuga like that!”

  “Yeah, you’re known as a jack of all trades for sure. I only know the basics of the other weapons, Switch Axe is what I wield and I’ll keep it until I cannot anymore.” He sighed. “To be honest, we are kind of encouraged to stick with one weapon too, given how expensive it is to pay the smith with. How you managed to get as many sets as you did, I’ll never know.”

  Aiden smirked. “Let’s just say that Lucius helped me in that regard. Also Valen. Don’t stay cooped in your room, party with us a bit, I know you are used to working alone, but you should enjoy yourself while you’re here!”

  “… I’ll try. No more drinking contests though, yesterday was enough for me.”

  A laugh was the response by Aiden. And Valen tipped his head before heading out of the room.

  After he went back to the upper deck, he was instructed by the Captain that while they finished the schedule for the vulture’s nest, he could go up there, so that he could get used to it.

  The climb up to it took him a bit, and the ship's rolling was actually very noticeable once up there, but Valen got his sea legs a long time ago, and he kind of enjoyed sea travel. He found a comfortable position and started scanning the surroundings. Once he confirmed nothing could be seen besides the sea and the other ships, he looked at the azure sky only dotted with a few clouds and smiled. He always loved to see the color the sky showed, the pure blue was always refreshing in his eyes.

  He missed Nikki and wondered how hard it would be to spend so many weeks without her presence… The longest he had spent without meeting her was barely a month, and that was after she started showing herself above Dundorma. But now? She wouldn’t be able to stay above the ocean to follow him, which means that she most likely will cross it on one single trip. He simply hoped she would do alright without him… Because he knew that they cared for each other.