Hunting Quest: Plump Zamtrios! (★★★★)
Objective: Hunt one Zamtrios
Location: Frozen Coast
Time Limit: 20 days
Reward: 5000z
Potential Monsters: Lagombi, Giadrome, Sharq (in-water)
Zamtrios Fanatic: Ah... I want to see it! I really want to see a Zamtrios puff up until it's all plump~
That terrifying-looking Monster must be so cute when it's all round and squishy!
So please, go hunt one! I'll be hiding nearby to sneak a peek!
Inside the Hunter's Camp established within a cavern, Altaïr reread the document by the light of the campfire, a look of visible disgust crossing his face.
There was no need to wonder; this style of Quest Commission was almost certainly the work of some eccentric member of the Royal Paleontology Scriveners.
Those people possessed incredible wilderness survival skills and were masters of concealment. There was no need to look after them; in fact, most of the time, a Hunter couldn't even be sure if they had actually arrived at the hunting grounds.
Formal quests meant to assist in research required a specific application to the Guild, much like the time the Professor and the others investigated the Vespoid Queen.
For a joke of a request like this, he only needed to focus on his own hunt and treat them as if they didn't exist.
He carefully folded the slip and tucked it into his notebook. The howling of the wind and snow outside the cave was dying down; it was about time to head out.
He picked up the tin mug warming by the campfire and downed the contents in one gulp. It was a beverage loaded with sugar and butter, less of a tea and more of an energy drink specifically designed to combat freezing weather.
Altaïr stood up and slung the weapon leaning beside him onto his back.
Before stepping out, he glanced back at the two women and the cat feasting by the fire. He opened his mouth to speak but hesitated, leaving the words unsaid.
He was the official claimant for this hunting quest, but to justify their presence in the hunting grounds and make reporting their movements easier, Karin and Haifa had also joined the quest as participants.
When they registered the task, the Guild Hall guild receptionist's eyes nearly popped out of her head.
Two high-rank Hunters participating in the same quest? Exactly what law of nature had that Zamtrios broken to deserve this?
In reality, however, Altaïr was the only one who would actually be fighting. The other two and the cat were purely there as spectators, and now, an additional reason had been added: to freeload a meal.
Noticing his resentful gaze, Karin lowered her utensils with a trace of embarrassment. "You go on ahead. We'll catch up once we've finished cleaning up the camp."
"I had no idea you had these kinds of culinary skills. This is great!" Haifa tore off and swallowed a large piece of golden-brown thick-cut bacon before using her knife to spear another piece from the high-piled plate.
"The Boss's cooking is delicious, meow!" Sajji wiped the grease from around his whiskers. "See, meow? My suggestion to buy extra ingredients before setting out was the right call, meow!"
"It was right, absolutely right!" Haifa blew on the bacon on the tip of her knife a couple of times before stuffing it into her mouth, continuing muffledly:
"A guy who can cook gets a lot of bonus points. No wonder that little girl is so devoted to following you; it turns out you captured her heart through her stomach!" Altaïr wanted to argue that the reason Isis had become his partner had nothing to do with his cooking skills, but on second thought, perhaps it wasn't entirely unrelated.
"Haaa..."
Altaïr let out a long sigh. "Take your time eating. Just don't still be at it when the hunt is already over."
"Hehehe, or maybe you won't even find it for half the day? We'll warm ourselves by the fire a bit longer; it's freezing."
Ignoring Haifa's teasing, Altaïr walked out of the cave camp alone.
The snow had mostly stopped, but a ghostly wailing still drifted to his ears from time to time, the whistling sound of air currents blowing through the grotesquely shaped glaciers.
The sky was a dull grayish-white, a hazy expanse where the sun was nowhere to be seen.
He had heard from Teacher Karin and the others that the climate here was simply like this. The latitude of this region was very high, and while it didn't suffer from extreme polar phenomena like the midnight sun or polar night, the days during this season lasted nearly twenty hours.
Even at night, a small portion of the sky remained bright, meaning it wouldn't hinder movement.
Altaïr thought such weather was fantastic, a sentiment that had earned him Haifa's mockery.
According to her, once winter arrived in a few months, bringing along the long nights and relentless, non-stop blizzards, he wouldn't think it was so "fantastic" anymore.
Altaïr didn't let it bother him; he'd be long gone by then anyway.
Everything around him was buried in ice and snow, and with the lack of landmarks like high mountain ranges, the world was a blur of white where it was incredibly easy to get lost.
Altaïr took out his map and compass, roughly confirmed his direction, and headed north.
Before long, he reached the coastline. Beneath his feet were pitch-black reefs covered in ice and snow; further north lay the sea, covered in a thick layer of ice that never melted, regardless of the season.
The moment he left the shore and stepped onto the ice, Altaïr couldn't help but feel a flicker of nerves.
He knew how to swim, but the sensation of his feet leaving solid earth was always unsettling. Moreover, it was currently summer, when the ice was at its thinnest. Numerous cracks were visible on the surface; one wrong step into one of those could lead to disaster.
For some reason, he found himself missing the Great Desert...
Feeling the wind grow noticeably more piercing, Altaïr took out a bottle of Hot Drink and gulped it down to maintain his body temperature, then continued forward for several hundred meters.
The seawater beneath the ice here should be relatively deep. Although the Zamtrios was an amphibian, it was a Large Monster after all; given its size, it likely wouldn't enjoy lurking near shallow shores.
Altaïr squinted, scanning his surroundings.
The wind kicked up powdered snow, turning his field of vision into a blur of white. Visibility on the ice was far from ideal, and as expected, he saw nothing.
However, Altaïr didn't dare lower his guard. He knew the Zamtrios was likely hiding beneath the ice nearby; he had to find a way to lure the creature out.
He set down the leather bundle he had been carrying on his back and pulled at the drawstring, revealing a large slab of raw meat inside.
Indeed, he planned to use this raw meat to draw the Zamtrios out.
It was said that a Zamtrios possessed a keen sense of smell, capable of detecting the scent of blood from kilometers away. He had specifically brought a slab of slightly tainted raw meat so the odor would be more pronounced. Surely that would work? However, the moment he dumped the raw meat from its bundle onto the ice, he knew he might have miscalculated.
The slab of meat had frozen into a solid chunk of ice, hitting the surface with a dull thud.
Frozen meat, even meat that had already gone bad, could hardly give off any scent.
Altaïr couldn't help but slap his forehead. "I've done something stupid."
When they first entered the camp, Sajji had complained loudly about how much the meat stank. Since the cave camp had poor ventilation, Altaïr hadn't thought twice about leaving the meat outside to keep.
He hadn't expected it to freeze rock-solid in just a few hours.
No wonder Haifa had that smug, gloating look before he set out; she clearly didn't think he'd be finding that Zamtrios anytime soon.
With his luring plan dead in the water, what should he do now?
Track it?
Outside of Desert regions, tracking across other terrains wasn't his forte. This was even truer on ice, where he was looking for a Monster that could swim in the sea, and especially after a heavy snowfall. Tracking under these conditions was nonsense.
Kick the frozen stinking meat into an ice crack and let it fall into the ocean?
While seawater could thaw the meat and allow the scent to drift, it was more likely to attract carnivorous fish like Sharq before it ever drew a Zamtrios. That wasn't an option either.
Ask Teacher Karin and the others for help?
Absolutely not! Who asks the examiners for help before the exam has even started? You might as well just withdraw.
After pondering for a moment, Altaïr suddenly remembered that before arriving at the camp, he seemed to have spotted some Popo tracks nearby.
That was an idea.
With a plan in mind, Altaïr stopped waiting around on the ice and jogged back toward the area near the camp.
As expected, the teachers were still at the camp and hadn't set out yet. Noticing him passing by, Haifa stepped out and waved, teasing him. "So? Found your target yet?
Or did you come back to grill that stinking meat of yours soft before setting the bait?"
Altaïr ignored her and moved quickly to the spot where he had previously discovered the Popo tracks.
The prints had already been covered by the recent snow, but he wasn't discouraged. Herds were unlikely to move much during a heavy snowfall, so there was a high probability the Popo were still close by.
He began searching along lee slopes and cliffs, and before long, he found their trail.
Four adults and one calf, five Popo in total, were huddling under a cliff to shelter from the wind.
"Good."
Altaïr strode over, singled out the oldest member of the herd, and drew his Long Sword. He delivered a slash to its hindquarters, opening a gash nearly a meter long.
He deliberately avoided cutting too deep, ensuring the wound would bleed steadily without hindering the creature's movement in the short term.
The startled Popo scattered in a panic, and Altaïr began herding the injured elder toward the coastal ice.
Watching this from a distance, Karin's face broke into a satisfied smile.
Haifa shook her head, clicking her tongue repeatedly. "Using live bait... this kid is a real animal."
Karin's expression darkened, and she gave Haifa's foot a sharp stomp of disapproval.
Watch your mouth!
(Translated by yourtl.app)
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TL NOTES — LORE SECTION
Some terms and creatures referenced in this story may be unfamiliar to readers new to the Monster Hunter universe. The following entries provide additional context.
PLACES
Frozen Coast — A frigid coastal hunting ground bordered by rocky shores and a vast, perpetually frozen sea. Characterized by treacherous ice floes, narrow glacial passages, and biting arctic winds, it is home to cold-adapted monsters that hunt both on the ice and beneath it.
MONSTERS
Lagombi — A Fanged Beast native to frigid environments. Resembling an oversized rabbit with powerful limbs and thick white fur, it is highly agile on ice, using its belly to slide at speed and its claws to lash out with surprising force. Despite its deceptively harmless appearance, it is a capable predator.
Giadrome — The alpha individual of a Giaprey pack, a Bird Wyvern species that thrives in icy regions. Slightly larger and more resilient than its packmates, it coordinates group attacks and can spit a freezing fluid to immobilize prey. Hunting the Giadrome typically scatters the pack.
ITEMS
Hot Drink — A warming beverage consumed by hunters to counteract the effects of extreme cold. In frigid hunting zones, low temperatures steadily drain a hunter's stamina; a Hot Drink suppresses this effect for a limited time, making it an essential supply for any expedition to cold-weather regions.