Damn, the swamps reeked of bubbling, stagnant water and earthy muck; Zel's boots nearly pulled from her feet with each plopping step through the mud. "Good grief, how does Onii-san walk through this crap!" Barely a huntress herself, Zel was what one might call a bit too eager to go out and fight vicious monsters nearly 8x her size; even her absurdly large longsword was far too unwieldly for the preteen. Still, Zel was something of a hothead, spurred by the fact that her older brother was an 8* Hunter; his popularity at the Guild loomed over her like a mocking specter. Today would be her slaying debut!
~
Progressing from the muck and mire to the cavernous heart of the swamplands, the eager young Huntress was quickly beginning to realize her folly; she was scared shitless. Hunters weren't supposed to be scared! Yet her she was, quaking in her ill-fitting iron greaves. 'What is a Khezu anyways?' Zel had foolishly taken the highest level quest that could be permitted for her experience, tricking the nearly blind village elder by passing off as another, older Huntress. She spun about from cave wall to cave wall, ready to face this 'Khezu'; it'd be no match for--
*Drip* *Drop* She felt something - 'tingly' - drip onto her shoulder, slightly numbing the area. Looking up, Zel's already worried expression switched to one of abject horror as the Khezu in question opened it's lamprey-like maw in slow cycles, as if smelling the air; it was massive! All 77lbs of the young girl catapulted herself to the right, crashing into a shallow pool of water as the beast made it's descent from the stony ceiling. The Khezu slammed onto the ground, a massive, albino wyvern trading scales for a rubbery, translucent hide. It was eyeless, countenance closer to a white leech's. Finally, it's tail was an enormous bulb, able to be used as a massive suction cup of sorts. Zel quivered pathetically, still planted on her ass as the sniffing beasts approached. Solitary creatures, Zel was alone with