Anyone who has played any Monster Hunter game will have probably noticed at some point that the ways these so called "monsters" act are strangely familiar, with their behavior being more animalistic than monstrous. This is without a doubt the thing...
A deafening blast bellows across the land as the usually dormant volcano continues to erupt; lava keeps pouring out of the fissures of its rocky surface, and gasses constantly blast from cracks, the built-up pressure from deep underground finally released and launching everything in their path high into the air. Despite being sunrise, not a single ray can break through the thick carpet of smoke, the impenetrable cloud cover making it seem as if it were night. The only light illuminating these lands comes from the burning mountain and its rivers of molten stone.
Just a few days ago, this landscape was covered with lush thick mats of vegetation which provided many herbivores species with a rare banquet for this part of the continent. But now, most of them are gone having been burnt away by lava. Some lucky plant patches keep persisting despite the inhospitable environment, but these are far and few in between.
The destruction caused by the eruption may be immense, but once the volcano re-enters its dormant state, it won't be long before life returns, with the volcanic ash providing massive amounts of nutrients for both the surviving plants and the seeds that are still safe underground. This cycle of annihilation and rebirth has been going on for millions of years now, causing many of the species living in this region to evolve ways of dealing with this phenomenon.
While the local vegetation has had no choice but to adapt, and there are plenty of native animals that have also taken this route, for the most part, the inhabitants that can leave the area during the eruptions will. While many species are repelled by the boiling lava, intense darkness, and drop in food availability, others are attracted to the harsh environment. During these events, a wide variety of monsters usually found further inside the peninsula make their way here, taking advantage of this temporary shift to exploit the cave system. Monsters come here for a plethora of reasons, but one of the most prominent is to seek out the abundance of ores found within the stony catacombs.
This richness in ores attracts a wide array of lithovores, as for them, these caverns are a feast. The minerals may provide stone eaters with a lot of food, but for some species, visiting these cave systems could be essential to their survival. Within one of the surface tunnels, a Basarios gorges itself on the banquet in front of it. With each bite the animal takes, the Basarios gains more of the minerals needed to reinforce its rock-hard carapace, improving its defenses and increasing its chances of growing into a Gravios. While the ores attract the lithovores, their presence also brings predators, and if this young flying wyvern isn't careful, it could find itself being hunted.
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As the Basarios continues to feed, it fails to realize that it's being stalked by a Brute Tigrex. With its head down and attention focused on food, the flying wyvern is an easy target for the advancing predator whose dark coloration, a result of both soot in its hide and natural selection, makes it even harder to detect. The powerfully built pseudo-wyvern silently closes in, waiting for its opportunity to strike. Despite its prey being quite large and well-protected, the Brute Tigrex's jaws can exhort an incredible amount of pressure when biting, allowing it to penetrate the areas where the armor isn't as thick.
