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...
Rain pours down onto the mountainous landscape, the dark clouds releasing their payloads as their shifting masses block out the moon's soft glow. As the drops hit the ground, their numbers quickly mount, creating puddles within the ground's indentations and small streams that flow down the slopes, as well as raising the region's water levels.
The mountains and valleys are drenched in this downpour, their ground softened and eroded by the rain, while the falling droplets slide down the region's plant species, the leaf and needle-covered branches providing some shelter from this midnight storm. Underneath the surface of the waterlogged soil, the native vegetation's roots quickly absorb the life-giving liquid as it continues to fall from high overhead.
As waterfalls form from the relentless downpour, their ever-increasing roar resonates across the landscape. The towering cliffs amplify the noise which echoes off the rocky walls, the racket even manages to overwhelm the rain's millions of crashing droplets that explode on contact with the hard, unmoving ground. The storm has been raging for many hours now, so much of the area's wildlife has been forced to seek shelter wherever possible - vegetation, geological formations, and even the ruins of some buildings.
These lands used to be populated with shrines and villages, the fertile soil and pure water proving attractive to settlers; however, due to elder dragon activity and the subsequent monster rampage, these places were quickly demolished and reclaimed by nature, leaving only overgrown ruins behind. Although monster attacks haven't happened in a long time, the potential threat has managed to make locals very weary and prepared for the next time this could happen.
Now even though rampages cause mass panic amongst the wildlife and threaten the local settlers, some creatures have learned to benefit from the mayhem. With so many creatures involved in the chaos, there are bound to be injuries and fatalities, and that's exactly why some predators target these events, with one particular species benefiting from them more than others.
As the rain keeps pouring down upon the darkened landscape, a purple flame hovers through the dense undergrowth of a bamboo forest, its cool hue letting off a soft glow while accompanied by an eerie wailing noise. Suddenly, the whisp flies forward and hits the ground, disappearing in a small explosion. As the nearby plants tremble ever so slightly at the detonation, a long, spear-like tail rises from the earth and retracts into the darkness while Dagger, an adult male Magnamalo, moves forth, water droplets splashing against his armor.
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Dagger swings his tail slightly, dissipating the last remnants of hellfire his body produced. Despite its name and initial appearance, this substance isn't actual fire, but rather an explosive gas made from the Magnamalo's unique and powerful digestive system. Unlike the majority of animals, his species is capable of eating every single part of another creature, including the bones. This is possible through a variety of adaptations, but specifically the unusually corrosive stomach acid. Because of the ever so slightly different chemicals needed to attain this very high acidity, some ingested substances, usually bone marrow, can cause the creation of methane as well as the iconic hellfire gas fanged wyverns are best known for.
