Negotiations

 Staring back at him from the rippling water was his dorsal fins. However, they seemed to a bit more... bluer than he remembered. 'Was this because I ate the Kirin? wow, my cells really seem to be more adaptable than anything else. I wonder if...' As Evans ponders to himself, He felt an itch building in his fins.

 Following the itch, Evans saw that his fins began to grow brighter, just like how the titziyaku's head would light up before it did something. Sure enough, sparks began to emit form his fins. And before he knew it, a bolt of electricity rocketed from his back, shaving off a large portion of the wall in front of him.

"Awesome!" Evans was elated to find that he can now emit electricity, and quite a large amount of it as well.

CRUNCH!

 Evans turns to the sound that came from the entrance of his home. By the cave side, he saw three hunters. The first was a well plated man, showing no ounce of skin, looking more like a silver cauldron than a knight due to his build. 

 Beside him was a much thinner man, yet bulky none the less. he wears aa strange turban over his head and on his shoulders lays a hunting horn, much to Evans' ire. and Leading the bunch is a hunter that he has seen a lot recently now that he thinks about it. 'Small world huh? wait... could I?' 

Grace Pov 

 Grace was now sweating bullets, with her new friends not faring better but doing their best to hide it. Moments prior they were just setting up for camp when they heard what sounded like an explosion in the distance. Curious as to what had caused the sound, the trio went to investigate, only now regretting what they had found.

 'Grandma always said that curiosity slayed the nargacuga. Now I see why she says that.' Before her group was the variant once again, giving Grace both a headache and a sense of Deja vu. As she observes it she realizes something.

 'WHY does it have blue fur!?' pinching herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, Grace was now sure that the anjanath before her has changed again. She doesn't get much time to revel in this new discovery though for Sparks began to fly out, with little electric arcs traveling between its fins.

 "What is it doing? WHY is it glowing? WHAT THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO ABOUT THE DAMN LIGHT- ow!" As the horn hunter was panicking, his larger partner slaps him on the back of the head. "Focus. this is not the time to be panicking." 

 The hunters ready themselves for an attack to strike. Yet after a few moments, they realized that they have not become roasted pork, much to their relief. As they were trying to figure out what the variant was gonna do, a deep, guttural voice echoed in their minds.

"Can you hear me? does this work?" Grace's mind froze, trying to process who-or even WHAT was speaking to her right now, and how. 

Thud.

 She doesn't even need to turn around to know that the skittish hunter passed out from the shock. Ignoring it, Grace tries to respond, her eager explorer sense blazing. "Yes we can hear you! but... where are you?" she looks around trying to spot anything else that could be speaking to her. And that's when it hit her. Who else was hear besides the clearly non-psychic (last time she checked) hunter duo and the... variant.

 As if her expression gave her away, the voice answered. "It seems you already figured it out." And to her shock, the Variant began to imitate what was possibly a laugh.

Back to Evans

 'Now THIS changes everything. I can actually communicate with intelligent beings!' Evans was on cloud nine knowing he can finally have someone to actually talk to. The female hunter froze in place at the new revelation that was happening before her. Evans saw that her shoulders were shaking. 'wait this might be a bit much for them huh?' as if realizing a building sized lizard talking to people is NOT a normal thing that should be happening, Evans was about to reach out again, ready to salvage the expected troubles. 

"THIS IS AMAZING! the commission will flip when they get a load of this! Actual GROUNDBREAKING info that can change...well, EVERYTHING!" His worries seemed to be unfounded though as the female hunter began to jump all over the place, rapidly speaking about some other things he couldn't quite catch and shaking her still conscious hunting partner. 'Ok maybe intelligent was a stretch...' 

 Finally calming down, the hunter then begins to introduce herself, much to the strange and exasperated look of the tin pot behind her. "I'm Grace, leading explorer of the commission! This is Ajax, and the guy hiding behind him is Brent." Grace then proceeds to drag brent to get closer to Evans, much to his great displeasure, evidenced by the now occurring tug of war between the two.

 Not wanting to be here all day because of these two's antics, Evans interrupted them. "Great to know. Can you two stop now? I would like to go enjoy the sun if you will." Not waiting for an answer, Evans moves them to the side and makes his way out. Not wanting to miss this once in a lifetime chance, and seeing how he wasn't hostile with them, Grace chased after, eager to learn more. "Wait! I still have questions! How did you change into this? are there more like you out there? Do you...um... er... have a name?"

 Evans stopped walking to his usual spot. Grace still thinking up questions didn't see this and ended up running into his leg. 'Ah shit of all questions! gotta think of something, um... ok got!' Evans turned to face Grace, his face now unable to be seen due to the sunlight behind him. "When I first came into this world, I had a vision. It showed of Ferocious creatures that resembled me, if not even more stranger. They were fighting alongside these small figures that I later got to learn were humans. Their opponent, I could not tell for it was blurry. One of them, injured and seemed to be on the brink of death, face me as if I was actually there."

 Grace was starry- eyed, eager to ask more, but silent knowing not to interrupt yet. Evans continued, "This creature spoke to me, saying that I was to be the link in a future manipulated by the enemy. To this day I still don't know what he truly meant. Regardless, he gave me my name. The 'Elevated Vassal Amongst Numerous Species. EVANS." As he said this, The sun had reached its zenith, giving the illusion of a golden halo around his head. 

 The hunter trio were speechless, mulling over this new piece of information that could turn the world on its head. Evans meanwhile, secretly sighed in relief seeing that they bought the bull he was telling them. Coming out of her revere, Grace rases her hands, exclaiming, "WOW! this... this has to make it to the commander! and the scholars!" Then she pointed at Evans and said something that really shocked the group.

"You should come with us!"

"'WHAT!?'"

Astera, trade yard

 "The head honchos of the commission are gathering again."

 "Really? what are they discussing?"

 " I heard they were talking about the new info they received from the rising rookie."

 " The one that took down both a rathalos, AND a diablos?"

 "Yeah, that's the one! The A-lister among A-listers!"

 Rumors spread within the bustling trade center as the fleet leaders mull over the new info that has landed on their desks.

 "So what your saying is that Zorah Magdaros has not only decided to leave its deathbed, but also wants to take US with it? ugh, I need a drink after this..." the second fleet master grumbles, not liking the idea of his smithy turning into molten slag... well more molten slag.

 " We have to evacuate the people as quickly as we can!" one of the quartermasters yells out, anxious to be out of the new world before it becomes a hell on earth.

 "There's no time. We'll have to fight in order to avoid a fiery fate." The commander says, determination lighting his eyes.

 "There's no point, we are still low on supplies from the last operation, and even then, how would we do that? our cannons and ballistae wouldn't be strong enough" The head quartermaster sighs, fatigue setting on her shoulders from the long hours she had to work.

 BWOOOooooo!

 A horn sounds in the distance overseas. The leaders of the commission turn to look. Smiles appear on their faces as the argosy, led by the captain, docks. The anchor drops to the harbor and with it the captain does two, Yelling " Don't ye lot worry! The guild has sent over a literal boatload of supplies!"

 "Excellent. Now that we have the gear, all that's left would be to gather our hunters and head to the ever stream to stop Zorah. Speaking of our hunters, how's are new leading explorer doing? its been awhile since we heard from her."

 Just as the head technician was about to answer, a young hunter rushes forward, sweat covering his entire body. "Chief! Commander! The variant is heading towards Astera!" The members around the table freeze, shocked at the now unexpected news.

 Acting fast, The commander gives out orders for groups to head to the area where Evans was sighted. A legion of hunters line up by the entrance that leads into the Wildspire waste as they see Evans, walking towards the gate of Astera.

 The commander, behind the makeshift wall of defenders, raises his hand and says " On my signal, Attack with everything you got! 3...2... 1-!"

"WAIT!" just as the command to charge was about to be issued a voice rings out from up ahead. Confused, both the leaders and hunters watch as the variant approaches. Their confusion turns to shock however, as, on the top of Evans, Head was Grace, waving her hands telling them to stand down.

 Evans stops before the now bewildered group as Grace hops down. She rushes over to her fellow colleagues, and informs them about what's happening. "I see. well then...Evans? I am the commander of this base." The commander is unsure of what to do as this situation is never happened in the history of mankind. None the less, this is an opportunity he isn't willing to give up. " Ill cut straight to the point. although you are a strange anjanath, I believe we can co operate. In exchange for your help in this upcoming operation, along with the scholars running a few tests, if you allow it, the whole of Astera will cease taking actions against you."

 The hunters around the commander feel their jaws slackening as they hear this unbelievable news. The commander? willing to and somehow NEGOTIATING with a monster? The surprise continues though when they hear Evans actually speak IN THEIR MINDS! "My conditions are that they don't stick anything into my flesh and that I get to keep permanent residence near Astera in the Ancient forest." The commander hesitates, only for a moment. "Fine, you have a deal. though if you cause harm to any of our inhabitants intentionally, we will null this agreement and stop at nothing to hunt you down."

 "Fine by me." And so, man and monster, for the first time ever, team up to save the new world from becoming a blazing glory of death.